[Dori]

The commercial raw foods that I feed are:

Primal Raw Frozen Formulas
Primal Pronto Frozen Formulas
Natural Variety Instinct Frozen Raw Diets
Vital Essentials Frozen Raw Food
OC Raw Frozen Food
Nature’s Logic Frozen Raw Food
Answer’s Detailed Frozen Raw Food

I used to feed Darwin’s but I stopped. They add more fat to the diets now and also lowered the protein level of their diets. And, of course, they raised their prices.

For a dehydrated, once in a while I’ll use The Honest Kitchen Zeal. It’s the only one that I feed.

As treats I only give them small pieces of fruits and veggies. Whatever I happen to have in the refrigerator or counter.

I don’t feed any commercial treats. Too many recalls, too many grains.

Please feel free to ask any other questions.

[Dori]

Please remember that dogs are not born picky. All so called “picky” eaters are made that way by their owners. I will also include human children in my statement. I’m glad you are going to follow Marie’s suggestion.

One more thing. No treats in-between meal treats. You’ll fill your dog up on treats and won’t be hungry for meals. Just until your dog knows that when food is put down (twice a day) it needs to be consumed within 15 – 20 minutes or it’s going to disappear.

[Julie L]

I use chicken. I buy chicken filets frozen from Costco. I take one out boil it and use that just for training treats works great.

[C4D]

Interesting to know C4C. I wonder if it could work for treats? I rotate so much I never pick autoship, but Petflow also offers a lot of Free Shipping days & 30% off. You just have to watch for them, cuz there gone in a day.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by C4D.

[Debra C]

I have a finicky 11 year old mini schnauzer who knows when it is 7:30 every night and goes to wait for her petite senior Greenie. I know they had some issues a few years ago, but apparently took care of them. As much as she loves them, I like that they also help to clean her teeth. She also loves Zuke’s mini natural peanut butter treats. The ingredient list is good and since her kibble is dry (with a mix of beef , chicken, or turkey) I think she enjoys the soft texture of these and a different taste.

[C4D]

I think the previous post might be an ad. These treats appear to be from a website in India.

[Jennifer H]

I would just cut back on the amounts your feeding, and look for the kcals per cup on the back of the bag, and match it to feeding for her ideal weight. For example, lets say she weighs 50lbs, and you want her to weigh 40. Figure out how many kcals a 40lb dog needs per day, and then match that to how many kcal per cup of the food (I think DFA has a calculator floating around here for that) to see what you should be feeding, as each variety of food varies in its kcal amount. Also factor in any treats she may be getting and any table scraps, as they count towards her total caloric intake.

Some dogs need to be fed less than the amounts suggested just because they are so prone to weight gain unfortunately. Just as some dogs need to be fed more if they have difficulty keeping weight on.

[homzie]

I am definately learning a lesson here! I am just so glad that my dog quit eating…honestly! Or she might have had some irreversible damage! I am also reading that there was a recall back in 2010 about very high amounts of Vitamin D in their food.

I am happy to say that Blue Buffalo has responded very quickly after I contacted them. I think they are just thinking that my dog eats whatever she wants and scraps, rawhides, etc…but they will not find that in this case. Our dog eats only grain/wheat free foods and treats and eats healthy….until now! I am curious to see what they will do. I will not be buying their foods ever again and the part that upsets me is the money wasted. The food is NOT cheap…it is double what I was paying.

[Myra S]

I’m having a heck of a time with keeping my 3 dachshunds weight in check. I don’t like feeding a high protien because my male can’t handle it. Don’t like fat over 12% because female has had one pancreatic attack years ago. Keeping that in mind why is it if I’m portion feeding with high quality, low fat and protien and making sure they get exercise they still run a couple of # over. Treats consist of low fat or frozen veggies. How do you decide calories and carbs if you can’t get to DFA while shopping? I do measure each ones food and try to adjust while getting them enough nutrition. Vets are NO help on this matter.

• This topic was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by Myra S.

