Dry Food That Does Not Contain Wheat, Corn Or Soy?

[Staff'n'Toller]

I know Mandela has had lots of weight issues in the past but you might have to get 'tough love' on the dry food training, dry food will never be as good as cooked chicken for a picky eater. I wonder what he would do if had some competition for food...not a situation you can easily set up. I am always telling clients whose singular dogs don't eat they can come to my house for a few days and they will eat! Maybe I'm just a mean mother...although I am indulging Gypsy's turning her nose up at food that may be slightly stale (getting to the end of the bag) now she is an old lady.

The other thing that came to mind is continuing on with a chicken loaf or satin ball recipe variation (I do a variation for my old cat) and supplement. Berigora Farm does these supplements:

Vegies plus for dogs and cats

Ingredients: desiccated coconut, beetroot, carrot, pumpkin, spinach, apple, apricot, banana, paw paw, pineapple, barley grass, broccoli, pumpkin seeds.

Everyday Extra supplement

Ingredients: ground flaxseed, ground sunflower seed, dolomite, vitamin C mixture (ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate, sodium

ascorbate), gelatine, kelp, spirulina, lecithin, turmeric, bentonite clay, crataeva, dandelion, green lipped mussel, shark cartilage, MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) nettles, olive leaf, alfalfa, garlic, hawthorn berries, mullein, aniseed, cinnamon, fruit pectin, ginger, peppermint, rosemary, parsley, sage, thyme, cleavers, copper sulphate.

They are both in dried form and can be frozen.

[Erny]

I know Mandela has had lots of weight issues in the past but you might have to get 'tough love' on the dry food training, dry food will never be as good as cooked chicken for a picky eater. I wonder what he would do if had some competition for food...not a situation you can easily set up. I am always telling clients whose singular dogs don't eat they can come to my house for a few days and they will eat! Maybe I'm just a mean mother...although I am indulging Gypsy's turning her nose up at food that may be slightly stale (getting to the end of the bag) now she is an old lady.

Thanks SnT - but "tough love" generally doesn't do it. As I mentioned, most of the times he won't eat I do not believe it is about him being fussy although I know when you are reading from the other side of the internet this can be difficult to believe. He has gone for days on end without eating what has been put down to offer him, yet he is starving.

The other thing that came to mind is continuing on with a chicken loaf or satin ball recipe variation (I do a variation for my old cat) and supplement. Berigora Farm does these supplements:

Vegies plus for dogs and cats

Ingredients: desiccated coconut, beetroot, carrot, pumpkin, spinach, apple, apricot, banana, paw paw, pineapple, barley grass, broccoli, pumpkin seeds.

Everyday Extra supplement

Ingredients: ground flaxseed, ground sunflower seed, dolomite, vitamin C mixture (ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate, sodium

ascorbate), gelatine, kelp, spirulina, lecithin, turmeric, bentonite clay, crataeva, dandelion, green lipped mussel, shark cartilage, MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) nettles, olive leaf, alfalfa, garlic, hawthorn berries, mullein, aniseed, cinnamon, fruit pectin, ginger, peppermint, rosemary, parsley, sage, thyme, cleavers, copper sulphate.

They are both in dried form and can be frozen.

Thank you for this - I will look into it. He's been on numerous vitamin supplementation via the naturopath and also the Vet who is into chinese herbal medicines.

[Erny]

If Mandela likes fish, have you tried feeding canned salmon or tuna. I get the pink salmon and the tuna in brine from Aldi for my dogs. Much cheaper than other supermarkets for fish. Many of my friends also feed the cheaper canned mackeral.

I once had a dog with gout and she was not allowed to have any red meat or sardines for a whole year. She lived on salmon, tuna, brown rice or barley and vegetables. Sometimes I made up a white sauce of carnation or lactose free milk, thickened with cornflour to make like a mornay and my dogs now love this as well. You may not be able to do this though if you can't use the cornflour.

Anyway my fish dog never looked better, her coat gleamed and she survived quite well on her fish diet.

I no longer use any dry dog food and have fed a combination of raw meats/bones and veges, eggs and canned fish, with a little brown rice or barley, successfully for over 10 years now.

Thanks Dancinbcs - will keep this in mind as well. Taking things slowly as I try them, and trying one at a time. If I can just get something into him to firm up the poop, I'll be happy with the way things are looking at the moment (and hoping like anything they don't regress).

[Collstar]

hi all im just going to jump in here, hope u dont mind

i did a bit of research on dog food too, to find the best stuff out there (ie grain, wheat and filler free) and the best stuff available in my area was Evo which is an 'ancestral' diet containing mostly meat resembling the natural diet of i guess wolves the only problem is, as a result of the high meat content, it has a LOT of protein in it 42% and its quite high in fat.... which was fine for my dog coz he was very active and i gave him about 1.5 hrs of exercise every day!!

there is another brand made by the same company called Innova which is a holistic diet, has less protein and fat in it, and once again has no grains. im going to get my dog this next time as he is slowing down a little and gets plenty of meaty bones anyway.

what are everyone’s thoughts on these brands? i have heard people say good an bad things... i think they are excellent brands because the first ingredient right to the last ingredient isnt CORN, or wheat or cereals (which i have seen on the lesser quality dog foods grr), but many ppl find the protein content too high especially for dogs that dont do as much intense exercise

colleen

[JulesP]

Great food Collstar. Unfortunately they are imported by the people that own Pets Paradise which means a lot of us will not use it.

