jaxypooh wrote:

OMG Takoda is spoiled. She eats a better breakfast than me.

Rodney is a yr old and only weights 38 lbs.. He seems so little to me compared to Jax. Any suggestions what can fatten him up? I guess maybe is was the runt of the little or something.. hahah!

When we adopted Roxy, she was estimated to be about a year old, and weighed 37 lbs at the vet checkup... nearly a year later, we got her weighed before getting her monthly worming medicine, and she was 63 pounds!!! I'm sure he'll put on some weight...

Sigh. Diarrhea has arrived.

Do you have a balcony or patio at your apartment? Could you run an extension chord outside and buy a small freezer and put a lock on it? I know it sounds ridiculous but maybe that would help you be able to feed raw?

I'm going to store it in my mom's freezer I think- she's just down the freeway. I'll go twice a week to the asian market and put it there. He is so skinny and I'd rather go broke right now to put weight on him.

Update on Roxy's diet, Since blue buffalo wilderness now comes in three flavors we have been switching back and forth with the flavors since they generally have the same ingredients we have found that it doesnt affect her tummy at all. Plus she has been eating alot better now that we are doing that

YAY! Congrats Roxy

Ok its time to get new food for the boys.... Since Niko has the yeast infections in his ears I have read that the grains in the food will keep it around so I guess its time to switch. I'm bouncing TOTW pacific stream and Evo herring & salmon and suggestions?

we used TOTW PS and also high prairie and jack and sierra like the high prairie better. but i also found that costco carries a grain free salmon and sierra has been eating it but i think she is starting to not like the fish as much. we have not tried the wetlands one yet. Evo i think cost more. we can get a 30lb of TOTW for $48 and at 2 cups a day for each dog it last us about 3 weeks.

TOTW PS is what we use... it's definitely cheaper than your other brands. Evo is a fantastic food, but we found it was too rich for Koda. It's very high in protein and he's a house dog, not a working dog, so it didn't work for him.

Get ready for a guess and check game. It's hit or miss as every dog is different. If you go to a local store, keep your bags of food and your receipt. Most places have a return policy if your dogs don't like the food.

Remember, it takes about 2-3 weeks for a food to really settle into their stomachs, and generally you'll have better luck easing your dogs into the food instead of switching cold turkey.

Koda wrote:

Remember, it takes about 2-3 weeks for a food to really settle into their stomachs, and generally you'll have better luck easing your dogs into the food instead of switching cold turkey.

i would normally agree with the taking the time to switch them but the fact that Niko is having these issues now and that getting grain out of him faster is better i would almost say try switching them in like 3-5 days instead of the few weeks.

Gonna pick up the TOTW tonight.. Found a tractor supply store that carries it. Its $43 and the EVO is $73. We will see how they do. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks ladies for your help! :-)

jbealer wrote:

Koda wrote:

Remember, it takes about 2-3 weeks for a food to really settle into their stomachs, and generally you'll have better luck easing your dogs into the food instead of switching cold turkey.

i would normally agree with the taking the time to switch them but the fact that Niko is having these issues now and that getting grain out of him faster is better i would almost say try switching them in like 3-5 days instead of the few weeks.

Oh 3-5 days is sufficient, especially with his problems now as Jenn mentioned. I meant that it takes 2-3 weeks to see the results of the new food. Meaning, even if their stools seem good initially, you can't know for sure for about 2-3 weeks on the food. Koda was GREAT on Evo at first, for example, but 2.5 weeks after feeding it, his stool got very soft again. Make sense? Sorry if I was unclear!

I started it last night. Half TOTW and Half eukanuba. Rodney tore it up and he usually eats very slow and Niko took his time with it and usually eats his food quick so we will see. :-)

good luck with it :-) we switched our dogs to Blue Buffalo and they LOVE it!! it smells bad i think but i have cut ours back to my pug one cup a day and sniper 3 cups a day and they tear it up!!

Yeah it Def smells bad Crystal. Thats prob why mine loves it also

Is the blue buffalo grain free? I think they sell that one at petsmart now right?

Crystal and I feed our the Blue Buffalo Wilderness Flavors and yes they are all grain free/Hollistic. Our petsmart sells all of the Blue Buffalo types

it's pricey but they love it!! can u guys remind me again why we feed grain free?? LOL

firefighterchik04 wrote:

it's pricey but they love it!! can u guys remind me again why we feed grain free?? LOL

LOL.

I don't know why YOU feed grain free but we feed Koda and Hailey grain-free because it more accurately reflects a dog's natural diet in the wild. True, they would get grain from eating the contents of an animal's stomach, but it's minimal compared to the amount of grain in regular kibbles. It's healthier for them, as meat sources provide more of the nutrients that dogs need. But most importantly, Sibes have pretty sensitive stomachs. We switched to grain-free for Koda because he wasn't doing well on a high-quality holistic kibble that included oatmeal and rice. His stools were always soft. As soon as we switched to a grain-free food, that cleared right up. Huskies are notorious for being picky eaters and having sensitive stomachs, so sticking to the all-natural sources generally works best, but every dog is different.

I just read this the other day! Not sure how true it is though.



"Let's just think about this for a minute, you see, science proves dogs are carnivores and were not designed to eat grains in the first place. They do not manufacter amylase in their saliva, to start the break-down of carbohydrates and starches; amylase in the saliva is something omnivorous and herbivorous animals possess, but not carnivorous animals. This places the burden entirely on the pancreas, forcing it to produce large amounts of amylase to deal with the starch, cellulose, and carbohydrates in grains and plant matter. (The carnivore's pancreas does not secrete cellulase to split the cellulose into glucose molecules), nor have dogs become efficient at digesting and assimilating and utilizing gains or plant material as a source of high quality protein. Herbivores do those sorts of things. "

Thanks Koda!!

This is what we feed Kye and Kali. Kali gets 6 1/2cp scoops once a day. Kye gets 8 1/2cp scoops once a day as well. It's a pricey food, but we've seen DRAMATIC changes in Kye since we switched him to this. We were feeding Nutro Natural when we first got him, but his poop was HORRIBLE! So we went to the pet store and seen what our best bet to do was, and he loves this! And since we have him on it, we also Kali on it.

We've had nothing but greatness with it. So, I deff recommend it to you!

Wait, are you saying they eat 6 1/2 cups and 8 1/2 cups of food a day? that seems like a ton! i never had a puppy before so i guess that could be it as well, does it say to lower the food once an adult?

Wellness is a great food and I highly recommend it as well

I hate to say this too, but 6.5 and 8.5 cups a day? How much do your pups weigh? According to the feeding guidelines on the bag, that is WAY over-feeding them based on what I estimate a year old male and 6 month old female to weigh.

To give you an idea... Koda, a full-grown male, gets 2 cups a DAY...and Hailey, a full-grown female gets ONE cup day. Granted it's an adult food, but rated at the same quality food. Maybe slightly higher since TOTW is grain-free.

Nooo. They're half scoops so like two scoops equals one cup. Lol.