Tailored Tummy Co. Canine Nutrition

08/26/2025

We’re in the process of transitioning Milo from a fully cooked diet to a raw diet- and I want to share why.

When Milo was 18 months old, I tried raw because I believed it was the only “right” way to feed. Unfortunately, it was a disaster. He refused to eat, had daily vomiting and diarrhea, and dropped 30 pounds. A holistic vet suggested a cooked diet, but I resisted because I had been taught cooked food had “no value.”

After two long years of struggling, I finally set aside my pride and started cooking his meals. The difference was incredible. Milo was eventually diagnosed with IBD, and once treatment began, he truly thrived. For the past 5 years, he’s been stable, healthy, and free from GI upset.

So why rock the boat now? A few reasons:

🐾Selfishly, cooked diets take more time and planning than raw diets do. If he doesn’t have to be on a cooked diet anymore, I’d love to not have to worry as much about his food prep.

🐾He is now always begging for raw meat. Before the last couple of years, he wouldn’t touch any tiny bit of raw meat but he loved his cooked food. Now he’s under my feet the entire time I’m prepping his food.

🐾Since starting treatment for lymphoplasmacytic rhinitis a year ago, this boy is HUNGRY. Since cooked diets are lower in moisture, the volume of food is also lower. A raw diet offers more volume of food which can help with satiety.

🐾We were given a few bags of commercial raw foods for free that we didn’t want to go to waste so he was getting a few pieces with his meals over several months. This was really the first time that I even considered adding raw food and to my surprise he did amazingly well.

Right now, he’s about halfway transitioned and still thriving. We’re taking things slow, and full raw may not happen until the end of September (if it does at all).

Every dog is different, and Milo’s story is a great reminder that there’s no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to nutrition. What matters most is finding what makes your dog feel their best.

👉 Have you ever had to completely rethink your dog’s diet?

08/25/2025

✨Unlike most of the other nutrients we've discussed so far, copper is pretty easy to meet using foods if you're paying attention. Ruminant liver (beef, venison, goat, bison, etc..) in particular will almost always meet your dogs copper requirements. However, chicken liver (which is the one I see most commonly used) contains almost no copper. Additionally, the form of copper in pork liver is not bioavailable and cannot be absorbed so while it technically does have copper, your dog doesn't actually absorb it.

✨When too much copper is given over time, it builds up in the liver and can result in long term liver damage. Copper storage disease is also a potential outcome which can result in liver failure.

✨With the rise in popularity of freeze dried and dehydrated liver treats, it's so incredibly important to consider your dogs copper intake- this includes kibble fed dogs!!!! These forms of treats are super high value but they also have concentrated copper levels. I always recommend avoiding these treats except for rare occasions when feeding a diet that already has a source of copper*Link to a blog post regarding copper in freeze dried treats below*

✨Because excess copper is stored in the liver long term, this is a nutrient that can be "balanced over time" in prey model diets BUT you still have to ensure that you are meeting copper requirements over time. For example, if you rotate chicken liver, pork liver and beef liver over 3 days, the amount of beef liver you feed need to provide 3 days worth of copper to make up for little to no copper in chicken and pork liver. This is a part of the balance over time mindset that is often overlooked.

✨If your dog is unable to eat beef liver and the other ruminant sources are not easily accessible, a supplement can be provided to meet those requirements.

✨Copper is a nutrient that really needs to be looked at carefully long term. Both deficiencies and excesses can cause long term health conditions.

08/24/2025

✨Check out Abu’s amazing transformation! ✨

The first photo was taken at the start of June- right when he began a partially homemade diet. Fast forward just 2.5 months, and look at his nose now! 😍 You can literally see how much better he's absorbing nutrients.

We’ve only made a few key changes:
🥩 Added about 50% fresh food to his meals
🥦 Decreased carbs from 50% DMB to 25% DMB (which can interfere with zinc absorption)
💊Increased zinc to more optimal levels- something kibble lacks for many dogs

Ready to make the changes for your dog?

08/12/2025

✨Zinc is another mineral that is deficient in most homemade diets I see. Contrary to popular belief, simply feeding red meat is unlikely to meet your dogs requirements unless it is certain cuts of very lean red meat and it makes up the majority of the diet.

