[DieselJunki]

Now since I have a large breed dog though don’t I have to watch out for how much bone I put in there? I thought I needed more boneless meat then I would bone? Bone only accounts for 10% and meat accounts for 80% and organs another 10%. This is all very confusing.

[DieselJunki]

Sometimes you can educate your vet. Bring in paperwork give list of sources ect. and hope they are open to learning something new that they probably didn’t teach them in school.
They could have been brain washed so to speak like many other people out there. Sometimes they just need a push in the right direction. I talked to my vet about feeding raw, at first she was not really all that happy with my decision but I explained myself and some of the little knowledge I knew of it. It helped let her know that I knew what I was doing (sort of haha) and had done my homework on it extensively before deciding to do it. I can’t say she is still a big fan of a raw diet but we have come to an understanding. I would still use her for ailments and shots and such.

Now there was one orthopedic vet that I actually got into a little bit of an argument with due to my kibble choice at that time. She to recommended all those cruddy brands. When I started talking to her about calcium levels due to him being a large breed dog it was like she was disgusted that I would even do such a thing. I began to explain myself and the research I had done and I could tell I wasn’t getting threw to her and she wasn’t understanding me. She kept pushing and telling me I wasn’t doing good for my dog and it would hurt him in later years. I would never use that place ever again due to her reaction.

All in all, don’t believe everything your vet tells you, do your own research before saying yes to things like unneeded shots and such.

[DieselJunki]

I just got myself a GE chest freezer. A little 7cu feet one. I have a small apartment at the moment and eventually will be living in a 43′ camper trailer so keeping a large or upright is more difficult. The one complaint I have about the chest freezer is exactly that, you have to dig to get to things. It’s not so bad in this little freezer as I keep everything in tubs and sort them as well as possible so if I wanted to get to something I just pull out a tub or a couple tubs to get to the bottom. But with larger cuts of meat and a larger freezer I’m not quite sure this would work as well.

As for the manual defrost I just check mine whenever I open it for build up and use a car window scraper for ice and frost to get it off. it cuts back on how many times you have to defrost (my dad used to do this same thing). If you are getting lots of buildup I would say to check your seals, they could be bad or just old and worn out. I don’t believe they are difficult to replace.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 12 months ago by DieselJunki.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 12 months ago by DieselJunki.

[DieselJunki]

Oh wow. I really hope they get better quickly. So sorry you and your babies have to go threw this. Is it possible to find a holistic veterinarian around your area? I find them much more knowledgeable and less likely to throw you some pills that you really don’t need. Maybe they can answer what went wrong with the trying of the raw diet. It really is trial and error sometimes especially with dogs that might have other conditions. I know it was difficult to find a food that didn’t give my dog diarrhea or super soft poops until I switched to Honest Kitchen. It has been smooth sailing since then and I do plan to switch to raw sometime next month for sure. Good luck!

[DieselJunki]

I use a Vittles Vault rated for a 40lb bag of food. It has worked well for me. I have been having a hard time with ants however I have a bag of opened ferret food in the same pantry so it is quite possibly that.

As far as opening and closing the bin twice a day (or however many times you feed) I would imagine would have some effect on the food. Although I’m no expert and can’t really say for sure. I think I remember reading somewhere where someone said their dog seemed less enthusiastic about the food the closer it got to the end of the bag.

I have never heard of your pet silo system but it sounds nifty. I’ll have to look into it.

[DieselJunki]

I have my 6 month old AmBulldog on Fromms at the moment. He’s done well on it from what I can tell. I add ProBiotics and Digestive Enzymes to it but I can tell he’s already less gassy than when I had him on Natures Variety: Rabbit and was adding the ProBiotics and Enzymes to it. Each dog is different but so far Fromms gets a thumbs up from me.

[DieselJunki]

My brothers dog chipped her tooth on a nylabone. I wouldn’t give them to my dog ever. But like HDM says they can choke on anything.

I give bully sticks, pigs ears, and the Mercola dental sticks for puppies and senior dogs (makes his breath smell good and it isn’t made of plastic like those nylabones are or whatever junk material they are made of, sorry but I really do dislike them). However my dog is a gulper and hardly chews anything once it’s small enough to fit in his mouth so he must be supervised at all times with his chews. When they get to small I take them and toss them away.

