[Dog_Obsessed]

I agree about the Wellness Petite Treats. Also Wellness Protein bars, they have 16 Calories per treat but I think they are pretty big, and so you could break them up. Here’s the link on Chewy.com:

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by Dog_Obsessed.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by Dog_Obsessed.

[Peggy]

Lots to look for at PetSmart. Thanks for the suggestions.

[jakes mom]

Instead of breaking up treats I sometimes use cat treats for my beagle/basset mix. Works for a small to medium sized dog but I guess would be too tiny for a bigger guy. They usually have 2 or 3 cals per treat and come in various sizes/shapes, soft or crunchy. My cats are picky so it’s a good use for the treats they decide they don’t like anymore.

[Peggy]

I see a lot of talk about ‘food rotation’.
Do you rotate their food every day? Every week?”
Is this for variety? Or what purpose?

Note: For some reason, my LadyBug (lab/shepard mix) seems to like turkey more than any other meet. I know this by trial and error. Once in a while I’ll grind up and cook fresh chicken or turkey to serve with their dry food, and she much prefers turkey.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by Peggy.

[crazy4cats]

Here is an article found on rotation in the library of this site: /frequently-asked-questions/diet-rotation-for-dogs/
I rotate toppers every meal for my two dogs. They are usually on the same kibble for a couple of months at a time. One meal a week, they are fed a kibble free diet of either ground beef or turkey with the See Spot Live Longer Dinner Mix. Good luck!

[Dog_Obsessed]

Since I only have one small dog, food lasts a loooong time for her. A small bag lasts a month or more when mixed with toppers. When each bag runs out, I transition her to another flavor at least, another company if possible. For wet food/toppers, each can lasts between three days and one week depending on the number of calories in it. As each can runs out, I change to a different can. I don’t bother to transition with toppers, because her stomach isn’t that sensitive, but with kibble I try to give her about a week. I also have some samples of The Honest Kitchen, and I bought a box recently that I might use as a topper.

[Peggy]

Thanks to you both.

Petflow.com has a pretty decent sale going on right now.
I came across this. How do y’all feel about it?
http://www.petflow.com/product/pet-botanics/pet-botanics-whole-grain-beef-bacon-roll

[Dog_Obsessed]

I found the ingredients on another website, here they are:

Beef, Wheat Flour, Beef Liver, Chicken, Pea Fiber, Molasses, Vegetable Glycerin, Sugar, Bacon, Natural Hickory Smoke Flavor, Calcium Sulfate, Lactic Acid (as a preservative), Pea Protein, Sodium Lactate, Sea Salt, Flaxseed Oil, Potassium Chloride, Carrageenan, Celery Extract, BotaniFits™ Botanical Blend (Green Tea, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Cranberries, Peppermint, Chamomile, Rosemary Extract, Dandelion Extract, Blueberries), Choline Chloride, Mixed Tocopherols (a preservative), Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Proteinate, L-Carnitine, Glucosamine HCL, Taurine, Dextrose, Chicory Root Extract, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Niacin, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Biotin, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite.

They don’t look great, with wheat flour as the second ingredient, but it wouldn’t be horrible as a one time thing. 🙂

[Peggy]

Yuck! If I wouldn’t eat it, I won’t give it to them.
Thanks D_O

[Dog_Obsessed]

Whoa, I just realized that my username looks like a face when abbreviated like that. D_O

[Peggy]

LOL yes it does.

This morning I ventured to the Walmart in the next town where I found the tub variety of Pure Balance. Much to my surprise (I have NO idea why I didn’t look before) they also carry several different varieties (5) of the Pure Balance dry food, and 2 of them are grain free!
I purchased a small bag of the Salmon & Peas grain free. The other grain free is Bison & Veggies. I will rotate them with that one when the time comes. I just purchased the small bag to see if they’re going to like it, because I’m so disappointed that LadyBug does not like the Wellness Core which was $57!

Well! Got home, gave them a 1/2 cup each of the PB kibble and 1/2 tub of the PB wet, mixed it up and LO & BEHOLD my LadyBug, the picky dry food eater, ate every little morsel! 😀

I am a happy pet mama.

