I have recently changed Rocks food from Beniful to Kibbles and Bits.
Is there any reason this would be a problem to be concerned about?
He is eating 100% of it.
Good golly, I wouldn't feed *either* of those foods. It would probably be a good idea for you to get a little education on the ingredients in pet food:
http://www.doberdogs.com/foodcht1.html
There are two sections there. Read them both.
Here are some of the ingredients in KnB that I have a problem with:
INGREDIENTS:
**Corn, soybean meal, ground wheat flour, -- first 3 ingredients are *grain*; dogs need MEAT
beef & bone meal, -- still no meat
**animal fat (BHA used as preservatives), -- animal fat? What kind of animal? Don't you want to know what you are actually feeding your dog? I surely would. BHA? Causes cancer and other health concerns. They don't feed it to humans...do you want to feed this to your dog?
**corn syrup, -- dogs don't need sugar. This is why he's "eating 100% of it"... yeah, and your kid would eat a diet of candy if you let him! ;-) Doesn't mean it is something he *should* be eating.
**wheat middlings, -- waste product (see the article cited above)
water sufficient for processing,
**animal digest (source of chicken flavor), -- There's that "animal" again. What animal??? Not to mention, digest is stomach contents. Yum.
**propylene glycol, a cousin of antifreeze
**salt,
**caramel color, yellow 5, red 40, yellow 6, BHA (used as a preservative), --more colors and preservatives, need I say more?
While I am not generally in favor of "grocery store" brands of pet food, if that's what you intend to feed, please read the labels and pick a "better" one. I hate Beneful for many of the same reasons stated above, but it is a darn site better than KnB IMO. But look at Pedigree or Purina ONE. Note that these are NOT reccomendations, since I would urge you to feed a *Premium* pet food (look on dogaware.com for a list) but they would be *better* than KnB or Beneful. Egads.
I'm afraid and sorry to say that you have simply gone from bad to worse here. JMO as always.
I haven't been here in a long time. I feed my hounds Hill's Science Diet. You can buy it at a reduced price at a feed store as opposed to the veterinarian's office. Some people don't like the fact that it's a commercial product, so expect some dissent.
If you want to know how good a food is, one way is to look objectively at how shiny their coat is. Take a look at the link below and scroll down to the last picture of Bandit. That's a picture of good health!!
http://www.wienerwritings.com/forum/index.php?topic=1346.0
(Purina and other similar brands were originally created as a way to sell left over grain products.)
WHAT ABOUT IAMS DOG FOOD HE WAS ON THAT FOR A LONG TIME. I THOUGHT HE COULD USE A CHANGE BUT I HAVE NOTICED A CHANGE IN HIS COAT YOU DO HAVE A VALID POINT. THANKS A BUNCH
I have mine on Purina One. It is a little less expensive than the more premium foods and my two seem to do well on it.
(http://static.flickr.com/4/6316365_b30d6a57c0.jpg)
I fed Clifford Science Diet for over 6 years. After his 1st disk surgery 6 years ago I found this site when looking for info in diet. His coat was dull and his energy was way down. I ultimately switched him to Solid Gold and have been very pleased with the results. His coat got a nice sheen back to it and his energy level increased substantially. Another good thing was his stools became firmer and did not have near the odor as when he was on Science Diet.
Here's the link to their site to research. There is a store locator feature to see if anyone in your area carries their product lines.
www.solidgoldhealth.com
I feed Ozzy a mixture of dry and canned Natural Choice Lamb and Rice, which was recommended by his breeder. I don't the cost is too bad, and a bag of dry food lasts for a long time, since Ozzy is a little guy.
I totally agree with the first post on here. I used to feed Porky Beneful food, but he always seemed to be hungry and his skin got dried out. I have added some other veggies and fruits to his diet to help his dry skin and now feed him some chicken, eggs, or some kind of meat on a daily basis. I found he is a lot healthier if I make homemade dog food than if I have bought it at the store. It takes time though so if you keep Rocks on store-bought food, you may want to buy a higher quality like the others are posting. The only downside to making your own dog food is that it can cause their teeth to get dirty much faster and you have to be sure they are getting all the nutrients and vitamins they need to stay healthy. So.. I make sure to brush Porky's teeth often and give him rawhides to clean his teeth. Personally I think making your own food could be a huge pain; only reason I do it is cause I'm a stay at home momma so I have the extra time to get it made and I okayed it with our vet.
