[squeezy]

he’s been on this food for a couple of years.. before that I don’t remember but it was the same quality food…. he has a pretty tough stomach.. I’m not very worry about the transition.. why do you suggest to try other foods before the orenji/acana?..

[pugmomsandy]

How long has he been eating it? Some will say just do a cold turkey switch (that’s what my fosters get), and some will say to do a transition period. It all depends on your dog’s gut health. Things that might help with transition tummy troubles: canned pure pumpkin puree, ground psyllium, probiotics, digestive enzymes.

Also, one suggestion is to go from Beneful to a quality grain-inclusive food before transitioning to a mod-high protein grain free food. I like only gluten free grain foods like Nature’s Logic. Solid Gold Sundancer is like that also. Not sure which manufacturer makes Sundancer though.

I will say that my fosters eat Nutrisource grain free Lamb, Nutrisource Heartland Select, sometimes Nutrisource small/med breed puppy (has rice), Brothers Complete Beef and Turkey, and Nutrisca Lamb. It’s all mixed up together in varying amounts and they get probiotics and psyllium.

Frankly, I wouldn’t go from Beneful to Orijen. But that’s me.

[squeezy]

i’m currently feeding my dog beneful dry food..after reading the reviews in your website i was shocked to find out what garbage i was feeding my poor dog..now, i’m in a hurry of switching food..there’s a lot of 5 stars, and the two’s that are on my mind are orejin and acana..i have a 16lb jack russell (4years old)..which brand is better?is there other brand i should consider?

[vanyax]

Hi all,
Need some help with picking a puppy food brand… my 5-month old boxer has trouble digesting (loose stool+occasional diarrhea). At 6 weeks of age I put him on Fromm Large Breed Puppy. After a month, decided to switch to Orijen brand, no change. I tried mixing in pumpkin, and recently did white rice diet for a few days, now re-introducing kibble. He is otherwise great, healthy weight of 40lbs at 5 months of age, full of energy, dewormed regularly. I am considering trying Wellness brand next, and Now Fresh. Also thought of doing a limited ingredient feed. It is hard to try different feeds, takes a while to introduce it, then to see if it works, then switch again… what a pain.

I feed him abt 3.5 cups of dry food daily (feeding 3x), which feels right and agrees with the feeding guidelines.

I previously had my dogs on Trader Joe’s feed, Iams etc. and they did great – lived very long and healthy lives. With this puppy I am trying to stick with the best quality, grain-free food everyone is talking about, and doesn’t seem to be working for me!

Any words of wisdom, anyone?
Thank you!!!

[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!

[sippmanjr]

Hi Hound Dog Mom ( or other who know what to do )

I have decided to wean the wean the litter onto wellness core puppy. It was one of your 5 recommendations and they have been great to send puppy packs with samples for everyone. I will be rotating my dog with the NV instinct as well as Earthborn. My question is… How do I safely add sardines and eggs into their diet and my girls diet without changing the amount of calcium they will be getting. I have looked at nutritionals on sardines and it seems they do have a solid amount of calcium. Also what other raw natural foods do you think I should be adding into her diet and how do I go out about that. Obviously the base of the diet will consist of dry but I definitely want to add natural raw in as well as often as I can and as early as I can. I want to be able to have recommendations for all the new owner so they can continue these puppies on a healthy lifestyle. Thank you all for the info. This has been a great forum!

[Akari_32]

Just curious if anyone’s dogs had meat preferences. My jack russell mix seems to favor red meats (beef in particular) for dry foods, but doesn’t care what it is as far as wet and raw goes (although he really loves turkey necks). My other two just don’t care. If its food (or maybe even if it isn’t…) they’re going to eat it.

With Bentley, the jack russell mix, it took about three weeks to get him eating chicken based food when his Innova Prime was pulled off the shelves, first from clearance of the small bags (not popular in my area), then the whole recall thing– which is making me never want to go back to them again. He hates fish based foods, and they make him and his breath smell gross anyways. I guess it’s just too much fish for such a small body. I’ve never noticed it with the other dogs.

But yeah, just curious 🙂

[Gina]

I have two chiuhahuas and they are both on Nutro lamb and rice limited ingrediant food. Both have sensitive stomachs. I was wondering what dry food would be best for them and if I should be using wet food as well?

[InkedMarie]

Glad you ordered the Aqualuk. Give it a month then update. I’m hoping it’ll help. My friend tried so many dry foods, then pre made raw but this food finally worked.

[ellgee]

Oh I have been thinking it was the food for the past several years which is why he has been quite a few different things. He has just had the skin issues every single year despite the food changes. It runs in cycles. I will take him off the chicken because that’s been at the back of my mind as a problem. And he is currently on Benadryl daily.

When you say hypoallergenic is there a particular brand? I do want to rotate his diet. I also ordered the Annamaet Aqualuk today.