[Peggy]

Update on the Pure Balance.

LadyBug and Tebow are both still lovers of Pure Balance Salmon & Peas grain-free dry and all varieties of PB canned and tub.

Thinking I’d see if they’d like the Bison/Veggies grain-free, when I was at Walmart a couple of days ago, I purchased a small bag of the Bison and Veggies dry food.

I fed that (PB Bison & veggies) to them that night (Thursday night), again with 1/2 tub each of wet PB. LadyBug does NOT like the Bison. She ate the little bit of tub food and walked away from the dry. I tried it again Friday morning and evening. Tebow ate it, but vomited it up in the middle of the night.

Did I give them something different too soon? Or is Bison just going to be out of the question? Thoughts?

[theBCnut]

Did you mix old food with new? Maybe it was too big of a switch.

[Peggy]

No I did not do that.

[Peggy]

I think I hijacked another thread, so moving my inquiries back to my thread.

My husband is of the opinion that we should feed Tebow (the JRT) healthy cooked food with the dry, rather than canned food. He says it is less expensive.

Comparing what we spend on can food to what we spend on fresh ground turkey and chicken, and canned salmon – I can see his point. He says add carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and they got it made.

Men!

[Dog_Obsessed]

It would be great to substitute home-cooked food for canned, if you have the time to make it! If the toppers make up less than 20% of the diet, then you don’t have to worry about them being balanced. If they make up more than that, then you have to make sure it is a complete and balanced diet. Dogaware.com has some great recipes and resources for home-cooked food.

[Peggy]

Thanks for the reference D_O. 😉

[Dog_Obsessed]

You’re welcome! It is a great site with lots of info about various dog things.

[Naturella]

Hello here too, guys! 🙂

Ok, so for Peggy, I will post again the pics of Bruno’s menu and additives schedule, maybe she can choose some from there, and also check out the amounts for a 15-ish lb dog.

http://i1352.photobucket.com/albums/q644/aninova/Bruno2014-2015Menu_zps6ccc6e19.jpg

http://i1352.photobucket.com/albums/q644/aninova/BrunoWeeklyToppers_zpsdfd1a9be.jpg

Ok, so I feed the above toppers with the 1/4 cup of kibble as noted. You can use other fresh food toppers, like I see you have – raw or lightly cooked ground meats are great, raw or lightly cooked eggs too, cottage cheese, cooked veggies/leafy greens, some fruits (I give fruits raw), raw meats/raw meaty bones, canned sardines, jack mackerel, or salmon (not tuna – too much mercury I hear), yoghurt/kefir, coconut or fish oil (or both), canned pumpkin is good for fiber as is flaxseed meal (and the latter also gives Omega 3s), etc. There’s a lot to choose from that you can add, but let me recommend that you also add some warm water to the kibble. You may choose to soak it or not, but it does help with hydration and for ease of mixing oils, eggs, yoghurt, dehydrated foods, and just about anything else. It may look gross and soupy in the bowl, but it is so good to our furry friends, and they will slurp it all up nonetheless! At least Bruno does! 🙂

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by Naturella.

[Peggy]

This is wonderful! Thanks Naturella. I didn’t think about putting water in the dry food. The only dry food I ever did that with was many many years ago when Gravy Train was the thing to feed your pooches.
I tried to get my dogs to eat apple slices and baby carrot sticks to no avail. But they’ll eat cooked carrots, broccoli, cauliflower mixed in their food. And they’ll eat peanut butter and pumpkin. I’m going to try a lot of these. Thanks again.

[Peggy]

I meant to ask, is it necessary to give your dog flaxseed when feeding them non-dog food?

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by Peggy.

[Naturella]

@Peggy, you’re very welcome! I am not by any means the epitome of healthy dog eating, but I try to keep his diet varied and healthy on a budget! 🙂 Hence the dang near stockpile of kibble in my bathroom cabinets! LoL.

Bruno will eat ANY fruit or vegetable, raw or cooked, lol! Glad your pups at least eat the ones you mentioned cooked. I forgot, peanut butter is also loved by Bruno but he only gets it in homemade doggie treats or doggie ice-cream. 🙂

As for flax seed meal, I would just buy the cheaper one to be honest. I keep mine in a glass jar in the fridge for storage to prolong shelf life.

