[Ryan C]

Hi everyone,

I’m new to the forum, I came across it when trying to find out if the puppy food we recently purchased was all that the bag said it was. We bought Purina beneful puppy food with soft morsels, and I’m sure you can imagine my horror when I found out that not only was the packaging less than honest about its nutritional content, but that it was downright bad for our dog!

We adopted him at about 11 weeks, he’s now 6 months old, and we believe that he is a labrador/jack russell mix. He was always picky about his kibble – we started him on the kirkland dry puppy food, then went to Taste of the Wild, which he sort of ate, and then moved to Purina – which he seems to really enjoy. Problem is, it’s not good for him!

I think the main reason he enjoys it is because it has softer bits in it, though that’s just a guess. So, my question is, what dry puppy food do you think would be the best fit for him? I’d like to find something that’s 4-or-5 stars, but nothing extraordinarily expensive. I was thinking about getting the Wellness Complete puppy recipe – it’s relatively affordable, and he went nuts over the Wellness salmon puppy treats, so I figured he would enjoy the same brand of kibble that’s also made with salmon.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

[Akari_32]

Some other goodies I’ve pulled from my other threads/responses to threads 🙂

~3x 6 pound bags of Blue walnut litter for $8

~15x 3oz and 3x 5.5oz cans of Wellness Grain Free (Purple cans) for $0.70

~34x 5.5oz cans of Wellness Grain Free for $17

~52 5.5oz cans of Friskies Special Diet for $16

~9x 3oz cans of Wellness Grain Free for $0.35

~4x 4lb bags of Wellness CORE dog food for $10

~6x 5lb bags of Pet Botanics, 1 20 pound Tidy Cats tub, 1 3oz can Blue Buffalo cat food, 1 pouch Blue Buffalo cat treats, 4 small (3.5oz??) cans of Purina Pro Plan cat food for $30

Some coupon sites I use. The Target Coupons I use at Publix.

http://printablecouponsanddeals.com/Category/pet-products
http://coupons.target.com/pets-coupons
http://www.couponnetwork.com/
http://www.projectpetslimdown.com/Home/Offers
http://www.coupons.com/coupons/Pet-Care-Coupons-102/
http://www.petco.com/petco_Page_PC_petco-coupons.aspx

[neezerfan]

I’ve had my rescue dog for about 5 weeks now. His vet exam was excellent, bloodwork, fecal, urinalysis, dental all good. Vet said he needs to gain weight. He was 12 lbs 5 weeks ago, should be 13-14. So I used the dog food calculator on this site and have been feeding him enough calories for a highly active 13 lb dog plus giving lots of treats. I weighed him yesterday, 11 lbs! I realize it’s a different scale so could be some discrepancy so I’m going to the vet this week to weigh him there, but I’m trying to get him to gain and he ends up losing? WTH? He is very active, he’s a jumper, pacer and runs a lot with my other dog. My current rotation is Farmina kibble (it’s a winner!), Darwin’s, NV Instinct frozen raw, Whole Earth Farms, Nature’s Logic and By Nature canned. I know Darwin’s can be a little on the lower calorie side so I’m making allowances for that. His poops are a much bigger volume than my other dog’s are. My poor guy is so skinny! His ribs are prominent.
My plan is to order Abady’s granular to add into his food, maybe make some satin balls when I get the time. But here’s my question: do you think he’s more likely to gain if I add in more carbs? What he’s getting now is high protein, do you think that’s just not working for him for the weight gain. If more carbs are the answer, I’d rather give him home prepared additions to his food.
TIA for any advice!

[Naturella]

Carlyn, I see. Yeah, I have given my roommate’s dog a few kibbles of Bruno’s food here and there as a training treat and it took her a minute to eat them, which is so odd, cause it is a much better food (I use Victor GF mixed kibbles and Nature’s Variety Instinct Rabbit – all from samples – as training treats for Bruno, as well as his actual kibble, which right now is Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch with Victor Yukon Salmon and Vets Choice Holistic Health Extension Original). So eventually she ate it, but yeah, I try to not give too much because I am not sure how she would be. She has eaten SD her whole life, switching between the chicken and lamb as protein (at least there has been SOME rotation), and he gives her some chewy fish-based treats (yay fish!), so she has been exposed to that too, so I think she is ok with having a tiny kibble here and there as a treat, especially because her particular SD formula is 3.5 stars, so not terribly bad (Earthborn Holistic CC is 4.5, Holistic Health Extension Original is 4, and the Victor GFs and the Nature’s Variety Instinct are 5, but are all mixed, so it evens out to like 4.5-ish). And I think the lab pup should be ok with a kibble here and there too.

But, I do agree animals sometimes tend to go for the lower-quality food – it took the roommate’s dog forever to try a kibble of Bru’s better food, and I have caught him eating her SD Lamb&Rice a few times, that idiot… So yeah, it probably is like “yummy fast food” to them, idk… lol

[Shasta220]

I probably won’t give the pup more than maybe a few Kibbles of my food as training rewards (even though they buy a different flavor of PPP and are giving me several bags for treats), as I’ve heard some horrid stories of dogs who went from a 2 star food to a 4-5 star and got terribly sick. I may drop a bug of this site in their ears though…

Too funny about Bru Bru! I wonder if dogs sometimes like the cheaper stuff the way people often like hot dogs and McDonalds… Like my cat even! She’s a picky lil thing, and I’ve barely been able to get her consistently eating Felidae, CS, and NB canned. I had a can of dirt-cheap food (it was in the pantry from several years ago. Before I knew anything about animal nutrition, mom used it to put our 17yr old cat’s meds in) out for something (NOT for the cat!). I turned around, and Maddy was pigging out on it….did I forget to mention her bowl was freshly filled with Felidae? *face palm*

[USA]

Hi Guys and Gals

A few years ago when it became clear that there was a problem with the Chinese Jerky I started to make my own jerky treats. I use only free-range chicken for my chicken jerky and wild caught fish for my fish jerkies. My treats have only one ingredient, meat fish or poultry. I use fresh meats from local supermarkets like Whole Foods so all of my treats are human edible. I gently dehydrate the meats to make jerky. I vary the drying times so I can make a more chewy treat or a crunchy treat.

