[zcRiley]

She may need more exercise to increase her appetite. Or too many treats that may taste better than her food. Or the food is starting to go stale quickly (in what you keep it, dogs can smell it before we do). For the latter, I distribute a 27 lb bag into 7 airtight containers with liners inside that I twisty tie as the food goes down. Anyway, I went through all of these situations, it’s a fine tuned balance of type of food/supplements /exercise/snacks/rest. And it changes as they age. For me, I learned it was sticking to a strict daily routine or their eating habits and weight go astray. Until you find an appropriate food your dog likes, adding things to it like toppers, broth or canned won’t resolve anything.

[Susan]

Hi Matt,
Sounds like your dog has Seasonal Environment Allergies & Food Intolerances. My boy has both, his vet said if they have food sensitivities they normally will have some type of environment allergies as well… as soon as I read your post about his hives on his legs, tail & abdomen I knew environment allergies probably from grass, tree or plants pollens, that’s what Patch gets as soon as Spring starts, my vet said, keep a dairy & as the years pass you’ll start to see a pattern & I did every spring Patch has itchy hives all over his body & face/head, red paws when he walks on wet morning grass, a yeasty smelly mess, but thru the cooler Winter months he’s pretty good, no itchy skin or red paws as long as he doesn’t walk on wet grass or eat any foods he’s sensitive too, Winter we get a break,…
Baths are the best thing you can do, bath as soon as he’s real bad with his hives & itchy skin, give him a bath, I do weekly baths now but I was bathing every 2nd 3rd day at one stage, I use a medicated shampoo “Malaseb” medicated shampoo it’s mild & can be used daily & kills any bacteria, yeast on the skin & keeps their skin nice, moist & soft, when you bath your washing off any allergens, pollens & dirt that’s on their skin, I also use creams on his paws, head around chin & around tail & bum area when he’s bum surfing on my rug, “Sudocrem” is excellent it stops his itchy bum within mins of applying it, Sudocrem is a healing cream for Nappy Rash, Eczema, Dermatitis, Pressure Sore etc, sold in the baby section at any Supermarket or Chemist, the Sudocrem acts as a barrier & protects their skin especially their paws & where their skin is red/pink on stomach area & back of legs, I’d love to show a before & after photo’s after a lady applied the Sudocrem to her dogs red stomach, it’s posted on the Dog issues allergies F/B group link below. I also use Hydrocortisone 1% cream at night I check Patches whole body before bed & if something is still red like in between his toes, I get a cotton tip & thinly apply some Hydrocortisone 1% cream, when he wakes up in the morning all his paws are nice & pink all clear again, you can put on socks & bandage around the paws to stop any licking as licking makes things worse, best to bath the paws in Malaseb & dry them off then apply the Sudocrem,

The only way to know what foods your boy is sensitive too & can eat, is to do a “Food Elimination Diet”… you can use a vet diet like “Royal Canine” Hypoallergenic wet tin food, then once your dog is doing well & not reacting start adding 1 new ingredient to the R/C HP wet food, every 6 weeks add 1 new ingredient, no treats or any extra things are to be feed while your doing an elimination food diet, it can take a dog 1 day up to 6 weeks to react to an ingredient & show symptoms, that’s why sometimes you’ll start a new food & think your dog is doing really well then 3-4 weeks later he’ll start reacting to an ingredient in the new kibble…
Probably half the foods you think he’s sensitive too he isn’t..
I tested & added ingredients that are in the kibbles I wanted to feed… I worked out my boy reacts to chicken, he gets red paws, itchy yeasty smelly skin & itchy bum after I added raw & cooked chicken to his diet, carrots made his ears real itchy & he’d shake his head 20mins after eating the chicken & carrots he reacted, oats & barley made Patches poos very sloppy, I always thought potatoes & peas were causing Patches yeast problems cause potatoes are a high sugar starch but later I learnt a dog will only get yeasty smelly skin, paws & ears if they’re sensitive to a certain ingredient (CARF) or have environment allergies.. Read this link “Myths & Fact about yeast Dermatitis” scroll down to “Carbohydrates & Sugar in your dogs diet. http://www.healthyskin4dogs.com/blog/2015/9/8/facts-myths-about-yeast-dermatitis-in-dogs, Dr Karen Helton Rhodes DVM DACVD often pops into this Face Book group called “Dog issues, allergies and other information support group” join you’ll learn a lot..
Once you have done the Elimination diet, you’ll know what foods are causing what but its best to do a elimination diet in the cooler months Winter when pollens aren’t as bad as the Spring/Summer months..
Can you cook or feed a raw diet? you’ll have better control with your dogs diet, even if you do what I’m doing, I feed a few meals “Canidae” Pure Wild Boar kibble & the other meals are wet tin food Royal Canine HP wet tin or cooked pork rissoles with sweet potatoes. Patch eats 4-5 meals a day, he has IBD as well, if you join the Face Book group I recommended above https://www.facebook.com/groups/240043826044760/
you’ll read some people post their dogs are allergic to mites & the mites are in the dog kibble, or your dog may be allergies to dust mites in your house…. dog allergies starts to get very confusing & as they get older they get worse, but once you get into a routine with weekly or twice a week baths, apply creams, using Huggie baby wipes Coconut oil wipes or Cucumber & Aloe wipes when the dog comes back inside wipe him down days you don’t feel like bathing him & work out his food intolerances.. it gets better..
Here’s a link for Canidae Pure formula’s, the omega 3 is balanced in Canidae kibbles, some brands of kibble are too high in omega 6 & too low in omega 3 causing skin problems in dogs.. http://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products
Zignature is another food people say has helped their allergic dog….Make sure your dogs diet is high in Omega 3 it will help with their allergies, ad few sardines to 1 of your dogs meal a day.. buy tin sardines or salmon in spring water also green lipped mussels are good to give as a treat.

