We often get inquiries regarding the feeding of raw to our weimaraner children.  A number of our weimaraner community members have found this useful, especially in keeping their weimaraners healthy and happy.

We have found that a raw diet, with limited added simple carbs just improve the health and vitality of our weimaraners significantly.

Some of the benefits we have seen are:

• Much healthier and shinier coats with little to no odour – weimaraners are naturally clean as they do not have the undercoat of most other breeds which gives the typical “wet dog” smell
• Cleaner teeth and less mouth odour – because raw food generally has less simple carbs that stick to the teeth and become a tartar build up, our weimies teeth stay cleaner

• Less allergies, skin ailments and ear infections – we certainly have found that our weimaraners are less prone to yeast infections, and require far less vet visits.
• Increased energy
• Smaller, biodegradable, less odious stools
• Easier weight control – raw food is more often than not, less laden with unhealthy simple carbohydrates which only fatten our weimies without providing them with good nutrition

Deciding which food to feed your pet, can become a confusing and daunting task with so many different brands on offer. Ultimately our choice of nutrition is an integral segment of this process so that our companions can live a long and healthy life. Having a pet is not a privilege, instead it is a symbiotic relationship of companionship and trust that extends beyond all the boundaries of everyday life.

Brewer’s yeast is a safe dietary supplement that offers loads of benefits for your weimaraner.  It is cheap and easily accessible.

Rich in B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, and B9) and antioxidants, brewer’s yeast promotes healthy skin, hair, eyes, and liver function in weimie. We have found it especially useful for reducing anxiety prone weimaraners.

Brewer’s yeast is also high in selenium, potassium, chromium, iron, zinc, and magnesium. These minerals are essential for a variety of cell and organ functions as well as overall good health.

Finally, Brewer’s yeast repels ticks and fleas!  Scientists have tried to determine which part of brewer’s yeast gives it this repellent property. None of the vitamins or minerals in brewer’s yeast repel ticks and fleas on their own, so it may be multiple components working together.  Please do not assume that you do not need to treat your weimies for ticks and fleas regularly though!

How much to give?  We give one tablet of Vital Brewer’s Yeast daily for each of our weimaraners.  They are cheap and very easily found in most supermarkets and chemists.

Probiotic Super Drinks!  We just love the benefits that probiotics bring to our weimaraners health.  Good sources of probiotics include natural yoghurt, buttermilk, amasi and kefir.

These days, pet foods can contain up to 70% carbohydrates. These carbs are broken down to sugars, which then fuel the yeast in our weimies bodies.  The most common problem of too much yeast is yeast infections and with our weim-childrens’ cute floppy ears, this spells disaster and a LOT of unnecessary visits to the vet.  If you cannot feed low carb kibble or raw, then you will need to supply your weimie with something that attacks the yeast and this is where probiotics come in.

By far the cheapest and in our humble opinion, the best form of probiotic for our precious weimaraners are Amasi, unfiltered buttermilk or “suurmelk” as we have grown up to know it.  Be careful not to choose one of the flavoured brands as they are laden with sugar, colourants and preservatives.  It comes in 2 litre bottles and can be found in the milk isle in the supermarket.  We give our weimaraners 75ml twice per day as their “pudding” and heaven help you if you have run out of Amasi as they refuse to leave their bowls until they have had their pudding!

Bananas!  Our weimaraners are literally crazy for bananas. They are a good source of vitamin C, potassium, fiber and vitamin B6.They contain a fair bit of sugar so feeding 1/2 a small banana per day is a snack. In summer you can freeze slices for easy treats.  Another good way to give them their banana fix is to blend 1 banana with a 1/2 tablespoon of nut butter and a few tablespoons of yoghurt or Amasi before freezing them in an icetray.  Once frozen, ziplock them and you are ready for summer and a super cool weimie!

Other great fruits/vegetable snacks for our fabulous weimies are carrot slices, apple slices, pear slices and peach/nectarine slices in summer.  Once again, because these are pretty high in sugar, a few slices a day is the perfect portion size.  We like to give a variety and I am sure your weimie will be thankful for that as well.

If you are lucky enough to have never had a problem with ticks and fleas, count yourselves lucky!  As responsible weimaraner owners it is our responsibility to ensure that our weimies are free of them.  We prefer using Nexgard chewables (1 month formulation), Bravecto chewables (3 month formulation), or Revolution (a liquid formulation for the neck area of the dog).  There has been much talk about Nexgard and Bravecto of late in the media especially around the side effects.  If at all unsure about it, please talk to your veterinarian.

Regular deworming of your weimaraners (and yourself!) is one of the easiest ways to ensure you and your weimies are healthy. Treat your weimaraner at 12, 16 and 24 weeks of age. After that deworm adults every 3 months as a precaution. If you see signs of worms before the next 3 monthly treatment is due, deworm again and then again in 3 monthly cycles. We prefer Drontal for large dogs (20-35kgs).