Dog food? Which one to choose? Our dog was hospitalized.

[JonnyJ]

Hey everyone, i need some advice.

My inlaws have a 2 year old lab. I spend a lot of time with him, he's an amazing dog and yesterday he was hospitalized for a stomach bacteria infection.

A few days ago he just stopped eating. He was throwing up and having diarreah. I monitored him for the next couple of days. He wouldn't eat for 2 days, but was drinking water. On the third day he stopped drinking and I knew it was time for him to see the vet. So we took him to the vet.

What from?

Table food, raw food (occasionally) undercooked food?

They are off the boat Italian, they take great care of him but are very ignorant when it comes to diet.

I myself, am not an anti table food dog owner. I think in moderation mixed with dry food is fine to a certain extent.

However, the majority of his diet over the past 2 years has been table food. Mainly steaks,beef,pork, chicken, lamb etc..including low sodium turkey and chicken breast cold cuts.

Suprisingly the dog doesn't eat stuff like bacon, cheese, bread, pasta, etc. he just doesn't go for it.

The dog has always been very picky and has a small apetite. He only eats when he feels like it. He is the type of dog that would walk past a steak if he wasn't in the mood. An he does it all the time.

What's even stranger is that he's a 2 yr old 90lb Labrador. Lol

For the past two years I have suspected that maybe he was having stomach issues. I notice time to time his stool is very soft and he's always pretty calm and lazy. He's also very gassy later in the day. I alway suspected it was his diet. I suggested taking him to the vet multiple times. Everytime they did, But everytime they took him to the vet, the vet would say he's fine and send him home with a clean bill of health. Now that this has unfortunately happened I can finally get the dogs diet in the right direction.

Overall he's in great shape, some would say a little overweight. He's around 90lbs.

As of right now he's on medication and being fed a boiled chicken and rice diet. I was able to get him to eat today which is great and he's looking much better.

I would like some
Input on dog foods that would be a good match for him. I want to steer my inlaws in the dry food direction.

They always feed him dry and leave it out for him, but he rarely eats it.

I'm thinking something for sensitive stomach dogs and not too many additives. Money isn't an issue. As it stands his weekly meals cost them upwards of 60$.

Either way, any help is appreciated.

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Jonny read from post 166 on-- Reef Fixations and I had an i depth convo about diets- he put up a link of an upstate company that seems pretty extraordinary

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/nudibar/118516-new-addition-soon-5.html

 

[fishman1069]

Iams is a great food and so is science diet (I think thats the name). I've been hearing good things about the new natural food that just came out too. I think the name is ......... man I can't think of the name, its too damn early. I'll post the name later. Good luck with the dog. I usually give my dogs Champion dry food with Alpo wet food mixed in. I sometimes give them table food instead of the wet food as a treat

 

[TTSkipper]

Check out Blue Buffalo, a little more expensive than the supermarket stocked options but a great food with very little to no fillers. If the dog is finicky, you may want to try canned first and then slowly mix in dry until you can switch completely to dry. Dry food is better for the dogs.

 

[fishman1069]

Check out Blue Buffalo, a little more expensive than the supermarket stocked options but a great food with very little to no fillers. If the dog is finicky, you may want to try canned first and then slowly mix in dry until you can switch completely to dry. Dry food is better for the dogs.

That's the name I was thinking of this morning. I've heard great stuff about Blue Buffalo

 

[Widdy]

My 8 year lab mix gets Blue Buffalo with a Merrick treat every so often.

 

[empire]

my pitt-lab eats blue buffalo wilderness for 2 years now never had a problem. she loves the stuff. gives her great muscle tone.

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

Hey jonny I read in the papers about a week ago that some companies had a massive recall on dog foods made or produced Overseas cause of some bacterial issue, try to give your dog foods that are purchased from high turnover places like Costco or sams club like places so that it doesn't sit on the shelves too Long but make sure it's a good brand like science diet or iams, not sure about eukanuba , but also refrain from buying huge Amounts so the dog constantly has a fresh food supply.

