Is my Labrador's milk and meat diet balanced and healthy enough?

Rice and milk is not nutritionally balanced for a dog, they require a varied meat based diet. I would recommend trying alternative commercial food which have been fully balanced and slowly mix this with the food she currently likes at about 10% extra per week until at least 80-90% of her diet is dog food

Hi there. No, this is not okay - Rio needs to be on a nutritionally complete and balanced diet designed for dogs. What you are describing is not healthy for him, and puts him at risk of developing a variety of different health problems due to nutritional imbalances and deficiencies. I would recommend feeding a good quality commercial dog food from a reputable company such as Purina, Hills, or Royal Canin. If you prefer to cook for your dog at home, that's fine - but it needs to be a diet formulated to meet his nutritional needs, not something you make up yourself. In that case, you can use the website www.balanceit.com to put together appropriate recipes using ingredients of your choosing, or consult with a veterinary nutritionist about formulating a custom diet for him. You can find more information on how to do this here: https://acvn.org/nutrition-consults/

Hi there. If this is being fed as one of their main meals for the day, then yes, it is unhealthy - this is not complete or nutritionally balanced, and is not an appropriate long-term diet for any dog. I would recommend feeding a good-quality commercial dog food such as Purina ProPlan, Iams/Eukanuba, or Royal Canin. Any treats or supplemental feeding beyond that should make up no more than 10% of the total diet. If your mother-in-law wants to prepare food for the dogs at home, she needs to use the website www.balanceit.com to formulate an appropriate recipe, or consult with a veterinary nutritionist.

Hi there. No, this is not a nutritionally complete diet for long-term feeding. If Butter won't eat dog food and you prefer to feed him human food, you will need to make sure that his diet is still complete and balanced. You can use the website www.balanceit.com to put together recipes for him using ingredients of your choice, or use a commercial fresh food diet that is formulated to be complete and balanced, such as www.thefarmersdog.com

Unless the raw meat is a formulated raw food diet, then the raw meat alone is not a balanced diet. There are a number of raw food diets that are formulated to be complete diets, so if that is all Ma wants to eat right now, you could look into feeding her one of those for now. There are also some freeze dried raw formulations that might be a good option. Stella & Chewy's ( https://www.stellaandchewys.com ) makes both formulations, that might be something to look into. Good luck! Thanks for using PetCoach.

No, meat is not a balanced diet. Even raw meat is not balanced. Balancing a home made diet is difficult and is not recommended unless you work with a veterinary nutritionist. When online, home made recipes where tested, 97% were found to be unbalanced and lacking in 1 or more essential nutrients. Unless you plan on working with a nutritionist, I recommend to feed a normal commercial diet that is AAFCO certified. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Labradors are large breed dogs and thus they should eat a large breed puppy food to help correct growth and development. The large breed puppy formula will make sure growth is slow and consistent which is best for development. Large breed dogs are prone to a variety of growth abnormalities and the appropriate diet helps to prevent them. Additionally, most veterinarians do not recommend grain free diets. The research is not fully complete but there appears to be a link between grain free diets and heart disease. Not every pet who eats a grain free diet will develop heart disease but more dogs do on these diets than dogs who eat grains. There is likely a genetic predisposition that the diet affects. I recommend to change your food to a commercial diet that is formulated for large breed puppies. I recommend the brand Royal Canin. They even have a formula for Labrador puppies. This diet is easy to digest and is formulated for appropriate growth. This diet is complete and balanced and you do not supplement protein or vitamins/minerals. It is also important to make sure that Pom is dewormed appropriately as parasites will cause dogs to be thin. He will gain the weight once he is on an appropriate diet and eating the correct amounts. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.