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Bentley (8 months old),has always been a very good eater. However, within the last 2 weeks, he has gone from leaving a small amount in his bowl at breakfast to now not being interested in breakfast or dinner. I wasn't sure whether this was a normal phase. I also, didn't know whether this should be posted in the Puppy Madness group, or the food group. He is having normal bowel movements.

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The Food Group has a lot of info on this. :)

What is Bentley's expected adult size? Are you free-feeding, or does he have set mealtimes?  What else is he getting in the way of treats or chews? 

It's common for puppies to eat less as their growth slows down and they require fewer calories per pound of body weight. If he's having normal bowel movements in terms of frequency and volume, he's probably fine. It may be time to switch to an adult formula, depending on where he's at with his skeletal growth. 

Karen, both of his parents were 50 lbs. He weighed 49 lbs. last week. We have set mealtimes. I have been leaving his bowl down a little longer, since he has been doing this. There are 2 things that are different.
1).He started his advance obedience class Feb.7. Beginner ended the beginning of November, and he had not been getting as many reward treats during the interim. My husband (who is very stubborn), went to Sam's Club a couple weeks ago, and bought some treats that I didn't approve of..... Pup-Peroni beef flavor (huge bag), and GKC (Greenbrier Kennel Club) dog biscuits (also, large bag). so, he is getting these treats. He insists Pup-Peroni is made in the U.SA., I don't think so, & I told him it did not have the best reviews. He said it depends what site you look at to whether it has good ingredients. He is a pharmacist, who is very intelligent,& is very old school on dog food. We used to feed all our past dogs Pedigree, until I began looking into getting a doodle, and found DK. I read DK for at least 2 years before joining, and actually getting Bentley. It was like pulling teeth to get him to agree on changing food to Blue Buffalo. I'm throwing my husband under the bus, but he broke down, & put a little bacon grease in his breakfast to get him to eat a while ago.
2). We finally got snow this week (8.5"), and Bentley is eating a lot of snow. I don't think that is a factor, but it is something different.

Pupperoni contains propylene glycol (yes, that's antifreeze), BHA (which is an artificial preservative linked to cancer and banned from use in food in most countries), and a whole bunch of other truly awful things. So whether or not it's made in the USA is beside the point, lol. It doesn't sound like your DH is easily swayed, but you might have him take a look at these ingredients himself. Here are some references:

 http://www.allpetnaturals.net/ever-wondered-whats-inside-a-pup-pero...

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/?page=badingredients

I can't imagine that anyone who is even halfway sane could give a good review to these kinds of ingredients.

Bacon grease and other very high fat foods can lead to pancreatitis. In addition, it's usually a bad idea to tempt a dog into eating.  Generally, when a dog who has previously been a good eater suddenly loses interest in eating, it can be a sign that there is a health issue. Even where there is no health issue, tempting them into eating can contribute to a dog becoming a picky eater. 

I'm really not sure what to say at this point. It doesn't sound like your DH would be open to the kinds of suggestions I would make about his food and treats, lol. 

Karen, looking at Wikipedia (which is not the end all, be all of knowledge, I know, but it was the first link I found), it suggests that propylene glycol is safe in the amounts found in food:

The acute oral toxicity of propylene glycol is very low, and large quantities are required to cause perceptible health damage in humans; propylene glycol is metabolized in the human body into pyruvic acid (a normal part of the glucose-metabolism process, readily converted to energy), acetic acid (handled by ethanol-metabolism), lactic acid (a normal acid generally abundant during digestion),[17] and propionaldehyde (a potentially hazardous substance).[18][19][20]

Serious toxicity generally occurs at plasma concentrations over 4 g/L in, which requires extremely high intake over a relatively short period of time, or when used as a vehicle for drugs or vitamins given intravenously or orally.[21] It would be nearly impossible to reach toxic levels by consuming foods or supplements, which contain at most 1 g/kg of PG, except for alcoholic beverages which are allowed 5 percent = 50g/kg.[22] Cases of propylene glycol poisoning are usually related to either inappropriate intravenous administration or accidental ingestion of large quantities by children.[23] The potential for long-term oral toxicity is also low. In one study, in 1972, 12 rats were provided with feed containing as much as 5% PG over a period of 104 weeks and they showed no apparent ill effects; no data on offspring was offered.[24] Because of its low chronic oral toxicity, propylene glycol was classified by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration as "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) for use as a direct food additive, including frozen foods such as ice cream and frozen desserts.[25][26] The GRAS designation is specific to its use in food, and does not apply to other uses.[27]

Animals

Propylene glycol is an approved food additive for dog food under the category of animal feed and is generally recognized as safe for dogs,[41] with an LD50 of 9 mL/kg. The LD50 is higher for most laboratory animals (20 mL/kg).[42] However, it is prohibited for use in food for cats due to links to Heinz body anemia.[43]

Is this information wrong or skewed?  

The amounts in the food or treats might be "safe", but is it wholesome or healthy? If something can cause death or serious illness in large amounts, is eating it in small amounts a good idea? Why give it at all? The FDA allows all kinds of things in food that other countries prohibit; the reasons have more to do with money and corporate lobbying than with health issues. (See Marion Nestle'sFood Politics for more on this.)  These additives are banned from food in most civilized countries; there has to be a reason for that. 

We know that antifreeze can kill a dog if they ingest too much of it. So if there is a puddle of antifreeze on the street, would you allow your dog to lick just a little bit of it, or would you avoid it entirely? 

In the case of treats, is there a simple way to tell how much is in each treat, so that you can then monitor how much propylene glycol the dog is eating on a daily basis? Personally, with all the great treats on the market, I can't see why anyone would opt for something like this. 

I thought this news story was relevant to this discussion on propylene glycol:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lawsuit-claims-purinas-beneful-...

I saw that yesterday. Very sad.
Also, it is listed as a poison on this website for animals. Though it says mild to moderate, I suppose it has to do with the animal that is ingesting it. Kind of like how certain flea meds make my schnoodle sick.

http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/propylene-glycol/
That is scary. On our Cincinnati news channel, a couple lost their daschound from what they believe was Beneful, too. Thanks for keeping us educated.
Guess what a prep for a colonoscopy is, yup, propylene glycol.
Not advocating it, but propylene glycol is a food additive. It's added to things such as crystal lite and other such things. They have made a pet safe antifreeze with the propolene vs the ethylene glycol.

Years ago I had a $3000 vet bill because my schnauzer got into some anifreeze that was flowing down our curb gutter. It was touch and go for a few days and wasn't sure he would survive. So glad they have finally make a pet safe one, especially if people are going to drain it down the gutter.

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