STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

What kind of food do you feed your dog?

Metric · Gucci

My dog is a picky eater also, she wouldn't touch CN. We recently switched to Iams Healthy Naturals Chicken formula and she adores it. She gobbles it up every meal.

It says holistic on the bag but I don't know if you were looking for something higher end.

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

Metric wrote:

My dog is a picky eater also, she wouldn't touch CN. We recently switched to Iams Healthy Naturals Chicken formula and she adores it. She gobbles it up every meal.

It says holistic on the bag but I don't know if you were looking for something higher end.

Thanks Metric. I am looking for something higher end/less commercial.

Elle · Hermes

We feed BB, because it's one of the highest end foods you can get that doesn't come from the vet's office. I like their company too, personally.

I know Whole Foods carries a few brands I haven't seen elsewhere. Maybe check the ingredients on a few of those and write the brands down for some internet research?

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

Thanks Elle - maybe instead of trying out a different food and having it end up being a trial and error situation, I'll put her back on BB. I already know she likes it and it agrees with her, so that's probably the best option.

relrel · Marc Jacobs

Okay...I've got lots of dog food info for you. We have a bulldog, a breed that's prone to digestive issues and allergies so we've done a ton of research in the area of dog food.

There's actually a huge difference between puppy food and adult food: it's got to do with protein versus carb amounts plus calorie differences. Generally, most vets will recommend switching over sometime around one year. However, this will vary from breed to breed because of the different growth patters and the different requirements that each breed will need to grow properly.

The reason that your dog is probably eating differently at your parent's house is probably both the "newness" of the food plus some dominance stuff. There's nothing that says "I'm the one in charge" more than eating somebody else's food.

Keep in mind as well, that just because your dog looks thin, this doesn't necessarily mean that she's under-weight. Unfortunately, most dog are actually over-weight. It's actually recommended that when you place your hands on the sides of your dog's body and press, that you should be able to feel the rib cage. You shouldn't be able to see it (for short-hair breeds), but you should definitely be able to palpate the bones. Even slightly over-weight dogs are so much more prone to issues with hip and knee problems. In our case, with a bulldog that carries so much muscle on such a small frame, we only feed two cups of adult food a day, which is actually about 3/4 cups less than what it says on the bag. Compared with other bulldogs in the neighborhood, ours is so much more active and able to walk around a lot better in the heat. Breed specific, I know, but it's a good idea to really research what weight your dog should be for both her breed as well as her frame/body type. This website is actually a really good site for distinguishing a good weight/size: http://www.cvm.tamu.edu/clinicalnutrition/bcsdog.shtml

A really fast way to tell a good kibble from a bad kibble is to look at the ingredients: where does wheat or grain come on the list? The best kibbles are ones with very, very, very little grain based products. It's really just filler and a dog doesn't need it at all for nutrients. I also don't like kibbles with chicken in them, but that's just because chicken is a poor source of protein compared to other types. We currently feed Innova Evo Red Meat which is a grain-free kibble. Our dog also gets a couple spoonfuls of yogurt and a splash of apple cider vinegar with his food as well. The yogurt helps with digestion (he's got serious farting issues...as most bulldogs do) and the ACV helps with tear-staining in his wrinkles.

This is a good website for kibble questions: it's from a bulldog forum but it's copy/pasted from somewhere else that is for all breeds. The other sites linked at the top of this page are also good sources of information.
http://www.bulldogbreeds.com/discuss/viewtopic.php?t=642

A couple of other things, don't continually switch the dog around on feed. It takes up to two weeks for a dog to "learn" to digest the new food type. It's generally best to work the new food in with the old food over the course of a few weeks, starting with almost all old food and a spoonful of new food and continue to change the ratio until you are feeding all new food. Also, the best way to tell if your dog is doing well with the food? Look at her poop. The more poops a day, the worse the food probably is, because she's not really digesting it properly. What's the consistency, color, smell? Sorry for the TMI, but our dog goes twice a day: morning walk and early evening walk. The poops are firm and quite small and hardly smell at all. Not only is it good for his digestion...but it makes it so much easier/nicer to pick up!

