Regarding dog food

[Riosmommy]

I have always have given my Dog Iams and I want to change dog food because I have heard alot about Iams and I think that the food may be the cause of my dog constintly licking his paws. He drives me crazy with it and the vet suggest putting him on a diffrent diet. Of lamb..? Big problem is my dog is a begger from way back. I have tried weaning out table foods that could cause his problems. Yet my dog is a cheese nut. He loves cheese. Do dogs have allergies to cheese? He also loves tomatoes? He goes in my garden and picks his own ripe tomatoes. I would think thats good for him. I just want to get him on a healtheir diet and stop the licking of the paws . Anyone know what to do? Thanks Riosmommy

[PentePenguin]

My dogs eat cheese all of the time and I have not had a problem, but every dog is differant. My mom's dog LOVES cucumbers and peppers, I don't see where tomatoes would cause a problem. As long as he's healthy and these "snacks" aren't making him sick I'd say they're okay.
Take care,
Dawn

[petlover2004]

I have been feeding Life's Abundance food to my dog and my cat now for about a year. I also give them daily and coat and skin supplements. My dog's coat (a Cavalier king Charles Spaniel) has become very shiny and thick. My cat is like a different cat. She was a very solitary and somewhat unfriendly cat. Now she has become very affectionate and seems to just feel better. I am truly amazed :D . My daughter has a Sharpei who had skin problems for years. Her skin problems disapeared before she finished her first bag of food. I would never switch to any other food. Plus, the company claims your pet's life expectancy can be up to about 30 years with proper nutrition. See for yourself @ http://Healthypetnet.com/wesitpetsnj

[Riosmommy]

Thanks Dawn.. thought I had the only dog who went crazy over cheese. My dad gives my Dog tons of pepperoni and I am trying to get him to stop . Its no good for people so why give it to a dog. I have to try him with cucumbers and pepers thats funny never heard of a dog who eats them.
Riosmommy

[Windwatcher]

Hi Riosmommy,

Have you always fed the dog Iams? How long has he been licking his paws? My dog had bad allergies that would flare up. Vet said that licking paws was a sign of an "inhalation allergy" from something in the environment. We did allergy testing and it was grass pollen. So she was on prednisone for over half the year. Maybe you can try to cut out one of each type of food every week to see if there is an improvement. Like no cheese one week, no tomatoes the next, ect. To help narrow down the culprit. My dogs used to eat the ripe grapes from the grape vines. Years later I read that they are toxic to dogs. Coy used to eat carrots too. Good luck with your furkid.
Lisa

[JustJo]

I don't think I ever met a dog that didn't go wild over cheese. You need to be careful though. Most dogs are lactose intolerant and cheese can cause digestive track problems such as constipation and worse GAS!! I do give my dogs cheese once in a while and in small portions because they do love it so but not that often. I also, once in a blue moon, buy some lactose free milk (expensive!!!)and give them a small bowl as a treat. Probably not good but I do indulge them. Dogs do seem to tolerate fermented products like yogurt pretty well.

I think modrration is the key and if your dog shows any symptoms of lactose intolerance or allergy I would definitely stop the cheese.

Good for you getting off Iams!! Not only is it a poor quality and overpriced food, they also test on animals and are cruel.

Jo

[John Olexa]

IGood for you getting off Iams!! Not only is it a poor quality and overpriced food, they also test on animals and are cruel.Jo

YES!! ditto what Jo said :D

[MamaBear]

Hello JustJo,
Thank you for the heads up on Iams. What a shock. I had no idea. In this case and others, we can't let ignorance be bliss, not at the cost of animals suffering. I'm going to do some research myself and see what else I can find out and I'll post it. Thanks again, MamaBear

[petnet]

I agree with a previous post regarding your dogs current regular food. Lifes Abundance is a super selection. I would be more than happy to send you or any one reading this post a free sample to try on your pet. JUST SEND YOUR ADDRESS TO spayton@sabinenet.com and I'll send your sample of food.

[Squawksx3]

Hi petnet and welcome to the board!! :)

Wow, thats so nice and generous for you to send free samples of dog food!.
However... I must caution anyone who considers sending their personal information to someone they dont know, especially our young members/juveniles under the age of 18. PLEASE get your parents permission before sending out any personal information over the internet. Do you have a website petnet that we could visit?. We'd also love to hear about your pets! :D ... again welcome.

[petnet]

Good point Squawksx3. Website is www.healthypetnet.com/stevepayton you can also contact me there. More dogs than I should have. Atleast they don't take up to much space they're basicly my family all Maltese.

[Squawksx3]

I have to apologize petnet if I came on too strong in my previous post. I sometimes type before I think and let my law enforcement background get the best of me. I was not doubting your validity.. I was just playing parent to our young members ;) . Great website!. You'll be a great asset to the board and can help with all our pet food questions :D . Again, Im sorry.

