To continue with our “what to feed your dog series”, I thought it would be cool to check out the dog that developed right besides the Lab…. the Newfoundland. Yes this dog breed was named right after the province of Newfoundland and while the Lab is the ideal dog for authority and helpfulness, the Newfoundland dog is known as the companion for coastal fisherman. These dogs are known to be big, strong, and loyal. Newfoundland dogs excel at water rescue/lifesaving due to their muscular build, thick double coat, innate swimming abilities and the most unique feature… webbed feet. According to the resources I have gathered, it looks like the Newfoundland dog like the Lab requires a high requirement for the fat soluble vitamins. However, you need to get the fats and vitamins from a proper source.

The nutrients in the Newfoundland’s native environment consisted primarily of cold water white fish such as cod, halibut and haring. Any exposure to meat would have been from caribou *which has amino acid similar to horse meat* and bear meat *with has amino acid similar to pork meat. For a Newfoundland I would recommend you look for food blends containing fish, pork, poultry and lamb. Make sure the food has high fat content. However, stay away from foods composed of beef, soy and any foods having protein content over 30% or a high fiber content from pats, beets of wood pulp.

This time for our “What to Feed Your Dog” series, I thought I do the Labrador Retriever. I’ve known many people throughout my life who have had a dog of this breed and it is one of the most popular ones in the USA, Canada and England. The Labrador Retriever *also known as a Lab* originated on Newfoundland island, off the coast of Labrador in the North East point of Canada. The breed was further developed in England and is famous for being a gun dog. They are renowned for their involvement in law enforcement, their appearance in wars, but above all else, they are the most trusted guide dogs for the blind and helping dogs to the disabled. Labradors are athletic and love to swim, play catch, are good with young children, elderly, and for protection. The Labrador is one of the very few breeds that is known to produce oil through the pores of the skin. It can develop a very dry and brittle coat in a very short period of time when the entire, Linoleic acid group is not present in its daily diet. The Linoleic acid group consists of Oleic, Linolenic and Linoleic. You can get these fatty acids through fish oil, poultry and cold pressed wheat germ oil.

In Newfoundland the primary food sources were caribou, fish and whale fats. In England the food sources were poultry, fish, wheat and dairy products. With the combined effect of the foods from the two areas, we have a breed that requires a diet low in carbohydrates but high in fats. Fats are important for the Lab but while it thrives on poultry, fish and vegetable fats… it has a hard time assimilating beef fat.

From what I have found, I recommend commercial foods that contain fish, poultry, lamb, and green vegetables. However, I would say to avoid beef, beets, corn and soy.

Hello everyone! I was thinking about what dog to write up next and it just so happened, I saw a fire truck. What dog is highly thought of as the mascot for Fire Fighters? The Dalmatian! The funny thing is, as I have been doing my research on this breed, I haven’t found a good clear answer yet, to what made this connection to begin with. What more the origins to the Dalmatian has a lot of mystery to it as well. The FCI (Fédération Cynologique Internationale) recognized the country of origin as the region of Dalmatia in the Republic of Croatia, citing Bewick’s 1792 work. However, the Dalmatian has also been known world wide since the Middle Ages and the largest numbers are located in Central Europe and the British Islands. Some will even say they developed in Hungary or Africa… mainly because of their coats. One other thing to point out is that through out the centuries, the Dalmatian hasn’t changed very much, even when it’s had a change in its diet. However, they have suffered from different ailments depending on where it is located. Some think it’s a direct result of food supply.

From the research I have gathered, it seems like when you feed your Dalmatian, try and feed it a blend of lamb, poultry and white rice. Try and avoid commercial foods that contain soy, beef or horse meat by-products and high fiber products like wheat, oats, and yellow corn.

The Brittany Spaniel is a breed that originated in the northwestern side of France during the Middle Ages. However, the Brittany Spaniel has ties going back to when the Norman nobles conquered England in 1066. Since the northwestern side of France was a very popular hunting ground, they were developed as a hunting dog mainly to retrieve birds. The first images of the Spaniel breed was first seen in the 17th century, then the first written record came in 1850. Around the early 1900′s the first Brittany Spaniel that we know of was breed using English Setters and then later official named a breed.

