New guy here and what I am feeding

Hi, new guy here, just discovered the forum and registered today.

I never dreamed I'd be "cooking" for a dog lol but here are the circumstances...

My old dog of 14 years developed some skin sensitivity over time, we believe it was a developed allergy to wheat and/or corn products. Both dogs had been getting a good quality dry kibble, spritzed with water for years. We switched to Avoderm dry kibble and the skin problems went away! However, my dog who had always been an enthusiastic eater gradually (over several months) began to show disinterest in the Avoderm. We assumed she had just gotten bored or tired of the Avoderm. So we got some Wellness canned food and began making a slurry of sorts by blending some water into a couple of spoonfuls, then mixing it in thoroughly with the Avoderm kibble. It was an immediate sensation. We later discovered that my dog was losing interest in eating because of an advanced terminal illness that we were unaware of (she was in great health and that was her only symptom). Changing her food recipie bought her a few more months of enjoying dinnertime, we believe.

Anyway, fast forward to today... we have a new arrival, a 12 month old Doberman male. To help with his stress/diet-change diareah, we are cooking a cup of boiled rice and mixing it in with the dog's food. That hot steamy rice really wakes up the aroma from the Wellness! Our dogs seem to really enjoy this combination and the warm food and we believe it provides good basic nutrition for them.

Any comments welcome.

Being a grain, I don't find rice very nutritional for dogs. However, if it's working for you, go for it! Another method to help with diet changes is to give canned pumpkin (NOT the pie filling) which helps ease their tummies during transition. Welcome to the forums!

find a dog food they like some dogs are just fussy eaters, dry food will help with diareah ,you can also get dog rolls from the refrigerated section of most supermarkets which I think is better than canned foods, you can always add a omega 3 supplement to any type of food or open their mouth and make them swallow it to help with the skin condition http://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/product.php?productid=17554&cat=302&page=1

Hmm. Kibble does not exclusively help with diarrhea, especially if changing the food. Slow transitions from one food to another are beneficial to aide the tummy, but adding a natural supplement, like pumpkin, will help. I'm not sure which dog rolls you are speaking of, but most contain a good dose of salt and aren't good to be exclusively fed. Canned foods are great. Salmon oil and added eggs may help the coat, our dogs get salmon oil every morning and an egg every other day and they all have beautiful coats.

be careful feeding the rice. I say this because rice is a carb and carbs can put weight on your dog...fast.

I see no problem adding the rice as long as your dogs handle it well. Just watch their waistline.

I've always mixed in a little of the new food with the old to prevent the runs. The plain canned pumpkin definitely works if the pup has the runs.

Congrats on your new family member!

Yes, we are aware of that... we don't see it as a problem right now because he is a little on the lean side anyway and very active. Our old collie, who is a layabout by nature, has had her activity level boosted by the new guy's activity as well (he wants to play and interact, whereas she would usually just lay around all the time). I'm thinking the boost in activity level will do her good, and a few extra carbs won't hurt to cover the diff.

We weighed him 2 days after we brought him home (had to stop at the vet and make introductions). While there I had him hop on their scale... he's 83.5 lbs of solid bone and muscle. Wow, that is one big puppy. I call him my own pet monster (affectionately). My previous dog was 55 lbs, and this is quite a change! We will be keeping an eye on his growth... right now honestly he could use a couple of pounds and having a baseline will help us keep tabs going forward.

I may have to try the pumpkin... the rice alone doesn't seem to be firming things up very fast. Thanks for the tip.

OBTW, we brought home some of what his breeder was feeding her dogs, and planned to transfer him over gradually - but his gas from the other food was SO BAD that my wife just could not stand it another day. It was pretty awful. We decided to just switch him over and deal with the consequences. Believe me, runny stools is nothing compared to the toxic plume we were living with!

What was he on before?

And he's a big, but still-growing guy, so be careful with adding on the pounds quickly, you want his frame to be able to handle more pounds.

You should post pics, we love doggie pics here!

In the mornings I have been feeding them both outside... he finishes his breakfast and then goes for his Kong (which I stuff with stale cheerios, peanut butter and dry kibble). He really enjoys working on his Kong. Anyway this gives him something to do while the collie finishes her leisurely breakfast. I tried feeding them outside together last night, and once he finished his food, he tried to get into her bowl. Not good, had to bring her inside to finish unmolested. My wife thought he must still be hungry - I said, if I put plain dry kibble out for him and he still goes after it with gusto, I'll believe he's still hungry. Well, I did and he did! I guess we need more fuel for the Atomic Powered Rocket Dog. My previous dog got one cup of kibble in the am and one in the pm... this guy is getting at least twice that plus a Kong and occasional cookies. I don't want to over feed him but it's possible his requirements really are that high. We will watch closely and throttle back on the feeding as needed. He's still a growing boy and we don't want to shortchange him.

