HEALTHY FOOD 4 HEALTHY DOGS!!!

Mike, I am glad you found food that is good for your dog. Charlie, my dog, doesn't have allergy problems. But Max, a sweet lab that we had for 9 years was very allergic. It got so bad that after trying different medications and treatments the vet prescribed him a medicine that had to be injected every few weeks. He eventually got cancer and passed away. But I wish I knew about this food back them. You never know, it might have worked with him. At the time I was giving him Wellness, which was was had worked best.

Thank you for sharing this information.

I will check this out! My standard poodle is a tender boy who needs lots of love and hugs - Thaks for the hint.

Allergen counts are through the roof here in Austin, so I may check it out.  I am bathing my dogs with special shampoo, giving them Benadryl (per Vet's instructions), and nothing seems to help.  Thanks for the tip.

Good tip! I feed our dogs store brand food for years and then finally switched over to a slightly more expensive quality brand and I feel it has added years to our older dogs life. It is well worth it to check out other brands!

Hi Mike, I will check out Dogswell.  Thanks for the info.  Our dogs have allergies too, especially our black lab "Moose".  Science Diet is crap...when we got him a few years ago, we had started him on that and it nearly made all his hair fall out.  We were feeding him Royal Canin prescription food and we all know how expensive that is.  He is also on Predisone and the others we were feeding them a more all natural food we picked up at the local feed store.  We have always mixed in Omega 3 (fish oil) in their food, helps with their coats and shedding.

But just recently switched over to the EVOLUTION Diet.  It is a Vegetarian, Vegan like diet for dogs and cats.  It was developed by a Human Medical doctor who specializes in Cancer research out of Arizona.  Studies with animals on the diet show they are in several cases living up to twice as long as their normal life expectancy.  A good friend of mine who went Vegan a few years ago turned me on to it.  His boxer after he started eating it did about a 180 in how his activity and energy level was before.  Our dogs love it.  You mix it with water and let it soak in for about 30min-1hr, when they eat it, it then hydrates their bodies and they don't need to drink as much water.  Also we mix in carrots, creamed corn, Flax seed, tuna, some lettuce.  They scarf it down....they have been on it for a few weeks now and I noticed they have a lot better consistency with their stools.....here is a pick of our pack.

I have noticed that they seem to scratch less since they have been on the new diet...oh yeah, your also supposed to give them distilled water as well.  We are working our way into that.  But there is a lot of things in regular tap water that Dogs are really sensitive to with their noses....probably why they run around the house rubbing their snouts on the rug after drinking all the time.  Kind of like they just had a bath or something.  Almost forgot, I tried a kibble of it recently and it was actually not bad as far as dog food goes, fit for human consumption.

Mike, What a great blog.  I have a dog who has diabetes and we can never get his system regulated.  I will definitely look for this product to see if it works on him.  Thanks for the advice.  Shelly

Mike-I have a Westie and the discription of your terrier and his allergies was the same deal as what I have going on with my pooch. That crazy hair ripping thing is awful. He got a steriod injection along with a prescription anti fugal/bacteria shampoo last Saturday and it immediately stopped. I am going to go look for that Dogswell food today-thx for the tip!

ps-since you are in Florida I am going to ad you as an assoc. for possible future referral biz-please do the same:) Have a great weekend!

I'm sorry I read this about a month too late to help my friend with her Westie, who was about 10 and she just had him put down. He was vomiting, etc. but had suffered from horrible skin allergies much of his life (although didn't show it, always seemed happy). Your dog is SO cute, and I'm glad he's doing a lot better with this food. I have a 7.5 y/o golden who just got a very clean bill of health from the vet -- I feed her mostly a Wolf King type of dog food (actually switched over to something similar when the store I go to stopped carrying Wolf King, but I forget what it's called). I have a dog-lover friend who advocates the BARF diet (a raw meat diet), that honestly I am just too lazy to pursue. :>)

Mike, I am always on the lookout for a really good food for our Schnauzer.  She has some type of skin allergies but not nearly as bad as your Terrier seems to have.  I will certainly check into Dogswell.  Thanks for the tip!

Oh well, you tried.  Our dogs get dog food and broccoli.  They love the broccoli and it issooooooooo much better for them.  One lost weight and the other is maintaining.

Hey Mike,  We have been through the same dilemma, we use Orijen a product out of Canada.  Our golden boy "Zephyr" does very well on this specialty food. We supplement with a organic raw product produced here in Oregon so Zeph gets the ice cube sized thawed raw with his dry food, loves it, brings out the wolf.,,, in him.  Our previous Golden's would eat the food soaked in water, Zeph prefers it dry with the raw product.  Some of our friends actually prepare from raw ingredients the foods but it is very time consuming.  The biggest concern we have is the drive in window at the bank where they want to give him treats which are wheat based.  Orijen does have an online store but we are fortunate to have a local groomer who carries the product.  Good Luck,  Greg

Hi Mike . . . your post is an oldie but goodie but timeless.  Thanks for sharing!!

I don't usually post links but your readers might have an eye opener after reading this one of mine:

What are these and where did they come from?

Michael, thanks for the suggestion, will have to sample it sometime.

I will have to look in to that product!  I have a Bull Terrier mix that has the same allergies.  I actually make food for him ( and our other three ) weekly.  Whole chicken, rice, flax seed, sweet potatoes.  Started when he had such bad hot spots.  Now no sores, no itch, and a beautiful shiney coat but it is a lot of work and a labor of love!  

Good Info. I've been buying the dogs BJ's brand all natural dry food. Same ingredients than the expensive stuff.

We have a wire fox terrier who has had some stomach issues. We switched him to a duck and sweet potato blend made by Merrick. It is grain free. Since we've switched him to this, about 1 1/2 years now, he's had no visits to the vet. My husband also started making and selling dog treats when his job was eliminated. We sell them at some local grocery stores. I've developed some grain free treats and some wheat free. No added preservatives and we use local and organic where possible. We also dehydrate yams and dogs love them. Our dog loves raw carrots. So many of the commercial brands have nasty fillers and junk that really are not necessary or good for your precious pets.

It's never a wrong time to start taking proper care of yourself.  And it's best to begin with choosing healthier options for your everyday meals and well being.  How are you doing now?