[Ann O]

I am trying to figure out best food for my dogs. A toy poodle who is 10 and a terrier who is 5. I have been buying from a online place. My food has started getting bad reviews. Any suggestions will be appreciated. I feed them dry food and boiled chicken breast. My dogs are both rescue dogs. Also what is best rawhide and treats for them.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Ann O.

[Soph M]

I went to a local petstore yesterday that specializes in natural pet nutrition, they told that the below plan would work good. What do you think?

MAIN MEALS: Homemade food (rotating veggies and meat for variety), also including some egg.
PROBIOTIC: Daisy’s Mega 8 Probiotic Flora (this is all natural)
TREATS: Give 1-2 raw bones per week to clean teeth and as a calcium source.

The lady at the petstore said that she will get all the vitamins she needs from veggies. She was sure that the raw bones would provide enough calcium.

[Susan]

Hi, yes re do all 3 triple therapy meds, with the Losec (Omeprazole) you don’t have to give on empty stomach or wait 30mins before eating food like you do with other ant acid reducers.
Losec is a Pump Protein Inhibitor (PPI) sends a message to the brain not to make any acids in the stomach, where the other ant acid reducer just settle all the acid already in the stomach & end up not working properly… I take Somac another PPI & I take it then eat breakfast when I was waiting 1/2 a hour before eating like my old an acid reducer Zantac I was feeling sick & my Gastro Dr said just take same time every morning & he explained how a PPI works.
I feed Patch 7am take him for his walk then at 8.30am give the Losec 20mg with water, so it goes into his stomach cause I put down his throat it can get stuck so I use a big 20mls syringe full with water & put in the side of his mouth & he just drinks it & I rub his throat so no Losec tablet is stuck in his throat.. Losec is the only tablet he lets me give him, he doesn’t run away, so it must help him…
With his food still feed the vet diet for a few meals & a few other meals feed a cooked meal it doesn’t need to be balanced for the first month then if the cooked meal is agreeing with him then look at balancing it but cause I was feeding Patch his kibble for 3 of his meals I didn’t bother balancing his Pork rissoles & sweet potato for the other 2 meals, his skin & coat was still nice & shiny & looked healthy…. after he’s on the triple therapy meds for 6 days then maybe see if you can feed his meals every 3-4 hours instead of the every 2 hours, maybe feed more food & see if you can cut out a meal or feed a bit later, I feed 7am x 1/2 a cup kibble, 8.30am x Losec, 9am X 1/2 a cup kibble, 11am a treat a few small bite size piece of peeled apple or green lipped mussel freeze dried treats, 12pm wet tin food, 5pm x 1/2 a cup kibble & 8pm wet tin food & sometimes if he’s not sleeping he gets 2 human Jatz biscuit around 9pm & that’s it he sleeps…
But gee to have a rest & have a break would be nice, since I rescued him November 2012 he’s been a handful with health problems….. what breed is your boy & how old?

[Charisma M]

Hey Ann! Yeah he’s still on that diet, we don’t give treats or anything else! Just ice as a treat since we live in Texas and it’s super hot! We use bottled water so no tap water. His last test for pancreatitis was the only one they did when we first took him in at the end of march.

My boy has so many issues idk what else it could be. He has epilepsy, hypothyroidism, calcium oxalate stones, an adrenal gland tumor, ibd and now pancreatitis. 😩

[Ann F]

Charisma, sorry I have not been on this site for some time. I don’t know if you can PM in this group, but I wouldn’t mind helping out. You said that Turkey was the only protein suggested with the BalanceIt. I’d check again! For a formulated BalanceIt diet, they gave us a choice of Duck or Fish. Some of their diets use more exotic proteins, low-fat cottage cheese, or tofu.
We used fish which I steamed or microwaved. For an 80 lb dog I needed about a lb of fish a day (before cooking). I’m hoping you have a smaller dog:-). I was in contact with the vet who formulated the diet at least weekly. We tweeked what was not working, and kept track of the stool changes. I gave NOTHING besides his daily food. If I’d started adding slippery elm, probiotics and miscellaneous supplements my Internist would never be able to evaluation the value of the diet. Too much stuff! After this worked we did add a very tiny amount of prednisone because the IBD was eosinophilic also. This had inflamed his small intestine, and even though he did not test for SIBO, he needed a bump in the amount of BalanceIt to compensate for some absorption issues.

We used pork enzymes for a trial after some pancreatitis. Ended up he was very reactive to Pork after a month. We couldn’t give him even hydrolyzed chicken in a vet diet. He recognized it for what it was eventually. There are still preservatives in the highest quality manufactured pet food. I think we finally did well when I made a fresh diet up. I’d been scared to do this for years, wish I hadn’t waited so long to cook my own formulated. Quality of life would have been so much better for him. It was hard to cut out treats, but there are a few you can give.

