[Dori]

I too am sorry for your losses. It’s always a difficult thing to go through. I feed my three dogs grain, white potato, white rice free foods.
As someone else mentioned, if you check out the 4 and 5 star foods and read their ingredient lists you can go from there. Many of us on this site find a food that our dogs do well on and then continue the search so that we can have a few different brands and proteins to rotate through. Some rotate from bag to bag others rotate more often. I don’t really feed kibble any more (I feed commercial raw, also The Honest Kitchen which is a dehydrated food that you just add water to) and am just starting to delve into doing homemade raw meals. When I did feed kibble, some of the brands I really liked were Brothers Complete (you can only buy it on their website but they have very very quick delivery and great customer service, it’s a family run business), Zignature, Victors (you can also order Victors on Amazon, Natures Logic, Acana just to name a few.

Keep in mind that, and it’s only my way, when I first bring a puppy home (or any dog for that matter) I usually keep them on the same food they were eating for the first two weeks. My feeling is that they are going through enough stress with moving to a new home, new people, etc. that I think it’s just a little easier on them that at least something in their lives is familiar to them. Then I start the slow transition to a food I’m comfortable feeding and also comfortable with the companies website and where they source their ingredients and what plants are used to produce their food. I try to make sure I then research what other dog foods that plant may be producing and, of course, have there being any recalls on any of them.

On the top left hand section of this page is a wonder list of Dog Food Recalls and you can also sign up to be put on their email list for dog food recalls as they happen.

Hope any of this has helped. Good luck with the new puppy. Let us know how you make out. Oh, and ask all the questions you want.

[Dori]

Hi Leah. Lurking on this site is a very good thing. You learn so much. Even checking out and reading the posts on foods that aren’t for your own dog for whatever reason you still learn so much about nutrition. I think I probably lurked and learned on this site for a couple of years before I ever posted. Once you’ve gone though different experiences with your dogs and start to learn not only what works and what doesn’t but why, you’ll want to pass on your experiences and your opinions. The most important thing I’ve learned on this site is that we’re all trying to help each other out so that we can do the best for our animals. After a while it starts to feel like an extension of family and friends. Glad your here.

[Dori]

Fortunately for me (really I think it’s fortunate for them) the vet and the techs know me for quite some time so, although I guess the tech is required to put down what I’m feeding, they all know better than to discuss nutrition with me. They tired of my explaining the horrors of Hills (all products) and grocery store foods and grains, rice and soy. I’ve had this conversation with the vets also not just the techs. So we’ve all agreed not to talk dog food with me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m positive that prescription diets have their place in some illnesses, just not theirs. I think they’ve convinced people that Hills is the only way to go if you have a dog with a medical condition. My objection to all this is that they would like to have all of us with animals feed that food. Why? Who knows. I choose to think it’s not solely for the money, though I know better. Patty, if I were starting with a new vet I might say what you do but I’ve been trying to pass some of my experiences good and bad to these young techs just starting out in hopes that if they go out on their own some day maybe they’ll think a little differently about nutrition.

[Dori]

Make sure if your going to use pumpkin that it’s pure pumpkin NOT pie filling canned pumpkin. You have no idea how many folks have made that mistake. The pie filling has additives including sugar which you definitely do not want

[Dori]

Another thought you may want to consider is that it’s not so much the dog food as it is the water. I feed high quality 5 star foods and raw and have never had the problem. I did though have the problem when I gave them regular tap water. A groomer friend of mine years ago suggested I switch to filtered water and immediately did the trick. To this day they drink filtered water and we’ve not had the problem again. It has to do with the ph in the water they drink. Hope this gives you another avenue to consider.

[Dori]

I try not talking nutrition with my vet. Typically the tech will ask what I’m feeding now and she just types it into the computer. Sometimes I get a smile, other times a beedy eyed look but since I’m not there for nutritional advice I don’t care what their opinions are on food I feed my dogs. I do know that all the vets at the practice marvel at all three of my dogs health and appearance. None of my dogs have ever needed professional teeth cleaning and one of them turned 14 years old last Septemer 9th.

I have to admit I almost woke my husband cause I was laughing so hard at the thought of the cavemen sitting around all day digesting a meal. Was she for real. How did you keep from laughing. You must have left bleeding from biting your tongue so hard. I’ve heard some nutty things said from vets and even the odd poster on this site but this beats all.

By the way, some dogs eat grass simply because the like it and for no other reason. If you feel they are lacking something in their diet then by all means follow Shasta’s advice and see if it helps.