 

[NewfiDog]

Hey jonnyj, at first this is going to seem strange to you but with an open mind you can easily understand. The truth is there is no good dry dog food on the market, just from the way it is produced. The table food your feeding him is way better. He dosent eat the dry dog food much because he dosent like it.

About six years ago i had some issues with one of my Newf's and when i contacted breeders they all replied about how bad dry dog food is actually for dogs. One breeder sent me tons of info, and from there i did more research.

Think of where a dog comes from, WOLF, a wolf isnt eating dog food. I switched my dogs for 6 years now to a raw food diet, this was the greatest thing i ever did for my dogs. Your feeding of cooked food is way better than the dry dog food but getting him on a a raw food diet is even better. There is far to much to explain here you would need to do some research and i would always be glad to answer some ?. You are going to find alot of negative stuff but most of it is simply untrue. Your vet may not like it but they live off your dog being sick, a wholistic vet would tell you how great it is for your dog. You mentioned soft stool, on a raw diet the stool is 1/3 the size because the dog can actually use the food and is hard as a rock. If you do some research you will be in shock with what you find, like just how bad science diet is, which is what most vets sell. The first to have the FDA investigate there food for killing cats and dogs. This is true by the way.

If you do not like the raw food, a good canned food is a huge upgrade from dry dog food you can try that but good canned food can be expensive. You need to be careful with the cooked chicken your feeding, chicken needs to be feed in moderation because dogs tend to be alergic to chicken some more than others. The raw food diets have taking off huge in the past 3 years because people are finding out the truth about dry dog food there is just about nothing in it that a dog can process. Almost all skin conditions on dogs are created from dry dog food. You can check some companies like Bravo, Oma's Pride, Primal, Natures Variety.

Do the research i spent a couple of months i thought it was crazy at first but i would never feed anything else again.

There are ways to get the cost down, like buying from a butcher. You can buy parts they dont need cheap. I buy 30 pound boxes of turkey necks, a neck makes the meal inexpensive. And yes that includes the bone another myth, the bone is very important, its cooked bones mostly chicken that are dangerous, raw bones dont splinter.

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Hey jonnyj, at first this is going to seem strange to you but with an open mind you can easily understand. The truth is there is no good dry dog food on the market, just from the way it is produced. The table food your feeding him is way better. He dosent eat the dry dog food much because he dosent like it.

About six years ago i had some issues with one of my Newf's and when i contacted breeders they all replied about how bad dry dog food is actually for dogs. One breeder sent me tons of info, and from there i did more research.

Think of where a dog comes from, WOLF, a wolf isnt eating dog food. I switched my dogs for 6 years now to a raw food diet, this was the greatest thing i ever did for my dogs. Your feeding of cooked food is way better than the dry dog food but getting him on a a raw food diet is even better. There is far to much to explain here you would need to do some research and i would always be glad to answer some ?. You are going to find alot of negative stuff but most of it is simply untrue. Your vet may not like it but they live off your dog being sick, a wholistic vet would tell you how great it is for your dog. You mentioned soft stool, on a raw diet the stool is 1/3 the size because the dog can actually use the food and is hard as a rock. If you do some research you will be in shock with what you find, like just how bad science diet is, which is what most vets sell. The first to have the FDA investigate there food for killing cats and dogs. This is true by the way.

If you do not like the raw food, a good canned food is a huge upgrade from dry dog food you can try that but good canned food can be expensive. You need to be careful with the cooked chicken your feeding, chicken needs to be feed in moderation because dogs tend to be alergic to chicken some more than others. The raw food diets have taking off huge in the past 3 years because people are finding out the truth about dry dog food there is just about nothing in it that a dog can process. Almost all skin conditions on dogs are created from dry dog food. You can check some companies like Bravo, Oma's Pride, Primal, Natures Variety.

Do the research i spent a couple of months i thought it was crazy at first but i would never feed anything else again.

