[Oceans11]

Can someone recommend a good nutrition supplement for my 20 month 13lb Coton De Tulear. He is s picky eater. I have tried expensive can food, Instinct Raw, you name it, I have tried it. He will eat rotisserie chicken – which is pretty much his diet also by with occasional nibbles on Origen puppy kibble. I am sure the rotisserie chicken is not nutritional for him so I am looking to somehow add a supplement to it. I would appreciate your thoughts and any recommendation for a good supplement.

[InkedMarie]

No offense but I believe he’s picky because you’ve allowed it. Skip the chicken, its NOT a balanced diet. Put down half of the amount of Orijen that he should eat in the morning. Leave it down for 20 min. Pick it up. He gets NOTHING until the next meal. It’s called tough love.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Oceans11-

Have you looked into any premixes? I have been using the See Spot Live Longer Dinner Mix once a week for my dogs. You just mix a meat of your choice with it and it adds the needed vitamins and minerals my dogs need. Unfortunately, it is out of production until the end of the summer. But, there are other types of premixes available that you could try. I’m also familiar with the Honest Kitchen base mixes. Other than that check out this site for some more ideas on base/pre mixes and home made diets. http://www.dogaware.com/diet/dogfoodmixes.html

Good luck, because you are right, just rotisserie chicken does not have all the nutrients your dog needs. But it is super yummy!

In the mean time, it would be beneficial to give him a multi vitamin with his chicken.

[Oceans11]

InkedMarie and crazy4cats thank you for your suggestions! First I am going to follow your suggestion InkedMarie. That’s probably the problem. Now he had the runs. So if he doesn’t eat for a day or so it will hopefully help get rid of what is upsetting his system. I’ll let you know if sticking to a specific feeding time for the kibble works.

[C4D]

Oceans11, just another thought. After the diarrhea is cleared up you could follow InkedMarie and C4C’s suggestions. If you gently boil a bit of chicken on the bone (added flavor) and mix it with a commercial premix, that might work. Just remove the meat from the bone before using. I make whole chickens in the crock pot, pull all the meat off and mix it with a premix for my dogs. They love it!

C4C, I’ve never tried See Spot Live Longer. Is it similar to THK, Grandma Lucy’s and Sojos?
I know you said it’s out of production right now, but is it only available online? I’d love to try it.

[crazy4cats]

Yes, it was only available online. It was a very simple, affordable mix. I emailed Steve Brown last week and he said the new stuff won’t be available til the end of summer. I hope it remains similar to the previous mix. Here is the link: http://www.seespotlivelonger.com/home/sll/smartlist_13/dinner_mixes.html
I’ve never used the other mixes. But, I believe the SSLL mix has a lot less ingredients than the others that you mentioned. I also have his $2.95 ABC download which explains how to make feeding kibble healthier. http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DN330EBK.
Hope this helps!

[Oceans11]

C4D and C4C thanks for your suggestions. FYI, I just ordered the ABC’s of See Spot Live Longer, it is an ebook as well as paperback. It looks like good information and I look forward to receiving it – I opted for the paperback although it is a lot more expensive.

[DogFoodie]

I have IBS (likely IBD and Colitis) and I cannot for the life of me eat rotisserie chicken. I agree with the others that it’s not balanced, but also be aware that there are a lot of additives in that chicken. Here are the ingredients for the Costco rotisserie chickens: Ingredients: whole chicken, water, salt, sodium phosphate, modified food starch, sugar, carrageenan, soy lecithin, flavorings and xanthan gum.

Ouch.

[aquariangt]

Seriously?!

Here are my ingredients for when I use my rotisserie:

Whole chicken, Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Rosemary

[crazy4cats]

Oceans11-
I’m glad I could help. I hope you can find a healthy balance for your dog! My dogs are not very picky, but my cats sure are! It gets frustrating. Good luck!

[DogFoodie]

LOL!!

I guess I should’ve clarified that if yours is a store bought (Costco, in particular) rotisserie chicken, you should be wary of the ingredients.

I forget that there are people who aren’t like me and CAN cook. 😉

[Oceans11]

Thank you all! I hear you DogFoodie and aqquariangt! Believe me no more rotisserie chicken!

[aquariangt]

I was just a little shocked by that is all 😛

For the record, if I were to rotisserie a chicken for the dogs the ingredients would be:

Chicken

[Dori]

Please remember that dogs are not born picky. All so called “picky” eaters are made that way by their owners. I will also include human children in my statement. I’m glad you are going to follow Marie’s suggestion.

