Our family has had two "rescue" dogs in a row. They have both been amazing. The first one, Tony, was a German Shepherd Golden Retriever mix. He was beautiful. I called him the King of Hearts. Everyone loved Tony.
When Tony passed, my sons went to Pet Smart and found Hoss. Hoss is a very large Rottweiler. He was chained to a tree when his owner was 
incarcerated. He called the humane society and asked that they go get him. They did. I am so thankful he had the presence of mind to make that call.
Hoss was a skinny 115 lbs when we picked him up. He is very tall. His head is above our dining room table. Over the first year in our family he gained 70 lbs. At 185 lbs he was too heavy. We also noticed that he was showing signs of skin and ear issues. We changed his food and took him to the vet. He lost weight, but the ear and skin issues continued.
After a heavy regime of meds, he started to show signs of healing, but it just wasn't complete. Then we discovered something. Hoss loved green beans. Over a few months we started changing his diet, but his ear and skin issues continued. His skin and ears were better, but they were still infected.
Finally, in September of 2010 I decided to take him off dog food all together. That's when we discovered he is just as happy as a vegetarian. Well, he's mostly vegetarian (90%). I have never had a dog that would eat vegetables, but Hoss will eat just about any vegetable.
His diet now consists of rice (for his coat), green beans (primary), carrots, asparagus, celery, pork and beans, low-fat yogurt (daily), low-fat cheese, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, a little chicken, shrimp, cod and flounder. He gets a daily fish oil tablet (the same one I take). His ears have cleared up. His skin is clean and healthy. He has lost weight. He weights a hearty 150 lbs. That's a good weight considering his overall size.
The Internet has a lot of great advice about what a dog can eat and what they 
shouldn't eat. If you have a dog with skin issues you may want to slowly work in some vegetables to see if it brings him/her relief. It has made Hoss act like a puppy again, and he loves meal time.
Hoss has taken over Tony's role as the King of Hearts. He has his own Facebook page (Fans of Hoss), and he is widely loved. He amazes me everyday, and I'm thankful for his new found vigor resulting from his new diet.
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