Food that makes you go ...Hmmm.. - Page 2

My dog is allergic to fish.  She suffered with allergies and I tried many many different foods, often the fish varieties because that is what the vet suggested.  My dog did terrible on all of them.  I gave in and switched her to raw, starting with just chicken and beef.  I started adding new things for variety and when I added fish, things got awful.  Took out the fish, dog does great.

GranvilleGSD,
I think that is the problem with my girl.  I tried her on raw and she would vomit about an hour or so after eating so, that is when I switch over to Orijin.

        Maybe too much fish....I will try a different protein and see if that helps.....


          Jenni78....My husband's grandmother smoked 3 packs a day and lived to a ripe old 98....And was darn healthy too..LOL...........Certainly the EXCEPTION ...not the rule.....point well taken....: )


                   Thanks for all comments.........

I've been feeding the TOTW Pacific Stream for years, cant remember when it first came available.
My girls have shiny coats, and firm stools. I have occasionally rotated formulas, they like all, but cant keep them on the High Prairie due to loose stools and one of my girls can clear a room after eating that one. No problems with the Wetlands formula. Haven't been able to find the newest one yet, Lamb?
I originally started using this food because my boy Samson had allergies, had to be careful what I fed him. He did OK on Natural Balance, but I had to drive 50 plus miles one way to get dog good. So as soon as a Tractor Supply store opened locally and I saw the TOTW, I decided to try it. He did well on it.
I've since lost my boy Sam, but saw no reason to change the food I was feeding since everyone did well on it. I have 2 German Shepherds, a Golden Retriever and a Miniature Pinscher all eating the same formula.

My female beagle was vomiting from raw. But not intially and not always. With her she is 8 yr old and has always just inhaled her food so I think with the raw I fed her she didnt chew just wolfed it down. I switched her back to kibble (blue buffalo fish and sweet potatoes). But I have since switched her back to raw just gotta keep an eye on her and cut in the right size chunks for a little dog.
Reggie

I only have the one dog Chloe eating raw right now.  All of my other dogs are eating kibble.  After seeing how well she does on the raw, I wouldn't hesitate to feed raw to the rest, but financially right now I cannot afford to get everybody on it.  Every dog responds to food differently, kibble may work for some dogs, raw for others.  You have to feed whatever works best for you and your dog, not what everybody tells you you should feed.

             Any opinions on dehydrated fresh.........????

There is a dehydrated food called Artisan and also another company called Force.  I work at Petco and we now sell the Artisan. I looked at the ingredience in the Artisan and it looks really good.

I would love to be able to afford to feed dehydrated raw. I believe Jyl is talking about Honest Kitchen? They have different varietys, one being Force. Here is the link, this would be my choice of food..
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/products/force/

Jenni78 wrote:

"I firmly believe some day, somehow, feeding biologically inappropriate food will catch up."

How true.  Being fed Iams Mini Chunks finally caught up with Hexe this past February when I had to let her go...at 14 years, 4 months and 24 days of age.  Just as it caught up with her predecessor, Jess, at 14 years and 14 days of age.  And is clearly catching up with Hexe's companion, Suess, as she enjoys yet another evening tonight at 15 1/2 years of age. 

IOW, that particular feed can't be too 'biologically inappropriate' when it's taken more than one GSD well into their teens without issues with their digestion, coat, immune system or physical conditioning.  It worked for them, and it worked for me because I knew I could always lay my hands on it no matter where I was located in the US.

There are dogs in the world which thrive on actual garbage--and I do mean thrive, not just exist.  There's much talk about 'biologically appropriate' feeding, but it never factors in that dogs evolved from the early canid ancestor as scavengers of the leavings of humans--which, BTW, included actual human *waste*.  I don't doubt that there are dogs which fare better on raw diets, and dogs which can't tolerate anything but one specific animal-sourced protein or another and a limited spectrum of carbohydrate sources...but at the same time, I think the most important thing is to stick with what works for each individual dog and its owner.  The dog that can flourish on virtually anything it's fed is the dog that is a physiologically correct example of the species; it's the ones that have to be maintained on specialized diets that are the weak links in the chain.  Biologists have a saying:  "Nature abhors a specialist," because specialists can't adapt.  I prefer to have dogs that still have that 'generalist' constitution, frankly.