There are ways to get the cost down, like buying from a butcher. You can buy parts they dont need cheap. I buy 30 pound boxes of turkey necks, a neck makes the meal inexpensive. And yes that includes the bone another myth, the bone is very important, its cooked bones mostly chicken that are dangerous, raw bones dont splinter.

+1

I did a lot of reading last night on a boxer forum actually and here's a link that explains it in a way that makes it easy to do it, for a long time I was overwhelmed just trying to get easy to comprehend info. It's just a matter of where you get the meat,bones and organs the cheapest, this is the raw I'm going to be doing called preymodelraw:

http://preymodelraw.com/how-to-get-started/

The raw bones as newfi stated aren't brittle until cooked so they don't splinter. The bones are also EXCELLENT for maintaining cleaner teeth.

 

[NewfiDog]

Thats right jimmy no dog needs a dental or there teeth brushed, just the proper diet and there teeth will be good. My vet cant beleive my dogs teeth. My sister and brother in laws dog had bad skin issues i could not get them to switch till one day (ring, ring) lets talk, i ask why. Because his dog needed a dental when he heard the cost he freaked, he came over and looked at my dogs and was amazed, i told him how to get them clean he has never done the dental, but did not switch to raw just a good canned food.

The organs are good too, just dont over do it, some people who just jump in and dont read or take advice give to much organ meat and they get issues from it. Also very good is tripe i feed tripe once every week to two weeks it is important part of the diet.

One of the first things that stood out to me when i first started doing research was how much it was pushed that you must change up there food never feed only one thing. The one thing would be would you like to eat the same thing your whole life, but more important is what chicken may lack turkey may have, what turkey lacks beef may have and so on. I know the vet tells you never change there food, thats because your dogs system has adjusted to the poor food and when you switch to a different brand it needs to readjust so you get diarrhea.

Jimmy i clicked on that link after, and i can tell you i agree with the just switch cold turkey, most people will tell you to do it slow i went full blast no issues.

 

[Exotic Reef]

You can feed dry food with chicken rice ,sausages in the blue can. Any left over food that you family dont eat save for the dog. And mix with his food. I used to do this with my dogs when the were sick

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Thats right jimmy no dog needs a dental or there teeth brushed, just the proper diet and there teeth will be good. My vet cant beleive my dogs teeth. My sister and brother in laws dog had bad skin issues i could not get them to switch till one day (ring, ring) lets talk, i ask why. Because his dog needed a dental when he heard the cost he freaked, he came over and looked at my dogs and was amazed, i told him how to get them clean he has never done the dental, but did not switch to raw just a good canned food.

The organs are good too, just dont over do it, some people who just jump in and dont read or take advice give to much organ meat and they get issues from it. Also very good is tripe i feed tripe once every week to two weeks it is important part of the diet.

One of the first things that stood out to me when i first started doing research was how much it was pushed that you must change up there food never feed only one thing. The one thing would be would you like to eat the same thing your whole life, but more important is what chicken may lack turkey may have, what turkey lacks beef may have and so on. I know the vet tells you never change there food, thats because your dogs system has adjusted to the poor food and when you switch to a different brand it needs to readjust so you get diarrhea.

Jimmy i clicked on that link after, and i can tell you i agree with the just switch cold turkey, most people will tell you to do it slow i went full blast no issues.

I agree as well newfi, Whenever I switched any of my dogs, whether it was from dry to canned- this canned to that canned or whatever- I'd rather a couple of days of the runs during adjustment than a week of custard.

Like I said when I bring the girls home on the 16th we're staying at my moms place for a couple of days so she can have some time with them lol. After that apartment stay there will be no more kibble or canned for them- strictly raw. Just doing some more last minute reading and getting meat and organ hookups as I type this

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

When my pitbull hit 6 months he developed severe food allergies...long story short went through a lot to get him healthy...he's 5 1/2 now and I've had him on Flint River Ranch Lamb Millet & Rice formula...with amazing results. They've never been a part of the pet food recalls. I get 40lbs. a month for him and it's delivered to my door faithfully within 2 days of ordering. I did a lot of research into other foods before I chose this one. One thing I did notice about a lot of commercial foods is that they were filled with fillers such as cornmeal, wheat gluten, etc. and Big Boy is allergic to both of those. I swear by this food. (his pic is my Avi and he is my pride and joy...my baby)

