Juno's Mummy

Actually, that is not correct. It is a fallacy and one used to support raw and barf feeding. Anne, I am always willing to learn. The connection between skin problems & dry food came from my own experiences with dogs over the past 40 years. If you know of studies that show this to be a fallacy, I'd be interested to read them. I'm not sure her allergies issues are from a food allergy as such - I guess just looking for some food items that will help. she breaks out in hives when we take her to certain parks and definitely right after the cut the grass. So the whole diet change thing is mostly related to her weight loss, with some tips on foods that help control allergies and itchy skin. She does get heaps of exercise. 2 x 30 min (at least) walks per day, most of which are spent at the dog park running and playing with other dogs or with her ball. Anyway thanks heaps everyone for your advice. I think what we'll end up doing is trying a different kind of mince, cutting back the carbs and filling with veg and see how we go. We've tried supplementing with sardines before and it softened her stools a bit too much so we try to keep away from that. I'll try mixing it in with her food, I'm also going to try adding some linseed and apple cidar vinegar because I've heard both of those things help heaps too. I'll keep you all posted on how it's going! As a side note - a really good short term relief therapy we tried the other day, after a major hive flare up (they cut the grass at the dog park!) - we bathed her her cool water and colloidal oatmeal for about 20 minutes and that worked wonders. She was NOT a happy camper about sitting in a tub full of cereal but stopped itching and the hives swelling went down and red paws faded back to pink so I highly recommend that treatment! We've also used the Rufus and Coco "Itch Relief" natural shampoo on her as well which has helped when she's really itchy. Oh the things we do for our fur babies eh guys?

I resent your comment that I am making my dog fat, quite frankly I'm a little offended that you assumed I "blamed" her. Of course I agree that it is no one's fault but ours for potentially feeding her incorrectly - hence why I began this post looking for some advice. That being said, it was our vet himself who advised that keeping her weight down will always be a problem due to her breed, not my own opinion. I'm simply looking for some advice! Currently we feed her a home recipe including mince, veggies and rice or pasta that was given to me by a friend who's vet recommended it. We add Dr. Bruce's all natural health booster to it and supplement with raw bones about once a fortnight for her teeth. she gets 1/3cup in the morning and 1/3 cup in the evening and wolfs it down in less than 30 secs! she is currently 10.9kg and believe she should probably be around 9, as she is actually a little bigger than a pure bred pug and back when she was 9kg our vet said that she was at a great weight.

Hi there, new to the forum - I've already found it very useful! I'm looking for a bit of advice in regards to food. We are currently feeding off of a home made recipe given to me from a friend who's labrador has been praised by vet's for her health - attribtued to her home made diet. However yummy this recipe is it doesn't seem to be doing wonders for our little pug x jack's weight and skin issues. I do notice when we put her back on kibble - no matter how high quality - she drinks enormous amounts of water, her poos are smellier and larger and she passes gas to clear a room! Also, with her current diet no matter how much we control portions as well and limit treats she still seems to be on the chubbier side - a fact I'm sure is attributed to her breed - however with her short little legs I don't want her to gain anymore weight. Does anyone have a home made recipe or a kibble recommendation that will aid in weight control (and loss for the moment) as well as help with her ongoing issues with itchy skin and allergic reactions to the environment? Alot to ask but hopefully someone can help!