[aquariangt]

Do you have a Walmart close by? Pure Balance seems to do well for many dogs, haven’t tried it myself. Precise is often not too expensive-they have a few lines but just “Grain Free” there is chicken, lamb, maybe something else, are all under the $2/lb mark. The Holistic Complete Grain Free uses more unique ingredients and that’s more like $2.50

One of mine was taken from a family member in a bad situation too, I feel for ya

[aquariangt]

Hi Katrina,

Kudos on starting your puppy off on clicker training early! That makes me smile

As far as homemade treats, I have a few suggestions:

First, keep it varied, will keep the dog working longer. Use some commercial stuff, use kibble samples, whatever you’ve got (within reason obviously)
Lots of fresh foods-cubed up cheese, liverwurst, brawnschweiger (im sure I misspelled that), pieces of meat…
For something to make yourself-boil chicken, add a touch of honey to the water, that makes em go crazy 🙂 or “Tuna Fudge”-canned tuna (no sodium or other additives if you can) eggs, some flour (whatever kind you wish)-bake till solid but I like to keep it soft

[aquariangt]

Oh, I guess you’re right, I must never have been to a real show…

AKC, USDAA, Cynosport, DOCNA…all in my mind

I suppose the same could be said of you with your comments. On line expert. I have no idea if you’re a real person involved either, just like you don’t know that about me. However, Purina is an expert marketer to make you think that way 🙂

[aquariangt]

I work with performance dogs, and im not sure any of my clients feed any of those three brands. In fact, someone i work with-her dog got selected to be on proplan treats. She got a bunch of them, her dog is advertised as a “Purina ProPlan Dog” but she feeds raw. /shrug

[aquariangt]

There is a few options here. If you go to the canine nutrition thread, there is a sticky for foods appropriate for large and giant breed puppies. Read the first few pages of information for the pup, and then page 36ish or so has the most recent one. Any food on that list is formulated for growth-also known as puppy food or all life stages food. You can keep all the dogs on this. Feed the overweight/not so active dog for the desired weight, and the other two appropriately.

Alternatively you could feed a weight management food for the one, and the other two on the same one.

[aquariangt]

I told you this already, but I’m so excited for you! I love Whippets, and I love dogs with some hair, so it’s gonna be great. And you’ll rock the puppy! I agree they are a bit daunting, but so much fun 🙂

[aquariangt]

I believe Pitlove is referring to the majority of companies having a minimum retail requirement, though I don’t know if it’s a law. I still don’t buy this concept, as the food I buy would far surpass $39 a month if I bought big bags. I assume you make up for the loss of profit from the more expensive brands (because the cost on them is actually more than $39 🙂 I order food wholesale for the store, so I am aware of what the costs here are) by charging $30 more than most retail on the cheap junk.

A tip for you though: If you’re going to come to a dog food review site, I hope before you attempted to sell your product you would take a look at to the foods that are rated highly on this site, and maybe get a few of those available before you start trying to sell. Very few, if any, of the people on the forums are going to pay for what you currently have available, and they especially wouldn’t pay over market price for them

[aquariangt]

I like earthborn, but i don’t use meadow feast because of the low protein. Lamb in general has lower proteins than most other meats so its harder to get that good level you’re looking for. Here is a calculator for calories

/dog-feeding-tips/dog-food-calculator/

[aquariangt]

So, any bag of food is $39 per month? IE, the big bag of Orijen or Fromm 4 Star Grain Free? However, when I click this week’s selections, there is absolutely nothing I would even consider using. There are a few brands I do use (Orijen, Fromm, Wellness CORE) but i don’t even see those an option for me right now.

[aquariangt]

Technically Fromm 4Star is an all life stages food, so it’s essentially the same as puppy food. Food recommendations is a good starting point, but I would figure out how many calories he actually requires and feed him based off that, and then monitor weight to keep him lean

[aquariangt]

Maybe, but I’m a bit less blind than you are when it comes to exploring all options. You jump on here to immediately discredit anyone who goes a different route than you do. you link an exceptionally one sided vet blog as a source, and call it a day.

If a natural remedy has worked for even one person, this statement:

“The “natural” stuff doesn’t work.” that you gave a few posts up, is in fact inaccurate.

[aquariangt]

Maybe, or maybe you have been unlucky. Point being that your blanket statements about “natural” remedies are inaccurate.

[aquariangt]

I use a natural flea and tick spray, and I live in the foothills of the mountains, so I have a lot of “nature” around me. Never had any flea or tick problems!

[aquariangt]

Here is the review:

/dog-food-reviews/sojos-complete-dog-food/

[aquariangt]

Yes. Because of the way the site is designed, unless the review team has access to the information on the bags, there will not be a review.