Since dogs are designed to eat a diet high in meat and low in carbs plus they absolutely love jerky treats I wish you guys would make your dog’s treats with more meat and less carbs. You don’t need to use flour or a lot of starches if you make jerky type treats. You can use whole meats, fruits and vegetables or you can grind up mixtures of meat and veggies or fruits and dehydrate them. You can make them in an oven at the lowest temperature or you can use a dehydrator. Veggies and fruits will add antioxidants and vitamins while meat will supply the needed protein and fat.

Even though I call them treats the jerky I make is designed for a carnivore like a dog and since dogs absolutely love meat based treats it is a win win situation!

[Tammy M]

My Pompoo has lost her hair since eating Blue Buffalo dog food & treats. Has anyone else had this problem?

[theBCnut]

Hi Dori

I feed half kibble since the squeamish people in my house could have to feed sometimes, so I don’t worry about upping the protein. Between the raw I feed and the freeze dried, I think mine get about 15-20% carbs, which is a very good level for mine. IDK how much carb is in the raw you feed or what kind of fiber yours need. That would play a part in whether or not it would actually be important for you to keep up with feeding fruits and veggies for treats. Mine get a fruit and veggie mix added to some of their raw and some of it already has some fruits and veggies added, but I really limit my dogs carbs because Micah starts having issues pretty quickly if he gets too much. Angel gets even less, she is basically on an anticancer raw, which means she gets next to no kibble and gets lots of antioxidants and supergreens.

[Dori]

Hi “thenut”. I’m always concerned about giving freeze dried meats or fish as treats. Doesn’t “up” the protein levels. I’m already feeding the dogs pretty high proteins due to the commercial raw feeding. I originally started with the raw fruits and veggies (tiny amounts per day) because of Katie’s (yes I will say it again) allergies but then I started thinking that raw freeze dried treats would add more to their daily protein levels. What do you think on this subject? As always, you are one of the posters that I trust your judgement and experience. Thanks, Patty.

[InkedMarie]

I have a few treats here: couple boxes of THK Beams, one box of THK Wishes and one little tube of their Quickies. They’re all fish, can see sense a theme? LOL, safe for Boone but it’s been probably a couple months since they’ve had one, I think. Mean dog mom, I guess LOL

If I was going to use fruits and veggies, they wouldn’t get them anymore than they get what I have on hand. Ive just never been a big treat giver.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by InkedMarie.

[Dori]

Marie. I don’t buy treats for my dogs. Most, if not all, have the same crap the foods have. That’s why I give fruits and veggies. OH! Big slap on the head! I just remembered Boone can’t have fruits and veggies till you figure out his yeasty ear issue.

[InkedMarie]

I’d stop the biscuits. Rice, maize, tapioca….all can be problems. I’d offer some ideas for treats to buy but I don’t think you’re in the States, are you?

I must be the only dog owner who’s dogs rarely get treats.

[Dori]

Sue, you really have to cut out all ingredients that I and others have posted. Your dog is obviously has food intolerances and actually they sound more like out right allergies. It really really sounds like allergies and not something else.

Again, try just carrot sticks as a treat for two or three days and see if it makes a difference. Also every time you walk your dog, before bringing him in the house, rinse his feet off incase it’s something his allergic to outside. You can keep a small kitty litter box with some fresh water in it. Rinse his paws (all four) and dry his feet with a clean towel. Don’t forget to change the water once or twice a day. That will help eliminate any issue he may be having from outside walks. What you’ll be attempting to do with the carrot sticks and the rinsing of his feet is an illumination test. It will help narrow some things down.

Allergy testing is sketchy at best. Human allergy testing is not totally perfected, canine testing is very inaccurate. You can have it done two or three different times and will arrive at different results. The only reliable way to know what your dog may have issues with is illumination. It’s really the only thing that works. Dogs can have reactions to multiple ingredients so you have to just do illumination.

Also, please do not put sugar in your treats. Very very bad thing to do. Dogs just love to it. They will eat pretty much everything and anything. Sugar is bad for the systems and horrendously bad for their teeth especially when there is no need to include sugar.

Shasta 220. Good catch on Sue including sugar in the treats, I missed that when I was looking over the ingredient list.

[david j]

Honestly I’ve had a huge struggle with my dog and his nutrition. Anything that my dog would eat, all the major brands, would make him sick. I have him on a prescription food form my vet and its 70$ per small bag!! Insane, so i did research and came across this video/product that explained a lot. The major brands like Iams and Pedigree put a lot more ingredients than they say. DONT BUY them. I recommend you watch the video i came across, it helps explain a lot. let me know what you guys think?? http://goo.gl/7AWYSK
And I agree on making your own treats/food, its the safest way to go, especially after watching all harmful crap they put in dog food. Thanks for all the info tho!!

