How many satin balls do you give each day?

[gritsar]

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Thanks. I'm going to try offering him his kibble first and then the satin balls, but he's pretty smart and he'll probably figure out the game plan pretty quickly.
I hesitate to offer him/them any canned or prepackaged stuff. With the exception of a few exclusive brands that aren't readily available around here, I think that the ingredients that go into satin balls are better for them than the canned.

 

[Akane]

Taste of the Wild has canned. We are planning to just use 1 can a day of that after we finish this next bag of kibble. It ends up costing no more than the kibble since the dog who needs it won't eat meals to the point she has risked her health in the past and the other one is a garbage disposal that just keeps inhaling all good kibble. If I feed taste of the wild or any other more expensive kibble I lose at least 1/4th of a bag to the one that doesn't need it. So we are putting down enough diamond naturals kibble for the shiba and then after she goes in her crate for the night the akita will get a can of TOTW and a satin ball plus they'll both get whatever raw we have that day. I've also used evo 95% as an appetizer to get my akita to eat kibble. I'd only use 1/4th or less of a can a day so it wasn't too costly and plenty healthy.


I actually found it easier to get my akita to eat kibble if I gave her something else first. She'll hunger strike for a week if only kibble is around but as soon as you feed her just a couple bites of something more desireable she'll go inhale all the kibble that's down irregardless of how much she likes it otherwise. Now I'm smart enough to use that to my advantage by putting down a controlled amount of kibble and then feeding her a little of something she likes better. However as a puppy it was a big problem. I had to buy kibbles that were very compressed and dense so it didn't swell at all in her stomach or she'd throw it up. After she threw it up she'd be even less likely to eat that brand of kibble again. It was this endless cycle that resulted in me having to feed some really expensive brands for awhile until her stomach was less sensitive and she realized she could eat kibble without making herself sick. Now I just resort to satin balls and some canned food when that happens. Much cheaper than other options I've tried.

 

[gritsar]

Yeah, I had recently learned that TOTW had canned, but it's not offered at the feed store where we get their TOTW kibble. I feel fortunate that we now have a local source for the TOTW (this store just started carrying it). Before we were having to drive to Oklahoma or about an hour north to get it. Something else that is happening at this particular feed store (which I'm not wild about, the employees are pretty rude and downright lazy). Every single time we go there the bags of the prairie blend have always been torn and resealed with tape. DH says it's because they throw them around so much, but I find it strange that it's always the prairie bags and not the others that are torn. I know one of the employees said he was feeding his dog the prairie blend. I'm beginning to wonder if he isn't helping himself to a portion of the prairie blend from each bag and then resealing them. I know that sounds paranoid, but I also know people can do alot of strange things. We started out feeding the prairie blend, but have now switched to the pacific salmon for this reason. Who knows how much of each bag is being lost when it's "torn". The stuff is expensive as it is, no sense in paying for something you don't get. Also, Kane seems to tolerate the salmon better.
Kane is my garbage gut. We solved the issue of him stealing from Jax by feeding them with a puppy gate between them. Kane has to stay on his side of the gate until Jax has finished eating however much he's going to eat.
I have noticed the same issue with Jax wanting to eat more of his kibble after he's had a little bit of something else. Another thing he does - he'll take a few bites, then want to go out. When he comes back in he's more likely to eat some kibble.
We'll be doing our grocery shopping tomorrow. I'm planning on buying the ingredients for the satin balls then.
Thanks again.

 

[ChickenFanaticAB]

You may consider just feeding Jax outside....he sounds a lot like our dog, who after he got to the age of about 4 finally reached a good body weight. He was always pretty slim before, but we never worried about it much. Anyway, our dog likes to eat a little bit and then almost always goes to the bathroom in the middle of his meal and then comes back and finishes it. He is a bit of a picky eater, and while he loves pretty much any treat, he likes to have a couple varieties of dry food and some canned food all in separate spots in his dish...he eats in a large frying pan for this reason, so he can have a little bite of this, then a little bite of that. We try to always have a couple varieties of dry dog food on hand, and then he gets a little bit of canned every day as well. Wow, it sounds absolutely ridiculous to write that out...the things we do for our dogs!

 

[halo]

I would never buy a bag that is torn and sealed with tape. Those bags are very strong; it takes scissors to open them. Id call the main company and tell them; I bet they'd be interested in knowing that. If it were me, Id bring a scale in and weigh a bag of it. Might make the employees a little more careful with those bags.

I repeat, those bags should never be ripped, unless someone ripped them.

 

[sewchick]

We used to give our dog vanilla ice cream. Worked. He gained weight. Too much. Might ask your vet about giving him/her ensure. Full of calories. Major calories. One small can has I think...250 calories. Mayo has high calories too. Just a suggestion. But make sure you ask the vet first before you start doing that stuff. Our dog was a mutt. Junk yard dog and ate everything a human would eat. Loyal as old heck. Lived to be 18.

 

[gritsar]

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See! That's what I've been thinking. We have to break out the scissors every time we get a new bag to open. Just makes you wonder.

 

[gritsar]

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DH has been fairly amazed at how sensitive these two GSDs stomachs are. He's used to the old farm mutts that could eat anything and everything. Fortunately Jax has outgrown most of his sensitivites. I'm hopeful that Kane will too. The breeder starts them out on the Diamond Naturals, raw beef, chicken and organ meat, plus homemade yogurt and organic eggs. They do fine with that but any variation throws them off for awhile.