[Susan]

Hi Holly
have a look at “Ziwi Peak” they have limited ingredient treats, all natural air dried, you can also use their air dried limited ingredient formula’s as treats…. just hover over “DOGS” & all Ziwi Peak treats & foods come up….
https://www.ziwipets.com/catalog/ziwi-peak-dog-nutrition

[InkedMarie]

I’d take a look at companies that make limited ingredient dog foods and see if they have treats as well. Raw dog food companies such as Hare Today and Raw Feeding Miami have such items as well.

[holly s]

Hello,
My dog is allergic to beef, chicken and veal. She has been tolerating rabbit. So we are now looking for limited ingredient rabbit or salmon treats for training. We would prefer a premade treat, rather than baking/freezing her dog food. Can anyone recommend rabbit or fish based dog treats that have limited ingredients?
Thanks so much for your help.
Holly

[jenny d]

We have a 5-year-old German Shepherd who just started having seizures a few months ago. We’ve been feeding her these Canine Carry Out treats, sometimes quite often (teaching her tricks). I threw them away today just in case.

[Kristi D]

Hi Shane,
I was talking with a lady today that needed to create her own treats for her dogs’ issues. She was also pursuing turning it into a business. She has found a young start up company that was doing what she had hoped to do. This company has pet parents fill out a pet profile and indicate what issues the pet has going on. Their algorithm was developed by animal nutritionists and veterinarians and suggests food, treats and supplements if needed. I’m wondering if they could use some one with your knowledge and training and passion for helping pets with special conditions.
If that is of interest to you, I can try to connect the two of you.
Kristi

[Susan]

Hi
Food can cause yeasty smelly ears, skin & paws if the dog has food sensitivities/intolerances to certain ingredients, you need to work out what foods your dog is sensitive too, my boy can not eat chicken, barley, oats, corn, gluten corn & carrots, carrots are the worst, 20mins after eating the carrots he starts scratching his ears, shaking his head, when I didn’t know it was the carrot & kept feeding the carrots in his rissoles he’d started to get yeasty, smelly infected ears, & walked tilting his head, same as chicken he gets red smelly paws & real itchy skin & rubs bum on the floor/carpet others foods that have corn, corn gluten meal caused sloppy poo’s….
I did a food elimination diet, raw is the best to feed, or cooked or use one of the vet diets like Royal Canine, Hypoallergenic wet tin or the Royal Canine wet tin PR-Potato & Rabbit, PV-Potato & Venison, PK-Potato & Salmon, or there’s the dry kibble after eliminating all treats & just feeding raw, vet diet or your own cooked diet that has just 1 single novel protein + 1 carb when the dog ears & skin aren’t smelly & itchy anymore you start adding 1 new ingredient for 6 weeks to see if he reacts to the new ingredient, it can take food sensitivities/intolerances anywhere from 1 day to 6 weeks for the dog to start reacting & showing any symptoms …..
Here’s some limited ingredient single protein kibbles & wet tin formula’s-
* “Zignature” – http://zignature.com/?page_id=333&lang=en
* “Canidae Pure” – http://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products
* “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb or TOTW Pacific Stream Smoked Salmon both have limited ingredients. http://www.tasteofthewild.com.au/

Join this group on face book, “Dog issues, allergies and other information support group” a lot of really good info & a Dermatologist pops in every now & here’s one of her links about the “Facts & Myths about Yeast Dermatitis in dogs, scroll down to about the 7th paragraph read about food sensitivities/intolerances, http://www.healthyskin4dogs.com/blog/2015/9/8/facts-myths-about-yeast-dermatitis-in-dogs

[Michael M]

Hi Shane,

The most important thing to think about for any sort of start-up is using the “jobs to be done” framework. For dog treats and dried food with conditions, think about what products people use for their dogs. Talk to people who have dogs with those problems and see what they have “hired” to help out their dog.

Getting information about actual target users is the best possible place to start. Wish you the best of luck!

[Becca]

My dogs are also on a raw diet I home make and dehydrate their Chicken Treats and liver treats and I also make them homemade cookies with no grain

[pugmomsandy]

For anyone interested:

Whitebridge Acquires Dogswell
Tuesday, April 18, 2017, Whitebridge announced that it had acquired Dogswell, the maker of Dogswell and Nutrisca brands of dog and cat food. Whitebridge issued the following press release:

Whitebridge Pet Brands, LLC (“Whitebridge Pet Brands”), a leader in natural and minimally-processed pet foods, announced today it has completed the acquisition of Arthur Dogswell LLC (“Dogswell”), maker of Dogswell® and Nutrisca® treats and foods for dogs and cats. Whitebridge Pet Brands, backed by Frontenac, a private equity firm focused on investing in the lower middle market, acquired Dogswell from TSG Consumer Partners (“TSG”) and other shareholders. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Dogswell is a leading supplier of premium, innovative pet food and treats that are high-quality, delicious and provide proactive, nutritional benefits. Founded in 2004, the Los Angeles-based company was built on the belief that better nutrition leads to a longer, healthier and happier life for pets.

Whitebridge Pet Brands, led by CEO Olivier Amice, was founded in January 2015 with the merger of Cloud Star, a leading pet treat manufacturer and Petropics, maker of Tiki Cat® and Tiki Dog™.