✨Unlike some other minerals, zinc cannot be balanced over time because there isn't a good storage system in the body. Therefore, dogs requirements for this mineral should be met daily.

✨Zinc absorption is closely tied to copper and iron levels in the diet. In prey-model or BARF diets with 5% ruminant liver, copper levels often exceed 200% of a dog’s daily needs. If zinc levels aren’t similarly high, excess copper can block zinc absorption. This imbalance can also occur in kibble-fed dogs supplemented with freeze-dried or dehydrated liver treats. Even if you’re feeding enough zinc to meet daily requirements, your dog may not absorb it properly. The ideal ratio is 10mg of zinc to every 1mg of copper.

✨Most dogs on homemade diets with “allergy” symptoms are actually zinc deficient. Zinc is essential for maintaining a strong skin barrier, and a deficiency can weaken it, allowing Malassezia yeast to overgrow. Despite online claims, this yeast doesn’t feed on carbs or sugar, so eliminating them from your dog’s diet won’t help unless you’ve also removed an ingredient they are intolerant to. In most cases, simply balancing your dog’s diet to meet all essential nutrients resolves allergy symptoms without any additional steps!

✨Many breeds are predisposed to zinc deficiency where normal levels may not be enough. Northern breeds like huskies and malamutes are prone to have inadequate intestinal absorption and often need much higher levels compared to non- northern breeds. Large breed dogs like German Shepherds and Great Danes also have trouble absorbing zinc when eating diets with high levels of plant ingredients.

If your dog is consuming a homemade diet and is showing signs of allergies such as itching, skin lesions, hair loss, ear infections, or even GI symptoms (burping, gas, diarrhea, gurgling) I'd encourage you to calculate how much zinc they are eating and making sure that it's meeting their requirements.

08/11/2025

My dogs doing great on their diet but......

🐾they're overweight or underweight
🐾are always hungry
🐾they frequently vomit (including hunger pukes)
🐾their farts clear the room
🐾they're always burping
🐾their stomach bloats after eating
🐾they're constantly eating dirt or grass
🐾they always have diarrhea
🐾their bowel movements are covered in mucous
🐾they have to have their a**l glands cleared every month
🐾they're always itching
🐾they have excessive shedding
🐾their coat is dull and brittle
🐾they have low energy
🐾they're always getting injured
🐾they have poor muscle tone
🐾they can't focus

💡 Here’s the thing:
These problems are so common that we’ve started calling them “normal.”

Bulldogs? “Just gassy.”
German Shepherds? “German Shedders.”
Bullies? “Always itchy.”
Labs? “Just overweight.”

🚨 If your dog has even ONE of these issues — and nothing has helped — it’s time to look deeper at their diet.

Yes, breed and genetics can play a role but they are not the only factor and many of these issues can improve (or completely disappear) with the right diet.

⚠ Normal ≠ Healthy
Every single one of these symptoms is your dog’s way of saying "Something isn’t working inside me." Ignore them long enough and internal damage follows.

Ready to take control of their diet? Let's talk about how a tailored diet can help.

08/10/2025

✨Magnesium is deficient in most homemade diets unless large amounts of certain bones or grains are fed. Since it is involved in SO MANY processes, it really does a lot of damage when the diet doesn't provide adequate levels.

✨If your dog has allergies, not having enough magnesium can cause the allergies to worsen. This is because magnesium is essential for DAO production which is needed to control histamine levels in the blood.

✨I often see seeds such as sunflower and h**p seeds being used for magnesium. While they do contain fairly high amounts, they may not be the best option. Seeds contain large amounts of phytate can block the absorption of other critical nutrients including magnesium. The bioavailability of nutrients in seeds is also largely unstudied so we don’t quite know how much is even absorbed. I will typically only use seeds as a source of magnesium when all other options have failed.

✨Most of my diet formulations (but not all) include some sort of supplement to meet magnesium requirements. Supplements include tested seaweed calcium or magnesium glycinate

08/09/2025

❌This is NOT a recipe❌
Just copying these ingredients won’t give your dog a balanced diet

This is a custom diet for Milo- a 9 year old GSD/Husky mix with IBD, lymphoplasmacytic rhinitis and spondylosis. All recipes I formulate meet NRC nutritional requirements for dogs!