My puppy gets bored with his chews so I try to change it up and find new things to feed. When I first gave him the Mercola dental sticks he chewed until it was time to take it away. But his interest in them faded as time went on. Same with the bully stick, he chewed on the ends of it for awhile then got bored with it. Pigs ears got boring too because he’ll chew for a bit then leave it be.

[DieselJunki]

Glad you found it helpful! If you have any cute pictures of your Irish Wolfhounds I know I’d love to see them! I’ve only ever met one in my entire life when I was younger. He was HUGE.

[DieselJunki]

Thank you for that Hound Dog Mom.

Cate I agree sometimes to much of a good thing can be harmful. I know I wanted to add more Omega 3’s at one point thinking it would help Moose’s dandruff and coat but was advised against it as I was already feeding a food high in Omega 3’s and balanced. Glad I checked before I decided to go ahead and do it and instead was suggested Coconut oil which I now use. I am always careful by nature and usually before feeding him any new supplement I always check in here and do research.

[DieselJunki]

I would supplement with a hip and joint supplement anyways. Especially since you said she was or is having issues.

Here are a few companies that I’ve looked into and I’ve heard of others using.
Welly Tails
Vet’s Best
K9 Joint Strong
Mercola

And also a link to a thread I had started that has good information from Hound Dog Mom on joint supplements.
/forums/topic/mercola-joint-supplement-vs-others/

As far as a food similar to Acana I’m not sure on that.

If it was me I would just find a good dog food high in protein, low in fat (since you said she was overweight) and add the hip and joint supplement instead of trying to find a food you think might have the appropriate levels to support healthy joints along with low fat and high protein. But I am certainly no expert so perhaps others will chime in.

[DieselJunki]

I would vouch for what Hound Dog Mom has to say. She knows her stuff. Seriously go to the Diet and Health Issues forum and look at the first topic there about Large and Giant Breed Nutrition. You will find ALL your answers in that topic. I know I did.

My breeder also suggested a low protein diet and extra calcium to fix my dogs crooked leg. Turns out I was feeding a diet much to high in calcium and in doing more research on the calcium issue learned that it is the high calcium that causes most issues. Not the protein. Took him to the vet, got a splint right off the bat, took splint off in 4 days, completely fixed his leg. Haven’t had an issue since switching his food and getting that splint.

[DieselJunki]

I know of quite a few people that have spoken well about the Mercola Pro-Biotics and Digestive Enzymes. I would use both on my dog but they are currently out of stock on the Enzymes. I know I also feed my dog Trippet (green beef tripe), Answer’s Goats Milk, and Kefir. All of these have some form of Enzymes and such in them. Kefir is really good if you can find it. Hound Dog Mom suggests it a lot and can be beneficial to any dogs diet. I of course switch up between the Kefir and Goats Milk but always add the Enzymes and Pro-Biotics to my dogs food. I split the daily dosages for the supplements up for his feedings.

Now as for whether this would fix the case of your dogs intestinal sensitivities and bad gas I am not sure as I have never had a dog that has had those issues. But it never hurts to add Enzymes and Pro-Biotics to any dogs diet.

[DieselJunki]

The wipes work well and smell nice! I have gotten the coconut oil and give in a spoonful of that in his breakfast only. Hope this isn’t to much or to little.

I have to say 2 weeks ago I did have to give him a bath. There was no getting around it. He must have had an accident in the middle of the night because most of it was soaked up by his fur! It was disgusting. His tail was dripping while heading into the bathroom. I felt so bad that I must not have heard him crying to go out in the middle of the night like I usually do. No amount of wipes would have taken that stink out. However I did use the Earthbath puppy shampoo instead of the stuff I was using.

He is still itching and has dandruff. His skin doesn’t seem inflamed. It’s almost like the problem I’m dealing with right now with dandruff (I really do hate winter!), except my scalp doesn’t itch like he seems to itch. It’s frustrating as I wish I had a fix. He will sit there and scratch with his back leg and look at me and make this noise (I don’t know how to describe it but you can tell he’s so fed up with itching when he makes it.) that makes me want to just snap my fingers and fix it all if I could.

Maybe a humidifier. I don’t have a humidity gauge anymore to see but maybe it is to low.

Is there anything else I can do for him?

[DieselJunki]

Sorry to be slightly off topic but…

My dog also has an MIA testicle and is due to be neutered at 5 months (couple months more). They told me that they couldn’t do it unless it had dropped and that I’d have to wait till he was a year before they attempted to remove and just to hope it drops.

