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  #1  
Old December 29th, 2006, 12:44 PM
dlmh dlmh is offline
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food options

hi - sorry rainbow for the confusion i will get better, i have a question , after reading about food, what to feed what not to feed - I AM CONFUSED? i feed Gibran -her name- lean choice can mixed with this dry food that the vet recommend for puppies to slow down the growth of her bones, he said that is the number one cause of hip and bone trouble later in life,for the first year. i also give her marrow bone treats for training she also gets carrots , celery, oranges, cheese. what if any would be to much. and is dry good or should i just be giving her can food. the vet said that the dry is all she needs but reading on this site i question the food value in it.

thanks dlmh
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  #2  
Old December 29th, 2006, 02:11 PM
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Well, the big question to ask is what is the dry food called? Also, what breed of pup are we talking? How old?
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Old December 29th, 2006, 03:38 PM
dlmh dlmh is offline
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food option 2

I had introduced my self and Gibran in the intro, she is a fox coonhound- the tree walker coonhound/ husky cross and is 7 months olds. her dry food p/h prescription i think its called.

Last edited by dlmh; December 29th, 2006 at 03:59 PM. Reason: forgot the tree walker hound
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Old December 29th, 2006, 04:19 PM
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I can't find ph prescription brand dog food anywhere Is that the name? Look on the bag...who makes it? Which flavor is it? We can't tell you if a food is optimum quality or poor quality unless we can see the ingredients (and the order they are in)
Here's a basic guide to reading dog food ingredients : http://www.boxerworld.com/feeding/

you want to stay away from any food that lists by-products (of any kind!), unnamed meat sources (ex : fish meal, or animal meat) and corn in the first five ingredients isn't great to see. There's alot more stuff to look for, I'd love to know the exact brand you are feeding to better analyse it...
Also, it's good to remember that most vets spend about an hour in vet school learning about foods....so it's better to ask an animal nutritionist --> most vets sell the food that they have in stock...money rules the world
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Old December 30th, 2006, 02:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dlmh View Post
.....her dry food p/h prescription i think its called.

I haven't heard of that. Is it one of the Medi-Cal formulas for large breed puppies? If so, it's a crappy food. As meb999 said, you will need to post the ingredient list for us.

Innova makes a large breed puppy formula that is good.


Quote:
Originally Posted by dlmh
i also give her marrow bone treats for training
Are these the dog cookies made by Milkbone? If so, they are bad as one of the ingredients is sugar. The regular Milkbones are okay for occassional treats. For training I would use something small and soft like hot dogs cut up in tiny pieces. Slice them in and then cut each slice into four pieces. Veggies and fruit are good for treats but do not give grapes or raisins. Cheese is good in small amounts as it is fattening.
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  #6  
Old December 30th, 2006, 04:04 PM
dlmh dlmh is offline
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food options

ok Gibran is eating Hills science diet for large dogs. The first five ingredients : ground whole corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, dried beet pulp, chicken liver flavor ect. so far everything that is no good for her, reading the 10 best kept secrets not told about dry dog food really says it all, so a good dry dog food would be what? and does she even need dry? I just found out about the sugar thing and checked her treat bag - number 3 ingredient, so they are of the list thanks. I love the weiner treat, so I will be doing that instead . Having a puppy is sure more then a cat , my rainbow lived almost 21 years and died in her sleep one after noon, she had just stared to lose her teeth. anyway to learn is to grow, thanks again for the advise, I am sure i will be back with some more question.
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Old December 30th, 2006, 04:15 PM
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dlmh, here is a crash-course on how to pick a good dog food:

1 - if it's in a grocery store or anywhere else EXCEPT in a quality petshop or feed store... it's not a good food.

2 - if it's advertised on tv or anywhere else, it's not a good food.

3 - read the ingredients list. the bulk of the food is found BEFORE the first souce of fat, anything after that is in such small amounts, it's more to flavor the food than add any real nutritional value.