[Susan]

Hi Sam, join this group on F/B https://www.facebook.com/groups/11164787803 it’s called “Dogs With Inflammatory Bowel Disorder”
I’m finding a few rescued dogs suffer from IBD due to a poor diet & malnutrition from a pup, when I rescued my boy he was doing the same every 12-15 days, we were back & forth vets he was put on antibiotic (Metronidazole) for 2 weeks & a vet diet then everything went good in the end… I found I had to stick with same diet & not give any treats nothing except his vet diet Eukanuba Intestinal low residue kibble that’s low in fat-10% & low in fiber-1.70% to let his bowel rest & heal…as soon as I’d try & change his diet he went good for 4-6 days then back to real sloppy poos & vomiting, he’d have the rumbling, gurgling bowel noises early hours of the morning then his diarrhea….I finally found out Patch had Food Intolerances & Food Allergies..that was causing his IBD, I have him on a single protein hypoallergenic, gluten free, sugar free & dairy free kibble now…with 10% fat & 4% fiber & a good Dog probiotic….

Find an limited ingredient kibble, less ingredients is the best something like “California Natural” Lamb & Rice has only 4 ingredients http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products
there a few diets you can look at… then just feed the new diet & nothing else for a good 4 months, do the Giardia test also if her foster mum swears she was never sick, what was she feeding her, maybe you’re feeding kibbles that are too high in protein & fat, some dogs cant handle high protein diets…

[Terry G]

One trick that often works well is to warm the food before serving it; it helps engage their sensitive sense of smell. I’ve seen it work best by putting the can of food in a pan on your stove and warming it like you would any food. You can add some of their favorite things, such as green beans or cheese, while it is warming if you want to. My dog loves carrots! Test it with your fingers before setting their bowls down to make sure it is not too hot. An alternative warming method is to put filtered water in your tea pot, heat the water (not to a boil) and pour that over the can or kibble in their bowl. Just stir the water for a bit and, again, check with your finger to make sure it is not too hot. Finally, you can microwave the canned food.

Warm food is very comforting to dogs because, in addition to the fact that fresh kills in the wild would be body temperature not room temperature, the dog’s own body temperature is warmer than ours; typically 101 to 102 degrees.

Just be patient. Some dogs take longer to adjust to changes. If you know you are feeding them healthier food, then don’t worry if they act finicky and don’t feed them extra treats so that they are not hungry. Remember the bit of wisdom that no dog ever starved next to a full food dish!

[pugmomsandy]

I’ve used or still use Ziwipeak air-dried food and Vital Essentials freeze dried niblets as treats. Wellness has several treats to chose from as well and Instinct has biscuits and freeze dried Boost bites.

[aquariangt]

I’ve never looked at BB Jerky treats-as I don’t consider them to be a reputable brand at all.

Are they a chew treat or a training treat? For a jerky “chew” I use The Honest Kitchen Beams or a tendon chew-jerky like (Best Bully Sticks has plenty to choose from) for a jerky treat to break up for training, I use Ziwipeak, Real Meat, or Boulder Dog Food company.

Again, if you let us know what you’re using them for, there may be many more options, I use a variety of chews and the treats I’ve used for training seem endless. Remember a few things-hold your treat company to the same standards as food as far as sourcing, ingredient transparency, etc… and keep treats to under 20% of their weekly caloric intake. I do so much training and they get chews a few times a week, that I have to keep close tabs on this, one of mine especially can get chunky real fast

[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.

[Henry C]

Hi All,

I’ve been giving my dog Blue Buffalo Wilderness Dog Jerky Treats for a year or so. My dog like this treat a lot but the price seems high for the quantity you get. I paid about $10 a bag for 3.25 oz which doesn’t last long. I’m trying to find an alternative to Blue Buffalo with another reputable brand. Thanks

[Gloria K]

Joyce if you go to my PINTEREST Account at
http://www.pinterest.com/gloriak2393
and scroll down to the board DOG FOOD AND TREATS you’ll find several great recipes for treats of all kinds. If you’re on Pinterest I hope you’ll follow me

[Dog_Obsessed]

Hi Joyce,
There is already a topic about homemade dog treats that can be found here: /forums/topic/has-anyone-made-homemade-dog-treats/

[Joyce C]

I am looking for a recipe for a Homemade dog treat. Must have natural ingredients and easy to make. Roll out and mold before baking. Stored in airtight container. Any suggestions?

