malsam

let's look at this way, even human grades food manufacturer is already cutting corners, so how u think they will bother about animals since the owner never try them at all except myself! I tasted all those kibbles that I intro to my dogs before and frankly beside burns - which is a UK brand, tastes fresher and better, the rest of those premium brands are really crap to me...failing flat on our less developed sensory organs comparing to the dog's....and yet they still willingly eat it to please the owner everyday!

I agree with the poster...yes, adding anything extra to the commercial food will offset the nutritional ratios. Because most commercial food will have a standard formula for the general dog. So unless u know what nutritional value in both the commercial and fresh food u are feeding, its even more difficult then feeding just either 1. Most people get away un-noticed because commercial food has a minimal nutritional value there. No commercial food can cater to individual breed let alone individual dog. Hence at the end of the day your commercial food can be just barely crossing the requirement. And adding some extras just makes it slightly more. The other thinking of course would be that u are slowly adding burden to the system in your dog. And it took longer 4 the human owner to find out.

intestinal gas can be formed either kibble or fresh food...many veg are culprit of it. Like broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, milk etc. To prevent it to develop into bloats, u can feed some probiotics or digestive enzymes. Parsley, alfalfa, zuchinni are all good veg for that. Even ginger too.

exactly, if your dog is having intestinal gas with burps and bad breath, then I dun think your dog is digesting it well. I feed a whole lot of veg, about 20 types in 1 go...each veg counteract with 1 another and balance the pulp. Eg. if I include broccoli, cabbage, asparagus, I will find parsley, alfalfa or even ginger. The former group is gas inducing, the second counteracts it. To make your dog start stuffing veg in, u either introduce it at an early age or put strong scent food in it. That is why I mention not all dogs can take chlorophyll willingly...especially the concentrated form. If mine starts to get difficult, I will add blackstrap molasses, sea salt or even honey to improve the smell and taste. Organic if possible....u get the idea? In fact the best result is when u blend grinded meat (mince not good enuff) with veg, if they want the meat, they will take it, let them get used to the smell then u can slowly separate them. Lastly, after u blend the veg, have a taste and smell of it! If it don't smell appealing to u, then your dog probably won't.

I wouldn't leave it to chance, but since it has recovered, u should have some time to plan out the vet house call.

same concept exactly...chlorophyll is present inside these veg just that some have more compared to others and u need to know which are the 1....wheatgrass, parsley are all full of it. If u r feeding fresh grinded veg then of course u dun need the chlorophyll.... I usually just put a little and progress up...depending on your dog's preference and size, my maltese gets 1 teaspoon about 5ml....then u work up daily to see whether the breath still smell or not. Not all dog likes the chlorophyll taste, that is why u can't put too much in also...more like how much they will take then give them what is needed. And.....to prevent your dog haggering over your bitches when they are on heat, this works just as well.

yap, that is the 1....chlorophyll deodorise and cleanse the digestive systems, if u have included enuff probiotics and digestive enzymes from the food, then the system should be clear and free of bad breath....recall how our pup breath smell when they are not on kibbles and just on mum's milk? That is when all the food are nicely digested and hence with nice sweet breath! Try to read the label and get as few other chemical as possible. Mine just read chlorophyll and mint...that's it.

that's a very sensitive and fair alpha behaviour...when some of my dogs are fasting, those non-fasters are also taken care of...ya they do feel left out also. there isn't any special technique in brushing....in fact there is no brushing at all. U simply coat the brush with a fido toothpaste, then apply them all over their teeth or just gently rub them a little....very few dogs can let u brush them like what human does because their mouth is more sensitive than ours to get all these action. Do check with your vet and c what they recommend.

I'm just using a pin brush or a greyhound comb to comb the loose coat out. That is advice by a show handler friend whose breeder told him to do so....its tedious though, was commented other types just comb excess coat out!

bad breath not coming from the mouth is really from within....there is only 1 way I've tried that work - add chlorophyll, concentrated ones. Add into their food. It solves breath problems for humans as well.

if u are afraid of the urine stones thing, u can feed cranberry. Its mention as a remedy from several books. As for the bones, I dun think 1 per day can cause as much problem, especially if u using cranberry as well. Or if u like, dig out the marrows and just give a bone. Or simply brush their teeth?

