Needlework Tips

On 10/25/09 9:18 PM, "Fred" wrote:

Apparently you should only give a dog a lamb based food as a last resort.
Not because it is bad but because the lamb based food is used (if or when) a
dog develops skin problems. It is claimed to be the silver bullet and if it
is used daily it doesn't work as well.to clear up shin allergies. So I have
been told by a vet.

Fred

I imagine it depends on the dog. There are some breeds for whom lamb base
is better than beef base, according to our vet. We have close friends that
had to shift their large girl over to lamb/rice food rather than beef as the
vet felt it would be better for that breed and coat. But, the foods we're
feeding aren't the ones with any by-product, and have a lot of other
ingredients - veggies & rice.

Probably like anything else the system can develop a tolerance - just like
taking antibiotics for every little thing, eventually they don't really
work. We've seen other compounds in food for animals with sensitive skin or
stomachs. Our vet is happy with the food we feed Puckster, and thought it
fine that we rotate it a bit. I've never seen anything about that as a last
resort, but believe you've been told that.

Ellice



"ellice" wrote in message
...
On 10/25/09 9:51 AM, " wrote:

On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:33:14 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:



We've had "rent-a-dog" and his current diet makes him shed and with the
change of seasons, it is frightening how much he's shedding.

That tool looks useful. As does the diet additive.

IF it were my dog, the first thing I'd be doing is adding tons meat to
his
diet along with a spoon of cod liver oil daily until his skin looked
healthy
again. And lots less kibble

Cheryl

If rent-a-dog is of the large variety and is eating mainly kibble,
pour a tablespoon of plain old veggie oil over it. Does wonders for
their coats, that was a recommendation given to us for our lab by a
vet. He said kibble does not have much oil in it. Our lab
certainly enjoyed the addition as well !

There are also additives like Linatone, and dry dog foods that are meant
for
enhancing coats, as well as for sensitive stomachs. Some dogs do better
with lamb based kibble. We switch Puckster around a bit and have done
some
of the food meant to enhance coat, which has helped with the shedding
season. He's pretty adaptable, so we rotate the food base (lamb vs fish
vs
chicken vs beef, etc) as we replace. Also, we feed less than the bag
says -
per the vet - and supplement him with some low-fat cottage cheese and
steamed veggies. Go figure - he won't eat plain dry kibble unless he's
either really, really hungry or we put a spoonful of some of the "pack
leader" food in it. Now when we put kibble in his bowl - he looks at it,
then follows us around the kitchen - herding - to one of the fridges -
until
out comes the cottage cheese container or his veggies, etc.

Good luck with the shedding. It's just not fun.

Ellice

"ellice" wrote in message
...
On 10/25/09 9:18 PM, "Fred" wrote:

Apparently you should only give a dog a lamb based food as a last resort.
Not because it is bad but because the lamb based food is used (if or
when) a
dog develops skin problems. It is claimed to be the silver bullet and if
it
is used daily it doesn't work as well.to clear up shin allergies. So I
have
been told by a vet.

Fred

I imagine it depends on the dog. There are some breeds for whom lamb base
is better than beef base, according to our vet. We have close friends
that
had to shift their large girl over to lamb/rice food rather than beef as
the
vet felt it would be better for that breed and coat. But, the foods we're
feeding aren't the ones with any by-product, and have a lot of other
ingredients - veggies & rice.

Probably like anything else the system can develop a tolerance - just like
taking antibiotics for every little thing, eventually they don't really
work. We've seen other compounds in food for animals with sensitive skin
or
stomachs. Our vet is happy with the food we feed Puckster, and thought it
fine that we rotate it a bit. I've never seen anything about that as a
last
resort, but believe you've been told that.

Ellice



"ellice" wrote in message
...
On 10/25/09 9:51 AM, "
wrote:

On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:33:14 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:



We've had "rent-a-dog" and his current diet makes him shed and with
the
change of seasons, it is frightening how much he's shedding.

That tool looks useful. As does the diet additive.

IF it were my dog, the first thing I'd be doing is adding tons meat to
his
diet along with a spoon of cod liver oil daily until his skin looked
healthy
again. And lots less kibble

Cheryl

If rent-a-dog is of the large variety and is eating mainly kibble,
pour a tablespoon of plain old veggie oil over it. Does wonders for
their coats, that was a recommendation given to us for our lab by a
vet. He said kibble does not have much oil in it. Our lab
certainly enjoyed the addition as well !

There are also additives like Linatone, and dry dog foods that are meant
for
enhancing coats, as well as for sensitive stomachs. Some dogs do better
with lamb based kibble. We switch Puckster around a bit and have done
some
of the food meant to enhance coat, which has helped with the shedding
season. He's pretty adaptable, so we rotate the food base (lamb vs fish
vs
chicken vs beef, etc) as we replace. Also, we feed less than the bag
says -
per the vet - and supplement him with some low-fat cottage cheese and
steamed veggies. Go figure - he won't eat plain dry kibble unless he's
either really, really hungry or we put a spoonful of some of the "pack
leader" food in it. Now when we put kibble in his bowl - he looks at
it,
then follows us around the kitchen - herding - to one of the fridges -
until
out comes the cottage cheese container or his veggies, etc.

Good luck with the shedding. It's just not fun.

Ellice

And for Puff, the only thing that's good for his sensitive stomach is a
chicken or turkey/rice based prescription diet. Anything beef based, even
Hearttguard, a beef boullion kind of heartworm medicine, gives him a belly
ache and he gets nauseous.

Go figure that out.

Lucille