This morning my wife made me a raisin english muffin, buttered it and left it on the edge of the kitchen table - RIGHT AT NOSE HEIGHT FOR GUESS WHO? I just happened to see the second half as it was on its way down the hatch. Probably only about 5 raisins in the muffin, likely not enough to be of concern. We have to get a little more conscious of what we set on the edge of tables and counters. His breeder did tell us he had a background in counter intelligence and counter espionage. Guess we should have listened better!

His old feed was some flavor of Nutro. My wife sells dog food for a living wholesale and she's very knowledgeable about the nutrition content of the various foods. She's not wild about the Nutro but when you have a dozen large, active dogs she realizes that price adds up quickly and you have to balance things. But since he's our only "pet monster" we can afford some better stuff for him.

I'll be putting up pics soon, we have some digital shots of him already, I just don't have them here with me at work. Maybe tonight.

LOL! Sounds like you'll have great stories to share with us!

When our mastiff was a puppy, she was on 2000 cals/day. And now that she's 17 months, we've put her down at about 1500 cals/day, but it does differ depending on her growth spurts. For awhile there she was eating her kibble rations and nearly a whole chicken a day... lol, but she is a big grrrl.

Yes, well, the night we brought him home (one week ago today) we picked him up at the breeders and brought him home. She told us he had already eaten dinner, but we gave him a bit of a snack when we fed our old collie for the evening. He's crate trained so we had him in his crate and he's making all kinds of noises all night long including belching/retching noises. (I was worried about Gastric Torsion i.e. "bloat") I was up and down all night long checking on him, letting him go out for a few minutes, really kind of worried but aside from the noises no apparent evidence of anything being wrong. Finally, 4:30 am he's doing it again and I figure he needs to go out again. This time he seemed very happy to go out and there is this AWFUL STENCH in his crate. I rub my bleary sleep-deprived eyes and see what looks like a carcas with fur and blood in the crate. Great, I though, he scarfed down some road-kill and then puked it up. Delightful. So while he's outside I call my wife to come check this out. Further investigation reveals it's not road-kill but a FULL PAIR OF INTACT SOCKS! They weren't our socks, either! They were dark blue with some red, which is how I mistook them for a carcas in my REM deprived state. We called the breeder later that morning and asked "Are you by any chance missing a pair of SOCKS?" Turns out it was a houseguest of hers who "misplaced" a pair of socks. I have no idea how he got them down without choking, but apparently he did. I think I may have them laundered and shadowboxed and hung on the wall. We didn't know he came with a bonus free pair of socks! Such a deal...

Anyway, that proved to be a bonding experience between he and I, because ever since I stayed up the night with him when he was feeling sick, he's been stuck to me like glue. He's a real velcro dog, alright. Now the big challenge seems to be dealing with the separation anxiety while my wife and I go to work all day. We're working on it, but that's a story for another time I think.

Our lot get kibble for breakfast, I usually add a bit of mashed pumpkin, some toghurt, small can of fish or an egg to that.

Our smallest girl eats as much as my boy despite him being twice her size, she is very high strung with energy to burn, he conserves as much of his energy as possible and won't eat too much as it is.

And I cook for our lot a lot, they either have raw for dinner or I'll throw some vegies, mince and gravy in a frypan or saucepan for them and give them that.

Finally got around to posting the intro thread with pics here:

http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1018564&posted=1#post1018564

BTW just got our guy to the vet this morning for his #1 checkup/shots/chip and his wt was at 83.3 lbs, down .2 lbs from last week, so I guess the Atomic Powered Rocket Dog really does need more fuel!

Ok, just got results of first checkup and the reason for his loose stools is NOT diet or stress related...

He has giardia and whipworms. So, off to the vet we go and got some Panacur to clear it up and some Interceptor to make sure he doesn't get re-infected. We also have to treat our collie because they have spent a week in the same yard together. $250 later... ka-ching!

Glad to know our boy will be treated for what ails him and that it is an easy fix. We will continue feeding what he is on now and watch what happens. Gee, if this is what the Atomic Powered Rocket Dog is like when he's sick, he is really going to be a hot rod when he gets to feeling better!