[amstaff]

the foods i recommend if you cant feed a raw diet are natural foods without chemicals like bha,bht, or ethoxyquin. also they have top quality ingredients like whole chicken, lamb or venison, no by products, and if your pet suffers from allergies try to avoid grains as they can aggravate the condition. ireally like wellness brand or innova. innova has a new food out called evo which does not contain any grains. at the pet care center where i work, there have been many dogs completely cured with the evo diet.

[amstaff]

i just wanted to post some info that might help if your switching to raw, or just want to find the best kibble out there.

dogaware.com
b-naturals.com
petmedicinechest.com
holisticat.com
shirleys-wellness-cafe.com

[Codykins]

One note on cheese. Too much cheese can give your dogs ear infections. Cheese has lots of bacteria, I know because my dog "use" to get ear infections and when my vet found out I was giving him cheese every day he cautioned me. Now I don't and its only occasional (he does love it) and his ear infections never come back!! I too recently changed my dogs food from Wolf Cub/Bison to Nutro. I did a lot of research. I already know a lot about dog nutrition from different things over the years and knew I wanted a Chicken/Lamb with no wheat food - so I had a start. Here is some good information that someone gave me.

The meat diet for my GSMD (Greater Swiss Mountain Dog aka: Swissy) was not a food he tolerated well, lots of gas and loose stools. Now he is much better on Chicken and Lamb and I use NUTRO and its been good so far. I believe that your dog licking his paws is with out a doubt allergy related! Change his food stay as natural as you can and remember to mix the new food with the old "gradually" increasing the new brand and decreasing the old. If you don't you will have a dog with whose belly is going to be upset and diarrhea the works!

Some facts are essential to a thorough discussion.
1) All dog foods meet AAFCO minimum standards.
2) Some bags of food contain inside what the label says on the outside. These are your 'fixed formula foods' while other bags may not contain what the label says because they are 'variable formula' foods allowed some leeway to change the formula before the label is changed to reflect what is inside.
3) In the not so distant past, many of us were fixated on the amount of protein in the food as an essential element in making decisions regarding the proper food for a puppy. The reality is that variation in protein content is not of importance.

What is important is the amount of energy being fed to a dog. We must be responsible to feed the proper amount of food to keep the puppy trim. If we feed too much food, then skeletal problems are more common. So, keep the quantity limited so that the puppy remains trim (the ribs should be very easy to feel with your hands).

4) Some foods have more calcium than other foods. In addition, some calcium is better absorbed than other forms of calcium. Therefore, two different foods with the same percent of calcium may provide a huge difference in the amount of calcium absorbed into the body.

5) Studies have shown that too much calcium causes skeletal problems. The only way to avoid such is to feed a brand that has tested their food with real puppies and not rely on what the percent of calcium there is in the food. For this reason alone, most foods satisfactory for adult dogs should not be fed to Swissy puppies........and that includes Wolfking IMO. Most of our puppies would do fine on Wolfking, but we do not know the 20% with genetic predisposition to skeletal problems. Therefore, IMO, we should feed all as if they might be predisposed on a genetic basis to skeletal problems. We can decrease the incidence of these problems with such a policy.

5) The best brands in my book are the large manufacturers with a good solid research program to test their foods. Nutros, Iams, and Hills stand out in my mind as exemplary.

6) For our Swissy puppies, I always recommend Nutros Large Breed Puppy food using the "Lamb and Rice" formulation.

7) I feel that Hills and Iams make wonderful products for large breed puppies as well, but I shy from them because these two products contain some corn. Corn has a long history of causing food allergies in canines. Not all canines are susceptible to the corn product, and that explains why some Swissys do just fine on Hills or Eukanuba Large Breed puppy food in my opinion. But,
these three large breed puppy foods are the only ones that I know have restricted the amount of calcium so that we can have less concern that our Swissys will develop OCD or Hip Dysplasia.

AAFCO has very low ascorbic acid requirements because all dogs produce their own. Humans and guinea pigs do not make ascorbic acid, and therefore, they must be supplemented with vitamin C. Dogs make their own. However, during the stressful rapid growth phase, some puppies may not produce sufficient ascorbic acid. For that reason, I feel that it is a good idea to add 250 mg of Vitamin C as the chewable to the diet of a young Swissy and increase the dose to 500 mg daily once they are a couple of months old.

9) I aim to feed the large breed food for the first two years, but often switch to Nutros Large breed adult Lamb and Rice formula during the adolescent phase.....about 1.5 years of age.

When we feed, we moisten the food immediately before consumption to ease the slide down the esophagus and prevent the food from getting into the nasal passage. We feed from bowls that are on the floor as well.

Puppies need plenty of exercise, but beware of stairs. In their exuberance, they can run to open stairs and have a collision instead of an ascent or descent.

[UTCandy112]

I feed only innova to my animals. The cat food is a little expensive ($33 for a 16 lb bag) but its also smaller so it makes up for it in my mind.

[Miranda]

Another good healthy food is Flint River Ranch. If you'd like to try a free sample go to: www.picnicpointpets.com