[GSDsForever]

Hmmm . . . never thought of that with Costco, will have to ask. Thanks!

[GSDsForever]

LOL. I think I want to come eat at your house. Some yummy foods that are favorites of mine!

(In fact I have a favorite gourmet pizza place here with a pizza with 3 types of gourmet olives (including Kalamata and large green), roasted red pepper strips, artichoke hearts, and feta. You’re killing me with the feta stuffed olives!!!)

One tip: I really recommend, especially for a small dog, organic bell peppers when possible — because they’re on the top ten list for pesticide/fungicide/etc contaminated foods. What I do is try to save my money for organic for just the top ten lists in veggies/fruits. Apples, strawberries, bell peppers, leafy greens, etc.

[GSDsForever]

Cool, thanks, pugsmomsandy!

(My dog loves all pugs — bet he’d love to meet your cutie pie in the pic!)

[GSDsForever]

Edit: I mixed up one thing from cms60 vs angels.

Sorry, angels! Make that white rice, not oats as above.

[GSDsForever]

angels,

What about Stella & Chewy’s? Excellent food. They make raw dehydrated medallions that are meat & bone based, with organic fruits, veggies, seeds and do not contain any of those ingredients you listed. In fact they don’t include any starches or grains period. This is great brand and dogs seem to really love the stuff. With a maltese it would be pretty affordable to feed, vs a medium or large breed dog. They’re easy to feed too, can be fed either with water or dry, shredded/broken into quarters/whole. Try the DuckDuckGoose — has duck, turkey, goose. No chicken.

Also, I highly recommend Timberwolf, have fed it for years. The Platinum Ocean Blue (fish based) has sweet potatoes (which you said are fine), but no peas, white potatoes, or grains. It has sweet potatoes and garbanzo beans (chickpeas). It’s nutrient dense, very high calorie; so you would be feeding very little especially to a tiny dog. I’d recommend introducing this food slowly over 1-2 weeks to ensure tolerance, as it is very rich and contains ingredients not commonly found in other foods and all at once.

Aside from these, rather than trying a whole bunch of commercial foods, I’d try first pinpointing what your dog CAN handle by feeding ONE protein and ONE carb. And I’d try to make sure that something is an actual allergy vs an intolerance or upset, since they are different. I’d try boiled turkey or cottage cheese and sweet potato OR oats (since you know your dog is okay with either). (By the way, many dogs are intolerant of lactose & milk, but fine with yogurt or cottage cheese.)

[GSDsForever]

Crazy4cats,

My family had one wonderful GSD, larger and deeper chested than average (or breed standard) despite being from an excellent show lines breeder who bred to the standard, die of bloat at 10 yrs old. Very calm, mellow, even tempered dog — just very large, deep chested.

It is heart breaking, because bloat and torsion can happen very quickly, with minimal signs distinguishing it and not easily recognized by the average pet owner, with precious little time to get the dog to the emergency vet to save its life, and to very otherwise happy, healthy dogs still in their prime. It is a HUGE health risk in GSDs, as with other large deep chested breeds. It is discussed endlessly among GSD people.

I agree with all that HoundDogMom advised and shared. Funny, it’s the same stuff I’m familiar with right down to the controversy over the raised bowls!

I’d add that my family & I, those in the GSD fancy and really “into” the breed here, no longer allow our dogs to eat full meals or drink large quantities of water within 2 hours of any type excitement, play, stress, or exercise. Our dogs swim constantly; so that has been one of the biggies for the 2 hour rule. Other serious excitement and hard running we don’t allow within 2 hrs, while in practice we might let it slide to closer to an hour for lesser activity/excitement.

For dogs that gulp food or water and/or get really excited around food, I also recommend bowls that have raised portions in them (like HoundDogMom said) that slow the dog down eating.

[GSDsForever]

InkedMarie,

Dogs who have or have had cancer ALSO desperately need low glycemic foods without simple carbs, because cancer feeds selectively, preferentially off sugar vs. fat or protein or fiber. After a cancer diagnosis, diet is an incredibly important part of the most successful recommended *treatment*.

Given that an incredibly high percentage of all dogs and cats suffer at some point from cancer, you are also really helping those dogs and their guardians with the list. By one statistic, half of all dogs and cats now die of cancer.

(Protein needs in dogs affected by cancer are higher because the body competes with the cancer for the protein, with the cancer robbing some from the healthy body, while dogs’ healthy bodies need protein for muscle & tissue repair and building.)

[GSDsForever]

Suresh, regarding energy/calorie needs for a 4 yr old dog . . .

No one can really answer this definitively. Breed/size, activity level, health, weather, etc. make a difference. I wouldn’t worry much about it, but feed to ideal body condition and what your dog tells you from energy level/health he needs, and go from there. I’d start with the recommendations on the bag, feeding twice a day, and then adjust. Good luck.

[GSDsForever]

Suresh,

The highest quality dog foods and best companies take great care not to include those nasty ingredients. The key is finding a company/brand you believe in and can trust.

Looking at a company’s history, verifying the quality of main ingredients/sourcing on the the label, quality control checks, etc. will help reassure you about the food you select. If they aren’t forthcoming with answers and sympathetic, eager to help (although with the really small companies this can take time to get back to you with answers), or are evasive & vague or deceptive, or you don’t like the answers, walk away & find another brand.

Re vegetarian diets, if they are *vegetarian* as opposed to vegan, it is possible for them to be every bit as high quality, digestible, nutrient rich and health promoting as meat based. Organic free range natural vegetarian fed eggs, organic yogurt with live cultures, cottage cheese are all very good primary protein sources for dogs. You can do this with homemade. I’ve not been very impressed with commercially prepared, generally vegan (not merely vegetarian), kibbles and canned foods and I am pretty familiar with the options out there. Other new ones are insanely expensive. So while it is theoretically possible to make a very good vegetarian commercial kibble, it doesn’t seem to be readily available.

