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Good dog food? Helping dog gain weight.

Paula

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When my dogs did the raw diet, I use to use a hammer in the beginning to break up the bones some for boo, he hates large bones/treats. Depending on the dog if it doesn't like big bones/treats it will help them eat it. If he is the type of dog that will tear into a huge rawhide, he should be fine. I also cracked an raw egg into their bowl, shell and all, its very good for them and their coat. Boo also gets a tbsp of coconut oil.
Just saw this for some reason, and wanted to comment that it NOT a good idea to break up bones this way for a dog - they will learn to eat it on their own or they'll go hungry. First, the dog needs to be breaking down the bones himself just for the motion and strength of muscles, but it can be dangerous if you break a bone and then the dog doesn't chew it but rather just swallows it because he doesn't think it needs to be chewed - this can cause intestinal issues like tears and obstructions - I've heard of it more than once. Just give the dog the bone-in meat and let them chew it on their own.
 

Aleks

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@Paula & @lissie There's a store a couple of miles away that sells Taste of the Wild! I'm going to be picking some up tomorrow. Thank you to everyone for all of your help, I really hope she eats this kind and benefits from it. :)
I'll post an update on how things go with talking to my boyfriend's mom about taking her to a vet. I imagine it's going to take more than just one talk and showing her some research to get her to consider it.
 

lissie

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You're very welcome. Please keep us update on how it goes.
 

Aleks

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@lissie Just got home and started weaning her onto the Taste of The Wild food.
With some of the Taste of The Wild food in her old food, she ate almost all of it. I'm taking that as a good sign.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to go about talking to his mom about taking her to the vet and was wondering if you could offer any advice? She can be a pretty stubborn and abrasive person.
 

lunarminx

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Just saw this for some reason, and wanted to comment that it NOT a good idea to break up bones this way for a dog - they will learn to eat it on their own or they'll go hungry. First, the dog needs to be breaking down the bones himself just for the motion and strength of muscles, but it can be dangerous if you break a bone and then the dog doesn't chew it but rather just swallows it because he doesn't think it needs to be chewed - this can cause intestinal issues like tears and obstructions - I've heard of it more than once. Just give the dog the bone-in meat and let them chew it on their own.


Now see the site I saw stated in the beginning if they won't eat the big pieces of chicken to break it up with a hammer, not totally but Boo will not even eat a large milk bone. I didn't mash the chicken, I just gave it a few whacks to make it easier for him to eat the chicken. After a while I only gave him the winds or drumsticks because i realized even though he could break up the bone, he didn't want to. He still had to chew up bone and rip the meat off.
 

lissie

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@lissie Just got home and started weaning her onto the Taste of The Wild food.
With some of the Taste of The Wild food in her old food, she ate almost all of it. I'm taking that as a good sign.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to go about talking to his mom about taking her to the vet and was wondering if you could offer any advice? She can be a pretty stubborn and abrasive person.

Thanks for the update. Glad she liked the new food.

Other than being skinny, does she have other issues?

How is she doing today?
 

MrWhistles

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Bear in mind, this isn't the OP's dog. Am I correct? That is what I concluded from the original posting.....
OP, I would pass this information onto the dog's owner. Educate the owner what really IS in dog food and what you SHOULD be looking for in your dog's food. I followed this site religiously when changing my dogs to a raw diet (broken link removed)
Raw diet is certainly the BEST diet, but it isn't for everyone. I spend more money on my pug's raw diet than I did on the highest quality kibble for her. But clearly, she is healthier and happier on a raw diet and I will keep her on it for as long as I possibly can.

From my research, I've read that canned dog food is far superior to many kibbles. I personally love LOVE Simply Nourish canned foods. It literally looks like something you would eat. Real shredded meat and veggies. When I was on the kibbles, I fed Taste of the Wild and Orijen. Certainly expensive, but it's one of the few brands I trusted to feed my dogs. Even then, I was still very leery, which is why I changed to prey model raw.

Affordable kibbles are Kirkland, Blue Buffalo, Simply Nourish and Nature's Recipe. I would NOT purchase Natural Balance, in my research, it's an over priced mid-grade food. Do not buy into Bil-Jac, Over priced low quality dog food. I've seen excellent results of dogs on Pro Plan. It's not a kibble I would feed. But it's certainly better than what the dogs are currently fed.

I would show the links provided here to the dog's owner. Educate her and let her educate herself on the horrors of many low quality kibbles. Many kibbles used euthanized dogs and cats in their food. Which shouldn't be fed at all. Unless the animal was put down with a bullet or other non-medicated way, you can count that it is slowly killing your pet.
 

