schnauzer and treats

Question
QUESTION: I notice you have schnauzers also. I have a 5 year old, female, rescue girl. I have only had her for about 2 months.When I got her, she was on a dog food, Blue Seal, that I could not find in my area.The foster mother gave me enough of her old food for a week. I began to mix it gradually with Wellness Super5 mix for small breeds.
She is now eating just the Wellness.She seems to be doing ok on it, but her stools are very loose, not like before. What is your choice of dog food for your schnauzers? Also, everytime I have given her a "dentachew" or a rawhide chew, she gets diarrhea. Do you have any suggestions for a good quality chew for her.
Thank you for your help.

ANSWER: It sounds like your new dog might be one of those schnauzers with a bit of a touchy gut. Many of them require a lower fat content in their foods/treats. Find out which variety of Blue Seal she was previously on and check the guaranteed analysis of it as to protein/fat content. http://www.blueseal.com/ Did you check their website to try to locate a dealer near you? http://www.blueseal.com/company/dealerlocate.php

What you have her on now is fairly high in protein (28%) and fat (15%); this is more the equivalent of a puppy food, and is probably too "rich" for her. Many schnauzers should be on no more than 12% fat, or lower.

I feed Eagle Pet Products, with my favorite foods being the Holistic Chicken and the Holistic Anchovy, Sardine, and Salmon products; the dogs LOVE the fish. The fish formula has lower protein and fat levels than the chicken. http://www.eaglepack.com/ This site also has a store locator.

If you truly cannot get the Blue Seal in your area, try to find another product with similar protein/fat contents for your girl. The first ingredient should be a specified meat meal (ie. chicken meal), there should be a minimum of grains, there should be NO by-products, NO ethoxyquin, and NO menadione sodium bisulfate (source of vitamin K). I also like to see probiotics and enzymes in the food (acidolopholus/microbiotics).

The only chewies I give my dogs nowadays are large beef-basted knuckle bones; they really enjoy chewing on those.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I know this is silly, but where do you buy the beef basted knuckle bones? Is this a raw bone, or processed?
Thank you,

Answer
I currently get them from my dog-food supplier, but before that, I was getting them at WalMart. Most any place that sells pet supplies should have something similar. One thing my dogs went bonkers over was an actual cow foot... the entire lower portion which ended in two hooves; I found that at a local pet store. They pretty much destroyed everything but the hooves themselves, which weren't nearly as interesting for them. I did have to watch for a couple smaller bones in the foot and toss them as the dogs got to them, but the dogs had a great time with that foot.

These have all been processed, but many do recommend giving the dogs raw bones. Raw bones should only be left out for thirty minutes or so and then refrigerated again until the next use.

One can buy absolutely anything over the internet! I prefer the largest bones I can find for mine.
http://www.thefind.com/pets/info-beef-knuckle-bone