Nothing against the medical health of your dogs but have u take a look at the weight of the poo itself? What goes in and come out doesn't mean your dog can digest them, if u feed 100g of meat and it comes out 100g of poo that doesn't say your dog is digesting. It just say passing it out only, confirming that the pooing system is ok, not digestion. Of course u must know your dogs well no doubt about it, just some suggestions for ideas. Since u mention about putting on weight and your dog can eat and digest everything u give and it likes then putting on weight is just a matter of increasing the quantity and with less exercise and same metabolic rate, they should gradually increase the mass as well. I wouldn't try adding richer food that they are not used to just to put on weight too quickly since Pom is a toy breed and adding 100g to a toy comparing to a working breed can have a great impact on the skeleton. If u plan to add 500g to a 2000g pom, u will be increasing a quarter of its weight which u may want to consider growing it slowly. Moreover u mention your dog is a picky eater, what if it gets used to your fatty food and refused to change back to the normal food? Are u ok with providing these fattening food throughout their lives? Will their metabolic rate always remains this high as well as the energy level? Just my 2cents.

your problem seems to be the food itself as well as the capability of your dog to digest. Milk as well as some veg causes intestinal gas, which means it creates a full feeling. Also can your dog digest those food that u have given? Pumping fat in is not necessarily good, develop weight due to muscle and bones should be the right way to do. I'm sure if u start feeding chicken skin and lamb fat your pom will double the side in no tme....but again no food will be taken because your pom don't seems to be able to digest them. U can try adding veg that aids digestion or simply use low fat yoghurt in between meals to improve digestion. When a dog output is a lot, the input should increase as well...and that is of course depends on whether the dog feel the need for more food or not as well as capable of digesting it als.

dogs in fact prefer fish more than cats, the cartoons mixed it up! There are a lot of shellfish that I feed as well but its on a case to case basis. Some are allergic to prawns, others to crustaceans. I've feed abalone and scallops before to no known effect.

depends on the breed and the necessity also. My maltese need at least once / fortnight. My sammies can go up to 4 months plus since they don't smell and looks better without frequent chemicals running through their coat.

I believe he is referring to dogs that genetically not affected by HD are not made worst by improper diet. Just because u don't inherit cancer genetically, doesn't mean u won't get it throughout your life especially with improper diet.

Feeding once or twice depends on how they much they can digest the food at 1 go...if your dog prefers to have it once, then by all means let it have it as long as the 1 meal is equal to 1 day of amount and not half of it. Meals are separated because some dogs cannot digest them as efficiently...mine all 1 meal since pup time and they can digest it well. Pups have more meals because their digestion rate is not high hence more of it. When adult and have established stomach juices, once per day is about right.

I have 4 malteses....and I use essential oils diluted on their final rinse...no problem at all though the smell is not as strong as scented shamp. Some mention cond is no good for the skin, but some does it ok. As long as daily brushing u dun spray any more creme rinse just use filtered or mineral water, and stick to cond on baths only, then I think even when your dog coat is short, it should be ok. I've used plush puppy b4, but dun find them fabulous in terms of softness and whitening. If u want absolutely scented, u can try les pooch...though I dunno where u can get them in AU. :-)

for weight loss, lecithin and coconut oil for weight gain, oatmeal or cereals

if your dog don't eat the vegi by itself, what most people do is use liver and processed together with the vegi. Anyway they don't chew on liver so u can have the meat cubes intact. I've also used blackstrap molasses, honey, garlic, ginger or anything that have a strong smell like kelp, alfalfa all possible. Even meat jerkies powder that are left behind from your treats and sprinkle on top will work as well.

dogs sweat through their paws also...thus it make sense to trim them short to facilitate the cooling "airways"

i know there are bowls that encourages the dog to slow down and chew, just cannot remember what brand is that.

mine get fishes everyday...because generally my breeds does very well on fishes than red meats. I get salmon and spanish mackeral mostly, sometimes capelins in whole and occasionally some canned tuna soaked in springwater. As for the shiny coat, some dogs coat just shine with the appropriate ingredient that is needed, which can be presence in an array of food stuffs be it fishes or flax or EPO. Mainly the balance of O3 and O6. Nothing to do with any 1 particular type of special food. Usually with coat supplements or with lecithin or similar supplements, dogs that are black, dark brown to golden tend to shine. Dogs like Dobi, Cocker, GR or similar types. U rarely see coats of ST, pekingese, coolie, samoyed or keeshond type of colour to shine because theirs have a different colour and texture. I give them flax, EPO, salmon oil, fish oil on a regular basis also. My white dogs coat are white and the double coated ones will glitter.

I visit my relatives house regularly who have 4 dogs all with ticks or fleas. But my dogs never get any when I use them everyday. So there was a long period I got complacent and forgotten all about it, and 1 big tick got stuck on to the top of my maltese head sucked up real plump. Freaks me out from then on, garlic again.

it really depends, usually, the longer the amount of time u crate them, the more likely they gonna have it. And my experience tells me if u put a cushion inside, they tend to pee. If u remove it, they seems more tolerant and hold it there longer. Both my sammies are like that. They are crate train and without a cushion, they are 100% and can stay there at least 12 hours. With a cushion, no way.