[Millie Reverie]

Have you guys heard of this training treat? Chew Time

It's not even sold on Amazon but it's sold in Asia and people have nice reviews about it. However, when I bought it from a local pet store and brought it home, my pupper can't even eat it! It's hard as stone! I can break it into two but I'd still have a hard time doing it.

I read from an article once that if you push your fingernail onto a treat and it leaves a mark, then this treat is definitely soft and chewy; good for your pup! But my nails can't even leave a single mark. I'm starting to think it's really made of stone.

What we're using right now for training is this treat, Doggyman Vegetable Biscuit, but I think it's kinda fatty so it maybe not good for his health. I read from another article that treats that are stinky and soft, and contains meat (protein) is the healthiest of all.

Any other suggestions? And if anyone's living in Asia or in the Philippines, please help me find other alternatives.

 

[Knute]

Millie. I'm in China. I'm an American working full time here in China. Pet food is always a challenge.

Training treats can be very simple. Buy some chicken breasts. Steam it, shred or cube it, freeze it. Your good to go for training.

When I'm in the States, I hunt for a 1 lb package of dried meat. Last trip, I came across a mix of dried meat jerky in the pet section of Walmart. It was a mix of beef, duck, chicken. I cut it into roughly 1/4" square pieces. These are small, but the dog only needs a smell and a taste. A quick gobble will keep the training momentum moving.

 

[Millie Reverie]

Training treats can be very simple. Buy some chicken breasts. Steam it, shred or cube it, freeze it. Your good to go for training.

Hi! Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. The thing is, my boyfriend and I just moved to a new apartment and we haven't bought a fridge yet. Since we used up all money for the rent, we're planning to buy the fridge next month (kinda short of money here). I'll probably make my own dog treat in the future.

Just a question about freezing the cubes: should I be giving cold treats? Would it be dried after getting it out of the freezer? And how long does it last (expiration)? And I assume it's okay for puppies, right?

I'm assuming my puppy has a sensitive stomach whenever something new is introduced to his daily diet. We fed him roasted chicken last night and it was a big mistake. He vomited at 3 AM and vomited again after one and a half hour or so. We fed him his usual kibble soaked in water at 7 AM and at 12 noon, we were preparing his food again, but before we could give it to him, he vomited again (this time, less vomit).

I've been searching stuff online all night long and my guess is he's got an upset stomach either because of these reasons:

1. We gave him roasted chicken (without the skin, just meat) and he's been eating kibble water-soaked all his life.
2. He probably is not used to eating 3 times a day. His previous store owner gave him two meals per day and after reading a bunch of articles, I thought that's not enough. So we increased his meal time: at 7 AM, at 12 noon and at 5 PM, plus treats in between because we were potty training him and also teaching him "sit" (he's very smart on this part btw ?)

He is not acting strange (lethargic, diarrhea, etc.) and he's the usual puppy we brought yesterday. He still plays tug-of-war and he poops okay last night. The only thing is he's not drinking water (he doesn't really like it from the start) and I had to force him to drink by giving water via syringe. Planning to take him to the vet but our vet is only available on the weekends...

Anyway, I'm so sorry for the long post. My point is, I'm sure it's going to be trial-and-error too if my puppy turns out to be a total picky-eater (x_x)

Again, sorry for sharing such a long story (x_x)

 

[Knute]

Ok....don't mix food and kibble. They digest at different rates and can cause upset.

Shift to smaller portions. Sounds like he is eating too much too often.

Roasted chicken was prepared in what manner? The cooked chicken I give my dog is just steamed skinless chicken breast. No seasonings. Sometimes, I will steam a breast or 2, shred/cube, freeze. I just place the chicken in a plastic bag and freeze. I give my dog frozen, cold, room temp......he doesn't care. It all goes down with equal gusto. I don't prep a big load. I've had frozen chicken up to about 2 months with no ill effects. Best to use your judgement. I figure if I won't eat it, then I shouldn't give to my dog.

Sometimes the kibble can be bad and cause vomiting. Try a new bag or a different brand, flavor.....whatever. I had the poor experience of 2 successive bags of spoiled kibble. Came home to a vomit/diarrhea nightmare. Stuff was everywhere. Since then, I did a quick transition to cooked chicken......then became lazy to shift to raw feeding.

To settle his stomach, you need to shift to a bland diet for a couple days. Steamed chicken and white rice, you can add a bit of chicken broth made at home. Not the store bought bouillon cubes, those are loaded with salt and chemicals. Make your own. Try small meals with a bit more frequency until he settles.