One more thing. No treats in-between meal treats. You’ll fill your dog up on treats and won’t be hungry for meals. Just until your dog knows that when food is put down (twice a day) it needs to be consumed within 15 – 20 minutes or it’s going to disappear.

[Oceans11]

Dori, we started Oliver out on the Orijen kibble and am not sure where we went wrong. He is not a food motivated dog, and that’s probably where we got off on the wrong foot offering him different foods to get him to eat. He doesn’t like to get his whiskers wet so isn’t fond of wet food. But, we are on a new feeding regime now as posted earlier. I’ll let you all know how that works. Your dog is a cutie – is he/she a Coton?

[crazy4cats]

Oceans11-
Are you sure he isn’t part cat? HaaHaa! They don’t like their whiskers touching anything either! 🙂 Sounds like you are on the right track. Have fun with your pup!

[C4D]

I can’t relate to not dogs wanting food. I have Labs 😉 & fosters that are all underweight.
Thanks for the Costco info DF! I make roasted chicken similar to you, Aquariangt, except I do sage instead of rosemary. Dogs get crock pot chicken with organic celery & carrots. My dogs & family are never sure who I’m cooking for! LOL!

[Dori]

Oceans11. Thanks for the compliment. That’s Hannah my Maltese. She is 15 plus 8 months old.

Your comment about Oliver not liking to get his whiskers wet may be something that, at some point in trying to get him to eat different foods or any food, you may have concluded yourself. Thinking that must be the reason. If a dog is hungry and really likes what he’s being fed, I don’t believe, of course I could be wrong, that getting his whiskers wet are going to stop him from eating.

Just fyi, I have three toy dogs and they are all on commercial raw diets. I rotate with different proteins within the brand and I also rotate brands. If you want any info on the brands I feed please feel free to ask.

[Oceans11]

Dori, yes! I would be interested in what brand you are feeding your dogs. I have tried: Raw Instinct-chicken and beef. Primal raw freeze dried chicken, and every natural canned food. Also, Freshpet.

[Dori]

The commercial raw foods that I feed are:

Primal Raw Frozen Formulas
Primal Pronto Frozen Formulas
Natural Variety Instinct Frozen Raw Diets
Vital Essentials Frozen Raw Food
OC Raw Frozen Food
Nature’s Logic Frozen Raw Food
Answer’s Detailed Frozen Raw Food

I used to feed Darwin’s but I stopped. They add more fat to the diets now and also lowered the protein level of their diets. And, of course, they raised their prices.

For a dehydrated, once in a while I’ll use The Honest Kitchen Zeal. It’s the only one that I feed.

As treats I only give them small pieces of fruits and veggies. Whatever I happen to have in the refrigerator or counter.

I don’t feed any commercial treats. Too many recalls, too many grains.

Please feel free to ask any other questions.

[pugmomsandy]

There is also CarnivoreRaw by Young Again Pet Food. You add meat and oil and it is a ground powder.

[jakes mom]

The ABC diet is a good compromise. A quality kibble to be sure he’s getting the nutrients he needs and the “people food” he wants. But these “people foods” are also good for him. I can’t relate to having a picky dog either, my guy (beagle basset mix) is more than happy to eat whatever I put in front of him, he eats kibble, canned, raw, RMBs.

[Oceans11]

Well – we are in day 3 and Oliver continues to turn his nose up to the kibble. If he doesn’t eat by tonight, I guess I’ll try something else. During these 3 days he has had maybe 2 tablespoons of kibble of which I fed him be hand.

[Anonymous]

In case you didn’t know, rotisserie chicken tends to be loaded with MSG, listed on the ingredients under a multitude of different names.
Of course it tastes good, most things with MSG do. A lot of humans are hooked too.
But, if you have an MSG sensitivity, look out! Big migraine trigger.

[Oceans11]

LM, I didn’t know rotisserie chicken was loaded with MSG. We aren’t doing that anymore. Oliver is eating Orijen Puppy kibble when he gets hungry. I tried a different flavor of Orijen hoping he would eat more but he isn’t interested. I’ll just keep trying different foods.
Thank you all for your helpful comments! Much appreciated!!

[crazy4cats]

Hi Oceans11-
Have you tried any of the “toppers” mixed in to the kibble that are recommended by Steve Brown yet? You can certainly still mix in some chicken into the kibble if that will help. I mix something into all of my dogs’ kibble meals. Such as an egg, beef heart, sardines, canned food, left over vegetables or lean meat. In my opinion, kibble regardless of the amount of stars it has is still kibble and is much healthier and appetizing with something fresh or canned added. My two favorite brands of kibble are Victor and California Natural. Good luck to you!

[Author]

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