[Bailey&Me]

Bailey eats mostly frozen or dehydrated raw. For frozen, I use Primal raw and Bailey does quite well on it. For dehydrated, I use Addiction, The Honest Kitchen and Stella & Chewy's. I try other brands every now and then for variety but these are the ones I keep coming back to. I know they are excellent quality and that Bailey does very well on them. Occasionally, I give him some canned food - Party Animal, Weruva and Addiction are the ones I use the most. He hasn't had any kibble for over 2 and a half years and I don't plan on him ever having any in the future either.

Emma's diet is a work in progress right now. As she grows, she goes through phases of not being interested in eating at all, or just being incredibly picky. I am giving her Fromm Four Star (right now, it's the Game Bird grain-free recipe) usually for her morning meals and Addiction dehydrated raw for dinner. I usually sprinkle a little bit of a Stella & Chewy's patty on top to entice her to eat (she LOVES those!). I really didn't want to give her any kibble either but finally gave in because I needed something I could leave out with her if she didn't eat right away, which she usually doesn't. I give her the kibble in the morning while I'm getting ready for work and if she hasn't eaten it by the time I leave, I just put it in the pen with her and she usually finishes it while I'm at work. I couldn't do that with the raw. I use the Addiction dehydrated raw at night when I can closely watch her and pick it up if she doesn't eat it...AND I can wash her face right after she eats because it does get pretty messy. Eventually, I hope to get her to eat all frozen or dehydrated raw.

 

[mysugarbears]

Mine rotate through 6 grain free formulas of Addiction Dehydrated Raw. (Which isn't truly raw since it's been dehydrated. Freeze dried is another story.) So they get Steakhouse Beef & Zucchini, Country Chicken & Apricot, Herbed Lamb & Potato, Figlicious Venison Feast, Outback Kangaroo Feast and Perfect Summer Brushtail. All of those are between 18% - 21% protein (which is even fine for a kidney diet) and are single source proteins with just a handful of ingredients. Great for when you have a fluff that develops an allergy or a food intolerance as it will help to narrow it down. But they aren't by any means a LID. When feeding the Addiction, one meal a day I also add 1/4 patty of Stella & Chewy's Freeze Dried Raw (also single source protein foods) to both Jett & Callie's food (Jett is 5 1/2 lbs and Callie is 4 lbs) and Zoe gets 1/2 a patty (she is 9 lbs). Then I also throw into the rotation The Honest Kitchen (also dehydrated so not truly raw) Thrive (Turkey) and Embark (Yes it's another chicken and they already have a chicken food with Addiction. But it has quinoa in it that I like them to have on occasion.) And we also rotate in some of Grandma Lucy's Pureformance (I prefer the chickpeas over white potatoes-Artisan) the Goat and Rabbit formulas. All of these you rehydrate with warm water.:

Bailey eats mostly frozen or dehydrated raw. For frozen, I use Primal raw and Bailey does quite well on it. For dehydrated, I use Addiction, The Honest Kitchen and Stella & Chewy's. I try other brands every now and then for variety but these are the ones I keep coming back to. I know they are excellent quality and that Bailey does very well on them. Occasionally, I give him some canned food - Party Animal, Weruva and Addiction are the ones I use the most. He hasn't had any kibble for over 2 and a half years and I don't plan on him ever having any in the future either.

I used to feed the grain free Addiction and really loved it, well the kids really loved it and i used to order from Crystal since we don't have a distributor in my area. I found it on Chewy.com and the shipping is free so will be adding that back that way they get more variety and also add that to the kids hurricane bags since hurricane season begins June 1st and for traveling i use the Stella and Chewy's freeze dried since it's so easy to travel with and that's another i will be adding to the kids hurricane bags. I don't have a problem with pups eating Stella and Chewy's if in a new environment because they love it so much. I was feeding kibble before going to Nationals and took kibble with me and Kelly who is not a picky eater at all and gobbles everything up didn't eat well at all and none of the kids where that excited about having kibble again. I don't plan on going back to kibble again since they don't seem to like it as much. We've tried the Grandma Lucy's Artisans and no one would eat it and i don't have picky eaters at all!

