[John P]

My four-year-old Wheaten Terrier (wheatable really – dominant wheaten mix) has serious allergies, skin issues, and food sensitives to most grains and several proteins. He started on a poultry-based food (Organix) but became sensitive after two years. After trial-and-error and an allergy test, we switched to a fish-based food (Natural Mix). However, recently he has become sensitive to it. I am desperate to find a food with a new protein. It breaks my heart to watch him itch and scratch all day. My vet is wonderful, but beyond sending me to this site, she is as desperate as I am.

Right now, I’m feeding him a raw diet consisting mainly of quality meat leftovers I buy from the butcher (pork and venison, mainly), but I can’t afford to do that much longer. I subscribed to the Editor’s Choice, but almost every food is poultry-based or enriched with poultry meals. I noticed Acana foods might have some alternative proteins (such as pork). Does anyone have experience with them?

I know he is definitely allergic to most red meats, including beef and bison. The poultry-based food he ate contained turkey and chicken. The fish-based food he ate contained salmon. He has never had any issues with pork or venison. I am wondering if someone might have experience with a dog who became intolerant of one poultry protein but could tolerate another (say I could try switching him to duck or pheasant)?

Otherwise, do any of you have favorite foods containing pork, venison, rabbit, or lamb? Do you have any other protein recommendations? Do you have any other suggestions period?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your time.

Best,

John

[Dori]

Hi John P. First let me say that I’m a commercial raw feeder grain free foods so I’m not going to really be of much help with kibble. I do know that a lot of people on this site consider Acana and Orijen made by Champion to be a quality company. The only kibble that, on rare occasions, I have put in rotation is Nature’s Logic Kibble but only the Sardine. All others contain either some sort of beef or poultry (eggs). One of my dogs has many many food intolerances and sensitivities. The list is quite long so I won’t bore you as they don’t pertain to your dog. But she is highly intolerant of all things poultry which includes all fowl. Below is a partial list of what I feed my three dogs and they all do very well on them, I’ve left out any of the beef that I feed because your dog has an intolerance to beef. I feed all my dogs the same food because of my allergy girl, Katie. I feed a rotational diet so here goes.

OC Raw: Fish & Produce Patties, Lamb Patties, Rabbit Patties, Goat Patties

Primal Raw Formulas and/or Primal Pronto Formulas: Venison Patties, Rabbit Patties

Vital Essentials Raw: Fish Patties, Rabbit Patties

Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw: Venison (also contains lamb), Rabbit (also contains pork)

Stella & Chewy’s Raw: Venison, Lamb, Rabbit
I’m not a great fan of Stella & Chewy’s but will feed it if I’m in a pinch.

Natures Logic Kibble: Sardine (It contains millet which is a pseudo-grain. Katie can’t tolerate grains but for some reason the millet in Nature’s Logic doesn’t seem to bother her. Could be because I feed it so infrequently and never for more than one meal every so often.

I’m an advocate of rotational feeding for my three dogs so I rotate their food pretty much with every meal and don’t feed them the same protein without a three day break in between. It’s the only way I can get around Katie’s food issues. Dogs with allergies should also avoid corn, white potatoes, rice (all), soy. They are all pro-inflammatory so you’re basically feeding the allergies and making things worse. You need to feed non-inflammatory foods and ingredients as best you can. It’s pretty difficult to avoid every single thing all the time but it helps a great deal to do your best.

Hope some of this has helped. I’m sure someone else will chime in soon to help with kibble feeding.

Oops! Don’t forget about checking to see what’s in the treats you give your dogs. For treats I only give pieces of fruits (no grapes) and veggies. No seeds or pits with the fruit please (toxic), I also peel apples and cucumbers. I don’t feed any commercial treats due to grains and too many recalls for my liking. Too many pesticides used on both. Good Luck and if I can answer any questions please ask.

I just wanted to mention that the only fish that Katie cannot eat is salmon. All other fish foods she’s fine with but is very sensitive to salmon.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by Dori.

[crazy4cats]

Hi John P-

I’m feeding my two dogs California Natural with pork, peas and sweet potatoes kibble. It has a short ingredient list and it is a little lower in fat than the average kibble. I always mix in a topper . My dogs are doing very well on it.

