We feed ours Natural Balance.  My sister is a vet and she approves.

NPHuskerFL said:

Our girl has double hip dysplasia and could barely hobble around. She's been eating 

BLUE Wilderness®

Chicken Recipe

For Large Breed Adult Dogs

for about 2+ yrs along with only a 1/4-1/2  dosage of what was prescribed anti-inflammatory (because her diet has done miracles). She's back to being a psychotically athletic Mal. 

Steamed or cooked then shredded chicken with rice (bland) has worked with my working Mals and kitties especially with injuries or sensitive tummies due to meds. 

thats what i feed my britt, rotate him thru salmon, duck, and bison. the dog is rock solid, did a 12 mile run the other day with him following the wheeler and he was still running just about 15-18 mph towards the end of the run. broke a nail close and was bleeding like someone butchered a goat but still wanted to go on. thats some good food and he doesnt need much, maybe 14 ounces a day and an egg

Dobie said:

Chicklet said:

I've decided that i sometimes like animals more than people.  Wait.  Did I say that out loud?  

Awesome on getting her eating! I decided I like dogs more than people a long time ago 

Feed a dog and treat them nice and you get unconditional love in return, it's a given.

Humans might return the favor ...



or they might spit in your food, piss in your pot, or any number of undesired things.

Don't mess with trying to figure out what food to buy.   Get the exact brand and formula the dog was being fed.  Any variation, regardless of brand and blend you decide, can and will affect the dogs digestive tract.  If you cannot get the exact formula I would recommend going to a reputable pet store and buy some of the upper end brands with a low protein to fat ratio.  It will be printed on the bag.  The more expensive formulas have better quality ingredients by far.  I would definitely stay away from bargain basement brands and unless you know exactly what you are doing stay away from home brews.  I run Labrador retrievers and changing food for any reason is a drawn out affair.  Looking at the wounds are you sure the dog was not attacked by coyotes?  That looks extremely nasty for a dog fight.  My guys have tangled with coyotes and the hind end is where they attack.  Best of luck and sounds like the do is in good hands. 

AD18 said:

Don't mess with trying to figure out what food to buy.   Get the exact brand and formula the dog was being fed.  Any variation, regardless of brand and blend you decide, can and will affect the dogs digestive tract.  If you cannot get the exact formula I would recommend going to a reputable pet store and buy some of the upper end brands with a low protein to fat ratio.  It will be printed on the bag.  The more expensive formulas have better quality ingredients by far.  I would definitely stay away from bargain basement brands and unless you know exactly what you are doing stay away from home brews.  I run Labrador retrievers and changing food for any reason is a drawn out affair.  Looking at the wounds are you sure the dog was not attacked by coyotes?  That looks extremely nasty for a dog fight.  My guys have tangled with coyotes and the hind end is where they attack.  Best of luck and sounds like the do is in good hands. 

Are you saying if my vet tells me to give my dog rice & cottage cheese, I should ignore him and keep feeding him the normal kibble he was raised on because a change in diet is BAD NEWS for his digestive tract.  I think the whole point of changing the diet is to give them a bland diet that is EASY on the digestive tract, until their health improves.

Zmokin said:

That sounds to me like you are talking out of two sides of your mouth.
Just an observation.

I do not really understand how or why you would say that.  No, your observations are wrong.  The points stated are options and/or choices the owner can make in the best interest of the dog.  The choice the vet gave the owner is sound and makes sense, but can and usually does carry other consequences.  Few, if any, circumstances will mess up a dogs digestive tract more than changing what they are fed.  The fact the dog was on some type of kibble and you introduce a different/changed food source usually has initial bad results.  Usually, but not always.  The fact you are introducing 2 basic food sources, chicken and rice only, instead of the kibble formula can cause grief.  The percentage is basically 50-50 as opposed to kibble being significantly lower for those 2 ingredients.  And the dogs kibble probably does contain the ingredients.  Introducing any change as such usually results in diaharea or extremely loose stools for a few days or longer.  I do not not think the owner, nor the dog, wants that to happen in the dogs current state.  However, if that is what the vet says, then the owner should follow through as instructed.  I too would do as they said, but would challenge or question if it was the correct route.  If the plan works then all the better for the dog.  In the event the dog does have an inadverse reaction to the change in diet in an unfavourable way then the watered down kibble is a viable solution to get the dog fed.  The dog regains the strength and energy it needs to heal and the digestive tract is maintained.  In the end it sounds like the dog is making headway in the right direction.  Said my peace, hopefully made my point in a positive way, won't comment any further.  Best of luck to the dog, hope he gets well and returns to normal fast.