Here's a small breakdown that I copy and pasted off of their site:

"Specifically formulated for those dogs who have an intolerance to wheat, corn and/or chicken. Nothing has been spared with the quality ingredients, blending and oven-baking. We use premium quality Lamb Meat, White Fish, Whole Ground Grains, Flaxseed, Rosemary, Chelated Minerals, Natural Tocopherols [antioxidant], along with probiotics and digestive enzymes which synergistically provides the very finest diet for food-sensitive dogs. Our special recipe helps to maintain strong bones, a healthy digestive system and promotes a beautiful shiny skin coat.

Analysis
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS Protein Minimum 23% Fat Minimum 10% Fiber Maximum 4% Moisture Maximum 10%

Ingredients: Lamb Meal, Ground Whole Millet, Ground Whole Rice, Ground Whole Brown Rice, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Rice Bran, White Fish Meal, Tomato Pomace, Flax Seed, Alfalfa Meal, Natural Flavor, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, a-Tocopherol Acetate (Source of Vitamin E), Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid), Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate), Kelp Meal, Lecithin, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Product."

 

[Reef Fixations]

if the dog stopped eating it can very often time be a blockage or worse in it's digestive system. Possibly from a chew toy that broke or anything the dog found that he shouldn't have been messing with.

never wait. Been there, done that and unfortunately my little guy "bought the farm"

Hopefullly you didn't learn as badly as we did.

Choose foods that are the most easy to digest which in a dog's case.... should be raw ground meat/chicken/fish or whatever and a quality semi-dry food IMO.

How's you're dog doing now?

 

[Reef Fixations]

When my pitbull hit 6 months he developed severe food allergies...long story short went through a lot to get him healthy...he's 5 1/2 now and I've had him on Flint River Ranch Lamb Millet & Rice formula...with amazing results. They've never been a part of the pet food recalls. I get 40lbs. a month for him and it's delivered to my door faithfully within 2 days of ordering. I did a lot of research into other foods before I chose this one. One thing I did notice about a lot of commercial foods is that they were filled with fillers such as cornmeal, wheat gluten, etc. and Big Boy is allergic to both of those. I swear by this food. (his pic is my Avi and he is my pride and joy...my baby)

Here's a small breakdown that I copy and pasted off of their site:

"Specifically formulated for those dogs who have an intolerance to wheat, corn and/or chicken. Nothing has been spared with the quality ingredients, blending and oven-baking. We use premium quality Lamb Meat, White Fish, Whole Ground Grains, Flaxseed, Rosemary, Chelated Minerals, Natural Tocopherols [antioxidant], along with probiotics and digestive enzymes which synergistically provides the very finest diet for food-sensitive dogs. Our special recipe helps to maintain strong bones, a healthy digestive system and promotes a beautiful shiny skin coat.

Analysis
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS Protein Minimum 23% Fat Minimum 10% Fiber Maximum 4% Moisture Maximum 10%

Ingredients: Lamb Meal, Ground Whole Millet, Ground Whole Rice, Ground Whole Brown Rice, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Rice Bran, White Fish Meal, Tomato Pomace, Flax Seed, Alfalfa Meal, Natural Flavor, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, a-Tocopherol Acetate (Source of Vitamin E), Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid), Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate), Kelp Meal, Lecithin, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Product."

Sucks that a lot of the white ones or mostly white ones have allergy issues.

 

[richardhmc]

Sorry to hear about your dog man I love labs. Best of luck to you and hope he gets better!

 

[thirty5]

I used to feed my Shepard "California Natural"

 

[JonnyJ]

We now have him on Blue Buffalo. Been mixing daily with cooked chicken or pork. He seems to like the food. Sooner or later we will try to get him on full kibble.

His stool has been solid and hes been happy and a lot more pleasant. lol