[Pam P]

I feed my dog Answers fermented raw food and kefir. My son’s Mastiff mix had such itchy skin she had to go on antibiotics for a wound she scratched raw that wouldn’t heal. I started her for one month on Nature’s Logic Sardine. Nature’s Logic is one of a very few that doesn’t use synthetic vitamins and minerals. The synthetic vitamins and minerals come mostly from industrial waste such as coal tar for one. They aren’t good for humans and they aren’t good for pets. She started detoxifying on Nature’s Logic. Then I put her on Answers Fermented Raw food for a month. The itching became less. Now she is on only Kefir for a month and her itching has just about stopped. The kefir is a detox diet. She hasn’t lost weight. Her energy is 300% higher. I’ll see how she does after another 2 weeks to see if we gradually get her back on food or keep her on kefir for another 2 weeks. The key is to clean and detoxify the system and then to make sure the immune system is strengthened. Allergies are an immune system issue. I also give my dogs organic extra virgin coconut oil, sardine oil, pumpkin seed oil, and royal jelly. Royal jelly is excellent for the skin and coat. Its what the queen bee is fed. I learned that from an owner of champion show dogs. I have also given them canned sardines. Frozen sardines can be purchased in bulk online. They have small bones which are loaded with calcium. If I was going to feed kibble, I would lean towards Nature’s Logic or one that doesn’t use synthetic vitamins and minerals. They are a little lower on the meat, so I would add gizzards and some raw meat to it, preferably a balanced frozen meat. There are several to chose from….Nature’s Logic, Primal, Instinct, and others. I hope this gives you some ideas.

[InkedMarie]

Hi John,
Nature’s Logic has a rabbit food, I think.California Natural has kangaroo, I believe. Grandma Lucy’s, which is dehydrated or freeze dried, I forget which, has a couple novel proteins.

[Melissaandcrew]

Hi John
.

Sadly welcome to the world of wheaties. Great dogs, lots of medical concerns. Be thankful yours has the skin issues from allergies and not the intestinsl. Ours had both. We feed high quality dry and raw foods to control his issues. He eats a lot of Acana, Orijen and Nature’s Variety products. Once you find a brand that is higher rated, look for any chicken in it. We started ours on the Acana Lamb/ apple with great success. We never feed him a food for long term, in the hopes that he will not develop an allergy due to exposure.

For example. Last week he ate Acana Pork/squash for two days, Nature’s Variety Rabbit (limited ingredient) for 2 days, and the lamb Acana for 2 days. Grandma Lucy dehydrated venison for one.

[Pam P]

I know this isn’t food related, but it seems your dog has some serious issues and it might not be all due to food. Pet healthcare is a lot like traditional healthcare or sickness care (as I call it)….it’s big business. Dogs are way over vaccinated, and traditional vaccines have mercury, formaldehyde and other toxic substances that can affect a dog’s health over time. Metal toxicity is a serious issue as they aren’t eliminated from the body. They are stored in the organs and joints. The core vaccines are usually good for life. A titer test can determine the antibody levels. A holistic vet uses vaccines that have no mercury or heavy metals. My holistic vet detoxifies the dog immediately after giving a vaccination. If a dog does need the 3 core vaccines, he does them in 2-3 week intervals so the dog isn’t overloaded all at once. That’s why it’s not a bad idea to do the kefir diet for 30 days or more to detoxify the dog and get all the junk out of their system, and then gradually get them back on a very clean, healthy food. I still give our Mastiff all the oils I mentioned previously; just no kibble or meat. I also give her a tsp of organic turmeric at each feeding. Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory, and there is obviously some serious inflammation going on with your dog. I mix it with the kefir and she downs it. I start with a small amount and build to a tsp each meal. Just like with humans, a detox diet can make them feel worse before they get better; as all the toxins are being released and coming out of the body, the dog can appear worse for a while. I detoxified the Mastiff gradually starting with Nature’s Logic, then raw, then kefir. She’s a senior dog so didn’t want to overload her system. The kidneys and liver are the detoxifying organs so didn’t want to take a chance to overload them. Just some more suggestions.

[John P]

Thank you everyone for the prompt and detailed responses to my post! This must be a very strong community, and I am very glad that I joined Iggy, Bella, and me up as members. All of your pets are very fortunate that their pet partners love them and care for them so much.

As I begin reading through these, I will take your recommendations under consideration and respond when necessary. Thank you again!