[Mom2Cavs]

My first thought is always the food. Why don’t you think it’s that? Anyway, chicken can be a high allergen for some dogs, not all. I have one that does soooo much better without poultry in her diet. I just think it’s the easiest and “cheapest” thing to change first. I agree with InkedMarie above, put your dog on a different protein, possibly something hypoallergenic and perhaps try the benedryl, too.

[Cynical25]

1 yr old neutered Catahoula weighs in at 68lbs. 5 cups a day (spread over 3 feedings) of Taste of the Wild is just barely maintaining the weight on this extremely active dog. I know he’s lean muscled from constantly going, but just a touch too ribby for me. Increasing the dry food just gives him gas, no more weight. Natural Balance required 6 cups/day to maintain his weight and he had looser stools (used it for 4 months before switching to Taste of Wild, due to cost.) The weight maintanance is a recent issue, presumably because his activity has increased even more after we aquired a 2nd dog.

11 month spayed Catahoula/Aussie weighs in at 38lbs. 2.75 cups a day (spread over 3 feedings) of Taste of the Wild has her at good weight, but she struggles to poop. We’ve had her barely 2 months so haven’t tried any other brands.

Coats are soft, personalities are bright, breath is fine, both drink well. Is it realistic to think I can keep both dogs on the same food? I was contemplating trying Merrick since I have a coupon, but it’s going to be a stretch for the budget with such hearty eaters. I’m not against rotating every few months, but I want to use quality dry foods. Raw isn’t in the budget.

[ellgee]

This is my first post although I have been an avid reader of DFA for a long time.

I am at my wit’s end with my French Bulldog’s allergies. I do have an appointment with a vet allergist/dermatologist on 11/1, but I just don’t want him suffering until then.

He has been on several 4 to 5 star foods over the years and is currently on Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Boost (chicken) which I add some of the raw bites (duck) too. Yesterday I came home to soft stinky poop in the house! He hasn’t had an accident since he was a pup! I know he must have GI issues because we have to wipe his bottom after every poo and this isn’t anything new.

His skin is very red with crusty spots, he is losing tons of his hair. I am bathing him twice a week with Douxo chlorhexadine shampoo. Last time I took him to the vet, he told me that in looking over Dudley’s records, this happens at the same time every year leading us to believe these are environmental allergies. And due to a weakened immune system, he gets these skin infections and staph. Last go round, he was on antibiotics and steroids. I do NOT want to use steroids long term if I can help it. He is on a daily Benadryl which doesn’t do much as far as I can tell.

I was reading on the Supplement Forum and my head is spinning. So much information.

My question is since we don’t believe it to be food related (but who knows???) should I try to boost his immune system? Should I feed him an elimination diet?

Help!

[Mo’s Mom]

I really like the Newman’s Own, and since it’s only a topper (she get’s about a teaspoon in the AM and 2 at night), I’m not really worried about some of the more controversial ingredients (though I can totally see why someone who is using it as a major part of their pet’s diet would be). Really, I am just looking to switch up the topper since I have Mocha on one type of dry food (I know I read somewhere that this probably isn’t as good as rotating food and one day when I don’t get the Victor for a reduced price and can afford it, I will try to rotate the dry food. Until then, rotating her topper is the best I can do). I finally got to the feed store today and picked up several different brands of canned food with different proteins. Since they didn’t have everything I wanted to try (which is a lot, I’ll admit), I’m planning on using the very helpful link HDM provided to order the other wet food I want to try.

Again, thank you all for actually taking the time and helping me out!

[Akari_32]

Wellness Core and Racheal Ray Zero are both affordable grain free options (in my area, at least). The RR is turkey based and the Core has a few selections. Wellness Simple also has one or two grain free options as well.

I don’t think the RR is approved for all life stages (can’t recall off the top of my head), but Core should be. They do also have a puppy line, if you’d rather have do that.

Both also have good manufacturer coupons. $3-4 off any size and variety of RR and $5 off any size and variety of Wellness. The Wellness coupon is always available, and the RR is usually available.

[cockerspanielmom]

I just wanted any recommendations you have.

I have a 15.5 year old cocker spaniel, mostly healthy.
We added a 10 month cocker spaniel puppy after losing our 13 year old earlier in the year.

We also have two additional cockers living with my mother in law while we have our house built. a 13 year old tri girl with bladder stones eating a prescription diet WD or CD and a cancer surviving 13 year old buff boy with an enlarged heart but otherwise healthy.

So we fed everyone WD for the past 7+ years due to the one dog who required it. With the puppy in the house, that’s not ideal so our vet suggested a senior formula for the two boys and a puppy formula for the new baby.

We’ve tried Blue Buffalo, it’s our first choice. The puppy really needs grain free.
They don’t like BB and will barely eat it. We tried some samples of Merrick and they love it but the protein is just too high. We’ve also tried Natural Balance Fish and Potato and Ideal Balance Fish/Potato.

