[pugmomsandy]

Tip #5 tells you how you can make your own jerky strips. You can also make them in a dehydrator. Petflow has jerky treats for sale also sometimes. Last week Etta Says Duck jerky was on sale. My dogs also love the fish jerky (Rawsome Pets and The Honest Kitchen). Frankly I haven’t given my dogs any kind of chicken/duck jerky for over a year or two. Now I give them Vital Essentials freeze dried nibblets.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/11/16/chicken-jerky-treat-casualties.aspx

[Zaggynut]

After finding out about the recall, I became slightly nervous considering my dogs love these treats. This made me look for a remedy to this problem, which is I made my own jerky for the boys. Surprisingly they enjoy my homemade treats much better then the store bought one, plus I know exactly what is in them.

[pugmomsandy]

I like using Vital Essentials freeze dried nibblets and Dr Becker Bites for treats. The VE is actually food, not just empty calories. For small dogs, some really small kibbles are Nature’s Logic, Amicus, Nutrisource small/medium breed puppy and Nutrisource grain free Lamb and Nature’s Select Hi-Pro and Nature’s Select Grain Free. Some other good brands that I haven’t used in a while are Merrick Classic and Merrick Grain Free and Merrick Whole Earth Farms and Fromms. I don’t know the kibble size of these. Annamaet grain free looks good too but haven’t tried it yet. Need to use up a couple bags before buying some more!

[pugmomsandy]

I ended up mixing foods because I couldn’t decide what food I wanted to use since there’s a million kinds out there! So after 3 years of trying things out, my staples are Nutrisource (grain free and small/med breed puppy), Nature’s Select (local) only the grain free or Hi-Pro formulas, Brothers Complete, Merrick (local), occasionally Nutrisca (some issues with their chicken from China and possible farmed salmon) so I just get their Lamb food, Vital Essentials freeze dried nibblets and I’ve thought about Victor because they are local too (made in Texas). For cans, I use Merrick, Wellness Stews, Weruva, Nature’s Logic, Hound and Gatos and sometimes Nutrisca lamb. Dehydrated foods I use are The Honest Kitchen, Addiction (with Big Dog Natural), Sojo’s (with Big Dog Natural) and I make my own raw food with duck, goat, tripe and organs and supplements and they eat whole raw sardines and sometimes RMB (raw meaty bones) like necks, pork ribs and chicken legs. All foods have their pros and cons and not all dogs do well on certain foods. For me, these work. I am thinking of boycotting Dogswell though. Too many issues with their treats and they use chinese chicken. Actually, I think I’ll scratch them totally off my list now… and Sojo’s uses some dried veggies from China so that’s going to have to go too when my bag is gone. It is frustrating sometimes trying to find good foods with good ingredients. I’ve probably used about 20 different kibbles in the past 3 or 4 years (my dog is 6 now). He’s such an inspiration for me to make homemade!! I lub him so much!! He has his own freezer full of goodies!

• This reply was modified 12 years, 1 month ago by pugmomsandy.

[theBCnut]

I used to use them all the time. They used to be one of the best biscuit type treats out there. But I haven’t really checked them out in many years, so I don’t know how they compare anymore.

[beagleowner]

Has anyone heard of or tried Old MotherHubbard P-Nutteroven baked dog biscuits. They are stamped Made in Canada. Bought them at Tractor Supply. They are located in Tewksbury. MA and connected to the Wellpet Foundation. They sound good but wanted to make sure before feeding them to Henry Beagle.

[Naturella]

Sandy,

Thanks for the info! Good to know that the dehydrated chews are still good and useful. I plan on alternating with RMBs (for the teeth cleaning) and try to give low-calorie chews such as Himalayan Dog Chews and antlers for chewing entertainment when feeding RMBs.

[Naturella]

So, I made asked this question under another topic, but I feel like it deserves its own.

Here it is:

What is your stance on natural chews, such as bully sticks, dehydrated meaty bits (gullet strips, tripe and tendon pieces, etc.), antlers, Himalayan Dog Chews, and so on, versus raw meaty bones (RMBs)? Which is better? I know which is less messy, but still, I want to know which is better for a dog, and the one that is worse, how much worse it is? Or (ideally), are they sort of close/equal in the purposes they server (chewing entertainment and nutritional value)?