[John P]

Dori:
I think rotational food might be my best bet at this stage in the game, but I have a few questions/comments for you:
1) How would you recommend introducing the new foods I’m researching to make sure Iggy (and Bella, my other Wheatable) can tolerate them before I rotate in a second, third, and fourth food (and so on)? It usually takes a little while for the itching to show up in either Iggy or Bella. On the other hand, I learned very quickly that bison was too closely related to beef for Bella (she has violent reactions to beef). Within hours, she was incredibly sick. So, I guess my question is how long would you wait before introducing each food and how many foods would you feed at a time when you’re trying out a new one? Would you switch to it exclusively for a short period?
2) I have always made my own treats. This started when I rescued Iggy as a puppy. He was extremely malnourished but wouldn’t eat much of his puppy food at a time. Bella, who is two years older, has never had any problems eating (especially if it’s bad for her — haha), so I had to find ways to get get nutrition into him throughout the day when he felt like eating without necessarily leaving food out all day long. I worked with my super awesome vet to come up with some “recipes”, I played with them to Iggy’s liking, and Iggy and Bella have been enjoying them to some extent ever since. They have always been anti-inflammatory, grain-free, and high-protein, with a good fat-to-protein ratio. I don’t use treats very often, but when I do, they’re always from my own kitchen.

crazy4cats:
Pardon my ignorance, but what is a “topper”?

Pam P:
This is great information! Like I said, I’m new to this site and new to the dog food world beyond what I have found in the aisles of my local pet supply warehouses. Please bear with me as I bombard you with questions/comments as I did with Dori. Here goes:
1) What is kefir? I’m afraid to leave this page in my tablet to go Googling for fear of losing everything I have typed so far, plus I’m betting your summation will be far more knowledgeable than anything I can find on Wikipedia.
2) How exactly do you find out if a company uses synthetic vitamins and minerals? Does a limited-ingredient brand such as Acana use them? I’m guessing something like that would be on the ingredients list, but is there a separate list as one might find on a cereal box? I tried to play around with Editor’s Choice the day I joined, but I couldn’t find the purported ingredient benefits of membership. That could be both a limitation of my browsing device and a limitation of the short amount of time I had available for browsing.
3) Do you mix the oils directly onto the foods before feeding? How do you know how much to give per kg/lb — does someone have a guide somewhere online? Again, this might be something I could search online. My Wheatables both have the soft blonde hair of the Wheaten breed, but it doesn’t have the luster it had when eating the Organix. I realize that could be due to many things besides just what I fed them at the time. I know when I first rescued Bella and before I got Iggy, my old vet introduced me to Dr. Udo’s pet line of holistic products. Do you have any experience with those? I believe he has a vegan oil blend (with several of the oils you mentioned) designed to do just what you said. The only reason I bring it up is it would have dosing guidelines. My worry comes from the fact that Iggy is at risk of being underweight (always has been), and Bella is at risk of being overweight (always has been), so I want to be sure and dose exactly according to what they should be getting.

InkedMarie:
Thanks for the hints! You saved me a lot of headache and searches by pointing me in the right directions. If I can use Dori’s rotational recommendations, I’ll need some novel proteins because so many have already been eliminated due to established allergies and intolerances (mainly poultry). I really appreciate the help!

Melissaandcrew:
Okay, I own several books on Wheatens. They are adorable, but that very adorableness is their downfall, which is why I have rescued two. However, I haven’t ever encountered specific literature on (nor have any of my vets told me about) skin conditions due to intestinal problems. I know about the inheritable digestive enzyme-related diseases. Do those also cause skin problems? If so, what kind? I will Google this further as soon as I can. However, your first-hand perspective would probably help me more than anything else.
Also, thanks for telling me you are also a proponent of rotational feeding, although to a more relaxed extent than Dori. This helps me decide that some form of rotational feeding is the next move for our pet family. I wish I had thought to do this sooner.

Pam P:
Nice to see you again! Thanks for the advice on the vaccines. Iggy and Bella missed their last routine vaccinations because they were extremely inflamed at the time, and the vet didn’t want to risk it. I will mention everything you said to my vet, and we will go from there. She has been extremely good to work with me so far. She got out of vet school right about the time Iggy joined our family, so she knows our history well, and she seems to be more flexible than some older vets.

