Best Dog Food For A Dog With Allergies

[mumtoshelley]

HI everyone just wandering what brand of dog food is best for a dog prone to allergies and yeast ear infections. Right now I have my dogs on big dog barf patties,pet mince and raw bones. My 19 week old golden retriever Axel seems to act like his straving even tho his been feed 800grams of raw each day. His weight is great I can feel his ribs but can't see them. He wasn't like this when feed kibble and pet mince and he was getting the same amount as he is now if not more. His last worming was done at 16 weeks old.Also he was feed 3 times a day before but is now switched to twice a day.

[BullBreedBoy]

Are you saying that he is getting the allergies/ear infections from the current diet? Or are you looking to add kibble back into his diet and don't want the allergies?

[Taliecat]

I prefer a fish based kibble for my itchy yeasty amstaff

[DeltaCharlie]

I'm not quite understanding. So he is a good weight and otherwise healthy? Just because a dog acts starving and wants more food doesn't mean we need to give it to them. If he is the right weight I would say he is getting the right quantity. Maybe try splitting it over more meals or adding some pumpkin to make him feel full?

[mumtoshelley]

Are you saying that he is getting the allergies/ear infections from the current diet? Or are you looking to add kibble back into his diet and don't want the allergies?

His only been on a raw diet for 2 weeks so not long enough to say that his allergies etc have cleared up. His ear infections were when he was feed black hawk puppy kibble. If I can find a kibble that he can eat without the worry of allergies would be good. I might leave them on raw for now to see if that helps with him.

[Steph M]

I'm not quite understanding. So he is a good weight and otherwise healthy? Just because a dog acts starving and wants more food doesn't mean we need to give it to them. If he is the right weight I would say he is getting the right quantity. Maybe try splitting it over more meals or adding some pumpkin to make him feel full?

And he's a retriever! That is their main goal in life, to get more food than they really require.

I feel like if my dog ate a 20kg bag of kibble he would still ask for more..haha.

[sas]

HI everyone just wandering what brand of dog food is best for a dog prone to allergies and yeast ear infections. Right now I have my dogs on big dog barf patties,pet mince and raw bones. My 19 week old golden retriever Axel seems to act like his straving even tho his been feed 800grams of raw each day. His weight is great I can feel his ribs but can't see them. He wasn't like this when feed kibble and pet mince and he was getting the same amount as he is now if not more. His last worming was done at 16 weeks old.Also he was feed 3 times a day before but is now switched to twice a day.

An article you may be interested in from Jean Dodds that talks about commercial vs raw in terms of allergies

http://drjeandoddspe...es#.VbbtFfmqqkp

The thing is, you don't know what your dog is allergic to so swapping foods is often a pointless and expensive thing to do - instead ask your Vet for a referral to a Dermatologist.

I'm presuming you have spoken to your Breeder about the situation.

Edited July 28, 2015 by sas

[persephone]

yes! the BEST diet for a dog with allergies is a diet which does NOT contain the stuff to which he is allergic.

This can take time - and may be as simple as food colourings, or as complex as one type of meat protein ...

[Rascalmyshadow]

An 19 old retriever should really still be getting 3 meals a day, I would continue that until about 10months old then gradually decrease one meal.

I also noticed my dogs were constantly hungry when fed BARF patties, seems they are digested faster than tinned or dry foods. If you want to keep feeding BARF patties I would change to the original Billinghurst ones, the Big dog brand doesn't have the same quality ingredients it's why they're cheaper.

Lastly many dogs have ear issues while teething but I would be concerned the Black Hawk was causing problems, we had numerous health issues with all of our dogs when we trialled using it.

[mumtoshelley]

An 19 old retriever should really still be getting 3 meals a day, I would continue that until about 10months old then gradually decrease one meal.

I also noticed my dogs were constantly hungry when fed BARF patties, seems they are digested faster than tinned or dry foods. If you want to keep feeding BARF patties I would change to the original Billinghurst ones, the Big dog brand doesn't have the same quality ingredients it's why they're cheaper.

Lastly many dogs have ear issues while teething but I would be concerned the Black Hawk was causing problems, we had numerous health issues with all of our dogs when we trialled using it.

I have tryed the dr billinghurst patties my 7 year old golden retriever Shelley and my 9 year old chihuahua Rascal pack on the weight when feed billinghurst patties, Shelley when on billinghurst was feed less then what she is now same with Rascal. For some reason my whippet Missy didn't really like billinghurst patties but loves the big dog barf ones. Even tho Axels meals have droped to twice a day his still getting the same amount if he was feed 3 times. All my dogs get feed twice a day there whole intake for the day is split into 2 meals instand of 1.