4 - first ingredient (or two or three, even better!) should be an identified souce of dry meat. Example: chicken meal, lamb meal, salmon meal.... the word "meal" means the meat has been dehydrated and ground to a powder, so there is no water and thus is more concentrated. if you see just "chicken", that is 80% water... once reduced to a dry kibble form, most of that chicken has disappeared.

5 - avoid "mystery ingredients". if you see "meat and bone meal" ask yourself: from which animal? same for "fish" or "liver"... what kind of fish? which kind of liver?

6 - beware of "ingredient splitting". A food which lists "chicken meal, rice, rice bran, ground rice, chicken fat" is actually alot more rice than chicken, so this is a grainy food... to be avoided.

hope this helps and good luck!
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Old December 30th, 2006, 05:19 PM
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Good "crash course" TD.

Hills Science Diet is just as bad as Medi-Cal. Both brands are pushed by the vets. Their prescription food is okay if your dog gets really sick and needs one of their specific formulas.

Some of the better premium dog foods are Innova, Canidae, DVP's Natural Balance, Go Natural, Wellness and Timberwolf Organics.
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Old December 30th, 2006, 05:37 PM
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Some articles for reading

http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=702

http://b-naturals.com/Jan2004.php

http://www.greatdanelady.com/article...l_research.htm


The most important thing large breed puppies need is quality proteins which is something the prescriptions do not contain and can lead to protien malnourishment
as mentioned look for a high quality food some sell puppy versions and some have all stages food like Canidae
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Last edited by OntarioGreys; December 30th, 2006 at 05:44 PM.
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  #10  
Old December 30th, 2006, 05:49 PM
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Also, dlmh, I think the vet will reimburse you for the bag of Science Diet. Just tell them that Gibran won't eat it. I know for sure that Medi-Cal reimburses the vets for any returned food so, I would think that Science Diet would do the same.
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  #11  
Old January 4th, 2007, 02:55 PM
dlmh dlmh is offline
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gibran and her food

thanks everyone, I am almost out of the dry so to return it is a no, but i am going to try and find your recommendations. I will check back if I have any more questions thanks again.From both of us.
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  #12  
Old January 4th, 2007, 05:41 PM
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If you are almost out of the old stuff you might want to consider buying another small bag of the old stuff to mix with the new food while you are changing over foods. It is important to go slow and gradually add the new food to the older stuff otherwise you end up with an upset tummy and usually some disgusting poops.

Also, what canned food are you feeding. The same advice for kibble applies to any canned foods as well.
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  #13  
Old January 5th, 2007, 01:33 AM
x.l.r.8 x.l.r.8 is offline
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2 sites that have not been mentioned are dogfoodproject.com (easy to pick around) and dogfoodanalysis.com, both are easy sites but as soon as someone starts grading food there will always be someone upset. However if you pick any of the top brands on the first site you can't go wrong (unless you talk to RAW feeders). Best to see what your local petfood store has in before you start hunting down the 'perfect kibble' (I know it's an oxymoron but we do the best we can).
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  #14  
Old January 5th, 2007, 02:19 PM
dlmh dlmh is offline
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dlmh

Terim, Gibrans soft food is call lean cuts, I give her about half a can mixed with 1 cup of dry in the AM and she will nibble through out the day at the store between her winers for treats and the dry I leave out for her leisure. I have about 6 to 8 cups of the old food left how long should i continue to mix the two and should I do half and half or less. I will be getting her new food today. thanks
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  #15  
Old January 6th, 2007, 05:25 PM
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Whenever I've switched brands I've always fed:

75% old food + 25% new food for 3 days
50% old food + 50% new food for 2 days
25% old food + 75% new food for 3 days
Then switch completely to new food.

If you dog gets diarreah at any one of the stages just adjust food accordingly for a couple days until stools are firm as some dogs can take longer to adjust. Or you can add a small amount of organic plain yogurt to ease digestion.
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