Don't force him to drink. Just provide a fresh, clean water supply. He will drink when he is ready. He is getting water with his kibble. You need to manage his food intake. Treats, kibble, chicken.....anything he eats is counted against his daily needs. Be careful....you don't want the dog to get fat. Its really bad for their overall health. An easy check is to place your hand on the dog's rib cage. Can you feel his ribs without digging into the flesh? If no, then the dog is too heavy. Are the ribs protruding? If yes, then the dog is too lean.


I don't know what breed you have so I won't recommend how much to feed him. Best to consult your Vet. I will share with you what I feed my dog. Shadow is a Miniature Schnauzer weighing in at 6.2 kg (about 13.5 lb). We walk at least 90 minutes each day over 3 outings. He eats 2 meals each day of raw chicken, 6 am and 6 pm. Each meal consists of 150 gr (about 5 oz) of raw skinless chicken breast with 30 gr (about 1/2 oz) veggie mix. My Chinese Vet always is pushing the Royal Canine kibble, but she can't complain about my dog. He is a lean, muscular, active dog without health issues with good coat and clear eyes, good teeth and clean breath.

 

[Millie Reverie]

Ok....don't mix food and kibble. They digest at different rates and can cause upset.

Shift to smaller portions. Sounds like he is eating too much too often.

Roasted chicken was prepared in what manner? The cooked chicken I give my dog is just steamed skinless chicken breast. No seasonings. Sometimes, I will steam a breast or 2, shred/cube, freeze. I just place the chicken in a plastic bag and freeze. I give my dog frozen, cold, room temp......he doesn't care. It all goes down with equal gusto. I don't prep a big load. I've had frozen chicken up to about 2 months with no ill effects. Best to use your judgement. I figure if I won't eat it, then I shouldn't give to my dog.

Sometimes the kibble can be bad and cause vomiting. Try a new bag or a different brand, flavor.....whatever. I had the poor experience of 2 successive bags of spoiled kibble. Came home to a vomit/diarrhea nightmare. Stuff was everywhere. Since then, I did a quick transition to cooked chicken......then became lazy to shift to raw feeding.

To settle his stomach, you need to shift to a bland diet for a couple days. Steamed chicken and white rice, you can add a bit of chicken broth made at home. Not the store bought bouillon cubes, those are loaded with salt and chemicals. Make your own. Try small meals with a bit more frequency until he settles.

Don't force him to drink. Just provide a fresh, clean water supply. He will drink when he is ready. He is getting water with his kibble. You need to manage his food intake. Treats, kibble, chicken.....anything he eats is counted against his daily needs. Be careful....you don't want the dog to get fat. Its really bad for their overall health. An easy check is to place your hand on the dog's rib cage. Can you feel his ribs without digging into the flesh? If no, then the dog is too heavy. Are the ribs protruding? If yes, then the dog is too lean.


I don't know what breed you have so I won't recommend how much to feed him. Best to consult your Vet. I will share with you what I feed my dog. Shadow is a Miniature Schnauzer weighing in at 6.2 kg (about 13.5 lb). We walk at least 90 minutes each day over 3 outings. He eats 2 meals each day of raw chicken, 6 am and 6 pm. Each meal consists of 150 gr (about 5 oz) of raw skinless chicken breast with 30 gr (about 1/2 oz) veggie mix. My Chinese Vet always is pushing the Royal Canine kibble, but she can't complain about my dog. He is a lean, muscular, active dog without health issues with good coat and clear eyes, good teeth and clean breath.

Hi, thank you again for your response!

We're now trying to feed him plain rice but he doesn't like it too bland. We're planning to try out that chicken but I've read others say their dog is still being picky and separates the rice from chicken.

Others say they make gravy out of kibble mixed and mashed with water so we're also gonna try that. We're also planning to try mixing in yogurt with rice. If it doesn't work again, then maybe old-fashioned oatmeal.

By the way, he's a mix of Pomeranian and Japanese Spitz. He is 3 months old. He's still being playful and okay. Hope he eats already

 

[Knute]

Relax. Quite playing restaurant menu with the dog. You will end up making a fussy eater.

Plain rice is not too appealing to a dog. You should cook the rice with some chicken stock add some steamed shredded chicken.

Don't worry about what other dogs do. Follow the cues from your dog.

The kibble could be the problem.

 

[Knute]

Millie, no joking......the kibble could be a likely source of the vomiting.

Do a bit of research on the kibble you are feeding.
Where is it made? Country of Origin? USA? China? Philippines? Depending on the origin location then shipping time and handling can come into question.