I will also add, however, that our dog doesn't get people food at all. Once in a while, if I'm cutting vegetables, he'll get a couple of scraps. But only in the course of training. For example, if I'm cutting carrots, he'll get the peeled ends but will have to do something for them. Right now, we are working on "down" so he'll get small pieces of the carrot while practicing "down". I know it's tempting to sneak a piece of bacon here and there, but it's really super bad for dogs to eat much people food, it's the reason why most dogs are over-weight. I know that you didn't specifically mention anything, but I'm super hard-core about my dog and what he gets to eat so it's hard not to mention everything!

Kelly · Hermes

If you want your dog on the new food for a reason, maybe you could try mixing in some canned food to make it more appealing? I feed Nutro Natural Choice - I don't know if it counts as holistic, but I do know that there are canned versions of it. Has your vet said that your dog is underweight?

relrel - you said that you give your dog yogurt? Just a spoon of plain yogurt? My dog is a fart machine so I'd like to try that to see if it helps her.

relrel · Marc Jacobs

Kelly: We give him a large spoonful of organic, plain, full fat yogurt with each feeding. It's usually the Whole Foods or Trader Joe's variety but that's just because that's what closest to us. He still farts at least once a night but it doesn't usually smell. Just as with any other "change" in diet, the yogurt will make the poops a little runny at first just because their systems are getting used to it.

Once a month, he also gets some nice olive oil. His heart-worm meds really make him constipated so he gets a little of oil on his food to "lube him up".

I've already told our dog that he's never dying so my boyfriend and I are really doing what we can to keep our pup as healthy as possible. Bulldogs have an average life span of 8 years and he's already 3 so whatever we can do it make him healthy, we are doing it.

Kelly · Hermes

relrel wrote:

Just as with any other "change" in diet, the yogurt will make the poops a little runny at first just because their systems are getting used to it.

That's why I want to try it now, while it's still warm out - she can be outside more, and when we're inside the windows are open. I don't want to deal with a farty, poopy dog in the middle of winter

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

Kelly - the vet said she's right on target with her weight, but I can't help thinking she's underweight. She's super long - she's as long as, if not longer, than my brother's dachshund. When she's wet, she honestly looks like a stray because she's so skinny - you can see ribs, IIRC. She doesn't look skinny when she's dry, but her hair is long and fluffy. She weighs about 14 1/2 pounds right now, but she's a mixed breed (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Bichon Frise), so I'm not too sure how much she's supposed to weigh. I think the breeder told me she'd weigh around 18 pounds, but I'm not completely sure if I'm remembering correctly.

I have tried giving her wet food (Merrick) mixed in with the dry but I feel like that made her pickier because once I stop with the wet food she's reluctant to eat her dry food.

Relrel - thanks for the informative post. I'm going to run errands right now, but I'll respond to your post later. smile

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

Relrel - Based on those pictures on that link you posted, my puppy looks like she would fall under the thin category. Also, I checked out the weight specs for both Cavs and Bichons on the net and Cavaliers should weigh between 12-18 pounds and Bichons should weigh 10-18 pounds (the site didn't specify between male/female weights). So while she is in the target zone for her weight (and she's 9 months old, so she's still growing), she still looks very thin to me. I guess I should listen to the vet though and feed her adult food.

Izzy does not get many scraps of people food. She usually gets a few chunks of apple a few times a week (she LOVES apples), and once in a while I give her a small piece of cheese or a a few veggies off my plate, but for the most part she doesn't get people food.

I think when I next change her food it will to be either a beef or lamb food. She doesn't seem to like chicken dog food as much as lamb. When I change her food I do make sure to slowly change over by starting with a 25% new/75% old combo for a few days before switching to a 50/50 mix and then a 75/25 mix. I will admit though, she needs some stability with her food - I've been switching it too often. This is the 5th food she's been on since she started eating solid food. So I'd like to find a brand she likes and stick with it, though I would probably rotate the protein source within that specific brand, which I know some people tout as being better for the dog (http://www.naturesvariety.com/rotation).