Thanks again to everyone! I’m sorry I wasn’t more concise. I just have so many questions. If you don’t feel like answering but just want to send me to a website, a link is fine too. I’m off to do all of that Googling I promised to undertake. This community is amazing!

[Dori]

Hi John. Firstly I just wanted to post about Marie’s suggestions. She want be upset with me as she’s a friend of mine and is fabulous at helping others with their canines.

California Naturals does have a Kangaroo grain free but the protein is incredibly low. 21 % to AAFCO standards.

Natures Logic Rabbit contains turkey meal, chicken fat, chicken liver, dried egg product and egg shells (for calcium).

Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance (their grain free line) is freeze dried food. Their foods that do not have any poultry or beef are: Rabbit, Goat and Lamb. (Be forewarned…fairly large poops on Grandma Lucy’s but it does have a good reputation with a lot of feeders).

On to the questions you just asked of me. Since you are already feeding your dogs a raw diet, transitioning to a commercial raw diet will be very easy for you and your dogs if, in fact, that is the route you want to take. Transitioning to raw is much simpler and quicker especially with dogs that are already eating raw. Also because you already feed grain free that will make it a bit easier as their guts are in better and healthier conditions than dogs fed their entire lives on foods that contain massive amounts of carbs and lower quality foods. Now, I’m assuming at this point that the only known allergens are poultry and beef. I would stay away from any and all poultry (all fowl….anything with feathers). Since you say that Bella reacted violently to Bison after only a few hours you’ll be able to tell fairly quickly if a new food is going to bother her. Typically when I first started out with rotation feeding I could tell within 3 days how Katie was doing on it. If she was going to have loose stools or vomitting, scratching, gas, bad breath and everything else that goes along with food sensitivities it would happen fairly quickly so I stopped feeding that food and went on to the next. In your case I would probably tell you to start with one food and if they do well on it then feed only that food for two or three months just to give their guts a bit more healing time and “detoxing” as it’s called. At that time you will already have bought the next food you want to try within that brand if there is another protein without any allergens that your dogs may have. If that brand doesn’t, then move on to the next brand. If all goes well I would then feed that food and start looking for the next protein within that brand you want to try. Every time you are done with one bag you move on to the next. Every time with a different protein within the same brand. Keep a detailed list of the foods you have tried and what, if any, reactions they had. Once you’ve exhausted the different proteins in your first brand then you move on to the next brand and start rotating through their proteins that your dogs can eat. Then you move on to the next brand. Before you know it you may be able to have 4 or 5 foods that your dogs can eat and do well on. You can then continue to rotate within these brands and proteins every time you have to buy a bag of food. You can then start rotating with the different foods you have in the freezer every day, every couple of days, every meal as I do, whatever. I rotate as often as I do because Katie can’t tolerate anything for more than a meal or two. She probably can at this point but since I’ve been doing it this way for so long and they’re all just fine with it and because I wouldn’t eat the same thing for breakfast and dinner I figure why should they. I also can’t afford for her to become allergic to anything more than she already is. In rotating foods if some ingredient bothers her a little or there is a pro-inflammatory ingredient in the food (which I try my best to avoid but not always possible) then she’s only getting it for one meal. Rotating foods for all dogs is, in my opinion, the healthiest way to feed canines but especially for canines with food intolerances.

Please keep in mind that the log (list) is very very important. In keeping a list it will also better inform you if your dog is having an issue with the protein or is it another ingredient in the food. If you feed rabbit and Bella has issues with it and then you move on to goat and the same thing happens, then you have to compare the ingredient labels of both those foods and see what other ingredients do both foods have in common other than the protein. When starting to gather foods for dogs with allergies it’s easy to assume that it’s the labeled protein in the food and keep moving from food to food thinking your dog is intolerant of every single protein. Typically that’s not the case. It’s that we forgot that they could be allergic or intolerant of any other ingredient in the foods. So it’s important…..keep a log of foods you feed and the ingredients in the foods. You can print out the ingredient list from their web sites or you can take a picture of the ingredient label on the bag itself for reference purposes.

“Toppers” by the way is just a term that’s used meaning anything that you would put on top of the food you already have in their bowl. I would suggest you not use any of them at all until you have some foods that you can easily feed to your dogs with no allergy symptoms. You’ll confuse the issue if you start adding other things. You won’t know which or what is causing the symptoms. I do add things to my dogs foods but I did not in the beginning. Had to find the foods first. Then started adding little things to see what the affect would be.

