[Jenn H]

From my experience adding fiber has been what works best.
My choice is canned pumpkin.

Interestingly enough the dogs that have needed it for anal glands are the ones that don’t hang out with the horses. The ones that do I know snack on their manure and/or dropped grain. So they get plenty of fiber!

[Jenn H]

I often feed my dogs combo and change their food every 3-4 months. It’s been great as far as avoiding recalls and it helps them create their own good bacteria. The body gets used to the same food.

Right now I have a 4 month old German Shepherd puppy. And I have been dealing with diarrhea off & on. I found out it could be due to teething. They produce more saliva. That ends up in the stomach and what comes out isn’t pleasant.
I gave him pumpkin, bland diet and probio. It helps.

Now I am giving him raw unpasteurized goat milk. So far so good.

The only thing is I am very careful about his calcium intake. He is not to exceed 1.5% per day. Even that is higher than I like. I try to keep it around 1-1.2% max.
I hate doing the math, but I know how important it is to control his growth. It’s important large breed puppies do not grow too fast.

Orijen is an excellent food. I am changing him to Acana. Orijen is a little out of my price range right now.

I would suggest that if you need to give him rice for diarrhea in the future that it be white rice not brown. The brown can be too much work to digest when their bellies aren’t feeling well. I used to give brown also until I was corrected.

Whatever direction you go in just be sure to keep track of the daily calcium amounts. Stay as close to 1% as possible. I believe the guidelines are .75-1.5%.
Often this mean contacting the dog food companies and asking what the MAX amt is in their food. They often list min amt if at all.

[Jenn H]

I really love that site. It convinced me to try the goat milk for my dogs. The only pet store that sells raw milk only carries Primal. They love it.
I was hoping it may be an alternative to giving glucosamine & chondroitin supplements. I have a horse that gets so many supps I hoped to avoid that with my large breed dogs as they get older.
One of my girls is having a flare up of her Lyme. The vet suggested she not have the milk until she finishes her treatment. This time we are giving her Minocycline instead of Doxycycline since the side effects were too much for her.

I’m not sure if I want to stop giving her the milk. It has anti-inflammatory properties and good bacteria. But I also don’t want to mess up the antibiotic.
The vets at this hospital are amazing, but I don’t think they all keep up with the latest & greatest natural stuff. I’ll be contacting my integrated vet today.

Thanks for the suggestions. Even if Chevelle has to wait for her Lyme to go into remission before she can begin the goat milk, I can still give it to the puppy and my other girl.

[Jenn H]

I have added oatmeal, meats, liver, canned foods to my dog’s kibble when the weather gets cold to add a little extra insulation. They basically have a summer weight & winter weight.
My new favorite thing is raw goat milk. I’m starting them on that today. It worked wonders for the hand raised pups. Especially the runt who we wouldn’t have saved if not for that goat milk. I swear by it after seeing how he thrived. At the time I couldn’t find raw goat milk so they had pasteurized. All went home very healthy.
I’ve also been told that Senior food isn’t really necessary unless you have a dog that tends to become overweight due to age. Sounds like your dog would be fine on regular adult.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Jenn H.

[Jenn H]

Thank you for the reply.
I did find Primal raw milk at a specialty pet store!!!!
The dogs will be starting it today!

It’s good to know that the other is acceptable should I not be able to get a hold of the raw.
Seeing how well the babies did on the pasteurized I am looking forward to seeing if the real deal works better.
I kept 1 of the pups that I fed the pasteurized milk to. He loved that kind so I have no doubt he’ll love this.
Now I have to do the calcium math. Ugh. Large breed puppy.

[Jenn H]

I get it that grains aren’t part of the dog’s “ancestoral diet” technically, but they kind of are. They’re carnivorous scavengers. What any canine preys on is usually an animal that eats grains & plants. And they eat the whole animal. Including that animal’s digestive system. What would be in their stomach??? Grains & plants.
Granted the contents would be broken down. The canine can digest it because of that. When grain is in kibble it’s been cooked. Thus making it digestible for the pet dog.
I would rather expose my dogs to variety and see what the tolerance is. I wouldn’t avoid giving a child peanut butter because so many kids are allergic and I wouldn’t want to take a chance that mine is. In fact I would likely expose them to nuts early & often to build a natural immunity.
Domestic dogs and wild canines are not exactly the same. I understand that completely. (Which is why I’m not 100% convinced all raw/BARF is the best choice either.) Our pets’ bodies have evolved & changed as they have become more integrated with humans.

The whole chicken allergy dogs seem to be acquiring I was told is because of different companies sourcing their meats from the very same vendors. I remember when California Natuals was bought by P&G. Every dog I’ve known to be fed that food suddenly had reactions. A trainer told me she found out that it’s because of where the ingredients are sources. Despite the fact that the recipe & ingredients remained unchanged. As soon as I told my friends what I had learned they all switched and the dogs stopped being itchy, picky, having upset stomachs.

I know at the end of the day it’s up to me to figure out what’s right for my animals. If that means being unconventional or not following the fads, then so be it. I’m the one who knows them better than anyone else. I’m the one who is obligated to do right by them.

You aren’t the first to warn of obsolete suggestions from Great Dane Lady. I think I’ll just stay clear of her advice all together.
I do appreciate your perspective & experience though.
Thanks.

