Best, healthiest food for a dog

[Sswor]

I have a JRTx who is recovering from severe stomach upset. Vet is treating him for a possible stomach ulcer and he is currently on a bland diet of rice and boiled chicken. Dog is 2.5 years old and this is the second time in 2 years that he’s had to go to the vet on emergency basis for stomach upset.

Eventually I’m going to have to switch him to a regular diet. I have been feeding Taste of the Wild. Maybe it’s time for a change. I have a great deal of time, effort, and money invested in the dog and would like to protect it, as well as firstly keep a healthy dog.

Considering the dog has a delicate GI, I do not want to go raw. I’m considering home cooking. Is that crazy?

Thoughts on a stellar diet?

[sisu27]

Not sure why you would avoid raw. I have recounted the story a few times on here of my parents dogs and their ongoing nightmare with GI issues that is now 100% solved by a raw diet. Sorry to those that have read that many times now lol.

No vet was able to solve it. No premium kibble (they were last on Acana and still chronically ill).

My own recently deceased rescue who had been fed Royal Canin and a variety of other garbage kibble his whole life underwent an amazing transformation once he adjusted to raw. He had serious GI issues when we got him.

However if that is still not something you would consider, no home cooking is not crazy. It is head and shoulders above any kibble provided you ensure the variety required to make it complete.

Easier would be dehydrated like Honest Kitchen. It is great but I have not fed it to a GI compromised dog.

[jherold]

Has the vet suggested keeping him in prescription I/D? Just don’t read the ingredients. But if he does well on it, it can be used as a maintenance diet. I would be tempted to try raw, but don’t expect to get a lot of vet support for it. I too have see many dogs fixed by feeding raw. It’s what they evolved to eat.

[Sswor]

I just watched the Netflix documentary Pet Fooled and I need to reconsider the raw diet. Commercially produced raw, that is. I have to get him off the kibble. It is true that dogs (and cats) are the only animals we seem to think don’t require a species specific diet and that seems a little crazy.

3 days on home cooked bland chicken and rice and he’s doing well. I need to make the jump to a better food shortly here.

I will go to my local boutique pet store and feed store and see what they have in raw/frozen. The little bit of online price shopping I have done has made my eyes pop out. It’s a 25# dog. Is it really going to cost me upwards of $200/month to feed him? That’s about what it costs to feed myself! That can’t be…

[sisu27]

No way.

If I were only feeding my 25# terrier it would cost me such a small amount it would be amazing lol. I was feeding 2 intact, active male Dobes and my Terrier for around that amount.

You need to shop around. I don’t feed the cheapest raw out there but I did do a lot of homework when I went from 2 to 3 dogs earlier this year. I feed a complete, raw and rotate my proteins. I do supplement a variety of things which adds a small amount (coconut oil, RMB, duck feet, pumpkin, a probiotic, smelt etc etc it changes all the time).

I am in Canada where nothing is cheaper so I can’t imagine it could cost you anywhere near the amount you mention.

[Sswor]

Ok that"s a relief, thank you sisu. I’ll start shopping what"s available locally. I appreciate your help.

[Simkie]

I’ve really been happy with Orijen and Acana. Really top notch quality. For a sensitive tummy, I’d probably try the Duck and Pear or the Lamb and Apple.

[Sobriska]

Interesting timing. My young 11mo old GP was just diagnosed with Addison’s.
My research has led me to try the raw diet with him. He is 75 pounds and growing. For him, no WAY can I afford commercial products, so I need to purchase bulk. The best source is a co-op which I am still looking into. I am also enlisting the help of friends that hunt.
Best wishes with your dog

[sisu27]

No problem. I hope it solves your little guys issues like it has with most of the dogs I know that have suffered similar problems.

I would advise having canned pumpkin on hand. It took me a bit of fiddling around with my rescue Dobe to get him settled. Constipated then loose stool on and on for a week or two. The pumpkin helps regulate while they adjust. Also be prepared for a detox effect. My big guy had a lot of mucous for a short while and then shed a ton of icky dandruff. His teeth cleaned up to sparkling white, his coat was like a silky mirror and he looked like a new dog. Truly an amazing transformation. Ugh I miss that guy horribly

If you have any further questions I would be happy to help.

[toady123]

Consider something with slightly lower protein. Unless the dog is super active/athletic it’s not needed. My labbie got horrible GI issues and I kept switching high end foods (Acana, Orijen, MedCal etc).

After speaking to an animal nutritionist she indicated the high protein food levels in those foods was what she was not tolerating. We swapped out the foods and she has been great for 3 years and has a great coat, good weight etc.

[LauraKY]

With rescue dogs, my go to is Purina Pro Plan Focus Sensitive, not for long term but until they’ve adjusted. My collie gets stress GI upsets, I had to switch her to the Pro Plan Sensitive when we moved for a couple of months. I also add in probiotics. I’ve had trouble with Taste of the Wild causing stomach upset and had a couple of bag just flat out refused by the dogs. I switched to Tractor Supply 4 Health several years ago. It’s an OK food, but now that I’ve moved, Tractor Supply isn’t on my way to anything else. I saw Chewy’s Journey’s dog food recommended here and my bag just arrived today. They have a number of limited ingredient dog foods. It gets 5 stars from Dog Food Adviser too.