• This topic was modified 4 years ago by Mike Sagman.

[Joyce C]

I am looking for a good homemade dog treat that I can make at home and keep in an airtight container. Any Suggestions

• This topic was modified 4 years ago by Mike Sagman. Reason: Fix Duplicate Topic Title

[Anonymous]

She had a 2 for tyrophagus putrescentiae.
http://purelypetcare.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-are-storage-mites.html
Commonly referred to as the mold mite, tyrophagus putrescentiae is a grain storage mite. Increased moisture and humidity are the perfect environment for storage mites to develop. Colonization of the storage mite generally goes unnoticed until your dog or cat develops symptoms. Such mites are often found in dry kibble dog and cat foods as well as boxed pet treats.

[theBCnut]

I also use different treats for different situations. The come-in-from-the-back-yard treat is kibble. The Micah-I-want-you-to-do-the-dogwalk treat is baked liver. Stockwork needs no treat, it is its own reward.

[Naturella]

Weezerweeks, I would probably feed him half a can split in 2 or so. That should be 115 calories so the rest up to 160 will come from the yoghurt, berries, and treats. Just give it a try and see if he loses the weight he needs to. If he loses too much, up the food. You know the drill! 😉

[C4D]

I use a variety of treats when working with my dogs. The first time I brought my lab to a class years ago I had just basic treats. The instructor looked @ me and the fact that my dog wasn’t really that interested in following and said I need to bring the “A” treats. So I brought very small pieces of hot dog and it worked all the way through canine good citizen training.
Now I have fosters that need to learn and respond to me and a reactive dog that I adopted. I do vary the treats within the bag. My favorite is a mix of freeze dried liver and lungs along with all natural human hot dogs and boiled chicken cut in very small pieces. It keeps them alert since the treat will vary each time.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 9 months ago by C4D.

[aquariangt]

Yay it let me log on today!

There is a big difference between treats to use in classes and treats around the house. Kibble can work for certain games around the house. Working for dinner-make it fun! When im teaching group classes though, ESPECIALLY where the dogs are working in close proximity to each other, I need something more hardy to keep their attention. I use a lot of freeze dried meat with my own, the one I do a lot with trains easily and doesn’t need a ton of motivation. The other one with issues I keep it coming, and I keep it varied. My training bag generally has 2-4 types of treats, plus a treat tube of peanut butter. The pouch I wear while im teaching also has 3-4 types of treats in it, I never know what I need to pull out for a certain dog. My agility dog could work for kibble since we only get treats at the end of a run for the most part, but I need other treats when im working certain skills and drills, so I just use the same treats through the whole evening.

[weezerweeks]

I just bought a case of Weruva bed and breakfast food. The 14 oz can has only 230 calories. I usually feed him about 6ozs a day of his other wet food which has around 320 a can. I like for him to get around 160 calories a day. How much of this food should I feed him. To get the calories he needs it will take a lot of the an. Usually I feed 1/4 cup plus 1or 2 tablespoons twice a day. He is a little overweight so I feed him the lower end plus he gets 2 treats a day plus blueberries and yogurt in his food once a day.How much should I feed him?

[Elizabeth P]

Dori, I’m afraid I’d have to disagree with you based on my own experience. If what you do works for you, though, great. I teach an obedience class, and just tonight I gave my spiel on high value treats for training. I said don’t use your dog’s kibble. Go for something that really floats their boat. After all, if someone offered you a rice cake or a birthday cake as a reward for completing a task, which one would YOU choose. 🙂 For some dogs, that birthday cake is string cheese, for others it is green beans. My dogs usually work well for really smelly stuff, or things they rarely get in other contexts. Tonight it was tiny pieces of stew beef.