 

[.13124]

I feed Cici and Lily grain free California Natural. I get the smaller sized bags and when it's time to get a new one, I get a different "flavor" than the previous. They have tried lamb, Venice, fish, kangaroo, and chicken but we don't get chicken anymore because Cici doesn't do well on it.


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[Maizy Moo's Mum]

I have been feeding Fromm four star grain free and rotating the flavours but have just ordered some grain inclusive to try.

I have began adding water to this as we do not feed a wet food thanks for the advice!

 

[casa verde maltese]

Crystal is absolutely correct - I add 3 T of hot water to 1/4 cup of kibble and let it soak for about 5 minutes. The water cools to "warm" and moistens the kibble. Not only do they get adequate water this way, the warm water seems to bring out the flavor and aroma of the food and they gobble it right up. I haven't had a picky eater in all the years I've been doing this!

I have really enjoyed reading this thread!! Thank you all of your wonderful input! Crystal did a fabulous job of telling us what she feeds - but also WHY! Not everything works for everyone and some foods are certainly more $$ - but there seems to be many great foods that are in everyone's price range! and time.. I use a good dog kibble - but after reading all of this.. I think I need to make some changes, so they are really getting a balanced diet! and certainly I need to start adding some water to their kibble!. I also need to get some wt. off of Atticus - he could stand to drop about a 1.5lbs.

 

[dmsl]

Is true puppy food necessary til one year old? Merrick all life stages are 38 % protein which is high...thats the grain free version...the classic lamb is 25% and puppy is 30%. Booboo is four months now and isnt eating much of the eukanuba the breeder had him on...what should I chsnge to? Love merrick is made here in tx!

 

[dmsl]

Is true puppy food necessary til one year old? Merrick all life stages are 38 % protein which is high...thats the grain free version...the classic lamb is 25% and puppy is 30%. Booboo is four months now and isnt eating much of the eukanuba the breeder had him on...what should I chsnge to? Love merrick is made here in tx!

 

[KCY]

Fromm Fourstar kibble and wet. Kibble for breakfast and wet
for dinner. Energy great and poop normal. Love his coat and no tear stains. Definitely worth the $. Fromm and Zukes for treats. I'm so glad I switch to Fromm!

 

[Sushi's Mom]

I am feeding Sushi Merrick GF Buffalo and he is a 23 weeks old. He likes it much better than the Solid Gold Wee Bit the breeder had him on. Do I need to worry about the high protein? Sorry, not very educated on the high protein issues. Should I switch him to a lower protein food?

 

[dntdelay]

I give Jasmine Blue Buffalo Grain Free Dry Food; however, we (I) am very lazy so we don't exercise as much as we should, and know she has arthritis. My question is this a good food to give her? Jasmine weighs 9.6 Ibs.

 

[tokipoki]

I give Jasmine Blue Buffalo Grain Free Dry Food; however, we (I) am very lazy so we don't exercise as much as we should, and know she has arthritis. My question is this a good food to give her? Jasmine weighs 9.6 Ibs.

How is her weight for her frame? I know that since Toki had hip surgery for her LCP and also has LP in the same leg, the vet wants us to keep her on the leaner side to alleviate excessive stress on her joints (an ounce really does make a difference for these little guys!). We also give her Dasuquin which is a good joint supplement.

If Jasmine is doing well on Blue Buffalo and can maintain a healthy weight, I wouldn't worry so much about the food you are feeding. I'd definitely consider adding a joint supplement (if you haven't already) and work on increasing the amount of some easy, nonstressful exercise like walking. A few short walks (10-15 minutes) each day would be so beneficial for her arthritis. I hear ya on the exercise though...I feel like my pups don't get enough of it. If I try to take a lazy day or skip a walk, I hear about it from them lol they are relentless! I will say that I think they enjoy short walks around our apartment complex just as much as they enjoy our hour-long ones at the local trails (woohoo for being outside at all, right? lol).

 

[tokipoki]

Toki is currently eating Natural Balance Potato and Duck (we are in the process of transitioning her to Earthborn Meadow Feast) and gets a variety of wet/canned foods as well.