Ideal Balance is only rated a 3 (bleh) but they ate it best. Merrick replied that we should try Castor and Pollux as a lower protein option to Merrick.

I just feel a bit lost because they don’t seem to like any of the foods we are trying yet. We want them to love the food, want to eat it, and it still be healthy. I’ve never had such picky dogs before and the puppy needs that grain free due to possible allergies and it’s just a mess.

[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!

[somebodysme]

NO she is definitely allergic to the antler and the bone! She had a severe reaction just right after she ate them with hives! She was given benadryl and was ok the next day. She is on an elimination diet and doesn’t eat anything besides her food so when he gets something like a bone and has a reaction that night I know it’s the bone or antler. I was talking to vet a few days ago at a pet event and told her my dog was allergic to an antler and she did not find that to be at all unusual.

I do want to have her tested for the allergies. She was given treatment for parasites back in January then tested two months later and was negative. I suppose she could have them again? She does SO LOVE the cat poo! GAH! Which also doesn’t help with the allergies.

[Duncan2012]

Our 9-month-old Bernese mix has been doing well on Zignature, but we’d like to rotate his food. He seems to have a sensitivity to potatoes. Any suggestions for good potato-free, grain-free dry dog foods from HDM’s list? The top 5 she suggested earlier in this thread all seem to include potatoes. I know Canine Caviar is grain-free and potato-free, but it’s out of our budget.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Sandy, just a heads up, you might already know or it may not be an issue for you but Addiction’s canned foods are made by Evanger’s. I used to use them a lot for Gus when he ate dry/canned and didn’t know, I recently found this out though. I guess this is only true for the US, their canned foods for other countries are manufactured somewhere in NZ.

[rogerharris]

Hi, Pinnacle Holistic Trout & Sweet Potato Dog Food is a good dry food, which costs $49.99 for 30 lb.

[rogerharris]

Hi, I will suggest you to feed your dog “Pinnacle Holistic Trout & Sweet Potato Dog Food”. It is a dry food which is made with trout and sweet potatoes. It eliminates common allergies.

[Melissaandcrew]

My old timer eat the same as my young ones-including the one with NO TEETH. I feed a variety, and if your dog is not wanting to chew, just add warm water. My guy with no teeth will chomp up dry better than some of the older ones with teeth, lol.

[zchar14]

Hello,

I was wondering if I could get some advice on what would be a good food to give my older dog. She is a mixed breed, 13 years old…almost 14 years old. She doesn’t have any real health issues except that she does seem to not want to chew the harder dry dog foods as much. She can switch foods pretty easily and I don’t mind if a food is not all organic, grain-free or all natural…I’m just looking for something that would still fall into the “dry” dog food category but would be easier for her to chew? Any ideas?

[Mo’s Mom]

After being a lurker for awhile, I wanted the opinion from some of the very knowledgeable commenters here at DFA. My dog, Mocha, gets mostly dry food (Victor ALS) with some green beans and can food as a topper because she can sometimes be finicky (and, if she doesn’t eat, my parent’s bloodhound is all about some stealing 🙂 ). Right now, I’m using Newman’s Own Organics as her can food, but I’d like to switch between a couple of different can foods since I cannot switch between her dry due to expense (the place I work at sells Victor, so I get an employee discount on it, which is one of the reasons I use it).

I’ve been looking at the following on Wag.com:
*Fromm
*Wellness
*Wellness 95 percent
*Wellness Core
*Newman’s Own Organics
*Holistic Select

Any other suggestions? (Please note that I can’t go much over 30 dollars for the 12 can-case, and I need something that is NOT a stew/in gravy for the very personal reason of I can’t stand stewed/gravy can food for some reason).

Thanks in advance!

[Cyndi]

Well, I don’t have a flea comb. I have to run out and get one, but I sprayed her Thursday completely with the Mercola’s Flea & Tick spray, that’s when I found a flea. The spray had killed it or immobilized it. That was all I found. So I sprayed the entire house with a different organic spray I had & put more DE down. Then last night I covered her entire body in DE. Today, I still didn’t see any other fleas, but she’s been scratching more so I bathed her in Dawn, Apple Cider Vinegar & Water (saw that online) and I found a couple more fleas that I picked off of her. They were dead. When she was dry, I sprayed her with more of the flea & tick spray and she hasn’t scratched once. So, I am going out in a few to get a flea comb and I will probably bathe her again tomorrow. Damn fleas! Damn me for saying I wish it WAS fleas.