[Bailey N]

I was really excited to see this treat sitting on the shelf at my local walmart. I was excited because it said 100% human grade ingredients, 100% natural ingredients, and when I grabbed the bag of Full Moon Chicken Strips and squeezed it between my fingers it broke apart and didn’t splinter (which is something i look for in my dogs treats to help prevent choking and such). I was curious to know if they made dog food so i googled it. I came across this forum and after reading it I got a little alarmed but couldn’t read more because I was in a college class (and obviously not paying attention) so I had to shut the alarm down till I got home. When I arrived home I went to check on Jack, my Welsh Pembroke Corgi, and much to my displeasure there was yellow foam vomit on the floor. The ingredients of the Chicken Strips as opposed to the Freeze Dried Chicken Treats does not have Rosemary/Rosemary Extract in them. I am debilitating the fact that Rosemary/Rosemary extract may be bad for dogs I am just wondering what else would be causing it if Jack is also vomiting and their is no Rosemary/Rosemary Extract present in the treats? Something that upsets me is that I was so naive. My pup depends on me to give him the best and obviously I failed. It looked great, the packaging looked great, the ingredients looked great, and worse of all Jack LOVES them. Very upsetting.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 9 months ago by Bailey N.

[zuponicafe]

My input on treats~anything that keeps a 15 w/o puppy interested while training!
So far I’ve found just putting various things (ie:slivers of hot dogs, small cubes of hard cheese & some home made chicken liver brownies) into a crinkly ‘sample bag’ of kibble work OK, but it’s not that I AM THE UNIVERSE moment while trying to get my puppies attention back to me.
He is still young, so I want to instill manners in a relatively head strong guy. I’m thinking something that smells awesome to him.

[Susan]

Hi Christine, German Shepherds are prone to IBD EPI & SIBO, boiled rice is a no no for some dogs, can you get the Vet Diet “Eukanuba Intestinal” not the Intestinal Plus just the Intestinal, I even think there’s a Eukanuba puppy Intestinal…The Eukanuba Intestinal was the only diet that help my boy get stable.. also join this Face Book group “Dogs With Inflammatory Bowel Disorder” make sure you start to fix this problem now when he’s still young & don’t let him keep going with the irritated bowel like my rescued boy did…. a lot of dogs with IBD are real stress heads, don’t keep still, eat everything in site (Pica) anxious… see a vet that specialises in IBD… some vets wouldn’t have a clue about IBD & say “Oh its just a sensitive stomach” when it isn’t, he might have food sensitivities or food allergies have you tried boiled potatoes & a protein that he has never eating before like kangaroo, rabbit duck…. on another Face Book group called “Dog Allergy International group” I’ve listed limited ingredients kibbles in the files section…. have a look at “Natural Balance” Limited Ingredients http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/ on ur top left click on “Dog Formulas” thin click on the Limited Ingredient Diets the Kangaroo, Rabbit & Duck have the least ingredients, a few dogs with IBD are doing really well on this kibble…also NO TREATS nothing just his kibble & NO CHEESE it has diary & FAT….then when he’s doing firm poos & only 1-3 a day for a good 3 months then give him a new food & see does he have sloppy poo, see what happens if everything is good in the poo department give again the next day & the next day as some dogs wont react for 5-10 days like my boy he does really well the first 5-6 days them BOOM diarrhea… hope to see you in the F/B groups you’ll get some help when needed from a few German Shepherd owners…

[Christine M]

We have a white German shepherd dog, he just turned 5 months in March. I was looking forward to take him at least twice a day for walks, but he poops too much. I have degenerative disc disease and can use the very helpful pooper scooper in our backyard, but there is no way I carry that thing around with me on walks.
The dog cannot sit still, so I basically would have his leash in one hand and try to scrape his soft stool from the sidewalk, but would need a third hand to put the poop into the poop bag.

We talked with my friend from Germany about it. Her female collie had soft stools until she was 1 year old, so she believes that’s normal.

Our vet wanted us to stop feeding him Eukanuba Large Puppy kibble (supposedly it has too many fillers, she recommended Taste of the Wild kibble instead) and to start feeding him a bland diet (white rice and ground chicken or ground beef) until his stools get firm again. That’s what we were doing the past 3 weeks, the rice did NOT firm the stool.
Do I have to stop giving him Lean Treats, 5 tiny little cheese cubicles and Abady dog cookies (1 cookie per day) which I give him in-between his breakfast at 8 a.m. and his dinner at 4:45 p.m.. He gets water the last time at 6 p.m., because we have to put him in the crate by 9 p.m., so he can make it through the night until one of us lets him out in the backyard at 5:30 a.m..

