[InkedMarie]

the only jerky treats I’m comfortable with are from The Honest Kitchen but they’re probably more expensive. I rarely give them (I’m not big on treats here) so the cost isn’t a big deal for me. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

[Jane E]

Please hold off on the spay,at this point it’s elective and not at all a priority. I understand your angst about invasive diagnostics but IMO that is the ONLY way to proceed…you have to have a definitive diagnosis to be able to know what to do next…anything less is too much trial and error. I had my Boxer bitch scoped (endoscopy and colonoscopy) a little after 2 and she’ll be to this May (IBS/colitis). It has been helpful to know how and what to feed her. We’ve had other GI issues along the way (hemmoragic gastritis,bowel resections,polyps,pancreatitis flares with the IBS…) but overall she has fared well and you’d never know to look at her she copes with illness. I’ve had success with Hill’s Ultra Z/D,Honest Kitchen Zeal and Force and home cooking….turkey and oatmeal and veggies run through the food processor.

[Jule S]

I’ve suggested it before and will again: Honest Kitchen.
Also Ziwipeak. Their customer service is not the best, but everything else about the food is great.

Also am surprised to see Natura Pet made the cut, they had so many recalls. When they had their massive recall a couple years ago my cat got so sick from eating that food, he would vomit after every single meal. I stopped feeding it and never went back to it.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Anne C-
It is very hard to say what may have caused the diarrhea, but my guess would also be the lamb bones. Especially if he was fine fine up until you gave the bones to him. Is it the first time he had the bones? Did they have marrow in them? Just like L M mentioned, when I give my dogs marrow bones, they will have loose stools after because the marrow is very high in fat.

After an episode of diarrhea, it is best not to feed the dog for a while to let their tummy rest. Here is a website that may be helpful. It gives several tips on digestive issues: http://www.dogaware.com/health/digestive.html

I have two 3 1/2 year old lab mix dogs. They have the same issue every now and then and sometimes I never know what they got into. They are very naughty! LOL!

In fact, I just had it happen and I fed them very overcooked mushy white rice with lots of water and boiled chicken breast with some plain canned pumpkin for a few meals. I am now transitioning back to their normal food and adding some Perfect Form made by the Honest Kitchen and they are doing much better.

Write back and let us know how your dog is doing. Good luck!

[constant_lurker]

Hi all,
I’ve hit kind of a roadblock and I’m hoping someone here may have a suggestion.
My dog has a mix of environmental allergies and food sensitivities (or possible sensitivities I’m still trying to figure out). Since the summer, I’ve fed her a combination of a raw diet and The Honest Kitchen foods. Her allergies have improved greatly and I’ve been able to figure out some of the meats that set her off. Chicken (and chicken eggs) and beef are out, and unfortunately, so is fish and fish oils.
I’ve been trying to add in variety and am making headway. But I want to find a good source of useable omega 3s for her. She does very well with rabbit, which has a decent omega 3 to omega 6 ratio. We’re still iffy on lamb, though lamb heart has a decent omega3:omega 6 profile from what I can tell.
Are there other meats I can/should look at? I know (or think I know) that flax oil has lots of omega 3s, but that it doesn’t convert into the important kinds well. Are there other oils worth looking at?
Anyone have a dog with fish sensitivities who’s had good luck with krill oil?

Thanks for taking the time to read through this, and for any suggestions.

[Susan]

Hi Elaine, there’s the Honest kitchen ZEAL http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/dog-food/zeal the fat is 8.5% a friend is feeding the Zeal & her dog is doing really well now, wet food is better then kibbles, as kibbles are harder to digest & can cause more acid reflux, I use liquid Mylanta 3ml in a syringe when Patch has his episodes, the Mylanta seems to work quicker & better for Patch ..Patch was put on Zantac 1 hour before food every 12 hours…you can always feed the R/C low fat GI for 3 months till he loses his weight then start feeding another food just until his Pancreas settles down….What was he eating last week when he has another episode?? maybe stop feeding it… is it high in protein, sometimes dog cant handle high protein diets, there’s a group on Yahoo called “Dogpancreatitis” they may also help

[aimee]

Hi Kathy J,

In regards to The Honest Kitchen I asked myself the same question in regards to digestibility of the plant matter. I asked the company if they had done any type of digestibility studies and they have not. I specifically asked if they ever did anything as simple as visually inspect “output” and they said they had not.

You can find more information on the THK thread. I hydrated the food, identified and counted the various food elements (sweet potato, cabbage etc) then fed the meal to my dog and evaluated output. I didn’t find the pumpkin pieces and assume it was digested. The sweet potato looked the same coming out as going in. The apple was partially digested and the cabbage and celery pieces had minimal change to them. I then repeated the experiment but cooked the diet before feeding and few identifiable pieces were found.

[InkedMarie]

Sorry it won’t work. I haven’t used it, I used Wellness Core reduced fat for an obese dog we adopted. We fed her for what she *should* have weighed and she lost 18 pounds, almost half her body weight!

I don’t know any other quality “diet” foods so if neither will work, I’d try a non diet food. Have you looked at The Honest Kitchen, which is dehydrated?

[Kathy J]

Hi –
I just watched the video you your site “Pet Food – A Dog’s Breakfast”.
Very disappointed to find out that most dog foods are not using the quality ingredients they claim..
I would like to know how I can get an honest list of all the quality foods.
I’d like to be able to feed at least a couple of different brands.
Currently my dog eats Fromm Lamb and Lentil kibble along with some better quality canned toppers and table scraps. I thought that I was doing a good job but now I wonder.
I have just gotten samples of The Honest Kitchen to try. All looks good but now I wonder
if dehydrated foods are digestible – the potatoes, cabbage, sweet potatoes, etc. as they are not broken down by cooking.
Any help is appreciated.