[david j]

Honestly I’ve had a huge struggle with my dog and his nutrition. Anything that my dog would eat, all the major brands, would make him sick. I have him on a prescription food form my vet and its 70$ per small bag!! Insane, so i did research and came across this video/product that explained a lot. The major brands like Iams and Pedigree put a lot more ingredients than they say. DONT BUY them. I recommend you watch the video i came across, it helps explain a lot. let me know what you guys think?? http://goo.gl/7AWYSK
And I agree on making your own treats/food, its the safest way to go, especially after watching all harmful crap they put in dog food.

[Dori]

A number of dogs have issues with corn, soy (that’s a big one for allergies), yeast, of course, wheat is a biggie too. Sounds like there are a number of ingredients that could cause allergies. Also some dogs cannot eat eggs. Have you thought of given them fresh organic carrots, string beans, blueberries, etc. for treats. Try that for a while and see how it goes. One of my girls has many many food intolerances and allergies so all treats here are fresh organic fruits and veggies. They love them and no allergy issues for Katie. I always have sort of fruits and veggies in the house so I give them what I’ve got. Sometimes a piece of apple, sometimes banana, whatever is in the house. If I’m eating a piece of fruit I’ll give them some too. My girls are very small..5 lbs, 6 lbs. and 7.3 lbs. so remember go according to size.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by Dori.

[Shasta220]

I will agree with the leave it. Giving him a “pop” might be the quickest way, and it seems like they’d learn. It actually just teaches them fear-association. They don’t know it’s bad or wrong, and obviously don’t realize that it could hurt them. They do, however, associate “Hm…after I eat something….I get in trouble….. Eek! I’m in trouble!!!!” And they sense your anxiety/disappointment/upset attitude which goes into more fear.

This gives many owners the impression that their dogs do have consciences and know wrong from right. It is wrong though, dogs don’t have a conscience, they simply know energy signals from their owner, and will associate actions with responses.

I’ll agree with Sue on the leave it.

There are many variations, and most of them will (hopefully) get the same results: a dog that will ignore something on cue.

I taught my Loki (he doesn’t eat everything, but he gets just as dangerous by attacking everything from roosters to weed eaters) the leave it in a few steps.

#1. The stay/still. Make sure Bruno knows how to stay or hold still fairly well.
#2. “Watch me”. This is one of THE most important commands I’ve ever taught Loki. The concept is fairly simple. Start by holding a treat by your face. Say “watch” when he focuses on your face, reward him (I hide a treat in my opposite hand and use that). Eventually try to have the treats completely hidden so you know he’s watching you, not the food. Also try to get him to focus on you for several seconds before the reward. This step can take time and needs practice (a great one to work around distractions, too!)
#3. The leave it. When Bruno is sitting/laying calmly at your request, hold a treat in your fist. He’ll sniff it and know it’s there. Tell him to stay, and place the treat a bit out of reach. If he stays, then reward him (with a different treat. Leave the other on the floor). If he gets up, take the treat and give a correction (just an “ah ah” and a touch on the neck is fine) and put him back where he started.
Once he stays, then ask for a “watch”. When he watches, reward.
Tell him “leave it. Watch me” and move the treat a little closer. If he ignores it, reward.
Eventually, you should be able to have the treat between his paws while he calmly watches you.

I didn’t go /quite/ that slow with my boys, as I sometimes needed that “leave it” in an instant. But if you can make the time to go slowly, then it gives a great foundation.

Your goal is to hopefully get him to the point of /always/ looking at you before taking something on the floor (believe it or not, my crazy anxious Loki will now bring me /anything/ new that he wants, drop it by my feet, and look at me. If I tell him “no” and put it up, he walks off. If I tell him “okay” he continues to eat it/chew it).

Once he does pretty good with the treat, then get adventurous! Try using a favorite toy instead. Try tossing something past him (Loki will leave a treat that goes by his face, but isn’t quite to the point of maintaining eye-contact. He’s gotta turn that head and glance at the treat first…..he’ll get there tho).

Try to incorporate “wait” or “leave it” into your daily routine. It’s a snap to practice, as you can use it on his dinner, his snacks, his training rewards, and even in his playtime! Get creative with it to make “leave it” a fun game, and have Bruno thinking “Oh goody! Something new! I’d better wait for mom’s permission!”

Until you’ve both got a good hold of leave it, prevention is definitely best. Try to keep everything picked up and out of reached, even if that might include confining him to a room or two.

[Akari_32]

Jakes mom, I bought 5 chicken wings tonight, one for him to eat, and maybe one for Bentley to eat, then whatever’s left will be cooked for meat-water (omnomnomnomnom!).

I did look at Pet Supermarket tonight on the way home, and the cheapest one was $20! Yikes! I can whip something up cheaper than that! I just might, too lol I’m gunna check other places and see what I can find.

Stay away from that litter! I hate that stuff! LOL

Bobby dog, it’s ok, I think it’s funny :p His license says Gary but I’m think about teaching to respond to Haru. We all call him Kitty anyways, so I might as well give him a name I’ll call him. He loves those Blue Buffalo treats so much, so I don’t think it’ll be hard. :p

• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by Akari_32.

[theBCnut]

Kibbles are pretty much all high carb because they need the carbs to hold the kibble together. Think about using a low carb canned food instead. There is a topic on the review side for diabetic dog foods and there is someone(USA Dog Treats) that monitors that thread and is very knowlegable about diabetes.