Our vet said that some dogs have a sensitive stomach. In case he has such a sensitive stomach what else could we feed him?
We cannot continue not exercising the dog properly. I was so much looking forward to start walking with him and when I took him for walks in February, he pooped in the garden first and then we started walking and sure enough: on those short 20 minutes walks he pooped again. Thank God there were very high snow banks left and right of the sidewalks where several other dogs from our neighborhood pooped and their owners didn’t pick it up, because nobody could witness it, but the snow is unfortunately gone now and I need advice very desperately.

Thank you,

Chrissie from MA

[Catherine T]

My little Daisy is just 5lbs, and 7yrs old. I had been buying her those canine carryout treats since she was a puppy. When she was 2, that was the first time i seen her seizure! I about lost it! It was also just 2 weeks after i had lost my brother. Took her to vet and really they couldn’t tell me why or what i could do. She continued to get the treats that she loved( that i didn’t know are killing her) and she would have a seizure once every 3 months or so. Now she is 7 and when she has a seizure now she has 3-4 throughout the day and it seems to be every other month atleast. Then shes out of it for a day or 2 and usually vomits. My heart breaks every time and i just hold her cry and clean her up. I just seen on fb that these treats are the cause! This company needs to be terminated! ASAP! Please notify me with any info about this. Thanks

[Dawn R]

My puppy Bella is an 8 month old 9 pound schnoodle that has been suffering from severe diarrhea accompanied by occasional blood & mucus as well as vomiting since November 2014. I have spent thousands of dollars at the vet to eliminate other possibilities such as addisons, parvo, liver shunt etc etc. She had giardia when she was very little and treated with metronidizole. Good news is so far all tests are good (liver enzymes very slightly elevated as is potassium), bad news is we still don’t have a definitive diagnosis, however the vet seems pretty sure it is colitis/IBD/HGE. What the vets are not helping me with is putting her on a diet other than the Hills W/D which she doesnt want to eat. I started her on Merrick dry kibble when I first took her home. When she stopped eating that, I mixed in Merrick wet food. This worked for a month before she had terrible diarrhea. In addition she seem to be allergic to something in the merrick food which caused a chronic cough & eye discharge. Then She went on Natures VAriety for a short while, but would ONLY eat the freeze dried raw bits and not the kibble. So because of this I then I put her on Stella & Chewys freeze dried lamb & duck patties. That also worked for about a month and then she had another bout, this time extremely severe. Through each bout (which seems to happen 1-2 times per month) they put her back on metronidizole again, so I never really get the chance to see if a food is working or not. Vet wanted to try the whole novel protein diet and put her on Hills prescription D/D. Tried it for 2 weeks and she would not touch it and lost 1.5 pounds. At that point I gave up and needed to just get food into her system so I put her back on Merrick but this time tried the grain free duck. One week into it and she started back with diarrhea again and is now back on metronidizole. This time the vet wants me to put her on Hills W/D because of the low fat/high fiber. I already use a probiotic (restore) and give her a tablespoon of pumpkin everyday (which incidentally seems to make the diarrea worse). Took her off all bully sticks (still love the brand BEST bully stick, but never again). No treats either. I have read extensively and there seems to be many different opinions on what to give a dog with GI inflammation of sorts. I have read everything from Canine cavier to Addiction and more. Having had signed up for the editors choice, I am hoping for some good solid recommendations. I do not want to give her Merrick or Hills anymore. Cost is not an issue, but I don’t think puppies this tiny are ok with raw food (just my experience since the worst she ever was when I fed her Stella & Chewys, even though I think its a great product for most). She is going in for spay surgery on May 7th (health permitting) and the vet is saying if I am not able to regulate her with diet in the next month that they want to do an intestinal biopsy which I have a real problem with especially if the intestine is ALREADY inflamed. I have an appointment for her with a holistic vet tomorrow and am really hoping to get some suggestions that I can speak to the holistic vet about. I have read all about pre/pro biotics, digestive enzymes, glucose, fructose, hypoallergenic, L-glutamine and plan to ask the holistic vet which of those she thinks I should try, but I find it troubling that I have not gotten any viable food options from my vet to date. Any advice would be greatly appreciated by Baby Bella & her Mom!