[ahhorner]

Hey guys, so my dog, copper, can’t have a lot of things, but mostly can’t have grains and white potatoes, and the only protein he can have is fish or rabbit and I am unable to find any jerky or soft treats that feature salmon or rabbit, but don’t have grains or white potatoes. Wanted to see if anyone out there knew while I try to hunt something down online. Thanks.

[Naturella]

Akari,

I see, thanks! And yes, I will only scout really good deals on those items myself, and only use them as treats/spare delights. If you have a blender or food processor, you can mix and grind up some organ meats and mix in their kibble (what I plan on doing). I want to give him organ meat at breakfast daily, or at least every other day or something, provided I find good deals on it. I have found international markets to have an exceptional variety of meats and organ meats at delightful prices, I just need to find the time to get to my “local” one 30 min away from where I live.

But, live in Georgia, and we have both Kroger and Publix all over the place, in fact, there is one of each on the same street parallel to my street, so they are 3-4 minutes away each. Is any of there stores region-specific? (Forgive my lack of knowledge, I am not a US native.)

And thanks regarding where to find instructions on the profile picture change. 🙂

[Naturella]

Akari_32 (and everyone),

I am in the same boat – I am operating on a SUPER limited college student with no student loans (due to being an international student, I can only legally work only on campus, and only 20 hours/week, and I have them filled with my Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA), which pays $730.00/month) budget, but I want to feed my Rat Terrier-Jack Russell-Chihuahua mix pup only 4-5 star dog food. So far so good – we scout deals on petflow.com, chewy.com, and amazon.com, as well as pet stores, and we have fed him Nutro Natural Choice Small Breed Puppy (1 small bag), Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy (1 small bag), Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy 11 lbs bag mixed with Vet’s Choice Holistic Health Extensions Original 4 lbs bag (got it for free at PetLand). When my boyfriend and I got him, he was about 4 months and 6 lbs, on Purina something (yuck), but we got him on Nutro Natural Choice Small Breed Puppy, which was recommended to us by the PetSmart associate in case of allergies in puppies, and then we put him on Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy. Toward the end of that first bag, we noticed that his coat had gotten shiny. We kept him on it, and then I discovered this amazing website, and learned about dog food rotation, so we have purchased his next food – Dr. Tim’s Kinesis Grain Free 11 lbs, and Nutrisca Chicken and Chickpea 4 lbs, which we will mix and feed to him. Now he is about 7.5, almost 8 months, and he is about 11 lbs. Other foods I have on my list are Acana Regionals Grain Free (so expensive!), Back to Basics (so expensive, to use mixed with more affordable food), Victor, Taste of the Wild, Orijen (so expensive!), Wellness Core, EVO (so expensive!), Innova Prime Grain Free, Earthborn Holistic Grain Free, Wysong Epigen 60 and Wysong Epigen 90 (so expensive, to use mixed with more affordable food), and Timberwolf (so expensive, to use mixed with more affordable food), as well as any of the Grain Free 4- and 5-star foods on this website. I also feed him all-natural chews and treats, such as bully sticks, ears, tracheas, gullet strips, fish skins, Himalayan Dog Chews, and homemade treats of berries, pumpkin, peanut butter, and yoghurt. These, I think, also contribute to his beautiful coat and good health. He also gets an average of 1 dental treat/week.

So, the bottom line is, I want to monitor this thread for more ideas on good places (online or offline) to buy affordable high-quality dog food 🙂 .

Also, since I got him, I have been putting in hours/week researching this website and others, and educating myself on dog food nutrition. I was wondering if anyone knows of any dog/pet nutrition classes in GA, USA. I would love to be certified in this area and maybe own my pet food store (that would sell good pet food) one day.

Also, another question – we have our pup on Trifexis, for 5-10 lbs dogs, and recently (this past week) he started itching and scratching a lot. His skin looks good, but I don’t know if he is developing an allergy to something, or it is because his Trifexis effect is wearing off faster now that he is about/over 11 lbs, and they only gave him the 5-10 lbs pill last time at the vet. I have also used the FURminator tool (borrowed from a friend, they are soo expensive) on him twice, once a week for about 10 min, and I bathe him (Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap – Almond, and oatmeal puppy conditioner) once every 2 weeks.

Thank you, all!