[DogFoodie]

Hi Peggy,

I would do a bit of research on peanut butter. I was reading in Dog’s Naturally a few months about why we should steer clear of peanut butter. Peanut butter almost always contains aflatoxins. It’s also high in lectins, unhealthy data and sugars.

[Dog_Obsessed]

Most commercial peanut butter brands are pretty safe from what I understand. You can get sugar-free salt-free peanut butter, also. I wouldn’t do it in excess, but I don’t think it’s bad in small amounts.

[Dori]

Here’s a recent article from Dogs Naturally Magazine. Please read.

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/3-reasons-peanut-butter-isnt-safe-for-dogs-or-people/

[DogFoodie]

That’s the article I was referencing, Dori. Thanks for posting the link.

Edit: Auto-correct changed my unhealthy fats to unhealthy data above.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by DogFoodie.

[Peggy]

I will definitely go light on the PB. Thanks everyone!

I did a bit more digging on Pure Balance Salmon & Pea formula dry food, which is the flavor my dogs have really taken to. Below is an image I found on its Walmart page.

(sorry, it’s a bit difficult to read)

[Peggy]

HELP! I’m having another issue with Tebow now. His stool has become very soft and gel-like. Is there a remedy for this?

BTW – he’s lost another 1/2 lb! 😀

[DogFoodie]

Have you already tried adding plain canned pumpkin?

When you say gel-like, do you mean mucusy?

[DogFoodie]

When you say gel-like, do you mean mucusy?

If it just started, it might resolve on its own. If it continues, or his pattern of elimination changes – more frequent, loose stools, etc., You might want to get him checked out. A small amount of mucus in the stool isn’t terribly abnormal or generally cause for concern.

[Peggy]

No I haven’t done the pumpkin yet.
I guess you could say it’s mucus-y.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Peggy.

[Peggy]

It started 2 days ago when I added a few pieces of PB’s Lamb & brown rice kibbles to his Salmon & Pea kibble. I was trying to get him used to that dry food too. The same thing happened last week when I added a few pieces of the PB Chicken & brown rice to the Salmon & Pea.

Could the brown rice be upsetting his tummy? It never happens when he’s eating the Salmon & Pea with canned food.

Edit – I just remembered. The PB stews have brown rice in them as well. I mixed the Beef, veggies, and Brown rice stew into their meal last night. 🙁

[Dog_Obsessed]

It certainly sounds like he could be reacting to the rice. For diarrhea, many people here including me swear by THK’s Perfect Form. It is available online and at some pet stores. If the loose stools continue, or have blood in them, or something else that seems wrong, then call your vet.

[Peggy]

Thanks D_O. It’s not really diarrhea, but softer than usual stools with that mucus-y yucky stuff around it. Doesn’t smell any different.

Kind of like what happens to us when we eat something that doesn’t agree with us.
BLEH!

I’m going to try some pumpkin. How much should I use?
A tsp or so?

[DogFoodie]

OK, so the stool is still formed, but mucusy, right?

I would think that it could be a food intolerance. Whether to the rice, lamb, or some other ingredient. I would eliminate the new food you were beginning to introduce and see if things clear up on their own. Compare the ingredients in what he’s been eating to what you were beginning to introduce.

I’m still working on an elimination diet of sorts with my Golden with food intolerance issues. Any time he has a reaction to something, I eliminate the new food/supplement and go back to the base diet so things can resolve. Only then, do I know for sure what the offending ingredients were. Problem ingredients can be obvious like, lamb or rice, or more obscure, like flax or garlic. So compare every ingredient. Sometimes a reaction takes a little while and sometimes, it’s immediate. So almost anything he’s eating could be suspect. Because my dog has so many intolerances and I’m a rotator, it’s important to me to have several foods that I know he’s good with to use as a barometer.

[Dog_Obsessed]

Yeah, a tsp twice a day is usually good. I agree with DogFoodie about removing the new foods. You probably don’t want to add any more new stuff until he is stable (normal stool), and then make sure to do it slowly.

