My Friend is feeding his dog ground beef, black beans, and green beans only. Is he crazy?

[younggenius]

He has a 9 year old boxer mix named Dominic. Every day he gives him two meals, each consisting of 1/2 cup cooked ground beef, 1/2 cup black beans, and 1/2 cup green beans. I found this out because I am dog-sitting Dominic now. My eyebrows definitely raised a bit when I received the supplies and instructions for how I was to feed him.

I've heard of feeding all natural diets, but was under the impression you had to feed a wider variety of meat, bones, and organs such as liver etc for them to get more vitamins.

I feel like Dominic can't possibly be getting proper nutrition from this diet. What are you guys thoughts?

 

[silverwings6154]

@younggenius This isn't even remotely close to balanced.

 

[marysmit]

@younggenius I’m no expert, but I seriously considered feeding my dogs raw before. They most definitely do need bones and organ meats, along with a variety of different types of meat. Bones are mostly for making sure their teeth are kept clean. Cooked chicken/beef are okay if their tummy doesn’t feel good and they’re used to kibble, but cooking the shit out of meat takes away all the nutritional value for dogs (I read, not 100% sure). They also don’t need vegetables, but my dogs love a good carrot for a snack, so here and there isn’t bad. I’m part of a raw fed group on Facebook and they have TONS of information. Don’t shame him, but maybe bring up joining there, if he uses FB, under the impression that they’ll give him tips and more information from people that also choose to feed their dogs meat instead of kibble.

 

[dana1]

@younggenius Could he have added the vitamins to the meat already? If not, then it isn’t balanced, you don’t need powdered or pill vitamins necessarily, you can get the needed vitamins from plants but only black beans and green beans isn’t enough variety and won’t provide all the vitamins needed.

 

[servadac]

@dana1 I'm not even sure Balance IT can create a supplement to make up for a diet of just Meat, Beans, and Green Beans.

 

[dana1]

@servadac Usually you need multiple different supplements, but they do make premixes you can buy that you just add to meat that have all the vitamins needed.

 

[younggenius]

@dana1 I believe that's all he is getting

 

[cedarchest]

@younggenius Add a bit of sweet potato and walnut oil and your good to go.

 

[servadac]

@younggenius So, this is definitely not a balanced diet and I don't think there are enough or the right supplements necessary to make it balanced.

That said, did he explicitly say this was the dogs regular diet or is this just what he wants you to feed him? I've dog sat dogs who didn't get their regular diet when the owner was gone - either because they would get nervous and have GI issues or they just wouldn't eat otherwise. You might be able to bring it up, but these things are tough to do depending on how close you actually are.

 

[younggenius]

@servadac No I think this is what he eats all the time. Also being picky is not an issue, Dominic would probably eat an old leather shoe if I put it in his food bowl

 

[ellaharris3]

@younggenius My parents feed their dogs kind of like that. They do a lot of chicken, some salmon, green beans, sweet potatoes, eggs I think.... idk, a lot of stuff. They have a read a ton about it and their dogs are super healthy.

Since you were dogsitting he probably just told you one meal to simplify things. I'm guessing he varies the dog's diet more when he's the one taking care of the pup because mixing various nutrients in the right mix and proportion is a lot to put on someone else.

 

[countryangel707]

@ellaharris3 This makes sense. he might just not want to be the guy who's like sweet potatoes on wednesday, carrots on thursday, apples on Friday etc.

 

[inallyourways]

@younggenius Black beans are a pretty great source of nutrients likewise the green beans & micro nutrition. It's also possible an older dog is pickier or has dietary preferences they didn't want to have you worrying about just sitting.
I am not a doctor/Dogtor/expert

 

[ima_believer]

@younggenius I have a long haired Chihuahua he eats somewhat similar to this. A meal is 1/2 dog food and the other 1/2 is some type of cooked meat (mostly meat), oatmeal, some type of green, and an oil (dog safe, like sardines) to help his coat. He is 10 pounds, 12 years old and doing great. He has been eating some variation of this meal his entire life.

 

[gracegrace]

@younggenius I've heard worse tbh. It wouldn't hurt to add carrots and/or kelp. Something for calcium if there are no raw bones in the meat (ie goats milk). There are also a few supplements your friend could add (Nutrify, Raw Complete, Aqua Veggies, or similar depending on your location). Way easier and cost effective to swing by a local pet food store and pick up a complete raw diet (like Primal if you're in the US)

 

[philo850]

@younggenius Yes this is not good , his dog can develop problems it’s not balanced ….phosphorus to calcium has to be well balanced .