“At Whitebridge Pet Brands, our team shares a passion for pets and the belief that natural and minimally-processed nutrition positively impacts the health and happiness of dogs and cats. We are very excited that Dogswell® and Nutrisca® brands will be joining Whitebridge Pet Brands’ portfolio as Dogswell® functional meaty treats and Nutrisca® grain & potato free foods are complementary to our other brands. Merging the two companies will allow us to leverage our combined structure to better service our distributors and retailers and accelerate our overall growth” said Amice.

“Dogswell® and Nutrisca® are well respected brands which will further bolster our product portfolio at Whitebridge,” said Joe Rondinelli, Vice President at Frontenac. “We see a tremendous opportunity to further build on the brands’ positioning and to accelerate growth by continuing to offer new and innovative products to pet parents.”

“Natural, minimally processed food and treats, for dog and cats, continues to be a growing and attractive spot in the market,” added Walter Florence, a Managing Partner at Frontenac. “We are excited to be making this acquisition, which fits well with our strategy and allows us to further invest behind a great leadership team. We could not be happier with what Olivier and the entire team at Whitebridge have already accomplished. We are confident they will continue to lead these brands to even greater future success.”
Rob Leibowitz, Operating Partner at TSG and Dogswell CEO, said, “Dogswell® has firmly established itself as a pioneer and innovator in the pet consumables space. We’ve enjoyed our productive partnership with the team and look forward to watching the Company continue to grow as part of Whitebridge Pet Brands.”

Whitebridge Pet Brands is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Dogswell’s corporate office is in Los Angeles, California and its state-of-the-art SQF3 manufacturing facility is located in Joplin, Missouri. Customers and consumers can be assured minimal disruption as the businesses are integrated.

[Jane L]

You must be joking. 20 years ago was not the dark ages and we went to the vet in the 60’s to 90’s and would know if a dog had cancer. Dogs also did not all have allergies then as so many do now.

Cancer is caused by the carcinogens in kibble, imported Chinese treats, over vaccination and toxic flea and tick products.

[Jane L]

You are wasting your breath obviously once Cameron referee to Snopes 😜 That is quite funny for some talking science!

For anyone interested Snopes have not updated their unproven statement from June 2015 on Duncan’s death in spite of being provided with his MSD cases number, letters to owner from Merck and paid vet bills on the owners surviving dog. This case was the first to hit the news and another 4000 odd cases / 900 approx. deaths have followed on. If these reported cases are just 1% as they say is the norm then obviously this is a massive issue. I think with groups now in so many Countries anybody with half a brain can see there is a big problem here. So be aware if you dog reacts there is no antidote and so far there are no clues why some are react so violently and others days after dose 3 or more and others appear fit after over two years. If you love your dog why take the risk especially as it does not even prevent tick disease and works by your dogs blood feeding parasites? Surely a deterrent to prevent the bite is preferable?

Unproven does not mean it did not happen it means there is not 100% proof of the cause. It’s the 100% conclusive scientific proof that appears impossible but if you feed you dog one of these so called ‘tasty treats’ and within minutes on many occasions it starts seizing I think you know the cause. The intelligence of someone referring to Snopes as the fountain of all knowledge is laughable 🙄😫

Anybody interested in reading facts just apply to the EMA and read the cases and see how they singled it out at the January meeting for targeted PSUR’s.

[Susan]

Hi Rich, click on this link, Clean Label Project,
http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product-ratings/pet-food/ scroll down & read the kibbles & wet foods that had the most toxic chemicals, arsenic, lead & cadmium, most were pet foods that had fish as the main protein, last yea I started feeding Patch the “Holistic Select” Adult/Puppy, Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines made by Well Pet who make’s Wellness another kibble Patch did well on then went down hill after 2-3months, his stomach & bowel seems to know when a kibble isn’t right & something is wrong, now I know why after reading the Clean Label Project… all last year Patch was doing really well eating TOTW Roasted Lamb + different cooked foods that I add to his diet for dinner, then Spring come around, cause Patch suffers with Seasonal Environment Allergies, I start to feed a fish based kibble thru the Spring & Summer months the year before I feed an Australian made kibble “Meals For Mutts” but this year I started to feed the Holistic Select G/F fish kibble instead the man at the pet shop recommended the Holistic Select he feeds it to his 2 Staffys that also have allergies then after 2-3 months Patch went down hill after eating the Holistic Select, he stopped eating it, he was doing sloppy cow pattie poos, up all hours of the night pooing, bad wind pain, whinging, I saw his vet, she put him back on the Metronidazole & I put him back on his TOTW Lamb kibble, his poo’s firmed up within 2 days.. then 1 month ago I see Holistic Select kibble on the Clean Label Project it’s 10th, contains the highest amount of harmful environment and industrial contaminants & toxins.. I nilly died & Holistic Select is a 5 star kibble on the DFA….
This is why over time it’s best to find a couple of different brands of pet food with a different protein that agree with your dogs & you rotate between the 2 or 3 brands so if 1 brand isn’t being made any more or has something wrong like toxins or lacking vitamins, not enough omega 3 etc your dogs are not on the one food long enough, eating the same food 24/7 for years & years & suffering long term health problems…..

