Nutrition for Your Dog

Off Topic
41

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
dre wrote:
sluicy wrote:
I’m also a big fan of feeding “people food” (silly label) to dogs. They need variety too. (As long as it’s not harmful, e.g. grapes.)

Holy sh*t, how did I not know that grapes were bad for dogs? I was giving my dog some a couple weeks ago. I’m an idiot.

edit: Rumor: Grapes are Harmful for Dogs

In 2004, another ?Warning to Dog Owners? began circulating. This one claimed that grapes and raisins can cause renal failure in canines.

The story was quickly picked up by a number of veterinary and general-interest news sites?and as it turns out, it, too, is true. Dogs can become fatally ill after ingesting grapes and raisins.

In some dogs, as few as seven raisins brought on symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhea, and shaking. The fruits can cause the kidneys to shut down, and often, even aggressive treatment is unsuccessful.

No one is sure why grapes and raisins cause this reaction in dogs. All dog owners should refrain from feeding grapes and raisins as treats to their dogs, and keep them well out of reach. If you suspect your dog has ingested grapes, or if he starts showing symptoms, contact your vet immediately.

How the hell do you get a dog to eat a grape or raisins?
None of the dogs I “personally know” would ever eat something that’s not either meat or stuff that smells like meat…
[/quote]

I just bite it in half, he would eat half and I would eat half. But he seriously eats anything. It’s crazy. He’s a boxer/lab mix.

42

Here’s a pretty good site with a list of naturally occurring pet-toxic plants:

http://www.ttlntl.co.uk/2/Health/poisonplants.htm

I find it hilarious that they list marijuana, only because back when I worked at the clinic we had a specific case on a very hectic, stressful day, of a guy that brought his 130 lb, long-legged, GORGEOUS GORGEOUS Rottie in…

The dog was very clearly neurological so I immediately called the doc into the room, perhaps I was just silly and naiive, haha… but REALLY!

Turned out the dog had eaten 2 bags of weed, then grazed of a couple of plants for a while, then gotten into some brownies, then slurped up a half pound or so of butter.

We all spent the rest of the overbooked afternoon racing around the clinic like our heads were cut off and this damn Rott was so big and so high we didn’t even bother to try and get him in one of the kennels,

So he just lay in the middle of the treatment room floor hooked up to an IV and covered with a quilt, snoozing away while crazy life went on and we all ran around and jumped over him and etc… The head doc on duty summed up our jealousy best when he said, “I just want to know what the hell he’s dreaming.”

Man, he was a gorgeous dog.

Of course, it was all the roomie’s weed. Riiiight.

43

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
dre wrote:
sluicy wrote:
I’m also a big fan of feeding “people food” (silly label) to dogs. They need variety too. (As long as it’s not harmful, e.g. grapes.)

Holy sh*t, how did I not know that grapes were bad for dogs? I was giving my dog some a couple weeks ago. I’m an idiot.

edit: Rumor: Grapes are Harmful for Dogs

In 2004, another ?Warning to Dog Owners? began circulating. This one claimed that grapes and raisins can cause renal failure in canines.

The story was quickly picked up by a number of veterinary and general-interest news sites?and as it turns out, it, too, is true. Dogs can become fatally ill after ingesting grapes and raisins.

In some dogs, as few as seven raisins brought on symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhea, and shaking. The fruits can cause the kidneys to shut down, and often, even aggressive treatment is unsuccessful.

No one is sure why grapes and raisins cause this reaction in dogs. All dog owners should refrain from feeding grapes and raisins as treats to their dogs, and keep them well out of reach. If you suspect your dog has ingested grapes, or if he starts showing symptoms, contact your vet immediately.

How the hell do you get a dog to eat a grape or raisins?
None of the dogs I “personally know” would ever eat something that’s not either meat or stuff that smells like meat…
[/quote]

my dane loves grapes. I fed them to her quite often as a pup, till I heard about grapes being bad

44

I think my mother always fed our dog Canidae after she had a sort of dog food epiphany after reading about how most ‘premium’ dog foods like eukanuba, iams, etc. are pretty much garbage. Our cat gets Wellness food, and they also make dog food, so that stuff is probably top draw.

