Quick Tips on Doggie Allergies

Wolfie was scratching and chewing himself and I knew it wasnt fleas.  A friend of ours  mentioned that he might have some skin allergies and suggested to feed him grain-free food.  I gave it a shot and he is still scratching.  What next?

I first want to make it quite clear that I am not as qualified as my Veterinarian to diagnose solutions for skin allergies and the like.  I simply want to pass on some information that my Vet told me to "try first".  

The "quick and dirty" and inexpensive solution for canine skin allergies is to switch to a grain-free food.  Many times this will solve the problem and wont incur large medical expenses.  The one thing we forget when we switch to a grain-free food is the "hidden grain" that might still remain.  A local natural dog food supplier recently provided us with an epiphany that makes perfect sense.  

When you switch to a grain-free dog food, make sure that chicken is not the meat in the food.  For most chickens, their main food is corn.  So when you have chicken in your dog food, you are also adding corn.  Pick another meat such as lamb, duck, salmon, etc. as the main meat ingredient and you will eliminate that "hidden source of grain".

As always, talk to your Vet concerning any health issues with your dog.  This is the advise given to us by our Vet and natural dog food supplier.   For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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Ideas to get Wolfie to Eat His Food

I just dont get it.  I spend more money on Wolfies "holistic/good for you food" than I spend on myself.  I put the food down and he toys with it, eats a few bites, and then walks away.  I dont want to feed him junk food.  But, what do I do to get him to eat the "its good for you" food?

Lets think about our childhood and our mom serving us green beans.  There was no way that we were going to eat them.  But when we mixed them with mashed potatoes and maybe a little butter... Yum...yum...yum.  Now, I am not advocating giving Wolfie mashed potatoes and butter with his food, but I do have some ideas on adding some healthy goodies to make his food a little more interesting.  Here is what Robin, my wife, adds to our dogs food and they just love:

1. LOW SODIUM CHICKEN BROTH.  Chicken is a healthy meat and the low sodium minimizes any additional salt added to their diet.  The moisture gives a pleasing smell to the dry food that our dogs love.
2. PUMPKIN PASTE.  Pumpkin is naturally good for the dogs and is a great additive to the dry food.  It is a little hard to mix with the dry kibble, but a winning, healthy treat for our dogs.
3. COTTAGE CHEESE.  The great thing about cottage cheese is that it is so easy to mix up with the dry food.  It has some moisture that helps alleviate the boredom of dry kibble.  It is healthy and good for the dogs and what dog doesnt love cheese?  It is a true winner that we have been using for years for all four of our dogs.

Again, these are just some simple ideas to spice up Wolfies healthy diet.  The one thing that I want to implore you not to do is to add wet dog food to your dogs diet.  Although there are many good and healthy wet dog foods on the market, they all require you to brush your dogs teeth regularly.  Most of us just dont do that.  Our dogs teeth will then rot out early, causing health issues in their later years.

So, lets keep with options 1, 2, or 3 above.  For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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