[Peggy]

Yep DF, still forned but mucus-y around it.

Just got back from the store with a can of pure pumpkin (not pie filling).
Thank you ladies for your input. I am on a mission. (again)

[Dog_Obsessed]

You’re welcome! Don’t let this discourage you from trying new things, it’s really great that you’re giving them variety. You might want to stay away from rice in processed food for a while, and then add it back to see if that’s the problem.

[Naturella]

Peggy, I am all too familiar with the “jelly” (gel/mucus-like) stools… Anytime Bruno eats anything that doesn’t agree with him, it’s jelly. Or puke. Or both. But seriously, I swear by THK Perfect Form and the mush recipe I posted in another thread maybe (cooked brown rice, a bit of coconut oil, boiled chicken breast, canned pumpkin all pureed together and served with THK PF). Now, if Tebow is reacting to the rice, I’d try it with plain bread or pasta instead of rice. Then add the kibble back in. When I did it, I added a simple canned food before the kibble too.

That is for like major tummy upset though. Just for jelly stools, I’d add some THK PF to his food, with some water – he loves the stuff anyway, lol. Just adding the canned pumpkin never worked for Bruno…

[Peggy]

Thanks everyone.

Naturella, the only place I can find The Honest Kitchen on DFA is here –
/dog-food-reviews/honest-kitchen-dog-food/

I don’t see Perfect Form?

• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Peggy.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Peggy.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Peggy-
The Perfect Form is a digestive supplement made by The Honest Kitchen. A few pet food stores carry it, but you can also order it from THe Honest Kitchen’s website or Amazon. I’ve used it on several occasions also. Good luck!

[Peggy]

Thanks c4c. My local pet store does not carry it, so I’m ordering it.
Sucks that I won’t get it for a few days. 🙁

[crazy4cats]

Does your store carry Fruitables Digestive Supplement? It is canned pumpkin with some other goodies in it also that seem to help my dogs better than just the plain pumpkin. You could try that while waiting for the PF. More stores tend to carry that than the Perfect Form.

[Peggy]

No it does not c4c. Today I received a couple of other items that I ordered from THK, but did not receive the PF. Hopefully it will come tomorrow.

[Peggy]

Well I’m a bit ticked off.

While browsing through the Pure Balance dog food recipes on Walmart.com, PB cat food recipes in the tubs also came up. The cats have a larger variety of flavors than the dogs do! 🙁

The cats have Salmon grain-free, Salmon & Sweet Potatoes, Turkey & sweet potatoes, Turkey grain-free, and Beef.

The dogs have Chicken dinner, Beef dinner, Lamb Pate’ in the tubs, and Chicken stew and Beef stew dinners in the can, plus the two 95% cans that both have chicken in them.

Is it relatively safe to feed my dogs some cat food occasionally? Like once per week? I know they would LOVE that salmon & sweet potatoes and the turkey & sweet potatoes.

I’m reaching I know, but still……….

[Bobby dog]

Well I am glad I am playing on-line tonight. I have been waiting for PB cat foods!!! Yes cat food is fine for dogs. The only difference is the added taurine that cats require. Some dog foods have taurine too. Bobby loves eating cat food regardless if he is supposed to eat it or not. lol Matter of fact, Bobby is getting 6 cans of a Wellness recipe that my cats don’t like in his rotation now.

[Peggy]

I’ll have to look that up, never heard of taurine ha.

WOO HOO! My dogs are going to love me forever when they get the Salmon recipes and Turkey & Sweet Potatoes. 😀

Thank you!

Oh and here’s a link for you –
http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=Pure%20Balance%20Pet%20food&page=2&cat_id=5440

• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Peggy.

[Bobby dog]

Peggy:
Thanks for the link to Wal-Mart! Do you have a Tractor Supply in your area or belong to a Costco or BJ’s?

[Peggy]

Sorry Bobby_d, I didn’t get a notification for your post, so just saw it.

No we do not have any of those stores near us.

[Peggy]

My little sweetheart, Tebow. He’s gained about 8 lbs since these pics last year. Trying to get him back to that weight.

And sweet LadyBug – 10 lbs lighter.

[Author]

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