What are the first 5 ingredients? Dig those up on the internet. Would you eat those items?

Kibble that I can get in China is typically some of the worst stuff made. Some comes from USA, some from China...... China has been known to make yogurt from leather scraps supplied by the shoe industry. They have also created baby formula with melamine as an ingredient. These are HUMAN food supply. Imagine what is in a non-human food supply chain.

Sorry, I can't speak about the pet food supply in the Philippines. You are closest to answer. I can only relate my experience in China with pet food. After a stressful series of pet food related events, I shifted over to raw feeding. Now, my dog and I get our food from a HUMAN food supply chain. If I won't eat it, then neither does my dog.

 

[Millie Reverie]

Relax. Quite playing restaurant menu with the dog. You will end up making a fussy eater.

Plain rice is not too appealing to a dog. You should cook the rice with some chicken stock add some steamed shredded chicken.

Don't worry about what other dogs do. Follow the cues from your dog.

The kibble could be the problem.

I'm just trying to see which one he'd like the best. If he doesn't eat it, like, never touched it and just sniffed it, then that's the time I'll try something new. My goal is to have him eat rice.

Millie, no joking......the kibble could be a likely source of the vomiting.

Do a bit of research on the kibble you are feeding.
Where is it made? Country of Origin? USA? China? Philippines? Depending on the origin location then shipping time and handling can come into question.

What are the first 5 ingredients? Dig those up on the internet. Would you eat those items?

Kibble that I can get in China is typically some of the worst stuff made. Some comes from USA, some from China...... China has been known to make yogurt from leather scraps supplied by the shoe industry. They have also created baby formula with melamine as an ingredient. These are HUMAN food supply. Imagine what is in a non-human food supply chain.

Sorry, I can't speak about the pet food supply in the Philippines. You are closest to answer. I can only relate my experience in China with pet food. After a stressful series of pet food related events, I shifted over to raw feeding. Now, my dog and I get our food from a HUMAN food supply chain. If I won't eat it, then neither does my dog.

I'm well aware about Chinese products. Won't forget that Melamine scare in the Philippines back in the past. The breeder was the one who gave us this bag of puppy food. He uses it for all his puppies so I am thinking that the kibble is not the problem. All the puppies in the pet shop were healthy and lively. The name of this brand is Optima Puppy Meal and in here, you can see the ingredients. The reviews were nice but yeah, dogs are entirely different from each other.

First five ingredients btw: Beef Meal, Cooked Yellow Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols - source of vitamin E), Ground Wheat

I'm not a vet, but I think the thing that led to this is giving him that chicken. It was a seasoned chicken and we also had it for dinner. We gave small shredded portions of the meat to our pup which is maybe a big mistake because he's been eating his puppy meal for his entire life, and suddenly, one night, we changed his diet.

Another thing I'm thinking is maybe our pup didn't digest the kibbles well. I called the breeder again and he said we should have mushed the kibble instead of just soaking it with water. This pup couldn't bite well due to his small teeth so maybe that's one other reason why he had diarrhea.

Also, maybe the treats did something. They were new to his diet, too, and maybe we overdid the training so much so he ate too much of it. We quit giving him the treats and are now looking for fruits as an alternative. To be honest, I'd like it to be chicken but we don't have the equipment (fridge) for it yet.

Forgot to say this but last time we went to the vet, he prescribed us Citirizine (antihistamine) for his itching. We give him 1 ml three times a day. I researched about this last night and found out it could cause vomiting to some dogs as a side effect, but not often.

He pooped today and glad to say his stool is now back to normal, thank goodness T_T The last time he pooped soft stool was at 8 PM (his first and last soft stool) and last time he vomited was at 12 AM. It's now 4:30 PM but will continue feeding him rice and observing him.

 

[Knute]

Ok....the additional information does shed some light on the situation.

I'd suggest hunting another brand of kibble. The one you are feeding is mostly grain based. Dogs do not digest grains very well. Grains can lead to allergic reactions.
Yes, the seasoned chicken could have started the upset. Chicken without seasoning.....no salt, no pepper, add nothing. Just steam, shred, serve.
Treats can also be a source of problems. When training, keep the sessions to about 5-10 minutes, treat reward should be small just enough for a smell and taste.

I would suspect you drop the grains from his diet, then he may not need the antihistamine.

Try to introduce one change at a time.

Good fruits are blueberries, banana, apple (no core, no seed), watermelon (no seed, no rind). There are many more, do a bit of research. Dr. Karen Becker has a good website for pet health and many related videos. REMEMBER, treat is just enough for smell and taste.