[Akari_32]

It’s here!!! I have about 60 pounds of food to go through yet before I can try the dogs on this (provided the expiration date is that far off. I should check that…. lol), but I’m super excited 😀 The bag isn’t as big as I thought it would be, though LOL I was imagining like one of those beastly bags of like Ol’ Roy or something. Nope! It’s not any bigger than a 30 pound bag of food (but it sure does weigh more!!) lol

The dogs are both eating lamb right now, so they’ll be getting a good rotation going lol Well, technically Haley is still on chicken (Wellness CORE), but she’s got just enough left that I can add in the Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Lamb and Rice under it, and then she’ll be on lamb. They’re basically just going back and forth between chicken and lamb right now, though I did nab 15 pounds of salmon Pet Botanics last weekend. I do have plans to try them on either the bison Pure Balance, or the bison (or maybe fish??) Nutrisource next. I guess it just depends on how much money I have in the dog food fund when their food gets low. I just spent it all ($30) on 30 pounds of Pet Botanics dog food, 50 pounds of cat liter, and a few cans of cat food and a bag of cat treats (let me just say, the Blue Buffalo cat treats: kitty crack! LOL). Not bad, though! Woulda cost me close to $150 other wise, so I’d say I did good lol Wasn’t expecting to spend my dog food fund so soon (just replaced it after all that cat food I bought!), but the dogs gotta eat and I got a SUPER awesome deal on that Pet Botanics, and I hate having less than two months worth of food put away.

[deborah d]

I no longer trust them to feed any more unless I have manufactured myself from my own free range cattle. Unfortunately it ususally ends up being the processing plants and equipment at fault, i.e., machines which are not properly or regularly cleaned, foreign objects in the processing equipment, etc. I am learning that one cannot be too careful. I have feed ORIJEN for years; it is a high quality dog food and manufactured on site. I also feed PRIMAL RAW. the ONLY treats my dogs are allowed are dried sweet potato and prior to this – bullies – I use Primal because it is fit for human consumption as is Orijen…this is a scary time and one cannot be too careful. I am still seeing dark green stools today so I know whatever this is still trying to move through their systems. Today I add Probiotic. The store which sold me this bully is the best store in this part of the state regarding quality but this proves anything can happen. Diligence and more diligence. I don’t think your problem is the Orijen but did you mix it with the other food to introduce slowly? Are you feeding Six fish or meat? I have seen some rumblings about Arcana this week….on Susan Thixton’s site.

[Shasta220]

Sue, so cool you’re doing dog treats! I’m starting up as well, trying to sell them at farmers market. There’s one other guy who sells them too, but his treats have wheat (only one uses rice instead) and dairy. Mine will all be wheat free and I’m even going for GF in a couple. Plus I’m leaning more toward healthy things that might sound good to a person (e.g. Pumpkin Flax, Savory Potato & Chicken), but the other guy just sticks to flavors like cheese, bacon, etc. Keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll get at least some buyers 😀

[crazy4cats]

My dogs get a bully stick once a week. We always secure them in vice grips to ensure they don’t just swallow them. One of my dogs is very bad about gulping. They last a little bit longer than most chew treats we give them. They love them!

[Susan]

I forgot to mention Grain Free Kibble BUT alot of the Grain free kibbles have Potatoes, the Holistic select just has Grounded White & Brown rice..or the other option is an elimination diet, the dog cant eat anything except 1 food,no treats , thats what Im doing at the moment but Ive speeded it up a bit as the vet wanted just boiled chicken for 1 month, I waited 1 week then added another food pumkin then the next week I added sweet Potatoes & he started his itching & his ears started to stink, so Ive stopped the sweet potatoes, now Ive added half a boiled egg for this week..

[Shasta220]

I know there are a lot of people who love bully sticks. I don’t use them simply because my dog turns his nose at them (I think he knows where they come from, LOL!!!).

I don’t think a raw bone would do much harm unless it was a big load-bearing one (shoulder, leg, etc). Possibly try giving him some chicken backs/necks, and even freezing them to make them last a bit longer.

I also like to stuff toys (good rubber that won’t tear, of course) with treats and peanut butter, then freeze. This keeps my heavy chewer busy for a long time 🙂

[Shasta220]

Just came up with a new one! Still working out the bugs since the treats are very soft, and I want as much moisture out as possible (so they last longer)

I call it “Savory Sweet Potato”. Ingredients: sweet potatoes, flour (oat, but I will buy some garbanzo to make them GF), chicken heart, carrot, parsley, coconut oil, garlic.

I know, I didn’t mark anything as organic – that’s because this was just a test batch, and I used whatever was available in the kitchen, so I’m unsure what was/wasn’t organic. When I make them “for real”, I’m hoping to make at least 80% organic 🙂

They do smell divine though, that’s for sure! My dad almost ate them when they came out of the oven! (He didn’t….as he made the mistake to eat a PB dog cookie last week!)

[Dori]

Hi Nectarmom. It’s nice knowing your still around. I hadn’t seen too many of your posts lately. My girls are doing better than I could possibly have imagined. A number of months back I did the complete transition to raw. All bad breath, gas, tear staining, goopy runny eyes has been history for quite some time. Their teeth are all incredibly white, I wasn’t expecting that they could get whiter since I’ve always brushed their teeth. Their hair (fur) is shinny soft and they all smell kinda sweet. It’s not their shampoo because I use soapless shampoos with no dyes or perfumes because of Katie and my allergies. The three of them have always been chow hounds but this is really ridiculous. They lick their bowls clean and leave them like they came out of the dishwasher. Lola who was getting a little chunky has lost some weight. Well, actually they all have on the raw. Lola was up to 6 lbs. maybe a little more, she’s now at 5 lbs. where she should be. Katie was a little over 7 lbs. she’s now at 6 lbs. where she should be, and Hannah was up to 8.5 lbs. and now weighs 7.3 lbs. Vet is delighted with all their weights and wanted to know what I’d done differently. So all is good here. Oh, they the water that they drink is from the tap at home, we have a whole house filtration system. I never thought it was the water. I always suspected it was the food for it to be happening to all three of them even though some were posting on the other site that it was clogged tear duct, hair in eyes, etc. For all three in both eyes, couldn’t be. I gave up the discussions, dropped the site, listen to the posters and moved to raw. I do add unrefined coconut oil, sardine oil (3 times a week, or sardines packed in water), organic fruits and veggies. No commercially made treats. How are your dogs doing? Still tear stained?