[Hganurs]

Hound dog mom… Please advise.
We have a 13 week multi generation labradoodle ( this is our 4th one, and our last 2 lived to be 15 years old till this year). We are mixing ( transitioning ) some leftover Life’s abundance puppy kibble given by breeder, and changing over to Kirklands puppy kibble ( we had never had an issue with our 2 that ate kirkland for 15 years). But naturally, we took him to puppy class at Petco and the mgr saw him licking his paw and said ‘ he has food allergies…, here you need to switch him to Merrick … Try the lamb…’ She was very knowledgable about staying away from foods that cause allergies ( corn, chicken , wheat). So we paid $50 for a 30lb bag of kibble !!!! We have not opened it because I’m JUST not convinced that we need to change food. He has a vet appt in a week and his treats for training adont have corn in them either. Side note is we are getting another doodle puppy in April so we need to keep the food the same since they will be eating together.
Thank you

[theBCnut]

Paprika, garlic, and salt don’t bother me in the least, but I don’t have a need for my dogs to get vegetable glycerin in their treats. It is for texture, but I personally don’t think it improves the texture at all. Personally, until they figure out what the issue with all the jerky treats is, I’m staying away from them unless they are homemade.

[crawdad]

I am very skeptical when it comes to pet treats and some of the ingredients in the true chews draws questions like vegetable glycerin, paprika extract, garlic extract, salt and other ingredients I think are known to be very harmful to dogs.

Please let me know if this is a good product to use for my dog

Sincerely
Dog owner

[weezerweeks]

I give my dog Dr. Harvey’s sweet potato chews. I called them she said the potatoes are U.S. farm grown and nothing comes from anywhere but the USA. I use to get foster-smiths chews but they are from China.I hope these are safe. They also get grandma Lucy’s baked pumpkin treats that’s it. Am I safe?

[Mom2Cavs]

I’ve gone through this kind of thing with Laverne, one of my Cavaliers. She had diarrhea/loose stools and rumbling stomach and inappetance, along with anal gland problems, tearing, licking forearms and scratching her sides. What helped was definitely adding probiotics/enzymes to her meals and also taking her off all poultry. She is much better now. I also went through various foods to find one that did the “trick”. It took awhile. I know the food I’m currently feeding is not recommended by people on this site due to it being a Diamond food, but it has seriously worked for Laverne, and the other dogs are doing great on it, too. I’ve been using TOTW Pacific Stream and I’m also now mixing in their Sierra Mountain flavor. I do add canned food as a topper (a couple tblsp.) with each meal, plus probiotics/enzymes. The cans I use most are TOTW (poultry free) and Wellness stews/Simple line (poultry free). I’ve also started adding some coconut oil…no real reason, except I had some on hand and just wanted to use it up….and it can’t hurt. The dogs poop twice a day and there is no licking, itching, coats are good and soft, no anal gland problems, tear staining, etc. Their energy is fine and they love the kibble, even eat it as treats. I will keep feeding this food as long as it works. I am aware of Diamond and will be vigilant. Sorry, I went on too long, lol! Anyway, the point is that you should probably try a different food, preferably one without at least chicken, start adding probiotics/enzymes and go from there. While I love Fromm, and I used to feed it quite a lot, I think it has too many ingredients, at least for my dogs. They never did all that great on it, come to think about it…..stool quality was never the way it should’ve been. They also liked it but never loved it. Great company, though! Another thing I would like to mention….when my dog started having a rumbling stomach in the morning it helped to give a snack right before bedtime. I used to use a biscuit treat of some kind, but now I just give about a tblsp. of their kibble. I don’t think I need to do this anymore, but they are used to getting it and no harm done, lol.

[pacer1978]

I’m sorry if these questions were already asked. There are so many posts, that I feel it may just be faster to ask instead of reading through every topic on the forum. I am mostly a kibble type since that is convenient and fast, though I do feed my dogs premium kibble: NV, NP, Earthborn Holistic, and Fromm for instance.

