An internet search did not turn up a clear answer.  How much is too much?  I boiled a pound of beef liver, cut it into small bits and dried in the oven.  Puppyboy gets maybe half a cup of these bits on one training walk, mixed with weiners and other treats.  I am guessing at the amount, tomorrow I will actually measure.  Two training walks most days.  On training class night, once a week, he gets more of everything.

The internet searches are not clear.  Three servings a week is pushing the limits, it seems, but a serving size is not identified.  Probably varies by age and breed, wouldn't you think?  And most sites say use extra caution if Vit. A is added to the food, well, it seems to be added to most foods.

Anybody know or able to point me to a good site?  I even put the word, "Veterinary", in my search and still did not get conclusive information.

Ok, I guess no one knows the answer.  I did measure out the treats this morning.  Perhaps because we encountered two of the village's other Lab puppies out playing and it took considerable enticement to get past that distraction but we used up all of the half cup of liver bits.  Maybe my Vet will know. 

Hi,

This is all I could find from a vet site. You would probably be best off talking to your own vet if you are concerned about amounts etc.

Personally, I would be tempted to use other types of treats and not liver.

Taking excess vitamin A supplement, or eating too much  liver are common causes of toxicity. 90% of the body's vitamin A is stored in the liver, so liver is an excellent source of vitamin A - on the other hand too much liver can cause vitamin A toxicity.

Most prepared complete pet foods have adequate amounts of vitamin A added to the mix and additional supplementation is unnecessary and may be harmful so don't give supplements to your pet without taking veterinary advice first.

Yes, that's the sort of information I found too.  Pretty vague, isn't it?

Yes it is.  Perhaps someone will come along soon with a bit more information/knowledge and reply to you.

That sounds a lot of treats, can you not break them up smaller, andotehr way of reducign the liver is to maek liver cake.  A pound of liver (liquidize) and a pound of flour and two eggs to bind and then bak in oven until firm, slice into cubes, and freeze.

May be wrong, it has been know ;-), but I have a feeling that Vit A is one of those things that is destroyed by heating, so if you cook your liver to a crisp it should not be a problem or as Brainless says make liver cake.

I can't answer your liver questions but you could try tuna cake for puppyboy. I've never met a dog who didn't think it was wonderful. You can give anything from large chunks to tiny pieces, it is perfect for small pups and best of all it's not that different to a good complete dog food in its ingredients. And you don't have to try to clean stringy bits of liver out of your blender.

> And you don't have to try to clean stringy bits of liver out of your blender.

slightly off topic but i made livercake for the first time last week (god they loved it!) and cleaning was a nightmare, yucky stringy bits!

How do you guys get yucky stringy bits?  I've never found this problem, unless your not blending enough or you are trying to blend too much at once?

My Vet. has not called back yet. I did find a site that gives the safe and toxic amounts of several vitamins in IU but I still don't know how many IU are in the cooked liver.  I have suspended the liver treats for now.  Thanks for the recipe ideas.  I do have some already but when I got the liver one it was just so much faster and easier. 

Hmmm, I bet a human nutrionist at the hospital will know as it is a serious issue for humans as well.  I well remember a conversation with my MIL many years ago where she said, "you can't take too many vitamins."  I believe this is a widely held, but erroneous idea.  She thought any excess was expelled in the urine.  Some excess vitamins are but some, like VIT A and D, are stored in the, guess what - liver.

P.S.  Here's the site I found, for your interest.  I have not checked it out as to credentials, accuracy etc.  And you will note it gives the signs of deficiency but not the signs of excess.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=1046

> How do you guys get yucky stringy bits?

Maybe it's the type of liver. I use lamb liver for cake and no matter how much I put in or how long I whizz it there is always some membrane wound around the blade. It's a good blender too - mashes ice as easy as water crackers.

to much at once might have been the prob, was my first go though! they still seemed to like the taste lol

ahh now I have seen the web link.  I think there is something similar on the burns nutrition website.  I seem to remember looking at that table on there.....

Would say its bone fide information on there.

Of subject again but pilchard and tomato cake is much enjoyed as well as tuna or liver. Agree about the stringy bits and I use lambs as well. Funny thing about lambs liver when I was young it used to come from a lamb carcass next to the chops but now it comes in plastic tubs, clever these lambs. ;-)

and so obliging given that their going to be eaten :)