What kibble works for one dog may not work for another dog, if your dogs were doing sloppy poo’s with jelly mucus on them it’s normally food intolerances, or the protein may be too high, after doing a food elimination diet with my boy, it was chicken, corn, corn gluten meal, barley, boiled rice he can not eat, his IBD vet specialist said when I’m looking for any kibbles or wet tin foods make sure it has 1 single protein with limited ingredients so there’s less chance he will react to an ingredient, she said if after 9-12 months he’s doing really well on the same kibble, its best to introduce new foods into his diet, sometimes a dog will start to react to an ingredient in the food you’ve been feeding for years, so I rotate kibbles now & I add different foods to his diet for dinner or as treats but I didn’t do all this straight away it has taken over 3-4 yrs to get to this point where Patch can eat anything now as long as it’s not any foods he’s sensitive too…also sometimes a 5 star food won’t be the best food for your dog, if it’s a 3 stars food & agrees with your dog & the ingredients all look good then that’s OK, Dog Food Advisor gives less stars sometimes cause the protein is under 25%, there’s nothing wrong with the kibble, but the lower the protein the more carbohydrates that kibble will have….

[Rebecca S]

And to Anon101 I will look into those! And I have already created a budget for next year including vet visits, treats, toys, food, and everything else! I budgeted up to 1.60 per pound just in case but was looking to see if I could bring it down!

[Lora J]

Congratulations on your new dog! I have large breeds, myselfso I cannot comment on that. But I have found this dog food rating system on this website a valuable tool for finding the best food for our budget. I have found it takes some time to search through the higher rated foods, thrn shop around to price check, but worth it. Buy the highest rated food you can afford. I also supplement my dogs’ dry kibble with raw carrots and broccoli as treats for additional enzymes and antioxidents. I am sure you will get additional helpful comments here. Good luck!

[Susan]

Hi Peter, I live Australia & Garlic is in a lot of our Australian made dogs foods… Garlic is very healthy for dogs, it repeals worms, fleas & diseases….. When you read the ingredient list to the treats the garlic should be near the end of the ingredient list, the further down the ingredient list an ingredient is then there isn’t much of it….
When your bored Google “The Oldest Dog in the World” & watch the video made by Rodney Habib, Rodney Habib is good to follow on face book if your on Face book…

[anonymous]

Regarding the treats mentioned, I don’t see the sodium content?
Whenever you see “powder” such as garlic powder, celery powder etc…..I question the amount of salt mixed in.
At least I do with stuff I buy for my own consumption. I stopped buying chili powder for my vegetarian chili for that reason.

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

[Acroyali]

Lovelybear we must be out of the same mold. We recently dragged out an old crate for one of our dogs to eat in and she acted like she was being put in jail, and like I threw away the key! This dog hasn’t had the need to be crated (other than in the car) for quite some time, so she’s none too thrilled with our newest and brightest idea. She has no self preservation and I’m constantly worried she might get hurt. It occurred to us that if she DOES injure herself, crate rest will be in order and it might be a good idea to re-acclimate her so she doesn’t stress.

I keep the crate in a high traffic area (our kitchen is bustling) so she’s in the action (so to speak), and we started playing little crate games. I’d take a treat, have her sit and wait, and toss the treat into the crate and release her. We put a few old blankets in there one night, made a big show of burying some really high value treats IN the blankets and shut the door and released. She wanted in that crate so bad! We opened the door and she flew in, nudging the blankets aside and hunting those treats down. We left the door open so she could exit whenever, and she was so into the game that she didn’t even think about leaving the crate until she was 100% sure there wasn’t a crumb left.

Be creative! If you’re into clicker training, a clicker can come in really useful in situations like this and you can choose a word to send her into the crate. (We use “load up”, a friend of mine simply says “In you go”!) Play crate games with her. When I crate train a new dog I don’t leave the door open when I’m not actively training it, it’s like reverse psychology–the crate = games = fun = not always available. Some people have better luck leaving the door open 24 hours a day and letting the dog explore at their own pace. Assess your dog and do what you feel would be best for her. Be creative! 🙂

I’ve fed raw for a lot of years. A few dogs eat out of bowls, a few on plastic washable mats (no bowls). When it’s nice we do feed some dogs outside, but the yard isn’t treated with anything. The bowls and mats go in hot, soapy water and are easy to wash and rinse. They air dry.

It’s great that your dog is a good, slow eater and not a gulper! Crate feeding is great because it IS so easy to clean. If absolutely necessary, it might be possible to take the crate bottom pan out and let it be free-standing in the room, and use it as a place for her to eat until she’s used to the actual crate again. Once she’s happy walking in and out of the crate for a treat, maybe jackpot reward her with a few gizzards or something really high value.

Yes, there are risks concerning raw feeding, but unfortunately there are risks concerning ANY feeding, for pets or humans. The presence of penobarbitol in some “high end” brands lately have really made many people suspicious of the idea that commercial food is automatically safe and raw food is automatically dangerous.

[Peter H]

Switching treats from Puperoni to Zuke’s…..which has garlic powder listed as the 4th ingredient listed. Vet says “not to worry”…..Fritz at Zukes says “OK”.

Raw garlic is probably a no-no……what about powdered garlic ?

Thanks

[Peter H]

Greetings….new member. I was concerned about garlic/garlic powder in dog food/treats…and Zukes.

Put both in Search Box and a lot showed up. A lot of replies are lengthy and I stopped reading after just a few….trying to pick out “Zukes” and ‘garlic” in the same black script was a bit much for impatient me.

Is it possible to highlight the Search word/term in red for old fuddy-duddys, like me ?