[Mary W]

My normally 14-15 lb bichon had a bladder stone removed and put on prescription food to dissolve (didn’t work) and prescription U/D after. He had one oxalate stone, is older but in good health except for hip arthritis. He is now 17.5 lbs (he was 18) and it is not good for his hip or health. 1 -1 1/2 cup/day is recommended. I have cut him back to only ONE-HALF cup/day and he has not lost much if any weight after 3-4 months! He also gets unsalted broth/water and cauliflower for treats;both are low oxalate,low calorie. He lost weight easily in 3 months or so before his stone on Wellness Healthy weight. I’m thinking of switching him back to that food JUST until he loses some weight (2-3 months), then back to his u/d, but I’m concerned about stone formation on regular food. The extra weight has not helped his arthritis. I feel trapped between overweight/bladder stone formation. The 1/4 cup/feeding he gets now is not much food-so I am concerned about cutting back u/d further. He is always hungry and searching for food as it is. Any ideas?

[Cesar M]

Thanks for giving the website for dog treats. i think its really helpful for us.

Thank you

[Shawna]

Hi Gina,

My toy breeds (I have eight) and foster dogs (Boston Terriers and Papillons) all get raw or some raw. Between my own and my foster dogs, I’ve had more than 30 dogs on raw and never had a problem with even one of them to date. I actually have had two foster dogs that could not digest kibble well at all but did fantastic on raw.

For the record, I do have one dog that I will not feed raw edible bones to as she is a gulper and has choked on chew treats before. If she tries to swallow a chew treat that is too large she is likely to try to swallow a bone that is too large. I mainly feed ground, commercial raw but wanted to mention that..

• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by Shawna.

[Dori]

Marie, there have been a number of what is known as a “silent recall” through the years and, unfortunately, you have to be googling and constantly researching and get on every dog food recall list on line that you possibly can in hopes that sometimes those in the know get wind of them. That’s what I do, anyway. I don’t rely on any one site for recalls. As you know The Truth About Pets is a really great one. I check that site out every single day as well as others. Anytime I find out about any company or brand that has done that I cross them off my list of foods. I don’t adhere to the thinking that anyone can have a problem so let’s give them another chance. Nope! Any company that has recalls worse, a silent recall, are not getting a chance to injure my girls. I’ve stopped feeding kibble and commercial treats for those reasons. I have been feeding commercial raw and now some home made with supplements and their digestive systems are now strong enough that if a commercial raw food company has minor issues I know they’ll be fine. I don’t really trust any kibble company. I’d always be nervous. The only company that’s not raw that I trust is The Honest Kitchen and I rarely feed that anymore because it contains alfalfa and Katie has recently become intolerant or down right allergic to it.

[Shasta220]

Because sometimes it’s both, and other times it’s just one or the other. I’ll have options available that will be more “reliable” ingredient-wise, with no “and/or”, and I’m looking around for garbanzo flour to do grain free! Doubt I’ll use it to replace /all/ grain flour, but at least in a couple. My “competitor” is nowhere near that. All treats have dairy, and only one /doesn’t/ have wheat #1. instead, he uses rice.

The reason being for the eggs is because we own chickens and ducks. Sometimes we have more of one egg in the house, and the flour is a texture issue. It never quite turns out the same, so I have to change the mix just a little bit.

Dogs around here don’t seem to be allergic to much more than the basic wheat/corn/soy (if they are, then their owners are completely unaware). Every dog I’ve met has a treat like milk bone, Purina, Ol Roy, etc. So I’m not too worried about losing potential customers over grain and eggs.

Thank you for the concern. If it raises an issue, then I’ll either scratch the recipe, or fix it so I can keep it always constant 🙂

[Dori]

How about something simple and to the point:
Cassy and Loki’s Healthy Dog Treats

if appropriate with some they could be:
Cassy and Loki’s Grain Free Dog Treats

or, if appropriate:
Cassy and Loki’s Healthy Organic Dog Treats

Depends on which if any will be grain free or organic ingredients or in the instance of the Apple and Oats could be just Cassy and Loki’s Healthy Dog Treats

[Naturella]

Shasta, congrats on still working on the treat business and taking it out to the markets soon!

Some names that would probably catch my attention at a farmers’ market would be:

~ Happy Healthy Yums/Happy Healthy Noms/Happy Healthy Yum Bits (or Happy Healthy Dog Treats/Happy Healthy Dogs/Happy Healthy Pooches)

~ Come! Sit! Treat!

~ Longevity Enhancers (or Longevity Enhancing Dog Treats)

~ Little Helpers, or Little Helpers for the Dog’s Health and Happiness (I know, too many words, but oh well)

~ Healthy Bits of Yumminess

~ It’s A Dog’s Life (or It’s Your Dog’s Life) – this may come out as too serious, IDK.

~ Delicious Organic Goodness (spells “DOG”, lol), or Delicious Organic Goodness BitS (for “DOGS”, with a little imagination).