Here are my questions. If I do incorporate raw into their diet, how do I go about doing that? Where do you purchase this from? Is there a butcher you go through? How much does it cost typically? I have stayed away from raw thinking it would be unsanitary and very expensive. Plus, I try not to give my dogs bones since they inhale their food and seem to cough and gag a lot after eating one. My thought is that it gets stuck in their throat. Not to mention, I will come home to a pile of bile with sharp bones in the mix and that freaks me out. I’m afraid the sharp bones will do damage to them. Sometimes I will purchase the NV raw patties and freeze dried food and sprinkle or chop that up into their food, but probably don’t do it often for it to make any difference. I’m sure that their raw food is not the same anyway since it is probably still processed in some way.
I know many of you here believe 100% in the raw diet, but I remember when I first investigated it, I had read articles that didn’t support it. One lady explained how she switched to raw and her dog ended up extremely sick with contamination. Any ideas on that? I feel right now with supplements, treats, and premium kibble I am spending so much on their food as it is. I want the best for my dogs, however. I feel you shouldn’t take them on if you can’t provide for them the best you can. Who knows…maybe the raw is cheaper than what I’m spending right now. On the other hand, I’m the main person that handles the feedings in my house. I doubt on the nights I’m at school my husband will have the patients or agreeableness to feed and deal with raw food. Anyway, just looking for your thoughts on some of these questions. I always thought raw was too difficult to feed since there really isn’t a place for me to purchase this other than my grocery store. For some reason, I figured most people purchased it another way. Thanks for anyone reading!

[hwhalen]

I’ve been giving my 4lb, 2 year old, healthy Maltese Royal Canin Xsmall Adult” dry food as the breeder recommended that brand since he was a puppy. I’ve tried others including Merrick (which he would not eat at all). I’ve been very leery of all foods given all the recent issues. Recently I was introduced to Evangers Grain-Free dry food via a boutique dog shop. He loved the sample he tried and the treats. I’m just wondering a) should I move away from Royal Canin since it had under 3 stars rating; b) would Evangers be something suitable for this breed and size; c) which of the grain free dry is best? I’m very nervous about trying new foods and of course like everyone wants to give my dog what’s best. Thank you.

[beagleowner]

new mom, so glad to hear you are trying the marrow bones for treats. My beagle won’t eat green beans.. I even tried to hide them in his homemade food but he could distinguish them. I see your dog had a neck injury, well Henry fell and tore his ACL. Surgery is not an option because of his age. He is on pain pills and limps around. He does sleep a lot and I put his meds in very small pieces of braunschweiger and works like a charm. Wetting is a problem. I read that the meds he is taking can cause incontinence. So we got pads for hi,. Sometimes successful, sometimes not. I did find a chew at Tractor Supply called RedBarn Naturals Joint Firmula Bully Slices. Thry last a long time and Henry had strong jaws. My Vet looked and studied them and approved them for Henry. You may want to consider these if you can find them. They are made in the USA. Website is http://www.redbarninc.com

[newmom]

I’m learning a lot here. Charlie is loving marrow bones. I fill a 4-5″ bone with crunchy peanut butter or liverwurst once a week or so, he loves both. Oxtails are great but really expensive at my chain. While lying aroung and coping with an infection on his neck, he gained weight. Friends told me to add green beans to his diet reducing the dry food each day. WOW! He looks forward to the beans and is eating less and becoming sleek in body. I put his antibiotic capsule in the food and he gobbles all down without hestiation. The empty marrow bones are great for gnawing when empty. His look like intricate scrimshaw. Is it safe to give the neckbones from poultry and not have choking issues. The bones seem so tiny. Charlie is a med. to large dog but I worry about choking. All of you are so helpful and I thank you for sharing.

[koti]

homemade dog treats

[Cyndi]

When I clicked on this thread, I thought there were actually dog treats named “Pig Fat Dog Treats”. LOL! Glad to know there isn’t! Lol!

[theBCnut]

You could probably get away with feeding some of it, but you will have to be careful not to overdo it. I feed a high fat diet, but I don’t feed more fat than protein. I’m not sure how you can know how much fat you are feeding every day on completely homemade raw. You can make sure that you are only adding some of the pork fat on days that you are feeding lean meats like chicken and turkey, or wild game, but I would probably not add it on days that you feed pork or beef.

[CattleCait]

My dog is on 50% home-raised raw, could I just mix them in with the food then? I’d hate to throw them out, it seems like such a waste.

