So my parents have FINALLY agreed to switch their 7 year old Portguese Water Dog ISIS off Pedigree (which to them is the BEST THING EVER since their first dog's breeder recommended it) onto something else because the vet finally told them that ISIS's itching is most likley NOT caused by fleas (duh....this dog is frontlined religiously, everything she sleeps on is flea bombed weekly and it's the middle of winter...all of those factors probably mean NO FLEAS) but is instead allergies.

My parents require the new food to be the same price as pedigree, available at walmart, target, or the local petco. It can't contain lamb (My vegetarian mother had a pet sheep before I was born) or anything "exotic" (my father thinks it's stupid and they put it in there for the money), must contain things that are idenifable on the label as coming from a vegetable or fruit, can't have corn (no problems there). Raw is not an option because the dog is free fed and will not eat it right away and my mother won't touch meat. ISIS has also lost raw bone chewing privileges since as a puppy she hid one under my mother's pillow...

I think I -finally- found the dry food for them (Solid Gold Barking at the Moon) apart from the price thing...but my mother's okay with more expensive food...we just won't tell my father.

However when I mentioned that wet food could be an option they insisted wet food would rot her teeth out. Which didn't sound right...

Admittedly ISIS has a lousy bite, she was sold as "pet quality" for this reason. Her teeth tilt slightly inward. However regular vet visits and her teeth are only slightly dirtier than the average dog her age. She gets rawhide (I know I know, but she's not the kind of dog who swallows it, she still has some of her rawhides from 5 years ago with no missing parts, they just get all drool covered and change shape) and Pedigree dental treats (not sure if these do anything?).

However is there any truth do this wet dog food thing. If not can someone link me to a reputable article (or three) so I can give it to them? I'm personally not worried about Ryuk and his wet food (good bite, gets his teeth brushed, chews bones but isn't an aggressive chewer, I have a future of low dental vet bills unless he causes trauma to them) but their dog would really benefit from a high quality wet food and I have access to an inexpensive quality stuff.

Whichever food you decide on, get the omega3's in her with fish oil. Anytime I've ever had a dog with any skin problems whether it was allergies or anything else, the vet put them on vitacaps. I finally figured out I could make fish oil part of the diet and pre-empt a whole lot of these things.

Oh man, I had an article about this and how kibble does no more for a dog's teeth than eating crackers or chips does for ours, but I'm not gonna be able to find that right away.

Maybe you could get her the high-quality wet food and tell her she can choose to follow it with a little kibble if she feels that way, even though you disagree. Might solve it all around.

But the fish oil (and E) are IMO crucial. I'm with Steve. No matter what the food ends up being.

She gets fish oil now (it's the human grade stuff but i checked the ingredients and it's pure fish oil and I've found a couple of thing referencing this brand being fine for dogs as long as the dosage is adjusted) in capsul form.

Fish oil is fish oil. Human-purpose might be more likely to be carefully handled and contain what it says it contains.

I'll add that Grizzly (which is one for dogs that I would and sometimes do buy) tested as being "real" by ConsumerLab, where a few fish oils for dogs tested as being part cheap vegetable oils. This was back when fish oil was just starting to be big news.

 Quote: Jamie Craig

She gets fish oil now (it's the human grade stuff but i checked the ingredients and it's pure fish oil and I've found a couple of thing referencing this brand being fine for dogs as long as the dosage is adjusted) in capsul form.

Don't forget the Vit E....otherwise the fish oil isn't doing what it should be doing!

or is that the other way around?

Canned wet food of the Alpo variety, chunks and gravy, will likely give the dog diarrhea, at least initially. I do not think that canned food is any worse for teeth than dry food, and most dogs absolutely love canned dog food. The pasty sort of canned food does have a tendency to stick between cheek and gum.
With all these canned foods you are paying a lot for what is mostly water and beef not fit for human consumption, plus food coloring and preservatives.
Dinty Moore beef stew is close to the same price and it would be a lot less revolting. She will eat that as soon as it's decanted. There are vegies in there that your mother might like.

The processing of the PUFAs in oil supplements uses up E, and can deplete the body's stores. Doesn't happen in all dogs, but OTOH, there has been no O.D. vitamin E level shown in dogs even with ridiculous laboratory amounts, even though it's a fat-soluble vitamin, so there's probably no point in not just assuming that the oil supplements may cause depletion, and replacing it. JMO!

(d-alpha better than dl-alpha, and with mixed tocopherols even better.)



PS This is about dogs only, except the part about which forms are better.

Not in response to the wet food thing, but Pet Supermarket is now carrying Taste of the Wild kibble as well as Canidae, grain free...
I think either one may be less expensive than Solid Gold...

I've also seen ToTW at a local grocery store. Shocked the heck out of me, but hey, fantastic!