Our puppy owners and friends often ask what foods we feed. LynWood Cavaliers all eat a mix of lean meats, vegetables such as green beans, carrots, broccoli, kale and fruits such as apples, blueberries and melons and a kibble. We cook large batches of PUP LOAF and many of my recipes come from Dr. Judy Morgan’s Books. All our batches are different due to what is seasonal and available. We serve either fresh or cooked pup loaf atop a small bed of Fromms adult or puppy kibble.
Our puppies start off on our home cooked LynWood 'chicken, rice, sweet potatoes and carrots' recipe that is on our website. Then we slowly add in puppy kibble so that they are fully onto kibble by 12 weeks with some toppings of carrots, apples and other fun fresh foods.
There are five of us that all work closely with our breeding and health testing programs. Interestingly, two feed raw diets exclusively and three feed kibble with added vegetables and mix of raw and cooked foods.
Raw needs to be done correctly and it is in my opinion one of the best things to feed. It is some work and does take some dedication to learn but once mastered you will be a hit with your Cavalier.
There are many benefits to feeding a raw diet for dogs… dogs thrive on the food with shinier coats, healthier skin and smaller stools. Dogs that are given bones to chew like chicken necks tend to have less tarter on their teeth.
Not everyone can feed raw. Start slowly, add in one thing at a time and have fun. Your Cavalier will love you for it.
To feed a raw diet, you have to know what you are doing and make sure the diet is properly balanced. There are several books and places to learn, however my-go-to is Dr. Judy Morgan who is also a Cavalier owner. She has daily webinars on FaceBook about many health topics and dietary needs of dogs. She is a wealth of information and honestly, she always seems to have the best advice!!
WET or CANNED DOG FOOD
In my opinion, wet or canned dog food with Cavaliers spells disaster with their teeth! Please do not feed canned dog food! It is also not good for their digestion with all the fillers and questionable ingredients. I do not recommend it and do not feed it. If a dog needs a soft food diet for health issues then I feed my chicken and rice recipe or scrambled eggs and rice - never canned food! Even to a sick dog!
DRY DOG FOOD
One of the best places to find information about the dog food industry is DogFood Advisor.com Rather than me telling you about all the horror stories, false advertising, unregulated industry gimmicks and TV personality endorsements… please just go to this site and read for yourself.
Novels could be written on how ALL dog foods claim to be premium, all natural and the best. Yet brands like Hills Science Diet, Nutro, Royal Canin, Purina Pro Plan, and Eukanuba never make the top 5 star quality list because of their ingredients. I am also appalled that Royal Canin food for Reproduction and Lactating bitches…. it has no meat! Unbelievable!
The One Star (being the worst) list reads like the Who's Who of dog food from Purina Puppy Chow, Pedigree Dog Food, Alpo, and most of the Hills Science Diet formulas. Then there are companies that start off great with incredible ingredients, we all start using it and they either change their ingredients or are bought out by another company that lowers the standards!! Hence why ever couple years we re-evaluate
One of the worst examples was Blue Buffalo that was charged with false label claims and outsourced food… really! That means that the ingredients were coming from unknown sources - the worst being BENEFUL that is now being taken off of store shelves! There have been huge law suits and many, many sick dogs!
DOG FOOD ADVISOR "After reviewing all 2,223 formulas, we ended up with 134 dog food formulas manufactured by 29 brands that can be confidently recommended."
For 2018 this is a list of 5 that I know have done well with Cavaliers and would recommend or use and top rating by DogFoodAdvisor
MERCK GRAIN FREE
TASTE OF THE WILD
WHAT WE FEED
We start our babies off with our home cooked LynWood Chicken and Rice recipe. We then add in Puppy - Fromms in the bright pink bag.
If I had a favorite kibble … it would be FROMMS. They are a family run company, that manufactures quality food in Wisconsin and do daily testing. They have never had a recall. They also have a free bag program - when you present 10 proof of purchases clipped from the bag you get a free bag of food. Adults i do the grain free.
A typical Dinner at LynWood
Each day the food bowls look different. I vary what the dogs eat. Often it has to do what we are eating, what is seasonal and fresh. What is on Sale is a plus too!
I cook about 60 pounds of pup loaf once a month. I make ours with different meats and veggies. Again, each batch is slightly different.
I will be glad to share with anyone what we put in our food, however the best recipes and format to follow is Dr. Judy Morgan’s books.
Honestly it is NOT hard to do. I get most of my pans from Estate or Garage sales. Super simple to mix up after it is chopped in the food processor. My butcher runs our meat through the grinder or you can purchase a 3/4 hp grinder. I bought mine for $50 on Craigs list. Works fantastic.
During the summer I make Pup Pops!! They are two veggies (one being a green like broccoli or Kale) and a fruit like strawberries, apples or oranges. I throw it in my Ninja mixer and then pour into a silicon molds to freeze. I got the molds on Amazon, but they can be found anywhere and don’t have to be dog related.
Tip: put the molds on a tea tray in the freezer or you may have a mess. I then bag them and keep in the freezer.
Great afternoon cool down snack. Can add yogurt, blueberries, turmeric any fruits or veggies. Love the silicone matts because you can also bake in them!
The most important job in the house is the clean up crew. Mine is extremely happy to work for free!!