Thanks

[Shane C]

Hi Everyone,

Apologies if this is in the wrong section!

I’m coming to the end of my degree with university and while job hunting in the industry I’d like to start off my own little business,

I’m looking at doing pet food, but specifically starting off with dog treats / dried food. I’m also taking a interest in doing condition tailored treats, take my puppy for example, poor thing has just been diagnosed with a proneness to colitis.

I’m just wondering if anyone has any general ideas or tips to help me start off?

And before concerns come into the replies, I have access to the correct facilities to produce, completely above aboard, routinely inspected, so it’s not a spontaneous idea of a stereotypical student cooking up some biscuits in a grotty flat hoping to make a quick quid!

[Michael M]

Wow, glad to know this information about Greenies – this is part of the reason why I joined this forum. I’ve gotten them for free and hadn’t paid for them, and I rarely give my dogs any types of treats besides peanut butter. I hadn’t thought too much about the ingredients. Luckily, it was only twice that I’ve given it to mine.

That being said, they definitely didn’t do a great job of cleaning their teeth. I also switched to pig ears – stuff that won’t easily get caught in their throat but provides some good chewing action.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Robin M:
I hope you don’t leave, looks like some helpful info has been posted for you to look into.

I have a dog that tends to get chubby during hot weather (inactive time for him) and have to closely monitor his calories. When I have a moment I will post some of the weight management/Sr. formulas I feed.

I feed yogurt here and there as a treat; not very large portions. I buy low-fat, no particular brand. Make sure there are no artificial sweeteners added, some are deadly for dogs. I sometimes freeze it in ice cube trays for a frozen treat. I am going to be making a few frozen treats with some fresh fruit for summertime. Maybe I’ll add some sardines for another flavor too. Very important, keep track of calories don’t over do it!!

[Robin M]

Yea the only treats he gets are the pill pockets for his meds. I am a little concerned that by cutting his food intake by half it won’t be enough for him. With the carrots/green beans being just filler.

I know..I worry too much. But, as most on this site know, he’s my baby LOL.

Thanks everyone

[pitlove]

Hi Robin-

I currently have a senior Lab who needed to lose 7lbs. So far he has lost 2.

What I did that has been working was putting him on a weight control food that was both low in fat and calories. Most importantly I stopped giving him any and all treats and table food. We also increased his walks. If you want to treat your dog, pet him, play ball, fetch etc. Those are a healthy “treat” for your dog that they enjoy.

Controlling calories is extremely important for weight loss. If they are taking in more calories than they are burning they can not lose weight.

[heather s]

in looking at canidae some foods had a 5 star rating. none of the foods with 5 stars had fish in them. some of the three stars did have fish meal . the treats were all one star with no fish meal and of the actual one star canidae dog foods most if not all had menhaden meal in them

[Susan]

Hi how is your poor dog doing?? what did vet do is he on Metronidazole??
All organ meats are very rich & can cause diarrhea when feed too much, my boy gets diarrhea from those liver treats, Beef liver treats chicken liver treats… when I first rescued him 4-5yrs ago, I took him to the Hunter rescue second hand shop they raise money & sell worm, flea products, collars, name tag’s, toys, jackets etc everything for dogs/cats they raise money for people that don’t have the money to desex their cat & dogs, I wanted a new ID tag & a few toys for Patch & showed all the ladies my new rescue boy, the elderly ladies kept giving Patch liver treats & these were real big thick chunky black liver/beef treats, they could have been beef liver, I don’t know, anyway that night we were up all night with bad diarrhea, pain, feeling sick, I took Patch to vet next morning cause I have never had a dog get this sick, he was put on Metronidazole an antibiotic for the bowel & stomach & Royal Canine, Hydrolyzed dry vet diet just to let his bowel rest & heal, that’s when Patches new vet told me organ meats are very rich & can cause diarrhea, so since then I have never given him any liver, beef, or chicken liver treats again…
Years later I went thru a Naturopath to put Patch on a raw diet cause of his IBD & Skin allergies & he wasn’t given any organ meat or bone in his diet cause he has IBD, he was put on a probiotic & digestive enzymes & a supplement powder to balance the raw diet but the raw diet didn’t agree with Patch cause of his IBD, it cleared up his itchy skin & red paws cause we were just feeding Kangaroo with blended broccoli, apple, celery, we were starting an elimination raw diet but Patch kept feeling very sick & regurgitating the raw back up….Maybe stick with the cooked diet, I know raw is so much easier to do there’s no cooking just start with 1 lean white protein & a few blended veggies (2-3) like broccoli, apple, celery etc & only add 1-2 spoons of the blende veggies with 1 cup raw..

[caroline b]

Can anyone recommend a well balanced, healthy puppy training treat?

[Hav mom]

Wondering if any one has tried the new Mussel Green lipped freeze dried natural
treats for Dogs from The Honest Kitchen? Am considering it for my dog who loves treats and he will still get his Omega 3! (I now give him Dr.Mercola Krill Oil in his food, but treats
are nicer 🙂 )Also, I Just heard about a new food Human Grade Dog Food at cheweys called Tylee’s.
Anyone know anything about it??