[Rahat]

Chewing is a natural behaviour for all dogs. It allow them to explore the world around them, exercise their jaws and even clean their teeth. Bully sticks are one of the most popular dog chews today. Made of beef pizzle, they are dense, flavorful and come in various sizes. If anyone want know more about homemade dog treats you can visit this site http://www.bowwowbeautyshoppe.com/dog-treats/ you will find so many ways of homemade dog treats in the above site. I hope my will be helpful for all of you.

[Rahat]

Chewing is a natural behaviour for all dogs. It allow them to explore the world around them, exercise their jaws and even clean their teeth. Bully sticks are one of the most popular dog chews today. Made of beef pizzle, they are dense, flavorful and come in various sizes. If anyone want know more about gourmet dog treats you can visit this site http://www.bowwowbeautyshoppe.com/dog-treats/ you will find so many ways of dog treats in the above site. I hope my post will be helpful for all of you.

[GSDsForever]

Mike,

The site shows me logged in here and able to post a new topic for other forums, but not the Dog Food Ingredients one.

There it just repeatedly tells me I must log in and must be logged in to create a new topic. But every time I type in my user name and password and hit submit or enter, it just refreshes and treats it as though I didn’t log in or attempt to either. It looks like it will let me reply to something else there, like another thread topic, only.

Anyway, I just want to post an interesting article w/link on US sourced ingredients that might pose dangers in commercial foods or homemade, whether directly or indirectly through animal feed in meat sources. So, that seemed the appropriate forum, creating it as a new topic/thread. Can you look into this please? Maybe a system glitch? Thanks.

When I have time, I’ll try to come back and post it in another forum here, I guess, like off topic. Haven’t had time to post/reply on this site recently.

[theBCnut]

Unless your dog is on a low fat diet, that may be too much fat. It can also cause digestive upset and in some dogs would be enough to cause pancreatitis.

[CattleCait]

We raise pastured hogs and have some leftover cubes of fat from making lard. Is there anything wrong with using these as dog treats?

[pugmomsandy]

You can add calories to her diet by adding some oils (fish, coconut, Udo’s, etc), you can also add fattier cuts of meat, and you can add Abady granular food (around 100 calories per 2 TB) to what she’s eating now. There are also recipes for Satin Balls on-line that you could try and adjust it to your liking. Feed these as treats throughout the day. Are you using Sojo’s Complete or Sojo’s mix?

[pugmomsandy]

Stella & Chewy’s makes small freeze dried treats as well (Carnivore Crunch and Carnivore Kisses). Fresh is Best has plain meat treats as well. http://www.freshisbest.com/products/pet-treats-chews

[dawne]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I found PureBites freeze dried treats/food. So far he’s loving them! I feel great knowing that his tummy won’t suffer and they are very low in calories.

Thanks everyone for your great suggestions.

[Cyndi]

I’ve just been going by what people on here feed their dogs for treats. I buy Vital Essentials Freeze dried Niblets that I use for treats & I also have a bag of Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Treats. I also make my own Turkey or Chicken little meatball treats that my dog loves. Ever since I switched my dog to a raw diet, 5 months ago, I don’t buy any of those crappy treats anymore. Some of those Purina or Del Monte treats are made with chemicals and poison, I’ve read, just like their dog “foods”.

http://goodnessgracioustreats.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/where’s-the-beef/

[InkedMarie]

If you are someone who pays attention to what your dog eats for food, you should pay the same attention to treats, especially if your dog has issues. I have one dog who can have Milk Bones but I don’t give them. Heck, mine eat The Honest Kitchen treats. Talk about spoiled!

[Duke The Boxer]

are milk bones bad? when i take my puppy to play with my friends older dog he always gives my little guy milk bones. Also Cyndi and Marie can you look at the treats i posted in the treats section. I want to see what you guys think of the ingredients and what not. Thank you 😀

[Linda]

I have an undersized toy poodle. She was underweight and sluggish and a poor eater when I brought her home. She has thrived on Hill’s ID canned food, occasional kibble added, and Milk Bones Mini treats. At one point I was unable to find the Minis, and switched to the next larger size… I believe Small. She developed very severe constipation. When the vet took an X-ray after nothing we tried seemed to cure this, we could see a compacted, granular substance in her colon. It suddenly dawned on me that this must be the larger size of Milk Bones, which are more dense than the Minis. When I switched back to Minis again, all signs of constipation disappeared. I am posting this in case anyone else has or may have this situation in the future. In toy dogs there’s not a lot of margin for error!