That said, google images got me a shot of the ingredients. Chicken By Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Bone Meal, Animal Fat (generic)…pass

GA: looks like dry matter basis has a protein level of 29% and fat of 17%

I’d be curious to the manufacturer as well-as you should be with any private label brand. OP: if you want a lower price point, I’d say pure balance is a superior product to this

[aquariangt]

I personally find great dane lady’s information a bit dated. Her information about honest kitchen is inaccurate and I don’t trust anyone with a website that A. is unpolished as that and B. contains as many typos as that. I’d go with the links linked by hound dog mom which has a lot more up to date information at the beginning of the thread. I’m not avidly against all grains, but grain free very often has a higher protein content, and I don’t agree with long term feeding of some of the protein levels on gdl website

[aquariangt]

Blue was recently sued for finding by product in their food.

The protein comment is a myth, as well, has nothing to do with the activity level

[aquariangt]

My guess is that it’s just for marketing pitlove, he doesn’t specifically say there is something to address pug issues. If only a certain amount is being made, it’d be smart to market a certain sector of the dog food world, your post doesn’t seem to be necessary

[aquariangt]

There are loads of other treats out there other than jerky, I don’t totally get why so many people think jerky is a must have. Anyhow, I do have a few that are pretty good and safe:

For Chewing Jerky, check out the honest kitchen beams, technically fish, but its jerky like. You could also get USA sourced and processed beef ligament

For treats: Boulder Dog Food chicken breast is easy to break up to use as a treat. Real Meat also makes some jerky treats that I like for training

[aquariangt]

That’s very possible Lorraine. You would need to contact them for manufacturing info (most store brands are actually from somewhere else) and then contact for ingredient sourcing. It’s sometimes hard to get that information out of people, so I tend to avoid store brand foods for that reason. However, if all is on the up and up, it looks decent, and if I were to guess, would be 3.5-4 stars for the one we saw a picture of

[aquariangt]

Maybe something like The Honest Kitchen’s Minimalist Diets would help out. It’s a dehydrated food, so it doesn’t have all the starch/carbs that you find even in the best of kibbles. I actually like Brave more than their Zeal (I feed 50% dehydrated, and the other meal is kibble with canned) so next time fish is up for rotation, I’ll be trying that

[aquariangt]

Dog treats are far harder to rate. There is a thread called “Most recommended dog treats” under the dog treat forum that wil have some good information for you

[aquariangt]

I would absolutely follow Dr Dobbs over the Skeptvet for nutritional advice (and most other things)

[aquariangt]

I actually heard some murmuring about the level of kickback zukes got possibly reversing that decision. Can’t find anything online about it, just from within the dog world and i live in colorado so there are people close to the center of the situation.

Gotta say, the sketchiest part of purina getting involved is quality. Recipe changes don’t tell us everything. Sure, when Nat Bal sold their treats got all kinds of crap added and it was obvious that things changed, but Purina will absolutely be pushing to raise profit margins, and that most likely means lowering costs.

[aquariangt]

Solid Gold is nice, but about 1/2 their recipes are manufactured by Diamond, this is my assumption as to why they wont make EC list

[aquariangt]

Well, if skeptvet says it, it must be true. Obviously, it’s all gobbledygook.

[aquariangt]

I’d just avoid it to be safe. No reason to take the risk with the variety of products available.

[aquariangt]

The shelters here won’t take expired food either, but you could always call and see. It would be better to work with a store on things that are say, a week out, and get them at a large discounted rate. They go through enough food to use that in a week

[aquariangt]

I’ve heard that stores like Big Lots also will occasionally have close to expiring foods like Nutro and Rachael Ray, which may be an upgrade anyway, at very discounted prices

[aquariangt]

There will always be other proteins that your dog hasn’t tried. I see no reason to shy away from novel proteins or multiple proteins in the mix, provided you don’t have a dog that is sensitive or intolerant to things. If they start having issues, sure go single protein. The thing I often like about foods that have a lot of various proteins, is that in general they tend to have a nice high meat protein content.

Annamaet is a good company with really good QC and a nice formulation. Many foods you could technically say don’t seem like anything special, but the company is good and transparent, which is important. I don’t feed one brand exclusively and never recommend anyone to, so I’ve only used it within rotation, the Aqualuk-because Manitok always seems sold out, and I have enough poultry brands in rotation

[aquariangt]

Would canned or dehydrated make him eating more comfortable, if that’s an option for you? I’d find a new vet and consult with them on some options, unhelpful vet in a situation like that sounds pretty rough

[aquariangt]

While I agree that Kirkland is a good food for the price-It’s not manufactured by Blue. It’s actually manufactured by Diamond-who has had a lot of issues so just go into that with eyes wide open

[aquariangt]

Eh, if the dog isn’t sensitive to anything and you rotate foods often enough to keep their gut strong, I don’t see that being an issue. If I were going to pick one, it’d be grain free. CORE is awesome, in my opinion, so if you were picking, go that

[aquariangt]

I usually don’t attempt to transition until I’ve had them home for 3-4 weeks actually. Keep him on the RC canned-I can’t imagine he eats much anyway. Then start to transition. If you can do it, I’d just keep him on canned forever and don’t bother with kibble. That size of a dog certainly won’t go through much

It couldn’t hurt to go to the vet either.

