The Dog Food Dilemma, Revisited.

While variety is the spice of life, I've begun to realize that when it comes to dog food, variety is my enemy.  Last fall I described the problems we have had in finding a food that works for the dogs, and I wish that was the end of our trouble.  You can read about that post here.

At the end of that post, Skye had a belly ache from Canidae.  I switched their food to Holistic Select- another decent-but-not-awesome food that a friend gives her extremely sensitive dog.  I figured it would be good to try, even though I was sure Skye's skin would be less than excited by the addition of grains in her diet.  Well, we didn't get too far with that before my prediction came true, and Parker wasn't thrilled with it either.  So I once again transitioned to a new food.

This photo break is brought to you by giant cheeks and floppy lips.

I chose Taste of the Wild because it is grain free and chicken free.  The kibbles are small enough for Parker and both dogs seemed to enjoy the food.  Honestly, I was shocked.  Their stool looked better than it had in a long time, and their coats were nice and itch-free.  We finally found a winner!

...For about a month.  Then Parker got less interested in his food, and barely ate at all.  I'm not the type to accommodate picky eating behavior, so I would give him the opportunity to eat, then pick up his food.  But after almost a week of a diet consisting of 3-5 kibbles per day, I caved.  I'd been reading about the benefits of adding a high quality canned food to dry kibble, and decided that now was the time to try it.  I bought a few cans of Wellness 95% Lamb, and began adding a spoonful to their bowls at each meal.

We love you Mom.

Needless to say, they were happy about this addition.  I also liked that the canned food looked and smelled like meat, not slimy gravy and mystery products.  We made it about two weeks this way, and while there was some soft stool, I expected it from my wimpy dogs.

Then Skye had her medical disaster, followed by Parker's random illness.  Both dogs spent about a week on hamburger and rice, and then I was faced with a new dilemma.  The double sickness occurred immediately after I started a new bag of TOTW... could it have been a factor?  I decided not to be paranoid and kept them on the same food.

I'm guessing you can see that this isn't a happy ending.  Skye has been great on TOTW for the past week.  In fact, she's been more excited to eat than I've seen in a long time.  I haven't added in the canned food yet, just to play it safe.

I want to be that big when I grow up!

Parker was not so lucky.  He hasn't been able to keep any dog food down at all.  He threw up all the TOTW he's eaten, as well as canned ID, which usually does the trick in a pinch.  Yesterday and today he had chicken and rice without a problem, but I've finally faced facts.  My dogs need to eat different types of food.  I'm going to try something lower quality, as Parker seems to do better with those brands.  I don't mean low quality like Beneful, but something that includes certain grains and most likely oatmeal.  After all, his first two years he ate Purina Dog Chow, so maybe high quality isn't going to work for him.

So why write a post about this?  I promise it isn't just to vent my frustrations at having yet another sick dog, although that is part of it.  I'm actually just curious to get some input.  Do you think that some dogs just don't benefit from a high quality food?  Or maybe I'm missing something, a food supplement or oil that I could add to help them digest the food better?  I hadn't expected this to be such a battle- after all, dog food is supposed to be eaten!

I just want my sassy boy back to his old self again, because who else will keep Skye in line?

I am the law.  I am not a sheep.

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