Adding food to kibbles

[Gunny]

My wife has been adding green beans or peas, some shredded chicken breast, and chicken broth to our dog's food. I'm just wondering if this is good or bad for him? Tonight we started transitioning him from Nutro Natural Choice (large breed puppy) to Acana Pacific and I thought we should try to move away from adding other things to his food as well. Any thoughts? FWIW, the chicken is split chicken breasts that are boiled and picked off the bone.

He's always had solid stools but has started biting/scratching his hind area lately. My first thought was maybe a food alergy, hence the reason for switching dry foods. I also wanted to switch because I want him to have the best food we can buy.

 

[Smart_Family]

It's not necessarily a bad thing but he's going to get used to having those things in his food. Many mastiffs do have issues with chicken so that's something to think about as well.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Its not bad, can be good, but if you do it now you may have to do it always cause he'll expect it. Also if you're worried about food allergies than the chicken and broth has to go, or you'll not giving it a true test.

 

[angelbears]

Check for fleas, it is a bad year for them in the Houston area.

 

[Aplatitsin]

Your dog will get some badass gases

 

[Gunny]

Your dog will get some badass gases

:lolbangtable: We've noticed.

As far as fleas, we were bathing him often and didn't notice any in the tub. Although I didn't want to, we ended up buying a dose of Advatage II the last triip to the vet just to be sure. He was itching just the same after the flea treatment and I still haven't seen any fleas on him. I've considered getting some Cedarcide because we've used it before with our cats when we had a BAD case of fleas in our appt and it wiped them out.

 

[mkj878]

You really shouldn't have to bathe your dog very often, his skin may actually be dried out from over bathing? If you don't want to use the harsh chemicals of a topical, you could try Sentry Natural Defense, I've heard good things from it. Personally I use PetArmor it has worked well for me. My aunt has an 8 month old mastiff and about 2 months ago she was telling me how her vet has had her switching foods and she finally gave up and settled with Beneful because the science diet he was giving her wasn't working(!) I recommended she switch to a higher quality food (she chose Blue Buffalo based on her own decisions and what was locally available) and shes completely stopped gnawing at her back legs.

As far as adding in the foods, I don't think it'd be necessary unless you absolutely want to. I'd probably just give a bit of chicken (raw) as a treat. Mac gets a chicken quarter now and then, but no veggies for him.

 

[natsan6]

I agree with Angelbears on the fleas if your in the Houston area...more than likely your dog may pick one up now and again. Monthly treatments are a must a my house, if I let it lapse he'll pick em' up from outside every time. Fleas love the base of the tail and the hindquarters.....
I give Jagger a whole large carrot to chew on or a whole cored apple stuffed with peanut butter but these are treats not added to food. I don't know if it would matter but I would stop the chicken until I figured out the itching good luck!

 

[Jadotha]

We have always added titbits and broth or warm water to our dog's kibble -- it started when we had a very finicky eater Great Dane a number of years ago and we just kept doing it -- I think because it looks so much more appetising to us, lol. We will add: Some vegs -- usually beans -- never onions or garlic -- some chicken or beef, bits of cheese, youghurt, eggs, rice and pasta. However, as Smart says, once your start adding, it's next to impossible to go back.

 

[Gunny]

We did use the Advatage but it seemed to have no effect. My wife informed me today that she did see a few fleas on him so we're hoping (as bad as it sounds) that it is fleas and not an allergy. Any ideas why the Advantage wouldn't have worked though? We've always used it with our cats and it worked great. He hasn't had a bath in a few weeks so I think we're going to give him one tonight in just plain water and see if we can't drown some of the fleas to give him a little relief. I freaking hate fleas.

As far as the food, my wife enjoys giving him something extra with his food soooooo.......well I don't have to explain. We agreed to hold off on the chicken though until we know for sure what the itching problem is.

 

[mkj878]

He may have picked up some hitchers from outside. Have you treated your yard and home for fleas? If not I'm sure we could all give you some suggestions. Personally I used the beneficial nematodes early spring and I haven't had an issue with fleas until my aunt brought her infested dachshund over, then we had to retreat the house (boric acid), but they're at bay yet again.

 

[Gunny]

We live in an apartment and he doesn't go outside per the vets orders until a week after his third set of shots. We haven't treated the apartment but I'm thinking we might do that. Do you just sprinkle boric acid in the carpet?

 

[mkj878]

http://www.all-pets-info.com/fleacontrol/Flea-Control-With-Boric-Acid.html

 

[Gunny]

http://www.all-pets-info.com/fleacontrol/Flea-Control-With-Boric-Acid.html

Thank you.

 

[Gunny]

Now I really feel like an idiot. When we applied the flea drops to Gunny, we just did it like we had always done with the cats. Little did I realize that you're supposed to put it on a few spots all the way down their back. We had squeezed the whole thing on the back of his neck. :slapme: Not only do I feel stupid, I feel bad for Gunny that he's had to suffer from our ignorance.

 

[Mamie2shoes]

don't feel bad. I screw up stuff all the time. LOL I have had a few threads asking about fleas too, they are terrible this year in Alabama. Good luck and let me know how the boric acid works. I agree with others regarding chicken, withhold it especially during a food switch. Do a complete food switch and then wait a few weeks after that to introduce new foods. This allows you to see how the new food is doing and get a true reading. good luck

 

[Robtouw]

Biting and scratching could be all sorts of things, I would consult my vet. It could be food allergies, fleas, mites, a worming issue, dry skin, etc. As far as adding food to kibble, I have owned three OEM's. I have always feed a holistic diet that contains fresh meats, chicken, veggies, fruits, yogurt, etc. One of my fav treats for my dogs is a nice big cold carrot. They Love them! I try to feed kibble that is grain free, or at least free of glutens with a nice high meat content. Definately with hold xtras during a feed switch. Processed foods contain all sorts of chemicals that can cause issues, it happens often. Give the new feed a try for a week, if the gas and scratching continues, try something else. If it stops you know its the feed, if it continues you know to look for other causes. Raising a giant breed takes a lot of trial and error!

 

[Duetsche_Doggen]

Food on kibble is not bad well except the gas, lol, but it could be a tough habbit to break. Prior to the recalls I fed TOTW, then made the switch back to raw just the meats.

 

[Smart_Family]

If you are going to switch to another food you need to stick with it longer than a week. A slow transition in itself will take at least ten days and in order to see if a kibble is working you want to go through at least one big bag, preferably two unless there are severe reactions such as extreme itching, rashes, hair loss, etc.

 

[Gunny]

Update. We've fully transitioned to the Acana Pacifica (chosen thanks to Smart_Family reccomendation as well as highly reccomended by the specialty food shop) and Gunny is still itching. Buuuuut, if you'll notice post #15, we're almost positive it's fleas because of improper application of the flea drops. The dog food shop I found close by is fantastic but they don't carry the Earthborn Holistic. She said it's so new they're still researching whether or not they want to carry it. They only carry top notch foods and have a large selection of raw diet foods as well. I'm hoping to get my wife on board with a raw diet once we get into our house and he's gotten used to the new place (with a yard, wohooo!). I guess if he continues to itch after the next proper application of flea drops, we'll start looking at what we're feeding him.

Thanks for all the replies, you guys have been a wealth of knowledge and help with our new addition to the family.