[Dori]

OMG Patty. I’m so very sorry for what you’re going through. Just devastating. Please take solace in the fact that she was so truly loved by you and you gave her so much care and that you continued to be there for her putting her last request to you before your own feeling of just one more day God please. My heart hurts for you. Bless you and your family.

[Dori]

Sue66b
Hi Sue. Just wondering how Patch made out with his ultrasound procedure. Hoping all is well.

[Dori]

ExplEngineer
Very well said.

[Dori]

It’s okay to give dogs pork ribs? Oh my! I still have so much to learn. Do you add coconut oil even on days you give commercial raw which seems to have a lot of fat already? Or only every day if feeding kibble? I know enzymes are for when feeding kibble but probiotics are every day regardless of what I feed? Is that right? This really does make you (me) dizzy trying to keep it all straight. I started putting down things on index cards but I’ve got to figure out a better way to organize the cards now because it’s taking me forever to find what I’m looking for. It’s exhausting trying to keep it straight.

[Dori]

Hi FreeholdHound, I purchased sardine oil by Primal at my local pet store and will start off slowly. I also have organic extra virgin coconut oil. Do you alternate days that you put oil in their food with the different oils? So only two or three times a week but only one type of oil?

[Dori]

Sorry Marie. I thought I had gone back and corrected my typing error. I’m not sure why but once in a while when I go to post something when I hit submit the post simply disappears. It is Dr. Jean Dodds. I’m sorry to hear about your dog that passed. I’m sure she had an exceptionally good life with you as her “mom”.

[Dori]

Have you gone on the search section of this site (upper left hand corner) and entered low fat low protein low carb foods? I just did it and it comes up with a list of foods. Just a thought. I’m hoping that Patty Vaughn, HDM and/or Shawna sees your post and chimes in or you can start another forum requesting help with food for a dog with bid. They are really really good on all nutrition, supplements, etc. They are my go to gals. Fabulous wealth of information.

[Dori]

How much food does he get in a day and how many meals do you give him a day? Maybe if you divide his food into more smaller meals throughout the day it might help. Also I’ve read that you should add water to his kibble so that the expansion in the food is before he eats it, not in his stomach so much. Does he eat very fast? I mean does he gulp his food down without bothering to chew because if that is also a problem you can get one of those bowls that is meant to slow the eating process down. He may be eating too much too quickly.

[Dori]

Thanks aimee. I’ll keep that in mind and ask all sorts of questions when I’m at the vet with Hannah. Dori

[Dori]

Just wanted to add that vets are knowledgeable in medicine not nutrition. From what I’ve learned in the last couple of years here on Dog Food Advisor and other sites is that the dog owners who strictly follow their vets nutritional advice are usually the dogs with the most digestive, itching, gas and vomiting problems. Just a thought.

[Dori]

Have you ever tried changing the food he’s eating? Maybe too much fat, or protein or intolerance to what he’s eating. If your feeding kibble with grains that would possibly upset him. It has many other dogs. Do you add digestive enzymes to his food? Any supplements. If you’re not feeling right about what your dog is eating but the vet won’t listen to you then possibly it’s time to get another vets opinion and find a vet that is more open to your concerns. Not all (thank goodness) vets think that dogs must be on a kibble diet, as a matter of fact, they shouldn’t. You also might try finding a vet that also practices holistic medicine too.

[Dori]

Wow those are some good ones. Does your allergy prone poodle do alright with all of those oils? Just thinking of Katie my maltipoo with the allergies. I’m going to sound ignorant here for a moment, but how do you know when your dog seems to require more omega 3 oil. What should I be looking for. As you probably know I’m fairly new to all this and doing well or should I say my dogs are doing well with the commercial raws. I’d like to be smart about the supplements and oils. Don’t want to mess up too much.

[Dori]

Thanks Patty. I didn’t realize that the oils should be rotated also. Makes sense now that I think about it. I’m just not comfortable with the salmon oil. What omega 3 sources to use use for rotating. How often do you add to food and how often do you rotate the oils? When the bottle is finished or do you keep different ones in the fridge for rotating. Dori

[Dori]

Thanks mom2cavs. I saw the sardine oil at my local boutique type pet store but I wasn’t sure whether it was ok or not since I’ve never heard it mentioned in any of the posts so I waited to hear from posters hear before I purchase it. I do read alot on this site about feeding them the same sardines that are packed in water in the small tins so I thought it should be fine but didn’t want to take a chance.