🐾 (some) Nutritional Considerations:
* Extra Zinc- Huskies and IBD dogs tend to need more!
* Moderate fat- 16-18% DMB
* Moderate Fiber- 3.3-3.5% DMB
* Therapeutic omega 3’s
*We are toying with transitioning to a raw diet. Milo LOVES raw meat but it has not agreed with him in the past. Since he has gone 2+ years with no IBD flares, we are going to try!

Want a balanced recipe made just for your dog? Send me a message🐾

08/08/2025

✨Calcium is often talked about but I rarely see phosphorus mentioned- the 2 go hand in hand and you really can't talk about 1 without the other

✨Your dogs diet needs to have an appropriate calcium to phosphorus ratio to ensure optimal absorption of both minerals. For every gram of phosphorus, the diet should have 1-2 grams of calcium with the preferred level being around 1.3.

✨Because phosphorus is abundant in meat and fish, few homemade diets are deficient in this mineral even if you are not feeding raw bones. However, if your dog is low energy and/or you are feeding a high-fat diet, you may find your diet to be deficient in phosphorus.

✨Plants also contain phosphorus BUT only about 1/3 of it is absorbed so it's important to keep that in mind when calculating the phosphorus in your dog's diet. Plant matter also contains phytate, which blocks the absorption of many minerals so you don't want to feed an absurd amount of plants just to meet phosphorus requirements!

✨High levels of phosphorus can inhibit the absorption of calcium and magnesium- 2 minerals that are already often too low in homemade diets.

08/07/2025

Meet Charlie (3), Lucie (13) and Ruby (12)!

These pups have been notoriously picky making their owner rotate through all sorts of kibble, canned food, toppers, etc. Lucie has a multitude of health problems which include epilepsy, pancreatitis, heart murmur and likely liver disease. Because of Lucie's health problems, it was best for her to have her own diet separate from Charlie and Ruby. She's also the pickiest of them all!

We chose to keep the recipes as similar as possible and keep things super simple to reduce prep time and reduce the number of ingredients they may not like. Charlie and Ruby love fish so seafood was included to make the food smell like fish and "hide" anything they may not like. Instead of individual supplements, a multivitamin chew is being utilized because they're typically more palatable.

As you would suspect, their owner was worried about them even liking the homemade food. I'm happy to report that all three LOVE the new food which always makes me so happy to hear and I'm sure makes their owner even happier! However should they have not liked it we would have worked together to find a recipe that they enjoyed. Slight adjustments if the dog(s) don't like the formulation are always included in the support period.

08/06/2025

*Resharing this important post!

✨Calcium is an absolutely critical nutrient to ensure you are feeding enough of. Calcium deficiency during growth can at the very least cause growth deformities but it can also cause a very painful death. I have actually talked with multiple vets who have witnessed the latter.

✨Blood calcium testing is not an accurate indication of dietary calcium levels. Your dog requires a certain level of calcium in their blood to perform bodily functions. When there is not enough dietary calcium to keep levels within this range, PTH will stimulate bone resorption. This means that you won't see signs of a nutritional deficiency until there is no calcium left to resorb.

✨In the past month alone, I have provided formulations for 3 dogs eating a homemade diet that provided less than 10% of their daily calcium requirements. It is extremely important to note that multivitamins will NEVER meet these requirements unless they are formulated as a meal completer. All 3 of these owners assumed that a multi would balance their meals. (They are all thriving now!)

✨Cottage cheese, goat's milk, bone broth and leafy veggies are all foods that I commonly see recommended for calcium. While they do provide some, the amount needed to meet a dog's requirements is not feasible. Better options include calcium carbonate, eggshell, seaweed calcium, raw bones, and bone meal. Of course, these all must be balanced with the entire meal!

Need help making sure your dog's diet has enough calcium? Send me a message!

08/05/2025

It’s been a pleasure working with Jaxen and Winston. Go follow them on TikTok to support her rescue 💕

221 likes, 14 comments. “Winston loves these meals and I can tell they’re making a difference!! Tummy Co. Nutrition”

07/26/2025

✨ Client review ✨

Eva is 8 years old and thriving on her tailored, homemade diet! Her adopter reached out a few months ago, and since then, she’s been thriving!

I'm beyond grateful to support amazing pups like Eva on their fresh food journey 💚

📩 DM if you’re ready to make the switch!