admin answers:

If the vet says there’s nothing wrong with him, I’d think it would be because of the food he’s eating. You can get food that says it’s organic, or whatever, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a good-quality food. Nor does it mean that it is a food that’s made for a dog with food allergies. These foods, what the bag says, what the commercials say, can be so misleading, and I think it should be illegal, but that’s a whole nother thing.. Lol! It could also be the bowl he’s eating out of. Try using a glass or plastic food bowl, if you don’t already. But back to the food, I don’t know what you feed your dog, but I would strongly suggest you try something like Canidae Grain Free All Life Stages Dry Dog Food.. Http://www.canidae.com/dogs/grain-free-als/dry.html

It is a very good-quality food, and it’s still affordable. Also, because it’s grain free (or just has a lot less grains than other foods), it is better for dogs with food allergies. My husband and I own 3 APBTs, all of which have very bad food allergies and are prone to skin infections too! We feed them the Canidae that I post above and they do great! You want to stay away from anything that has any type of by-product or animal digest in it. Those foods are going to be low-quality foods. You also want to stay away from foods that are packed with grains, and foods that have fillers like corn in them because dogs can’t even digest corn. Now, Canidae can’t be found at larger pet stores like Petsmart and PetCo, as far as I know anyway. I don’t know about Petsmart because I will not spend a penny at a store that is against my breed of choice, but I do know that up until recently, the only good-quality food that PetCo sold was Natural Balance. Natural Balance is a good-quality food as well, and they also have the grain free formulas for dogs with food allergies. Here is the Natural Balance website..
Http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/dry.html

All that being said, I normally shop at smaller pet stores because in my experience, they sell more good-quality foods than larger pet stores. But, my mom owns 2 Mini Schnauzers that both have food allergies and insanely sensitive stomachs, and she feeds her dogs the Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Fish (she does sometimes switch them to a different allergy food from NB though). And, she gets he food from PetCo. The other day, I went with my mom to PetCo to get her dog food, and I saw a big display of Solid Gold dog foods! That is another great food, so I was shocked to see it there. My mom is actually trying a Solid Gold food for her dogs now. And when I got home, I went on the PetCo website to see if they had other good-quality foods now, and they do! Here is their website.. Http://www.petco.com/Dog-Food.aspx?CoreCat=LN_Shopping_DogFood Go down to where it says “Featured Brands”. Now, the big commercial brands on there, like Science Diet, Pro Plan, etc, are crap! But, the Natural Balance, Wellness Core, Halo, Organix, Solid Gold and Blue Buffalo are all good, but especially, Natural Balance, Wellness Core and Solid Gold.

Check all of those out and see what you think, but this is what I personally think you should do. I think you should try your dog on something like the Canidae Grain Free, or if you shop at PetCo, try your dog on one of the Natural Balance Allergy Formulas, one of the Wellness Cores like maybe the Wellness Super5Mix Large Breed Adult Health Dog Food, or one of the Solid Golds like maybe the Solid Gold Hund-n-Flocken Adult Maintenance Dog Food. I’d probably try the Solid Gold first, if I were you, and if you haven’t already. But yeah, just definitely check out the NB, SG, Wellness, and Canidae, if you haven’t already, they are all great! Oh, and a big tip, stay away from beef, a lot of dogs have allergies to beef, just like with all the grains.

Another great thing that my husband and I do for our dogs, and my mom does for her dogs, is get some of this.. Http://www.petco.com/product/15189/In-Clover-Fresh-Digest-Daily-Intestinal-Aid-for-Dogs.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch My husband and I, my mom, and my best friend who also owns APBTs with allergies issues, all use this for all of our dogs and it’s great!

So, that’s all I can think of to do, but hopefully this helps. Keep in mind that when you switch your dogs food, if you are going to try that, even if you switch them over gradually, it may still take some time for him to adjust. So, just don’t rush it and hopefully you will be able to figure it out. Good luck to you and your dog! : )

admin answers:

If you can afford a raw diet, that is definately the best way to go. It’s the healthiest and has been proven to eliminate all kinds of health issues such as allergies, ear infections, and skin conditions that we often need to treat with medications. There are some available prepared already and sold at many pet stores, both Prairie & Primal are excellent. If those are above your budget, look for a high quality dog food such as Orijens, Innova Evo, Wellness Core, Organix, Evanger’s, or Timberwolf Organics.

There are many good dogfoods, but make sure to always read the label. Ingredients are listed by weight, so meat should be the 1st ingredient (even better if there is more than one meat source listed first). Avoid food that has meat by products since that indicates low quality, or a food listing corn high on the ingredients. Corn has no nutritional value for dogs & is just filler.

Don’t by food at the grocery store or at any Target/Walmart type of store, they don’t carry good quality foods. Go to your local pet store, or to PetCo or Petsmart, and read the ingredients. It so worth it after all the deaths that happened with the pet food contamination to do a little extra work.

admin answers:

You can make your own dog treats. I bought the Three Dog Bakery cook book and use it often to make my own treats. They are easy and cheap to make, plus my dogs love them!