Teddy is eating Yorkshire Terrier Royal Canin (we got several trial bags from Petflow so once we get through those, we'll put him on the Meadow Feast with Toki) and his diet is also supplemented with wet food. We have had him for a couple of weeks...he is 9 months old and came to us underweight with spine and ribs popping out so I'd love any recommendations for foods to help him put on weight...thanks for any advice!

 

[shellbeme]

There are few kibbles I really trust.

I trust Fromm, first and foremost above all. I think the quality is excellent and the company I can not say enough good things about. My dogs have shiny coats, bright eyes and spunk when using Fromm. I have gone back to feeding fromm after a time of eliminating all excess treats-and finding that Rocky is doing quite well on it. I feed the four star formulas and rotate between each bag.

I trust canine caviar-I trust their ingredients and the science behind the product. I also like their company.

Kibble and or kibble mixed with wet will be breakfast. We can be canine caviar topper-any of the available formulas or it can be Fromm canned food. The fromm canned food both Gold and Four star, are both excellent.

Dinner is going to be a dehydrated formula. I have just ordered some Honest Kitchen, though I will stay away from Thrive (the quinoa based one) as the boys do not like the taste. I also ordered a small box of Addiction. I will also look into Grandma Lucy's formulas for consideration at a later date. I will rotate flavors.

Funds do not allow me to do dehydrated full time at this moment. I would like to add some Stella and Chewy's frozen raw-however the only thing I can find access to without paying an astronomical amount for shipping is the dehydrated formulas and honestly, if I'm going to go with dehydrated formulas I would rather go with the ones I mentioned above.

These are companys who ingredients, practices and formulas I trust and quite honestly all other foods out there have not impressed me as much.

 

[maggieh]

The last couple of months, Tessa has had some "tummy issues" so I've switched my fluffs to a grain free, lower protein diet. We're using Addiction dehydrated grain-free and they both love it!!!!! They've always been good eaters but they are licking the bowl clean and looking for more. Tessa seems to be tolerating it very well, too.

 

[dntdelay]

I am almost out of dog food and I don't know what to get. Jasmine has arthritis (may have to get surgery for a torn ligament) and the vet recommended her to eat Purina One Joint Mobilization food, which I bought and have used, but I don't like the smell plus it gives Jasmine soft stool. I will not buy that again. I have given her Blue Buffalo Grain Free, but I am not sure if that is good for her joints. I have thought about buying her Fromm, but I just don't know. What do you suggest.

 

[Meilerca]

Thor eats Fromm grain free and we rotate the flavors! He loves the game bird!!


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[dntdelay]

Thor eats Fromm grain free and we rotate the flavors! He loves the game bird!!

Does he have any joint problems?

 

[dntdelay]

Jasmine weighs 9.2 Ibs and we exercise some (walk around the block, play soccer) but sometimes I don't think we exercise enough. I just don't know what the right decision is, so I need someone to tell me!! LOL :blink:

 

[maggieh]

Purina isn't the best food - a lot of grains and by-products that don't really add any nutritional value and can actually cause digestive upset.

I'd suggest a good quality food that agrees with her digestive system and then use supplements such as glucosamine and natural anti-inflammatories for the arthritis. Fromm is a good food, and a holistic vet or a nutritionist can provide you with suggestions on supplements.

Crystal (Crystal&Zoe) has had good results with some natural anti-inflammatories for her fluffs and might have some thoughts as well.

 

[Madeleinesmommy]

I am feeding Maddie Wellness Core. I am hoping/planning to switch her to Wellness Small Breed because I thought going grain-free would help her red paw but she's been digging again and my mom's dog has severe skin allergies but it hasn't really done anything ( but his allergies are seasonal so it's not related to food ). I really like Wellness because Maddie's coat has been beautiful since starting it and I feel like she has more energy some days plus she's excited to eat.

As far as treats go I'm still playing around with different things. They like Fruitables but just the bacon/apple ones, blue buffalo bits, and Zuke's.

I would like a treat recommendation for a treat that they can chew on but I refuse to give her bully sticks.