[Jenn H]

I had a dog (GSD) who also got ear infections from grains. He also has difficulty w/ chicken. That’s way back when grain-free was pretty nonexistent. He had to be fed Hill’s z/d. Eventually he was able to eat Royal Canin German Shepherd and Blue Buffalo. (When they were great foods.) I would regularly clean his ears as a way to be proactive.
Things have come a long way since that guy. Today I could probably give him any meet as long as it didn’t come from certain venders/farms and/or a digestive enzyme.
Labs are such high energy dogs I find it baffling how it’s even possible for them to become overweight. Don’t those pudges ever get out? It’s really quite sad.
It would be nice if people realized that dogs aren’t about quantity. 1 tiny piece of meat makes them as happy as if you fed a whole cow.
Imagine how hard their hearts have to work with all that fat. They’re horizontal. An obese dog is probably much more unhappy than their people think. I bet they’d be more happy if their hearts didn’t have all the weight on it and they could actually move about.
I’m getting so mad now thinking about it.

[Jenn H]

Pitlove, thanks for the input.
GSDs (in my experience) are food motivated when it comes to training. On the other hand they can be equally happy being rewarded with a favorite toy (as is often the case in K-9s).
The Lab is soooo different. Stereotypes exist for a reason. I don’t think she has ever tasted anything she’s ever eaten. I soak & drown her food in the slowest feeder I can find. I’m very careful about her feeding. I see Labs with lumps and they are fat, etc. Lillie is a lean and muscular 60 lbs! No lumps & bumps or excess fat (except a couple lbs in winter or she gets cold)! She acts like a puppy! She’ll be 11 next month.
The dog food is literally locked up in the bathroom in an airtight bin because she’ll think nothing of opening doors and eating til she explodes. I can’t stand the behavior, but haven’t been able to fix it. The thing with the pup is I don’t know if he’s as hungry as he acts or if he’s mimicking her behavior. If he’s so hungry, then I want to find him something to satisfy him. If he’s just picking up bad habits, then I can & am dealing with that.

It’s good to see someone else not fanatical about grain free. Like you I’m not against them. I just think they should be given to dogs who truly need them. I prefer to expose my animals to everything and see what they can tolerate rather than completely avoid something because they might have an issue.
I’ve had a dog that needed to avoid pretty much all grains and some meats. And a dog that could tolerate small amts of grain here & there.
My only real issue with grain free is that they are so high in carbs. Which is ironic. I think that because I don’t feed the girls grain free may be partly why Lillie doesn’t have the lumps. She’s not over loaded w/ carbs.

I’ll probably just end up switching my little guy’s food completely. I do that every few months and it’s been a great thing for my dogs. It’s good for the good bacteria in the gut to have something new.

Thanks again for the help. I’ll check out the Lab lady’s posts. I might learn something.

[Jenn H]

While I haven’t seen her website, I haven’t been in agreement with some of her advice/suggestions. Thought maybe it was just because she has extra large breeds and I am only really familiar with large breeds. I know there are some similarities in controlling growth & their nutritional needs, but not sure if both sizes require the same things.
Hound Dog Mom is often informative. I agree she seems to have more utd info.
Didn’t see what Great Dane Lady has to say about The Honest Kitchen. But I will say that I have been in touch with them a lot over the past week and they have been nothing less than prompt, patient and helpful. They have been very open to answering the million questions I’ve asked and as far as I know they have been on top of the quality of their products. Even doing voluntary recalls when they just suspect something may be wrong. And I haven’t found any animals to become ill from their foods.

[Jenn H]

My whole life I have only had GSDs and never have they acted like they were starving. They certainly wouldn’t dive into a bag of dog food. The only dog I have ever seen act like this is a Lab that we inherited.
He literally throws a fit and gets so mad when his bowl is empty. It’s kind of funny to see a puppy with such a temper. But I don’t ever want him to feel hungry. This makes me think he’s either not satisfied with his food or is missing something nutritionally.

Every few months it’s good to switch foods so and I am looking into what to switch him to next. Fromm is on my short list. But if that doesn’t seem to satisfy him, then I want to be prepared to combo feed if I can come up w/ something that won’t exceed the calcium amts.
My other idea is maybe his food is too good and I should try a brand with more fillers. But doing that may cause him to actually lack important nutrients.

[Jenn H]

Thanks for the suggestions. I may try to add oils. I’ve been told that can deplete Vit E (in GSDs anyway) so I’ll have to research that a bit more.
I’ve looked into adding meats, but they also have calcium. I’m trying to avoid doing much math. It is by no means a strong suit of mine.
This particular pup has me worried about future joint issues. I have had about 20 GSDs in my life and never has joint problems. Some of that was luck. Some good breeding. Mostly it’s from experience and effort.
My (not so) little guy shows confirmation of the American Show Lines. Too much angulation. Thats a perfect set up for hip dysplasia. And his mother is 90+ lbs. I assume the “breeder” was trying to breed up like so many do these days. (This was a rescue situation so I don’t have any details on the sire.)

[Jenn H]

Whole grains like oats, whole wheat, buckwheat, barley and brown rice provide beneficial minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, fiber & protein. While you can always supplement these things, it’s usually best to get nutrients from food.
Dogs are able to digest cooked grains.
I do stay away from corn. I know that has a potential to be very irritating to their digestion.

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