[Collstar]

ooh i didnt know that

actually yes i did... i have seen them selling it before! and im guessing you're (and everyone else) is against buying dogs from pets paradice, therefore wont buy the food from them?? well that makes sense then

wish australia had an equivalent?... or do we?

[JulesP]

Yep that is why Collstar. You could look up Artemis. They have a no grain product. They have a website. Also Canidae.

[poodlefan]

Yep that is why Collstar. You could look up Artemis. They have a no grain product. They have a website. Also Canidae.

No Artemis or Canidae product contains corn, wheat or soy. Some have no grain at all.

[Ashka]

I have been using grain free Orijen (Canadian) in NZ with great results.

Hope you can get it there too.

[poodlefan]

I have been using grain free Orijen (Canadian) in NZ with great results.

Hope you can get it there too.

We can't.

[Collstar]

ok thanks for that

i will do some research!!

[JulesP]

Erny my fussy pup ate the Artemis maximal today and at a good speed. She looked like she actually liked it. Klassy Pets in North Ringwood very kindly gave me a heap of samples. The fussy Birmans also scoffed their sample last night for cat people.

[G.G]

Thanks Mrsgrumblebum. I purchased a 2.something bag of the Canidae ALS from Robbo's (I was passing by) and it was around $30. So the price you've mentioned sounds really good. I only got it today and it's been a bit of a busy and almost hellish day, so I haven't gotten around to testing it out on my boy as yet. If it is a winner (ie if he seems to go for it readily) I'll take a visit to the store you mention. I'm in Berwick and not always passing through Cranbourne, but for the price it sounds as though it would be worth the trip.

Canidae ALS - $100 15.9 kg, $67.60 6.8 kg, $28.75 2.27 kg. Nutro rep should be able to send out samples as they do have them. Maybe pop up to Beaconsfield.

This is the Canidae ALS not the grain free ALS

Erny how do the dogs like Canidae

[Erny]

Erny how does your dog like Canidae?

No luck with the Canidae - either the ALS nor the fish, I'm afraid.

Edited October 11, 2010 by Erny

[Austerra]

Thanks Mrsgrumblebum. I purchased a 2.something bag of the Canidae ALS from Robbo's (I was passing by) and it was around $30. So the price you've mentioned sounds really good. I only got it today and it's been a bit of a busy and almost hellish day, so I haven't gotten around to testing it out on my boy as yet. If it is a winner (ie if he seems to go for it readily) I'll take a visit to the store you mention. I'm in Berwick and not always passing through Cranbourne, but for the price it sounds as though it would be worth the trip.

Canidae ALS - $100 15.9 kg, $67.60 6.8 kg, $28.75 2.27 kg. Nutro rep should be able to send out samples as they do have them. Maybe pop up to Beaconsfield.

This is the Canidae ALS not the grain free ALS

Erny how do the dogs like Canidae

Canidae Grain Free ALS & Grain Free Salmon - $111.80 13.6 kg, $79.30 6.8 kg, $32.50 2.27 kg.

[sparkycat]

Coprice is rice based and was the only dry food that didn't go straight through our Deerhound.

[Erny]

Sherel sent me a trial sample of the Black Hawk Sherel.

Score 10/10 for "like it" value (and given the difficulty I've had in getting him to much like, let alone love, anything over the last 6 and more, THAT's saying something!!!!! ).

Not only did he scoff the 1st cupful I offered him, but he completely scoffed a 2nd cupful !!!

I do not plan to do away with natural raw feeding - I want to get back to that if it becomes possible and I do intend to continue to include his cooked chicken as part of his diet. I'm hoping that I can somehow offer him some balance to his diet though and now that there is something it seems he will eat, there's a chance of that.

It is early days - there is always the possibility that (a) his digestive system won't do well on it and/or (b) after a while he will go 'off' this, just as he did the Eagle Pack and the Vets All Natural, the BARF and the other raw food and bones (beef, lamb and chicken) that he used to eat with relish and which for the duration, did very well on.

But step 1 (which was to find something he would at least eat) has for the moment been accomplished .

Edited October 14, 2010 by Erny

[Erny]

And one somewhat firmer poop (has been squirting last couple of days) tonight.

But hold back on any celebrations just yet. Mandela has a history of "ups and downs and quick turn a rounds" from good to bad and back again. So we need to see what the ride pans out to be.

[Gayle.]

Dusty does not have the same digestive health issues that poor Mandela has, but she is getting increasingly picky about her food. She had mostly raw until about 6 months ago then started vomiting it up after each meal.

We've tried various kibbles and some she starts off liking, then turns her nose up at them a few days later. We're now a week down the track with Black Hawk and she is still enjoying it, after having dragged half the sample bag out of the pantry when I wasn't looking and sneaking it off to eat. I was very pleased with the generous size of the sample, it really gave me a good indication of whether the dogs might like this as their main food. I had no hesitation in ordering 40 kgs.

I am using it as training treats as well as their evening meal and bedtime snack. The output is amazingly less, and easier to dispose of. So all is good here.

[Staff'n'Toller]

My dogs are liking it but they will eat Hills or probably anything else I put down so that's not a great indication for anyone.

I feel happier though that they are getting something similar to Eagle Pack when RC is getting so expensive and I'm not sure they look much different to when they were eating corn based food.

I may also get the cat version in my next order...just trying to work out where to store 20kgs of kitteh food.