[Susan]

Hi Rebecca I haven’t read thru the post has anyone suggested the Honest Kitchen ZEAL the fat is 8.50% http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/dog-food/zeal scroll down a bit & you will see the Fat % Fiber % etc
a few dogs with Pancreatitis are on the Zeal & doing really well, if your on yahoo join a group called “dogpancreatitis” the lady that runs it Ann can help with low fat diets, I know Bella hasn’t got Pancreatitis but sometimes these groups are good for diets, there’s also Canine Cavier Special needs the fat is 9% min so its probably 11% max in fat so not really low…there’s also the “California Natural’ limited ingredient the Brown rice Lamb Meal weight management the fat is 7%min, the fiber is 3% the fiber isn’t high either like some weight management kibbles, their fiber is really high & you will need to feed more, but with the California Natural weight management just feed like you’d normally give & weigh Bella every 2 weeks & just see if Bellas weight is the same or dropping… thats what I do, I weight Patch weekly at Pet Barn.. California Natural also has the Nutrient Analysis & shows max % on everything which is really good.. also do you give one kibble for breakfast then a different kibble for dinner?? that’s what I do, I ask which one do you want & Patch picks what food he wants to eat also with the tin wet foods the fat has to be 2% & under, if it says 5% fat on the wet tin food that’s around 22% fat if it were a kibble…
http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products/1131

[Jennifer P]

I’m new to this but I can tell you that The Honest Kitchen Embark for puppies and adults seemed to be a lifesaver to our GSD puppy and his gastric problems. He was on Fromm Gold for Large Puppies and I kept going to the vet for his loose stools and the vet kept putting him on antibiotics and then probiotics to keep him from having additional stomach problems from the antibiotics!!??!! Then I found THK. I started to ease him into it but was so distressed over his stomach issues I just went for it full bore and wouldn’t you know his stomach issues were immediately resolved!! Now I’m just trying to find healthy mixes of dry for his daytime feedings. The only downside? I soon learned that a total diet of THK is as expensive as feeding organic human food.

[DogFoodie]

Hi Sally,

When you say refrigerated food you bought at Publix, would that be FreshPet? If not, that’s a food that I would suggest for you. She might prefer it over kibble. She might prefer it warmed, too. You could put it in a waterproof container and immerse that in hot water – don’t microwave, that kills nutrients. She might also like The Honest Kitchen, a dehydrated food that you reconstitute with hot water. By way, has she been to the vet recently? Could she possibly have a central issue that makes it uncomfortable for her to eat kibble?

It’s fine for her to have those other healthy human foods in addition to her food. Just keep the toppers to no more than 20% of her diet to avoid throwing off the nutritional balance of her food.

[Jane E]

Honest Kitchen Force,Pure Vita turkey…depends on if you have narrowed down what irritates your pups sensitive stomach….It is always good to trial with a single douce protein and in fact the simpler the product the better

[DogFoodie]

Are you trying to eliminate flax because of its phytoestrogen properties?

One of my dogs cannot have flax (among lots of other things), but he’s fine with peas. So, these foods are flax free, but you’ll need to check for peas in them: Addiction Viva La Venison, Canidae Pure Sky (Diamond, I know yuk!), The Honest Kitchen Thrive, First Mate Chicken and Blueberries, Acana Duck and Bartlett Pear (original formula, not “Singles.”).

Flax is frustrating, I know. It’s everywhere, isn’t it! My dog gets terrible loose stool when he eats flax. Do try the Dogfoodwizard.com like C4C mentioned. I asked the site creator to add flax and last I looked, it’s an option on the search tool.

[puppypiles]

I really like The Honest Kitchen. One of their new base mixes, Kindly, has zero of the ingredients you said he’s allergic to. With that, you add fresh meat of your choosing to make it complete. With that, you can give him whatever meat you wanted, and it might ease your mind knowing you’re giving him something complete and balanced.

Also, THK is super great about giving out samples. If you email them, I guarantee they’d send you a couple things to see if your pup liked it.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Tammy:
For Bobby’s extras I like to make treats so I know what’s in them. If you want some recipes let me know, I realize not everyone is into making treats. lol I do feed freeze dried treats because they have minimal ingredients and are low fat. He likes Stella & Chewy’s Carnivore Kisses or Stewart’s treats. Other treats are kefir, blueberries (or other dog appropriate fruits) and organic virgin coconut oil. Once a week he gets a beef tendon to chew. I have been buying Merrick’s lately. Several posters recommend The Honest Kitchen Beams, I haven’t tried them but plan to in the future.
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/consumer/products/product.jsp?categorySort=3&id=67&page=1&view=list&sort=cpjc.level_3_category_id&order=asc&name=Doggie_Wishbone_Tendon_Treats&cat1=6&cat2=9&categories=–&age=All_Life_Stages
http://www.stellaandchewys.com/products/dog-treats/
http://stewartpet.com/our-products/pro-treat-freeze-dried-treats/

Check out this thread for some more suggestions:
/forums/topic/your-most-recommended-dog-treats/

[Susan]

Hi Mike, peanut butter TOTW marrow bones these are all HIGH in fat, Now that you know all this, you must keep her fat LOW Dogs can die from Pancreatitis….There’s a really good group on yahoo called “Dogpancreatitis” join the group, you will learn so much & there’s a few boxers in the group…. a few ladies in that group feed “Canine Cavier” Special Needs fat is 9% “Honest Kitchen” Zeal 8.5% fat….
you must stay 10% & under in fat for kibble, if you feed wet tin food stay 2% & under, wet is better for Pancreatitis, I even had to lower the Protein cause of acid reflux, some dogs with Pancreatitis will get Acid Reflux, being on a lower fat diet they will start to lose weight so increase the feed, I use to feed wet food for Breakfast then Kibble for lunch & dinner, to keep the weight on… You’ll work it out, Please read the Fat% in everything you put in Kolbies mouth,…
Love Boxers, I lost my girl 3 years ago to Mast Cell Tumors, so watch those lumps, You see a lump, Please have it tested, I didn’t…..

[DogFoodie]

I’d probably request blood work, also. I’d be curious to know what her liver levels are currently. Do your best to keep her hydrated in the meantime. Bone broth would be great for her right now, but it takes a long time to make it. Pedialyte would be helpful, too.

I’m fortunate to have an outstanding large university veterinary clinic nearby. I’d choose that route, if needed. They have 24 hour emergency services. Do you have something like that nearby?