Plain Kefir (you can buy it in grocery stores) acts like plain yogurt in that it contains friendly “probiotic” bacteria that helps the gut. I will add here that my allergy girl, Katie, cannot have kefir, yogurt or cheese. Actually I’ve yet to find a probiotic that doesn’t contain something (yeast, or whatever) that she doesn’t have issues with. She’s too intolerant of them and the craziness starts all over again. Not saying that your dogs will react, but owners of dogs with food sensitivities have to be very careful of every single thing that eat. Their immune systems are pretty much in a weakened state especially until their immune system improves on better foods, less toxins and carbs to deal with. 70% of the immune system is in the gut.

Allergy symptoms can be skin issues and/or digestive issues as is the case with Katie. Once I cleared up all her food issues her digestive and skin issues all disappeared.

Once on line please check out all pro-inflammatory foods, fruits and veggies. Allergies are an inflammatory based issue so you need to avoid those foods as best you can. It’s not always easy to eliminate each and every single one but do your best to avoid as much as possible. That’s also a good reason for rotation. If one of your foods does have pro-inflammatory ingredients your dog will not be getting them for too long a time.

If you find, eventually, that your dogs are not allergic to sardines then you can give them sardines packed in water with no salt added (canned in the grocery store) two or three times a week (as a “topper”) on top or mixed in with the food in their bowls. Sardines are an excellent form of Omega 3 which most foods are lacking. Most foods have plenty of Omega 6’s and not enough Omega 3’s to balance them out. That is true most especially in kibble foods. On the days that I don’t give my dogs sardines I keep a bottle refrigerated of Nature’s Logic Sardine oil. Oils go rancid fairly quickly so it’s best kept refrigerated and also says it on the bottle I believe. Anyway, once I’ve put their meals in their bowls, and on the days I don’t add sardines, I splash a little of the sardine oil on top of their food in their bowls and promptly put the bottle back in fridge and immediately give the dogs their bowls of food. I believe the oil has the dosing on the bottle. Please do not give your dogs salmon oil as we already know that they had issues with the salmon food. Also, salmon and tuna have the most amount of mercury in them due to their long lives. I don’t feed either because of those reasons. Sardines and krill have the least as they have very short lives and very short digestive tracks.

Just for your info I realize that I didn’t tell you what type of dogs I have or anything other than Katie’s allergies. So, Hannah (my avatar) is my 15 1/2 year old Maltese. Katie is my 5 1/2 year old Maltipoo and Lola is my 5 1/2 year old Yorkipoo.

One more thing. I no longer have my dogs vaccinated. I do the titers on the core vaccines. Rabies vaccine in my area is only required every three years. Though recently I’ve learned that the county I live in will accept rabies titers. Very few counties in the country are on board with titers for rabies. I don’t believe that any dog should be vaccinated unnecessarily. Dogs with allergies shouldn’t be vaccinated. Of course, I am in favor of doing all the initial puppy vaccinations spaced out as they should be. Each vaccine should be done separately and not the three in one type. It’s too much of an overload on their systems. After those initially puppy shots which, if memory serves me, ends when they are about a year old. After that having your vet do titers to check their antibodies to the core illnesses will let you know when and if they have to be vaccinated again.

[crazy4cats]

Hi john P-

Lol! “Toppers” are just as Dori described, something added in. I don’t really like that term either because it sounds like you just sprinkle something on top of their meal. I use canned, fresh, and dehydrated added to their kibble. A meal mixer might be a better description. I wouldn’t recommend doing that either until you figure out if the kibble agrees with him first. But you were looking for a food with pork and so far the California Natural is great for my dogs with sensitive digestion. I hope you can sort through all this info and find some good choices for you and your pup!

[John P]

Update: First, I want to thank everyone again for your thorough, prompt, and caring responses. I’ve tried to browse the forum to see if I could help anyone as you’ve helped me. So far, I haven’t found any topic that I feel I am qualified to give an educated opinion, but I will check back regularly.