[Nathan J]

New to this site so have no idea if I’m hitting right thing or not. But curious anyone would know what could be wrong with our dog. Vet visits are so high these days. But we have almost 8 year half blue heeler and half jack russel (mainly blue heeler. Very spoiled but medical alert dog to. She still eats treats and her daily vitiam but she won’t eat her food for almost two days now. Also she refuses to go outside which is out normal for her. Curious if anyone has any ideas what might be wrong or maybe she bored with food? Like I have read. She has had diarrhea some. One minute is normal bowl movements next it isn’t:

[Susan]

Hi Emmygirl,
It’s good you have found a food that works, stick with it for now…Royal Canin vet diets also has their Potato + Venison-PV, Potato + Rabbit-PR, Potato +Salmon-PS & Potato + Kangaroo wet & dry formulas, I don’t know why but my boy seems to do better on Royal Canin vet diets then the Hills vet diets, but we don’t get any of the Hills d/d novel proteins wet & dry formulas they don’t pass our strict quarantine laws to come into Australia & why we get the all the Royal Canine vet formulas is cause the Royal Canine is made in France & passes our strict quarantine laws……
Be VERY careful feeding a raw diet, raw freeze dried or raw air dried diets, Donate the Canine Caviar if kibble bag is open a kibble only stays fresh for 2 weeks google it, the oils go rancid as soon as the oxygen/air hits the kibbles…changing diets can make your dog have another flare & put him back to square one again, your dog needs time to heal his bowel/stomach & be on the Hills d/d for a good 6 months, my vet wanted Patch on a vet diet for 1yr so everything healed….
The only freeze dried raw I give Patch is the K-9Natural or Sunday Pets Green Lipped Mussel treats as a treat after his bath but I just found out as soon as you open these freeze dry foods some have to used within 10 days, they have written it on their packaging now, I didn’t know until the lady in the pet shop told me the other day, maybe that’s why Patch became ill again about 1 month ago it could from the Green Lipped Mussel treats, I was giving him once a week every Thursday….
When your dog is doing REALLY well & off meds have a look at “Zignature” formulas the Kangaroo has the lowest fat & protein % out of all the Zignature formulas, read what the Hills d/d fat, protein% & fiber% is & when your looking for another kibble/wet tin make sure it has Limited Ingredients same as the Hills d/d has & is around the same amount of fat, protein & fiber as the d/d, you can go up a bit for the protein cause you wont find too many normal formulas that low in protein & when the protein & fat is real low that means the carbs are real high….

[Kari P]

My friend also makes her dogs frozen peanut butter and banana treats. She just slices bananas, dabs PB on top, and freezes them on a cookie sheet.

This summer I’m going to try to make dog ice cream using dog safe ingredients like peanut butter, banana, cheese, sweet potato, carrots, and blueberries. I’m just planning on putting everything in a blender/food processor then freezing it in a muffin tin. I think it would be easy to do and less expensive than buying dog ice cream for him.

[Kari P]

I LOVE this topic. I’m looking for different recipes to make homemade treats for my dog. I’ve seen dog cakes, biscuits, and ice cream that I would love to replicate.

My boyfriend makes dog treats out of spent grain leftover from brewing homemade beer.

2 cups of spent grain
1 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 cup peanut butter

Spread the mixture thin and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 225 and cook for another 2 hours to dry them out. The treats must be dry otherwise they will mold when you store them.

Our dog and our friends’ dogs happily gobble these treats. Obviously they are not nutritionally balanced, but the ingredients aren’t harmful and its a great way to make home brewing more sustainable.

[Susan]

Hi Robert, what is she eating & is she gulping her meals?? I sit down in lounge room on lounge, I put patches heavy glass bowl on a little stool thing, so his stomach is level with his mouth/throat when he’s standing, then I only add about 2 kibbles at 1 time, if they’re small kibbles, don’t feed any big kibbles, they’re harder to digest, Patch has to chew the kibble, as soon as he chews the kibble I add another 2 kibbles, I put a paper towel folded & folded again cause Patch gets all spit coming out of sides of mouth & makes 1 big mess & the paper towel soaks up his spit, I also get another paper towel & wipe his mouth as he’s eating, I’ve had to teach him to chew his kibbles, treats, he just swallowed any kibbles, treats, then his vet said start sectioning the 1 cup of kibble & feed slowly & now he finally chews & doesn’t gulp & swallow….. it has made a really big difference, it takes about 20mins to feed him, then we go for a 15min walk after he eats & he does farts & poo lol…also start feeding her about 4-5 smaller meals a day, sounds like she had the pain or acid reflux before she ate her food to be running out & eating grass & after eating food it has made the problem worse, kibble isn’t good for dogs with acid reflux or any stomach problems….
“Holistic Select”, “Canidae” Pure Meadow, Life Stages Platinum & “Taste Of Wild” Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb kibble are very easy to digest kibbles….You may need a acid reducer ask vet can you trial a 1-2 week on an ant acid med & see does it make any difference also change diet, I had to put Patch on Prilosec, 1 every morning, with the change of diet & the Prilosec made a real big difference..
Have you tried cooked meal?, feed 1 very lean protein & boiled sweet potato, feed the cooked meal when she is normally the worst?