• This topic was modified 10 years, 9 months ago by Dawn R.
• This topic was modified 10 years, 9 months ago by Dawn R.
• This topic was modified 10 years, 9 months ago by Dawn R.

[John T]

Thank God you got them off of it! The SAD thing is that it take a whole lot of companion animals both dog and cats to get sick, suffer and die before they identify the cause as BAD food!! ALL these companies, and I mean ALL of them are out for profits! That is why they sneak and put bad products in their foods. Think about it, they throw bad meat in a batch and save thousands! I had always trusted Blue until we could not find any reason why my dog had constant loose loose stools and high ATL levels. Amazing, with in one week of taking him off ALL commercial products he is back to normal! I make all his food and give him a daily vitamin and probiotic! It may take more time but oh well, I love him that much!! He gets 1/4 chicken, 1/4 white organic and washed rice, and 1/4 sweet potato and 1/4 vegi mix, mostly peas, carrots, green beans. I make a big batch for the week then take some and bake it for 6 minutes each side to use as treats and he loves it!! NO MORE COMMERCIAL FOOD! People are killing their companions and don’t even know it. Why do you think so many are dying with kidney and liver failure not to mention cancer! I am SO glad you got them off in time! PASS THE WORD – SAVE ANOTHER PET!

[Ginny N]

I have 2 dogs both of which are older ladies, one is a Sheppard/Lab and the other is a Mastiff/Lab. The Sheppard has always had stomach issues and last year, my little baby developed a food allergy where I almost lost her. It WAS commercial food and treats. She can’t eat anything commercial and quite frankly I don’t trust them.

Long story short, I opened a business where I make fresh biscuits that I use as my kibble and treats for my babies. Dogs love these treats, I usually have a following of dogs when I go to the dog park as I do try to carry free samples which I give to the owners if they wish.

I am quite passionate about what anyone feeds their dog. I don’t think any pet should be fed anything that contains items that are harmful to them. I don’t mean to offend anyone, but my opinion both as an pet owner and business owner is this:

1) If the ingredients are not human grade, then you are giving your pet/your child food that you would not eat. You are what you eat – your pet is what they eat.
2) Both food and treats should be healthy and not compromise your pet’s health including their weight.
3) Balanced diet including treats – meat, grains, fruits and veggies – always. Diet and exercise DOES make a different.
4) Any food or treat should not have additives, preservatives, artificial sugars or ingredients that are not good for dogs. Dogs don’t eat stuff like this in the wild – why should we be feeding it to them because we can purchase the food from a store?
5) Only deal with companies that stand behind their products – your pet/your child should be before profits.
6) Fresh is the best. If your dog was living in the wild – they would hunt daily in the hope that what they eat is fresh.
7) Always listen to your dog – if they gobble it down, it’s probably good but watch for any signs that the treats and/or food isn’t the best. We all like to eat things that aren’t the best for us. Eating gas, different behaviours, rashes, scratching etc. I have found to be key signs to look for as signs something is wrong. When in doubt – See a Vet – they are the experts.

[Lori]

I just got some sample food (4 different) from Brothers Complete. It’s a little on the high price end. The samples were free, but the shipping was $3.95, plus they sent a full sized bag of dehydrated sweet potato treats, which was a surprise and a nice gift. However, all the products have chicken liver or fat so I don’t know if you dog can have tolerate that.

Just as an example, the Turkey and Egg Allergy formula has 28% carbs (if I did the math right).

Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude protein, minimum 37.00%
Crude fat, minimum 17.00%
Crude fiber, maximum 4.00%
Moisture, maximum 10.00%
Vitamin E, minimum 200 IU/kg
Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), minimum 100 mg/kg
Zinc, minimum 200 mg/kg
Calcium 1.51%
Phosphorus 0.96%
Ash 8.04%
Omega 6 fatty acids, minimum 3.07 %*
Omega 3 fatty acids, minimum 0.73 %*
Omega 3 DHA (Doxosahexaenoic Acid), min 0.04%*
Encapsulated Probiotics – Lactic acid bacteria 2,000,000 cfu/gram dog food*
Enzymes (Amylase, Protease, Cellulase, Lactase, Hemicellulase, Lipase) 10.0 FCC DU/g*

*Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles.

CALORIES: (M.E. Calculated) 3,780 kcal/kg 415 kcal/cup

• This reply was modified 10 years, 9 months ago by Lori.

[Kathleen C]

When I use the Dog Food Advisors food calculator there is no difference in how much he should eat to lose weight of the two kibbles we’re discussing here, 346 k/cal or 0.96 of a cup of kibble. He’s only getting 0.50 of a cup each day and is still not showing any real weight lose after all this time. I’ve been trying to get him to lose the same 1 1/2 lbs since last summer. I realize he’s getting food besides the kibble and that has something to do with this, but the treats are 2-3 cal apiece and the green beans are very low fat. I’ve had him down to as low as 19.4 and that’s a real plus. I weigh his kibble so I’m pretty sure he’s getting the right amount. Maybe I’m just trying to do something that’s not really necessary. If I can keep him at or around 20 lbs maybe I should be happy. But I wanted that extra leeway of 18.5 so I could raise his kibble amount a little bit and that’s what he weighed when I got him 14 months ago.

[Kathleen C]

The Annamaet has 350 cal. per cup and the Wellness has 360 per cup. Not that much difference if that’s what you mean. I just know that Jack is getting 1/4 cup twice a day and that’s way below what the bag says he should be able to lose weight on. He walks every day and goes to the dog park for a little running and some playing, but not all that much. He’s just not a play boy. His treats are low cal like Zukes and green beans with a few pieces of kibble as a cookie (usually 5-6 pieces). I have to watch closely when he poops because he’s started eating it if I can’t find it and pick it up. That tells me he’s hungry and that bothers me.

[Rebecca L]

I’m glad also. I was too tricked by these treats stating they were made in the USA but really only packaged here. Our Burkly is only 6 and had a couple of seizures we took him to the vet and they said he had epilepsy and his organs looked fine after blood tests. Thank God he must not have eaten enough of this crap to kill him. You can’t trust these greedy corporations!

Anyone have any suggestions as to what small treat to give our yorkie pooh he takes an allergy pill every day. Are the mini Milkbones brand even safe?

[Scott S]

My dog Duke is really picky about the kind of treats he likes. We tried the store brands and some he would eat but he wasn’t really that interested in them. I found http://dapperdogdelights.com/ on instagram and gave them a shot. He really seems to like them and their made in America with human grade chicken and no preservatives so I’m happy he loves them!

[Anonymous]

I heard it was just the jerky treats (or something).

[Akari_32]

Hey guys, anyone care to check out these pictures of Ginger laying down and tell what you thing of this bulge in her lower rib cage area? I mean, she’s always been like that, but it really seems to be larger.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/AB5FC0D1-9719-4190-ABD5-098B33D9642E_zpsnw0hlwdv.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/54F7E842-9DA4-4D45-AE88-EBE928BB1474_zpsrzsx5sn9.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/2258191B-0481-44AF-B03B-3CCFD446C656_zpsblqqvybh.jpg

She’s at a point now where all she does is sleep, pee on the floor, and eat. Although she is in a good mood when ever she is awake, especially when food is involved. But I’m pretty sure she sleeps like 22.5 hours out of the day at this point. She does demand attention from mom every night that she sits at the desk. She’ll stand at moms feet and bark, and if she gets up, she’ll lead mom to the kitchen and show her where the treats are XD Apparently moms work makes Ginger jealous, and hungry LOL And she leaps in the air gets really excited for her dinner. And if she gets hungry, she will stand in the middle of the house and bark at me, and show me where the kitchen is and where the food is, and then she shows me where the bowl goes (regardless of if I have it or not) 😛

[theBCnut]

As far as pork body part treats, like pig ears, they are part of the reason that pork got a bad name. If your 5-10 lb dog eats a whole pig ear, it might eat way too much fat and get pancreatitis. I don’t think that makes pork bad, but the owner of the small dog might.

