[pinkdaisy]

Hi everyone! I found this site searching for ideas on what to feed my new dog and it looks great! I have had a cairn terrier for 11 years and I just adopted a little 10lb Shih Tzu. She is the sweetest dog and has the best manners but we cannot find a food for her.

I do not have a lot of background on her as I adopted her from a shelter and she was used for breeding her entire life, poor thing. She was not taken care of very well and I do not know her actual age. She is probably between 6 and 8, but it is hard to tell as the breeding has taken a toll on her teeth.

That being said, I cannot figure out what to feed her. I started with soft food because of her teeth and tried to mix dry food in, she will sometimes eat the dry food and other times eat around it. Obviously I have no idea what she was feed before. She eats the wet food (I'm giving her Pedigree) but she has very runny stools when she is able to go and other times she seems constipated. She doesn't drink water as often as I would like but right now I am just clueless.

Her name is Pancake and like I said, she is just the sweetest little thing. She has learned love fast, never barks and follows me everywhere. I just hate that I cannot find food for her. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[poodleholic]

Pedigree is not a good food, so I'm not surprised she gets the runs.

The canned Wellness is an excellent food, as is Innova EVO, the only canned foods I will give my dogs. Evanger's is good, also, but not a complete food.

To help with getting/keeping her teeth clean, do have her vet checked, and as a maintenance, use PetzLife Gel (removes stains and tartar) and/or PlacqueOff, both excellent products to promote dental health.

[pinkdaisy]

Thank you! We have never given any of our dogs canned food, so I had no idea what to buy. I only put dry food in her bowl this morning and I want to see if she will eat that. I am going to have the vet clean her teeth and spay her at the same time and then I am going to get the gel you mentioned. As I said the poor thing has not been taken care of very well

[Pasofino]

If she is having trouble with kibble, try adding some water initially.

Any of the higher end feeds will be good for her, as poodleholic suggested, in canned , they also make dry kibble.

If she has runny stools, as some flax meal for fiber...fresh fruits and veggies can't hurt. Carrots, tomatoes or bananas....start slowly and build up to what you want her to eat.

[poodleholic]

A good fix for loose stools is to give her some canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling, just plain pumpkin). It also aids with constipation.

[RawFedDogs]

Pumpkin is a time honored solution for diarrhea in dogs but it's rarely a good idea, particularly in a dog with chronic diarrhea. The diarrhea is there for a reason. It is an indication that something is wrong in the digestive system. Often it is just because the last meal didn't agree with the dog. If thats the case it will stop on its own pretty quickly if you do nothing. Sometimes diarrhea occurs because there is a problem with one of the organs associated with digestion. Feeding pumpkin will mask the symptom without curing the problem. This will delay looking for the problem often to the detriment of the dog. Sometimes diarrhea happens just because of a switch in the diet. This too will go away on it's own in a few days.

The only thing accomplished by pumpkin is the comfort of the human.

[poodleholic]

The only thing accomplished by pumpkin is the comfort of the human.

ROFLMAO

Oh, please, spare us your "wisdom" and all or nothing thinking. Thank you.

[Kathyy]

Agree, try a tiny bit of pumpkin. Dogs like it as well. I would try a canned food rather than kibble. The manufacturing of kibble is not good for some of the ingredients and there is probably more preservative in it. Canned is preserved by heat. If my dogs go back on commerical food I would prefer to use canned.

[xkitxgirx]

Here are some better quality kibble brands. Some you wont be able to find at your petstore but bring this list with you so you know your not buying a bad food.

Blue Buffalo
By Nature
Canidae
Natural Balance
Eagle Pack Holstic Select
Evanger’s
Fromm
Merrick
Timberwolf
Natura Products
Wellness
Nature’s Logic
Nature’s Variety
Orijen
Solid Gold
Taste of the Wild
Ziwi Peak


Here are some foods that aren't very high quality, there's also nutro in this list because it has caused a lot of dogs to get sick this spring ever since it got sold to the Mars candy company and nothings been resolved yet....

Alpo
Beneful
Dad’s
Dog Chow
Iams
Nutro
Pedigree
Purina One
Pro Plan
Science Diet
Royal Canin

[RawFedDogs]

Originally Posted by poodleholic

Oh, please, spare us your "wisdom" and all or nothing thinking. Thank you.

Why don't you just say what you think was incorrect in my statement.