What's everyone feeding?

willowchow · Post by **willowchow** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 10:11 am

I'm just curious, what is everyone using for food? Are your chows picky eaters?

Rogansmommy · Post by **Rogansmommy** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 10:27 am

Picky?

A chow?

Absolutely!

I don't even know what we are currently feeding. We change every month because our rottie has food allergies, so we have to rotate between a series of foods. In the past 6 months, we have fed:

Wellness Super Mix
Evo
Eagle Pack
Nutro Lamb & Rice

Most of the time, Rogue gets Wellness wet food mixed in with his dry (1/2 can per meal). Otherwise, he looks at me like I'm insane.

Boogie and Linda · Post by **Boogie and Linda** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:01 pm

We feed Boogie Chicken dog food from Trader Joe's. He gets a half a can of wet food with two cups of dry twice a day. He hates dry food so we have to mix it in. Sometimes he will suck all of the wet food off of the kibble and then spit the kibble out. My vet said he needs the kibble (besides the fact that it is cheaper than wet food

) so that is why we mix the two. I tried giving him just kibble and he won't even go near it. Chicken seems to be the only flavor he can eat without having digestive problems.

Mandy · Post by **Mandy** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:11 pm

Nutro Lamb and Rice makes my pups the happiest. All the stores in the area were out one time when we needed food so we picked up Diamond Lamb and Rice. They seemed to love that too. For treats they love cheese, iams treats, and just about anything else we will give them.

Mine aren't picky!

Mandy, Chewie & Cayenne

Jeff&Peks · Post by **Jeff&Peks** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 8:16 pm

Nutro Lamb & Rice, One Nutro dental biscuit every morning, 2 Science diet Chicken biscuits for treats once a week, Frosty paw once a week in the summer. Never any human food or dog junk foods/treats.
Oh yeah i forgot, scrambled egg once or twice aweek, i think i will try the scrambled egg with rice like roger says, Pekoe will love that

Samorrathis · Post by **Samorrathis** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 9:09 pm

Nanuk eats Innova after I learned what terrible foods are on the market. He used to eat Royal cannin but he started not to eat all of his food and we decieded to change. For treats his favorite is dried chicken breast strips. I found they carry it at costco in a big bag too.

The problem that I do have is he doesn't like taking his heartworm prevention. I have to hide it in some soft food.

Nanuk is such a picky eater when it comes to treats that I am going to donate all his treats he doesn't like to our local animal shelter.

Roger · Post by **Roger** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 9:25 pm

Solid Gold lamb and rice, and once in a while, white rice mixed with scrambled eggs or (real) mashed potatoes with scrambled eggs.

tekendall · Post by **tekendall** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 10:05 am

I use Innova also (large breed puppy formula). There was an article in a breeders magazine about it being one of the healthiest dog foods available, that's why I tried it. So far, she loves it and we've had no problems. She also love the chicken strips and I agree Costco is the best place to get them. About 11 dollars for a huge bag.

kiwani · Post by **kiwani** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 12:01 pm

Solid Gold Wolf King (bison and salmon) or Innova

With small amounts of fresh cooked meats: boiled chicken, lean beef, lamb or bison, tripe, turkey necks, liver.

Or other foods, such as: sardines, salmon, tuna, mackeral, cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs, goat's milk, frozen apples, carrots...

Chacha · Post by **Chacha** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:41 am

I am getting my Chowling girl tomorrow! We decided to call her Leo, short for Leonora, pronounced Italian way(like LEGO w/o the G). Afterall she is a lion dog! The breeder lady told me to start her on a mix of Eukanuba+Beef Mighty Dog+Small Curd Cottage Cheese, 1 1/2 cup twice a day open fed. And may use Gerber Baby Food (Beef) as little bonding treats. Please please tell me if anyone have any comments on quality and/or quantity. She is my first baby, and I am a nervous mother-to-be...

ngraham · Post by **ngraham** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:06 pm

Koda was weaned on Purina Lamb and Rice Puppy Food, so that's what he still gets. My daughter Amber and her boyfriend buy Sam Wal-Mart Gourmet Puppy Food, which Koda would rather have, so we were mixing the 2 for both dogs since it is impossible to feed one dog, one thing, and the other dog, the other thing. LOL I did talk to the vet and asked him about Koda's diet. He said at this point he wants him on the Purina... either regular Puppy Chow or the Purina Lamb and Rice Puppy Food (both dry). He said he doesn't want me having Koda on "premium" dog foods unless we have to because of allergies, but would rather I remove the Wal-Mart stuff from his diet. LOL He said Wal-Mart's Old Roy has come a long way in 10 years, they don't see near as many problems with dogs eating it as they used to. But with Chows having the high potential for allergy problems the way that they do, he said it would just be better not to push the issue with the Wal-Mart stuff and keep him on Purina. Matt and Amber balked a little bit because of course Koda eats more than Sam and will continue to eat more than Sam as he grows, and the Purina Lamb and Rice Puppy costs double what they were paying for the Wal-Mart stuff. But it can't be helped. LOL Right now, we take turns buying a 20 pound bag of dog food. LOL For snacks Koda's gets the Wal-Mart hard bones like we used to buy for Sasha (and she stole them... LOL). They come in different flavors in the bag. Koda loves them and so does Sam. I also buy the Bil-Jac's liver treats at Petsmart for special training times. And no people food.

willowchow · Post by **willowchow** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 4:24 am

Thanks everyone. Over the past couple of years, I've tried just about everything there is, definately most of the ones listed here too. Willow was fussy and on and off having diarrhea and just not feeling well. We finally narrowed down that she has problems with chicken and can't have much variety or she comes down with irritable bowel like symptoms. I say "like" symptoms because I didn't want to have her scoped yet, I don't feel like we've done everything to be at that point.

