Best Dog Food For A Dog With Allergies

[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.

Blackhawk is the most commonly fed kibble in the Australian Great Dane community - although there will always be cases of different kibbles not sitting well with some dogs it's certainly not a widespread problem with this kibble.

You seem to make some pretty big statements / insinuations.

Edited July 29, 2015 by sas

[Steph M]

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.

One or two incidences does not equal proof.

Lots of people feed just dry food and have also had no incidences.

FWIW I wouldn't feed my dog once every 3 days if you paid me, no matter how much one person swears black and blue it works.

[Rascalmyshadow]

The dogs I've seen with bloat/torsion have ended up with it after a large meal and either exercised too soon or drank large amounts of water, was it due to dry food or maybe genetics I don't know that answer, however I would prefer to be cautious especially with a young large breed.

I don't care how good a dogs health is I still don't agree it's beneficial to withhold food for 1 day let alone feeding every few days. Dogs are domesticated animals not wolves it is completely unnecessary, if you did that to one of my little dogs their blood sugars would drop and they'd be in serious trouble.

Why do I dislike Blackhawk so much because I have spoke with and heard from way too many people that have had health issues after feeding it. My own dogs (all different a breeds) had very poor coats, itchy flaky skin and a couple got yeast ears, never in all my life have I had multiple dogs react so severely to any food and so quickly.

[BullBreedBoy]

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.

One or two incidences does not equal proof.

Lots of people feed just dry food and have also had no incidences.

FWIW I wouldn't feed my dog once every 3 days if you paid me, no matter how much one person swears black and blue it works.

Agree, I wouldn't do it either. My point was simply that there is a variety of approaches to feeding and I'm not a fan of telling people what they 'should' do if they are raising healthy happy puppies and dogs.

[Rascalmyshadow]

Oh the reason I wouldn't personally use the Big dog brand food is because the people that make it were originally the team that produced the Billinghurst patties, they were all fired when dogs were getting sick and he found out they were using cheap ingredients instead of the quality they were supposed to, they then got together and produced this new product.

[Dave-o]

My 2 cents...

A lot of dogs seem to react on Black Hawk, such as diarrhea or itchy skin. Read the plethora of comments on the review here - http://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/dry-dog-food/black-hawk-holistic/

Many dogs do very well on the food, and have done for years, but it doesn't surprise me your dog showed signs of allergies.

Feeding raw you're feeding less carbs, which are what generally fill your dog up on a kibble - grains, potatoes, etc. Dogs are scavengers by nature so will eat when food is available.

There are many kibbles that help with allergies, but it's worth finding out what it is. I find most allergies are caused by the cheaper grains of wheat, corn, sorghum, soy, or protein sources like chicken. If a dog is fed the same food for a long period of time he can develop intolerance to ingredients in the food. Some of the puppy kibbles on this list should alleviate signs of allergies - http://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/dry-dog-food/puppy-foods/

I hope that helps.

[Dave-o]

Forgot to say, with my last two puppies I haven't been overly bothered about how much I feed them. 3 meals a day is recommended, but they're growing and go through growth spurts where they'll need more food. I've concentrated on feeding them decent foods, as much as they want, and making sure they're active. I see feeding cheaper supermarket foods in high quantities as being a much more significant health risk.

[Dave-o]

I'd also be wary of pet mince... can be dubious quality, and might be the cause of your allergies (unless they've fully cleared up since stopping the Black Hawk)

[BC Crazy]

I wouldn't feed mine Black Hawk again if it was the last dry food left on the planet. It used to be a really good dry food in the early days & until they changed the ingredients around the same time they changed the packaging.

Sonny got the worst food intolerance issues on it. Took me over 12 months to get his coat back from the brink. It was ruined. He was scratching like he was covered in fleas.

Good quality grain free is the way I went & haven't looked back. I only feed 25% dry now though. Raw makes up the rest. Both my guys are beaming with good health with coats to match.

Edited July 31, 2015 by BC Crazy

[mumtoshelley]

I'd also be wary of pet mince... can be dubious quality, and might be the cause of your allergies (unless they've fully cleared up since stopping the Black Hawk)

He hasn't got another ear infection yet,his also scratching less,not biting his feet,or chasing his tail as much since not feeding black hawk.

I wouldn't feed mine Black Hawk again if it was the last dry food left on the planet. It used to be a really good dry food in the early days & until they changed the ingredients around the same time they changed the packaging.

Sonny got the worst food intolerance issues on it. Took me over 12 months to get his coat back from the brink. It was ruined. He was scratching like he was covered in fleas.

Good quality grain free is the way I went & haven't looked back. I only feed 25% dry now though. Raw makes up the rest. Both my guys are beaming with good health with coats to match.

Thanks for letting me know that black hawk has changed there ingredients, My other dogs use to do so well on it, but I've noticed there coats went crap,they started scratching. Now all my dogs are on raw.

[BC Crazy]

No worries. I just don' t want anyone to go through what we did. I take great pride in keeping my dogs looking at their best & if you' d seen the state my boy was in. It was beyond belief how fast he went down hill. And he had this awful smell about him. He was just in terrible shape.

I never feed pet mince either. There is no real guarantee what is actually in it. Human consumption meat is the only way to go for us. After what Sonny has been through I don't take chances with his diet.