FEEDING the CHINESE CRESTED

Commercial Foods, Home Prepared Diet or BARF

The Chinese Crested is omnivorous meaning it will thrive on a diet of meats, fruits, nuts and vegetables. A puppy should have at least four meals a day. While adults can eat three meals a day. We free feed our dogs, which means we allow the food to be available to them the entire day. However, we still clean up any partially eaten foods prior to spoiling.

Cresteds will enjoy a variety of foods. Peanut butter is our dogs' favorite snack. Be careful though, since food allergies are very common in this breed and for this reason not every diet is suitable to them. READ commercial food labels as many of them will contain CORN, and corn is one of those food allergies.

Poor quality foods whether commercial or homemade can cause serious skin problems. As nothing applies more than the old saying, "you are what you eat".

Some of the best digestible commercial foods are Blue Buffalo, Innova, California Natural and Solid Gold. We feed dry and canned "B.G. - (before grain)", their canned food has two ingredients only (which is what we like best) ... the main ingredient and water for processing ... example: 100% buffalo, tripe, turkey or chicken.

Even commercial foods will need to supplemented with fresh fruit and green vegetables in order to have a complete diet. Strawberries, apples with cores removed, sweet peas, broccoli and carrots are some of the more favorite foods.

For Chinese Cresteds suffering from food allergies or skin problems, homemade diet or a BARF diet may be the way to go.

Home diet often consist of rice and meat and mashed potatoes. Either whole chicken or steamed or ground beef. In addition to this the dog is then fed unlimited supply of commercial food (free feeding dry food).

The term BARF stands for "bones and raw food" ... it advocates feeding of raw meaty bones, vegetables and fruit in an attempt to imitate a more natural diet that a dog would eat in the wild. However not all dogs will take to a "raw meat" diet, ours didn't, she prefers all her meats slightly cooked and turns her nose to raw.

Raw meaty bones are comprised of pigs' feet, chicken necks, backs, thighs and rib cages and ox tails. Organ meats i.e. liver, heart and fish should be used as well with any bones removed. Another source of protein is raw egg with shells finely ground in a blender.

Adding a pinch of KELP powder to a meal will supply rare minerals necessary for maintaining a healthy thyroid. Some BARF diets also allow for cooked brown rice, grits or oatmeal.

Regardless of which diet you choose - raw, homemade, or commercial - the complete menu for Chinese Crested must incorporate fresh raw vegetables and fruits.

Here are some food examples that you might choose from for a home diet.

Beef liver, chicken liver, chicken or lamb, ground beef; strawberries, pears, oranges, tangerines, mangos, apples or bananas; carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, green peas, green peppers, or cabbage; sardines; tofu or cottage cheese; and pumpkin seeds/oil or flax seed oil. You will need to experiment on which foods your Crested will enjoy as some love certain foods and won't touch others.

Rule of thumb in a BARF diet seems to be 85% meat or meat products including ground bones, 10% raw green vegetables and 5% fruit. Remember also when feeding raw foods, keep the food bowl and feeding area clean and disinfect regularly to prevent contamination. You don't want to have food poisonings.

There are many good recipes available for breakfast, lunch and dinner menus ... as well as for cookies (i.e. liver or peanut butter cookies for dogs) and snacks.

In our home, we have integrated all 3 diets ... as we leave our dry food for free feeding and supplement with semi-cooked bones and meat as well as fresh fruits and vegetables and it works for us! Which is the main thing.

Finicky eaters are most likely just spoiled brats, however be SURE to distinguish between being finicky and being sick. Sudden loss of appetite could signal an illness requiring immediate veterinarian attention. If your dog is simply finicky offer food TWICE a DAY at specific times, allowing approximately 15 minutes to eat and then clean up ... this should  increase a pets appetite as they will know the food is being removed. You can also add something smelly to make it more appetizing such as Parmesan or blue cheese, perhaps a few bacon bits will do the trick.