Back to Iggy and Bella – I have had the luxury of feeding a mostly raw diet in this “detox” or “transition” phase only because this is the off-season for my business. In a few weeks, my dogs and I will begin our regular business road trips across the country (I could fly, but I would never crate my dogs in the cargo bay unless absolutely necessary). I travel with my dogs because I don’t want to be without them for extended periods of time, and I know most boarders won’t (and often can’t) provide the love, care, and attention that my dogs get from me (and that I feel they need and deserve). I tell you all this only because our transient lifestyle for nine months out of the year necessitates a dry dog food/kibble. That is why I have taken all of your excellent advice and focused my research and attention on dry dog foods.

Right now, I have found three highly rated dry dog foods with three distinct proteins that I plan to begin introducing into their diets. Here they are:
• Acana Singles Pork and Butternut Squash Dry Dog Food
•. Acana Singles Lamb and Apple Dry Dog Food
•. Nature’s Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet Rabbit Meal Dry Dog Food

Ideally, I would like to add at least one more food with at least one more single distinct protein to keep in the rotation, although I’m having trouble sorting through all the options to find anything suitable. I know both Iggy and Bella tolerate venison because they did well on the small bag of the Sweet Potato and Venison dog food I bought from that hack brand when I was desperate to switch and couldn’t find anything better at my local PetCo. They also do well with the raw venison that I get from my dad and brothers (they are hunters and have freezers full of the stuff). However, I can’t find any highly-rated venison food that isn’t fortified with fowl or beef (or both). If someone could give me a suggestion on a single-protein venison food, I would greatly appreciate it. Considering they will be getting this food in a rotation with other highly recommended foods, I think it would be acceptable for this venison food to have a lower protein count (correct me if I’m wrong – I’m just guessing). Alternatively, if you know of another protein that is not fowl, fish, beef, bison, or the proteins listed above, I could really use that help too. I’m afraid if one or more of these options don’t work out, which is quite possible, I’ll be going back to the drawing board and coming back begging for more help. Haha!

I believe it was Dori who suggested (or possibly impied) that I should at least consider using multiple foods with the same protein for the sake of variety if I am unable to find a suitable number of distinct proteins. If I must go that route, suggestions on single-protein dry dog foods (or, I suppose, dry dog foods with a mix of these proteins, although I find that highly doubtable) that I should try within these limits would also be very helpful, especially as I prepare logs and attempt to rule out sensitivities that might not be protein-related.

I have some excellent news, too! I have found a locally-owned pet store that is only an hour’s drive from my house. Their prices are significantly cheaper than sites like Chewy and Wag. Per 25-pound bag of premium dog food brands like Acana, I can save an average of $20 to $25. Also, they offered to order any food they don’t carry with no minimum quantities per order and no special order fee. They staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and extremely helpful. They even told me about this website before I had a chance to tell them that this is where I had done my research. I’ll never give PetCo or PetsMart my business again!

Thank you again. I am glad that I joined this online family of pet lovers. Among my friends and family, my dedication to my pets is often derided as obsessive, and my investment in their health is deemed wasteful. This community understands the relationship I have with Iggy and Bella, and I would go so far as to say that you encourage it. I look forward to hearing any additional help that any of you might have to offer, and I especially look forward to contributing my experiences to help others in the future.

[Dori]

Hi John. Just saw your post here and I’d like to reply and help if I can.

Nope, it wasn’t me that suggested that you keep your dogs on the same protein. That’s totally against what I do or would recommend. I may not have explained things correctly. What I had said is that I would suggest that you find a few different (proteins) that your dogs do well on and rotate within the brand if, in fact, there are different proteins in that brand that you can feed. Also find other brands with proteins you dogs do well on and rotate within all the brands all the proteins that your dogs can eat. Rotate proteins and brands. It is never, in my opinion and the way I feed, a good idea to keep a dog long term on any one protein and on any one brand.

I can’t comment on the Acana line or any dry food as I’ve mentioned before. My allergy, intolerant girl can actually eat Nature’s Logic kibble but only the dry and only the sardine formula and only in my way of rotating which is often.

Other foods I thought you might want to consider to add into their diets are Nature’s Variety Instinct Freeze Dried Lamb (doesn’t contain any poultry, fowl, or beef)

Nature’s Variety Limited Instinct Kibble Rabbit or Lamb.

Stella and Chewy’s Freeze Dried. They have a rabbit, a lamb and also a venison formula. None of which contain beef or fowl of any sort.

