Food Recommendations for Duke?

[Roxyluvsme13]

I used Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul for almost 2 years; I liked it, the dogs liked it, but Sugar was itching on it. Not sure why. She was the only one having an allergic reaction.

Been using Halo Spot's Stew chicken formula for a year with great results. The lamb formula also had Sugar itching.

I buy it from here:
www.doggiefood.com

I'll have to check into the second one. Chicken Soup seems to be one of the cheaper higher quality foods that I can find nearby, so I also have to check into prices on it. Thanks Sandie!

I have Snoopy on Taste of Wild (lamb) it really controls his IBS so far. I get it at Tractor Supply.

Coco is on Precise (Chicken/Rice) I order it through place in Maryland. Free shipping when you order $60 or more.

Cats are all on Taste of Wild brand.

I'm thinking about switching Coco to Taste Of Wild.

I'm finding anything with chicken in it gives dog's and cats gas and more poop.

I had cats and dogs on 4 Health (from Tractor Supply). To much gas and poop.

Gas and poop, not good. I'll have to see if it reacts that way with Duke, if so I'll have to find something without chicken in it too. Thanks for the input!

I feed Acana Grasslands (lamb formula). Its about 35 dollars for a 17 pound bag I believe. It's a 5 star rating.

Always remember, the higher quality, the LESS you have to feed. In the end, it's isn't as expensive as you might think it is because it lasts longer. I would also recommend california natural, I had my dogs on it for awhile but Sam does much better on grain free food. I think that is a 4 star food.

For example, Springen was on Royal Canin Boxer Formula. (CRAPPY food, my brother insisted he thought it was good) They recommend about 4 cups a day for his weight. He just switched him to grain free Blue Wilderness, and they recommend about 2.5-3 cups a day. Big difference!

I think I saw that when I was looking at foods the other day... Not sure though.

Yeah, I was trying to keep that in mind. Everything I've looked into to give him is something super expensive, but my mom is objecting . Though technically, I've already claimed Duke as MY dog, so I think I can feed him what I want to since I'm 19 and paying for it

Wow, big difference. Is Springen doing better on the Blue than the Royal Canin???

I've fed a lot of dog foods - natural balance, nature's variety, wellness, avoderm, and I recently switched to solid gold. When I checked out all the dog foods available at petco - just the lamb formulas actually because my dogs do well on lamb - solid gold had the best ingredients for the price. I'm feeding the hund-n-flocken. It is about 54.99 for a 33 lb bag. I think I was paying 55.99 for a 30 lb bag of avoderm. And it's fun to say my dogs poop solid gold ha ha.

Be careful of putting on too much weight with him - bassets are very prone to being overweight I'm shocked to ever see one that's not fat. It seems so much worse for the dogs with short legs too.

Amy, you're just a dog food expert, LOL.

Lily always liked lamb, so I was thinking about trying that with Duke too. I think we have solid gold somewhere around here, again I'll have to look into it.

Oh yeah, I read about a lot of bassets having weight problems. So I'm really shocked that he's as skinny as he is :/. He just needs to put on about 10 or so pounds I think. He's supposed to weigh around 40 and he probably weighs nowhere close to that.

Thanks for the input!

[dab_20]

I think I saw that when I was looking at foods the other day... Not sure though.

Yeah, I was trying to keep that in mind. Everything I've looked into to give him is something super expensive, but my mom is objecting . Though technically, I've already claimed Duke as MY dog, so I think I can feed him what I want to since I'm 19 and paying for it

Wow, big difference. Is Springen doing better on the Blue than the Royal Canin???

Yeah, if your buying it, go for what you want! Yeah, Springen always has had runny poop whatever we put him on. Finally, it's mostly normal. He also had allergies on his other food and would lose some of the hair around his eyes and ears, and that seems to be growing back as well!

[IRescue452]

I would just see how he does on a regular quality adult formula with no extra feedings or excessive amounts. He may have just been fed poorly in the past and that's why he's thin. If he fills out and seems healthy with just that then you know it was just poor care he'd received in the past.

Autumn does terrible on lamb but fine on chicken. Each dog is individual. I wouldn't buy a huge bag of any food you decided to try for the first time around.

[Roxyluvsme13]

Yeah, if your buying it, go for what you want! Yeah, Springen always has had runny poop whatever we put him on. Finally, it's mostly normal. He also had allergies on his other food and would lose some of the hair around his eyes and ears, and that seems to be growing back as well!

Poor Springen . Maybe he was allergic to one of the ingredients in most dog foods? I'm glad he's doing better now though

I would just see how he does on a regular quality adult formula with no extra feedings or excessive amounts. He may have just been fed poorly in the past and that's why he's thin. If he fills out and seems healthy with just that then you know it was just poor care he'd received in the past.

Autumn does terrible on lamb but fine on chicken. Each dog is individual. I wouldn't buy a huge bag of any food you decided to try for the first time around.

Okay!

I think/hope that our Natural Pet Supply store actually gives out samples of bags of food. At least our one where I previously lived did, and since they're the same company, I'm hoping the one here does too.

I can hopefully get some samples of most of the foods mentioned here and try them out with Duke. If not, I'll just buy a small bag of something at the pet store near my house for the time being I think.

I appreciate everyone's suggestions, I have a lot of options to choose from now

[luvofallhorses]

Natural Balance is pretty affordable.

[K9soul]

I feed mine Taste of the Wild grain-free formulas (I pick different formulas off and on for variety) mixed with raw feeding. It's the most affordable grain-free that I feel comfortable with and they have done well on it. I had tried a higher rated food with grain but just didn't like how they gained weight on it and had more stool. The ToTW that I get at the feed store is about $46 I think for 30 pounds.

Anyway, I'd be very cautious about deciding to add 10 pounds to him. You say he is "probably" no where near 40, but be sure you weigh him first. My Tasha is 40 pounds and does not look it. She's a lean light dog. Second of all, what a lot of people think looks "too skinny" is actually a healthy lean weight on a dog. A study recently showed that over 50% of dogs in the U.S. are overweight or obese. That's a very sad statistic. Another study has shown that leaner dogs live longer. You can read more about that here: http://mullerveterinaryhospital.com/...ean%20dogs.htm

It's actually better to be a couple pounds under than over, especially as mentioned before on a breed with a long back and short legs. Ten pounds is actually quite a bit to add on in my opinion. I would also get his stool checked for worms before upping his intake.

[IRescue452]

Agreed about the weight. If he's lean but not losing weight with a regular diet then you shouldn't worry. If he is losing on a regular diet then worry. 10 pounds is 25% of a 40lb dog's weight. That's the equivalent to about 38 pounds on the average 150 pound human. So that's like a lean person suddenly wanting to add 38 pounds. Not something that should be done real fast by simply overeating.

[Roxyluvsme13]

Well, my mom and I are going to try to weigh him soon and see how much he weighs. Ten pounds was just a guess (and I'm really bad about judging weight on animals), but he just looks really skinny to me and I can feel all his ribs and see them, so that's why I'm a bit concerned. He eats ALL the time and is ALWAYS hungry, but I know he's getting fed enough because I've seen him inhale his food like it's nothing.

He looks and acts very healthy, I'm just concerned about seeing his ribs and feeling them. Maybe I'm just worrying too much?