[Chabs]

I have 3 dogs- a lab (8), malti-poo (5) and a 9 month old shih Tzu-maltese puppy. The lab and the malti-poo have allergy/food sensitivities that cause ear/licking feet problems. I suspect yeast. I’m trying to find a food that will be the best for all 3-being that the lab usually finishes up the other two’s food if I’m not watching her. The lab can stand to lose a few pounds and does not do well with chicken. The malti-poo is a picky eater, although will eat if I mixed with a wet food. The puppy will eat whatever and I have switched her away from puppy food because I think she is basically full grown and doesn’t need the extra calories. Ideally, I would like to have them on all the same food and stick to it. The problem is finding something that they will all eat that is not too small kibble for the lab/too big kibble for the little dogs. I am not sure that they will eat a fish based food. Seems like I tried a few samples in the past and the lab turned her nose up at them. So, I guess my question is what do you recommend? I usually shop at PetSmart, but we do have a Benson’s that carries more specialized foods. I want to stay away from foods that have a lot of recalls and small brands that will be discontinued and hard to find. I was thinking of trying the Wellness Simple Lamb and Oatmeal. I used to always feed Purina One lamb but the two older dogs all of a sudden didn’t care for it any longer and refused to eat it, even when I opened a new bag. I am kind of lost and out of my comfort zone trying to pick out a dog food on my own. There are so many new brands out there that I can’t keep track of them all.

[crazy4cats]

I think the three best brands at PetSmart are:
Budget: Authority
Average: Wellness
Higher Priced: Nature’s Variety Instinct
Good luck!

[theBCnut]

See if you can find Earthborn Holistic. Though some of their kibbles are rather big around, they are very thin and my 12 lb dog has no trouble eating them.

I’ve seen very few large dogs that couldn’t handle small kibble just fine, so I never worry about how small a kibble is, especially if adding good stuff to it.

[InkedMarie]

Will you order food online? A good amount of us here do.

[Chabs]

Well my lab tends to inhale food, so I try to stay away from the smaller kibble so that she actually has to chew it.

I’m a shop in the store kind of person, would rather not order online if I didn’t have to.

[Dori]

The only thing that I can contribute to this discussion is that I would urge you to switch to a grain free dog food if you haven’t already. At one point when I was feeding my dogs kibble they all had yeasty ears and tear stains, as soon as I switched to grain free (a couple of weeks or so) all that disappeared. I now feed raw for other reasons which is all grain free and no yeast issues, no tear staining, no gas, bad breath, itchiness, etc. etc. Try a 3 – 5 star reviewed grain free food and then go from there. It may be that your dog is having issues with only grain, or grain and some other ingredient in a food you are feeding. Typically it’s grains. Dogs were not meant to eat grains nor do grains have any benefit for dogs.

[Susan]

Hi Chabs, I’m using the Wellness Simple Lamb & Oatmeal Patch hasnt had his itchy ears or red paws since being on the Wellness Simple Lamb & Oatmeal, I tried the Duck & Oatmeal first, then he started to scratch 1 ear then I looked at the Ingredients again & I saw potato protein, Patch can’t have potato he gets real itchy, gets a rash on chest then has diarrhea..

The Wellness has their Complete health range..Deboned Chicken & Oatmeal, so you could rotate between the two..one for breakfast the other for dinner..
The kibble size is good, not too small & not too big, they are triangle shaped & break up very easy.. I soak Patches kibble in water as he gulps his food & the Lamb & Oatmeal soften within 3 mins, so it’s excellent for their digestion like Wellness Simple state ” Easily Digestible”
Everyone at the dog park has been commenting how shinning & healthy Patch is looking..
If they dont eat the kibble you can take back as Wellness is Guaranteed..
The Lamb & Oatmeal smells really good better then the Duck & Oatmeal, I always ask Patch “Which one I have his vet prescription Eukanuba Intestinal in one hand & have the Simple Lamb & Oatmeal in the other hand he always picks the Simple Lamb & Oatmeal…

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Susan.

[Chabs]

I think I’m going to give the Wellness Simple Lamb and Oatmeal a try. The only thing that turns me off about that is that you have to use a can opener to open their cans-can’t for the life of me figure out why they haven’t modernized this because I don’t even own a can opener. I sometimes mix in some wet food at night. Any suggestions for treats?

[Chabs]

Well, my PetSmart doesn’t even carry the Lamb and Oatmeal variety anymore, so I’m back to the drawing board. The other two were something and potato and I didn’t think that was a good fit so I am back to the drawing board.

Dori-what kind of raw are you feeding that your dogs no longer have tear stains? My vet told me that was from our water. I have two white dogs, so that’s something I’d be interested to find out more about.

[Dori]

Hi Chabs. I feed all three of my dogs (they are the three in my avatar) commercial raw foods. I also feed rotation with the different brands and also with the different proteins within the brands. All with the exception of anything fowl or fowl in the ingredient list. One of my girls, Katie, is highly allergic and intolerant. The brands that I rotate within are Primal Formulas, Vital Essentials Raw, Answers Detailed, Stella & Chew Raw, Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw, OC Raw. I used to feed Darwin’s also but they have upped their fat content and raised their prices so though all commercial raw foods are pretty expensive, I don’t appreciate a company raising their prices due to a fat increase. More nutritious ingredients I would have been fine with but not fat. I feed my girls pretty high fat foods as it is. I feed high protein, moderate to higher fat and low carbs. As for dehydrated foods (not strictly raw in the truest sense) I use The Honest Kitchen (now that they have removed alfalfa from Zeal), and Big Dog Natural. Once in a blue moon I would use freeze dried but freeze dried is the most expensive way to go. I used to need freeze dried when traveling with the dogs. I’m not one to drive around with frozen foods in coolers. Now that The Honest Kitchen has removed alfalfa from their Zeal formula (the only one that Katie could eat until she developed an intolerance to large amounts of alfalfa) I’m using THK and Big Dog Natural for traveling with the dogs. Yes, the commercial raws are expensive but not as expensive as having to spend a lot of money at the vet with issues that now no longer exist so it all paid off for me and my girls. 🙂

By the way, though your vet may have meant well, tear staining is not necessarily from the water but more an issue with foods being fed. Somewhat of a grain intolerance or allergy. There is not a type of water that I have not tried throughout the years. Tap, filtered, bottled, distilled, reverse osmosis. I even went so far as to put in a whole house water filtration system. I have an additional filter in the fridge. None of that worked. Changing them to grain free and then raw is what did the trick.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Dori.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Dori.

[Chabs]

Wow Dori-that’s unbelievable. I’m going to make a list from what you wrote and see what I can find around here. Thanks for all of the info!

[Dori]

Chabs. You’re quite welcome. I’m happy to help with life’s experiences in so far as canine nutrition is concerned. We’re all here to help each other out. This is a great group of caring individuals who want only the best not only for our own animals but everyone’s pets. Please feel free to ask all the questions you want. Someone is always around to answer them.

[Author]

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