Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Concerning my 13 week old Husky- he is just finishing up a bag of Purina One, and I bought a big bag of Iams Puppy food the other day to try next. Problem: I read that most commercial dog foods aren't sufficient for a Husky, but, the site in question did not say what WAS. Should I add anything to the dry kibble? Should I drizzle some olive oil on it for extra good fat? Please help! I have a very active little guy here and I want him to be as healthy as possible.

A.E.

P.S. Pics to come soon!!!
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New "Mom" to the Little Wolf-boy, Smokey
Pictures forthcoming when digicam becomes available!

I use Pro Plan dry, and it's been working great. Get a container that holds a 20 lb bag (or 40 lb if you have more than one dog). You can change flavors (beef, chicken, lamb) without changing the brand, and this is important, because Huskies have delicate digestive systems, so if you change brands, your dog could get diarreah (sp?). My dog hasn't had any such problems switching flavors. I offer my dog 1.5 cups in the morning and also in the evening.

Also, don't entice your dog to eat by putting gravy, etc on his dry food if he's not eating what you put down. Huskies sometimes go a day or two without eating at all, and then another day they may want 3 bowls. Let them self-regulate this way so you don't get a fat dog. Also, to keep them trim, if you give him treats/biscuits, buy the smallest ones available and break them in half. The dogs don't know from size and are just as happy getting a tiny piece as they are a huge biscuit.

Also, the Pro Plan is pretty economical at Petsmart or Petco.

Good luck,

Walt

Deciding which food to choose for your dog can be a daunting task. For a husky, I would look at food you can not buy in grocery stores- so they would come from stores that specialize in selling pet products. Also, look at where the breed comes from. What do you think is most common in that area and try to find a food that has those ingredients in it. For my dogs, I avoid corn and beef- just not something they would have been exposed to. For a husky, I would think fish would be very good for them.
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PHReign
Email me: HReign@pethobbyist.com" target="_blank">PHReign@pethobbyist.com
Dear dog,
I can not buy anything larger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think that I will continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort. Look at videos of dogs sleeping, they can actually curl up in a ball. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to your fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straigt out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space used is nothing more than doggy sarcasm.

That's kind of a flip statement.

First of all, where are you going to find "fish chow"? Also, wolves and wild dogs don't regularly "fish". Even arctic dogs subside on wild hare, mice, etc. for a large portion of their diet (watch the movie "Never Cry Wolf" from 1983 - Charles Martin Smith stars, or read the book by Farley Mowat).

Second, major pet food companies work hard to ensure their formulas cover all a dog's daily intake needs as far as calories, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. It's in their best interest.

In the wild, our dogs' wolf cousins subsist mostly on small game with occasional takedowns of a large animal. They eat the stomach contents of these animals as well, which includes grains/grasses that the prey consume. In this sense, having grain mixed with commercial dog food, in fact, MIMICS what they'd get in the wild.

The best thing is to look for a name brand commercial food that doesn't have grain as a huge percentage of the diet. Also, I wouldn't avoid "by products" as a number of people do, because these are the parts of the prey that wild animals do eat, but we happen to avoid/abhor (unless you like bologna and hot dogs!).

In my example, Pro Plan offers a highly digestible lamb/rice formula that you can start with. Then, you can offer a change to chicken or beef as a variety. However, I think dogs crave that less than the fact they're getting a new, fresh bag. They can really tell the difference!

Good luck,

Walt

Many eskimos live on fish and there are diets that have rabbit in them as well. You don't necessarily find them in grocery store brands, but there are quite a few specialty diets out there- Merrick is one brand that comes to mind.

I'm not a huge fan of the large chain pet foods- my personal opinion. Yet, within those there are exceptions to the generalizations. You have to look at the ingredient list on any food package and decide for yourself.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

I have a couple of friends that own huskies and even the person that sold me my husky told me to use nutro - natural choice for large breed puppies... their huskies look great so that is what i use... after this bag is done i am switching to another nutro brand that helps with teeth and coat...

Pro plan and nutro are ok foods but you can get a lot better for the price. Here is a great dog food site
http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/
Make sure to read the what to look for and what to avoid sections

the girl who runs that site posts here
http://www.chazhound.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=39
and you cna do a search for each food and read up on it.

My girl eats kirklands chicken and has done great on it. Other than that she was on pedigree and science diet and both with horrible results. Good luck!
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Well lets see... couple brands that comes to mind that work really well.

Annamaet: this one is a great food, however it can be harder to find, and of course shipping would make it very expensive.
Eagle: Alot of people I know feed eagle maintenance and performance types of food and are very very happy with it.
Diamond: a good food and most people who I talk to that feed it are very happy with it... although they did recently have some recall issues, although they did isolate the specific brand and dates it was made very quickly and didn't just try to sweep it under the table.
Eukanuba: I personally use this one in the Premium Performance Large Breed formula and I am very happy with my dogs health and performance. In the summer time I fed the standard large breed formula and was aslo very happy with my dogs health.

Eukanuba and Iams also tend to come very well recomeneded from many animal shelters etc (at least in my area).