[weezerweeks]

Melissaandcrew and anyone. My yorkie is still sick(see above) He is not throwing up but he has soft stools and terrible gas which he never has. He will not eat his hk at all. He will eat a little of his canned merrick. I do the pumpkin,yogurt,digestive enzymes and it hasn’t helped. He has been on hk and merrick canned since June before that he was on bb longevity kibble. I’m wondering if maybe merrick is too rich for him and too high in protein,he is a 7lb yorkie. He was doing great on the dry longevity until he got sturvite crystals so went with low carbs. Maybe he needs lower protein. Anyone have any canned suggestions or maybe I should go back on kibble with canned. I don’t know what to do. If he he’s not better by Monday I’m going back to vet and have blood panel and urinalysis done. I don’t know what to try to feed him tonight. He still wants his dr. Harvey’s sweet potatoe chew and his GL pumpkin treats. Any advice would be appreciated.

[lorienzt]

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[Sallynova]

Seriously, do yourself a favor and consider an all natural, organic, grain free food. We use Dogs For The Earth Dehydrated Organic Dog Food. I actually talked to the owner of this company who is an animal nutritionist and I will never switch foods again. Many, many health issues are cause by improper nutrition like skin sores, loss of hair, GI issues, itchy paws, goopy eyes – I was amazed at all the problems proper nutrition can solve – all my neighbors and friends have switched to this food and we have all been so happy. You should read their web about all the ingredients they use. We get our food delivered every 2 weeks and we get their treats too. I can’t remember all the stuff in it but everything is organic 100% and it’s all based an the exact nutritional requirements dogs need. It’s perfect – once you try it you’ll never switch back to anything because that’s what happened to all of us.

[Sallynova]

Dogs For The Earth Dehydrated Dog Food – if you buy the large bad and break off bits of the biscuits for treats. My dogs love this stuff and so do all my friends dogs and it is super healthy. They have I think 4 flavors and a couple different treats and my dogs go crazy any time they see their food packets. I know it’s all organic and they use human grade food and its grain free and its super healthy. I wish more people knew about this food because it has helped a lot of dogs with allergies and skin problems too. Best thing is to look on their site http://www.dogsfortheearth.com there’s so much information and it is owned by an animal nutritionist and they ship it everywhere. You can get it on amazon too but we get regular deliveries every 2 weeks. We love this food and try to tell everyone. I think your Little Bichon will love it too!

[Dr. Vickie]

Skin is a reflection of what is going on inside of his gut, except his guts look and feel worse!
Feed him wild caught pacific bone in canned pink salmon from your supermarket, organic egg whites, no grains, no starch (carrots and peas are starches folks) or sugar for that matter (my guess is that he is not preparing to race the Iditarod, at least not soon 😉 ) If he is playful and active and not overweight you can add some organic canned plain pumpkin for energy. Cooked organic green beans, all other kinds of organic greens are great too and very important, plain greek yogurt. Sprinkle a high end holistic dry food or wet along with for added nutritional support that uses wild salmon only as a protein base and no grains. To give him some variety if he needs or wants it, you can try grass fed beef/bison/buffalo but I would keep it to salmon until you are sure he is stable before I would add these food items. Some starch in the formula is “ok” but less is more. One fish oil capsule one-two times per day for at least three months then cut back. There is such a thing as too much omega 3 over time. (Note, flax is far to weak of an omega 3 source for him right now. It is helpful once the omega 3:6 ratio has been fixed and that takes up to one year in my experience).
Treats? SOME banana, cut apples, berries of all kinds. Frozen or cooked green beans are safe too and nothing ever got fat off of green beans. EVENTUALLY, other grass fed animal protein choices will be back on his plate but for now, no!
His WORST food choices will be lamb even if it slept in the lap of Jesus it will cause issues; grass fed corn fed it does not matter. Corn fed critters, mainstream beef, CHICKEN and all parts. Even your buddies 6 point buck he shot yesterday is suspect for your dog ( been baited for months with corn feeders ).
It’s note easy, or cheap but it will work I promise.
Give him a pat for me!