I may come up with more later too, but that’s it for now. 🙂

[Shasta220]

Aimee, I do see what you mean about reinforcing the wrong behavior. I am not quite seeing it as rewarding the wrong, because I immediately am asking for his attention when we go into the room, and he comes right back out within a few seconds. The trainer knew a severely aggressive dog (WAY worse than Loki, she said….hard for me to imagine!). Every time there was something “scary” and the dog got tense, the trainer would walk in the opposite direction – away from it. Eventually they moved the dog into a class similar to Loki’s and gradually got her closer and closer. Now she is amazing around new dogs.

Sue, I don’t believe he was born with a stubby tail, actually. I have almost no doubt that it was cropped. It has 2-4 kinks in it, as if it was in an accident or possibly tied off with a rope when he was a pup. He adores people, but is very very frightened of older men with beards…I wonder if that says anything about him.
I’ve tried agility with him. He has zero desire for it. He hates the jumps, ignores the weave poles, and refuses the dogwalk/teeter. I do my other dog, Shasta, in it though. He’s great at it.
Aww thanks, his “good looking” is one of the main things that made me fall in love….that and his happy-go-lucky-“take-me-home” personality at the shelter =D

Aquariangt, I’m not sure how well lavender would work. It doesn’t work very well on me, personally; but I have seen some lavender calming treats in PetCo before. I will definitely need to look into making those! I wonder how much dried lavender would cost… Brilliant idea though 😉

[aquariangt]

I just had a thought-

Does anyone know if Lavender has any effect on dogs? It’s calming for people, I wonder if that could help. If so-I know you make your own dog treats Shasta, you could potentially work in some culinary lavender (not ones made for fragrance, though you could try a lotion of sorts) into some treats for Loki

[Jen P]

I have a chi mix who is in the midst of a full blown fungal/ yeast invasion, poor little guy. My vet, who I normally adore, has been useless in this case. Anti fungal pills, antibiotics, and $30 bottles of anti fungal shampoo. He just kept getting worse. Finally I did my own research. Sugar feeds yeast – so no more sugars or carbs….no dog foods with rice or potatoes, no treats with corn syrup as the second ingredient, as most of the commercial ones have…and no shampoos with oatmeal – yeast loves oatmeal! The first change had to be the dog food, so no more Freshpet Select. Thank goodness freshpet just came out with their Vital line, which has no grains or potatoes. Temporarily, I am giving yogurt daily, to try to get his good bacteria back in charge, and trying to feed other immune system boosting goodies – liver, garlic, etc, all in limited amounts, of course. I am also doing every other day vinegar rinses on him. Little by little, he is getting better….but it has been a loooong road.

[Haywood U]

Thanks. With all the recalls and other things going wrong with things we give our pets (treats and toys), I just get worried. I read some of those things where the dogs stop eating because the food is causing problems, but eventually the dog is going to get hungry and eat. Then I look and see the other dog is eating the same food and no issues…but each dog is different. Of course the kicker was seeing her have no problems eating the same exact food from the other dog’s bowl.

I do sort of rotate food out – we buy several different brands and mix the food.

Previous dogs were always fed the “bad” food – Alpo, Ol Roy, KnB. All lived to 12-15 years and never had any vet tell me they were anything other than healthy. Somehow we managed to miss all the food recalls.

The new dog was quickly transitioned from Hill’s (rescue shelter said that is what they used, but she never seemed interested, always ran to the other dog’s food), to Puppy Chow, to finally forcing me to renew my Costco membership to get Kirkland.

So now it’s basically a 40lb bag of Kirkland and a 20lb bag of other stuff and mix it up in a 2:1 ratio (good to “bad”). Used to be out of financial necessity, but now it’s basically just for the variety. I guess we could just as easily mix up the Kirkland Chicken with the Kirkland Lamb and get the same results, but it’s also nice to know that if we ever run out, or are out of town, we can just run to the closest Walmart and grab a bag of food.

I’d like to stick with the twice a day feeding – seems to work the best for the older dog, and no need to upset the routine. I know I wouldn’t want to have to eat my entire daily food in one sitting and have it all sitting my system trying to digest.

[Shasta220]

Couldn’t say it any better. If she’s maintaining weight, she’s doing fine. I still have mixed feelings about rotational diets. I’ve found them to make ultra picky cats, but so far it works well for my dogs (although they would probably eat a brick if given the chance…)

Try the above suggestions. It also could be that she’s just in a not-hungry mood. My Shasta did that when he was a pup – he would actually go 2-3 days without touching his food, but he still wanted treats or whatever was in Cassy’s dish (the exact same kibble). He finally gave in and ate his own, and hasn’t had the problem since.

[Sheltie_Pom]

Thanks everyone. The vet gave me a 5.5 oz can of Science Diet and on the bill it shows that it was $2.20 for that tiny thing and then Ty (My Pom) didn’t even like it so I tossed it out to the other dogs that will eat almost anything.

I have been feeding him Pure Balance Chicken, Vegetables and Brown Rice Puppy and mixing it with his Purina Pro Plan canned that the breeder gave me. He is starting to eat hard kibble again and I think he prefers that so I am going to see if I can slowly move him back over to hard kibble. The breeder was stuck on Pro Plan, but I think it’s a bit over rated and expensive for the quality so I was thinking something along the lines of Purina One Smart Blend or Diamond Naturals.

I don’t know we’ll see. I have 2 $5 dollar off coupons for the Pro Plan so I may use it for my Sheltie and Shiloh my Sheltie pup in particular.

