Golden Retriever with recurring skin inflammation/outbreak/infection?

[ShrekDawg]

I would definitely recommend switching foods even if its not a food allergy. I personally dont like purina and there are plenty of healthier but affordable options, some already mentioned.

We used to have our dog on everything, Purina, Beneful, Rachel Ray, everything but found he does better on better foods.

Never fed TOTW but I hear dogs do well on it, like the one above, but I've ALSO heard that some dogs do terribly on it, greasy, gassy, whatever so i tend to avoid it.

Canidae we tried and my dog had a lot less energy.

We like Merrick but Purina bought them out last year so no clue if ingredients or sourcing has changed but I didn't like the potatoes/grain.

Right now we rotate between Wellness CORE original and various flavors of Zignature. He does really really well on them and if you find the condition is potato or yeasty related try Zignature, no potatoes or anything. I get mine from Chewy.com and so far he likes Lamb best but we have only tried trout & salmon, turkey, and duck flavors besides lamb. We used to get Wellness from their website as they typically have really great prices (and customer service) but have found the price on that has gone up and it is now cheaper at our feed stores. Highly recommend both brands though.

Other good ones are Horizon Pulsar, Fromm, 4 Health, etc. Theres more, I made a whole list a while ago, but cant remember and the list is on my laptop which is broken atm

I will find the list and give it to you.

But I highly recommend trying Wellness CORE and Zignature. Or even just regular Wellness. Especially since you already feed the canned

 

[ShrekDawg]

Oh and here is a fantastic website

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My dogs do well on Purina.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Yeah, I noticed that you mentioned that and you were the one I mentioned when saying some dogs do really well on it, but I've also heard stories of dogs and cats doing poorly on it and developing those problems but I've heard other positive stories of it too so I guess it depends on the animal. i guess if someone tried it and decided they didn't like it they could always switch foods again

But yeah, that website has been very helpful for us and its nice too because you can look at in stores to see if there are good foods there

 

[ShrekDawg]

It is definitely a good brand though so probably depends on the animal. Like how Canidae is a good brand that the feed store worker fed his dog who did fine but mine got lethargic on it. Does no harm to try though

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You sure you're not confusing it with Blue Buffalo, cause that stuff I have heard such things about.

 

[ShrekDawg]

You sure you're not confusing it with Blue Buffalo, cause that stuff I have heard such things about.

Yeah, it was TOTW cause I was just as surprised as you hearing ot cause I was part of this dog blog thing and no one fed BB but some fed TOTW and all the other ones and someones dog did poorly on it and another persons cats. But now that I think about it I think it was only those 2 cases and one is cats. I had thought there were more dog cases. I do know that others had dogs doing well on it though and it was still often one of the ones recommended. But maybe it wasnt greasy fur, maybe it was runny poop or too rich or something. I can't remember the exact details but I know there was a dog case and a cat case. But I am sure that issues with the food are probably rather rare and it is definitely still a good brand for them to try. Anything is better than Purina though. And sorry, I,didn't mean to make it sound like a bad food or anything because it is still a great food, just wanted to let them know of the one or two cases I'd heard. Although honestly any animal can have issues with any food. I've heard bad reviews from practically every food even way more high end ones and some dogs do really well,on purina and cheaper foods. Although personally I think that some of those cases where the dogs "don't do well" but yet the symptoms are just runny poo or something simply switch foods too fast and don't give dogs enough time to acclimate

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

There are complainers everywhere, it is important to switch slowly and to find the right food for your dog. I wasn't offended, I have found on TOTW my five dogs all have firm poop, one of the reasons I chose it, I tried 4 health, Merrick, and earthborn, I stopped on TOTW because all my dogs looked a acted spectacular. If I were to switch I might try Acana next. I went crazy and researched dog foods and ingredients for a while. My favorite ingredient that I came across was pork plasma, which I believe is used in science diet, yuk.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It does occur to me that I only use the wetland and the Pacific stream formulas, the others can have too many forms of peas as ingredients which can make looser stools.

 

[ashleymroles]

I have 7 dogs. They are all on TOTW bison & venison dry food. I did a lot of research into different dog foods and decided on this because it costs significantly less than blue buffalo, but has basically the same ingredients.
I worked at a vet and once asked if grain free food was really better, because one of my dog's skin had cleared up dramatically when switching to TOTW. He said that it wasn't the grain free that did it, it was the natural ingredients.
My go-to advice for choosing dog food: if REAL meat isn't the first ingredient, it can't be good food. Meat "meal" is okay, as long as it isn't the first ingredient.
Table scraps are fine if you eat healthy food. French fries and fried chicken should definitely be avoided.
Think about it this way: if your dog's food contains an ingredient you wouldn't want to consume yourself, you probably shouldn't be feeding it.
Blue buffalo is too expensive but I get 30 pounds of TOTW for $52. Stay away from places like petsmart for food. I prefer farm supply stores. The prices are more reasonable and they often have all of the best brands. My store even has a dog food club, where you get a free bag when you reach 500 lbs of food. We've already gotten 3 free bags in the year and a half we've been here.

Hope this helps!