Dog Food

[kayeandjim00]

I know we've discussed this before but I'm looking for some more input please I have two dogs that came from the humane society. When we got them they were both being fed Science Diet and had BEAUTIFUL shiny coats with really soft hair. I wanted them on organic and switched them over (gradually of course ) to Fromm's a local organic food that's been around forever.

Almost a year later the first we adopted is 15lbs overweight and has to go on Purina O/M to get it off. This is inspite of a good hour of walking a day if not more. The newest dog we got almost two months ago and in that period of time his hair has gotten so dry and is really dull. What the heck??? I thought that organic food was supposed to make their hair even better. I came so close to putting them back on Science Diet despite all my beter judgement just based on their hair.

So I talked to our dog trainer and she highly suggested trying Innova EVO and agreed that their hair should not look as it does. Now Innova is quite expensive and is based on a raw diet. I'm almost 100% sure that's what we are switching to but I"m looking for insight. Every dog owner I know feeds what I would consider "Junk" yet their dogs are healhty and their hair looks fine. What gives? Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

Have him checked for hypothyroidism.
If that's normal, consider changing them back to the Science Diet. Sometimes the trade off for organic or natural foods is the omega fatty acids and other components that help with coat and skin. Btw, when a dog is lacking something in their diet, it is often the coat that shows it first, as the coat is a low priority to the body in terms of nutritional requirements and is often the first area that is 'shorted' when there is a deficiency.

 

[Laurajean1014]

I've been using WELLNESS by Old Mother Hubbard. My Tucker (golden) has a gorgeous coat (silky and smooth) and is very fit - 3 years old and 65 lbs.

 

[mickey4ver]

My last dog had so many skin allergies that I decided with the dog we have now, to give him only holistic or natural food. I like the Merrick Brand, the Nutro Brands. The lady at Pet-Valu ( I love this store by the way, so much nicer than the "big" pet stores) told me to try Natural Balance (I think that is the name, I will check for sure the next time I go in there) as she has other customers who swear by it for healthy skin and coats. A dog group list I belong to talks alot about the Canidae brand also, but I've not tried it yet.

Here is a link with some info on foods out there:

http://animalark.eapps.com/animal/PetFoods.nsf/$$PetFoodsByManu?

 

[Aimeedyan]

I would never put dogs on Science Diet - Innova EVO is FABULOUS food and your trainer is obviously well versed in dog nutrition. However, it's not for every dog. I know that one of my dogs would not be able to handle it while my other would thrive on it. It's quite rich.

Also, there is no need for a weight management food - it's just what vets are told to sell. Cutting back food and replacing it with green beans and adding extra exercise will drop weight almost always. My vet says she suggests a low-cal diet if that doesn't work after a few months but even then, there is no need for prescription diets.

What exactly is in the food you have been feeding? Any food can slap "natural" or "organic" on the bag and still be pretty poor quality. I went into a feed store looking for more options and they were pushing a local food but it was FULL of corn! They were just sure that it was the best they had, yet they had Chicken Soup and Innova sitting on the shelf. =(

I'd compare those ingredients and see what is in it - feel free to post or PM them to me if you want someone else looking at them, too. A quality food shouldn't dull their hair so much.

I avoid giving my money to low quality foods that trick their customers into thinking they are doing what is best for my dog so my moral obligations wouldn't allow me to go back to soemthing like SD but I may be weird Just something I feel passionate about. I won't even buy treats or toys made by those companies. There are tons of other great quality foods in addition to INNOVA if you want to seek other options I can send you some links. Innova is just about the best you can do, really. It's a great company to support who truly understands and supports proper nutrition. It also shouldn't be anymore expensive (if not cheaper) because you feed less of it.

 

[Christine]

I use Innova in the green bag (I don't think it is EVO) and both my dogs look great and thrive on this stuff.

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

Also, there is no need for a weight management food - it's just what vets are told to sell.

Never once in Veterinary school was I ever 'told' to sell anything.

Cutting back food and replacing it with green beans and adding extra exercise will drop weight almost always.

Not if they are hypothyroid, it won't.

 

[christineann]

FWIW, I took my two dogs (age 2 yrs) to the vet last week for their annual check up, and the vet asked me what I feed them because she said they are in top shape and their coats are so beautiful. I feed them dry food - Purina, Pedigree, and Harris Teeter store brand!

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

I feed my dog Royal Canin and will never use anything else. She is a gem!