On that kibble site you linked, her current food is listed as an A+. I'll be honest, I was a bit surprised to see some of the foods on there listed as A+ (like Royal Canin, which IIRC uses corn or corn by-products in their food). Anyways, I do try to feed her low-grain foods, and def. stay away from anything "commercial" (like Purina, Iams, etc.)

Ever since she's been on BB and now through the Wellness food, she has been pooping less (prior to BB she was on Purina Pro Plan Lamb and Rice, which the vet recommended

. He advised me not to feed her holistic foods, but I'm sure that's the monetary relationship he has with those corporate foods speaking). Her poop is usually firm, but a bit soft to to touch (you know, not so firm that it's like rocks) and she usually poops between 2-3 times a day. However, I do probably give her a few too many treats, which might affect the volume of her poop.

It's funny that you mention yogurt. Izzy has always had to pee a lot (I'm talking every two hours or so during the day), and after taking an x-ray, the vet determined that her bladder is much smaller than it should be (like 1/3 the size). She's on a pill right now for urinary incontinence which has helped a bit with the frequency. Anyways, my mom's friend was having lots of bladder trouble with her puppy (who was the runt) and an emergency vet told her to give her dog two tablespoons of Activia every day. Do you think plain yogurt would have the same affect? It's probably better for her than Activia. I just bought some today, but I'm sort of hesitant to give it to her.

ETA: Relrel, what do you know about high-protein dog foods? I know Orijen is regarded as a very good dog food, but I thought high-protein dog foods were meant for very active dogs. I take my dog on 2 or 3 10-15 minute walks a day. I don't know if that's considered "active" enough.

-- Edited by wetbandit42 on Monday 20th of July 2009 02:34:17 PM

Elle · Hermes

I'd stay away from Activia - it has lots of sugar in it, and regular yogurt has the same the good bacteria anyway ...

My pup is really picky, or rather she gets bored quickly. We rotate through 'flavors' within the BB brand, but she needs something mixed into her food at every meal to keep eating. We get BB canned food to mix as well as a soft roll-style food from Pet Botanics. Otherwise we rotate through vegetables and stuff - sweet potatoes, green beans, apple, PB, cheese, carrots - and use about 1/4 cup per meal. IMO that's a better solution than constantly rotating though food brands.

I'm taking her in for her yearly checkup tomorrow and will ask the vet if she has any additional ideas. If she does I promise to share them!

relrel · Marc Jacobs

wetbandit42 wrote:

It's funny that you mention yogurt. Izzy has always had to pee a lot (I'm talking every two hours or so during the day), and after taking an x-ray, the vet determined that her bladder is much smaller than it should be (like 1/3 the size). She's on a pill right now for urinary incontinence which has helped a bit with the frequency. Anyways, my mom's friend was having lots of bladder trouble with her puppy (who was the runt) and an emergency vet told her to give her dog two tablespoons of Activia every day. Do you think plain yogurt would have the same affect? It's probably better for her than Activia. I just bought some today, but I'm sort of hesitant to give it to her.

ETA: Relrel, what do you know about high-protein dog foods? I know Orijen is regarded as a very good dog food, but I thought high-protein dog foods were meant for very active dogs. I take my dog on 2 or 3 10-15 minute walks a day. I don't know if that's considered "active" enough.

-- Edited by wetbandit42 on Monday 20th of July 2009 02:34:17 PM

Per the Activia: I agree with Elle. Activia has a huge amount of sugar, even the "plain" variety. And the active cultures which is what helps digestion is all the same...Activia just "invented" a probiotic and gave it a name.

Per the protein issue: The only thing that I really know is that puppies and adults have different levels of needs. I haven't heard anything about the difference between active and non-active breeds, but I've only really done specific research on bulldogs.

Farrah · Marc Jacobs

Vinny eats Nature's Variety Chicken Nuggets. They are considered raw food so it is kept in the freezer and we take out his daily 6 nuggets each night for the next day. He totally loves it and goes bonkers when it is time to eat. It also comes in beef, lamb, turkey, and fish.

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

Farrah wrote:

Vinny eats Nature's Variety Chicken Nuggets. They are considered raw food so it is kept in the freezer and we take out his daily 6 nuggets each night for the next day. He totally loves it and goes bonkers when it is time to eat. It also comes in beef, lamb, turkey, and fish.

