Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[MapleNeko]

Alright guys, I've had a doozy of a day and everything I thought I knew about dog food is shattered. I used to use Dog Food Advisor as a resource but I've recently been told by my vet that rating site's like that one can be very misleading/go off of marketing myths. I had never heard of WSAVA certified, or the difference between AAFCO and WSAVA certifications, or the discussion of DCM and grain-free. I've also been introduced to tufts(https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu). Ha, my head is spinning, why is nutrition so complicated. ಠ_ಠ Anyways lesson learned - never stop researching, my gosh, and just consult an actual vet if you have any questions.

Anyways, I have a four year old Chow Chow who has always had allergy problems. It started as itchy paws, but as the years have gone by it's worsened to the point of scratching everywhere to the point of scabs. (He also gets infrequent ear infections too.) I've done different elimination diets in the past, have tried every kind of anti-itch shampoo, hot-spot spray, and allergy/Omega bite to no avail. My last vet started him on Cytopoint shots, which has helped tremendously, but he still has an underlying itch issue.

The point of my earlier comment was because my new vet recommended Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin. The whole reason for this post I guess was that I'm just surprised because it goes against my previous understanding of dog's dietary discussion, and wouldn't have imagined Purina as possibly the best option for his condition. But, I trust my vet, am happy to have learned something, and hope his new food works for him!

My lizard:
-snip the absolute cutie-

The nice thing about those brands is they are very well researched and have many vets and animal nutritionists developing the diets. There is a lot of misunderstanding around vet and science proven diets usually due to their ingredient use. While many of the ingredients may not seem appetizing to us the animal's body cant determine between the different animal proteins. When a food says whole chicken and such as the first ingredient, that's still including the wet weight of the chicken, by the time everything has been cooked down in the food its often no longer the first ingredient, that's why meals are actually nice because you know exactly that the protein meal is the first ingredient.

Many people will try to tell you its the vet pushing for sales because their sponsored but their not, there truly recommending the diet because there is research to back it up. These diets aren't trying to kill your furry friend. Its a lot like the fear surrounding GMO's or vaccines. I tend to be a very science-focused person though (in animal science in university and it has a heavy focus on animal nutrition)

[Velveteen Hound.]

This dog. He WILL NOT touch any toy meant for heavy chewers .. and yet demolishes any toy not chew guarded within minute/hrs. This is a brand new toy I bought about 2 hrs ago.
I don't know what to do.


Dat face tho. I guess I can't be too mad.

[Imzadi83]

Alright guys, I've had a doozy of a day and everything I thought I knew about dog food is shattered. I used to use Dog Food Advisor as a resource but I've recently been told by my vet that rating site's like that one can be very misleading/go off of marketing myths. I had never heard of WSAVA certified, or the difference between AAFCO and WSAVA certifications, or the discussion of DCM and grain-free. I've also been introduced to tufts(https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu). Ha, my head is spinning, why is nutrition so complicated. ಠ_ಠ Anyways lesson learned - never stop researching, my gosh, and just consult an actual vet if you have any questions.

Anyways, I have a four year old Chow Chow who has always had allergy problems. It started as itchy paws, but as the years have gone by it's worsened to the point of scratching everywhere to the point of scabs. (He also gets infrequent ear infections too.) I've done different elimination diets in the past, have tried every kind of anti-itch shampoo, hot-spot spray, and allergy/Omega bite to no avail. My last vet started him on Cytopoint shots, which has helped tremendously, but he still has an underlying itch issue.

The point of my earlier comment was because my new vet recommended Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin. The whole reason for this post I guess was that I'm just surprised because it goes against my previous understanding of dog's dietary discussion, and wouldn't have imagined Purina as possibly the best option for his condition. But, I trust my vet, am happy to have learned something, and hope his new food works for him!

My lizard:

Have you had your dog allergy tested? Switching foods only helps if he's allergic to an ingredient in the food. And elimination diets may not be enough if he's allergic to multiple foods. If he has other kinds of allergies he may need other kinds of treatments. My Chloe has multiple food allergies so I know it can be difficult.

Also it's not a cure for the allergies obviously, but I've found a lot of success using SoftPaws https://www.softpaws.com/. It keeps her from digging herself bloody. With her being hairless it doesn't take much scratching on her part to wound herself.

@Hewitt - I would recommend consulting a mental health professional to help you work through the trauma.

[jovial merryment]

because I don't have any photos of my dog here's what she sort looks like. https://www.google.com/search?q=chihuah ... BbVrT_aI_M



but anyway, I came from school and my grandmother came home from a grocery store.
she was unloading her trunk and my chihuahua (Burrito) ran outside. Now we don't have a fence and she likes to run free.
so I was like ''good girl'' because she didn't run off any further than the car. And then she started to run off. I grabbed little bacon treat she got. she thought we were playing, so she kept running. I was scared. she went into my neighbors yard, thankfully she doesn't mind us. i ran for her, she still ran,ran to the other neighbor's town house. They have a small dog too. it wasn't outside so no fights that day. she then ran down the road, that road is known for the pit bulls and retrievers they are everywhere. but they are fence. I was blessed. So we got in the car and drove down to her. she finally got excited and came to us. she got mud all over me.
she was in a kennel for at least 40 minutes.
so yeah, she's out now by the way.

[Imzadi83]

because I don't have any photos of my dog here's what she sort looks like. https://www.google.com/search?q=chihuah ... BbVrT_aI_M



but anyway, I came from school and my grandmother came home from a grocery store.
she was unloading her trunk and my chihuahua (Burrito) ran outside. Now we don't have a fence and she likes to run free.
so I was like ''good girl'' because she didn't run off any further than the car. And then she started to run off. I grabbed little bacon treat she got. she thought we were playing, so she kept running. I was scared. she went into my neighbors yard, thankfully she doesn't mind us. i ran for her, she still ran,ran to the other neighbor's town house. They have a small dog too. it wasn't outside so no fights that day. she then ran down the road, that road is known for the pit bulls and retrievers they are everywhere. but they are fence. I was blessed. So we got in the car and drove down to her. she finally got excited and came to us. she got mud all over me.
she was in a kennel for at least 40 minutes.
so yeah, she's out now by the way.

I'm glad you got your dog back. Personally I'd recommending if that would happen again to call her and then run away from her as that often will cause the dog to chase you instead of continuing to run away. Although of course working on training and management to keep her from getting out in the first place is always your safest bet. Again I'm so glad you were able to get her back safely, I'm sure that must've been terrifying.

[xXCakeTheCatXx]

Luna

8808F506-22A4-434F-B075-FD173249670D.jpeg (32.23 KiB) Viewed 75 times

Hello everyone! This is my husky, Luna. Who else owns a husky?? I wanna see your babies!

[Imzadi83]

^ Aw, hello Husky Luna. She has the cutest little face.

[.Middy.]

I am very excited to introduce my co own boy Sushi 🍣 the AHT! He’s staying with me for awhile for some puppy raising and then eventually will be shared back and forth between me and his co owner/breeder. We are super excited for this guys future, the dream is Westminster one day hopefully! Along with performance titles of course, gotta have a impressive name 🤪

[Imzadi83]

^Aw he's adorable! His eyes are so sweet.

[Blue_Aussie]

So, I plan to breed my Australian shepherd when she's old enough. Obviously I've done LOTS of research and she is in perfect condition and has an awesome personality! Any tips about breeding and puppies would be very helpful! Feel free to PM me too!