[MikelKassner]

I was looking around a website for the town I live in where people post stuff for free that you don't want any more and I found a chihuahua/dachshund mix there because the people that owned him couldn't afford to take care of him any more and were never able to give him all the attention he needed. I love chihuahuas even if they do bark a lot I've always wanted one so I got him and just got him home maybe an hour ago.
I already have a dog and three cats so I know how to take care of animals but he's only a lil over a year old (born October 24th, 2008) and he's underweight to the point you can see his ribs and spine. Both are things I'm not experienced in when taking care of animals. Right now I'm feeding him Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition dry dog food mixed with EverPet Basics canned food which is what the owners gave me and since he won't eat the dry food by itself I mixed the two together but he still won't chew the food he just gulps it down so I'm pretty sure that means he shouldn't be eating the dry dog food they gave me. Can any one give me some recommendations of what I should feed him? Should he still be on puppy food? Or is their a special type of food for small dogs? Just any tips that you have that I may not know would be helpful.

[katiemay]

A dogs saliva actually acts more as a lubricant than to break the foods down - so gulping is pretty natural for them to do. I would just keep a very close eye if he seems to be eating really fast ( don't want him to choke or throw up ).

Most brands of dog food carry a 'small breed' recipe and the kibble is smaller. What kind of food is your other dog on?

First, you should take him to the vet and get a checkup ASAP. You don't want to give your other animals something by bringing this dog into the house. Did the previous owners give you any vet records ( vaccines, etc. )? If not, I would try to contact them and see what shots he's gotten.

[DJEtzel]

I recommend almost anything other than ol' roy. It's terrible food. And avoid stuff like purnia, beneful, iams, etc. Blue buffalo is good, along with wellness, evo, canidae, eagle pack, natural balance, and TOTW. I would keep him on an adult dog food now, and keep it dry. He's probably gulping just because he's hungry. Try starting him with two meals a day, but make sure you're not feeding too much just because he's hungry. He'll slowly gain his weight back.

[MikelKassner]

Originally Posted by katiemay

A dogs saliva actually acts more as a lubricant than to break the foods down - so gulping is pretty natural for them to do. I would just keep a very close eye if he seems to be eating really fast ( don't want him to choke or throw up ).

Most brands of dog food carry a 'small breed' recipe and the kibble is smaller. What kind of food is your other dog on?

First, you should take him to the vet and get a checkup ASAP. You don't want to give your other animals something by bringing this dog into the house. Did the previous owners give you any vet records ( vaccines, etc. )? If not, I would try to contact them and see what shots he's gotten.

The previous owners either couldn't afford or didn't believe in giving him shots (I think a mix of both) so he hasn't had a shot his entire life and isn't even neutered. But they were making sure he stayed healthy just in their own way. They gave me some stuff to mix in with his food saying it helps prevent worms. I'm not sure what it is it's just a white powder in a ziploc bag with "D.E." written on it and he said "It's the same stuff you put in your pool. You can pick it up at the feed store in town.".
Personally if their way works with keeping him healthy that's fine with me but I'd rather go the way that I know is safe and get him his shots and all that, so the next time one of the pet stores around here has their usual sales on shots we will take him there to get them (we're pretty short on money too, but we're still a lot better then the previous owners). He really does seem perfectly healthy right now but of coarse you never know. And the food my other dog eats (a 12year old border collie) is Ol' Roy Soft and Chewy. He can't really eat anything else because of how old he is it's hard for him to chew.

[MikelKassner]

Originally Posted by DJEtzel

I recommend almost anything other than ol' roy. It's terrible food. And avoid stuff like purnia, beneful, iams, etc. Blue buffalo is good, along with wellness, evo, canidae, eagle pack, natural balance, and TOTW. I would keep him on an adult dog food now, and keep it dry. He's probably gulping just because he's hungry. Try starting him with two meals a day, but make sure you're not feeding too much just because he's hungry. He'll slowly gain his weight back.