[Dori]

Thanks Aimee. You may be right. I think I freaked out thinking I’ve been doing some harm, or at least not any good, to Hannah by not administering her meds correctly. At any rate, I’m going to call the vet in the a.m. and make an appointment to have her thyroid levels checked and ask that blood work be sent to either Hemopet or Michigan State. Hemopet’s testing of thyroid levels I believe takes into account breed, weight, age and size of dog as opposed to some labs that I’ve learned this weekend doing research do a blanket assessment not taking into account the individual dog. Seems like there may be something to it. Thanks for your input. I’ll discuss all of this with her. I may have jumped the gun getting upset with the vet. Dori

[Dori]

Hi Coton’s Mom. I had an awful time with tear staining and rusty gunk coming out of all three of my dogs. Had all three to the vet who found nothing wrong with their eyes. The staining, etc. continued. I then took them to an animal opthamologist just to make sure my dogs vet hadn’t missed anything. Her diagnosis with the same. All healthy, no blockage, no bacteria. Both insisted that it had to be something they were ingesting (Food, Water?). My home has a whole house water filtration system. I followed someone’s suggestion (at this point I don’t remember who it was) and bought spring water using a reverse osmosis system. I then followed other suggestions of trying distilled water. I tried that. All to no avail. I was feeding my dogs a grain, rice, soy, corn, white potato, poultry free 5 star kibble. What turned everything around was when I was finally at my wits end and transitioned my dogs to commercial raw food. (Some day I’ll take on the task of following some of HDM’s recipes, too scared to do it wrong for now). That was approx. 3 months ago. All three dogs have stopped with the rusty colored eye debris. Of course there is some staining left (my dogs are all long haired breeds) but not near the eyes. Only on the hair that will need to grow out completely. If you’re a little concerned about a raw diet for your dogs as I was, once you get into it you realize how much healthier they have become and realize that WOW, the staining was the least of the problems on kibble. My 14 year old Maltese, Hannah, was listless, never played any more, just slept most of the time and I just attributed it to her age. Well low and behold, she is now running around, playing with toys, barking at anyone and anything that goes past our windows, playing with the other dogs, her coat is really really shinny and growing quickly (as are the other two dogs) and might I add their teeth are getting whiter and whiter. It’s truly miraculous and especially coming from a 65 year old mom of three precious dogs who was raised with the notion that you only fed kibble and if you found one that sort of worked ok you kept them on it, no and ifs or buts. So you see I’ve done a complete 180 on nutrition and health. I wouldn’t eat MacDonald’s day in day out (as tasty as they may be) everyday or I would be incredibly deficient in most all nutrient. My husband and I eat fairly well. Why I didn’t think that my dogs needed to eat that way is truly beyond me. Hope any of this helps.

[Dori]

Since my dogs are on constant rotation of food be it protein or brands I will start giving it to her either one hour before or three hours after her evening meal. I’d never get away with making her wait an hour for breakfast she definitely would think I’d lost my mind. In the a.m. after walk she flys past me and literally throws herself into her kitchen crate and waits not patiently at all for her breakfast (all three girls eat in their crates a.m. and p.m. only way I know that they are each getting their full share). By the way, thanks so much for your posts on feeding dogs, through your posts I’ve been able to get all three of my dogs to eat raw rotating foods proteins and brands and any given time or whatever is in the freezer or fridge in a relatively short time (three months) and not one single digestive problem whatsoever. I just know to avoid poultry altogether because one of my girls is highly allergic to anything with feathers. She is also the poop eater so whatever she eats they eat too. For a while I was feeding her different from the others and couldn’t wrap my brain why she was still such a mess (itchy, gas, bad breath) then realized OMG! of course, she eats their poop. LOL. Lightning bolt hit me. As some said somewhere you and HDM should seriously get some time together and write a book. I have learned so much from you Shawna and HDM I feel like to ladies should be sending me bills for my education here on this site.

[Dori]

Thanks weezerweeks. I’ll go on the Amazon site right now and order.

[Dori]

Just looked at Hannah’s soloxine prescription bottle and it says give with food. Well, I’m taking her next week to get her levels checked and insist they send them to either Hemopet or Michigan State and also to find out why she’s having them type to give with food when that it not the best way for her body to utilize this med. Honestly, it’s getting to the point that you can’t trust them with anything, not food certainly, and now I have to question how to give her meds and is she sure. Crazy, and for what they charge the moment you walk through the door you’d at least think they knew how to prescribe meds. Though I have to say my pharmacist has caught mistakes some times on what my doctor has prescribed to me that are contraindicated in other meds I take (have an autoimmune illness) and my doctor knows every med I take so go figure??

