# Giving supplements



## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

How do you give your supplements? Tucker is a big ol pain in the butt. He keeps going back and forth on this raw diet. He has been very sensitive since his mishap with turkey. The girls are doing awesome!. We are going to start him on the powdered probiotic & enzymes that we have from our holistic vet as well as getting him some powdered bovine colostrum. He is too much of a pain to fight giving him pills, which is why I choose the powder. How do you give powders? I've in the past mixed his powder in blood left in the bottom of the bag after the meat thaws. Is this okay? Any other ideas? Keep in mind he is a very sensitive boy and he doesn't do well on anything not animal (or right now, much other than chicken) and he is allergic to turkey. So he can't have it in yogurt or cheese or anything like that. My next thought would be to grind a small amount of food and mix his probiotic/enzymes and the bovine colostrum into it and make it into meat cubes in an ice cube tray.


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## shellbell (Sep 24, 2011)

Tux gets a powdered probiotic and I just sprinkle it right on his food. If I ever have to give pills or anything I can just throw them in a bowl with the food and it all gets eaten. But then again I can also hand my dogs a pill straight from the bottle and they will eat it out of my hand, lol.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I just use fish oil now, but whenever I have to use something powdered with raw, i just mix it in with scrambled raw egg.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

I've read that liquid supplements get absorbed better and faster so I'm trying to stick with liquids when possible. For powder I'd mix into something squishy of possible or maybe mos it into water? I don't know if thats a good idea though.


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## BearMurphy (Feb 29, 2012)

poor tucker. you could do blood or mix the powder with some water and put a small amount of meat in the water to make it tasty (i use a turkey heart sometimes). i actually buy ground tripe/beef from my co-op for that kind of thing but as long as its not offensive tasting to him no need to really hide it in more than blood water.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

We make up little meat balls for anyone who needs supplements regularly and they get a meatball per day.  Pills go in turkey hearts.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

:usa::usa::usa::usa::usa:


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

magicre said:


> liz, this dog is the dog to end all dogs.
> 
> he seized on turkey necks.....and every time she intros beef, he gets the runs.....can't get him beyond chicken and five ounces of beef heart.
> 
> not sure about pork. dog gets the runs from anything and everything.....especially since the seizure.


Magicre Hit the nail on the head. He has many issues. He has been on raw going on six months now, and its been a constant battle with him. We had him transitioned to chicken, beef brisket, pork heart and were up to 5oz of beef heart with no issues. I was gone for four days, the dogs stayed with my boyfriend, he Tucker chicken only (for the four days I was gone) because he was having the runs again. Now he won't even tolerate a couple oz of pork heart or beef brisket. And now beef heart is completely out of the question. So we are back to square one of chicken only. I am making sure that I am not over feeding. He doesn't get into anything. He isn't over exercised. He doesn't get over heated or overdo himself. They only good thing is that he is staying hydrated (he gets plenty of liquids between the water and the liver broth). His weight is stable. He has no outward signs of any issues. Eyes are clear, no temp, soft lush coat, no dry skin, no bad gas, clean ears, clean teeth/mouth. He doesn't itch. His smell is gone. and he is the same old goon of a dog I've always had. No loss of appetite, no loss of energy. Nothing in his stools (I had a fecal done today). When he eats chicken only, backs, necks, quarters, breasts; he has no issue. He has nice solid firm poops and its the way it should be. Add in an oz of anything else (egg, beef, pork ect) and you will have anything from the runnies, to cannon butt. 

Which brought me to the conclusion to start him on porbiotics and bovine colostrum. 

I think I will mix it in water/blood/broth because it just seems easier to me. And that way I will know he is getting the extra liquids. 

If anyone has anything to add that could be helpful, feel free. This boy was a pain on kibble as well. He had large hairless spots all over his body that he would dig until he started to bleed. He looked like he was covered in mange, but never a dang thing was on him. He always had gunky ears and eyes, horrid gas and he was on prednisone/cortisone for the last five months (half of his life) before going to a species appropriate raw food diet. So kibble is definitely not an option.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

Have you ever tried him on quail? I just found it and it's as white meat looking as chicken. It maybe a possibility for him.


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

SaharaNight Boxers said:


> Have you ever tried him on quail? I just found it and it's as white meat looking as chicken. It maybe a possibility for him.


I've never tried quail. I don't have anywhere to get it locally for a price I could afford. Same with pheasant. I am also leery of testing out more poultry. I know of his allergy to turkey, but there have been known allergies of other poultry in his family.


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## Janet At Nutro (Mar 11, 2011)

Depending how much the serving size is, maybe you could put the powder inside of a Pill Pocket(s).
Then you can just give it to Tucker as a treat. I have done that before and it worked well.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

Makovach said:


> I've never tried quail. I don't have anywhere to get it locally for a price I could afford. Same with pheasant. I am also leery of testing out more poultry. I know of his allergy to turkey, but there have been known allergies of other poultry in his family.


Ok. I've found it for under two dollars (ground though), but I could see why you wouldn't want to try with the allergies. It's always good to know about your dog's family.


