Italian Champion and Nutrition info

We finally got our girl in Jan 2012 from a great breeder in Italy (we live in Switzerland but are American). Since then, we have been attending dog shows and she won her Italian championship last year, and we have 2 more shows to go before Suisse Champion and International Champion. She is what our groomer and breeder tells us - a 'home' dog and a 'show' dog. At home she gets to run free in the woods, play at dog park and she so loves people. At the show, she is a true schnauz and she loves seeing the other dogs. She is a diva and knows she is 'on'. Prancing around. So we got the best of both worlds. We are so thankful as minis are not popular in Switzerland and it took us 2 years to find her! So next show is in France….

Just a comment on the nutrition. I worked for Purina and we went to feeding her the high end processed foods to now a home diet. I do believe in the idea of a meat and veg diet if I can make it at home. Not sure I trust the dog food companies for what is right for the dog. So many additives and other things. So I researched for home cooked meals and many people were talking about the all meat/veg diets, because dogs in the wild needed very little carbs. So we made the switch where I cook her chicken, salmon, lamb (mostly small portions from what we are making for dinner with no spice, bland) and some veg (carrots, green beans, broccoli, etc) and some eggs and yogurt. No prob with the switch and I think it is better for her and actually less costly for us as we eat healthy so I make a small portion for her. But one thing I found, without carbs - her energy increased like 100%. She was already getting 2 hour walks (on off leash) and 1/2 hour play session a day. With the high protein diet she was still bothering me to play or go out. Not much clinical research has really been done on dog diets, but I still believe homemade is best if you can do it. Now I will start giving her a tablespoon of whole carbs (whole oats, brown rice) a day to see if she slows down a bit. I think the wolves in the wild could 'run it off' for a high protein diet, but in reality domesticated dogs might not have all that opportunity. Will let you know how it goes!

Wernerberg and Mom