I have a dog with food intolerance issues and have a hard time finding foods for him. Those that work best for us are Nature’s Variety Instinct LID, Addiction Viva La Venison, Canidae Pure Sky (Diamond, yuk… but it works great), FirstMate Chicken & Blueberries, Acana Duck & Bartlett Pear, Canine Caviar and The Honest Kitchen Thrive. Do you think you might be able to interest her in a little bit of Wellness Core Reduced Fat canned food or THK Zeal?

I’m really sorry you and your girl are going through this.

[Judy P]

What about The Honest Kitchen dehydrated food? There are numerous choices including at least 3 grain free and including numerous minerals and supplements. Also, for kibble, what about Great Life and Pioneer Natural (made by Great Life)? I prefer to feed raw and dehydrated but the ingredients in these two grain free kibbles certainly seem far above the norm.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Linda:
I am always on the lookout for average to low fat commercial raw foods. I find most recipes too high in fat. Good or bad fat it’s in there and I want the majority of my dog’s calories to be from protein not fat. Here’s an article on fat in commercial raw foods:
/choosing-dog-food/raw-dog-food-fat/

From my list I only have one food that may fit your needs Primal Frozen Venison. On a dry matter basis using the numbers from their site it is about 16% fat. Their Frozen Rabbit recipe is also low fat (17% DMB), but you mentioned rabbit might not agree with your dog.

You might consider making your own raw if you are unable to find a suitable commercial diet. Here is a list of books for making raw and home cooked diets:
http://www.dogaware.com/diet/bookreviews.html

Since your dog is not too thrilled eating TOTW kibble maybe try another brand or have you ever thought about supplementing with canned instead? Here are some low-fat canned foods I feed Wellness Core Weight Management, Innova Large Breed Sr., and Weruva’s Marbella Paella, Paw Lickin’ Chicken, and Bed and Breakfast recipes. On Weruva’s site they list their nutrition information in dry matter basis. Other low-fat canned foods I want to try are Fromm’s Four Star Shredded Chic or Beef and Petsmart’s Simply Nourish bisque or stew foods.

Feeding a balanced diet is important, however if my dog had a health issue it would definitely be priority for me. Regarding Sojos foods and mixes there have been comments posted on DFA about the vegetables coming out of their dog as they went in and lack of info on their labels. Some posters suggested grinding the mix before feeding it. You can do a search for comments on Sojos here’s one thread:
/forums/topic/sojo-premix/

Concerns have also been posted about The Honest Kitchen foods and mixes. Posters have commented on digestibility issues, label accuracy, feeding recommendations, and questionable information provided by customer service and the owner of the company. Check out the comment sections on the review side for more info:
/dog-food-reviews/honest-kitchen-grain-free/
/dog-food-reviews/honest-kitchen-dog-food/

Good luck!

[Susan]

Hi, I don’t know many American raw diets… Barf has their Kangaroo 3% fat, 11% dry matter (kibble) that’s low in fat & a new one has just come out called Barf lite or Honest Kitchen ZEAL is suppose to be good.. http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/dog-food/zeal

[David P]

TOTW is the cheapest of the somewhat-acceptable foods out there. It’s good you have enough love for your dog to purchase that. TOTW is what I started my three dogs (6 lbs, 24 lbs, & 68 lbs) on.

I’ve had to economize in OTHER AREAS OF MY LIFE in order to feed these 3 hounds properly.

TOTW is BARELY acceptable. On this site, you’ll see the owner/moderator mention Steve Brown of “The Canine Ancestral Diet”; Steve Brown was an MIT graduate who started studying this as a sideline and eventually veered off into the topic of “pet nutrition” full-time.

Holistic Veterinarian, Dr. Karen Becker had two YouTube interviews with Steve Brown… I am somewhat RETICENT about asking you to ACTUALLY SPEND MORE MONEY but you quite obviously have already MADE THE COMMITMENT to ensuring that your puppy gets “quality nutrition”.

So…..

You need to add one of the pre-mixes to supplement TOTW (I use Sojos Green… 8lb bag is $62)… the 6 lb Chihuahua gets one tsp. per meal. the 24 lb spaniel bred to look like a mini-Rottweiler gets 1 1/2 tblsp per meal, the 68 lb American Bulldog gets 3 tblsp. per meal. Dr. Becker provided the rationale that the diet of canids (dogs, wolves, etc.) in the wild is 70% moisture and greens from the stomachs of their vegetarian prey (rabbits, squirrels, chicken, etc.) The best that even the higher-quality grain-free dry dog foods can do is 12% moisture.

Do not OVERFEED your puppy; this resulted in a “mini-rebellion” bordering on “insurrection” by the 3 dogs in my household teaming up on me to complain when I instituted “measuring cup” proportional feedings. You’ll find that WITHOUT the “fillers/excipients” in the grocery-store brands, the recommended TOTW and Champion Dog Food (Orijen and Acana) Guidelines seem rather “stingy.” I compromise since a part of the rebellion staged by these 3 was to begin eating cheetohs and french fries that the truckers drop where I walk my dogs by the Walmart.

I measure each dogs recommended portion per day and SPACE OUT the meals to four servings which sates their initial hunger pangs; the COMPROMISE is that I don’t count the calories from the pre-mixes towards their daily caloric intake; the rationale being that these are HIGH-ROUGHAGE FOODS and since dogs have very short intestinal tracts, I’m getting the INTERNAL CLEANSING of the INTESTINAL WALLS that I desire; there is ALSO water-soluble fiber from the apples, etc CLEANSING THEIR BLOODSTREAM and keeping their RENAL SYSTEM (Kidneys) healthy.

This “may” or “may not” another TOUGH PILL for some to swallow; Steve Brown pointed out in the Karen Becker YouTube interview that THE FATS in even the best of the dry foods are intact in the air-sealed environment before the bag is opened but that these same fats degrade once opened. You need to go to a dollar store and buy $1 tupperware storage containers and refrigerate/freeze the balance of the bag once opened. Humans, dogs and all mammals need a variety of high-quality fats (which are EVERY BIT AS IMPORTANT as proteins).

Going to what I call “minimally-appropriate quality” dog foods does involve some “financial sticker shock”; you came here because you got a great puppy dog, Zane H and you were clever enough to sniff out the necessity of going “grain free”; Blue Buffalo is to be credited with instituting a national advertising campaign and there has been an understandable backlash against Purina and other brand providers to where they sheepishly and quietly have begun acknowledging that “corn,” “soy” and “wheat” are poisoning your pets.

