Has anyone heard of this, or know if it's any good? We are switching back to Kibble because the dogs aren't taking to the Raw the way I thought they would, and to be honest, I have no seen any improvement in anything except the poo. The dogs are too picky about what part they want to eat, Kya will go DAYS without eating bc she doesn't like the part of the chicken I am giving her, they refuse to eat the organs, etc.

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Natural-Balance-LID-Allergy-Formula-Dry-Dog-Food/158184.aspx

That is what I found for dogs with allergies (We put all of our dogs on ONE food, and one of our dogs has allergies)

NB has been around but it looks like they are now calling their food 'Allergy Formula' because it has no gains in it? I checked to see if I could find a specific formula for allergies but it looks like it's referring to all their grain free formulas. It's OK - I gave the Sweet Potato & Fish treats to Ginger until I found better treats that I liked that is less processed.

If you look at their ingredient lists, it lists sweet potato or potato as the first ingredient and the protein content is lower that some of the other premium dog foods out there. If you don't mind that protein is the first ingredient listed and it has a lower protein content, then NB is OK.

Ginger cannot tolerate chicken or turkey in kibble form - it has to be either raw, dehydrated or freeze dried. And she can only tolerate up to a certain amount of beef, lamb, venison and buffalo if is freeze dried or dehydrated (no raw). And she cannot tolerate something in TOTW Pacific Stream or maybe even the 'cooking process'. And she does not do well on grains, especially rice. So she is on Orijen and THK Fish, both which are grain free.

What kind of allergies do you dog have? Is it grain? Or is a certain protein?

We have no idea what he is allergic to. We know that he is allergic to the grass, and fleas. South Texas it is literally IMPOSSIBLE to keep all fleas off of dogs, no matter what you do.

We know he is allergic to the grains. He ISN'T allergic to chicken because he is getting raw right now, but we are having a hard time with the raw because the dogs are so picky. Kya lost 3 pounds in a week bc she refused to eat the thigh quarters.

Pingo, our male pom, is the one with the allergies. We don't use chemicals on him anymore for fleas, because he was allergic to that too. We use lavender oil and honey and lavender shampoo once a week. (Detergent free). He is missing big patches of fur because he is allergic to what seems like everything. (They have started growing back, SLOWLY, since we stopped using the pesticide chemicals for fleas, but he still get scabs and stuff)

We took him to the vet, they said they could allergy test him, but it would run about 500 dollars, and honestly, I don't have the money to spend 500 dollars on an allergy test....


EDIT: We ARE used to allergies, as Poms are notorious for them, and my last pom was allergic to grains, chicken and flea chemicals. But this baby is miserable. We have to keep him on children's benadryl just to keep him comfortable bc of the itching.

Have you tried grain free kibble with a little bit of wet food?

cmanding wrote:

Have you tried grain free kibble with a little bit of wet food?

No, because wet food deteriorates the pom's teeth, or so we were told. And the limited research I did confirmed that. Although I will admit I have not done EXTENSIVE research.

Tiff&Kya wrote:

cmanding wrote:

Have you tried grain free kibble with a little bit of wet food?

No, because wet food deteriorates the pom's teeth, or so we were told. And the limited research I did confirmed that. Although I will admit I have not done EXTENSIVE research.

By wet, I meant dehydrated food that you rehydrate: Grandma Lucy's, Sojo's or The Honest Kitchen.

I have been give Kale and my Doxie Violet Wellness wet food along with their dry and their teeth are fine. I brush Kale's every night and give Violet Zuke bones; She's 9 and her teeth and gums are great for her age. She's ate wet food most of her life.

I like the Natural Balance L.I.D. diets as part of an elimination diet or as a temporary/rotational diet. However because they are potato heavy (sweet or white depending on the formula is typically the first ingredient in the LID line) I wouldn't particularly recommend them as a main diet for long term use. Natural Balance is manufactured by Diamond which is another concern of mine but that may or may not be an issue for you.