45

I feed my dog Primal (BARF Diet, all natural raw diet). After I started feeding her primal, her shedding stopped. Shes a small 45 pound husky… My baby girl…

46

[quote]aznt0rk wrote:
I feed my dog Primal (BARF Diet, all natural raw diet). After I started feeding her primal, her shedding stopped. Shes a small 45 pound husky… My baby girl…[/quote]

picture? I love huskies.

(all others in this thread too, I would love to see your dog pics, though it’s been done before.)

47

[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:

my dane loves grapes. I fed them to her quite often as a pup, till I heard about grapes being bad
[/quote]

Aren’t danes wonderful? Pics of your dog are also requested, just for me… :slight_smile:

48

[quote]sluicy wrote:
aznt0rk wrote:
I feed my dog Primal (BARF Diet, all natural raw diet). After I started feeding her primal, her shedding stopped. Shes a small 45 pound husky… My baby girl…

picture? I love huskies.

(all others in this thread too, I would love to see your dog pics, though it’s been done before.)[/quote]

x2 on “I love huskies”.

49

My dogs (my familys dogs) get a lot of liver, bone marrow, a little meat, etc. in addition to their dog food. I believe that is very healthy for them.

jehovasfitness: Giving the dog a capsule of Flameout per day seemed like a good idea, actually :slight_smile: I’ll ask a vet about it the next time I meet one.

50

Yea ever since the news about the tainted chinese dog food came out my mom actually cooks her dogs food. She buys meat on sale at the grocery store and cooks tons of it. The dogs seem really healthy, oh I think she gives them vitamins too.

Cant wait to be out of school so I can get a dog.

51

None of the 6 star shit on that site can be found at petsmart. I saw a bag of Bil Jac, which I read about in this thread.

It receives a 1 star and shitty shitty review.

52

Found a “pet shop” 5 miles from me that sells Innova Evo. It’s 57.99 on Amazon plus shipping, wonder how much a ‘pet shop’ sells it for.

Can’t help but think I’m getting duped… like people paying 15k for speaker wire.

I want what’s best for him it’s just a little suspect that all the cheap, easily found shit is shit… and the expensive stuff is God’s gift. It’s like trying your ass off to be different.

Going to go get it tomorrow… probably switch on Tuesday when we’re out of the Nutro from Petsmart. Every Petsmart. Across America. For $30 a month.

54

[quote]msd0060 wrote:
Found a “pet shop” 5 miles from me that sells Innova Evo. It’s 57.99 on Amazon plus shipping, wonder how much a ‘pet shop’ sells it for.

Can’t help but think I’m getting duped… like people paying 15k for speaker wire.

I want what’s best for him it’s just a little suspect that all the cheap, easily found shit is shit… and the expensive stuff is God’s gift. It’s like trying your ass off to be different.

Going to go get it tomorrow… probably switch on Tuesday when we’re out of the Nutro from Petsmart. Every Petsmart. Across America. For $30 a month.[/quote]

Yes but don’t forget that you’ll feed much less. My dog was eating 3 cups twice a day of Nutro. Now he eats 1 1/2 cups twice a day of EVO, which is actually less than the recommendation on the back of the bag.

55

I picked up Innova EVO today for $64 after tax. Would have cost about the same shipped off of Amazon.

Got the Red Meat small bites kind.

Dog definitely noticed it was different, was kind of startled at first, but he definitely ate it all. Wondering what his turds will look like tomorrow.

56

[quote]msd0060 wrote:
I picked up Innova EVO today for $64 after tax. Would have cost about the same shipped off of Amazon.

Got the Red Meat small bites kind.

Dog definitely noticed it was different, was kind of startled at first, but he definitely ate it all. Wondering what his turds will look like tomorrow.[/quote]

Well, probably diarrhea for a couple of days if you didn’t mix it with his old food.

After a while if he does well on it you may need to supplement with canned pumpkin, since it’s so high-pro. My own gets constipated once in a while if he doesn’t get regular exercise.

It may take a while for the stool to normalize, so don’t use that as an immediate indicator.