You came here because you love your dog, Zane H and you were faced with some tough choices; I too don’t make a lot of money at my job as a CNC Lathe Operator.

You’ve got a puppy so you have a chance to have a healthy dog.. I’d recommend going to YouTube and search for Dr. Karen Becker and Mercola Healthy pets. Here is the link to her two-part series on Best-to-worst dog foods.

This the dry I feed my dogs; Orijen is 75%/80% whole prey protein to 20%/25% fruit and vegetables (found in the stomachs of the prey that dogs/wolves eat in the wild). Princess is 68 lbs and closer to “wolf size” than either Shadow (24 lbs) or Mary (6 lbs) so she gets the higher-protein + 3 tblsps. of the sojos green per meal.

I like the LESS EXPENSIVE Acana for Shadow and Mary since it is what is contained in the other 50% that I like (The DHA and EPA). I’m thinking of switching Princess over to Acana as she ages into her 13th year of life. She and Shadow are the same age and they have been active, healthy dogs who have the puppy chihuahua to entertain them.

Dogs REALLY NEED “fresh water” every day EITHER filtered through your tap with Britta or purchased in gallon bottles (“drinking” or “spring” only not “distilled”) from Walmart.

I also use the Honest Kitchen “Preference” pre-mix and sparingly add in the Grandma Lucy’s PureFormance pre-mix to get in some of those low-glycemic chickpeas.

Acana and Orijen have won numeorus awards for their low-glycemic qualities which keeps your pets healthy in the first place so that they don’t get system failures from having bodies with their pH-levels out of whack.

You need to change your dogs water daily and also add in a Tropicana breath freshener liquid to keep their teeth clean.

It is somewhat DEFLATING to come here and discover that it don’t get any cheaper than what you’re already doing…

…but you are here and you obviously love your dog.

[Dori]

Hi William. Glad you are going to change her diet to a grain free food. Most dogs do better with a high quality protein, modern to high quality fat, low carb diet. Also do your best to avoid high starch’s like white rice, white potatoes, etc. That will help with seizures. Please try to avoid any foods that have rosemary or rosemary extract in them as rosemary is known to trigger seizures in dogs that are prone to seizures. If you will type in Seizures on the forum search box there are a couple of forums on seizures.

Since she has been on one food all of her life, I would start very very slowly by removing a few of the old kibbles and add some of the new food. Typically you can start (some say) by switching out 1/4 of her old food with 1/4 of her new food. You can add some canned pumpkin (grocery store), not the pumpkin pie type, just plain pumpkin or some probiotics to help her get through the change. Keep an eye on her poops. If they seem to be okay (“normal”), then you can move to 1/2 cup old food 1/2 cup new food. All the while checking her stools. If they start to get loose or diarrhea then go back to the mix when her stools were normal. Keep her on that till she’s regular again and then continue with the transition. Every time her stools are too loose, back up, stop and wait. Typically dogs can transition in about 10 days but some dogs will take much longer. I fear that with a dog that has eaten the same low quality dry dog food all her life it may take a bit longer. Some dogs can take up to a month or even two to fully transition. Good Luck. Do the transition slowly and all will be fine.

The Honest Kitchen makes a product called Perfect Form that a lot of us have used while transitioning foods and have been very pleased. It’s a staple I keep in the pantry for my three girls. Eventually, when all is well with your dog…..no more yeasty ears and such hopefully you’ll be able to feed her 2 or 3 or even 4 different foods that she’ll do well with. A lot of us here at DFA are rotational feeders. The more often you are able to transition to a different protein and brand the easier your dog will be able to transition through the different foods. It all makes for a healthier gut and also any nutritional needs that may not be addressed by one brand will be balanced, over time, with other foods. Also, if a food has a recall or your local store has suddenly run out of what you’ve been feeding her, there’s always another food you can feed her without upsetting gut.

[3pooches]

Not sure which forum this topic belongs, but I’m looking for a larger 4 or 5-star kibble to use in my Manners Minder. I’m currently using Fromm Surf & Turf, and though my dogs will eat anything, the kibble is so small, the machine is dispensing too many at a time. (it’s on the 1x setting) The dogs had previously eaten Earthborn Great Plains, so their stomachs should handle that, but they currently eat Honest Kitchen most days with the Fromm used on days when I run out of HK. 😉 They were previously on frozen raw, which I may go back to, but I’m really liking that they take longer to eat the HK because they take time to lick the bowl clean. Suggestions? Thanks!

[crazy4cats]

Hi dana-
I’m so jealous that you can get such a good price on the food! That’s awesome! Another thing that you can do to help with the transition is to include probiotics and/or digestive enzymes in their diets. A favorite supplement on this site is, Perfect Form made by The Honest Kitchen. Sometimes it is hard to find so I usually order it online from Amazon. It could help with the gas issue. I hope it works out!

[DogFoodie]

Good job, Melissa! LOL!! 🙂

Maybe they’d like a dehydrated food that you reconstitute with water, like The Honest Kitchen, Sojos or Dr. Harvey’s Oracle. They have complete mixes with protein included or pre-mixes to which you add your own fresh raw, or lightly cooked meats.

[DogFoodie]

I feed a rotational diet so mine are always getting something different. They’re always getting something different and I don’t think they have time to get bored. I feed kibble and rotate after each bag. In the morning, I usually feed kibble with a fresh or canned topper of no more than 20% to avoid throwing off the balance and mine have been loving The Honest Kitchen for dinner for the past couple of months.

[Dina H]

I am a ‘raw convert’ in the past 6 weeks. Initially, I was feeding the Honest Kitchen base mix called Kindly, but after speaking with others, they said no need for base mix, just feed the raw. As someone said above, when you add a base mix, you go from those dried-up nuggets of poo to the same steaming piles of poop…no thank you.

As far as transitioning (my own two are 12) from lamb to beef to chicken to whatever..I think that dogs in the wild will just catch whatever they can and do not eat the same protein source every day, so I have been doing the same with good results.