Aleks

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Thanks for the update. Glad she liked the new food.

Other than being skinny, does she have other issues?

How is she doing today?

No, none that I'm aware of.
Today she's doing good. I was kind of disappointed when i woke up this morning though, because my bf's mom didn't mix in any of the Taste of the Wild food with her old food like i told her we would need to last night.
(I mixed some in myself though)

Bear in mind, this isn't the OP's dog. Am I correct? That is what I concluded from the original posting.....
OP, I would pass this information onto the dog's owner. Educate the owner what really IS in dog food and what you SHOULD be looking for in your dog's food. I followed this site religiously when changing my dogs to a raw diet (broken link removed)
Raw diet is certainly the BEST diet, but it isn't for everyone. I spend more money on my pug's raw diet than I did on the highest quality kibble for her. But clearly, she is healthier and happier on a raw diet and I will keep her on it for as long as I possibly can.

From my research, I've read that canned dog food is far superior to many kibbles. I personally love LOVE Simply Nourish canned foods. It literally looks like something you would eat. Real shredded meat and veggies. When I was on the kibbles, I fed Taste of the Wild and Orijen. Certainly expensive, but it's one of the few brands I trusted to feed my dogs. Even then, I was still very leery, which is why I changed to prey model raw.

Affordable kibbles are Kirkland, Blue Buffalo, Simply Nourish and Nature's Recipe. I would NOT purchase Natural Balance, in my research, it's an over priced mid-grade food. Do not buy into Bil-Jac, Over priced low quality dog food. I've seen excellent results of dogs on Pro Plan. It's not a kibble I would feed. But it's certainly better than what the dogs are currently fed.

I would show the links provided here to the dog's owner. Educate her and let her educate herself on the horrors of many low quality kibbles. Many kibbles used euthanized dogs and cats in their food. Which shouldn't be fed at all. Unless the animal was put down with a bullet or other non-medicated way, you can count that it is slowly killing your pet.

Yes, you're correct she isn't my dog. She's my bf's sisters dog.
I could try showing her some research and such, she really doesn't like me or anything i have to say though. I would honestly be willing to just buy her dog food whenever she needs it.
I got the Taste of the Wild kind, by the way.

Also, many kibbles put euthanized dogs and cats in them???? I've never ever heard of that, i find it very disturbing. Where did you learn that and can you post some links?
 

MrWhistles

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Here's the 1st article that I had found when doing research on kibbles.
https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-industry-exposed/euthanized-pets-dog-food/
There are many many articles about the use of euthanized pets in kibbles. Any kibble that has a vague meat like "meat meal" "animal fat" etc likely have euthanized pets in them.

If you can afford to purchase the dog's food, then by all means, go ahead. Do you know if there's any specific reason that she doesn't like you? If it were me, I'd still attempt to give her the information in hopes that she may change the way she views her dog's food. When I worked at PetsMart, I spent a great deal educating owners about what is in their dogs' food and let them make the choice when they know what they're feeding their pets. My managers didn't like it because many times it meant that the lower quality foods didn't get sold. But I'd rather have an educated owner coming back to the store for a higher quality food than one that doesn't know why their giving their pets and only giving a certain kibble based off what the bag says or what they can afford.

If you decide to speak with her and show her this information, I hope she sees the light. Her dog would be much healthier and happier.
 

Aleks

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Here's the 1st article that I had found when doing research on kibbles.
https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-industry-exposed/euthanized-pets-dog-food/
There are many many articles about the use of euthanized pets in kibbles. Any kibble that has a vague meat like "meat meal" "animal fat" etc likely have euthanized pets in them.

If you can afford to purchase the dog's food, then by all means, go ahead. Do you know if there's any specific reason that she doesn't like you? If it were me, I'd still attempt to give her the information in hopes that she may change the way she views her dog's food. When I worked at PetsMart, I spent a great deal educating owners about what is in their dogs' food and let them make the choice when they know what they're feeding their pets. My managers didn't like it because many times it meant that the lower quality foods didn't get sold. But I'd rather have an educated owner coming back to the store for a higher quality food than one that doesn't know why their giving their pets and only giving a certain kibble based off what the bag says or what they can afford.

If you decide to speak with her and show her this information, I hope she sees the light. Her dog would be much healthier and happier.

Oh my. That's very very disturbing to me. And I think the main reason she doesn't like me is because my boyfriend and I fight sometimes. Plain and simple. I also got into it with her once when she almost pushed Nova (the dog we're discussing) down the stairs. She "almost kicked my ass" then.
 