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

Janet At Nutro said:


> Depending how much the serving size is, maybe you could put the powder inside of a Pill Pocket(s).
> Then you can just give it to Tucker as a treat. I have done that before and it worked well.


With the ingredients in them, and the amount and how often he would have to take them, I would be afraid he would react to them. I think while trying to get him figured out of the raw diet, less is better.


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## BearMurphy (Feb 29, 2012)

He got sick when you left.......is he sensitive? Sometimes treating the dog involves understanding their personality. Could you describe him more? Does he get hot easily? Where does he prefer to sleep? How does he interact with you? With others? Favorite toy or game?


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

:usa::usa::usa::usa::usa:


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## Savage Destiny (Mar 16, 2011)

Riddle gets tons of different powders for her various issues, we sometimes call her food Powder Mountain. It's way too much to sprinkle on, it just falls off. She will lick all the powders up from the bottom of the bowl, but recently I've become afraid of her aspirating the powders. So now I squirt her fish oil on it, and mix a TINY amount of filtered water or blood in it to make a paste. It's working rather well.


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

BearMurphy said:


> He got sick when you left.......is he sensitive? Sometimes treating the dog involves understanding their personality. Could you describe him more? Does he get hot easily? Where does he prefer to sleep? How does he interact with you? With others? Favorite toy or game?


He is very sensitive. He (as well as my girls) get upset when I leave, but they are home with my boyfriend and the only change in routine was that I was not home. They were still fed at the same time, slept in bed like usual, the weather didn't change too much. If he stresses, the problem starts again. He doesn't get overly hot easily, he prefers to sleep in the bed. He loves other people and the other animals. He isn't shy of anything. He loves to run and fetch. and he has been acting normal as far as personality goes.


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## BearMurphy (Feb 29, 2012)

could confidence building exercises help? i think some people do agility for this reason. maybe have your boyfriend train it too

i know that I do all of murphy's training and my boyfriend really doesn't use "his words" so I think when I'm not around murphy doesn't have the strong leader he's used to having. for example, he really freaked out more than normal when fireworks were going off around our house and I wasn't home


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Makovach, you are a patient person. 

It sounds partially personality - very sensitive and partly his gut. His gut will be affected by stress and this will lead to the coat issues and diarrhea. Personally, if he were mine i would start him on St. john's Wort for stress. He can be a happy boy but if different or new things, changes in typical daily patterns stress him I would see if the St. John's Wort helps take the edge off the stress. 

It takes a while to repair the gut. Every time he goes into a stressful mode and reacts you are back to square one. For his gut i would definitely give this boy one Primal Defense ultra capsule, two bovine colostrum (1 teaspoon) per day and if you can l-Glutamine would also be beneficial. Do you have access to tripe? I would add just a bit to every meal. 

Lavender Oil would also be something I would look into for times I knew something might affect him such as training, a vet visit,, being pet sat, etc. At these times I would put some lavender oil (just a drop or two) on his collar and the scent is often very soothing and has a calming affect. 

I hope some of these suggestions help your guy.


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

BearMurphy said:


> could confidence building exercises help? i think some people do agility for this reason. maybe have your boyfriend train it too
> 
> i know that I do all of murphy's training and my boyfriend really doesn't use "his words" so I think when I'm not around murphy doesn't have the strong leader he's used to having. for example, he really freaked out more than normal when fireworks were going off around our house and I wasn't home


My boyfriend trains with the dogs in the same way I do. We work together with them and we use the same words and same corrections. Tucker has always been more of his dog (more attached to him) than he is to me since we started dating when Tucker was only three months old.



Liz said:


> Makovach, you are a patient person.
> 
> It sounds partially personality - very sensitive and partly his gut. His gut will be affected by stress and this will lead to the coat issues and diarrhea. Personally, if he were mine i would start him on St. john's Wort for stress. He can be a happy boy but if different or new things, changes in typical daily patterns stress him I would see if the St. John's Wort helps take the edge off the stress.
> 
> ...



I am going to look into St. Johns Wort for taking the edge off the stress. I can't afford to get primal defense at the moment due to money issues and loosing my job, So I will have to use the holistic probiotic/enzyme powder I got from my holistic vet until I get new job. I ordered Bovine colostrum today, it should be here by Monday. I will also look into the l-Glutamine. I will also have to get a bottle of lavender oil.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Definitely use what you have and down the line Primal Defense Ultra is the best. The colostrum will do wonders though and I would definitely get the lavender oil. Wait a little on the L-Glutamine until you are back on your feet. I think taking care of his stress issues will help a lot.  Oh, If you can get some chicken and boil up a big batch of broth. You can freeze it in ice cubes and get a cube or two, defrost and add his powder supplements to it to get him to eat it. Make sure you cool the broth in the fridge and skim any fat off the top before freezing. Slip pills into his meat, just slice open a pocket and stick his pills in.


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## July11 (Jul 7, 2011)

Seems like I remember that bovine colostrum is supposed to be taken on an empty stomach. I've only had a little bit of experience with it so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.  At least a half hour before meals or 45 minutes after.

I just mixed it with a small amount of water in a dish and the dogs thought they were getting a really SPECIAL treat.


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