The skin issues on my 12 year old male have self-resolved as well as yeasty ears. I also do rescue and put 3 other dogs with skin issues on raw just this week to see how they would do. So far, so good. I think we have all been there with the dry when a transition would have you anxiously waiting for what’s gonna happen now….I’ve been there and done that one. But have not found the issue with raw.

[aquariangt]

I keep 3-4 treats on me at a time. Regular, bulk of what I’m using treats-usually 2 varieties (i try to keep it low cal as possible) A high Value Treat, a treat too of natural unsweetened peanut butter. With Dani I also keep both a fleece tug and a Bumi for throwing, as those are rewarding to her and good for certain speed situations. Liesl has no interest in that 🙂

The regular treats i use (i like to use 2 for variety) for just run of the mill training, walks, classes, completing obstacles, etc… I throw in a high value treat every now and then to keep them on their toes 😉 I also use them for certain things they may be struggling with-say Bruno was having a lot of trouble with his recall, use a high value treat. I almost always use high value treats when training Leave It. Peanut Butter I only use for 2 things (usually, those big eyes can turn me into a sucker dad) Recalls, and completing a course in agility.

That was all a jumbled mess. my short version:

Low Value (as Dori said, not low quality, just less exciting): Everyday training, commands they know, group classes for warm up etc…
Examples: Zukes, Boulder Dog Food Chicken Bits, The Honest Kitchen Quickies, Bare Bites

High Value: Commands you’re struggling with, counter conditioning fear, recalls (maybe), Leave Its
Examples: Freeze Dried Stuff (Simply Sojos, Stella and Chewys, Fresh is Best)

Special High Value Awesomeness: I like this for recalls because they are so important, and then after a course or something where they don’t get a ton of treats
Examples: For me-Peanut Butter because they love it. I would possible lump in the Fresh is Best freeze dried organ meats as well, because I’ve seen dogs fall off of things for it 😉

Hope that was semi helpful

[Michelle T]

I have had several Standards and currently have 2. I rotate their food with one meal per day being raw&/or The Honest Kitchen and the other meal one of the following:
Orijen, Acana, and Fromm. I like to rotate protein sources and I occasionally add a bit of green tripe to the kibble. I stay away from grains as Standards often can have yeasty issues. Good luck & congratulations on your new adventure – life with a Standard Poodle is never dull!

[weezerweeks]

Dori what freezedried foods do you use? I know your babies are small like Bailey. He did not like the honest kitchen. I tried him on the Zeal because it was low in fats and carbs and he wouldn’t eat it. One of the few foods he has refused. I like Dr. Harveys because it’s low in fat and carbs. He’s on the grain free chicken now and he’s had the tripe. Loves them both. Thanks

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Sandra,
Why the correlation between what you cooked and the vomiting? Could have been a virus the poodle got from walking and sniffing something, maybe because of the age his/her system is changing,and possibly something in your home cooked meal doesn’t agree with him/her anymore. Is the poodle off the meds? You say he still feels bad,all day only after meals?
If after meals you mast have to go bland very bland boiled beef with a cooked sweet potato or plain canned pumpkin NOT THE PIE FILLING. If inflammation is brewing stay away from boiled rice. Please don’t get me started on vets and nutrition, if your daughter goes back i guarantee it will be suggested a veterinary diet be purchased.
I know my older fur-kid went through the same thing in Dec started throwing up every day after eating she can’t tolerate kibble anymore started her on the honest kitchen dehydrated food and commercial raw -big difference so far.
It’s all a process of elimination and that sad to say means no treats either until you can get to the bottom of the problem,BLAND BLAND for a few weeks then slowly very slowly introduce 1 thing at a time. Kibble may be to hard on the puppy’s system.

[Susan]

Hi, get a diet that is lower in fat, if I go over 10% for fat in a kibble, my boy gets real bad acid reflux, with wet foods stick with fat 2% & under, I use 1 teaspoon Mylanta liquid as soon as I see him gulping & swallowing..as soon as you lower the fat in his diet you’ll see a different, with high fat foods you make more acid to digest the fat also there could be something in the Honest kitchen that is giving him the acid reflux, just like us when we eat something that doesn’t agree with us…. your best off with a limited ingredient diet or a low fat home cooking (turkey breast) when this happens, my boy had acid reflux for 1 week, then he had a real sore throat, where the acid burnt his throat, the Zantac wasn’t working, now I use Mylanta its different to Pepcid, I don’t believe in adding a acid like vinegar to stop acid, it made my acid reflux worse & where the acid came up into my throat the apple cider vinegar just made it worse & burnt my throat more……try a lower fat diet, if he doesn’t get better, see a vet, I feed something different for breakfast then something different for dinner & then I see what food was better & didn’t cause any acid reflux….

[Mieke v]

Our dog is on Honest Kitchen Zeal for pancreatitis and when researching it for that had read of folks who had lots of success on it for diabetes. I think that was maybe on Chewy.com where I read some of those. Maybe do a google search HK Zeal diabetes? I read on one post where one person’s dog was able to go down to half the medication dosage (for diabetes) after going on the HK. I also read that people w/dogs with diabetes will hydrate the food (HK is a dehydrated type) let sit for 10 min., then put it in a blender to break it up even more. Be warned, it is an uber expensive food! Due to its costs, and I am not sure if any food is good to give exclusively, we now have him on a rotation diet between the HK, Wellness Core (can) and Merrick Grain-free Wilderness (can). However, for us it save at least $500 in vet fees. Not to mentioned saved our beloved guy.

[Mieke v]

Hi Carol,

We also had pancreatitis symptoms in our dog and Honest Kitchen Zeal really did the trick. He was symptom-free almost immediately. I would recommend to let the food sit about 10 minutes prior to serving (or make ahead and refrig.). We now do a rotation of HK Zeal, Wellness Core, and Merrick Grain-free Wilderness. Three months in and he still has no symptoms. There is a website that lists many of the dry and canned foods and the fat content. It also explains about the information given by the manufacturers and how to figure fat content. I can’t speak to its validity, but it was helpful in pointing us to low-fat, high protein foods. Here is the link: http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjlowfatdiets.html In addition to the HK, on our vet’s advice, we did 10 mg of Famotidine with each meal (our dog weighs 55 lbs) for 2 weeks. You can pick it up at any grocery or drug store. Of course, you’d want to check with your vet first to make sure there are no contra-indications and for the dosage. As you probably already know, fasting is a thing of the past with treatment for pancreatitis and several small meals a day for the first days is the current approach. Good luck! It is so hard – I did weeks of research and I am a research scientist by trade! I hope you find something that works well for your little one.