[HuskyMom]

Just found this site, it is wonderful. I’ve learned so much. Here’s my problem: I’ve been feeding my 7-year old husky mix female IAMS Healthy Naturals (dry food) since she turned one. Never had a problem at all. About 2 months ago, she started having trouble with her bowel movements, moving from one spot to another. Then she got a little lathargic, stopped eating her regular amount of food. On August 15, she had been in the yard and came in licking the top of her front paw. We didn’t see anything, but the next morning, there was a bump like something had bit her. We immediately took her to the vet and he said it could have been a non-venomous snake and gave her steroids for the itching and swelling and cephalexin anti-biotics. After three days, she started having diarreah and he advised us to stop the antibiotics. She never got back to normal and started having bloody diarreah about a week ago. BUT, she had started having trouble before the bite. Otherwise I would think that it was from that or from the medication. A friend told me about an IAMS recall for salmonella, I researched it and it was in our region. I did not have the bag to check the numbers because I pour it into a tub with a vacuum seal to store. Took her to the vet on Saturday where blood was drawn and sent off, but she had a fever and he said ‘it looked like it might be salmonella, but would have to wait on the results.’ He gave her Metronidazole, Synacore digestive support to sprinkle on her food once a day, plus ProPectalin Gel. I had already started to feed her brown rice with some chicken 4 days before taking her to the vet. He told me to continue on that until she was finished with all her medicine. Three days later (yesterday), he called with the results and it is not salmonella; he said it was either a bowel disease or possibly cancer and said to feed her Hills ID or ZD when she finished the medicine, starting with a little mixed in her rice until she was eating solely the Hills. And to try to get a urine specimen and bring in, which I am finding impossible to do. My question is what else can I give her other than the Hills? After reading the information on here, I really don’t want to feed her that. She is eating very well right now – the rice and chicken and I’ve added some green beans and carrots. But where she used to go on 2-3 mile walks, she’s tired after just a few minutes and will lie down. Sometimes she doesn’t even want to go and before she lived for her long walks. I know it will take time to get over this, whatever it is, so I want to make sure I feed her the right food. Any suggestions? Thanks for reading my long post.

[sheeena]

Hello everyone,

I recently did an allergy test on my two puppies and upon reviewing their list of allergies I’m having a hard time finding a right dry food for them. Has anyone ever come upon a dry dog food that doesn’t contain poultry (duck, chicken, goose, turkey), vegetables (broccoli, potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, yam), canola oil, any grains, flax seed, eggs or gluten?

Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks!!!

[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.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi jimmianne –

There’s no such thing as a single “best” food. The less processed the better – so raw would be the best option, followed by fresh cooked, then dehydrated or freeze-dried, then canned, with dry food being the worst option. With whatever you feed, variety is key – don’t stick with the same food. Rotating foods helps to strengthen your dog’s gut by fostering a diverse population of microflora, gives your dog a variety of nutrients and give you options in the event of a recall. If you’re going to feed a dry food as the bulk of your pup’s diet I would add a quality “topper” – such as raw, dehydrated, freeze-dried, canned or healthy fresh foods (i.e. eggs, lean meat, plain yogurt or kefir, cottage cheese, tinned sardines, etc.). Canidae looks good on paper but I personally wouldn’t risk feeding – the majority of Canidae’s products are manufactured by Diamond who has very poor quality control and numerous recalls. Unless you live in the same state as Canidae’s plant or in a neighboring state you’re probably getting product manufactured by Diamond.

As far as supplements, some good supplements to consider would be probiotics, digestive enzymes, quality fish oil and whole food supplements (with “super foods” like kelp, spirulina, bee pollen, etc.).

[sippmanjr]

Hi Hound Dog Mom,
You seem very knowledgeable on this subject. I just found your post after beginning to do a lot of dog food research. My fathers Golden Retriever just gave birth to 11 puppies a week and a half ago. We are not backyard breeders trying to profit of these dogs. They pups came from a 55lb female Golden, and a 110lb male. Both are my fathers family dogs. This will be there first and last litter. All dogs will be staying close and going to family and friends. One of them will be my young families first dog in our home. With that being said, I want to wean them onto the best food I can to help curb any growth or health issues. I also want to pick a food that I can keep my puppy on as well throughout their puppy stage and into adulthood. We live in Southern California so getting these foods is usually not the issue. Not to mention there are endless resources online. My Question to you is… What would be your top 5 choices for this breed? Any help you can give would be great. This is the food I purchased yesterday on the recommendation of my local feed store. I am starting to regret my decision since it is not grain free and am probably going to return it based on what you have to say. it is the Canidae large breed puppy http://www.canidae.com/dogs/life-stages/dry/large-breed-puppy/duck

[CaitlinNes]

My 17 lb. terrier mix has a sensitive stomach. When he was having trouble a couple of months ago, he was vomiting daily or at least several times a week, and had loose stools frequently. He was sick for about 12 weeks, and we were at the vet every other week testing for IBD and getting a range of pills to try, some of which worked, some didn’t. Finally, with trial and error and time, things are under control. I am about to switch his food from our vet recommended Hill’s Prescription Diet I.D (dry) to a higher quality food, now that he has been symptom free for a couple of months. I am not a fan of the low-quality ingredients in I.D which is the main cause for the switch, even though my dog has been doing well on the diet and enjoys the food. I plan on transitioning him to the new food over a 14 day period. I noticed that the new food (BLUE Basics Grain-Free turkey and potato recipe dry food) has twice the amount of fiber as the old food (3.5% old to 7% new), slightly higher fat (9% old to 12% new), but almost the same amount of protein (21% to 22%). Is the extra fiber in the new food going to cause him trouble, or might it actually help him?