[Dori]

LOL. I don’t mean change my name in the courts or anything, just meant change my i.d. name here.

[Dori]

Wow. Thanks for your post. My vet has always told me to add it to her food. Once again, there I go listening to the vet. Jeesh. I never take nutrition advice from my vet but I certainly did think that medicine and meds were her area of expertise and now I find she doesn’t even know the correct way to administer this medication that for years she has had me adding to her food. She told me that given on an empty stomach would upset her gut. Again, I say Jeesh! Is the Canine Thyroid Epidemic a book I can purchase or is it a posting? Thanks for your input. I also read somewhere that it was very very rare for a small or toy canine to have hypothyroidism (may Dr. Becker’s post) so I was thinking it might be something else she actually had like an adrenal issue (an in Dr. Becker’s post) and not a thyroid problem. My names Dori, by the way. dchassett is beginning to sound to me like a fictitious poster made up name. I’m Dori C Hassett. Maybe I should change it but then I don’t really know how to do that. It took me months to figure out how to get a pic by my name.

[Dori]

Thanks so much Patty. I can always count on you to answer pretty quickly. I’m sorry to hear that you have hypothyroid. I will continue her meds and take her to her vet next week for a TSH level test. She’s done such a turn around that I guess I was hoping against hope that she’d be done with meds. I’ve had a devil of a time finding a holistic vet in my area. You would think that it would be easy living in a big city like Atlanta but, alas, not so simple. I’m going to continue the search. Dog Food Advisor and Dr. Karen Beck’s posts on Mercola are my go to sites. Thanks again.

[Dori]

Marie. Thank you for your kind words. Dog lovers are never really strangers, are we?

[Dori]

Hi Patty. The only Joint Armor I’ve been able to find on line says it’s for horses. Is there one specifically for dogs or is this the one you mean? Sorry to keep bugging you.

[Dori]

Would there be any benefits in giving you dog organic coconut chips. I’ve seen them at health food stores and wondered if they’d be as healthful as the coconut oils in their food or at least as healthy treats.

[Dori]

Hi Patty. Thanks for the advice. When whether permits I’ll start taking her for short slow walk around the neighborhood. She’s light enough that if she tires I can carry her home. No one had explained to me that it might be atrophy of her leg muscles which I suppose would start at her age anyway. She had become quite lazy in the last year or so but since starting her on raw foods and rotating brands and proteins she has gotten back a lot of her old spunk. I will also look for Joint Armor. Hadn’t heard of it.
Thanks, Dori

[Dori]

Hi Betsy. My name is Dori. I wanted to thank you for your kind words.

[Dori]

Hi Patty,
I have a 14 year old Maltese. She has two degenerated discs mid spine and has begun to have back legs tremble. Sometimes both at the same time, some times only one at a time. Never both at the same time and it doesn’t happen all the time either. The vet said it’s something called white dog syndrome. I’ve done tons of research on line and it does not appear to me that that’s what she is suffering from. White dog syndrome makes the entire body tremble. Anyway, she doesn’t appear to be in the least bit of pain. Vet gave me a prescription for Rimadyl but that didn’t make any difference in her whatsoever. So, I’m hoping you can give me some guidance. She’s been on Glucosamine Chondritin for a few years (degenerative discs). Is there a particular brand you have tried that seems to have better results. I know all dogs as with humans respond differently to supplements but the vet has her taking Dasaquin with MSM. I’ve got a feeling it’s probably the one that all vets prescribe, kinda like a Hills Diet deal. Also, how much should be be taking daily. She weighs 8 lbs. My girls are all on Primal Pronto diet with fresh veggies and fruits. I’m trying desperately to do everything I can for her and have her live a longer healthier life. She saved my life when my son passed away 7 years ago so I need to do for her what she has done for me. Thank you!

[Dori]

Oops! As Gilda Radner used to say…..NEVER MIND.
So happy to see my babies and that their obviously not too bright mama finally figured it out. Been trying to ages.

[Dori]

Having the hardest time getting photo onto gravatar.com. I’ve followed all the steps. Takes all my info but photo never shows up. Any ideas would be gratefully appreciated. As always, thanks to all in dogfoodadvisor.com land.

[Author]

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