I've used several Natural Balance L.I.D. formulas when doing an elimination diet for two of my sensitive dogs and had great results with it. However the lower meat content and sheer amount of potato makes them something I would not stick with or recommend for long term use.

Tiff&Kya wrote:

No, because wet food deteriorates the pom's teeth, or so we were told. And the limited research I did confirmed that. Although I will admit I have not done EXTENSIVE research.

Wet food does not deteriorate any dogs teeth any more than dry food cleans teeth. Both are very old, common misconceptions. Toy breeds in general are more prone to having bad teeth and neither wet nor dry is going to significantly impact their health more than the other.

I really like blue wilderness. All of my dogs ailments are gone since she's been on it.

Acana recently came out with two L.I.D. formuals. (one is Lamb and the other is Duck)

They are higher in protein (and meat content) than many other LID formulas. For example, Natural Balance formulas usually have potato as the the first ingredient

Huskyluv wrote:

Tiff&Kya wrote:

No, because wet food deteriorates the pom's teeth, or so we were told. And the limited research I did confirmed that. Although I will admit I have not done EXTENSIVE research.

Wet food does not deteriorate any dogs teeth any more than dry food cleans teeth. Both are very old, common misconceptions. Toy breeds in general are more prone to having bad teeth and neither wet nor dry is going to significantly impact their health more than the other.

Wet food deteririotes the teeth because it sticks and causes plague, and decay. This is something that is NOT a myth, or misconception. Thinking that wet food just causes dental issues may be, but the fact that unless you brush their teeth, the wet food will stick inbetween teeth and cause decay. That is the reason my rescue pom only have about 10 teeth. She eats dry fine now, but was only fed wet food.

Every vet I have been to has said that, the ASPCA says this and I have done much more research since this post.

I stick by my guns when I say wet food is bad for the teeth when it is the only thing fed, because really, most people don't brush their dogs teeth after every meal. I know I dont.

Snow White wrote:

I really like blue wilderness. All of my dogs ailments are gone since she's been on it.

He seems to be allergic to something in kibble. Every brand we try, he breaks out into welts on his face, paws and stomach about 20 minutes after eating. Vet has just said to stop feeding kibble, because I don't have 500 to do allergy tests.

We decided to stay on Raw either way, because it's still cheaper than kibble.

I think the wet the others are referring to is actually dehydrated raw or freeze dried raw. It is very different than wet canned food and does not have the same qualities. Feeding THK has been a great addition to kibble for Delilah and has helped her coat immensely.

I was referring to canned food, which is why HuskyLuv was referring to, I am assuming, with her statement.

We don't have access to the freeze dried, or dehydrated. I have looked into that. And its too expensive to ship. The closest place that has it is San Antonio, and it would cost twice the price to ship it.

There is one place that sells it here, but they have a 50% mark up (compared to online) and they make you do a "preference" test that costs an additional $50, to "make sure they are going to be eating the correct formula" aka we want to rip you off.

Tiff&Kya wrote:

Wet food deteririotes the teeth because it sticks and causes plague, and decay. This is something that is NOT a myth, or misconception. Thinking that wet food just causes dental issues may be, but the fact that unless you brush their teeth, the wet food will stick inbetween teeth and cause decay. That is the reason my rescue pom only have about 10 teeth. She eats dry fine now, but was only fed wet food.

Dry will stick to the teeth as well so that argument that wet sticks to their teeth is irrelevant. Do you only brush your teeth when you eat wet foods? So if you eat dry foods like cereal, cookies, crackers, etc your teeth stay clean and don't need brushing? I don't think so and the same would apply to dogs.

You believe what you want, but you can find both sides of any argument out there.

http://www.wag.com/dog/subcat=Dry-Food-10168/Type=Dehydrated

They ship FREE on any order over 50 to Corpus Christi, TX. I tried multiple Zip Codes in the area.
I'm from michigan and I just ordered Acana on Monday and received it today good free shipping.
So there is an obvious way to get it for cheap shipping.