I think adding freeze dried to their diets in rotation would be a little more cost effective with the kibbles you’ll be feeding because this way, at least, they’ll be getting some of the benefits of raw on occasion. The other is that if freeze dried is too expensive as their entire diet in rotation you might consider rotating through the freeze dried foods that I mentioned and use them just as their treats. You’ll be sure they’re getting healthy treats and they’ll benefit health wise and you don’t have to worry about what’s in the commercial “treats” which usually contain something dogs with food intolerances have issues with. I hope this has helped. Sorry, but I hadn’t realized that you were on the road 9 months of the year. Hopefully when you stationary from time to time if your room has a fridge with small freezer you may be able to just buy small bags of raw frozen to add into their diets. Nature’s Variety Instinct is sold in most, if not all, Petco and Petsmarts and they seem to be everywhere in the country. I love that you travel with your dogs and that they are a priority in our lives. Yes, we are all rather companion animal obsessed (or most of us are) and we like it that way. So, never fear, you’re not in the minority in the world of dogs and your wanting to do the very best you can for them. I’m pretty sure it would be a safe bet that most of us dog obsessed people on this site feed our dogs healthier diets that we do ourselves and our families. I’ve been known to do a McDonald’s drive thru from time to time for myself and my husband yet would rather die than feed my dogs any low quality garbage dog food. They become our children and, as such, we commit ourselves to their health and welfare. As typical parents, we usually put ourselves last. In my opinion that’s a good thing. They can’t choose what they eat, we do it for them so we should try to do the best for them. It’s the least we can do for them when you consider all they give us in return.

[John P]

Hi, Dori.

I must have misinterpreted something to begin with, but I also must have worded something incorrectly. What I meant is that if I can only find three distinct proteins, a way to incorporate variety and possibly avoid sensitivity issues would be to find a food with the same protein but different supplementary ingredients. I never thought that you intended me to use one protein. In fact, I think you’re the one who convinced me to rotate in the first place!

I’ll take your freeze dried advice into consideration and do some research. I really don’t know anything about freeze dried foods and treats (pricing, availability, health benefits, etc). I was looking for a pork-based treat to feed along with the Acana Pork and Butternut Squash kibble, and I found the Orijen Wild Boar freeze dried treats. Do you think those would be suitable as a close relation and have the health benefits you mentioned? I liked them because they were produced by the same parent company as well as the fact that wild boar is in theory wild pork. Orijen also offers freeze dried lamb treats I believe. I don’t use a lot of treats, but they’re helpful when grooming. And grooming is a daily chore with wheatens!

You have been incredibly understanding as I’ve worked through this. As Tony the Tiger would say, You’re Greaaa-aaattt!

[neezerfan]

Check out Addiction foods for novel proteins.

[Dori]

Hi John P. As long as there are no gastrointestinal issues that would be fine. Typically I like to rotate with different brands entirely because if one company or parent company is deficient in one nutrient or another they will pick it up with another company. That is my reasoning with not only rotating with proteins but rotating with brands from different parent companies but that’s only my way of doing things, not necessarily right or wrong; just what works for me and mine. I’m glad I’ve been of help and will continue if I can be.

The misinterpretation could have also been on my end, I tend to type much slower than my thinking process.

[Melissaandcrew]

Hi John.. I was not clear wheaties tend to have digestive issues and skin issues. One doesn’t cause the other, just pointing out that having one of two isn’t bad 🙂

[Melissaandcrew]

Isn’t the Acana duck and pear a single protein? IT’S been a while since I fed it but I think it is a single as well…

[John P]

Update: Iggy and Bella have been on the Acana Singles Pork and Butternut Squash kibble for seven days. They LOVE it and dream of breakfast and dinner all day long. I have noticed a remarkable improvement already in some of their skin issues, especially Bella’s (although hers were much less severe, which is why I didn’t focus as much on them in my posts). Iggy has been itching much less, although still itching some. I know this is to be expected with the severity of his existing symptoms. However, my most exciting news relates to Iggy’s weight. For the past 12 months, Iggy has been losing mass (a result of several factors all related to his previous food I’m now realizing). In only seven days, he has put on significant muscle. I can feel it in his legs especially and see it when he runs and jumps (HE RUNS AND JUMPS NOW, TOO). They had always been on highly rated dog food, but this just proves that not all dog food is right for all dogs. Joining Editor’s Choice and meeting all of you was the best thing I could have done for my babies. My vet isn’t going to believe they’re the same pups when I take them in next month.

[Author]

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