Dog Food: Types & Amounts

Question
This is a 2 part question: I am not sure about the type of food to give my dogs or the amounts.  I have 3 rescues: a 9 year old neutered male Shiba mix named Tenchi who's been with me since 2001.  He weighs about 40 lbs and is overweight.  In January 2009 I rescued a 1 year old spayed Shiba female named Shredder (another story) 21 lbs now but underweight when I got her, and a very mixed breed puppy named Andy who is pushing 30 lbs now at 6+ months.  Twice a day I mix about 3.5 cups of Natural Balance Duck & Potato kibble with half a can of Natural Balance Lamb canned food.  I feed them all separately and give a scant cup to the 40 lb guy, about 3/4 cup to the 21 lb female, and the rest to the growing puppy.  The 2 young ones sometimes inhale their food and look for more, sometimes they eat more slowly and leave a bit which I take up because the chubby oldster will eat anything that is not nailed down.  I should also mention that I have tried to stick to grain free food over the years since Tenchi is a puppy mill dog and has skin problems that seem to quiesce when he eats less grain. Is there a better food to feed?  (I don't have time to cook for myself let alone my dogs) and what about the amounts?  Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer
Hi,
Ok, you are feeding dry and wet foods. This is bascially ok except I question you LAMB choice. I absolutely will not feed my dogs lamb or pork. Lamb is not what it is touted to be and it's a risky food to feed since it is so easy to mix in animal and diseased parts. Lamb is so rampant in food that one has to really labels to avoid it. A ton of dogs are allergic to this very protein, contrary to public opinion that Lamb is terrific for allergies. Dogs have been exposed to lamb since puppyhood in so many cases and they actually develop an intolerance to it which translates to a condition that either IS allergies or simulates them. I avoid lamb and Pork (Pork for different reasons).

I use Natural Balance on occasion also..mainly for treats. But I don't buy the treats..I use the kibble as their treats. And I give treats sparingly, not just as something they would like to have. So, for the overweight dog, are you using treats? Feeding in between meals? How many times a day do you feed Mr. Chubby? :-)

If you are feeding Tench once a day, maybe your should feed him twice a day--same total amt but broken up. When you say 3.5 cups of NB plus mixing in the wet food, is this for one day or divided among the three? Obviously, or maybe not obviously, tenchi is eating too much no matter what her appetite is leading you to believe. Don't fall for it. Don't give treats. Cut down on the amt and feed her two or three times during the day so she will feel like she is getting more and will digest more easily. For the underweight dog, I would DEFINITELY ADD PROBIOTICS AND DIGESTIVE ENZYMES. In fact, this wouldn't hurt all of your dogs.

Yes, of course, there is a better food to give!! There is always something better unless one is feeding RAW. Tenchi's skin problems would probably clear up immediately on a raw diet. Short of this, and many people have issues with raw, Tenchi is eating SOMETHING THAT IS CAUSING THE ITCHING. And that ingredient may even be in the very food that is supposedly a limited ingredient food that should help dogs with allergies. But if it's not, then for Tenchi you should move on to something else, SLOWLY, AND FOR TENCHI YOU MUST GIVE HER REAL FOOD PROBIOTICS AND DIGESTIVE ENZYMES...in large doses. You would start small. If you like I can give my link to where I buy mine. They are expensive but I believe they are the best made. My dogs did so well on these supplements that I agreed to represent the company. They are made from real food(the enzymes, q-10, APA powder which is their real food vitamins and not synthetics) For TEnchi you almost have to start over with a novel protein (which NB is supposed to be, at least it's limited ingredients) and STICK TO THAT PROTEIN....for at least six weeks. No treats, no veggies no nothing so that you can rule out. Wellness and Wysong come to mind but there are other foods. Rmember, if you do change to a single protein diet you can GIVE NOTHING ELSE AND I MEAN NOTHING..NOT A MORSEL OF ANYTHING ELSE. Again, if you have any questions I will be happy to answer you again. My direct email is:

dazzlindaawg@aol.com if you'd care to write there.

As far as amounts I think you are probably giving a bit too much esp if one is overweight. The underweight dog doesn't seem to be digesting properly and I think you should UP his food. A growing puppy needs a higher fat diet until adulthood so remember this. I can' remember but does NB make a puppy food or is one food for all? Whatever the case, pay attention to amts and try another NOVEL/SINGLE protein food with Tenchi along with supplementation. HOpe this helps somewhat........
Sue