What LM said about all the chemicals in them is very true of the cheap ones. They have some pretty awful stuff in them. There are natural ones. They cost more and you still have to make sure your dog doesn’t eat too much of them.

[Gloria K]

Dawn M, Dog Food Advisor considers Blue Buffalo wilderness in the five-star category. That’s why I feed it to Mickey as his non-homemade treats. He absolutely loves it and from what I can see on the packaging it’s pretty healthy stuff. What have you read about it that’s negative?

[DogFoodie]

I had recently been using Nature’s Variety Instinct LID treats, and I still really like them a lot, but had to stop using them. Even the small amount of flax that Sam gets in an occasional treat was causing problems for him. I’ve gone back to using Brothers Complete treats again and they’re perfect for us. They’re a crunchy biscuit treat, the same size as the NVI LID treats and Sam loves them. They come in venison, buffalo and turkey. They’re not labeled “limited ingredient,” but they basically are – not a single one of Sam’s problem ingredients! I’m so glad to have something that he likes that doesn’t cause any intolerance issues. I’m especially happy to be able to use a product again that I trust. Bella just finished a bag of Brothers Complete venison kibble – she loved it and did great on it.

Here are the ingredients from the venison treats :
INGREDIENTS: Venison meal, cassava/tapioca, peas, pea starch, chicken fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), dried Chicken Liver, alfalfa, carrots, potassium chloride, sea salt, choline chloride, dried Whole Cell Algae (a pure source of Omega 3 DHA), Rosemary extract, Green tea extract, organic long chain branched Inulin Prebiotic, Celery, beets, parsley, lettuce, watercress, spinich, cranberry pomace, Lysine HCL, DL-Methionine, Lecithin, Taurine, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, folic acid, biotin, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, L-ascorbyl 2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C activity), zinc proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, cobalt carbonate, Vitamin B12, L-Carnitine

[dawn m]

Gloria, do you mean BB Wilderness? I’ve heard/read so much against BB dog food. I will get some Zukes, and eventually make Bella treats when I have more time and desire to spend time in the kitchen.

[Gloria K]

Again I make my dogs treats but I keep a bag or two of Zuke’s in the house and in my car because they don’t need to be refrigerated and Mickey loves them. Wilderness is another brand he goes crazy over.

[Jennifer P]

As a special treat we give our GSD pup Beams by THK. It’s holds up just enough to last for a couple of minutes through his chewing and it gives him t something he needs: omega 3s and protein (pure dried fish skins).

I agree with all of the above plus want to add that it has to be extraordinarily delicious because we also use treats as an occasional training aids. 😉

[Rhonda L]

New to the forum, and loving all of the great info here. We rescued a precious little doggie about 2 weeks ago, and want to transition him to a great diet. Best guess, he’s a cockapoo, but others have guessed Maltese, along with other assorted possibilities. He’s 2 years old and about 17 pounds. Would love info about frozen, freeze-dried, air-dried foods. Not sure I’m knowledgeable enough yet to go totally homemade raw. Have a dehydrator and have made some tasty treats… beef and chicken livers, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, apples, etc. plus some pumpkin/peanut butter/rolled oats no-bake balls. Am interested in a rotational diet, but don’t know how to go about it… rotate daily, weekly, monthly, AM/PM. What’s the best way to go about designing a rotational diet for my sweet boy… and anything else I need to know to pamper a formerly tossed-to-the-curb angel?

[DogFoodie]

Charlee Bear treats were created by Steve Brown, a highly respected expert on raw feeding and canine nutrition. Steve is the author of Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet and has made contributions to this site. If you have questions about his products, shoot him an email. He’s very responsive.

[Dog_Obsessed]

I don’t think they are, because they don’t seem to be bragging about it on their website. I would definitely support the homemade treats, if those are the things you’re going for.