[SheSaid]

So sorry for all the loses.. nothing hurts as bad as losing a love one. I too had a fur baby die in June. It was sudden and a rush to the vets where she died with in 12 hours. We were crushed and still suffer the loss. Vet said it was “probably” Addison’s disease and her death was from an Addison crisis .. and he said this without testing her. I researched that disease and it is still a maybe but my thoughts are it could have been food related. I have now transitioned all my other babies to rice and chicken with some vegies. I have recently become mom to a large black lab.. I do give him the rice and chicken mixture but that is much too expensive for me to feed him without mixing in some dry dog food, and of course since reading this I will find a safe dry dog food to give him. My question is that just today I read that rice can contain arsenic… /[‘0’]\ … Is that just the rice in dog food preps or all rice. We eat a lot of rice as a family and now our dogs do too. Is the same true for organic rice as well. I will continue to do some research today on my own but if anyone can fast track me I would appreciate it.

[pugmomsandy]

Ziwipeak, Only Natural Pet Max Meat, Smack, Vital Essentials, Addiction.
As far as ingredients go, look for named meats, named fats, real veg/fruit, superfoods, and protein at least around 30% dry matter. Because just like kibble, there are high and low protein dehydrated foods. 30 is just around average. I don’t think Ziwipeak and Vital Essentials absorb water well so I would use those like kibble. You can use rehydrated foods like you would canned foods. They can be given any time as a meal or as a topper to kibble. My senior gets mostly wet food.

[Marvins mom]

I have to mention the best help i’ve had for my dog in the 8years that i’ve owned him. It’s – if I may mention a brand name – the Dinovites product out of Kentucky. All the years that he’s itched and scratched off all of his hair, having the itchy red, watery eyes for months on end – it’s the only thing that has helped him have some amount of relief. For years we’ve tried the extra fish/oils, grain free dog food, probiotics, benedryl, steroids, vet visits…..and NOTHING…i mean nothing helped him. Sadly he looked like a chemotherapy patient?!?!? Since taking the Dinovites this year, starting in May he was three months free of his irritations. Sadly come Aug. he burst into red inflamed skin and sad eyes, also lost wieght again. I thought – OH NO, not again! BUT IT ONLY LASTED FOR 6 WEEKS… vs the 5-6 months of misery!So, i bathed him every other day with a soothing bath shampoo and continued with the Dinovites and he is now been itch free again since the last 2 weeks! it is now Oct. 1st. I have to say that seasonal allergies are the worst to treat and this IS the only remedy i will continue to use year long for him to be happy in the later years of his life! He is now 8 — i only wish i had known about this product years ago and saved him the misery!!!!!!!! I am hoping that come next May it doesn’t start again and holds off til at least Aug. or doesn’t come at all….we’ll see! It’s worth the invest ment for us!!!!!!!!

[somebodysme]

Off the top of my head, this is what I’d do if I were searching. I would go to chewy dot com and search for dry dog food then you can narrow it down by choosing “puppy” then grain free and then by the meat you’d like to feed such as lamb. That will narrow it down and from there you’ll just have to check the ingredients they list for each food at chewy and see if it contains beef or chicken or potatoes.

[pugmomsandy]

You might check out “Pet Food Industry” magazine. All the companies that make anything related to dog food advertise in there.

[RobLee]

Hello everyone,

Would anyone here happen to know where dog food producers get their puree/powders for their dry dog foods?

At the moment I am working on making my own dry dog food. Is their an agricultural network that I can gain access to such powders/purees in bulk? I have already gathered contacts for certain types chicken/etc. meals I will be using.

I have looked online for such purees I need but they seem a bit pricey. Also its hard to find the specific ones I will be needing.

Thanks!

-RobLee

• This topic was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by RobLee.