[Krista B]

Do you guys think an added 5% from veggies are ok? It’s not throwing off the balance in my opinion because I would still be feeding the same amount of food as if I wasn’t feeding them. The total I’m feeding now is 10% from supplemental oils and treats and 5% from veggies. Does this sound balanced to you guys? I’ve decided not to add the sardines and just stick with the fish oil. I’ve read that Karen Becker says it’s ok for 15% to be from extras, but no more than that. In the article in said up to 15% but preferably less than 10%. I’ll post it below.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3634992

[Bobby dog]

Check out the info from the UC Davis link in my post. They have a good example of the 10% rule. You’ll have to do some math to figure out your unbalanced food/supplement calories.

The only unbalanced items in my dog’s diet are the fresh foods and treats. I don’t add any supplements. So far all yearly exams are good for my dog and his meals are balanced so I do not feel the need to add any vitamins/supplements to his diet.

[Krista B]

Ok thanks, so when you say 10% do you mean total? For example her supplemental oils and supplements make up 7% of he diet, treats make up 3% of the diet. I’ve been adding some veggies which make up 5% of the diet. If I added one sardine to her AM meal three times per week it would be another 5% of her diet. All of this would total to 20% extras. (Not by volume, by calories.) is this ok or should I keep it to 10% only?

[Bobby dog]

Hi Krista:
I don’t read this as a repeated question. Other forum questions “So is it ok that she just gets dry kibble with no other additions? Is this healthy?”, this forum question “What toppers do you guys use to too dry kibble?”

So, back to this forum question, “What toppers do you guys use to too dry kibble?” For balanced toppers I feed canned and frozen/dehydrated raw. Most canned recipes I feed are lower in fat on a DMB than an average kibble containing a GA of 16% fat. For unbalanced toppers I feed sardines, eggs, lean meats, and I also use the download c4c wrote about for other fresh food options altering amounts suggested a bit in order to keep meals balanced.
https://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DN330EBK

I follow the rule of adding no more than 10% of daily caloric intake of unbalanced foods to meals. I use this site to figure out calories for my unbalanced toppers:
https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/

“Treats and additional food items should not exceed 10% of the daily caloric intake. The majority (90% or greater) of the calories should come from a complete and balanced food…” ~ UC Davis Veterinary Medicine. More on this topic:
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmth/local_resources/pdfs/Treats_guidelines.pdf

Good luck!

[Krista B]

Ok, thanks so much! So 25% sounds ok to you then? I’ve read the same but I just wasn’t sure. I actually have his book! He also recommends beef heart and eggs but I like that the sardines have the calcium in them plus EPA and DHA. In his book he says 15% of the diet (one abc day) can be unbalanced but I’m not sure if he’s accounting for treats and supplemental oils given.. I do think 30% would be too high, maybe that why he just says one day.

[Krista B]

Hi,

What toppers do you guys use to too dry kibble? Right now I’m using some canned dog food as a topper. I like that it’s complete and balanced and I don’t need to worry about unbalancing the diet. Are there any other toppers I could use that wouldn’t unbalance the diet too much? I was thinking of using some sardines a few times a week. Here’s the thing 15% of her diet is currently already compromised of treats, veggies, and supplements. If added the sardines it would bring the percentage up to 25% coming from extras other than kibble/canned. Is this ok to do.. or is this unlamced? I read 15% should be the maximum Amount you should have as extras…I like the idea of sardines thought because it already has calcium in it plus EPA and DHA.

Thanks!

[InkedMarie]

I’ve never heard of low protein for weight loss; this is just me but I’d do the opposite. I used Wellness Core reduced fat for a dog we adopted; I’d try Annamaet Lean now. No treats but if you must, use fresh green beans. Play games inside with them for exercise.

[BijouMama05]

Celeste…Seriously? Have you not read my posts on
this matter? This has been tested and proven by myself, several vets, and many others. The rosemary contained in these treats causes bile dumping (rosemary is known for causing this, as it is a bile exciter). The excessive amounts of bile “dumped” because of the rosemary, causes fismy yellow vomit & extreme diarrhea (often turning hemorrhagic). Continued ingestion of rosemary frequently results in colitis, dehydration, anorexia, and liver/kidney issues that are the end product of dehydration/anorexia. If your dog is having the symptoms described and it is not eating these treats, I suggest you look at the ingredients of everything it is eating, including all dog food and any human foods (many raw chicken & turkey meats for humans contain rosemary) & the majority of canned & dry dog foods also contain it (including “high end” & grocery store brands).

[Celeste P]

I feed my dog the same treats but the pork jerky one. And my puppy loves them and I haven’t been able to stock up on them yet cause I’m so busy but my pup would do the same as yours and even now I haven’t boughten then and he’s done that since he was a baby and now he’s a year old I doubt it’s the treats just like mine.

[Brittany]

Hello,

I own 2 Pomeranians, Samson and Lacey. They have both gained some weight over the last year, and I’m at a loss on how to slim them down. I already tried restricting treats and cutting back on the amount of food they get, but to no avail. Samson weighs 15 lbs when the vet thinks he should weigh 10lbs. Lacey is a mix, and weighs 21 lbs when she should weigh about 17 lbs. I feed them 2x a day. Samson gets 1/8 cup of dry food with a spoonful of wet, while Lacey gets 1/4 cup dry with a spoonful of wet also. The dry food is California Natural Venison and wet is Wervua.

I try to walk them when I can. In the warmer months, I pretty much will walk them everyday. They are both seniors. Samson is 8, and Lacey 10.

If anyone has any advice, PLEASE help! The vet recommended a low protein diet, but I heard high protein is better… I just don’t know what to do anymore.