What Brand Of Food

[Scully'sMom]

I have been giving Scully Purina One, mixed with some Pedigree moist food that comes in a pack. I HAD been giving her 1/2 cup of dry food mixed with 1/2 small packet of moist food. The vet kept telling me it was my fault she's overweight - even though I tried to tell him that my mom keeps feeding her scraps from the table at all three meals!

He told me to cut her food in half so she's only getting 1/4 cup of dry food and 1/3 of the moist food. It hardly looks like anything at all!

I'm wondering if the food is giving her the urge to lick her paws. What type of food do your cairns eat. A friend of mine recommended something called "Neutro" (sp?) because there are no fillers.

Thanks for the help!

[Mama Kim]

Piper is on Nutro Natural Choice Chicken Meal, Rice and Oatmeal Formula, about 1/4-1/2 cup in the am and the same in the pm.

[Senator Cody Wilson]

We use Science Diet Natures Best Chicken Formula. We had been using Science Diet puppy formula wet and dry mix but once he turned 6 months, our vet suggested that we take him off of wet food as it can lead to excess weight gain. As far as Pedigree is concerned, our vet and pet store equate the regular wet forumal to humans eating MacDonalds. It tastes good but should not be eaten every day. We feed Cody in the morning and evening after we have eaten and he almost always finishes everything we give him at each sitting (about 1/4 cup), and is right on target as far as weight is concerned. See if the change results in all of the dry food being eaten. It took Cody a while to get used to the fact that dry food was all he was getting at mealtime but he did. No dog will ever let itself starve, don't worry.

As far as the paw licking goes, we seem to have identified it as a problem only in between grooming sessions when the hair between the pads of the paws gets long. It becomes uncomfortable for them when walking as it pulls beneath their feet. We have tried to use blunt end trimming scissors and cut it back but you know how these critters are about people touching their paws. When I need to trim Cody's nails, I am lucky to cut 1 nail a day, he just hates it.

[kayharley]

I feed Madison (1 year) about 1/2 cup of Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice mixed with a small amount of the canned Nutro in the morning. At night she gets the same only dry.

Winnie (11 and overweight) gets the Nutro Lite formula in the same amount. Winnie devours her food, Madison picks.

[toomanypaws]

I have my cairns on Bil-Jac. The oldest one (and biggest) gets 3/4 cup a day, the 8 mth old gets 1/2 cup a day and the 3 mth old gets 3 small feedings of Bil-Jac puppy.

I have never given my dogs canned food, it's very bad for their teeth.

[Scully'sMom]

Thanks Everyone!

Can Nutro be purchased at a Petsmart or something similar or is that through your vet?

[Mama Kim]

I get Piper's at Petsmart.

[MikeC]

Hi Scully'smom,

I feed Duffy Eukaneuba dry for dogs below 1 year of age. He gets 1/3 cup twice a day. Sometimes he will get very small pieces of cooked white meat chicken or beef mixed in with the food, but that is only once or twice a week. Like Cody Wilson, Duffy only licks his paws when the pad hair starts to get long, then once he is groomed, he is fine.

MikeC

[Linda]

Murphy (age 15-mos & 15 lbs) & Trapper (3-years & 14 lbs) both get Eukanuba Lamb & Rice Adult Maintenance ONLY 1/3 cup in the a.m. & p.m. But I ALSO add either 1 tablespoon of soft dog food OR 1 tablespoon of finely chopped beef/chicken/fish (human leftovers) OR 1 tablespoon of cottage cheese with each meal to enhance the dry, crunchy food. Three times/week in the a.m. I drop the above-mentioned soft, yummy stuff and give 1 tablespoon of non-fat, plain yogurt. I also give TINY treats throughout the day. I may even give broken-up frozen green beans or the spines of romaine lettuce or green pepper slices for an extra added treat with their dinner meal. Both pooches are well within their breed standard weight & don't have problems with gas or diarreaha. IF, they have constipation problems, I give 1 tablespoon of pumpkin puree instead of the above-mentioned soft stuff. They also eat up everything in their bowls & act as tho I'm starving them!

[lsquarey]

We feed Axle (~3 yrs) Purina Pro Plan (chicken) about 1/2 cup every am and pm. During the weekends, he gets a mixture of dry and wet food (Pro Plan or Eukanuba). We once switched to Nutro (chicken) but it made his poop all soft so we went back to Pro Plan. The results have been really good so we're sticking with it.

[bubba]

Cooper gets 1 1/4 cup total per day of Iams lamb & rice. That was what his breeder fed him as a puppy, and we have never changed except from the puppy version to the adult version when he hit a year old. The new puppy, Yoda the schnoodle, was turned over to us with Pro-Pac lamb & rice which I was told they bought at the feed store. So, I called all the feed stores in my area, none carried it. I went on line and found they carry it at some of the local pet stores, but that was after I had bought and opened the Iams lamb & rice puppy food for him. Once that is gone, I may swap back to the Pro-Pac now that I have found it, but have not dedided for sure yet as Yoda gets excited about any food he is offered! It is something to be around a puppy other than a cairn this time around...what a personality difference. Kind of nice not to have a stubborn little thing around for a change! I am finding that a cairn and schnoodle make a good mix in the family.

pat.

[Milopup]

We have been on a few different foods since our pup came home with us. He started off on Nutromax Puppy, but we switched him to Solid Gold after a couple of months. After a couple of months of that, he started Canidae (which is an all life stages food) which he currently still eats. He seems to be doing well on Canidae, and the fact that it is for all life stages means we will not have to switch him again when he becomes an "adult" (he is now 9 1/2 months old). He eats about 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup of dry food a day (split into 2 servings, morning and night).