EDIT: I do like the Purina Pro Plan Sport Training Treats. Ty really likes those, but they are a bit expensive.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 9 months ago by Sheltie_Pom. Reason: Added more

[Dori]

Hi Lea J. I feel like this is my mantra but I will say it again. I have a 4 1/2 year old Maltipoo, Katie, has had severe food allergies and intolerances as well as environmental allergies since we got her at 9 weeks of age. I’ve tried any and all suggestions out there. Went through a ton of food, most of which to no avail. What finally worked for her is commercial raw foods. I like Primal Pronto the best. I also rotate her foods with Darwins, and Answers raw. I’ve tried Stella and Chewy’s raw and Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw which I didn’t like at all. Anyway, I have three small dogs that I feed 1/4 cup twice a day. I do add and/or feed sardines (canned in water, not oil), coconut oil, probiodics, digestive enzymes, fresh fruits and veggies. Their treats consist of fresh fruits or veggies. I don’t use store bought treats. To many issues with Katies allergies. My 14 1/2 year old Maltese has arthritis in her right hip and also two degenerated discs mid spine. I rotate supplements as well as their foods. I haven’t found any particular joint supplement that has worked miracles. I have just ordered Sprintime’s Joint Health and Fresh Factor. Some people have been reporting that they are having good luck with these. Anyway, I think I’ve digressed here from my mantra which is: Grain, Soy, Poultry (in all forms), White Potato and Rice Free food as well as anything else you think your dog may be allergic or intolerant to. Your allergy list really doesn’t seem to be that bad though I wouldn’t doubt that she has more problems than just the ones you named. Full disclosure, I don’t believe that food allergy testing for dogs can be trusted. My dogs allergist/dermatologist as well as their traditional vets all would not do the testing. They said the tests are inaccurate, misleading and cost a lot of money. When vets tell you they won’t take your money, you know they are being accurate. To this date there are no known food allergy testing on animals that are accurate. As far as kibble goes, I can’t really recommend any because I’m not comfortable in my knowledge of their ingredients anymore. I figured out most of Katie’s food allergies by her reactions to the foods I was feeding and then comparing ingredients with other foods trying to figure out what was bothering her. She has many many issues. She just recently became allergic or intolerant to alfalfa. Allergic or intolerant to me is all the same. All I’m sure of is that either way, she can’t eat it so I don’t care whether some people say that it’s not really an allergy, it’s an intolerance. It’s all trial and error really and constantly researching ingredients. What works for my dogs may not work for others but eliminating the obvious typical allergens is a good place to start. It’s an incredibly long road in helping our allergy prone dogs but the work is well worth it for them. Exhausting on us. Oh, Spring is finally here in Atlanta where we live so for the last two days I’ve been giving her Benadryl twice a day. I hate having to do that but there is nothing I can personally do about environmental outdoor allergies. Trust me, if there was a way I would have found it by now. This is the first time I have ever had a dog with allergies and I’ll just say it keeps me on me on my toes with all things food related for her. Katie’s how I came across this site a couple of years ago and I, she and my other dogs have benefited immensely. Good Luck. If you need any clarification on anything I’ve said or any more questions please ask.

[Lea J]

I have just discovered this forum! Where were you 4 years ago?
Anyway- I have a 45 lbs rescue border collie chow mix, now 8 years old. She is wonderful but has severe itchiness. We have done allergy testing and found she is allergic to eggs, corn, wheat, catfish, rice, milk. Tried allergy shots- no difference. Tried elimination diets- she just lost weight. Tried just about every dog food out there. Even tried making dog food. Went to dermatologist who suggested Natural Balance LID Sweet Potato and Venison. Still itchy but somewhat less. (I have often wondered if this could be environmental) Discovered some arthritis recently, and has been on adequan with good results. Any suggestions for supplements, food, treats, etc for either of these conditions?

[Naturella]

Well, today I had another success… My best friend, who also owns a lab-hound mix (like my roommate) began her journey in better dog nutrition.

I have not talked to her much about that because I thought that her dad was doing most of the doggie care, and the few times I have been over at her parents’ house (where the dog lives), the dog looked like she would rather eat me than her dinner… SO I had not raised the subject until today.

She moved back in with her family in a new house and we were hanging out and she had to go back to walk her dog. I went with her, but before that I had to take her to my fave pet boutique with the free samples. Needless to say, she got an informational pamphlet, a bag full of free samples, and the recommendation to get on this site. I love this store, in case I have not mentioned this before. ANYWAY, in the car (we rode together), I was explaining to her about how what she feeds now (Kibbles ‘n’ Bits) is bad, what is good, and how it will help her dog. She (the dog) is a bit overweight, has fat pockets formed in a few places, and may suffer bad joints in the future.

So the store hooked her up with samples of Victor for joints, nutri source, earthborn, canidae pure, merrick beef, nutrisca salmon, and some other ones.

When we got to her place, I was a bit scared to get out of the car, but I did… Her dog barked at me like crazy (as usual), but I let her sniff me this time and eventually she calmed down. We decided that if I were to give her some of the new food as treats, she may like me even more, so we did. We tried the Merrick, and she liked it. We were friends now! We walked her together, talked more about food and how it affects EVERYTHING – smell, gassiness, joints, mast formations or fat pockets, allergies, everything. So when we got back, we gave her dog some of the Nutrisca Salmon, and boy, she LOVED it! So we mixed it with her dinner serving of the crap… I mean, of Kibbles ‘n Bits, and she ate some, but not too much (she is stressed because this is her first day in my friend’s new house). But, I think my friend has potential. She had bought a bag of Back to Basics for her dog in Fall and I was proud of her! So yeah, making progress… I am so excited!