 

[kayeandjim00]

We did have her thyroid checked. It was an extensive test that is done at the University of Michigan and was quite expensive but comprehensive. All came out fine there - the doctor was surprised himself as he'd pretty much expected she'd test positive.
We feed Fromm's ingredients at this time. We feed her only 2 cups a day and she's a 70 lb lab. She's very short and the vet thinks she should be closer to 50-55 lbs. We have been watching her intake for the past 7 months with only a 2lb weight loss! We walk her daily and closely monitor her treats - only 2 rawhides (small flat ones) a week, etc. Our vet says the prescription is best at this time (and he is a proponent of organic food so I feel comfortable that he's not just selling me food.) because we literally have done everything else. We tried giving her carrots for treats but it appears to be the ONLY thing she won't eat of course. So that's where we are. The vet did tell me organic diets aren't for every dog and this hair thing throws me off completely. It's the exact opposite of what i would expect.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I don't anything about the dog foods, but our dogs love frozen broccoli as treats. One dogs wasn't so sure about it, but when she saw how quickly the other dog was eating it, she decided to give it a try.

 

[cherylp3]

You might want to check out
Dream Coat by Halo

My dog is on wellness due to allergies has a great coat, but sometimes is dry so I use this

my vet also commented on my cat that the coat looks dry I changed to Innova Lite and use the dream coat occasionally for him as well

Cheryl

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

Yep, the Michigan test is pretty much the gold standard.

For one thing, I would eliminate the rawhide. They are basically junk food and are more trouble than they are worth IMO. If you have to give them rawhide, make sure it is the kind that is made in the USA. Foreign rawhide (often South American) isn't held to USDA regulations and can contain all kinds of things you don't want your dog consuming.

Hills R/D and Hills W/D prescription diets are made by the Science Diet people, so they are going to be a similar formulation to the food your dogs were originally on.

 

[kayeandjim00]

Our vet did let us know about the only made in America type of rawhides. That really should be more widely known!! We have used them mainly to help with her teeth. She's the only lab I've ever known that's not a chewer. She has no interest in toys or chewing on anything so along with brushing her teeth we give her those twice a week.

The food he's suggesting is purina O/M and even though it has all of the stuff I"ve been avoiding I know it's more dangerous for her to have the weight issue than to eat corn for a while. I'm still unsure about our other dog. He's the perfect weight and very active and Innova seems to be the best choice but his hair was so great before I wonder if I should stick with what worked despite my misgivings about S/D. Thus the confusion

 

[ohiominnie]

Before we got our puppy we researched dog foods for HOURS. Literally hours and hours and hours. I kid you not, we put more thought into our DOG'S diet than we did on our own children's diet.....sad, huh?

Anyway, what we found was that for really good dog food, you have to pay a premium.
We ended up chosing Wellness, but it was a tough call between Wellness, Blue Buffalo and Innova.

Our kitten we started on Eukanuba.....and recently they started carrying Blue Buffalo at Petsmart so we got some of that. The cat REFUSES to finish up the Eukanuba. Doing a smell test, it's no wonder. Eukanuba smells like....cat food. Blue Buffalo smells like fish.

HTH.

 

[mckryan]

We were feeding our dog Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul. He liked it, but we're dealing with some kind of allergy because he keeps having ear troubles.

http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/

I've switched him to Nature's Recipe, and he's now picking out the old food to get to the new stuff. He gobbles it up! Hopefully this will help with the ears, and give him a better coat and put a few pounds on him. He's a bony dog because he just runs everything off every day chasing squirrels in the back yard!

http://www.naturesrecipe.com/DogProductDisplay.aspx?p=Dogs/Skin_dryVenisonMeal

 

[cherylp3]

If you want to use a different food than the Purina O/M just get the kcal from the bag and the vet should be able to figure out how much you need to give.

 

[Aimeedyan]

We did have her thyroid checked. It was an extensive test that is done at the University of Michigan and was quite expensive but comprehensive. All came out fine there - the doctor was surprised himself as he'd pretty much expected she'd test positive.
We feed Fromm's ingredients at this time. We feed her only 2 cups a day and she's a 70 lb lab. She's very short and the vet thinks she should be closer to 50-55 lbs. We have been watching her intake for the past 7 months with only a 2lb weight loss! We walk her daily and closely monitor her treats - only 2 rawhides (small flat ones) a week, etc. Our vet says the prescription is best at this time (and he is a proponent of organic food so I feel comfortable that he's not just selling me food.) because we literally have done everything else. We tried giving her carrots for treats but it appears to be the ONLY thing she won't eat of course. So that's where we are. The vet did tell me organic diets aren't for every dog and this hair thing throws me off completely. It's the exact opposite of what i would expect.

It sounds like your vet knows their stuff in regards to nutrition if they aren't trying to get you to feed the icky stuff like SD and pushing you towards organic.

I'd just try another good food if I were you and see if that helps if you want to try one more thing before prescription. Prescription is just so pricey, esp for the quality. But excess weight on a dog is never good so I understand it can get frustrating and urgent to get things fixed soon.

Good luck!!

 

[kayeandjim00]

Thanks everyone. We are definitly trying the Innova on our younger dog who's just right weight wise and when we get the lab where she needs to be weight wise we'll transition her on to it as well. So glad to hear such good things about it!