Not sure where to begin?!!

[crys2982]

Hi everyone. I have a 6 year old cocker spaniel with skin allergies. Currently, she eats dry dog food, chef michaels brand which I believe is produced by Purina. I'd like to find a higher quality dry and canned food brand than the stuff at the grocery store OR begin making home cooked meals. I really have no clue where to start. I'm most worried about not getting the nutritional requirements met if I home cook for her and being suckered into buying more dry/canned food that is questionable.

Thanks :)

[luvMyBRT]

If I had to choose between feeding kibble or feeding home cooked, I would pick home cooked...without a doubt. Get away from those ingredients (by products, corn, grains, etc) that are more than likely the reason for the skin allergies.

I don't feed home cooked, but I do feed raw (Prey Model). I will let the home cookers direct you on some recipes on where to start.

Good luck and I hope you find a food that works great for you and your dog.

[deb9017]

There are quite a few brands of high quailty kibble out there that might help. Taste of the Wild, Blue Buffalo, Orijen, etc. There is a website that is Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble that rates kibble, and is a really good source of information. It rates them and explains why they have the rating that they do. It helped me understand a lot about dog food that I did not know. I was raised just feeding my dogs cheap grocery store kibble, and had no idea how lacking it was.

Also, since you mentioned home cooking, have you thought about feeding your dog a raw diet? Basically if you are willing to do home cooking, it would be sort of the same, but no cooking. Just raw meat, bones, organs, etc. This is what I ended up switching to due to my dogs skin and coat issues, and it has made a big difference.

There are a lot of really knowledgeable people here, and I am sure you will get a lot of great suggestions!!

[crys2982]

Thanks so much for the replies, saraj and deb. I wouldn't mind doing a rotation of home cooking and dry/canned food either.

I'd have to do some research on raw foods. I don't know anything about it other than "hearing" they need their food cooked just like we do. idk. Honestly, I think it may be hard for me to not feel like I'm subjecting her to salmonella and all the other things you hear about.

[DaneMama]

Most people have the fear of bacteria when thinking about raw when in reality it's not at all a problem with normal healthy dogs. Hundreds of thousands of people feed a raw diet everyday without issues at all. Most of the "horrors" of raw that people hear of are peopaganda against from fear....

[sassymaxmom]

Perhaps looking through this site may help.
DogAware.com: Diet & Health Info for Man's Best Friend
It covers sites to find information on choosing a better commercial diet to making your own topper to cooking for your dog to raw.

Since we didn't grow up feeding our pets fresh food and learning as we grew all this is quite overwhelming. We can feed our pets fresh food just fine but go ahead and use a better quality kibble for now if you like. Since you are hoping to help skin allergies with a new food perhaps choosing one of the limited ingredient kibbles would be a first step. Natural Balance, Wellness Simple Solutions and California Naturals are ones I am aware of. Lots of dogs seem to do especially well with fish based kibbles as the fish used is high in omega 3. Apparently O3 helps with the inflammation of allergic reactions.

[crys2982]

Thanks so much for the help everyone. I would never have found all of these resources without you. I'm going to give Blue Buffalo a go for dry/canned food and try to find some easy home cooked recipes too. :)

[crys2982]

Ok, tried out Blue Buffalo Wilderness kibbles. I have NEVER seen her so excited for dog food! Unbelievable. That made me feel so incredibly happy to see her really enjoy her food instead of eating out of starvation. I can't wait to try out cooking next.

[RCTRIPLEFRESH5]

i hate when people try to force me into something,and make me feel like im a bad parent when i dont do it...BUT..let me say this.

if you are going to be dealing with meat, and cooking it, i really think youshould just feed it raw. i know youre anxious about it, but itrs really much better for them than feeding it cooked. also, if you ook it you might forget to remove the bones, and you can kill your animal WITH RAW you do not need to remove the bones. and bones are a vital part of dogs diets.

[John Rambo]

If you are switiching to Blue Buffalo switch the food slowly like every other transition to a different kibble. I recommend Solid Gold Wolf King...I rotate this with Canidae and Chicken Lovers Soup (great bang for the buck). High quality table scrabs combined with a nice kibble have produced EXCELLENT results for me and my pack....