We do want to get some better food just right now it's a mix of as I said in my previous post the Ol' Roy Soft and Chewy is the only thing we've found our other dog can eat due to his old age (and the other Ol' Roy is just stuff the previous owners gave us so I thought he liked it) and we are very short on money right now so we can't afford much better. But in the next month or so when money gets back up we want to find something better.

[DJEtzel]

Honestly, anything would be better than ol' roy. it's nutritional value is about zero. Have you tried switching your older dog to a wet dog food?

[katiemay]

Originally Posted by MikelKassner

The previous owners either couldn't afford or didn't believe in giving him shots (I think a mix of both) so he hasn't had a shot his entire life and isn't even neutered. But they were making sure he stayed healthy just in their own way. They gave me some stuff to mix in with his food saying it helps prevent worms. I'm not sure what it is it's just a white powder in a ziploc bag with "D.E." written on it and he said "It's the same stuff you put in your pool. You can pick it up at the feed store in town.".
Personally if their way works with keeping him healthy that's fine with me but I'd rather go the way that I know is safe and get him his shots and all that, so the next time one of the pet stores around here has their usual sales on shots we will take him there to get them (we're pretty short on money too, but we're still a lot better then the previous owners). He really does seem perfectly healthy right now but of coarse you never know. And the food my other dog eats (a 12year old border collie) is Ol' Roy Soft and Chewy. He can't really eat anything else because of how old he is it's hard for him to chew.

I'm guessing that D.E. stands for diatomaceous earth

You can also try calling around to local shelters/rescues and see if their vet offers good prices on shots/neutering ( our local shelter offers shots/speuters for $95 total for everything ).

There are always ways around high prices, even for a good dog food. Go to their websites and sign up for their newsletters - they often include monthly coupons.

You can also check out carecredit.com and see if you qualify. It's a credit card you can use for veterinary purposes and there's no interest for like 6-18 months depending on which plan you get.

[MikelKassner]

Originally Posted by DJEtzel

Honestly, anything would be better than ol' roy. it's nutritional value is about zero. Have you tried switching your older dog to a wet dog food?

I'm actually interested in learning more about making dog food after so many people have told me all the bad things about the store bought stuff... But all the extra time that would be needed to make it I'm not sure it could always be done so I was wondering if their was a dog food that's as close to as healthy as making your own dog food but not too expensive? And we haven't tried wet dog food since it cost more, he's used to having the bowl always full and eating when hungry so leaving wet dog food out wouldn't work too well, and hearing that it's not as nutritional as dry dog food.

[DobManiac]

Originally Posted by MikelKassner

The previous owners either couldn't afford or didn't believe in giving him shots (I think a mix of both) so he hasn't had a shot his entire life and isn't even neutered. But they were making sure he stayed healthy just in their own way. They gave me some stuff to mix in with his food saying it helps prevent worms. I'm not sure what it is it's just a white powder in a ziploc bag with "D.E." written on it and he said "It's the same stuff you put in your pool. You can pick it up at the feed store in town.".

http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html

There using food grade diatomaceous earth. The link above will describe it, but the stuff is actually great for preventing intestional worms. It doesn't however prevent heartworms, so I would get the dog checked for that ASAP along with getting everything else checked out. I also second the recommendation to get all of this done quickly, just to be sure he doesn't spread anything to your other dog.

You might want to check him over really well for fleas and ticks as well. It doesn't sound likely that they were treating him for it.

And you should be able to feed the older dog some wetted down dry food. If you allow the food to soak, it will get soft. That way you can save money by using the same dry food for both dogs.

[DJEtzel]

if you stopped feeding him all the time and gave him regular feedings with the amount of food he should be getting, you could easily upgrade to better quality kibble and just feed less, using about the same amount of money. feeding raw is also cheaper in my case anyway than feeding kibble, but not everyone's up for that.