[DieselJunki]

He loved it! Cutting them in half is just the right size. I started him off in the bathroom as it has tile floor and put an old towel down and tried to get him to stay on it but that didn’t really work so he got it while he was in his crate on a towel to keep from getting it everywhere. I had left it frozen so it would last longer (Yay, 30 minutes of peace! lol). It really wasn’t as messy as I thought it was going to be but the fact of him dragging a raw piece of meat on the floor everywhere just erked me a little.

I was thinking of giving him a half a turkey neck once or twice a week.

[DieselJunki]

Well he is an American Bull Dog so I’m not sure you would consider that to be skinny. What do you mean by skinny? Like short coat? His coat is very thin and I will be trying to keep him on the lean side.

I guess I just have to look up and read about different chip brands. I just worry about migration of the chip, but I suppose people could have that issue with any chip. I do plan on having it done by a vet.

[DieselJunki]

If he’s looking for an apartment tell him to contact Apartment Selector. They help you find a place and honestly I wouldn’t have gotten this apartment if it wasn’t for the lady there. I probably wouldn’t have got anything at all! They really do help, you just tell them what you want, what animals you have, price range, area you want it in and they call back and let you know whether they found something or if you need to pick a different area.

[DieselJunki]

They are fairly long. I think I’ll try cutting them in half and see. Thanks HDM. I don’t know what this site would do without you! Haha.

Do you feed them frozen or thawed?

[DieselJunki]

I’ve never ordered from Chewys but I ordered from petfooddirect.com recently. It wasn’t listed on their website that the VittlesVault comes from factory (making it take 7-10 days to get delivered). I ordered my things next day as I am moving Friday or Saturday. Well all my things came except for the Vittles Vault. I called them up and they explained it. When I told them I was moving and that’s why I ordered it next day and that I probably wasn’t going to be at this place when it arrived they told me to call them with my new address if it did not arrive and they will send one to my new address. I thought that was amazing, as I thought I was going to be out $$ and something to put my dogs food in!

[DieselJunki]

mlp576 We are not pit bulls but when you post the same exact thing in 7 different topics people start to ask questions. There have been spammers here before promoting their products just like that. It raised some suspicions that’s all.

My apologize if it was rude of me to ask.

[DieselJunki]

+1 for the Tripett! My puppy cannot turn it down and he will turn his nose up at kibble. I could put some on a piece of poop and he’d think it was the greatest thing on earth (of course puppies eat anything anyways… so not really sure that was a good comparison! 😛 ).

I’ve been thinking myself to try and get into the raw diet for my puppy but want to be sure I know the ins and outs before I take the plunge. So for now I will just keep adding Tripett to his food until I feel comforatble with my knowledge of a raw diet. I do Hound Dog Moms suggestion with a couple spoonfuls and some warm water and mixing. I bought a 12 pack at a store for 10% off because I bought it in bulk. After you try your first can look for deals like that. Most mom and pop dog food stores will have deals like that I’ve found in my search for foods.

[DieselJunki]

I wouldn’t get the Bordetella if he didn’t need it to go to daycare trust me. I don’t believe in the whole “We have a vaccine for every illness out there, let’s give your dog 12 different shots at the same time!”.

I do plan on puppy classes but wanted to do the in conjunction with the doggy daycare stay and learn. However I do not think he is going to be old enough until March to go to a daycare. However I still want to get him into a puppy class ASAP but since most of them are 7 weeks or so and you have to pay in full I can’t justify spending the money and then have to move out to TN next week. Of course after puppy classes I want to continue his training with Obedience classes and if he’s not old enough for that yet I’ll probably take another puppy class. I have also been considering a board and learn program when work starts to get really busy for me. That’s IF I can find a trainer that uses the positive reinforcement training technique. I seem to really like that best out of the one’s I’ve read so far.

I know some people say that they would never let another person train their dog or ever leave a dog to be trained by someone without staying there. That you training the dog builds a bond. Which I am sure it does but just because I’ve had him trained by a professional doesn’t mean I can’t continue it myself and create that bond. At least that is what I think anyways. I’ve even had people tell me that they wouldn’t send an impressionable puppy to a daycare. So at the moment I am torn as to what to do.

[DieselJunki]

I have posted this in 2 sections. It didn’t post so I tried again in another place and it didn’t work either. Well come to find out it thought I was spam and when they let my posts go it of course posted in 2 different places. So if you see this topic somewhere else that’s why. Whoopsies!