[BullBreedBoy]

An 19 old retriever should really still be getting 3 meals a day, I would continue that until about 10months old then gradually decrease one meal.

.

Why do you think this is the case? We drop back to 2 meals a day at 15 weeks for all our puppies, one of the Bulmastiff breeders here in Perth recomends 2 meals a day at 12 weeks. Is there something about retrievers that make them need 3 meals a day? I know that we've never had a problem with meal frequency and we recomend to all our families that they can drop back to 2 meals a day anytime ater 12 weeks with confidence. We have never had a problem, in fact much the opposite.

[DeltaCharlie]

With Border Collies it is generally accepted that you feed 4 meals until 3-4 months and then 3 meals until 6 months, then you can drop to 2 meals after that. They are pretty active as pups though so need that frequent energy boost. Our 20 week old pyrenean shepherd is on 2 official meals a day but is also worked in the afternoon for kibble so is somewhere between 2 and 3. He is a smaller breed though.

[Rascalmyshadow]

Why would I keep feeding a retriever 3meals? Because it keeps them fuller without having to feed large meals, less risk of bloat in an active growing puppy and I don't agree with dropping to two meals a day for any breed under 6 months.

With the BARF patties you could stuff it in a chicken carcass, slows down the eating and gives extra food.

Billinghurst patties do range a lot in their fat content depending on the flavour, roo is the best if the dogs tend to put on weight.

[BullBreedBoy]

With Border Collies it is generally accepted that you feed 4 meals until 3-4 months and then 3 meals until 6 months, then you can drop to 2 meals after that. They are pretty active as pups though so need that frequent energy boost. Our 20 week old pyrenean shepherd is on 2 official meals a day but is also worked in the afternoon for kibble so is somewhere between 2 and 3. He is a smaller breed though.

Yes it's commonly accepted, and done for lot's of breeds. Personally I don't subscribe to it, and nor do the 2 people I most respect in Australia on canine nutrition.

Why would I keep feeding a retriever 3meals? Because it keeps them fuller without having to feed large meals, less risk of bloat in an active growing puppy and I don't agree with dropping to two meals a day for any breed under 6 months.

That's a fairly common position, however the risk of bloat has been way blown out of proportion. IF feeding a highly digestibl natural diet then there's no real risk of it being an issue on 2 meals a day, assuming they are an appropriate split of feed weight allowance. There's no real reason to continue with 3-4 meals a day as is so commonly recomended, including so-called bloat prone breeds. You're entitled to your opinion of course, but your post to someone seeking advice on diet was that they 'should be feeding x number of meals a day'. This is a definitive statement.

To the OP there's absolutely no problem at all feeding your pup twice a day, if you are feeding natural foods. IF you are looking for a high quality kibble to enter into your diet then suggest you check out Stay Loyal. I feed it to the rescue dogs that we have here (so they don't get accustomed to raw) and they thrive on it. It's great for clearing up a variety of allergy and skin conditions, as well as getting some condition into skinny pound dogs.

[Rascalmyshadow]

Bullbreedboy that's all your opinion, I have 20 years experience working with dogs, 13 of those in a vet, we've had 50+ dogs come through our house majority of those rescues quite a few our own since I've lived with a pack for 17 of those years.

I have managed breeds from Dobes and Pitts to Poodles and Chi's, I have seen numerous cases of bloat and torsion, it is certainly not blown out of proportion, it is a very real risk.

[BullBreedBoy]

Sure, but there's no way of linking number of meals to it that's substantive. Additionally, I'd quiz you on how many of those cases came from grain based kibbles, or from not using percentage of body weight as the baseline for meal size.

There is a Malamute breeder here in Perth that goes to one meal a day at 6 months and one meal every 48-72 hours by 24 months. To my knowledge they've had zero incidents of Gdv. I'm not saying everyone should go to this model, but I do think that there's no real evidence to support 2 vs 3 meals increasing risk. I'm happy to be corrected if you know of some.

We are also very experienced, and we fully believe in our feeding model, which has served us very well for a long time. We have had zero incidence of bloat/Gdv. In general meal size is no more than 2% of body weight twice a day for puppies, and we roll over to one meal a day once the pup stops growing.

[sas]

An 19 old retriever should really still be getting 3 meals a day, I would continue that until about 10months old then gradually decrease one meal.