And btw I pay $71. So you’re ahead of me there. But I think your dog is smaller so it evens out. :slight_smile:

57

Should be getting my Orijen early this week. I’ll start my 1.2 year old pitt/boxer on it and see how she does. She is a very good dog, we picked her up from the humane society when she was about 7-8 months old. She had been adopted once before and brought back because they couldn’t housebreak her. On the sheet where it asked about her living conditions, she was basically in a crate for most of the day and let outside 2 times for 10 minutes or less. When we first brought her home the first 3 days she used the house as a toilet, then with proper corrections and praises for going outside (plus plenty of time outside) she began to only mess in the house a few times a week. After a month she hasn’t had a real accident in the house since.

She has developed a red rash on her belly though, and I can’t see what would be causing it. That was before I read about the irritants that may be present in the bil jac. Luckily she is at the end of her bag of that crap and she will be getting some good food shortly. She is a complete and utter pig so i’m not worried about her being weined off the sugar in the bil jac. She eats my roomates dogfood (Iams red bag) and anything she can scavenge in the kitchen when someone is cooking.

I’ll get some pictures up for you too sluicy, my Fiance has taken probably 70 pictures of her since I got her a digital camera for her birthday in Sept. I think she has 2 pics of me (who does she love?)

Also one last note, are you all putting water in your dry kibble? I have always done that and read recently that it is beneficial for digestion.

V

58

[quote]Mister T. wrote:
I feed mine Solid Gold, and I don’t have any complaints about it yet (I’ve been using it for about 8 months). I’m still considering a raw food diet, though.[/quote]

We have tried just about every feeding option under the sun for our two boys. One has really bad allergies and we tried everything from raw, to homemade stew, to every high quality kibble out there. The one thing we noticed with raw was that it takes some time for the dogs to get use to it. Not to mention that you have to figure out the right amount to feed.

When we started doing raw, our dogs were very satisfied. Never whined to be fed, always seemed full, but they actually lost weight on it. We switched back to a high quality kibble, they gained the weight back but now they always seem hungry. And we are feeding more than what the daily requirements are. Weird.

EDIT: Pics of mutts now in profile

60

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
Ella (black lab) destroyed a Kong Wubba (beehive covered in neoprene with a handle for throwing in the water) in less than a week. She REALLY likes to play fetch in the water.

I even got her to swim after some geese that were hanging out in the bay. Good, stupid dog. :slight_smile:
[/quote]

Just be aware that in some states, that constitutes harrassment of wildlife, which can be a punishable offense. It is here in Illinois. Even if it is unintentional you could still get a ticket. Never thought I would see it enforced until last fall, when my buddy got a ticket from a cop in Chicago for his dog chasing ducks and geese.

Stupid for sure. Just an FYI.

61

Rachael Ray has a line of dog food? WTF? Talk about over-exposure.

62

[quote]Mister T. wrote:
dre wrote:
Mister T. wrote:
I feed mine Solid Gold, and I don’t have any complaints about it yet (I’ve been using it for about 8 months). I’m still considering a raw food diet, though.

We have tried just about every feeding option under the sun for our two boys. One has really bad allergies and we tried everything from raw, to homemade stew, to every high quality kibble out there. The one thing we noticed with raw was that it takes some time for the dogs to get use to it. Not to mention that you have to figure out the right amount to feed.

When we started doing raw, our dogs were very satisfied. Never whined to be fed, always seemed full, but they actually lost weight on it. We switched back to a high quality kibble, they gained the weight back but now they always seem hungry. And we are feeding more than what the daily requirements are. Weird.

EDIT: Pics of mutts now in profile

Wow, that brown dog looks VERY similar to mine. I can’t tell if yours has pit in him, but he looks like he has quite a bit of boxer.

Is there any reason you went back to the kibble?[/quote]

Well, his paperwork says boxer/gordon setter mix but we and everyone else who knows anything about dogs believe he boxer/lab mix.

However, the other dog, the white one, I believe he has pit in him. Everyone who looks at him sees something different though, it’s kind’ve funny.

We switched back to kibble because neither of our dogs were keeping weight on feeding raw. Weirdest thing. The other reason is when we doing raw we didn’t know what he was allergic too. He was reacting to everything we were feeding him. Upon further testing though we found out he wasn’t allergic to any of the meat we were giving him, must have been some environmental allergy.

We would like to go back to raw someday but haven’t made the switch back yet.

Oh, great looking dog by the way!