Top 5 Foods

[snoopsnoop]

And to add to my above post, not to offend, but if you wanted your dogs to gain muscle mass, it would help if you shaved a few pounds off them first.

How much are you feeding them? How often?
How often do they get table scraps?
Do they have any sort of workout regiment?

LOL No offense taken! Those pics do not do babies any justice, I really need to get better pics of them. They really aren't fat dogs. Especially Yava.
They have access to approx. 14 cups of dry kibble (Nutro Natures Choice for large breed) all day long, along with plenty of water. And that is between the 3 of them.
Rarely do they get table scraps. Hubby might sneak it to them I'd say every 3 or 4 months when he forgets that this is forbidden since my Uma (wolf hybrid) died of cancer after 16 years of the addition of table scraps to his kibble.
Nope, no workout regiment. Especially since my bout with the big C 2 years ago, and now the battle with arthritis & fybromyalgea. My poor babies' only regular form of exercise is the back yard which is not that large. By the way, I'm the one that needs to shed the pounds off, and I will be working on it as soon as my rhemotologist gets me back up on my legs.
You are absolutely right I have no right expecting anything better then what they are.

14 cups between the 3 of them is a lot! of food!!!! I would recommend not free feeding and feed them individually. It will cut down on resource guarding and other behavioral issues that may arise as they get older and mature. My dogs eat no more than 2 cups of food a day. They get a cup in the AM and a cup in the PM. On days that I work them, I give them a little more so I can work them harder and not waste away at what muscle I have put on them.

Everyone here has their own idea of what constitutes a "fat" dog. Some like the AKC AmStaffs and consider that the perfect weight for a dog, others like the UKC weight for a dog and others like the ADBA-style and conditioning for their dog. I'd be in that last category. So while I have nothing against those who have dogs at AKC or UKC weight, to me, they're chubby dogs. Then there are the dogs that are grossly outside of any of the above standards and they are just fat. ha. I'd say your dogs are in between UKC and AKC weight.

You say you have a smallish backyard... Can you stand on your own at all for any length of time? What about the husband? There's a really easy way to shed the excess pounds and muscle them up at the same time, provided they have the drive and you have the ability to stand for a decent length of time. Build a flirtpole. It's what you see Snoopy chasing after in the one picture I posted of him. You can buy them pre-made but I've found they last longer if you build them yourself. Mine is made out of PVC pipe, good sturdy rope and a rope pull toy.

[snoopsnoop]

I fed him TOTW until i found out it was a little too high in calcium for puppies. I really liked TOTW and the results it gave. I tryed merrick but I think it was too rich for him. I tryed Natures Variety Instinct Rabbit formula and Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Venison but he wouldnt even touch the stuff. A local pet store owner has been trying to push me to try Innova, but the large breed puppy formulas ingredients just dont convince me. It has too many grain products following the first three meat ingredients. Innova EVO is too high in calcium too.

Im still searching.....any opinions are more than welcome.

How old is your pup?
What are you looking for as far as results go in your kibble?

[Monsta]

How old is your pup?
What are you looking for as far as results go in your kibble?

Rambo is about 5 months old. Results id like to see from a quality kibble? Well...frim stool,shiny coat, shiny eyes, high energy levels....

[snoopsnoop]

How old is your pup?
What are you looking for as far as results go in your kibble?

Rambo is about 5 months old. Results id like to see from a quality kibble? Well...frim stool,shiny coat, shiny eyes, high energy levels....

Have you tried the Blue Buffalo Puppy? I've seen good things from from that kibble.

[Monsta]

Have you tried the Blue Buffalo Puppy? I've seen good things from from that kibble.

Im looking into it as we speak...also looking into Timberwolf. Id like to go grain free...

[Monsta]

Im not really liking the Blue Buffalo. It also has sunflower oil and too many grains....

[Brandy]

You're right! They are more to the AKC weight. They do have a little muscle, especially Ms. Yava.

I like the idea of the flirt pole, but I get the impression of needing a larger area then what I have available to the dogs since there is a huge deck that takes up the entire back yard with a pool dead smack in the middle. My guys can only run, and act crazy in the side yard. I sometimes cheat, and let them tear up inside between the kitchen, dining room, & living room.

My dogs are 3 years old, with the exception of the Blue who is 2 1/2 years old. Leaving the food out continously works with them as they take turns eating. They are all very respectfull of each other when it comes to food. It is toys, and or bones that can cause a problem. So no bones, and toys only when we play with them.

