Ive bounced around between dog foods over the years and for now have settled on a product called Tuffys Gold. You cant buy it in most stores I believe. But if you were to buy something almost identical it would be Nutri-Source which is made by the Tuffy's company and is their high end stuff sold in Pet Food Stores, Vets offices, Gander Mountain etc.
My dogs have always liked it and I dont get any digestive problems but Ive noticed they itch like crazy. My older setter seemed to do this on Purina One Lamb & Rice which prompted my switch to Tuffy's. Im thinking they probably have an allergy to the corn thats in it. Other than the grains that are in it which shouldnt be (Think its in Nutri Source too) its a good food energy wise. When my dogs hunt a lot they wont lose weight and I have to be very careful during the summer when they need less energy as they will gain weight. I purchase this stuff through a grey hound supplier that delivers to Wichita once a month.
After doing some research Im guessing that my dogs probably have an aversion to the grain that is in the food. As Ive read, its really ridiculous there is grain in any of the dog food as that is not what dogs were ever meant to eat and they cant process it. It basically serves as filler and helps make the food cheaper.
Anyone else have problems with a dog scratching or biting at themselves non stop and what do you feed?
Im thinking about sampling a food I found called Taste of the Wild -- no grains in it....a bit more expensive but the dog will probably eat less of it since it doesnt contain fillers.
http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/
If you google it, many of the sites that sell it have hundreds of positive reviews by customers.
It wasnt until I had to put my older dog to sleep this spring that I gave much thought to what was in their dog food. Cancer brought an end to her life, I felt it was a bit premature, but for a working dog that was probably about avg at 12 yrs old. Though, this is just hearsay, and old wives tales, but you hear that people who feed typically table scraps or make their own dog food dont have issues with cancers that pet owners who feed the mass market stuff get. I could see some truth to that as if you research whats truly in the pet food its really scary stuff. You'd probably not even want to let it touch your skin.
I'll have to order a small bag and see if it helps. Just havent done so yet. I would really prefer to make my own dog food but am just not set up to do this economically or have the room quite frankly. Till then I'll have to settle on hopefully finding a better food.
This is just an aside, my wife is from Kenya...she likes dogs but doesnt have the same passion for them as I do, but she stated her family always had one around. They and everyone else fed the dog what they ate. They'd just cook a bit extra and feed it to the dog. Said this was normal for everyone. They dont sell dog food in Kenya or at least she stated it would be very abnormal for someone to buy it. That being said she was around as my older dog started to go downhill as her cancer progressed. Per her, the dogs her family and friends had were usually mutts, no real purebreed, and would live quite sometime - a lot longer than the sporting dogs Ive had. She doesnt recall them seemingly coming down with cancer etc, but then again I dont think they had anything such as vets around like we do here.
Not sure if there is something to it or not, but have heard from some in the older generation that the older vets dont recall having such issues and now it seems very commonplace. Dont know if theres something to it or not. Common sense tells me yes but I probably couldnt prove it.
Maybe a good study on this would be polling or studying Alaskan or remote Canadian sled dog owners. From what I understand its not like they can go to the supermarket and pick up a 50lb bag of Ol Roy, so they are shooting game to feed their animals, catching fish etc. Probably be the best comparison a person could dig up.
My dogs have always liked it and I dont get any digestive problems but Ive noticed they itch like crazy. My older setter seemed to do this on Purina One Lamb & Rice which prompted my switch to Tuffy's. Im thinking they probably have an allergy to the corn thats in it. Other than the grains that are in it which shouldnt be (Think its in Nutri Source too) its a good food energy wise. When my dogs hunt a lot they wont lose weight and I have to be very careful during the summer when they need less energy as they will gain weight. I purchase this stuff through a grey hound supplier that delivers to Wichita once a month.
After doing some research Im guessing that my dogs probably have an aversion to the grain that is in the food. As Ive read, its really ridiculous there is grain in any of the dog food as that is not what dogs were ever meant to eat and they cant process it. It basically serves as filler and helps make the food cheaper.
Anyone else have problems with a dog scratching or biting at themselves non stop and what do you feed?
Im thinking about sampling a food I found called Taste of the Wild -- no grains in it....a bit more expensive but the dog will probably eat less of it since it doesnt contain fillers.
http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/
If you google it, many of the sites that sell it have hundreds of positive reviews by customers.
It wasnt until I had to put my older dog to sleep this spring that I gave much thought to what was in their dog food. Cancer brought an end to her life, I felt it was a bit premature, but for a working dog that was probably about avg at 12 yrs old. Though, this is just hearsay, and old wives tales, but you hear that people who feed typically table scraps or make their own dog food dont have issues with cancers that pet owners who feed the mass market stuff get. I could see some truth to that as if you research whats truly in the pet food its really scary stuff. You'd probably not even want to let it touch your skin.
I'll have to order a small bag and see if it helps. Just havent done so yet. I would really prefer to make my own dog food but am just not set up to do this economically or have the room quite frankly. Till then I'll have to settle on hopefully finding a better food.
This is just an aside, my wife is from Kenya...she likes dogs but doesnt have the same passion for them as I do, but she stated her family always had one around. They and everyone else fed the dog what they ate. They'd just cook a bit extra and feed it to the dog. Said this was normal for everyone. They dont sell dog food in Kenya or at least she stated it would be very abnormal for someone to buy it. That being said she was around as my older dog started to go downhill as her cancer progressed. Per her, the dogs her family and friends had were usually mutts, no real purebreed, and would live quite sometime - a lot longer than the sporting dogs Ive had. She doesnt recall them seemingly coming down with cancer etc, but then again I dont think they had anything such as vets around like we do here.
Not sure if there is something to it or not, but have heard from some in the older generation that the older vets dont recall having such issues and now it seems very commonplace. Dont know if theres something to it or not. Common sense tells me yes but I probably couldnt prove it.
Maybe a good study on this would be polling or studying Alaskan or remote Canadian sled dog owners. From what I understand its not like they can go to the supermarket and pick up a 50lb bag of Ol Roy, so they are shooting game to feed their animals, catching fish etc. Probably be the best comparison a person could dig up.