MrWhistles

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hm
Sounds like she just catches you in the middle of life. I'd honestly "get into it" if I saw someone pushing a dog down the stairs as well. She sounds like she may not be open to seeing that animals are actually beings that need to be cared for correctly.

I would be prepared for the possibility of everything you're purchasing for Nova to be, essentially, tossed out. We know what the dog should be fed, but it's a matter of her owner realizing it and accepting it. I can't see why someone wouldn't want you purchasing food for their dog. Hey, free food, ya can't turn that down, eh? But some people work in mysterious ways.
 

Paula

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Now see the site I saw stated in the beginning if they won't eat the big pieces of chicken to break it up with a hammer, not totally but Boo will not even eat a large milk bone. I didn't mash the chicken, I just gave it a few whacks to make it easier for him to eat the chicken. After a while I only gave him the winds or drumsticks because i realized even though he could break up the bone, he didn't want to. He still had to chew up bone and rip the meat off.
The concern isn't that they be able to rip the meat off, though that's good - it's that if you break the bones and the dog doesn't chew them himself, they can end up swallowing a piece that's too big that may cause a blockage or tear or other intestinal issue. It didn't make much sense to me, because the bones are broken down in a dogs' stomach anyway, but I've read and heard enough horror stories of a torn intestine or blockage that I'd definitely not recommend doing it, myself, and would caution anyone else from doing it too.
 

lunarminx

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Raw diet is certainly the BEST diet, but it isn't for everyone. I spend more money on my pug's raw diet than I did on the highest quality kibble for her. But clearly, she is healthier and happier on a raw diet and I will keep her on it for as long as I possibly can.

I went to the raw diet when I was talked into a food at petsmart down in Florida. It was suppose to be a great food but both my dogs had a reaction to it and nothing we tried worked on both of them. The web brought me to the raw diet and they cleared up really quick. We even brought a deep chest type freezer for the bags of food we prepared.
 

lunarminx

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The concern isn't that they be able to rip the meat off, though that's good - it's that if you break the bones and the dog doesn't chew them himself, they can end up swallowing a piece that's too big that may cause a blockage or tear or other intestinal issue. It didn't make much sense to me, because the bones are broken down in a dogs' stomach anyway, but I've read and heard enough horror stories of a torn intestine or blockage that I'd definitely not recommend doing it, myself, and would caution anyone else from doing it too.

I can understand that as Boo will do that with rawhide and any larger piece of meat, its weird that the prissy mutt won't eat larger bones, he won't even eat a pigs ear is its big.
After moving back to Maryland I tried going back to the raw diet after a year and now he won't eat it but loves the homemade cooked food I make him sometimes.
 

Paula

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I can understand that as Boo will do that with rawhide and any larger piece of meat, its weird that the prissy mutt won't eat larger bones, he won't even eat a pigs ear is its big.
After moving back to Maryland I tried going back to the raw diet after a year and now he won't eat it but loves the homemade cooked food I make him sometimes.
Rawhide can be pretty dangerous, too. Especially in terms of blockages. It's also made with some pretty terrible stuff. I used to give my dog Scout rawhide - she loved it more than anything, but after exhaustive testing, we determined that the likely cause of her many health issues was likely the lye and other chemicals used in producing it.
 

Aleks

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Sorry I meant to update this a couple of days ago, we had blood work done on her and everything came out fine. I think one of the tests they did was the T4 test to test for hypothyroidism?
They said it was a good idea to have switched her food, especially since she's been eating more after the change. I can't remember exactly how much she weighed, but they made the comment that she wasn't super skinny but could stand to gain some weight.
 

Aleks

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I may be mistaken about the T4 test though, i don't see why they would have checked for hypothyroidism since one of the symptoms is weight gain as opposed to weight loss. Hmm. :/
 

photosavvy

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try purina puppy chow, whenever my dogs had a problem with needing to gain weight i fed that to them and they just gobbled it up.
 

Paula

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try purina puppy chow, whenever my dogs had a problem with needing to gain weight i fed that to them and they just gobbled it up.
The dog would probably gain weight eating Kentucky Fried Chicken and Ruffles potato chips, too, and they'd likely eat it and enjoy it ... That doesn't mean it's ideal or recommended, and Purina Puppy Chow is about as nutritious.

[MENTION=25470]Aleks[/MENTION], that's great that she seems to be doing better. T4 tests for hypothyroidism, it also tests for hyperthyroidism, which makes sense because if she had hyper (not hypo) she would have difficulty gaining weight. I hope she continues to gain and improve. She might always be on the skinny side, my Annie is a greyhound/lab mix and she's always very thin despite eating like a little pig all the time - every girl's dream!
 
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