My GSD has seen better days - help please - Page 2

 I am researching foods. I see that TOTW was recommended on this forum. I compared the ingredients to my Wellness Super 5 and found:

1. Wellness has alot of Barley, in fact ground barley is the 2nd ingredient, followed by rye flour. The TOTW's ingredient after the meats are egg products and then sweet potatoes.

2. Wellness lists no probiotics. TOTW lists: Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus.

The editors of Dog Food analysis said this about TOTW: "The fourth ingredient in the food is egg product. We would have preferred to see the use of whole eggs. Sweet potatoes and peas are further significant ingredients ahead of the fat content.
The product includes some fruit/vegetables amongst the minor ingredients, and has a good range of probiotics. Overall, it looks to contain a reasonable amount of meat and primarily good quality ingredients. We appreciate the absence of grains in the food, which are not a natural food source for canines. Whilst not on a level with most of the foods in the 6* category, overall this food appears to exceed the standard of many in the 5* category, at least in terms of meat and absence of grains. The quality of ingredients does appear to be somewhat mixed, however, and were greater product information available an adjustment to the rating given might be made. This food is thus cautiously rated 6* for the time being"

Other foods rated the highest were: Artemis, Blue Wilderness, Go Natural, Horizon Legacy, and Innova EVO.

Does anyone have a favorite and reasons why?? 

I hope your girl is doing better today.  How scary!

I have fed EVO to both of my GSDs and had no problems with it.  I switched because personally I didn't like the 42% protein as my two are simply house pets and I just felt that was too high.  I was also having a lot of difficulty taking weight off as well.

My female was on TOTW (Taste of the Wild) Pacific Stream Salmon until Monday.  I liked the food and she actually did good on it until recently.  She had an issue with vomitting for 2 days after each meal.  We are now testing out another food (Acana) which is grain free.  I posted some info on this under the "General Topic" forum so I won't duplicate it here.  Bottom line - I think it was an isolated incident compounded with heat as a factor to the issue.

Good luck in your search and I hope your girl continues to recover well.

The best dog food on the market is Orijen, however it is not available everywhere, I am currently feeding Evo, but many do not like the high protien content in either of those foods, both companies make a lower protien version of their product....& neither farms out production of their products to big manufacturers, & both claim to use only domestically (North America, as Orijen is from Canada) produced food sources for their dog foods. Other posters have given you good advise, boiled chicken & rice is good to use for a while after abdominal surgery. It took my girl almost 6 months before her eating habits returned to 'normal', & I guess she will always be a delicate eater. Good luck, let her eat small amouts more frequently, don't try to feed her only once or twice a day, it's too much for her system to feed big bulky meals, just little bits at a time...a low sodium chicken broth helps, too, & yoghurt....just keep tempting her, let her choose her amount, & when....is she moving her bowels? jackie harris

I feed Orijen and California Naturals. I agree with keeping her on boiled chicken and rice for a week or 2. You can get 10lbs of chicken 1/4's at Walmart for around $6 depending on where you are in the country. I'd feed that until you research kibbles and go buy a bag of the best you can find in your area.

 Well I did some checking around and no one has the Origen. I can get TOTW just around the corner so I think I'll start with that but not for a week as you all recommend. There is also a place that has the Evo dry and the California naturals and also Solid Gold,  so I could try any of those too - need to take a chance with something. 

Anybody use Solid Gold?

I did pick up some small cans of Innova Evo canned Beef 95%. I thought this might be something I would add to the rice/burger rice/chicken in a few days. 

Thanks for all the feedback so far.

California Natural Chicken and Rice is a food that was specifically made for dogs that have delicate digestions and/or allergy problems. I had a dog like that who did very well on the food. I still have one eating it. And I have another who eats TOTW bison and venison.  The other foods mentioned are all good foods too.

Ease your dog back into eating dog food by mixing a little kibble or canned with the beef and rice or chicken and rice mix you are feeding. A little would depend on how much your dog is eating. If your dog eats a cup of meat and rice at a time, then cut back 1/4 cup on the mix and add 1/4 cup of dog food, but no more. It is tempting to hurry the process, but don't for your dog's sake.

Another hint is not to switch brands until your dog is well again. Most places give out little sample bags. Pick one simple food and try that until you know she can eat it. That is usually a week or two. Diarrhea the next day means go back to what you were feeding before.

I was gong to say I suggest California Naturals, limited ingredients should make the chicken formula easiest on the tummy and less allergens to worry about on that short ingredients list.

Sitasmom, if your dogs got sick on RAW, I'm willin' to bet you overfed or just gave too much liver or other organ meat.

If your vet can't tell the difference on a radiograph between a solid object like a sock and a gas pocket, YOU NEED A NEW VET!!!!

Did you say this only happened 5 days before your post, so 7 days now? And you never actually said if the doctor OPERATED (as opposed to figured it out some other way such as xray) in order to find out it was only gas. If there actually was an incision, I think you might be rushing the recuperation. My dog took about two weeks to get back to her regular diet, which is just raw, which is already low residue and bland.  

My dog ate about a square foot of towel and nearly died. To keep her alive cost me around 4k. I think it's an unfortunate turn of events that there was no blockage and it cost you 2k, but it's better than spending $34 on an office call and ending up with a dead dog.

Sitasmom, raw is totally uncomplicated. Sounds like you tried to feed too much muscle and not enough bone. The bone is what keeps things solid. You should get over the fear of bone in your dogs' intestines! There is NOTHING easier than feeding prey model meals to your dogs, even if they are Poms or Chis. Ew.