The green tripe in the can actually isn’t so bad! It does have an odor to it but it really isn’t horrible. Moose loves it, won’t eat his food without a spoonful and some warm water.

Thanks for all the suggestions Mom2Cavs. I think I’ll try the Mercola first and if I find it is giving loose stools try a different one.

I have not been able to locate Kefir except of course online but maybe when I go to TN they will have it there somewhere.

[DieselJunki]

Thanks for the information!

Yeah that’s what they said. I tried looking it up online thinking maybe there would be an article out there but there isn’t.

[DieselJunki]

Perhaps when finding a good food here you could email/call the companies themselves and ask such questions. Such as are they packaged in copacking facilities? Do you conduct feeding trials? What kind of research do you do on your diet?

I would have to disagree with the last bit here DoggieDoc. I believe that what you say about the protein, ect. is important but it is also very important to know which kind of meats or plants are giving this protein. To each his own of course 🙂

I did not know that about Blue Baffalo however. This has definitely made me more aware and I may email a few companies and ask such questions.

[DieselJunki]

I had this very same issue last week! Here is my thread on it that had some very good answers.
/forums/topic/crooked-leg-to-much-protein/

First off I found that I was feeding a food that was WAY to high in calcium for a large breed puppy (I have an American Bull Dog). A Great Dane, being a large breed puppy needs a food that has the appropriate calcium levels. I recommend reading Hound Dog Moms thread on Large and Large and Giant Breed Puppy Nutrition ( /forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/ )

Here is a link on calcium level appropriate foods for large breed dogs https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwApI_dhlbnFY183Q0NVRXlidWc . Hound Dog Mom also put this list together. It is in the form of a google document and you have to download it. Don’t be alarmed I promise there are no viruses in it as I have downloaded and looked at it myself. It has helped ALOT.

I did end up taking my puppy (who was 9 weeks at the time) to the vet and they thought he had shifted his growth plate when they looked at his x-rays. This was on a Friday. They put a splint on him to keep him from damaging it further and sent me to an orthopedic surgeon which I went to on Monday. When the orthopedic surgeon took the splint off to look his leg was normal, there was no sign of knuckling over at all. They took another x-ray and said he was absolutely fine. They said that perhaps the way the x-ray was angled at my vets office it made it look like it had shifted. But I gotta say in the short time he wore that splint I believe it fixed his knuckling over.

All in all I would suggest a trip to your vets office just to rule out anything being broken or out of place. After all, it’s better to catch these things now when they are fixable than to wait and have your puppies leg permanently damaged.

Hope I helped and I hope your puppies leg gets better! Keep us posted!

[DieselJunki]

Thanks for the advice Shelties Mom. I will definitely do some research on that.

He is an American Bull Dog (So part of the bully group) but as puppies they do look quite like Pit Bulls. He has papers and everything stating he is a pure bred American Bull Dog. I actually had a gentleman in Petco last week tell me that if I was me I wouldn’t be bringing that thing into stores and referred to Moose as a Pit Bull. I was sure to give him a piece of my mind and educate him on the fact that my dog wasn’t a Pit and even if he was he had a lot of nerve speaking to me like that. Some people…

I’ll see if any stores sell Kefir around here. Looking it up it sounds like it would be a great addition to his diet. If I can’t I’ll go ahead and get some Probiotics from Mercola and try a half dose? I think I remember reading somewhere that people use half the dose if feeding a good food.

It looks like Earth Bath shampoo sells quite a few things for puppies including wipes. I like the fact that they are parabens, phosphates, pthalates, DEA, synthetic dyes or perfume free.

[DieselJunki]

I feed him Nature’s Variety Instinct: Rabbit with a few spoonfuls of Tripett and an ounce of Raw Goats Milk in the morning and an ounce at night.

I have been looking into the probiotics.

However having a puppy and the problem with him having accidents in his kennel and then laying in it he will need to be bathed. I am looking for advice on a shampoo and conditioner that people have used with success that is gentle and if I should be adding a coat supplement to help things along (Like adding an Omega 3 oil to his food). I read that a high quality expensive hypoallergenic shampoo and conditioner that doesn’t contain soap and is low lathering to gently clean your pet’s coat while adding softness and body is what I need to be looking for but looking online there are just so many and not to many that say low lathering!

I had also read of people putting olive oil on their dogs food and they said it helped tremendously. Anyone have experience with this?

