Is a little corned beef as a kong stuffing every other day ok? My girl ignoires her kong when it has her dinner in it, and even minced meat densely packed, but she will use her kong if I put two tablespoons of corned beef in it. I read the ingredients, and it has quite a high concentration of meet in it, but I was a little concerned about the salt. Any comments?

PS - I have only done this twice, and then thought I had best ask for advice if I was having thought about it myself!

Is it quite a large dog your have?  I seem to have a GSD in mind?  I don't think a couple of tablespoons every couple of days will do any harm.  People seem to get a bit troubled by salt but a little does no harm in fact dogs don't seem to have the problems with blood pressure that humans have which is the general area of concern as regards too much salt.

I personally would not use corned beef because of the salt, dogs, like us, do not need ADDED salt in their diet, what comes in food naturally is more than sufficient. Kidney disease and renal failure are merely one of the health risks when considering the use of added salt in the diet.

Any suggestions for a healthy meaty alternative for her kong? She refuses mince, and even blended chicken in there. She just doesn't bother to use her kong accept when I used corned beef. She also doesn't bother if it is some of her dinner. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I expect that it is exactly the salt that attracts her, which is why it is added to commercial dog food (and ours) to enhance flavour.

Are you trying to encourage her to eat or merely to occupy her time?

If the latter, why not try an alternative such as a raw bone?

We have been told not to give her raw bones for a while (which she used to have) because she had a terrible reaction to her food before christmas which really insettled her stopmach, and the vet wants us to avoid them for a good few months and reintroduce them carefully. Today I instead used some chopped liver which I blended with one small tablespoon of natural bio yogust - this was a HUGE success so now I have an alternative to the corned beef!

If you want an alternative to a meaty filling (which is what you requested) then I would choose yoghurt every time, I freeze yoghurt in the kong or you can make a fruit smoothie and freeze, if you use a banana and  live yoghurt mixed then you are simultaneously feeding a FOS (prebiotic) and a probiotic!  Excellent for gut health. :D

That sounds like excellent advice, and she loves bananas too. i will make one up tonight and freeeze it for her for tomorrow.

Thanks so much!

xxx

i think abit of corn beef would be ok as long as you dont go over board.Why dont you try pata my pup loves it or peanut butter my friend uses marg.try puttin something really smelly in bottom aswell