[DogFoodie]

Hi Craig,

Chicken and rice shouldn’t be fed long-term unless recommended by your vet. This diet lacks vitamins, minerals, amino acids, Omegas, etc. White rice has very little nutritional value.

I would suggest that you consider rotating proteins that you’re adding as toppers. Your dog would benefit a great deal from the addition of tinned sardines a couple of times weekly. Chicken is fine occasionally, but rotate that with the sardines and a red meat protein. Make sure that the extras (including treats) make up no more than 20% of your pup’s daily intake to avoid throwing off the nutritional balance of his diet.

Since you have a smaller dog, and he seems to like homemade (probably warm) food, you could fully investigate making home cooked meals, that are complete and balanced. It must be properly balanced or it’ll do more harm than good when fed long-term. A good book to read would be Dr. Karen Becker’s Real Food for Healthy Cats and Dogs. Dogaware dot com is a great website with lots of information about nutrition and home cooking meals.

If you are looking for commercial diets, you might investigate dehydrated or freeze dried foods. My favorite dehydrated foods are from The Honest Kitchen. Zeal might be a good choice to start. Freeze dried (and canned) foods tend to be higher in fat which is very important in your dog’s diet, but should be fed in moderation. Your dog is eating very little healthy fat currently, so any increase in fat should be done gradually. A good freeze dried food is Orijen, but it’s high in fat. You might also look at a lower fat canned food as an option, such as Wellness Core Reduced Fat.

You’re obviously a very caring pet guardian! I’m sure you enjoy cooking for your dog and you could fix him chicken and rice once a week or so. As long as his diet is balanced the rest of the week, it’ll be fine. I’d probably use brown rice for a little more nutrition and fiber rather than white rice. Good luck and have fun!