Stayseeliz Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 We ended up getting two puppies this week. I had almost no notice so I ran and got purina puppy chow and pedigree wet food that I've mixed. One puppy has had a rough adjustment to the new food but I took him to the vet and he think he just has a parasite. I need to find a new food for them though that is high quality but affordable for two beagles. Thanks for tips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 This is what I feed my dog http://wateronthefloor.blogspot.com/2012/07/homemade-grain-free-bulk-dog-food.html. From the week we brought her home she had trouble with regular dog food. This is a great alternative for her and she hasn't been back to the vet once for any health issues (almost a year now:)). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjpeter Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 http://www.dogfoodproject.com/ Lot of info about choosing healthy dog food here. Good luck with the pups!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Grain free! we rescued a mastiff mix puppy. Her diarrhea was SEVERE! Someone here recommended an excellent canine probiotic (I am drawing a blank on brqnd nme) and I also put her on that expensive GI food from the vet. I think thqt stuff is JUNK but I had to give her intestines a break. I then did some research and put her on a grain free food, fearing the diarrhea could return. She has adjusted perfectly. You need to adjust their foods very, very slow. Start with 10% of the new food and add more every few days. If you opt foe the vet food (is it Hills?) just do that long enough to quier the pup's system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrid Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Grain free! we rescued a mastiff mix puppy. Her diarrhea was SEVERE! Someone here recommended an excellent canine probiotic (I am drawing a blank on brqnd nme) and I also put her on that expensive GI food from the vet. I think thqt stuff is JUNK but I had to give her intestines a break. I then did some research and put her on a grain free food, fearing the diarrhea could return. She has adjusted perfectly. You need to adjust their foods very, very slow. Start with 10% of the new food and add more every few days. If you opt foe the vet food (is it Hills?) just do that long enough to quier the pup's system. Fortiflora My opinion: Beagles are hounds. Hounds stink. Hounds stink more when they're fed crappy food. Hounds also get ear infections. Grain allergies is a leading cause of ear infections in floppy-eared dogs. If you want your hounds to stink less, have smaller, less-stinky stool and fewer/no ear infections, feed them grain free food. There are several on the market. Good luck with them! Beagles are so cute! astrid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Well, my true feeling is raw food with suitable (uncooked) bones is best for pups! Absolutely NO cooked bones, as they are the ones that cause problems... Salmon oil which can be given on a plate (small amt, comes with a measure spoon) and you can add some vitamins to that. Then you just choose meat that's good. I actually throw out a quarter or half a chicken (sometimes whole) for my 65lbs dog. He just eats all he wants, sometimes the whole thing... sometimes not. You can feed any organs but liver as meat. I do not serve pork. (I don't believe uncooked pork is good for them and actually don't eat pork at all) I let my dog have the leftover yogurt.... and just know what works for him. If he feels sick, I give a bit of banana... etc. There are huge books about it and it's really an easy "wing it" type thing when you know what NOT to give. (NO raisins or grapes, try for no onions/garlic although some people give some... but the raisin thing can kill them...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimtaxi234 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I put a plug in for Flint River Ranch http://www.frrco.com/ on your last thread, but since I just place an order tonight I thought I would mention it again. I wrote about what I really like about the dog food on that thread, but I just remembered another nice feature. This food has no unnecessary junk (corn, etc.), so the dog poop is much smaller than normal. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I always feed my dogs and cats Innova or Evo (both of which are manufactured by Naturapet). Innova/Evo is never, ever on any pet food-recall list, because it uses human quality ingredients. Every time a new pet has come into our home, within a few weeks of an Innova/Evo diet, even if the previous food was a premium one, there's an obvious improvement in the quality of the coat. Naturapet was started by a patient of Dr. Wendell Belfield, who was also our animals' vet in California. He has done extensive research into pet foods, and Innova/Evo is the only one he recommends. You can do an Internet search on him and find a number of his articles and letters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jpoy85 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 http://www.dogfoodproject.com/ Lot of info about choosing healthy dog food here. Good luck with the pups!! Well, my true feeling is raw food with suitable (uncooked) bones is best for pups! Absolutely NO cooked bones, as they are the ones that cause problems... Salmon oil which can be given on a plate (small amt, comes with a measure spoon) and you can add some vitamins to that. Then you just choose meat that's good. I actually throw out a quarter or half a chicken (sometimes whole) for my 65lbs dog. He just eats all he wants, sometimes the whole thing... sometimes not. You can feed any organs but liver as meat. I do not serve pork. (I don't believe uncooked pork is good for them and actually don't eat pork at all) I let my dog have the leftover yogurt.... and just know what works for him. If he feels sick, I give a bit of banana... etc. There are huge books about it and it's really an easy "wing it" type thing when you know what NOT to give. (NO raisins or grapes, try for no onions/garlic although some people give some... but the raisin thing can kill them...) :iagree: to BOTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 (edited) http://www.dogfoodproject.com/ Lot of info about choosing healthy dog food here. Good luck with the pups!! :iagree::iagree: The Dog Food Project has excellent, unbiased (IMO) advice about feeding. Sabine won't tell you what to feed, but she'll give you the knowledge to make sound choices. Beware of other sites, especially those that supposedly "rate" food. I've yet to see one that didn't have an agenda and wasn't full of some fairly awful advice. I'm not a member of the grain-free bandwagon. I don't think grain-free foods are necessarily bad, but my athletic dogs have always lost considerable muscle tone whenever I tried a grain-free. Many grain-free foods are absolutely loaded with carbs like potatoes or tapioca, which I am absolutely not convinced are preferable to good quality grains. Grains are no more likely to trigger ear infections or other allergy symptoms in dogs than are meat proteins. Grain-free is a big marketing ploy right now, and IMO it's very much a buyer beware kind of thing. Again, that's not saying there aren't quality grain-free foods out there. Being grain-free in and of itself certainly does not mean a food is good quality IMO. Raw/home-cooked is a very valid option, IMO. But not something you want to jump into w/o doing a lot of research. Like The Dog Food Project, I won't give you any straight answers of "feed this and not that." There is no one perfect food that will work for all dogs. But read that site and you'll have the knowledge you need to pick a quality food. Any pet food store will have a decent selection of good quality foods to fit a variety of budgets. Beagles certainly aren't known for having sensitive stomachs, so my guess is that your vet is right and the problem is due to parasites. Quality control/safety is very important to me, so I will tell you a couple of manufacturers I would avoid -- Diamond and Merrick. Unfortunately, Diamond produces many foods for other companies, so it can be very difficult to figure out what food is produced by whom. But those two companies have had way too many recalls over the years for my comfort. A PP mentioned Innova/EVO and other products made by Natura. One thing to know about them is that they are ISO compliant. My understanding is that's a huge deal if you're interested in quality control. From my understanding ISO certification is difficult to get, and means that the manufacturer is doing things right. Natura is the only pet food manufacturer in the U.S. to have that certification. Edited September 22, 2012 by Pawz4me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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