AS far as canned food goes, you will hard pressed to find a Veterinarian who actually knows anything about the dietary needs of animals. The majority of Vets don't have any training in nutrition and market whatever will give them a kickback. That's just another reason I switched to a holistic vet. Don't assume that anyone is personally attacking you, we just want you to understand your options.

Here are a few links in regards to wet/dry debate - they are a reputable page and many of us use them in order to understand and choose nutritious foods:

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/choosing-dog-food/canned-or-dry-dog-food/

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/choosing-dog-food/dry-dog-food-cleaner-teeth/

Just some food for thought.

I agree with Val. Wet or dry... Neither will clean or deteriorate teeth any more than the other. If there is any true deterioration I would sooner link it to the quality of the wet food rather than the fact it's a wet food.

It also has a lot to do with each individual dog. My dads Pit mix used to eat Publix brand wet food and Publix dry. Her teeth were no better or worse than they are now on a dry only diet. Her teeth and mouth are actually very healthy and there is little to no tartar. She does not chew bones nor has ever had a dental. Rodeo on the other hand gets horrible buildup on his teeth within just days if I don't take the dental tools to his mouth (he is raw fed.) His teeth aren't very strong and I'm assuming are more porous. Odin also has just generally bad teeth. Mishka even when on kibble never had more than a tinge of tartar between her back molars. Some dogs (or breeds) have better teeth than others.

I understand all of that. And I understand that no one is attacking me. I never felt that way.

As for the "Believe what you want" I am going off of MAINLY my experiences, and that means more to me than any research, because like some have said, each dog is different.

I prefer not to feed wet, that's all it comes down to, based on my experience. Not to sound rude, but each persons experience determines actions. Just like some one wont feed Diamond or TOTW because of the recalls or because a dog got sick.

Tiff&Kya wrote:

As for the "Believe what you want" I am going off of MAINLY my experiences, and that means more to me than any research, because like some have said, each dog is different.

I prefer not to feed wet, that's all it comes down to, based on my experience. Not to sound rude, but each persons experience determines actions. Just like some one wont feed Diamond or TOTW because of the recalls or because a dog got sick.

That's all well and good but my intention has merely been to clear the air since you came along saying that wet food causes teeth to decay and that is misleading. Without proper care ANY food will cause oral degradation.

And as you and Kristina have noted, to an extent it does depend on the individual as well as breed. Of course toy breeds tend to be more prone to dental issues in general. My mom's chi has lived entirely on a mix of wet & dry with no brushing or dental care and he's not only got all his teeth still at age 6, but they're bright white still like puppy teeth. Then take my Chis, Faith & Glory who both lived exclusively on dry with no dental care or brushing before I adopted them at 3 yrs of age. Glory's teeth are average, they're not bright white but they're healthy enough & she's still got all of them. Faith on the other hand was missing half her teeth when we adopted her because they rotted and her dental condition on the remaining teeth was terrible. And despite all my best efforts to keep up her dental care she continues to lose teeth albeit at a much, much slower rate. And what's odd is that even the teeth she continues to lose in my care are not all rotted like one would expect.

Before I had these two dogs I had adopted two ex racing greyhound. While on the track they were fed 4 d meat, (meaning dead, dying, diseased, down or crap as I like to say ) They did not get much if any dry kibble or biscuits or chew toys. I had them a long time and their dental care was quite expensive. Over and Over again I was told the teeth were due to their wet food. I swear I would pay for a vet cleaning, and in a month the tartar was back, and I brushed their teeth everyday, sometimes twice a day! They lived to be almost 11 and 12 respectively. Both had complete dental cleanings twice yearly as that was as much as I could afford! I think if you look at research, and believe me I did, it does seem to claim wet food is the culprit. I am not saying I completely agree, I always wondered if the nature of the meat itself was the cause, I mean if your feeding diseased meat why would teeth be good.

So I am interested in this discussion as I would like to avoid constantly having to have my huskies teeth cleaned. (My lab has gorgeous bright white teeth)
Oh and I should note that while in my care they only received dry kibble, barring the occasional cans of Science Diet ID when they had a stomach upset! Teeth were still bad, so who knows what causes such bad tartar in some breeds?