I don't know why, but that made me laugh - the idea of chicken nuggets for dogs. biggrin My roommate fed her dog Nature's Variety kibble, and Izzy liked that too. NV is pretty high quality stuff, and I see they have an assortment of protein sources in their kibble.

I bought some plain non-fat yogurt for my dog, and I'll eat the Activia. I had a sneaking suspicion it had too much sugar.

Thanks for the idea Elle - I never even thought about mixing fruit and veggies into her food. blankstare Doh! And yes, let me know if your vet says anything worse passing along.

-- Edited by wetbandit42 on Monday 20th of July 2009 08:14:30 PM

kenzie · Chanel

Farrah wrote:

Vinny eats Nature's Variety Chicken Nuggets. They are considered raw food so it is kept in the freezer and we take out his daily 6 nuggets each night for the next day. He totally loves it and goes bonkers when it is time to eat. It also comes in beef, lamb, turkey, and fish.

I might have to try these for our dogs. They are so picky, but it sounds like they might like these.

Right now, we rotate brands- all are organic and natural- from the local pet store. They also like veggies added to their food, but we don't do that all the time.

Elle · Hermes

wetbandit42 wrote:

Thanks for the idea Elle - I never even thought about mixing fruit and veggies into her food. Doh! And yes, let me know if your vet says anything worse passing along.

Back from the vet !

He said the main worries with mixing things in is too much fat, so as long as you're not loading 'em up on peanut butter every day a little here and there is fine. I asked about citrus as well - he said that it has the potential the change the pH of their urine and cause stones if it's done in excess regularly so to go easy on really acidic things like vinegar or lime/lemon juice, but orange pieces, orange juice, lemon/lime zest and stuff is fine every few days. Broth is also fine to mix in, as long as the food doesn't get realllly soggy (bad for teeth). He gave BB the thumbs up too, Wetbandit.

I also got some of the raw nuggets that Farrah feeds Vinny - anything new to through into the rotation is good here!

My skinny non-eater even gained almost 2 pounds since she was there 6 months ago - we must not be doing too bad a job keeping her eating! I hope you have luck putting some weight on your pup too Wetbandit. We had similar skinniness when Marley was a pup, especially once she'd reached her adult body size/height but not yet weight.

-- Edited by Elle on Tuesday 21st of July 2009 05:54:49 PM

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

Elle wrote:
Back from the vet !

He said the main worries with mixing things in is too much fat, so as long as you're not loading 'em up on peanut butter every day a little here and there is fine. I asked about citrus as well - he said that it has the potential the change the pH of their urine and cause stones if it's done in excess regularly so to go easy on really acidic things like vinegar or lime/lemon juice, but orange pieces, orange juice, lemon/lime zest and stuff is fine every few days. Broth is also fine to mix in, as long as the food doesn't get realllly soggy (bad for teeth). He gave BB the thumbs up too, Wetbandit.

I also got some of the raw nuggets that Farrah feeds Vinny - anything new to through into the rotation is good here!

My skinny non-eater even gained almost 2 pounds since she was there 6 months ago - we must not be doing too bad a job keeping her eating! I hope you have luck putting some weight on your pup too Wetbandit. We had similar skinniness when Marley was a pup, especially once she'd reached her adult body size/height but not yet weight.

-- Edited by Elle on Tuesday 21st of July 2009 05:54:49 PM

Thanks so much Elle! I might just stick to the BB since I know she'll eat that. Besides, I went to the pet store today and couldn't decide between Innova EVO and Nature's Variety Instinct (the NV rabbit and duck formulas had ground freeze-dried rabbit/duck hearts and bones, which grossed me out).

I'll definitely try some of those mix-in ideas, too! She really liked it when I put plain non-fat yogurt on her food yesterday.

Farrah · Marc Jacobs

Elle - how is the Nature's Variety working? Don't you just love how easy it is to drop the nuggets in the bowl and go?

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

Nature's Variety Prairie and Instinct dog food has done wonders for my dog. We give her Instinct duck in a can, and then Prairie Lamb for dry. She mostly gets the canned food in the winter to keep her skin fron drying out (along with dry food too).