As you’ve read here many times, we’re dog owners. Up until a week ago, we had three dogs, but as of last Sunday, we now have four. Our oldest dog (Harley) is getting ready to turn four and the baby (Sage) is just 8 weeks. Other than Harley being a boxer mix and Sage being a boxer, the four dogs have nothing in common breed wise. Let me give you a little info on the dogs themselves.
Harley is a near 4 year old Boxer/German Shepard mix. We adopted Harley from the local animal shelter when he was approximately 7 weeks old. Our next dog, Riley, is a pure bred Labrador who just turned 2 in December. We “think” Willow is a Heeler/Great Dane mix who turned 1 in January, and Sage is an 8 week old Boxer pup.
This is Harley When we first got Harley, we went “all out” on his food and treats, buying only the best that money could buy. Although the food was good nutritionally, it just did not seem to agree with his system and he had horrible diarhea quite frequently. After taking him to the vet because we were sure he was very ill, we discovered that his top dollar food was known for causing the problems we were having with him. The vet reccomended a few different foods, but also asked that for the next week or so we put him on a simple diet of boiled chicken and rice, since they were easily digested and nutritious. Everything worked out fine with Harley after that, we didn’t have any more problems with him because of his food.
This is Riley Eight months after we got Harley, we were given Riley from a friend of a friend. Originally, we were only told that Riley was a pure bred Labrador and that the people who had him just couldn’t handle him any longer. Riley was sweet, but not the nicest dog. When we first fed him and Harley at the same time, Riley wolfed down his bowl of food in a matter of seconds then went over and started on Harley’s bowl. When Harley tried to get his food back, Riley growled and bit at him to the point that it scared us. We later found out that his original owners had a pair of breeding boxers and that they had simply put Riley in with the two Boxers and let him fend for himself for food and shelter. It took a couple of weeks and a TON of work, but we finally got Riley to realize there was no need to eat his food fast or eat Harley’s food, that there would be food in his bowl when he needed it.
This is Willow Willow came to us from my sister who just HAD to have a puppy, but after only three days decided that she no longer wanted her. She tried to give Willow back to the people she had gotten her from, but they refused to take her back. Willow is a MONSTER of a dog size wise, at one year old, she is bigger than both of her older brothers. She’s not heavier, she’s very long and lean. Willow is our “wild child”, she’s the most active one, she LOVES to be outside, no matter what the weather is she’d rather be outside than inside. She is also our “chew anything and everything” dog, meaning even if she has toys, bones and food to chew on, she’d much rather chew up something she really shouldn’t! (i.e. shoes, cameras, furniture)
Then we have Sage Sage is the baby of the family and has proven to be a completely amazing dog in the week that we have had her. She’s VERY good at not having accidents in the house and her big brothers and sister have finally started to acclimate themselves to her, and she to them. We’ve nicknamed her Vicious because she likes to hide under one of the chairs then attack whatever person or dog happens to walk by…LOL!
Over the years we’ve ran into some feeding problems with the older three dogs, especially Harley and Riley. Both have had numerous times where they have thrown up as soon as they’ve eaten as well as bile problems. For the longest time we treated their tummy problems by giving them a few tablespoons of plain yogurt per day. If the problems seemed severe we would make a trip to the vet and would often put one or more dogs on the boiled chicken and rice diet, which would always cure the problem.
Although none of the above solutions are invonvenient, my husband decided that the time had come to look into dog foods better. Our dogs are exclusively fed dry food as we cannot deal with the “smells” that escape when they eat canned foods. So one evening he went online and started researching dog food, looking at every last ingredient as well as the nutritional benefits. After a couple of evenings of doing this, he finally narrowed his “list” of foods down to three and the following weekend we started what we now refer to as the “Food Trials”….LOL!
It took a few weeks to try the three different foods, but of the three, one came through the trial with flying colors! That food ended up being Beneful. Since starting the older three dogs on Beneful we haven’t had a single incident with them throwing up and haven’t had to give them yogurt, nor have we had problems with any of the dogs having diarrhea. Since having such success with feeding the older dogs Beneful, we decided that Sage would be started right off on Beneful. I truly belive that doing so was a great idea because she is gaining weight, we haven’t had any problems with diarrhea with her and she really seems to love the food! And since the older dogs are also eating Beneful, if she happens to sneak to their food bowls it’s not going to shock her system as badly.
No, I’m not being paid to write this! It was something that I felt was important to put out there for other dog owners. I think it’s awesome that I have 4 different dogs and I’ve found one food that they can eat that will meet their nutritional needs and not cause problems with their systems! All four dogs are in DIRE need of a good grooming, yet all four of them have beautiful shiny coats! And the other thing I’ve noticed with the dogs is that they are much more active on the Beneful, which is a plus, especially since Harley is the dog that would much rather curl up in the recliner than spend time outside….LOL!
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