The environment the breed would of been brought up in would of been a swamp. The native foods would of been poultry, fish, beets, potatoes and some grains. Some people believe that the grains was the factor that made the difference between the Brittany Spaniel and English Springer Spaniel nutritional differences. Brittany Spaniel can utilize a higher starch and carbohydrate to protein ratio, but unlike the English Springer it doesn’t do well with corn, barley and wheat.

With Brittany Spaniel you should look for all-breed commercial dog foods with poultry, lamb and beet pulp. I would avoid beef / horse meat, by-products as well as any corn, barley, wheat or soy products.

The Saint Bernard is originally from the foothills of the Alps, sharing a very similar history with Sennenhunds *Swiss Mountain Dogs*. They grew up on the farm as working companions, but in 1660 they were taken to a hospice in the Swiss Apls and it was here that they became the iconic rescue dog. The monks from the Hospice du Grand St. Bernard saw some special characteristics in this breed that made them special for this job. To add their thick coat and heavy fat layer helped provide warmth  in the long exposure to the cold elements. Some of these same physical characteristics determine their unique nutritional requirements.

The native food supplies for this breed would of been mutton, goat, dairy, wheat and low ground vegetables. If you are looking to feed your Saint Bernard, we recommend you go with lamb with wheat and potatoes. You should avoid rice, soy, yellow corn, avocado, horse meat and beef.

It’s been a while since we did a dog for the week and I thought we get back into it by looking into the Bloodhound.

The Bloodhound developed a little before the 12th century around Constantinople. Now we know the area as Turkey. Bloodhounds have always been seen as the blessed dog with the nose. There is no other dog on the planet that can pick up a scent like the Bloodhound. Since the native food supplies would be from a seaport environment, they would eat a lot of ocean fish, pork, goat, wheat, brown rice, high carbohydrate vegetables and fruits. We would recommend commercial food with a blend of wheat, brown rice, avocado and poultry. I would avoid beef by-products, soy beets, lamb or white rice.

(Pronounced: show – low – eats – queen – tlee)

This is a breed that was developed in western Mexico and has been traced back to the Colima culture between 900 B.C. and 300 A.D. These dogs were thought of as representative of their god Xolotl and were given the duty of guarding the souls of the dead on their journey to the afterlife. When Columbus came to the Americas in 1492, he wrote in his journals about the presence of strange hairless dogs. He became interested in the breed and eventually took them back to Europe. Zolos have some unique features such as being hairless, having a high body temperature and they don’t have pre-molar teeth.

Since these dogs were originally from the Western mountains of Mexico, the climate would of been very hot and humid. The native meats would of been very low in fat and the vegetation would of had a ton of citrus like mango and papaya. We do not recommend any of the commercial food blends what so ever. If you do own one, we recommend a lot of fruits, vegetables and while you are at it add water to the food. You want to keep it hydrated since it’s body temperatures is different from other dogs. Also do not add anything artificial. If you want to feed it meat look for something very low in fat.

We ended up getting another request and we will deliver.

There are many theories surrounding the origin of the breed, however one thing that most archaeologists and historians can agree on is where they come from. Named after the city Chihuahua, Mexico these breeds were kept in the temples of the Aztecs to help control the rodent population. Some historians believe that Chihuahuas came from the island of Malta in the Mediterranean. Either way the early depictions of this breed had them as a bigger dog with a longer life span. What could of effected the Chihuahua’s growth and life span could be the diet they adapted to over the centuries.

Since this breed’s origins come from the rain forests and jungles of Mexico and South America, they would of ate a lot of fruits such as mangoes and avocado, meats such as rodents or wild boar and poultry.

We would recommend you feed your Chihuahua foods that contain avocado, blended with poultry and rice. You should avoid beef and beat pulp.