German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America

BUDDHA · Newbie Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 1

My dog seems to have allergies. I was wodering what the rest of you feed your dogs. I have started to supplement with derm caps. I would like to get a better quality of food. Any other tips. He seems to chew his feet and develop some bumps. Thanks

K2K · Posted: 01/12/03, 2:14 pm Post subject: What are you feeding now?

Buddha, I have an Akita who had skin problems, i.e. very dry, flaky, and irritated looking.

I switched her to Old Mother Hubbards' Wellness (the chicken). It has no corn or wheat in it. She has done great on it!

I was also feeding it to the GWP, who has no allergy issues, but I found that she was losing weight during hunting season, so I switched her to Eukanuba.

I tried to insert the Wellness link, but couldn't do it.

I have also heard good things about Candidae as far as allergies go. I have heard many negatives about Science Diet FWIW...

Good luck!

Karen

cmmilach · Posted: 01/14/03, 11:17 am Post subject: Health Issues/Food Allergies

Hi,

My wire also has food allergies. I have had great luck with Candadiae & also Bil Jac.

Cathy

Drahthaarkid · Newbie Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Posts: 2 Location: Missouri

Try Pro Plan or Eukanueba

Anne · Junior Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Posts: 66 Location: Minneapolis

You definitely want to stay away from anything with corn. Dog food manufacturers like to add it because they can count it as a protein and a carbohydrate. However, it is not really digestible for the dogs.

Nutro is pretty clean. That's what I feed my dog. Some people swear by Solid Gold but I have also heard dogs can get loose stools on that. I've heard good things about Bil Jac or if you have the time and inclination to educate yourself you could do the Bones And Raw Food (BARF) diet. My friend really swears by that. (I have to admit her dogs are always very healthy).

There was an issue of Whole Dog Journal that rated a whole bunch of dog foods. If you can get a hold of that it should give you some good insight.

cheerio · Moderator Joined: 11 Mar 2003 Posts: 285 Location: Canada

I feed BARF (no kidding: Bio Approved Raw Food). It is made of 1/3 raw chicken, bones included for the calcium, 1/3 raw veggies and 1/3 raw fruit. With active dogs I add 1 cup of raw oat. Never any allergies anymore. The teeth of the dogs are always very white, and the poops are so little its hard to find them in the yard. But that's ok because within 24 hours, they desintegrate into thin powder. No smell, nothing, it's really good. It can be purchased all prepared frozen or dehydrated, or you can purchase only the ground meat and add your own veggies and fruit. It is now recommended by most vet, and is a good way to get rid of any food allergy. One should be carefull however because if Corn is definitely the most commun source of allergy, dogs can also react to chicken (a GWP allergic to a bird, imagine that!) and lamb. Trial and error is the best thing.

Anne · Junior Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Posts: 66 Location: Minneapolis

Hi Cheerio:
I would like to do BARF (I guess I didn't have the acronym right, thanks for clarifying).

Riley doesn't have allergies but I want to give him the most nutritious food. I haven't done it yet because I haven't been able to find any good information on how to do it right. It sounds like you know.

Can you give me some informatin or point me to the right books or let me know how you order the food? (Riley will really thank you for it, he's not at all a fan of the kibble, spoiled boy Wink

)

Thanks!
Anne and Riley

Walter & Claudia · Posted: 03/30/03, 3:24 pm Post subject:

Hi,

check out the Petfooddirect.com Website and got to the dog food section and then click on the Barf World.
I just look it up myself. They are out of stock right now but you can sign up for updates, coupons and info.

Claudia & Walter

Tony · Master Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Posts: 197 Location: Iowa

This BARF diet would be a real pain in the a$$ for a week long hunting trip, but at least I could feed the sharptail to the dogs instead of trying to send them home with my hunting partner. Wink

Maybe I'll just stick with feeding them kibble instead.

cheerio · Moderator Joined: 11 Mar 2003 Posts: 285 Location: Canada

Actually when I go on trips, I simply put the right amount frozen in my cooler. It saves for a week. But if for some reason I don't have enough space in the cooler, I buy it dehydrated: simply add water and...VOILA!
Anne, if you let me know in what area you live in, I probably can find out who distribute it for you. You can also make it yourself, but that can be a bit of a pain. Just put a whole chicken, bones and all in the grinder and add up veggies and fruit also grind up. Then add the cup of oat to each meal. 2 1/2 cups of barf and one cup of oat per day should be enough for your GWP. Avoid putting too much cabbadge, raddishes or laituce as it is gazy. And definitely no onion. Garlic and ginger root is fine.

Anne · Junior Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Posts: 66 Location: Minneapolis

Hi Cherio:
I actually have done a lot of reading and once I understood the health risks of processed food I started making him BARF. I will probably continue to make it but would be interested in looking into distributors too if you know how I contact them. I live in Minneapolis.

It was a lot of work the first day but since then it has been easy and a lot of fun to see Riley love his food so much. At first he didn't believe it was for him. After I set his food down and told him he could take it he sniffed it and looked up at me as if to say "are you sure I can have it?" He ate a few bites and looked up again just to make sure.

Tony: As far as hunting trips go as long as you have a way to keep it cool it would probably be about the same amount of work as feeding kibble.

KJ · Posted: 04/09/03, 8:47 pm Post subject:

Tony,
Speaking of using birds for feed...... one weekend hunt last year the dog food spilled on the way home from our first hunt and we were way out in the desert. Luckily, it was a good day for quail. 30 quail = 60 quail legs. With 3 dogs, thats 20 legs per dog! I'll admit, only one of the dogs had any stamina the next day, though. That hunt was a lot better than the one where I had to use canned cat food though..... Confused

Walter & Claudia · Posted: 06/18/03, 2:32 pm Post subject:

Hi Buddha,

How is your boy doing?

We have found an all natural dog food that has no corn and junk in it and is available in chicken & rice and Lamb & rice. The doggie treats and training treats are for you as well as your boy.
You may want to check them out at www.sammysnacks.com.
We have been feeding our boys eukanuba and are switching them to Sammy Snacks. I will let you know how they are doing after the switch.

Claudia & Walter

AmmoMike · Posted: 06/18/03, 2:56 pm Post subject: what do you feed your dogs

Ok, I am just learning about BARF never heard of it before. But I have got 2 names for it off of this site. One is the Boi Approved Raw Food and the other is Bones and raw food.

I got this off of the web site http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm

"Many dog and cat owners are singing the praises of feeding their dogs the BARF (Bones and Raw Food) diet.."

Im really not trying to punk or flame anyone just trying to get all my facts straight so I can do more research on the food. Can some one clarify the name for me pleaseor is there 2 different types of food with the same BARF name?

Mike
_________________
Mike

Illona · Posted: 06/25/03, 9:23 am Post subject:

Mike, I'm not sure if you've discovered the answer to your question yet...or if it even matters. BARF in an acronym for both: Bio. Approved Raw Food and Bones and Raw Food.

Of course, now that you've got a handle on that, they went and changed it again. The trend now is to refer to it as raw feeding where the dog is given pretty much RMBs (raw meaty bones). I'm sure you're onto all this stuff already though. Just thought i'd answer your question.

Illona