I also noticed my dogs were constantly hungry when fed BARF patties, seems they are digested faster than tinned or dry foods. If you want to keep feeding BARF patties I would change to the original Billinghurst ones, the Big dog brand doesn't have the same quality ingredients it's why they're cheaper.

Lastly many dogs have ear issues while teething but I would be concerned the Black Hawk was causing problems, we had numerous health issues with all of our dogs when we trialled using it.

Raw digests slower.

Source

Can you outline the quality difference in Big Dog BARF Patties and Billinghurst ones.

Edited July 29, 2015 by sas

[sas]

So I was intrigued by a posters comment saying BIG DOG was cheaper because it was lower quality.....well that just doesn't seem to be the case?

BIG DOG CHICKEN BARF

3 Kilos = $24.00 ($8 per kilo)

Protein – 12.5%

Fat – 14%

Fibre – 1% Maximum

Calcium – 0.8%

Phosphorus – 0.5%

Calcium: Phosphorus ratio – 1:0.6

Ash – 3%

Moisture – 68%

Calories – 790KJ/100g

Calories per Pattie – 1975KJ

Chicken, finely ground chicken bone, beef offal (liver, kidney, heart), pork heart, seasonal vegetables (broccoli, spinach, bok choy, carrots, celery, capsicum), apples, oranges, ground flaxseed, alfalfa powder, kelp powder, wheatgrass, yoghurt, garlic, whole egg and fish oil.

***

BILLINGHURST CHICKEN BARF

2.72 kilos = $22.50 ($8.27 per kilo)

Moisture maximum - 69%

Crude Protein minimum - 12% (35% D.M. basis)

Crude Fat minimum - 14% (40% D.M. basis)

Crude Fibre maximum - 2% (6.5% D.M basis)

Calcium (Ca) minimum - 1.3% (D.M basis)

Phosphorus (P) minimum - 1% (D.M basis)

Calcium: Phosphorus Ratio - 1:0.8

Calories: Info not provided by Billinghurst co.

Chicken, finely ground chicken bone, beef liver, whole egg, cultured kefir, seasonal vegetables selected from broccoli, celery, spinach, carrot, ground flax seed, bok choy, dried alfalfa leaf powder, beef kidney, beef heart, unbleached beef tripe, seasonal fruit selected from apple, pear, grapefruit, orange, dried kelp powder, garlic, capsicum.

Edited July 29, 2015 by sas

[sas]

Sure, but there's no way of linking number of meals to it that's substantive. Additionally, I'd quiz you on how many of those cases came from grain based kibbles, or from not using percentage of body weight as the baseline for meal size.

There is a Malamute breeder here in Perth that goes to one meal a day at 6 months and one meal every 48-72 hours by 24 months. To my knowledge they've had zero incidents of Gdv. I'm not saying everyone should go to this model, but I do think that there's no real evidence to support 2 vs 3 meals increasing risk. I'm happy to be corrected if you know of some.

We are also very experienced, and we fully believe in our feeding model, which has served us very well for a long time. We have had zero incidence of bloat/Gdv. In general meal size is no more than 2% of body weight twice a day for puppies, and we roll over to one meal a day once the pup stops growing.

There is no scientifically proven link to bloat, any study done has contradicted the other, however one thing that did come up in the Australian Great Dane Prevalence Study with over 1,000 dogs was the Family link. There is a current study going on in regards to gut flora > genes responsible for processing/interpreting those etc. http://www.australiangreatdanehealthsurvey.com/

Edited July 29, 2015 by sas

[sas]

Sure, but there's no way of linking number of meals to it that's substantive. Additionally, I'd quiz you on how many of those cases came from grain based kibbles, or from not using percentage of body weight as the baseline for meal size.

There is a Malamute breeder here in Perth that goes to one meal a day at 6 months and one meal every 48-72 hours by 24 months. To my knowledge they've had zero incidents of Gdv. I'm not saying everyone should go to this model, but I do think that there's no real evidence to support 2 vs 3 meals increasing risk. I'm happy to be corrected if you know of some.

We are also very experienced, and we fully believe in our feeding model, which has served us very well for a long time. We have had zero incidence of bloat/Gdv. In general meal size is no more than 2% of body weight twice a day for puppies, and we roll over to one meal a day once the pup stops growing.

Only feeding a dog every 3 days is not ok no matter your rationale that's not even close to fasting principals. Just because they haven't had a case of bloat or gdv doesn't mean this practice is ok or should be used to support it.

Edited July 29, 2015 by sas