Not vegetarian, but more acceptable to many vegetarians, in that it is not cruelly factory farmed, fed unnatural weird things, and one of the least contaminated flesh foods out there is sardines. All are wild, live near the bottom of the food chain and so are not contaminated like other larger & longer lived predator fish, super high Omega 3 brain food also great for skin & coat, perfectly balanced calcium-phosphorous & soft easily digestible bones. Sardines are probably one of the very best non-vegetarian foods a dog could eat, and, to my mind, waaaay superior to the more popular-with-humans chicken based food.

Vegan is doable in dogs but riskier and harder, needs a good supplement including things like B12, l-carnitine, taurine, Omega 3. The easy part is supplying the amino acids through an array of foods, as the body does not distinguish between the same amino acid from one food versus another. In terms of nutrients (not natural preferences or digestive system), dogs are more omnivorous vs obligate carnivores, cats. The hard part is that many plant foods are not easily digested by dogs, whose systems are not designed for them. Many beans and whole grains (non whole grains, like white rice, are easily digested but high sugar) are next to impossible for dogs to digest, no matter how well cooked & prepared. Some breeds, like GSDs, are even less capable as a group of digesting than other breeds. Unlike whole soybeans, tofu IS very digestible; many dogs like it; it’s very versatile in how it can be prepared; and it offers various health benefits. It is healing to the stomach lining, for example. On the other hand, a prominent very balanced study of vegetarian fed pets showed that pets fed vegetarian diets without soy had much better health and longevity. From personal experience and knowledge of dogs eating vegetarian diets, lentils and black eyed peas seem to be more easily digested. It can be hard to supply enough calories and avoid too much fiber. Dogs can consume up to 50% fat in their diets in good health though, and vegetarian fats like organic virgin coconut oil are good for them & easily digested. Vegetarian diets, in humans and dogs, tend to be excessively high in Omega 6 fats which are pro-inflammatory and deficient in Omega 3.

Certain breeds like boxers and dobermans are at much greater health risk on a vegetarian or vegan diet, due to high breed susceptibility to deadly cardiomyopathy.

[GSDsForever]

HoundDogMom,

I’m really enjoying your posts, here and elsewhere. They are super interesting, well expressed, & I’m frequently finding myself agreeing with them and always finding them good food for thought. Just thought I’d say so, since I’ve been reading them! 🙂

Cindy
(I’m not sure why it makes me use two different names, one for forums & one for the reviews and articles)

[GSDsForever]

Hey thanks HoundDogMom & InkedMarie.

InkedMarie, thank you for your work on that list & sharing it with others!

I never knew such a list was anywhere to be found when I had to search on my own for lowest glycemic foods (plus in my case, ~35-45% protein foods, moderate to high fat w/ low carb AND chicken-free). This was about 1 1/2 yrs ago, and I felt like I had very few choices and they were hard to track down. Potatoes were a big issue.

I’m still not sure how I feel about tapioca, which caused me anxiety looking at foods, because I’ve read conflicting things. (The “jury’s still out” in my own head, lol.) Lentils & such were easier for me to grasp as being low glycemic (as in Innova Prime & Horizon Pulsar), have added health protective effects (like anti-cancer), and I knew from homemade feeding experimenting that my dog digests them well. Any of the starchy carbs, even sweet potatoes, I don’t want to see make up a big part of the ingredients.

I liked Natura’s product line before, but I really hate Proctor & Gamble and it was killing me to purchase Evo or Innova Prime, both on ethical/moral grounds (unrelated to the food) and because I don’t trust their commitment to quality standards in the best interest of our dogs. Other brands manufactured by Diamond, like Solid Gold, I felt unsafe using. Nature’s Variety I felt so so about buying, in terms of the ingredients & pricing — though I liked the company better. Anyway, some brands here I knew about, but others like Darford Zero and DNA I’d never seen or heard of before this site. So I’m sure your list will help people a lot as a resource.

Oh, my Stella & Chewy’s (Duck Duck Goose) does not include any grains or starchy veggies of any kind. So it could go on the list as well. Love that brand. I *think* that may be true for all the freeze dried medallion formulas. Seeing Honest Kitchen’s Zeal on the list reminded me. (My dog far prefers S&C to HK, and I like S&C’s ingredients & use of organic items better).

[GSDsForever]

InkedMarie,

Is your list intended to exclude white potatoes only, or both white potatoes (high glycemic) and sweet potatoes (low glycemic)?

If it doesn’t exclude sweet potatoes, you might add Timberwolf’s Platinum line also. All of their foods, both lines, are low glycemic, but the Platinum line specifically excludes grains and the carbs are chickpeas, sweet potatoes, etc. no white potatoes. The foods are high protein/low carb, nutrient dense & high calorie, all high Omega 3, and explicitly designed to be species appropriate.

Others may disagree, but I favor foods with sweet potatoes in them for the numerous nutritional and health protective benefits they offer. I also especially like to see lentils, for similar reasons.

[GSDsForever]

mah4angel,

If it helps to hear it from one more person, I agree 100% with everything HoundDogMom said in answer to you. And I think your doggie scored big time! Great canine taste in gourmet food that’s also good for him, seriously! Your little guy knows his stuff. LOL.

To answer your second concern, I wouldn’t worry about the balance issue when it’s a small amount of something, especially a veggie/fruit and in this case feta. And the seed-cyanide issue, I believe that’s mainly apples & pits of stone fruits (peaches, etc.).

[Author]

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