[harp31]

Thanks for the suggestions Olga. I have been feeding Orijin Regional Red which is for all life stages and they are both eating it (although the 4 mo old doesn’t like it as much as the 1 yr old does). I also add a little wet food to the dry (currently Wellness 95% beef, turkey or chicken). I just wonder if the high protein is too much for the little one … Orijen Reg Red is 75% protein plus the wet is high protein but I only add enough to coat the kibble (1/2 tsp or so). I also add a little boiled/chopped chicken breast to the top (1 tablespoon or so). The one year old gobbles it up and eats very well, but the little one is not as fond of it. She eats it just fine when the older one is near “cause she doesn’t want her to get it, though … LOL. We are battling a yeast infection in the little one’s ear right now and she is a little itchy and licking her paws, not sure if it is environmental or food related. Hoping it’s not the food …

[olga]

Hi, I have a 2 year old Boston Terrier that has always had a sensitive stomach and some skin problems. We used to buy him high quality high protein food because he is very active, however it never sat well with him. Out vet told us that a GI oriented diet is better for him because he can’t process high levels of protein and he needs more fillers in his diet. I used this website to compare brands that have about 30% or less of chicken meal not by-product as the main ingredient and then some safe fillers. We currently use the Costco brand Kirkland Chicken flavored dry food with added glucosamine for his joints. It has worked great!
Regarding dogs getting tired of food, our dog does that with every brand. We usually buy a can of wet food, something organic, natural or limited ingredient and add a tablespoon to each meal. Otherwise, I add a tablespoon of greek yogurt (which helps with the farting) or pumpkin pure (high in fiber).
Otherwise, I add a little bit of water and heat it up in the microwave so its wet and warm, especially in the winter he enjoys it. In the worst case I just add a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, which makes it moist and is great for his skin and coat.

[Chip]

I have two dogs, both German Shorthair mixes… one is an older male (11 years old), the other a younger (5 years) female. I love them both very much, both were shelter/rescue dogs. When we adopted the younger dog, we switched from feeding her Hill’s Science Diet (which is what we were sent home with from the shelter) to some sort of Purina Dry Kibble, since she wouldn’t eat the Hill’s. Since then and after finding this website (my knowledge about dog food and their ingredients greatly increased), her menu evolved from the low quality kibble to a mixture of Honest Kitchens dehydrated raw food (a company that I love) mixed with Blue Buffalo Freedom. I consider both of these foods to have above average to excellent ingredients and I feel good when I buy it for my two dogs. The problem is is that they both have very sensitive stomachs… when we started with the HK and BB it seemed to FINALLY fix the problem with terrible diarrhea that they both were experiencing with all the foods we tried (Castor and Pollux, Nature’s Recipe, and so on). Their bowl movements (I feel strange talking about this) were FINALLY healthy… fluffy yet firm, regular, didn’t stink. It was a miracle. Unfortunately, after about two years of eating various styles/flavors of HK mixed with BB, the younger dog “Jessie” decided that she absolutely didn’t want to eat it anymore. I got tired of preparing it only to have to dump it out (it’s very expensive) and then wash her dish (as I did after every meal since it’s a part raw diet). So, we tried some different brands thinking that it would add a bit of diversity to what they were eating. We went with Wellness Complete Health kibble and canned but soon found out that the diarrhea had returned (we introduced these foods slowly). We tried going back to the old food but she couldn’t shake the diarrhea (the older fella was having some problems as well, but not nearly extreme). We finally took her into the vet, which I dread doing because I know exactly what’s coming… a fecal exam (which is always negative), a bill for $100, and a lecture about how the food I feed them isn’t quality/adequate because it wasn’t “formulated” by veterinarians and pet nutritionists (in their words) as Hill’s Science Diet is. I don’t have a problem with giving the HSD Prescription i/d gastrointestinal a try… my problem is that the ingredient list is full of low quality foods and chemicals, yet they charge more per can/bag than the food with (what I consider to be) high quality ingredients that I was feeding my dogs. I’m sick of being treated as though I’m being insolent because I actually question what it is specifically about Hill’s that is supposed to calm my dog’s stomach. Is it the corn? The iodized salt? The food coloring? I know it sounds as though I’m being snippy right now, but this has been an ongoing problem as I’ve brought the dogs to the same vet in the past few years every now and then with small bouts of stomach problems and am told the same thing every time and mad to feel as though I’m an ignorant and irresponsible pet owner for not switching to Hill’s and I’m sick of it. I don’t have any other options to switch to a different vet, so that won’t solve anything. It has been three days and there hasn’t been any improvement so far on the HSD and, sorry it has taken me so loooonnnnngggg to get to the point, here is my question: Does anyone have an alternative to HSD i/d that actually has quality ingredients? Or, does anyone have any useful advice about what our next course of action should be? I thought I read something in one of the comment sections a long time ago about how German Shorthair Pointers are sensitive to a certain ingredient that is fairly common in most dog foods… does anyone know anything about that subject? And, is it just me, or do veterinarians actually know anything about dog nutrition, or do they just espouse what they are told by the salespeople from Hill’s? I don’t doubt that Hill’s probably does make some important prescription foods that certain dogs need, but the i/d just looks like crap to me. Thank you for taking the time to read and respond.