With this being said, I really am sorry, Carlyn, but I don’t think anything will help this guy’s dogs, unless, like Patty said, someone whose opinion he values (more) tells him the same stuff you have been… So yeah…

[Jasmine W]

I have a greyhound mix who seems to have the same things your dog has but not as bad. Leo had very bad hot spots though. A friend told me chicken allergies are super common in dogs. Seemed ridiculous but apparently since many dog foods contain beaks feet and feathers aka “chicken by products” or “fillers” well dogs who’ve eaten these dog foods even once can develop a chicken allergy. When I had Leo on a grain free chicken free formula he had loose stools and a runny nose still but less itching and no swelling around tick or flea bites. He got so much better that I let him have chicken treats. This seemed ok so I bought the grain free blue buffalo wilderness chicken formula and now he’s sliding back again. He even got some hot spots again and hadn’t had any for years. So we’re going back to no eggs no chicken no duck no turkey, no poultry of any kind. Try that and let me know. Also dairy products even yoghurt can cause a runny nose and “runny rear.”

Leo gets a homemade dog food meal separate from his kibble meal. He gets a pound of ground beef freshly cooked and drained of fat plus a quarter can of “tripette” green tripe and “Solid Gold Seameal.” He’ll take a bit of ground up frozen peas with this meal but if I put too many peas in it he won’t eat. I’m concerned he’s getting too much protein. He won’t eat pumpkin. I’ll try the beet fiber. I know the tripette is making his coat soft because that’s what it did for my friends dog and before eating tripette Leo had a rough coat. Tripette is amazing stuff. I don’t really know what good the Solid Gold Seameal is doing but its filled with vitamins and minerals.

[Dori]

And don’t forget to consider the ingredients in any treats you’re giving your dog. Sometimes we get so concentrated on the food we forget the treats we or others may be giving your dog.

[Haywood U]

I had really good luck with these liver treats – they are nice and small, about the size of those soup & oyster crackers.

http://www.petco.com/product/107245/Charlee-Bear-Dog-Treats-with-Liver.aspx

I’ve also used these – found both at Big Lots for under $3 a bag. Both are small sized treats – probably about the size of :

http://www.wag.com/dog/p/nutro-natural-choice-crunchy-treats-with-berries-10-oz-116742

and these, although the ones I used were peanut butter flavored, and not the new alligator or crawfish:

http://www.biglots.com/p/c/dogs/bayou-bites-natural-dog-cookies

[Haywood U]

Just wondering if anybody has tried these treats.

http://www.biglots.com/p/c/dogs/bayou-bites-natural-dog-cookies

They are made by Delca Corporation. They also sell under the think! dog brand:

http://www.petco.com/product/123697/Think-Dog-Natural-Louisiana-Jerky-Dog-Treats.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

Are there any potential issues with dog treats made from alligator, crawfish, shrimp or crab?

I used to give my dogs the Grandpaw’s P’Nut Butter cookies (found during a random stop at Big Lots) and they loved them. The smaller size is perfect for use during training. I stopped by again to pick up some more and they didn’t have them, only these new Bayou Bites – same size and design, just different ingredients.

[Shasta220]

That’s good when the vet doesn’t get too picky about the topic of food. My vet said the only food he recommends is Hills and one other (maybe RC? I don’t remember). At that time, our dogs were on Dog Lover’s Gold (4 stars) and Nutra Nuggets (3 stars), he said he didn’t recommend anything that didn’t have an AAFCO statement, including those foods. I went home and looked at the bag….pretty sure I saw a statement on there lol! But the vet doesn’t scold you or anything, he sees how healthy the dogs are and can’t complain.

It’s annoying how much they ask about eeeevery food though. They ask how many treats, what type, any people food, cooked or raw, etc etc. Then I said that Loki gets a few raw scraps occasionally, and he just said “scraps lead to an overweight dog…” (He probably noticed that Loki went from 41lb at the shelter to a whopping 43lb after we had him. He still has a thin waste line and could gain 2-5 more lb without a problem…) yeeeeah, I’m reeeeally worried now that giving Loki a chicken leg once a week will make him fat! LOL!

[T S]

We have two male JRTs (5 & 7 yrs) and a female Labrottie (9 yrs). After seeing ads and getting some samples from a local rep, we tried the Blue Buffalo–dogs rejected it outright. We tried the Wild stuff, various flavors, and inevitably at least one of the three turned up their noses at each flavor of the food. Talked to vets, who sell canned Canin and Hills, about allergies, food ingredient quality, flavor variety. Went back to Fromms, tried three different flavors (chicken, beef and pork), and all three dogs are happy with the dry pork & applesauce formula. They’re energetic, different vets are all REALLY happy with all 3 of their overall health, especially weight maintenance vs activities levels, and their coats, teeth and skin are all great. None smells, they all sleep and BM on schedule w/o problems. We looked at MANY of the so-called ‘holistic’ and ‘organic’ foods. Local pet store guy recommended some ‘natural’ and raw foods, but it made no sense to change from what’s working now. Fromm’s is US made, only US ingredients, and no recalls we know of. We don’t feed them ANY human food, and they almost never get snacks or treats–so no threat of allergic reactions. Labrottie came to us from a poor-quality non-US food diet, and she’s a much happier, healthier, energetic dog now.

[Shasta220]

Oops, just now saw your reply to me that was written in January.

Spices are quite controversial, I’d have to say. Honestly, I wouldn’t worry too much about adding them. They don’t add any more/less flavor for the dog, and it’s probably such a tiny amount that it wouldn’t really benefit the dog much.

I do like adding cinnamon though….mainly cuz a sprinkle on top looks so darn nice, LOL! I’m having a hard time with replacing wheat flour myself. So far I’ve only tried oat and rice – it makes super crumbly treats in my opinion… If you ever find a flour combo that “binds” as well as the wheat, be sure to let me know! 😀