The American Beagler Forum

when its gets cold here (around 0 or so) i usually mix some cooked rice in with the dogs food. rice is high in carbohydrates and i was wondering if anyone elese does this. the dogs love the warm rice on a cold day. would i be just as well off to mix warm water in their food or is the rice really doing any good?

A lot of dog feeds use rice in their formula, much for the reasons you listed. High in carbs, protein, etc, and it gets many "label readers" to buy their feeds. The thing to remember though is dogs are carnivores and their digestive systems are made to process meat. While they will gain some good from grains, they would do better with protein from meat.

i feed a high quality food and was just wandering about the rice as an "additive" for the extra hard times in the winter, not as a replacement for anything.

As an additive it should do fine. Plenty of carbs, protein, and being warm doesn't hurt either.