[Melissaandcrew]

If you are concerned that the Orijen may be too high protein for him, try the sisterproduct Acana. Its about 31% versus the Orijen 38% and my Iggys love it :

[LisaLynn]

I am adopting a mini aussie pup and will be bringing him home next week (he will be 9 weeks). I’ve had standard aussies, border collies, shelties and lab mixes in the past and I also have a 4 yr old chi but always bought food that was suggested by the person/breeder I adopted the pup from. Now it’s been a while since I had a pup and I want the best for him! I don’t swallow what vets recommend anymore. But I am so confused about nutrition; namely breed-specific percentages of protein, fat, carb, sodium content and calcium. I’m considering mixing Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural (Dry) with *Abady granular (*not rated on this site and I understand why), some occasional raw meats, yogurt and organic antioxidants. Could someone please explain in simple terms what the appropriate ratio is for a mini aussie (appx 30 lbs adult size) and a 7 lb adult chi as far as dietary percentages? Thank you for any feedback!

[PiaOnomato]

The urine should have gone to the lab on Saturday but the error occurred at the vet’s office and the specimen wasn’t sent. I too am hoping that the glucose is some errant reading from using an old, refrigerated sample. I thought the vet would have ordered blood work right away with glucose in the urine but it was me who requested blood work! Maybe they think the glucose reading isn’t real also. I don’t know what to think right now. Pico’s energy level is good but he is a little surly so I think maybe he doesn’t feel quite well. Thanks so much for your insight and your well wishes. It helps more than you know.
ps. LOVE your dog!

[theBCnut]

A lot of labs are not open over the weekend and the ones that are are associated with hospitals/emergency clinics and are priced accordingly. It is normal to wait until Monday for non emergencies, however I’m surprised they didn’t do some in house testing. Glucose isn’t necessarily accurate if it isn’t fresh. I hope everything is OK.

[PiaOnomato]

I took Pico’s clean catch urine sample in on Saturday but somehow, it wasn’t sent to the lab until Monday! I was not happy… at all.
I got some really odd results on Tuesday (yesterday). Pico has a UTI but also has high glucose (100), protein, bilirubin, and fat in his urine!! I am really concerned that some or all of this may be a result of feeding Orijen 6 fish for 6 weeks but I can’t find any literature to support it. I had to do a pretty quick switch to Dr. Tim’s Active Dog kibble but so far, no ill effects.
The vet ordered additional tests on the urine sample (Protein and creatinine) and we will have blood work drawn on 10/1. Thankfully, Pico seems very much himself.
I will update this thread as this is potentially food related…
Dee

[Chuck]

Does anyone know of a site or book that has good recipes that are easy to follow? I see videos online and some sites like http://rawfed.com/links.html but nothing really concrete.. just I feed them chicken backs etc. Something with a little more detail I suppose.

And if I was going to do something like Primal patties and adding 10% meaty bone… how often would I be doing that a few times a week? daily? and Its ok to go to Sams club or whole foods and get chicken thighs and chicken backs and my pup eat the whole thing? Its going to be very weird to watch her eat bones.

Also If i were to continue feeding kibble (Wellness CORE or TOTW) along with patties at first would that be a problem? if so how would I ration that, treat the pattie like wet food?

Overall I want my dog to be as happy and healthy as possible, and again this morning she ate maybe 1/3rd of her food… she just wont eat dry kibble unless something is mixed in. So I really want to make this change as fast as possible

• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by Chuck.

[Molzy]

Hello all,

I am considering switching my dogs to a raw diet. We have two 1.5-year-old Australian Cattle Dog Mixes. They are both rescue dogs. We adopted LoJack last October, and Quincy came home with us in July. Both of them came to us eating Science Diet, which we pretty much immediately threw out. I worked in a high-end pet store for years, and I am kind of a food snob when it comes to my pets. My cat, Ralph, has been on Nature’s Variety frozen chicken for over a year now, and does amazingly on it (for him, it has helped with his urinary tract infections). The dogs have eaten a variety of Nutrisource Grain-Free Salmon, Pure-Vita or Merrick dry kibble. My boyfriend and I are big on “Eat Local” and both of these companies seemed pretty good for commercial dog food. Now that we have graduated from grad school, we can start entertaining the idea of paying a little more to feed raw. When we just had LoJack he would also get raw meaty bones once in a while for his teeth, we haven’t tried giving Quincy those due to some digestive issues we’ve been struggling with.

Anyways, I am thinking of originally starting with a pre-made raw, and possibly slowly adding in some other stuff. My boyfriend hunts, so hopefully we will have some venison this year for them, and we also live in the country so there is the possibility of contacting local butchers for organ meats and stuff. We already own a hand grinder for the meat (though we may invest in an electric one if we end up going with raw!).