[Labsnothers]

I think the next step is a visit to the vet. I have no experience with Old Roy and doubt those bashing it do either. I do have extensive experience with Purina, Iams, and Pro Plan which the same people turn their nose up at. I have seen thousands of dogs thriving on them and doubt Old Roy is a problem.

Once you identify and correct whatever health problems it has, likely it will eat all it needs of Old Roy or any other dry food. Like everybody else, the vet is likely to suggest the Science Diet most of them sell. Nearly all dog foods provide the same nutrients. Yes, some of them are more like a good steak dinner and others more of a healthy quiche. I have yet to see any hard data backing the claims of the premium dog foods.

[DJEtzel]

there is plenty of hard data that we have shown you in other threads. I don't know why you insists on arguing. not nearly half of the dog foods sold offer the same nutrients. they all offer different amounts of different things and such. you may have seen dogs surviving on iams, old roy, etc, but i highly DOUBT they were thriving. once again, you can't prove your side either.

[Labsnothers]

I don't think you understand what real knowledge is. All I ever see is opinions, anecdotes, button pushing, and misinformation.

[DJEtzel]

I have real knowledge that my beagle eats less, has more energy, has a better looking coat, and is losing weight on blue buffalo versus the beneful healthy weight that she used to eat. I have real knowledge that a lot of people's dogs have reacted the same way when switching from foods like iams, old roy, purnia, etc to higher quality kibble.

I have real knowledge that my German Shepherd is filling out a lot better, putting on weight, has a fluffier shiny coat, and is eating less raw meat than purina puppy chow.

[Labsnothers]

Anecdotes proving nothing.

[MikelKassner]

Originally Posted by DJEtzel

if you stopped feeding him all the time and gave him regular feedings with the amount of food he should be getting, you could easily upgrade to better quality kibble and just feed less, using about the same amount of money. feeding raw is also cheaper in my case anyway than feeding kibble, but not everyone's up for that.

He (my other old dog) doesn't eat a lot. I only have to fill his bowl once a day to once every other day. So giving him scheduled feedings wouldn't change anything for him.

[Kathyy]

How is your casual viewing of thousands of apparently healthy service dogs anything but an anecdote? Did you see the health records? Did you talk to all the handlers?

OP, have you been to dogaware.com? The owner has written articles for Whole Dog Journal on the subject of feeding fresh food to dogs. There isn't any one right way. One person even wrote a book on how she cooks for both the dog and the human family and feeds mostly the same foods. Look in the list of books, some can be partly read on Amazon or Google books so you can see how it might work into your routine.

Right now you could simply substitute some of that kibble for freshly cooked or raw eggs, fish or meat to get your feet wet. Up to 25% of the kibble calories for fresh is fine, you don't have to worry about balancing the Ps and Qs that way. While the kibble is getting used up you can research more on what you would like to feed him.

I was planning on doing just that but ending up tossing quite a bit of very expensive kibble [prescription and Canidae] out 6 months after starting to cook for the dogs. They adored my cooking and did wonderfully on it.

[MikelKassner]

To everyone saying I should take him to a vet asap we were trying to put that off because we really can't afford it right now but last night he randomly started having pains out of no where, randomly yelping then getting up and running around, falling into a few things, looking around everywhere as if he was afraid something was hiding about to attack him, then laying back down in my lap but after awhile of it happening he just ran under the bed and would only stick his head out to look around then immediately hide again. It seemed to be if you touched around his stomach (anywhere lower then what his rib cage covers) it would hurt him. I did a little bit of research before he finally got better and I was able to fall back asleep (this was at like 2AM) and found something called "infectious canine hepatitis" that seemed to be a match to all the symtoms but I'm no dog expert so I'm not going to say that's what it was.

[Kathyy]

Guess settles that, to the vet for you! Poor little thing.

[GypsyJazmine]

Please take your dog to the vet & please stop feeding Ol' Roy!...That is enough to make a dog sick!