Honestly, and no offense intended; I don't much care for the rib cage showing look.

Hubby doesn't have my medical issues, but he is not the one to work with the dogs. Heck I can barely get him to clean up behind them once or twice a week. But then again they are My Dogs... Hubby foots the bill though.

What do you think of Nutro Nature's Choice Large Breed, Lamb & Rice food? How bad is it? My dogs seem to be thriving on it. They are not having stool, skin, energy, teeth, or hair problems on it, and it is the food their old vet had recommended upon meeting the red big boy who weighed in at 55 lbs. @ 5 months along with a bunch of loose skin to grow into.

[Monsta]

Solid Golds Wolf CLub has 1.5% calcium...is this really too much? I thought anything below 1.5% was ok.

[Brandy]

Ok, I have a question. Please dont get mad at me for being a "cheapie" but we are a low income family. What is a 'cheap' dog food that is still good for dogs? How about gravy train? I am looking for the cheapest GOOD food....not the cheapest food.

I read somewhere that Kirkland brand dog food is up there with the best! Kirkland is a Costco brand so if you have Costco membership, or a friend with Costco membership you could check that one out.

[Brandy]

Has any body else checked out the;
"WWW.The Dog Project.Com" I found it quite informative.

Articles like, The Dog Food Project - Grading kibble - easily?

The Dog Food Project - Identifying better products

The Dog Food Project - Ingredients to avoid I feel would be quite helpful in choosing foods for our beloved friends....

[shannypits]

Hey everybody, I am ready to pull my hair out! I have tried every food I know (except the crappy ones--) and each food has the same m.o. with my dogs-- they constantly have loose stools. Wellness was major, major loose stools. Solid Gold= semi solid stool followed by loose stools. Help! My pups have all been health checked- no worms, no viruses, no bacterial infections. Are these foods just too rich? To much fiber? I can't take it any more and my male can't eat enough-- always on the too skinny side but in perfect health otherwise. This is breaking my heart. Any suggestions?

[Brandy]

Hey everybody, I am ready to pull my hair out! I have tried every food I know (except the crappy ones--) and each food has the same m.o. with my dogs-- they constantly have loose stools. Wellness was major, major loose stools. Solid Gold= semi solid stool followed by loose stools. Help! My pups have all been health checked- no worms, no viruses, no bacterial infections. Are these foods just too rich? To much fiber? I can't take it any more and my male can't eat enough-- always on the too skinny side but in perfect health otherwise. This is breaking my heart. Any suggestions?

Have you tried the Nutro - Natures Choice foods? That is what I have been feeding my 3 for the past three years with NO ill effects. They have small well formed stools, and are at the correct body weight. People here had me questioning what I am feeding my gals/guy, but after extensive research, and the fact that my dogs are healthy I've decided that I will continue to feed them what I have been.

By the way when you change your dogs food always go slow. Mix the new food in to their old food a little at a time. Other wise they will get the runs. Also be very careful with the table scraps. My dogs will get loose bowels when hubby sneaks them scraps.

[shannypits]

I have tried Nutro, Canidae, Wellness, Solid Gold, Innova, Fromms, Merrick. I have tried no grain formulations, regular formulations, giving it wet, giving it dry... I always always switch foods slowly... To be honest the only time I didn't have a problem was when my vet put one of my dogs on Science Diet! Yikes! But if it helps stop their diarrhea... I don't know... I live in an apartment-- it is large but not large enough for me to feed RAW-- I was thinking about going the dehydrated RAW route-- has anybody heard of that?

[shannypits]

I was thinking about trying Timberwolf Organics but one issue I am having with ALL foods is that these companies list in their ingredients "eggs" or "egg products." I am no scientist but even I know that egg whites bind the biotin in dogs when they are consumed. As everyone knows biotin is necessary for proper cellular function and as the egg whites bind up more and more biotin over time serious heath problems arise-- begining with a crappy coat, eye problems and so forth. Is there ANY way to tell if these companies are only using the egg yolks (which do NOT bind biotin)? I mean, HELLO, this is ONE OF THE strongest chemical reactions that can occur-- why don't any companies address this issue? Sorry for the double post....

[Codys_mum]

I just bought a bag of this, the ingredients looked good, does anyone have any opinions on it?