[aquariangt]

Primitive Natural is one of my main kibbles in rotation. It’s nutrient dense, so just keep in mind they will get a bit less than some other kibbles. It’s more about caloric intake and every bag of food is different. The fat content is a bit high, but worth it for the protein levels in my opinion

[aquariangt]

I don’t know if purina has done something like this, but to me, it doesn’t make too much difference. As far as nestle goes, purina was big enough on its own I’m not sure if nestle involving itself changed much at all

[aquariangt]

While it may be too soon to tell, I would agree that a shift to Purina is very likely for the worse, if nothing else, quality of ingredients as a whole. I do actually agree that Purina is a pretty horrible company, if for no other reason than the fact that they use subpar everything in the name of profit. If they believed in any of their lines of food, there wouldn’t be such a drastic range in quality (though, even One and ProPlan have a lot of junk filler). I personally prefer to support companies that put the nutrition of the companions first and foremost

[aquariangt]

There’s more than one treatment for things Red. That’s the issue with your posts, you refuse to believe that, and then when countered say things like “My last post in this thread”

People come for help, and having an open mind is more likely to help a dog than not.

[aquariangt]

Most Red, but not all 🙂 There are certainly some things that are caused via connection to skin. And if the dogs were inside, there would be less prolonged exposure EVEN to airborne ones. I have a dog with some seasonal skin issues, and during spring and summer, staying inside more makes a big difference for her

[aquariangt]

While certain grains have some useful nutrition if you have to stay grain inclusive, as Marie said, they have no real need for them. Dogs derive the most energy and benefit from meat protein.

That said:

Dani eats grain free because I prefer to have as high of protein content as possible. I’d feed raw if my life allowed for it, but atm, it doesn’t. When she starts competing I will adjust my life and go raw. She also gets about 25-40% of her daily intake via dehydrated or canned, both of which tend towards much higher protein to carb ratios

Liesl however eats grain inclusive because she has some food allergy/intolerance whatever you feel like calling it that comes from grain free (legumes, mainly) so she eats 50-60% of her diet as canned and dehydrated. Grain inclusive is almost always lower protein than grain free

[aquariangt]

Some of those issues could be resolved with a simple food upgrade even with kibble away from Dog Chow. Depending on what your budget is perhaps people could help you, but if it’s an environmental issue and you can’t let your dogs inside, even though you absolutely should upgrade from dog chow, you aren’t going to get very far.

[aquariangt]

Quick note-no cooked bones though 🙂

[aquariangt]

There are dates at the bottom of every review saying last time it was updated. It looks like Lamb is still there as well, the reviews are for the entire line, not each individual variety. Near the top of the review it says any star differences between the varieties

[aquariangt]

Websites can sometimes answer for you, especially if they do it themselves. Otherwise you can always contact the company

[aquariangt]

They added a TON. Lots of novel proteins and such, seem to be jumping into competition with Natural Balance with their product list now

[aquariangt]

Here is a list of all their new ones for your files as well BDog (from Solid Gold)

Wild Heart and Fit and Fab are made at Crosswind. Lil Boss is made at Diamond.

Diamond is making four of our new formulas: Lil Boss, Buck Wild, Star Chaser and Sunday Sunrise.

All our other new dog formulas and our new cat formulas (just launched) are made at Crosswind.

[aquariangt]

Solid Gold is about 1/2 Diamond and 1/2 Crosswind, so you just need to be careful who does what. Barking at the Moon is crosswind and is by far their best variety anyhow

[aquariangt]

As far as hot dogs go-I only bust those out (and only nitrate/nitrite/additive free) for times of big need. IE Counter conditioning a dog who has some serious fear issues. They are very high value to them. For having something around the house you usually want something a little more tame-if you read through this thread there are plenty of treat suggestions for a variety of needs. My personal list (I use an obscene variety in my treats but ill give a few things I use often)

Around the house treats: Sojos Good Dog
Lower Value Reinforcement: Cloud Star Tricky Trainers
Learning something new/one up on the value chart: Sojos Simply
High Value/Fear/anxiety: Hot dogs, fresh meats/cheeses

[aquariangt]

My most used canned foods are Tiki and Earthborn

[aquariangt]

I use a supplement for my itchy girl from I and Love and You called My Skin’s Itchy. It works really well for the spring/summer when she gets some environmental irritation

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