Anyways, what are your recommendations for pre-made diets? At this point, we would like to stick with a grind because of Quincy’s issues with chunkier food (I want to make sure that raw works before trying chunks, then slowly add chunks in to make sure we don’t cause issues). I am considering doing Nature’s Variety since it is balanced for cats and dogs, which would be nice, but it is also a little expensive, so I figured I would see if anyone else has any suggestions. I would also consider a pre-mix with ground meat.

One last question – can they have venison bones? We saved a bunch from the deer we got last year and froze them, but I got worried about chronic wasting disease, so we have never tried them. They are thinner than the beef/bison bones we normally feed, so I worried about him swallowing chunks as well.

Thanks!
Molly, LoJack and Quincy (and Ralph the cat)

[pugmomsandy]

1. Is it better to get a premade mix of raw food online or buy meats from the supermarket or meat market? Or is it better to have a mix?

As a newbie to raw, I think it would be better for you to feed a food that is complete and balanced whether that is commercial frozen raw like Nature’s Variety, Primal, Bravo, Stella & Chewy’s, Darwins, and others, or dehydrated/freeze dried raw (but more expensive) food like Orijen freeze dried, Primal, Stella & Chewy’s. Meat by itself is not a good diet. For beginners, I would buy a commercial raw or use a Premix such as Urban Wolf, See Spot Live Longer, Grandma Lucy’s, The Honest Kitchen. You add meat and some oil and that’s usually it. No additional vitamins needed. You can make these in advanced in big batches and freeze in serving sizes or a couple days worth in one bag/container. You can feed up to 20% of an unbalanced food without having to worry about additional vits/minerals. For example, topping kibble with some meat or scrambled egg (but not more than 20% of the meal). As you become more comfortable with raw you can give homemade a try but be sure to use a recipe book.

2. Is ground or whole better? Your dog might like the texture of some chunks, versus ground. But in any case, raw meat has enzymes that also helps keep teeth clean. The ripping of the flesh and tendons from the bone cleans the teeth too. I have small dogs so I use a coarse ground. My dogs don’t have a preference for meat sizes. They eat it all.

3. I keep seeing people talking about feeding bones, including chicken bones… I was always told that chicken bones are dangerous? This is going to be the one that the hardest to get my wife on board with.

Raw bones are edible. The cooked bones are dry and splinter. Also there are recreational bones versus consumable bones. Most small animals can be consumed whole (chicken, rabbit, quail, turkey). But dense, weight bearing bones from larger animals are for gnawing only (marrow bones/leg bones). For heavy chewers, they can break teeth. For instance, my small dogs eat chicken legs, turkey and duck necks and feet and pork baby back ribs. They gnaw on beef/bison rib bones and marrow bones/femur for the enjoyment and it keeps their teeth clean. I feed these outside and don’t worry about cleanup when the weather is nice. You can train your dog to eat bones in the house on a towel, blanket or tarp. This winter, I’ll be feeding my small dogs in a crate or I could feed them on the bathroom tile and mop.

4. Do you need to add supplements to these meals? If so are they included in the premade mixes or am I adding them?

If you use a complete and balanced commercial premix, no additional supplements are necessary. Although there are a lot of people who give whole food supplements like supergreen foods (chlorella, kelp, barley grass, etc), bee pollen, and herbs, a complete vitamin E.

5. What is the best site for ordering?
I’ve heard Chewy.com is good. I’ve always used Petflow and amazon.

6. Does someone have a schedule or process I can literally follow to the letter?
Sorry, I am sure this has been answered over and over again but I would really appreciate the help. I am not too concerned about the cost as Wellness and Core are not cheap, however if I can pre-make these and feed her in the morning because we are often in a rush and it’s so hard to get her to eat kibble before we leave.

At my house, they eat raw if I have it thawed out. If not, they get other foods (kibble, canned, freeze dried). Darwins comes in convenient packaging and serving sizes and most commercial products come in patties or small bite sizes or chubs (which are the least convenient for me). You just have to remember to thaw! You can put 3 days worth out to thaw in the frig. I also use dehydrated foods (The Honest Kitchen, Addiction) where I just add water and let sit. I make some ahead of time and put it in the frig. But these are not raw.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by pugmomsandy.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[dlopes_87]

I have a 3 months old pure bred boxer named Rocky. He is on Diamon Extreme Athlete dry food. He really likes it. I just emailed the company yesterday asking them about the amount of calcium in it as it is not listed in the package. I got an email back this morning from a rep who told me the calcium level is 1.9%.
Can anyone tell me if that’s a good thing? last Friday he got his second shot and has had diahrrea since Sunday. I called the vet and they told me it is because of the vaccine. I had bough a 40lb bag which is almost over now after 2 months we’ve had him home.
I need some advice.

Thank you 😀