[adnste]

I know it's all been discussed before, but I really need help in deciding what to feed Jess. She is six months old and came to us in December on Purina Puppy Chow. She was scratching a lot. The vet treated her for ear mites but she still scratched and she suggested that we try to eliminate food allergies by changing her diet to chicken, rice and yogurt. The vet said that she had seen more problems with Purina Puppy Chow than any other dog food, although some other Purina products (particularly, she mentioned, Purina One) seemed fine. Anyway, from a puppy who largely ignored her food, Jess became almost manic about her new diet! A few weeks ago, we found out that her litter sister had mites, and so we treated her for them also. The scratching has now stopped, but we don't know for sure if it was mites or allergy!

Now, I want to put her back onto a more normal doggy diet, but I am really reluctant to put her back onto the puppy chow (which we still have a lot left!). I tried a sample of Flint River Ranch, and she loves it, mixed with less of her chicken and rice mix. The adult/puppy variety. Can anyone comment on whether this would be a good choice? I was tempted to go for their lamb and rice kibble as it is less "allergenic", but it says "adult dog food" so I'm worried about giving it to a pup.

Any other good choices I could try out (without chopping and changing her about too much!)? I would want to carry on giving her a little of the chicken/rice/yogurt with it as she loves it so much but would this be too much for her? How much of each food could I give her? She is currently getting 6oz of rice, 3oz of chicken and two tablespoons of yogurt twice a day. She is a pretty lean dog at the moment (thinner than her litter sister, who is fed puppy chow). I'm eager to keep her from getting overweight, but don't want her hungry. Since I started mixing a little of the Flint River sample, I feel like I'm giving her a lot more food. She weighs about 28lbs at the moment.

All advice gratefully received!

Addy

 

[Houndkeeper]

Addy....How wonderful it is that you are searching for the root of your pups scratching problem! You will find many different camps out there regarding food. So I will keep if brief.

Reading the ingredients is the most important thing you can do. My theory is, if I wouldn't eat it, then why should my dogs. I have heard good things about Flint River. I feed Solid Gold dry and split a 13 oz can of Merrick wet between my 3 hounds. I am also a firm beliver in variety. You wouldn't want to eat the smae thing everyday, right. Merrick make 12 varieties of canned, and my hounds adore it. I also cook from time to time for my guys. Always use the dry but make stuff to liven it up. Other brands that are considered quality food by The Whole Dog Journel (a holistic type dog publication) is Innova, Wellness, Eagle Pack, Merrick, Candidea (sp) to name a few. In general grocery store brands use alot more fillers and by-products and meal. Fillers are things like corn (big time allergen), soy, and wheat. When feeding these foods it takes more food to fill a dog up so you wind up useing more...so are you really saving? Also, corn is poorly digested by dogs. This = bigger poop! Meal can be ok if they list what kind of meat it is. My personal feeling is you would do ok with Flint River.

Like I said, there are a few diferent camps on food. There is also a BARF (bones and raw food) camp but I don't feed that so I'll let someone else address it. My rescue dog came to us in decent health at the eage of 9 but ate "junk" food. His coat was dull and dry and he didn't have as much spunk as I thought he should. It didn't take to long and he really perked up and his coat got much nicer.

Anyway, I'm rattling on. Do your research and good luck! Post some pictures so we can see your hound!!