For snacks, he gets Old Mother Hubbard biscuits and Bitz, carrot sticks, and occasionally 1 or 2 french fries (for very special circumstances).

[CallisMom]

Calli is on Wellness which we purchase at a Pet's Choice store nearby or it can be ordered from different places like Pet Food Direct.

Calli gets 1/4 cup dry mixed with about 1-1 1/2 teaspoons[\U] of the canned food (puppy forumula) twice a day. Canned food can be tough because it is hard to regulate. We give her just enough to really coat the food (or she won't eat her dry food). We choose Wellness because she seems to have an allergy to wheat - there are no "fillers" or wheat in the Wellness. Nutro makes two kinds of food - Nutro Natural and Nutro Max. Calli was originally on Nutro Max (has wheat) and was scratching terribly - ever since we have been on the Wellness - no scratching. If you are going to try the Nutro - I would suggest the Nutro Natural. When she does eat a dropped mini wheat or something else like that - the scratching comes back so I think that is the problem for her.

She used to eat some of the freeze dried liver mixed in with the dry but that became to much for me. She is quite happy with the canned, though.

[Scully'sMom]

Good Morning All!

Thanks so much for all the help. I went to Petsmart last night and bought Nutro Lite - I was going back and forth between all the different types. I thought I should go with the Lite until her weight comes down and then go on a maintenance of one of the other types they have. I put 1/2 cup in her bowl and boy did she go to town - there was crunching all over the place....LOL!

I bought a few cans of the Lite Nutro but I held off to see if she would eat it dry. I think I'm going to go with 1/4 cup in the a.m. and 1/4 in the p.m.

I can't thank you all enough for your input. It helped tremendously.

[kayharley]

Hi Scully's Mom...

I have my older Cairn on the Nutro Lite too because she's quite overweigh but so far I haven't seen any of the weight come off. Been trying to get her to exercise more too. Let me know if you have success...

[Guest Guest]

Hi Kayharley!

Right now I'm grateful she's eating the food dry - it's the first time ever

I'll definitely let you know if I see a weight change in her. She actually "feels" lighter when I pick her up, but, that's probably wishful thinking on my part.

[newcairn]

Canidae for my little love. The stuff is outstanding!

[Guest posting as: Dizzy]

I have found the best food of any brand, Innova Puppy you can only find it at Pet Food Heath stores It is made with all human grade ingreidents and has the probiotics in the food so if your Carin likes to eat stuff they shouldn't they never miss a beat out the back go to Natura.com to check it out "Tried and true" the best. Nothing else compares

[Guest crisemm]

We feed our Scruffy, an 8 month old Cairn, Wellness about 1/3 cup each meal--2 times a day. Great food!!!

Question: Do we always have to mix it with soft food?

[CallisMom]

crisemm - you don't always have to mix it with soft - I think it is up to your pup. Calli won't eat ANY dry dog food plain. But she is a weird eater - won't eat before about 10:30-11:00am and eats dinner around 7:00 pm. Although she loves carrot sticks - that doesn't mean she will eat one if you give it to her. I love the Wellness brand (we use it as well) but I think because they slowly bake their food instead of extruding it like the other brands - it tends to be a little dryer but I know a couple of dogs that will eat it dry without canned.

(By the way - just like Innova, Wellness and Canidae both use only human grade ingredients with probiotics as well.)

[Milopup]

My pup eats about 1/3 cup of Canidae twice a day. Dry, never mixed with soft/canned food or with broth/water.

[Eliz222]

My dogs eat Canidae also. They both (2 yr old and 4 month old) eat 2/3 cup each day. The puppy gets hers divided into two servings, and the 2 yr old gets hers all at one time. I have to put a spoonful of canned pumpkin in Scout's (2 yr) food due to constipation problems.

Scout eats her food at a slow pace. She will, sometimes, eat it all when I serve it, or will sometimes take an hour or two to finish it. The puppy, Finch, gobbles hers up so fast and then acts like I am starving her! I give them both baby carrots as treats and I have started to give Finch some when she is finished with her meal...mainly out of guilt! Does anyone else have a dog that does this? She acts like I never feed her, and she eats sooooo fast!

[Milopup]

Yup, my pup acts like I have starved him for days. He used to gobble his food in under 1 minute (still does), then scratched the bottom of the bowl for more. He stopped the scratching (since it didn't work!) but he still acts like a starving pup. And when we go for walks, he tries to eat everything on the street even if he just ate, or just had a snack (carrots, some peanut butter, or a CET chew) before the walk!

And trust me, he is not a starving pup.

[CathyAnn]

Speaking of foods....

Anyone know anything about "Evolve"?

Got a sample thru an Ebay purchase.

Thanks,

Cathy

P.S. I'll try to hunt for the bag for a website listing.

[Guest osuvicki]

It has always been my understanding that puppy chow is not a good thing to feed puppies. It has too high of a level of vitamins etc and actually causes the bones to grow and the dog to mature tooo quickly. It came about as a marketing segmentation by the pet food industry because they can charge more and convince the public it is good. My vet in-laws always suggested puppy chow as the puppy was moving to solid food and then go straight to adult food supplimented by eggs, milk and a little meat. Grace gets an organic egg three times a week, 1/4 cup low-fat organic milk daily and this morning she had french toast (without the spices) and two walks a day for a mile each and she is growing beautifully.