Like Toady, my dogs don’t do well on the super high protein high fat dog foods.

[Sswor]

Well, I suppose you would call the dog in question a performance dog. We are training and competing in agility. Well, more training then competing as I don’t find competition very fun, but you get the idea. You figure he’s a 2.5yo intact, high energy breed, actively being trained for a discipline–religiously twice, and occasionally 3x a week, for the past year. How much protein does he need? I have no idea. I want to do right by this dog, as right as I can, so I’m starting to educate myself.

Made one stop and got some prices on raw frozen diets and they are not heart failure inducing. Looked at Stella and Chewey, Primal, Northwest (?), and Instinct. Those were the four available at that store. I hit the feed store tomorrow to see what they have.

Regardless, I don’t want to feed him poison that will slowly kill him. Deciding on a dog food is terrible. Convenience being a major factor is pretty terrible too. All the time, energy, and effort required on a regular, on-going basis to provide good, natural food for my horse all these years and 2 seconds devoted to the dog. How can you not feel guilty?

[Bicoastal]

I second the suggestion of pumpkin and I’d also add a probiotic like Proviable DC. Regularly adding a probiotic cleared up my little guy’s intermittent diarrhea. Are you on the East Coast? I just picked up my order of raw: $150 worth of ground raw of various proteins, and raw meaty, and not-so-meaty bones, I expect will last my 45lb active herding breed four months or so. I’m terrible at knowing my feed costs. I know the last time I ordered it was half my usual amount and it took me six months to empty the freezer.

I can fit it all in a regular upright fridge/freezer combo. If I had a separate freezer, I could save more money buying more in bulk. There isn’t a lick of space for any human food in the freezer, but it fits! And I only have to go pick up food a few times a year.

[Magicboy]

I’m not a raw food fan but we feed ur Corgis with smartpak food. They have thrived on this for abut 8 years now . I do kee pumpkin on hand but any upsets result from eating stuff found outside on the acreage somewhere…one of the Corgis is now on their senior good

[Sswor]

I think for now at least I am just going to cook for both dogs. I followed the link someone posted to check the toxin rating in your particular commercial dog food and found TOTW is rated 1 star for high levels of toxins and my heart sank. I literally started shaking. I am done with commercial food. I am not even transitioning the other dog as why would I slowly transition her off of poison?? You cease feeding poison immediately, not slowly!

I can’t bring myself to trust any commercial food at this point. What the hell. These companies are evil. They are fooling us into buying and feeding poison to our dogs. I think from now on I will just feed my dogs real food and be done with the worry.

You figure I can feed my dogs REAL food for about $3/lb as compared with even the best priced raw diet which is closer to $12/lb. And really who knows what’s in that raw diet?? I mean, every company is out to make money, really, and what is the incentive to put actually real, healthy, fresh, quality food into that bag? When the courts put a purchase price value on the life of a companion animal, even if they poison your dog to death, they’re only out, at most, a couple grand. And only if you can prove it.

Yeah, we are done.

I was reminded yesterday that my Grandmother always fed her dogs boiled ground beef and rice–and that’s it–and the dog I knew as a child lived to 16 years old. She never fed a commercial food to one of her dogs her entire life. I should be so lucky to have ever gotten 16 years out of a dog I have owned. The best I ever got was 14 years out of my first dog, a 45lb yellow mutt dog–and I used to cook for him!! We come full circle and I never should have let the feed companies talk me out of it.

Thanks everyone for your input. I appreciate it and figure others browsing the web will also find it helpful.

[Sswor]

Ps. I will feed boiled hamburger or ground turkey (or both), white rice, peas/beans/carrots, backyard chicken’s eggs, sweet potato and/or pumpkin, and ground egg shells from said chickens, all slow cooked together into a stew. Done. And I can cook a batch for a week in about an hour and a half–freeze half for the second half of the week–and do it for about $3/lb.

Done!!

[LauraKY]

@Sswor, who is behind the “toxin rating” of commercial dog food. Do you have a link?

[Sswor]

@LauraKY

@Sswor, who is behind the “toxin rating” of commercial dog food. Do you have a link?

Weren’t you the one who posted it? On the TOTW thread?

[LauraKY]

@Sswor

Weren’t you the one who posted it? On the TOTW thread?

Dog Food Adviser? TOTW gets 4 1/2 stars on Dog Food Adviser.

[Sswor]

No, I’m sorry, it was Mr. Mac on that thread. The Clean Label Project.

@MR MAC

Just read this article the other day. Some interesting information about our pet foods.

[h=1]Is Your Pet’s Food Safe?[/h]
By Jennifer Coates July 11, 2017 at 02:26PM

Did you hear about the recent Clean Label Project study into pet foods? The organization screened more than 900 dog and cat foods and treats for over 130 toxins “including heavy metals, BPA, pesticides, and other contaminants with links to cancer and other health conditions in both humans and animals.”

Check out the product ratings list: http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/category/product-list/dog-cat-food/
​​​​​​​http://www.petmd.com/news/view/your-pets-food-safe-36136?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=petMD_PetFoodSafe_1152017#