General Questions & Answers- A Place To Start

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

A few questions about specific feeding issues have come up, and don't seem to fit into any certain category among our discussions. Here's a place to post your questions, and maybe someone here can help, or least guide you to the right place.

[Zoe, Benny and Tyler]

Oops, wanted to reply here, but somehow the system added my reply to the next one......

[Zoe, Benny and Tyler]

Here are the links regarding the poop topic:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/eating-poo

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/i-am-totally-disgusted-by-...

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/2065244:Topic:23456

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/puppymadness/forum/topics/this-is...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Best food for sensitive stomachs...limited ingredients, a chicken and rice mixture. There is an canned chicken & rice from Evanger's that is perfect, but for kibble, you'll have to look at what's available among the premium brands. Maybe Canidae would be a good one to start with. You definitely want one with rice in it, don't get "grain free". I'll look at the puppy formulas at my pet supply store later this week & see what I can find. Hopefully, Dianne will chime in...Dianne, any thoughts on this?

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Hey better late than never for this party right? Grr, been offline since Friday ~ long story, so glad it is over! We have been official taste testers for many potential puppy foods over the last couple of years. Though many have merits there are several I really have no interest in using, some based on choice, results or information we have collected along the way.

I would agree with Karen on the Evangers canned but this is specifically the Classic Chicken and Rice formula. For dry food if you have not observed any grain sensitivities you may want to look at California Natural Chicken & Rice Puppy ~ it is a very simple formula and we really like it for pups. Without fail we do always seem to have a few in the house who develop yeasty ears though and so we are unable to use this any longer as we have to have solutions for the masses = ) .

** As a side track to this subject, this is not an allergy some dogs just seem to be more yeast reactive and sugar feeds yeast. Some ingredients convert to sugar faster and tend to exasperate such issues like corn, barley and white potatoes. I am in Florida, it is pretty common here to have outside factors make these conditions worse like molds, pollen, heat and humidity. I know there are some who may not agree with this but I can tell you that during some periods of the year we tolerate some of these ingredients well and other times cannot. We generally use the Champion line ~ both Orijen and ACANA, we rotate formulas with each bag, but right now we are experiencing multiple yeast flare ups and so have limited our kibble to the grasslands formula which only has sweet potato as opposed to a combination of sweet and white potato. If you can tune into this in the future based on your reactions in the past it sure can minimize stress for all involved = ). **

Another thing I really believe in is a good digestive enzyme with probiotics. There are some conditions where adding this in a powder is better than with yogurt and it can be more economical to do so. I am a firm believer in attacking most of what we see revealed on the outside from the inside out and quite frankly a healthy gut just sets the stage for better results everywhere else. I know these can look to be expensive, but a little goes a long way. I think this is especially pertinent with puppies when you consider the protocol of many chemical additions into their systems like vaccines and worming meds. ~ Please note this is not to say I am opposed to those, only that it can take its toll on their digestive systems.

* IF * you encounter issues with poor appetite and your vet first rules out any medical conditions, the addition of B complex vitamins can help stimulate the appetite. I like Azmira's mega pet daily (as a matter of fact I take it often because the b's are great), but there are many good ones out there.

There are some grain free foods I would feel better about recommending for a puppy than others but I really only see a need to use these if you are experiencing other issues that warrant it. Last know the solution is not always etched in stone, things change ~ sometimes it is your furkid sometimes outside factors like availability, formula issues, manufacturer and owner issues, etc.. This is where we benefit from our friends and shared resources. It is pretty darn hard to follow it all solo. Recently several premium foods have been purchased by conglomerates which almost always warrants a very watchful eye and an even more tuned in ear ~ as it has been pointed out here previously manufacturers can take up to 6 mo. to change labeling to indicate ingredient changes.

Don't let any of this overwhelm you, we have strength in numbers going for us here and gratefully there is almost always someone who has been there, done that or is willing to take the walk with us.