Anyway, she's on a prescription diet for this problem and she also gets homecooked food added in.

I WISH she'd eat kibble, even before the problems it had to be canned. The princess!

She hardly ate the whole first month she was here, I was going crazy!

Post by **Auddymay** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:29 pm

In my make believe world, Lily eats Nature's Recipe puppy and Pippy eats Beneful lean or Science Diet with condroitin. I figure reality is about 60/40 with the food they're supposed to eat being 60% and the other dog's food making up the other 40%.

Jeff&Peks · Post by **Jeff&Peks** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:58 pm

Kawani, Where are you finding food with bison and salmon in it, i would like to see what Pekoe thinks of it.

kiwani · Post by **kiwani** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 5:32 am

Rogansmommy · Post by **Rogansmommy** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 5:35 am

I've heard of that food! It's supposed to be VERY good. Haven't found it here yet.

CenTexChows · Post by **CenTexChows** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 6:07 am

Nutro Lamb & Rice for both of my chows.

The older chow used to get the Wal-Mart O'Roy or whatever was on special that week.

I had to mix it with some can food because she wouldn't eat it dry.

Since becoming a member on this board and getting Zeus (the puppy), I tried the Nutro brand. What a BIG difference it made. The older one loves it and she will eat it dry! Im now a Nutro fan/believer thanks to ChowChow.org

willowchow · Post by **willowchow** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 6:10 am

Jeff-I don't know if there are Pet Supplies Plus in your area but here they carry Solid Gold. Or, if you have an independently owned pet store or a feed store nearby they usually carry the holistic foods. I think their website has a store locator too.

kiwani · Post by **kiwani** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 6:12 am

willowchow wrote:

"Willow was fussy and on and off having diarrhea and just not feeling well. We finally narrowed down that she has problems with chicken and can't have much variety or she comes down with irritable bowel like symptoms."

---

My poor rescue chow had the same problem. What helped in his case was adding high doses of B-complex vitamins and certain raw green grasses to his diet. The greens I started him on were like wild bamboo grass I found in the forest.
Certain raw greens contain glutamine, and that helps rebuild and strengthen the intestinal lining. It also contains vitamin k needed by the intestines.

The B-complex are important for muscle tone in the digestive tract, for proper digestion, etc. Stress and antibiotic use depletes both of the above. The B-complex are used as de-stress vitamins too. It worked really well for him, and when he finally filled out with muscle, he was a beautiful 85 pounds, with shiny long black fur that reached to the ground. He was magnificent in every way.

willowchow · Post by **willowchow** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 6:28 am

Kiwani-Wow, do you have any pictures of him?

Interesting, Willow tries eating grass a lot when she goes thru these episodes. She never vomiting after eating the grass so maybe she was instinctually trying to get those grasses in! So far, we are doing well on the prescription food, which I wasn't thrilled with. I'm into the holistic foods but she didn't do well on any of them. So, I had to give in on that one. And we are also adding in digestive enzymes that also have a prebiotic in them. They have really, really helped and her breath is even better. She cannot eat much more than the food and maybe a little grated cheese or a little roast beef on top just to get her going. She has to be careful with treats too, she has one cookie that she really loves and does OK with so that's what we stick to. Any change and we have a big mess in the house.

I'm going to look into the B vitamins too. I've been also gradually adding in Missing Link vitamin too. It is human grade, very nice but hopefully won't give her problems.

bruinsmom · Post by **bruinsmom** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 5:34 am

Hello,
I'm new to this forum.
I was told by my breeder along with my vet to feed her dry dog food. I give her Science Diet. They have it for different stages too. Ever since she was a puppy, I would fill up her bowl in the morning and leave it there. She eats when she's hungry. This still works and we're going on 11 years! She now eats Science Diet Senior - small bites.

I have other friends who give their dog the canned Science Diet. I guess it's a matter of preference or recommendations from your vet.

Good Luck,
Bruinsmom

Elaina · Post by **Elaina** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 8:59 am

I'm using Nutro Lamb and Rice kibble and Natural Balance meat logs. Before, I used any brand in the grocery store. I now know better and have become more of a label reader. I think my Chows are healthier for it... at least there is no more itching and scatching.

Peace and Blessings
Elaina, Max-A-Million, Mahayana, Mei-Mei

wrat · Post by **wrat** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 10:33 am

denali was on science diet at the humane society we are weaning her off that with (I hate this name) chicken soup for the puppy lovers soul with a bit of canadae sp? (wet)....

willowchow · Post by **willowchow** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 5:57 pm

Good choices, Wrat. I'm so frustrated Willow can't eat the good foods.

Jeff&Peks · Post by **Jeff&Peks** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 1:10 pm

I found a pet food store called Healthy Pet, they sell the Bison and Salmon plus a whole store of quality food including Nutro. I was thinking about trying the Bison and Salmon but at $30 a bag and if Pekoe doesn't like it, I would hate to have to eat Bison and salmon lunches every day. They said I should just stick with the Nutro but I wanted to see Pekoes reaction to the Bison and Salmon.
I will just wait and see what the nutritionist has to say.