[Mieke v]

Hello all,

Just wanted to let everyone know that our dog had all of these symptoms as well. Gulping, licking, sometime frantic eating of grass or anything, odd posture, random vomitting, random loose stools with mucus, and the list goes on. We switched him to Honest Kitchen Zeal for 2 weeks along with a dosage of 10 mg Famotidine (acid reducer that you can obtain at any grocery or drug store) at each meal. He weighs 55 lbs. No other food or treats. After two weeks we introduced rotation with Wellness Core (canned) and continued the Famotidine. He was symptom-free within a day or two. He has not had any further symptoms now in three months. We took him off the Famotidine after about one month but carefully watched him for licking, etc. Now he is on a rotation of HK Zeal one day, one day Wellness Core (canned) or Merrick Grain-free Wilderness (canned). We always make sure that the HK Zeal is a full day between the other two. If your dog is not digesting the HK fully, suggest pre-mixing and leaving in fridge. We also increased his physical activity to one 3-mile fast walk with water pack per day after he was symptom-free. Strongly recommend switching up foods and going ultra-low fat, grain-free. It saved his life! So grateful to this forum and our local fancy pet store which helped us.

[Carol B]

Hi I am hoping someone can help me out. We have been feeding our dachshunds Dr. Harvey’s Canine “Miracle” dog food for several years. We only rotate between chicken and beef, so in the am they get beef, at night it’s chicken. We cook the meat ahead of time, package it in bags and freeze it. We also add the Health & Shine with the am feeding and used to add the Golden Years, but we have a range of 3 yrs to 15 yrs. now. We have one Senior that is having issues with his pancreas now. I have spoken with Dr. Harvey on more than one occasion to find out if “when you add your own protein” the mix is balanced and has all the minerals needed. I have yet to get a straight answer. I am reluctant to switch their food, but I also want to make sure they are eating a balanced diet. We are considering changing them to a dry food. Many years ago we used Honest Kitchen, it just became too expensive with 4 dogs. I welcome any comments or anyone who has experience with Dr. Harvey’s that might help us decide what to do to help keep our senior’s healthy. We were told we need a low-fat, but if we add the protein, how do you know what “low-fat” is?

[lovemypuppy]

I was scolded by the vet tech for giving my 11 week old boston terrier puppy a catfish skin chew (Beam, by The Honest Kitchen).

Initially the tech called it salmon and told me my puppy didn’t need fish oil. I corrected her, letting her know it was catfish skin chews and that I thought they were a good choice because they were more digestible than other chews out there (I ignored her comment on fish oil because I didn’t want to get into an argument with her). She said the fat content of the catfish skin chews was too high and would put my puppy at risk of developing pancreatitis. She also said to only give Nylabones.

I later discussed with a different tech at a different vet office hoping to get some clarification, but unfortunately they too were leery of the high fat content for the same reason. They added that small dog breeds, and BT in particular, were at increased risk of pancreatitis.

Has anyone else heard this in regards to Beams being too rich in fat for a puppy or dogs at risk of pancreatitis?

Do Beams actually have a high fat content? Looking at their packaging it doesn’t appear so (min protein 88%, min fat 4%, moisture 8%). The freeze dried Orijen treats we were giving for house training have quite a bit more fat. So now, I’m really confused on how much fat is OK.

• This topic was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by lovemypuppy.
• This topic was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by lovemypuppy.

[pmsuperstar84]

Honest Kitchen is now being carried at Pet Supermarket. I prefer Stella & Chewy’s to THK though. They just make a very good product. As for Vital Essentials Raw, they are my favorite because the ingredient panel is so simple. My IBD cat is actually on the raw frozen cat version but they will be discontinuing it so the dog version is nearly identical to it except for the taurine that I will add.

[Dori]

Hi Kimberly. The Honest Kitchen you can order on line. You can also order a lot of the freeze dried foods on line also. I mostly feed the frozen raw foods but if you don’t have as much access to smaller dog food stores that typically carry a variety of commercial raw foods then you can feed the freeze dried foods and when you do get to Petsmart you can stock up on the Nature’s Variety Instinct raw foods so long as you have the freezer space (I think both Petco and Petsmart only carry Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw as a commercial raw food. With all brands that I feed I rotate between the different proteins as long as they don’t contain any chicken or turkey and that includes chicken fat and turkey fat in the list of ingredients in the foods but that’s only because Katie, my Maltipoo is highly intolerant of all poultry so I feed all three dogs the same exact food. I’m not sure which online stores you order from but I think chewy.com is a very popular on line site that a lot of posters on DFA order from and $49.00 and over they offer free shipping. I’m fortunate that I live in Atlanta, Ga. with an over abundance of local pet food stores so I can pretty much buy any dog food I want to try with my dogs. Another thing you can also try is calling and/or emailing companies that you would like to try their freeze dried and dehydrated foods and ask for samples. Most companies will charge you a nominal fee for shipping and others will charge you a nominal fee for samples and shipping. It’s a good way to see how your dog does on different foods.

As far as Stella and Chewy’s. I have tried it in the past and I know a lot of posters feed it. I don’t. I’m not really sure I remember the reasons for it. I’m sure my girls liked it but none of my dogs are picky eaters. They know that with me as their mom if they see food down for them they need to eat because in 20 minutes it will be gone and I won’t feed them until the next scheduled meal. I’ve always trained all my dogs meal times that way. So it’s a non issue here but as soon as their bowls are down they just inhale their food. For three teeny weenie dogs that are on the lean side they just love to eat. All three girls recently had their yearly physicals and all blood work came back great and the vet is very happy with all of their weights.

Edit: I meant to mention that Vital Essentials makes really good freeze dried foods. My dogs favorites (though they love all foods) is the tripe. But all the freeze dried foods from the companies I mentioned in a different post to you are great. I’ve used them all.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by Dori.

