help!!! - Page 1

hi i have a beatiful female german shepherd. the only problem is that she does not want to finish her food. i feed her purina puppy chow which she used to like. nowadays she does not want to finish her food. she does finish it but very reluctantly. it cant be parvo or distemper becuase she has been vaccinated at ages of 6,9,12 and 16 weeks. she is very alert and active, she is not lazy at all. she drinks a lot of water and her stool is very firm. should i change her food? expert advise will be appreciated!

I don't mean to sound mean, but please change her food.  Go to the pet store instead of the grocery store and invest a little more money into a good food, many will tell you Royal Canin, Innova, and many more good ones - cheap food will cost you dearly in health problems.  Check out the most recent threads concerning foods and you will find many good choices!

If your dog is no longer a puppy, switch her to adult dog food, anytime after 6 months.

I personally feed my dogs Bil-Jac dog food, they love it & they look pretty healthy!

Also, you can mix canned salmon, in with her food, dogs love it!

You can go to my web-site, to What my dogs eat, it can give you some ideas.

It's  www.vonryansgermanshepherds.com

Feeding can be a tough topic, but it sounds like you're doing the right things.

aristanM - welcome to the database - you are definately in the right place to learn good things to help you raise your gsd!  You will find many passionate people on this board - I don't doubt some feed their dogs better than they feed themselves!  There is a balance that can be struck - you just have to find what works for you.

I was once told to think about where a stray dog goes to eat...we won't find him in corn field chowing down, or a wheat field.  They eat meat, make sure the label on your dogfood does not start with corn or wheat, hopefully it shouldn't have any.   Visit some more food threads on here and you will find lots of good ideas.

Thankyou mirasmom, being a fairly new 'newbie' I know myself how much aristanM appreciates your post. (When do I stop being a 'newbie?)

I am one of those passionate people - who does not like  ANY commercial food -  extruded feeds are generally  corn/wheat based as stated above and are loaded with preservatives.   Also, they are generally very high in carbs.

We feed a predominately raw diet (at least 50% -  as dogs are carnivors  after all --    Si nce  your puppy is  slowing dow n hert growth rate now  she does not need such high carbs -  and  if you are feeding this dry food  in a dry state - you are setting her up for  bloat or oth er problems as the food expands too much in her  stomach- and why she drinks so much wat er.  

ask  10 people and you will get 12 answers on the b est foods -    Do some homework  - stay away from  presereatives  as much as possibe and  do not give  vaccinations just  because your vet says so !!   Dogs do not need  nearly asb many  boosters as vets would have you believe -

only  3 year rabbies  is  essential -  and  you should  read new info on  vaccinations as well. 

When you find a  better food -  do  not  give your dog choices - it's that or nothing - she will not starve  -- and please include raw food !!!

Clewsk9s:    The day I joined!

thank you so much for all the input!!!! i will throw away the junk ive been feeding her right now!!

First thing to get in the habit of , is , to, read labels......Purina puppy chow has what for the first ingredient?  if you use commercial dog,food, which , we most of us , have to use some,,,,with raw meats added...,,,, the priority comes with scale of numbers.....1 2 3

in that order   if corn  meal is number one,,,means  all you got is corn meal   what is number 2   second most ingredient is whatever...and third  ....third biggest amount..     you are actually just feeding your beautiful female pup   a bag of corm meal, sawdust and equivelant of sticks and grass from the field down the road,....

and most important   do not feed any dog food with    Menadione   Activity K in it..... 

www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?pages=menadione

read what Dean Calderon feeds   www.schutzhundsportdogsinc.com   

www.dogfoodsecrets.info

www.k9rawdiet.com/whole-bones-c-17.html           start adding extra virgin olive oil    1 tsp a day and add a little canned salmon, and cottage cheese as a treat and yogurt as a treat  alternate.day after day......

add raw meat a little bit at a time and change to a mentioned food   pick out of several.......meat and no meals,,   avoderm, Canidea, Blue Buffalo, Bil Jac    all for large breed....puppies have to grow slow....I believe they need to stay on a puppy food till 16 mos old...they are not adult dogs and their innerds are adult , yet either......they need proper slow growth.....  buy ester C and give handfull every other day or so....raw meat produces vit c and dogs produce, unlike adults,  vit c themselves , chemistry wise....

Here is another link for a distributor with some of the top RAW products: http://www.lizzyshealthypetfood.com/

I feed Royal Canin 24 with 50% kibble and 50% raw and rotate yogurt, cottage cheese and raw egg, adding collodial silver once a week.

Have ordered this product and will start giving to mine : http://www.neocellcorporation.com/products-athro-pet.htm

Also, my girl had a very bad reation to Canidae (switched back to RC immediately) and I now have her on straight RAW for awhile (still give her yogurt/cottage cheese too)