I tend to give my dogs meats that have a good bit of fat on them so I certainly don't feel like I need to add any in, like in the form of fat cubes. They get pork, chicken with the fat and skin, and a lot of beef heart and the fat that comes with it.
Coconut oil can be found in most grocery stores or organic groceries and I always buy organic virgin coconut oil. It is solid like lard but melts really quickly and is also great to cook with. I keep a container of it where I feed my dogs and after they eat in the morning I just dip my finger in the container and give everyone a blob of it. Very scientific.... And they love it!

 

We tried a variety of fish oils and my dogs just don't tolerate them well. We use coconut oil and they h ave no problem, the shelties get 1 teaspoon and collies get 2 tablespoons. We use Nutiva and get it at Discount Vitamins, Supplements, Whole Food, Diet Foods and Sports Nutrition online | Vitacost for a great price. I think when we are being careful to transition our dogs get a lot of leaner cuts and sometimes we forget to add fat back in. My dogs get a lot of lean cuts and even they beef they get is pretty lean so they gets eggs now about 4 - 5 times per week (we used to do 2 or 3)and more chunks of fat. I find they are maintaining their weight better and their coat is even nicer. My young guy who at 14 months is eating almost three pounds per day to maintain weight will be getting more fat, fattier cuts, more eggs and maybe a little more oil. He will go down in amounts fed when he matures but I think he just need more everything until then.

 

As far as I know, feeding more fat helps fix a dry coat and itchiness and also helps with weight gain and maintaining weight. Im sure there are other reasons to feed more fat as well.
I dont feed extra fat in the form of fat cubes because I make sure the cuts of meat I buy have plenty of fat on it. :wink: Beef hearts, for example. I make sure my butcher doesnt trim the fat off at all. And when buying pork, I look for the fattiest cuts. LOL
I also supplement with salmon oil and feed eggs multiple times a week.

When Eevee was only eating lean meat during her transition, she became increasingly itchy and her coat dried up, leaving it dull and shedding like crazy. After I started leaving all the fat and skin on her chicken, I noticed she became a little less itchy, so I started to give her salmon oil and made a note to up the fat in her diet.

The fats, oil, and eggs have really helped Eevee with her dry coat and itchiness, and her fur has started to grow back on her itch spots.

 

Both my dogs get coconut oil daily and they love it!

Benefits Of Coconut Oil For Dogs | Dogs Naturally Magazine

 

Thank you for posting that link. I didn't realize coconut oil has so many benefits to dogs! I will be getting some of that on my next trip to the store. I'm also going to subscribe to the magazine.

 

My husband gets really cheap beef heart at the NEX on base but it is all trimmed up and the big fat cap at the top is not there. It is VERY lean with no fat left on it. Buck mostly eats beef heart because he gets really thin on chicken. I had been feeding this beef heart for so long that I had forgotten how fatty it really is and that's when I noticed that the hair around his eyes was getting thinner as well as the hair on his ears. He was really itchy and I thought he had an issue with the chicken we were feeding (part of the reason he was only getting beef heart) but it turns out he just wasn't getting enough fat.

So far, what we have been able to do is up his fat intake by buying the trim off of the cuts of beef from the NEX butcher (25 cents/lb) and remembering to give him eggs at least every other day and every day when we have enough eggs. His itchiness is nearly gone and I am expecting hair growth soon.

I, too, am going to look into coconut oil and once my sardines are gone, we will start with the salmon oil as well until I can replenish my sardine supply. I prefer to give real fish over the oil when possible.

 

now that i have discovered why my dogs were going bald.....i try to vary the types of fat they get.

so on any given day, they will get quail eggs or coconut oil (nutiva), or olive oil or emu oil or fat cubes from the dog sheep i buy....or fat that i'm trimming off my food.

i save it and it's a treat for them.

liz is right. when i first started, my dogs had problems, so the first thing to go is skin and fat.....i eventually added back in the skin, but they no longer eat chicken...

and now that they eat goat and rabbit, those are pretty lean...even the venison heart and trim i have is pretty lean...no wonder they were going bald. beef tongue is not particularly fatty either...nor are quail or other things i feed.

so now they get fresh sardines or mackerel or herring since they didn't do well on salmon oil....and fats from a variety of sources....and they get duck necks with the skin and fat on....

we can get fat from a variety of sources...and dogs need fat for energy....there are nine calories in fat, as opposed to 4 calories in protein. if you want your dog to gain weight and have a luxurious coat, feed a little extra fat. it's what they need.

 

Do you use a particular brand of Emu Oil?

 

i've never done a plant based fat source but I found that feeding a lot of pork shoulder with skin on it and fish oil caps have worked quite well. coat is better and my dog actually gained weight which he could never do before on kibble or raw. before doing this i fed alot of chicken, rabbit and beef and he looked super lean, and i like lean, but I knew he should have some more fat on his body for the winter months so that's how i accomplished it

 

You can usually fine coconut oil in natural food stores. Trader Joe's carries it too at a decent price if you have one around you. I thought I was feeding enough fat with Louis early on, but he also lost a lot of weight and I couldn't get it back on him. I tried feeding him more fat and also more heart...that got him nice and fattened up.

 

I feed salmon oil to Shelby & Bonzi, Khan however is allergic.
As far as the fat goes, we have been on raw for 2yrs, and I still strip the skin off of Khan's quarters. I did this in the beginning, and after he transitioned I stopped. Last year I started stripping it off again. It was either feed lots more bone, or strip the fat. I stripped the fat and now his poop is just about perfect ALL the time. I do try and keep the fat on the pork and beef (aside from that really big layer you find on some of the cuts of pork.)
I think the fat is like anything, it really depends on your dog.

 

I just feed the fat on the meat. I've never stripped anything off. My dogs really eat alot of fat so I don't add anything extra.