[Kimberly C]

Wow Dori! Thanks for sharing……I’m definitely starting to feel more comfortable about feeding raw. However, I live in a small town and sometimes order his food online. We have a Petsmart not too far off, but we don’t get out that way much. Which flavor of the raw instinct do you use, and do you buy the freeze dried or the frozen? And I saw you mentioned The Honest Kitchen “Zeal”…did your dogs take to this flavor pretty well? My Pepe is a very finicky eater, but I’ve got to get him on a better diet. Also, what do you think of Stella freeze dried?

[Kimberly C]

The most recent diets/supplements I’ve had him on are PetDiets.com and BalanceIt, both recommended by my vets. One of my vets suggested taking him off chicken to see if he was allergic. I took him off the white chicken for a while and it seemed to help some, and when we put him back on the white meat he seemed to itch more. I’ve also tried the “Honest Kitchen”, numerous premium canned foods, dry dog foods (which he absolutely hates) and have use some recipes from Dr. Pitcairn’s book (except I lightly cooked the meat) and Janie Knetzer’s book, “Home Cooking For Sick Dogs”. Some of the vitamin/mineral supplements I used with these have been “Vitalmix” which I bought from Purely Pets, and Drs. Foster and Smith multivitamin. The list goes on and on, but these are the main ones.

[Dori]

Hi Kimberly C. It sounds as though your dog is having food intolerances/sensitivities. First off he should be on grain free foods. Avoid corn, soy, white potatoes, rice and all poultry. That’s for starters. You also mention that your dog has seizures. Very important is to avoid any foods that contain rosemary in any form.

I have three small dogs all of which are on commercial raw dog foods. One of my girls has a multitude of food intolerances which is what led me on the road to raw feeding about three years ago. I started by eliminating all the ingredients I mentioned above. I feed commercial raw foods. I’m not inclined to make my own because, well…. truth be told I just don’t feel like doing it. Here is the list of commercial raw food companies that I have researched to death over the years and that I trust. Primal Raw Pronto, Primal Raw Formulas (these are Primal’s complete and balanced foods…you don’t have to add anything to them in the way of supplements). Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Dog Foods, Vital Essential Raw Foods, OC Raw Dog Food, Answer’s Detailed Raw Frozen. I also from time to time have on hand their freeze dried foods (they’re raw and you can feed as is without hydrating). As for dehydrated foods, the only one I use is The Honest Kitchen’s Zeal formula. The others contain some type of poultry or white potatoes that I choose not to feed. I feed what is called a rotational diet. I rotate different brands and different proteins within the brands with the exception of any and all poultry. I also do not feed any commercial treats. For the most part they all contain some sort of grain and there have been way too many recalls of dog treats for me to take a chance with my dogs. For treats I feed them little pieces of fruits and vegetables. Sometimes I puree them. Sometimes they’re cooked from our dinner. For the most part since I use them as treats for them I’m not particularly concerned about how much nutritional value they get from the fruits and veggies. The enjoy them, as they would a commercial treat, and that is my intent in giving them to them. If they get some nutritional value from them, even a little, that’s great; if not, that’s not the purpose I give them the treats. Of course you know you can go on google and just google what fruits and vegetables you can feed your dogs or go in reverse and type in what fruits and veggies you should not be feeding your dogs. Always, of course avoid onions, grapes, raisins. As for fruits, never feed anything that still has it’s pit or seeds. They tend to be toxic. As for apples I always don’t feed the peel. Apples are sprayed continuously to detract worms. They are also highly waxed to appear pretty for the consumer. I think I read somewhere, but don’t now remember where, that the skin of an apple has more bacteria than any other fruit on the market. That would probably hold true for cucumbers on the market due to the same reasons. I feed both but I peel them. Hope any of this has helped you. If you have any other questions, please ask.

Please remember to check any and all foods you feed your seizure dog so that you avoid rosemary in any form. Studies have shown (in people so far as no study has been done in animals as of yet) that if one has a predisposition to seizures, rosemary can trigger a seizure.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by Dori.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Hi Dori,
I was thinking about you ,saw you were posting.
Hope all is going well with you and your husband.
Just wanted to let you know the girls are now trying the natures variety instinct duck , they seem to like it. We are going for it !! Pepper is doing well on it. She is still eating the honest kitchen , but I will not be feeding her the base mixes, too much of the same going in & out.

Millie is still in heat-going on week 3 had to cut out her lunch she weighs almost 16lbs. -too much she is not happy with me at all-i feel bad ,but I am not sure if she will continue to grow or this is about it,if that is the case she weighs too much,all she want sot do is eat, I say she has bad PMS.
You take care

[Sam D]

Hi all,
We have a 15 week old Aussie and he’s been doing well on his rotating diet. I want to get him used to different foods but I also don’t want to upset his stomach. So far he’s been tolerating the following pretty well.

Mon-Fri – Kibble Taste of the Wild Puppy. Sometimes his kibble dinner is topped with TOTW canned food or Merrick canned food.

Sat & Sun – RAW – Either instinct raw frozen bites (turkey or beef) with Honest Kitchen Topper OR Aunt Jenni’s raw (turkey or beef)

1-2 days a week I’ll give him a lunch of canned Tripett

His 30lb bag of Taste of the Wild Kibble is almost up and I wanted to get Orijen large breed puppy. Does this seem like overkill on variety? We watch his stools. When he’s on raw his stools are dark, hard and once or twice a day. Kibble he poops up to 4 times a day. More gassy on the kibble too.
THANKS!!!!

