# Need dogfood advice!



## jrandolff (Apr 26, 2012)

I have recently adopted a three year old airedale terrier, who, as a result of a past diet of hotdags and Ol Roy canned dog food, has lost quite a bit of his hair. I know that Airdales have a tendency to have food allergies, mainly to wheat and corn (the first two ingredients on Ol Roy!) so I went straight to the petstore to buy a good quality dogfood that is high in protein, and is wheat/corn free. I purchased Nature's recipe Healthy skin Venison & Rice recipe dry, as well as the canned stew version. Yogi was not at all interested in the canned stew, and flat refused to try it. He did try to eat the dry, but for every time he tried to eat it, it fell out of his mouth, and he quickly gave up. I opened his mouth to find that he is missing several of his teeth. He resembles a horse who has the space for a bit! I have tried mixing the canned with the dry, and he won't try it. I have tried pouring chicken broth over the dry to make it easier to eat, and he won't have that, either! I even tried to give him my puppy's Eukenueba puppy dry food, even though it has wheat in it, but he has trouble eating that as well. I flat refuse to feed this dog his old diet of hotdogs and Ol ROy- Can anyone help? The poor dog is surviving on Iams Proactive Health Puppy buisuits, because these or the only things that he can manage to keep in his mouth long enough to chew. Even these, however containWheat flour as a first ingeredient, so these are doing no favors for his hair loss and oily skin problems. I need some recommendations. Is there anyone out there that has any recommendations for us? I thought about going to a raw food diet, but to purchase raw meat in quantities enough to sustain his nutritional needs could be cost preventive fo me, as a single mom. Are there any Airedale owners out there who have experienced something like this, or anyone who has experience issues with an allergic dog?


----------



## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

Number one I would get off of Nature's Recipe and Eukaneuba. Not good foods. If you look up some things on here like "what is animal digest?" you would be disgusted. Venison meal can be all horns or skin or any other left over part of the deer. I would personally go grain free as well or if you would consider going raw or homecooked.


----------



## Deaf Dogs (Apr 10, 2012)

A dog wont starve themselves. he will eventually eat. But get him on a good food first, preferably one that's grain-free. Acana, Fromm, Orijen, Blue Wilderness, Taste of the Wild, even Natural Balance LID. Fromm has really good canned foods as well.

Put the food down for 15 minutes, if he doesn't eat, pick it up and dont feed him again until his next feeding (assuming a twice daily feeding) The most it's ever taken me to get a picky dog eating is 3 days, and that dog was fat, and used to being free fed kibbles and bits.


----------



## AveryandAudrey (Sep 20, 2010)

Hi and welcome, I know budgeting can be difficult. The good thing is that with a high quality food, they eat less because fillers are less. For skin and hair I would suggest, salmon oil (humane grade vitamin gels you can find these pretty cheap at trader joes if you have one near you.) And I might suggest Ziwipeak, The Honest Kitchen, or another premade raw food, some are grain free, you can email the company and ask for a sample. Tell them is pickiness situation and that you are searching for a new food. I did this before switching to raw as my shar-pei had bad skin and is allergice to chicken. The Honest Kitchen is dehydrated food that you mix with water. Another thought would be other brands of canned food. Wellness Core and Blue Buffalo Wilderness are both sold at petsmart. Petco has a bigger variety on high quality cans, the green tripe one is good. I'm blanking out on the brand as its 5am here haha. I think its Solid Gold.


----------



## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

Check out this site Five Star Dry Dog Foods | Dog Food Advisor

any of the 5 star foods are a much better choice then what you're feeding. I personally like acana grain free but there are several other good options like taste of the wild, blue buffalo wilderness, nutrisca, wellness core, pinnacle grain free, etc. 

I would also take the dog to the vet to get those teeth checked out in case theres an underlying issue that could be causing the pain.


----------



## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

You didn't know your dog was missing teeth? As in, more than one? Bring him to the vet ASAP, he obviously needs a dental BAD, and might have an infection that's causing pain and stopping him from eating comfortably...

Did you get him from a rescue- they shouldn't have adopted him out with health problems.


----------



## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

Hi.

I wouldn't worry too much of the quality of the venison meal or the other ingredients in Nature's Recipe Healthy Skin. They look decent for a classic type of food (except for the menadione which is controversial at best) The bigger issue is how much meal is there vs carbohydrates imo. This is more than likely a plant based food. I agree with Unosmom and Caty, I'd take him to the vet to get those teeth checked out. Have you tried slowly mixing his new food with Ol Roy? Might be worth a try to suck it up for one more bag of Ol Roy if you can trick him that way. Maybe also soak the Ol Roy NR mix in luke warm water. If you want to switch food there are lots of great alternatives but no guarantees he will like those more than the current venison formula. Back To Basics Turkey, Duck or Pork might be something to try.


----------



## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Don't you dare buy another bag of Ol Roy, When I bring fosters in who have been on a crappy diet with bad skin issues, I first get them to the vet and all of them get transitioned to Acana grainfree Grasslands, I haven't had a foster yet who won't eat it and I deal with Terriers too who have sensitive tummy's and skin allergies. But first get them to the vet and then some higher quality grainfree food food. Good Luck


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I agree with all the others that tell you to take him to get his teeth checked. If he's trying to eat and the food is falling out of his mouth his mouth may be really painful.

Maybe weenies were soft enough for him to eat without chewing. Sounds to me like something's wrong.


----------



## jrandolff (Apr 26, 2012)

*THanks, everyone!*

I didn't get him from a rescue, I got him from a family who was having financial problems, and could not keep up with his vetting. They told me about the skin issues- they said the vet told them that he was allergic to fleas - but there isn't a flea on him - I have looked, and they did keep him on flea preventative. They didn't when I got him. I actually looked, but since I was a new person to him, didn't push to look past the first teeth - his lips were folding in over the other teeth at the time I opened his mouth. The teeth that he has, are actually pretty, white, and healthy. It actually looks like he either never had the missing teeth, or they were pulled out a long time ago, as I see no apparent signs of injury or even plaque build up. I have never seen this in a dog. I do have an appointment next week with our vet, I just wanted to check to see if there was anyone on here that had some experience wit dogs with allergies, because this is a first for me! THank you for all of the dog food recommendations - I am going to pay close attention to all that has been said, here!  This is my first terrier - I have has St Bernards, Labs, and Rhodesian Ridgebacks in the past - and none of them ever had to deal with allergy and skin issues. Yogi is such a sweet, wonderful dog - I really want to get this problem taken care of quickly, so he can be healthy and happy!


----------



## jrandolff (Apr 26, 2012)

Thanks- HE actually doesnt seem to be in any pain - the teeth that he does have are healthy and pretty, and there does not appear to be any apparent injury - his gums look healthy. I am wondering if he has some kind of genetic anomoly and just never had them to begin with? I have an appointment with my vet next week. I am looking forward to finding out what she thinks!


----------



## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

I would switch to a high protein food. My first suggestion is Orijen - Six Fish. I think he is possibly missing a lot of the Omega 3's he needs to keep healthy skin and coat up. If you can't afford Orijen go with Acana - Pacifica. Both are amazing foods and contain a lot of the necessary omega fatty acids - so you won't need to supplement with as much fish oil - which is my next point of advice. He is most likely lacking good fats in his diet - you should consider supplementing with Salmon oil. There are a lot of different types. I personally like Grizzly or Nordic Naturals. 

Remember that with a high protein food you are going to be feeding A LOT less than a high carbohydrate food. Carbohydrates are nothing but cheap fillers. Your dog will digest more of his food and his stools will be smaller.

Good luck.


----------