We feed the Nutro here. I started with the max line and then went to the Natural Choice line. My dogs have been very healthy and had wonderful coats as you can see in this picture of Zeke..I hope this works this time.
Well we use hills science diet the R\D plus a tablespoon of meat of some type. I buy the 15 kilo bag so it works out you get 3 kilos free. You should see the looks when I carry it out and you say you have mini dachies.
Roberta
Mike's right on the money. :thumb: I couldn't remember the name or else I would have mentioned it. I just checked the prices at the main web site; it's about the same price as Hill's, at least for the dry food--it probably even costs less when purchased from the local merchant. "Holistique" looks like it would be a good product for older hounds like mine, particularly Heidi who could stand to lose some weight. Solid Gold had the best reviews of all the available products here at the Dachshund Circus when I was here a few years ago.
One thing I would be wary of is the marketing gimmick regarding the use of bison meat as an ingredient. Any meat destined for dog food is going to be graded as either "cutter" or "canner." The only real difference between buffalo and cattle meat is the amount of marbling (fat distribution) throughout either. Bison doesn't have much, if any, which is why you aren't likely to find it in stores. Steaks that don't have much marbling are a lot tougher than those that do--it would be extremely hard to come up with a prime or choice buffalo steak unless it was a bison/cattle cross. What makes bison meat so scarce isn't the fact that it's a high quality product--it's simply a matter of extremely low demand. It may be leaner, but you can just as easily add more buffalo fat to reach a targeted overall fat percentage.
Rock started back on the food he used to eat (IAMS) he is doing okay with it. Not that he wouldn't . He was fine with it before I was being stupid and changed his food and now I am kicking myself all the way to the vets office!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Won't do that again trust me..........Rocks Mom
I know this reply is a little late but I wanted to comment on the dog food. I've found that the magazine Whole Dog Journal does an excellent job reviewing dog food. They are very honest about ingredients and they name specific brands. You can buy copies or subscribe to it on line at www.whole-dog-journal.com. I hope this helps. I've found that the food I feed my two litte girls, Millie and Maisie really makes a difference in their health. Right now I feed Maisie Royal Canin's Miniature Dachshund formula and Millie gets Sensible Choice Sensitive Stomach.
Gunner and Petunia are on Innovas-Evo and since it is so rich I mix it with Natural Balance vegetarian. Evo is supposed to be the next thing to feeding raw-both of mine have great coats. I also add apples, celery, sometimes plain pumkin, yogurt-the plain type.
I thought that fruit would make Rock have runny bowels but I will try and hope he don't get them if fruit is good for him Right!!!!!!!
A lot of people give them green beans, peas. You can give them most fruits, start with a small amound. I mix it with their kibble. Plain yogurt is good as a treat or mixed with their kibble. Do not give onions or grapes they are not good for pupper.
Most fruits and veggies are safe for dogs. Onions, raisins, and grapes (in large quantities or regularly) are bad. Tomatoes are generally safe although Cajsa is allergic to them and so she can't have ANY tomato at all or we are in trouble. She loves strawberries and berries of different kinds, apples, pears, peaches, oranges, etc are all safely eaten by my goat-dog! :goat:
I feed Bish Royal Canin Mini Puppy he loves it so does his buddy Flaca (the Nanny's Mini Pin) when I first got him I fed him Nutro Ultra but he didn't care much for it so while perusing PetSmart I saw that Royal Canin makes food specifically made for Dachshunds, for now its the puppy food (even though I should change them over to adult b/c Bish is 10 mos & Flaca is 13mos). Which leads me to a little question. Would it be better if i waited to switch them till next year when the new puppy (haven't got her yet but are eagerly waiting to find her) turns one or should we switch them now and when we get the new pup switch back? The reason why I ask is b/c I know that it will be to hard to separate the dogs when it comes to feeding time esp. since they share food right now and the food is down all the time. But I love Royal Canin, both their coats are always so soft and shiny. Another food i was looking into for a while is AvoDerm they are very small pieces kinda the size of koi fish food, maybe a little bigger.
Etta,
I would not regularly feed puppy food to an adult dachshund - my dachshunds were all on adult food by 9 months old. Puppy food is higher in fat and would be more likely to put extra pounds on an adult dog.
I feed my 3 twice a day and they each have their own bowl. This way I know exactly how much each is eating. I know some people free-feed dachshunds, but I could never do that at my house. Roscoe would eat himself to death and the other two would waste away to nothing, because he would eat all the food.
AvoDerm is an excellent food it can be bought at Petco.