[Duke The Boxer]

Also I want to add that he said the treats were raw and then dehydrated so it still has most if not all of its natural enzymes and probiotics. The treats looks really good and the person who formulates all of biostareq’s products was super friendly and a answered any question I ha. He even asked for a picture of duke and he sent me one back of his new Australian Shepard. What I like most from their company is their customer service. But I ordered the honest kitchen beams to try them out since many people have had wonderful reviews of the fish beams.

[liciakaz]

Hello all I posted in another post about potato free and read through the sticky I may have missed something but I was just wondering if anyone knows of a food that it completely grain free, chicken free, and potato free? I’m talking all variety of potato, white, sweet anything? I have two huskies who I believe may be suffering from zinc responsive dermatitis and the vet I have talked to says to start out with a complete diet change before trying any tests as she says the skin biopsy needed is ridiculously expensive and she has had success before with this condition just by changing foods and treats. The diet change is needed especially since I have noticed the lesions appear after a couple weeks of heavy oats consumption as I work for a small business making oat based dog treats and have had many to bring home lately and they are on american natural premium original which also has oats. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Duke The Boxer]

I don’t mean to derail this thread so I started another topic in the dog treats section. Can some of you who are more knowledgable than me in canine nutrition comment. Here is the thread.
/forums/topic/biostareq-k9-dog-star-fish-treats/
I have emailed the company and their formulator was very friendly and responded very quickly. He said that the ratio of phos to calcium was one to one and also the fish meal they use is free of any mercury. Any thoughts? They also has a liver meal treat.

[Duke The Boxer]

Hey DFA community i wanted to see what you guys thought about this treat i found.
http://biostareq.com/formulas/canine/dog-star-fish-raw-food-treats
It says its made from Menhaden fish meal which ive read that supposedly arent exposed to high levels of mercury because of their depth that they live at. Only thing i saw is that it has 9.29% ash.
Serving: Per Treat
Crude Protein (min) 33.00%
Crude Fat (min) 16.7%
Crude Fiber (max) 5.85%
Moisture (max) 10.15%
Ash (max) 9.29%
They also have a liver meal dog treat for the same price with less ash. Also i might add that my dog is a puppy american bulldog boxer mix so hes gonna be a large breed and i am worried about high ash levels.

[Akari_32]

If I didn’t have such a mixed lot of dogs, I wouldn’t see a problem with it, but since I do, I’d like to ask and see what you all think. Prepare for super long post of stuff!

We have three dogs, one my moms, and two are mine. Mom has an 8 pound, 1 year old, Jack Russell/Maltese. He’s got a super high metabolism. Eats a whole cup of food, yet remains slightly (by less than a half pound) under weight, by my best guess, seeing as he was only supposed to weigh 4 pounds to begin with. It’s hard to keep any meat on him because he’s such an active nut. On top of regular food, he gets a couple treats a day (Zuke’s Hip and Joint and Denta Sticks), and every month or so, all three dogs get a raw meal replacement (turkey neck/back, pork hock, etc).

My dogs, 9.5 year old 130 pound Rottweiler/Austrailian shepherd, and 10.5 year old lab/retriever mix, are outside dogs, much to my dislike. I sneak them in a few days a week when moms working out of town. As soon as money starts looking better, I’ll be getting my own place, where they will be indoors, always. Haley, the lab mix, does have trouble keepig weight on when fed according to the bag these days, but is otherwise healthy. I’ve been feeding her about 5 cups, as aposed to the 2.5-3 she used to get, and that’s doing the trick. Dweezle, the rott mix, also eats 5 cups, for perspective. Neither of these two are very active, but I have recently taken to taking Haley and Bentley (the puppy) on nightly walks, because that dog can drive just about anyone up a wall! He drives poor old Haley nuts LOL Dweezle, do to his dog aggression, can’t be taken out often. He absolutely hates the neighbors dog (in his defence, no body in our neighborhood likes that dog), and has gotten in some trouble with them (thankfully they didn’t press charges…). Can’t risk running into them on a walk.

Because money is currently tight, I do coupon for my dog food. I try to keep the bulk of it Wellness Core (Original), but recently got a great deal on Racheal Ray Zero, so that’s what most of their food is right now. I also got paid to coupon for Purina One Smart Blend (both chicken and lamb for something different), so I have tons of that, as well. Because I do not want the Purina to make up the bulk of the diet, and I’m running low on the Racheal Ray, I need to buy either some more Wellness or more Racheal Ray. I have great coupons for both, so I just need to do some math and decide which is cheaper at the moment.