[DieselJunki]

mlp576 are you a spammer? Because I’ve seen you’ve posted the exact same thing on like 5 different threads.

[DieselJunki]

I have an 10 week old puppy that is extremely picky. Hound Dog Mom suggested the Tripett to me and my dog LOVES it. We went from having to sit at the bowl with him to just putting it on the floor and leaving him be. He won’t pick his head up until it is ALL gone and then stands and licks the bowl and floor. If you can get some Tripett do it! A couple spoonfuls and some warm water mixed in good with the kibble works wonders.

[DieselJunki]

Found a store 30 minutes away that had the Tripett. Got a 12 pack so I wouldn’t have to go back. Moose absolutely LOVES it. I did just as you said and put a few spoonfuls and mixed in some warm water, put the food in, stirred it around, set the bowl down and he didn’t pick his head up until the whole bowl was gone.

I also got some of the Answers Goats Milk. I was staying away from it as I don’t have a freezer (Live in a hotel because I travel working for the pipeline) but the man at the store said even after leaving it in the fridge for 4 or 5 days and it chunks up, dogs love it all the better. Haven’t added it to his food yet as it is still thawing.

[DieselJunki]

Thanks Hound Dog Mom. I don’t know what I’d do without you! 😀

[DieselJunki]

So I went to the vet today. She took 2 X-Rays and determined that he had slipped his growth plate. So in the X-Ray it looked like his growth plate was slipped upward instead of sitting flush like his other foot (they took one of his good leg to compare). They sent me a number and a referral to an orthopedic surgeon. I have an appointment on Monday for that so we will see how that goes. This little guy cost me a fortune to get and now a second fortune after the fact. That’s what I get for lovin animals so much. They did put his leg in a splint so as not to further damage the growth plate.

I really hope my little man doesn’t have to have surgery but if it comes to it then I want to get it fixed.

I still don’t see how he could have done it. I mean we’ve only had him a week.

[DieselJunki]

I do a whole lot of online shopping and would definitely considering doing it (I do it for the ferrets already) if I wasn’t going to be moving within the next 2 weeks. The Wysong will have to hold him over until I can get to my new address. Then any food is fair game. Hopefully I’ll have a freezer as well and can find someplace that sells the Answers pre-made raw.

[DieselJunki]

(I wish there was a delete button so I can delete my multiple posts :P)

Ok, so looking at the list I found of acceptable dog foods with correct calcium levels I have found that Wyson Epigen is ok in all the formulas. However there was only one I really liked and it was the Wysong Epigen 90. (I feed my ferrets wysong). There’s a store here that claims to sell it, I pray it is the kind I want. I will have to call.

[DieselJunki]

I am not sure if I remember seeing the limited ingredient there or not.

[DieselJunki]

Yes it is the instinct.

[DieselJunki]

He has only eaten 1 meal of the chicken and that was today as I just switched flavors from his last bag which was the Turkey and Duck meal. My store does not carry the rabbit as I wanted that one in the first place. They do carry the salmon.

Edit: Oh look I found the edit button!!!! I was not completely understanding what you were saying but I am now. None of them except the rabbit or limited ingredient. I called around and found a mom and pop store that sold good dog food and they said that since Natures Variety had been bought out that they retired them from their in store foods because they were doing some strange things. I guess I am going to have to find a different food entirely that someone carries because I cannot seem to find the rabbit or limited ingredient turkey anywhere.

[DieselJunki]

I am feeding Nature’s Variety: Chicken. I feed the dog what it says on the back of the package but during the day he is with his daddy at work so it is out of my hands then. I have stressed to him that it is important not to overfeed. We currently feed 3 times a day but will drop to two if the vet thinks it’s a good idea. A vet appointment has already been set for this Saturday.

We have mostly carpet but a bit of tile, however his kennel was not lined with anything and I am sure he was in that most of the day while his daddy worked and let out occasionally to run (I know this because Moose comes home muddy constantly). I went out and bought a liner for the kennel because I knew he wouldn’t… men. It’s really ‘his’ dog in the first place but I seem to be doing ALL of the research.

I have actually read through that article. It was very helpful and that’s how I learned to be wary of calcium levels.

We will see what the vet says tomorrow.

[DieselJunki]

Ok picture didn’t work. How about a link.
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa156/Ferrett207/20130124_180429_zps1f64d0e9.jpg

[DieselJunki]

Than you. I have been reading around and heard of many people that top their food and also rotate. I think I will definitely do this. I will look into that list.

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