# Adding a little fat to my dogs dry food



## Jennet

I feed NB which is low in fat. What would be a good additive to add maybe 3 times a week to their food for some added fat. I was thinking yogurt or pumpkin. If so what kind of pumpkin and yogurt? Thanks.


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## sassymaxmom

If your dog is okay with egg, add a little egg! It is a classic dog food mix in raw or scrambled or over easy - you chose.
Add some canned salmon, mackerel or sardines. 
If you are cooking hamburger or chicken or pork or lamb or fish, stick a bit into the dog's food - minus any seasonings.
Cottage cheese is another classic.

Pumpkin, no fat! No calories, no protein. It is added as a tasty tummy filler.
Yogurt, good stuff. If you want to add fat then buy full fat yogurt.

With any add in start slow and build to a maximum of 25% of the dog's daily calories.


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## PDXdogmom

All the suggestions in the previous post I would agree with. Also, since most of the NB formulas have only 10-13% fat, some people find giving a daily supplement salmon oil will improved their coats.


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## doggiedad

if you're going to feed yogurt i suggest
usuing organic plain yogurt. when i give
my dog pumkin i bake a pumpkin and give him the meat.
if you use can pumpkin use the kind with just water added.
when i feed my dog canned fish (human grade) it has no salt
added.


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## SamWu1

Fish oil isn't much but a good fat to add.


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## rannmiller

I agree with the above posts about the additives. Pumpkin would be pretty useless for adding fat since it is low in fat and calories. You should probably avoid dairy products since dogs are lactose intolerant as well. 

Are your dogs underweight? 

You could just try putting them on a higher fat food or NB formula like their AMP one (16%). 

Fish oil is a great added fat supplement that will do nothing but good for them if done in the recommended amounts (way too much can thin the blood and cause looser stools but you really have to overdo it). You could also pour on the extra fat that cooks off of your meat for dinner or add some of the meat itself to their food as well. As someone else mentioned, adding canned fish and/or eggs is also a great addition. In fact, why not rotate adding all of them one at a time? Variety is great for dogs, after all!


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## 1605

sassymaxmom said:


> If your dog is okay with egg, add a little egg! It is a classic dog food mix in raw or scrambled or over easy - you chose.
> Add some canned salmon, mackerel or sardines.
> If you are cooking hamburger or chicken or pork or lamb or fish, stick a bit into the dog's food - minus any seasonings.
> Cottage cheese is another classic.
> 
> Pumpkin, no fat! No calories, no protein. It is added as a tasty tummy filler.
> Yogurt, good stuff. If you want to add fat then buy full fat yogurt.
> 
> With any add in start slow and build to a maximum of 25% of the dog's daily calories.


Canned salmon gets another vote. The large tins are actually quite cost effective. 

Zio will get 1/2 a can with a less-than-usual amount of kibble once or twice a week during field trial/hunting season. Or we may simply add some when he's been in the field all day. The skin & bones are especially good sources of fat & calcium.


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## _Trish

Is there any particular reason why you don't want to switch to a food that has more fat already in it? I ask because while Natural Balance isn't a terrible food, you can get a much better food for the same price or less. Natural Balance is also pretty low in protein, if I remember correctly most of their formulas are around 22%. I won't feed anything that is below 25% and that is pushing it. I like to stay in the 30-35% range. 

In the past when trying to find a food to work for one of my dogs with dietary allergies, I did use Natural Balance, but I added fresh meat to the food to up the protein percentage.


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## Edwin

Hi,..
its best option because dry food is best option for dogs,..nice idea shared here about dry food for the dogs,..


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma

Edwin said:


> Hi,..
> its best option because dry food is best option for dogs,..nice idea shared here about dry food for the dogs,..


I beg to differ. I am not here to force raw on anyone, but in my opinion, anything processed is way down the list of appropriate foods. Saying that dry, processed nuggets is better for dogs than raw meat is like saying that soda and junk food is better for a person than fruit juice and steak.


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