I have been trained over my research of dog foods to avoid reduced fat type foods because they are typically lower quality (those in my price and couponing range, anyways). Curiosity got the best of me, and i checked out the Reduced Fat Core on this site as well as a few others, and was surprised at how good it actually was, better, IMO, than the other Wellness foods. My concerns, though, are that with two outdoor dogs, and Florida’s “winter” creeping in on us, as well as a feisty littler terrier puppy, would the reduced fat formula be a suitable staple for my dogs?

As far how feeding time goes, I mix all three dogs food in a large bowl with a large can of Pro Plan (coupons for one free can, so I’ve got tons!) and an egg. Haley has some problems digesting large quantities of dry food, and Bentley has trouble eating lager kibbles when they aren’t a little wet (when he doesn’t get fed at the same time as the other two, he gets his food wetted with water). Their dry food is currently 6x 6 pound bags of RR Zero, 2x 6 pound bags of RR Just 6, and 3x 3.5 pound bags of Purina One (and 4 more bags of RR and about 30 more bags of the Purina stored). Their diet can also include, but is not limited to, Blue, all other kinds of Wellness, Hills (SD and Ideal Balance– neither ever in bulk), and anything else that gets store coupons to mix with manufacturer coupons (not usually much else, though).

Any thoughts on the reduced fat Core would be great. If you don’t think it’d be a good choice for my case, please feel free to suggest something else! I’m open to anything. Shoot all your ideas my way!

[beagleowner]

Ok more about Henry Beagle. Filling the marrow bones was a good idea for awhile but he gets the fillers out so fast it is a quick fix. We buy the marrow bones and he goes thru them in a shirt time. His jaws are strong. I need a treat that I can feed him and keep him busy for awhile. I did buy treats at Tractor Supply that was turkey chew that kept him busy for longer. It listed ingredients as turkey and blueberries and other fruit. I will look them up again and see what you think. They were listed as made in USA and all natural.. He follows me constantly barking. The only salvation is his bedtime is 10 pm and he quiets down and goes to sleep around that time. He is like a little baby. Any good chews out there that are safe.

[theBCnut]

Vital Essentials makes a freeze dried dog food that mine go crazy for. I use it as training treats. The chicken variety has chicken, chicken bones, and chicken organs in it. The beef has beef, beef bones, and beef organs in it. And the turkey has turkey, turkey bones, and turkey organs in it. They are dry like a kibble, but not as oily. I love it! On Fridays, we do agility and my dogs get about a whole meals worth of treats, but they have never even had a loose stool from it. And because it was meant to be a stand alone dog food, I don’t worry about unbalancing my dogs diet.

[theBCnut]

For training treats, my favorite is Vital Essentials Freeze Dried dog food and I also make my own by baking chicken or making little meatballs and baking them, but those get your hands messy, the VE doesn’t.

HDM hit all my favorites for large breeds, which are the 2 by Earthborn and the 2 by Nature’s Variety. I love Brother’s Complete and Nature’s Logic too, but they will have to wait until your pup is done growing.

[dawne]

My boy is an adult, male, very small ( 11 lbs.) Bichon Frise. He was diagnosed with stress colitis a few weeks ago. He has been eating Purina EN Gastroenteric kibble that the Vet suggested and is doing well on it. Which kind of scares me. Not thrilled about it being Purina. He was eating Blue Buffalo small bites with a bit of Nutro Natural Choice Wet food added. That mix took me 5 yrs. to figure out. ( he is a very finicky eater) Sometimes boiled chicken. He seems to like the Purina okay. Not sure if he likes it or is just super hungry since I no longer give him treats. Since I continually train my boy, I was wondering if anyone knew of a very small training treat that would be gentle on his stomach. He loved Zukes and Bill Jack treats. I honestly think it was the Bill Jack treats that disturbed his stomach. Sometimes during training you forget how small little dogs digestive systems and stomachs are. I have found Nutro Natural Choice Sensitive Stomach Biscuts. My boy likes them but they are so large hence not conducive to training. Thanks!