[zuponicafe]

Hi Debbie.
I have a 10 m/o medium/large mixed breed and after my initial puppy paranoia I decided to feed him a variation of different brands wet & dry.
I find great deals on some really decent food and it has helped to keep things w/in reason on food costs. Luckily he doesn’t have allergies so I’ve not had to worry there and his tolerance to switching has been fantastic.
I might add there are a lot of different pet food suppliers nearby, so I can kinda shop around which is great for finding deals.

[zuponicafe]

yjessie~ I have a 10 m/o mixed breed who’s eventual adult size we were unsure of (still growing!) so I went for the foods that were w/in the limits of the large breed calcium guidelines. He’s lab/shep/husky/clown.
I have switched his foods around pretty regularly since we got him at 8 weeks, but always with an eye on the calcium & so far so good. And I swap his food around a lot. Dry & wet, different companies, different proteins.
There are occasions when he gets a squirty crap, but nothing note worthy. Like my husband says, that dog has better turds than I do.

[zuponicafe]

Ellen,
Do you cook the meat & organs? And by RMB, does that means raw meat bones? If so, do you just give your dog a few chicken wing bones? I’ve always been paranoid of them mostly due to my parents scare tactics when I was a kid. ie:eating a bay leaf will kill you.

[zuponicafe]

The environmental allergy article was quite helpful. In particularly the mites/scabies quotient. I hadn’t even considered that as a possible cause to my 8 mo. mixed breeds severe scratching and fur chewing lately.
He’s been on a rotational diet pretty much since we got him as a puppy, and he’s never been in such distress as he has been lately. There hasn’t been any crazy different protein change or unique ingredients, so I’m going to investigate this possibility as I contracted scabies thru my dealings with children in multiple day care centers.
Thank you posting as I never even would have thought of looking into it.

[zuponicafe]

Dog Obsessed, that was foremost in my mind, accidental pups. Lokis mom & dads owner for some reason decided to let the the pregnancy occur of 2 mixed breeds just for the sake of having puppies, which kind of made me shake my head. But I’m glad because I have such a wonderful pet. I can only hope his 10 siblings found forever homes.
That said, this really seems to be a very personalized choice per each animal.

[zuponicafe]

Very thoughtful replies. I had been leaning towards the 2 y/o mark, but now I may rethink even that. I never realized sterilization was an option either. The reason I had concerns to begin with was the loss of hormone production after neuter. And I had only stumbled upon that thru reading about it. Otherwise we were going to get him ‘fixed’ at 6 mos. until I poked around.
The vet we go to is a really nice gent, but I may talk to the exotics vet I went to when I had guinea pigs. She’s more up to date I believe on some of the more modern applications of pet care.
So Loki can keep his family jewels for a good long time, if not forever now. He’s sociable & a good sport when playing with other dogs, so aggression is not a factor. He doesn’t run loose, so he’d be hard pressed to find a a female. Not to mention he doesn’t even lift his leg to pee yet. LOL.
Thanks again for the advice. It’s appreciated.

[zuponicafe]

I assume he will get bigger, I don’t expect him to get huge, but I was unsure due to his varied background & wanted to keep calcium to a lower level. And the reviews have helped me choose foods.
I was just trying to say how feeding him different high quality food has worked for me.
As far as Editors Choice, it’s sponsoring this site which may otherwise not be able to provide the knowledge base.
I appreciate all the factoids.

[zuponicafe]

I have had a good experience with the rotational diet with my puppy. He doesn’t seem to have an aversion to anything, which is nice because the price of dog food is a bit ridiculous when going for the best quality.
I keep my eye out for sales & markdowns then google this site on the phone to do some on the spot homework. So far we’ve mixed up kibbles & wet, flavors & brands. As he will most likely be a large dog, I keep my eye on calcium but I don’t stress out too much over a little higher when it’s a 4 lb bag, as I add some wet that is on par.
I’m hoping this is not jeopardizing his future health, so any input to steer me right if this may not be the best idea would be greatly appreciated!

[zuponicafe]

My input on treats~anything that keeps a 15 w/o puppy interested while training!
So far I’ve found just putting various things (ie:slivers of hot dogs, small cubes of hard cheese & some home made chicken liver brownies) into a crinkly ‘sample bag’ of kibble work OK, but it’s not that I AM THE UNIVERSE moment while trying to get my puppies attention back to me.
He is still young, so I want to instill manners in a relatively head strong guy. I’m thinking something that smells awesome to him.

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