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Kate, Maybe you can help me and others that are concerned about the grain free- base mixes having too many of the veggies not being digested by the pups. In my particular case when feeding either the Kindly or Preference what went in came out EXACTLY the same way, I did a test and it happened each and every time. Big pieces of undigested veggies were very visible in Pepper’s stool.
It is not AS BAD with the protein inclusive line,but I do see tiny pieces of undigested veggies in Pepper’s stool.
I have e-mailed the company about doing a digestibility study on various breeds ages etc. and post the findings on your website. I still have not gotten an answer to this.
I cannot feed my older schnauzer kibble any longer and so far she is tolerating the grain free protein inclusive line. I just do not like the fact that i still see bits of undigested material in her stool.
I want to insure she is getting a nutritious meal so I always use a topper of boiled poultry or beef or commercial raw.
I will continue to feed my angels this food ,because all that matters is that the like it and especially with Pepper who suffers with bad gastric problems she is doing well on it.
I just feel it is important as a consumer and a pet guardian that your company who prides themselves on using human grade ingredients be made aware of this important issue.
Their is another Honest Kitchen thread that many of us have voiced are concerns about this.
Please read these so you see i am not the only one concerned about this digestibility problem.
Thank you Katie

[Kate F]

Hi everyone! Kate from The Honest Kitchen here. I just wanted to help try and clear up any confusion. All of our diets (excluding base mixes) are complete meals that are balanced to AAFCO standards. This means you can feed them as stand alone diets and know that they have the appropriate amounts of nutrients – including protein – that dogs need. If you want to look at the specific nutrient breakdown, you can find the nutrient profiles here: http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/help-center/nutrient-profiles/

The reason that you can’t actually see pieces of meat or fish is because we ground our protein down to almost a powder so that it is evenly distributed throughout the recipe. This ensures that every scoop of food will have protein in – whereas if it was chunks, they could all settle at the bottom of the box and you wouldn’t always have the right amt of protein in every meal.

Our base mixes are different in that those DO require a protein to be added. The base mixes have a balanced amount of nutrients and vitamins except protein – so that all you need to add is meat or fish (cooked or raw) and know that you are feeding your dog a complete diet. This takes the guess work out of trying to feed a raw diet and wondering if your dog is getting all the nutrients it needs. These recipes are great for raw feeders, people who like to make homemade diets or dogs that have severe allergies & can only eat specific proteins like rabbit.

Please feel free to give us a call at any time and we can discuss this in more detail with you. Our customer service team is amazing and happy to answer any questions. 866-437-9729

Hope this helps!

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

I would add 25% of the commercial raw to his diet for say 1-2 weeks, transitioning is a personal thing, some can do it rt away, some not.
But in my opinion with raw I would do it slowly, say after 1 week cut back on the blue buffalo by say another 25%,add more raw, see how his tummy takes to the new food. Also monitor his stool for any change, if you see a change cut back on raw & wait until his stomach settles down.
You might want to add a probiotic or digestive enzyme during the transition -the honest kitchen makes a so called transition enabler called “Perfect Form” which worked for me. TheHonestKitchen.com
I will check back later to see if you have more questions, 1 of my angels needs her walk ,so i must go.
Good luck

[Naturella]

Welcome to DFA! It can be overwhelming, yes, but sometimes the best way to learn is just by trying some of the different ideas people post that appeal to you, see how it works with your dogs, and tweak the thing or choose something else.

I just posted the below info for someone else, lol, but it is altered to fit your questions. I am not a professional or anything, I can just tell you what I think and do:

I think that no single dog food is perfect, and different foods have varying amounts of protein, carbs, and fat, but Victor is a high-quality food and all the flavors within it seem pretty good to me. If you want, you can also rotate both within a brand (basically switch up the Victor flavors), or rotate the Victor brand with other good foods, like Dr. Tim’s, Earthborn Holistic, and Annamaet, among others – this will offer your dogs a variety in the formulas, tastes, vitamins, etc. The kibble sizes in most of these foods are pretty viable for a Chihuahua to handle, but I am not sure about Dr. Tim’s – the kibbles may be a bit big for a 4-lb dog.

If you choose to rotate brands, give it at least 10-14 days, adding a little bit of new food to the old at a time, and watching the stool – if stool is good for 2 days or so, add more new food, take more old food out, and so on. If stool is not good, back down the amount of new food, up the old food. When they get used to rotating, you can switch brands with every big bag (what I do, but with small bags, lol). For now, you can switch to a brand, then exhaust most of the flavors within the brand just so they don’t have too many changes at once, then go to another brand. Also, you can add canned plain pumpkin to aid their digestion in the process, or a supplement called Perfect Form by The Honest Kitchen (THK). I swear up and down by it – anytime my Bruno has an upset tummy, it tightens him back up in a snap! But don’t overuse the Perfect Form – use it only as needed, and the amounts to feed are on the package, as well as on THK’s website. Which leads me to…

… if feeding Perfect Form with kibble, you will need to add some water to it. It will look like a greenish soup of kibble, lol. But, with that said, extra moisture added to dry kibble is always good for the dog. You can add plain lukewarm water, yoghurt/kefir, coconut oil and water, or canned food (and water). Any mix of kibble and canned is fine as long as the dog’s tummy is ok with it and as long as you adjust the amount you add and remove the appropriate amount of kibble so that the caloric intake stays about the same. So introduce the canned slowly, and not while transitioning between brands. You can also add dehydrated/freeze-dried/air-dried foods and water to kibble as toppers too, canned sardines (no salt added, in water only), fresh vegetables and meats, some fruits, and the above suggestions. Make sure you add NO onions or any grape products (grapes, raisins), some mushrooms.

For my 15-lb terrier mix I feed 1/4 cup of dry kibble twice/day, each time with some different topper from the ones mentioned above. I use coconut oil (twice/week), raw egg (once/week), The Honest Kitchen dehydrated foods (4 recipes, each one once/week), Big Dog Natural air-dried food (once/week), yoghurt/kefir (twice/week), 1/2 of a 3.5-oz can of sardines (once/week), 1/2 of a small can of dog food (right now either Weruva or Wellness, twice/week, no kibble at said meal), and a raw meaty bone once/week. All toppers minus the egg, sardines, can of dog food and the RMB I give a teaspoon of. And I add warm water to the mix in all meals. The dehydrated/air-dried foods kind of require it, lol. Bruno loves his “soups” (that’s what kibble and water and toppers look like) and he is slim, but muscular – his body condition is great, his coat is great, and he loves meal time.

So you can implement some, all, or none of the suggestions, or tweak them to fit your dogs’ needs. Good luck, keep us posted, and let us know if you have any more questions. 🙂

[Bobby dog]

Yes, I ended up making treats out of them; not a favorite food for my dog.

Check out the Honest Kitchen reviews for other posters experiences and concerns with this brand:
/dog-food-reviews/honest-kitchen-grain-free/
/dog-food-reviews/honest-kitchen-dog-food/