Dog Food Question

smilerf

Hey all i feed my westie Arden Grange with chicken mixed through but i was wondering is this too much protein?
Should i use a mixer or a lower quality nut instead?

thanks

boxerly

The Arden grange on its own is enough.I love Arden Grange apart from the price

smilerf

i thought that alright but the parents have him a fussy eater now so he always wants hes chicken too.
its only chopped through in small amounts but i think it might be too much protein

WalterMitty

If youre concerned would you not put the dog on a breed specific feed like the eukanuba one.

Cherry Blossom

Royal Canin is the highest protein food on the market but even thier breed specific food for Westies has only 21% protein so I think that's saying something in itself! I couldn't feed my Westie cooked chicken at all, I gave her a few tiny pieces once as training rewards about 3 of them, the size of a one cent coin. She went bouncing off the walls for 3 days after it :rolleyes:

Personally I don't see the point of feeding a good quality food like Arden Grange if your going to add things to it as this defeats the whole purpose of feeding a high quality nutritionally balanced food as you are then throwing that balance off which is basically what you are paying for.

kylith

Arden Grange is a complete food in itself, not a mixer. If you just cut out the chicken and stick to your guns he'll eat the dry no problem.

Scoobydoobydoo

I also have a Westie, she's got that nasty skin condition that is common in this breed, and the vet said to stop all regular dog foods. I'd actually already done this, and had begun to give her tinned fish (in small amounts), which the vet approved of. He also recommended natural cereal nuts without any additives etc. which we buy from the vet. She seems to be much healthier on this diet.

Cherry Blossom

Scoobydoobydoo wrote: »

I also have a Westie, she's got that nasty skin condition that is common in this breed, and the vet said to stop all regular dog foods. I'd actually already done this, and had begun to give her tinned fish (in small amounts), which the vet approved of. He also recommended natural cereal nuts without any additives etc. which we buy from the vet. She seems to be much healthier on this diet.

If you don't mind me asking, how old was your dog when this condition started and what were the symptoms? Just wondering what to keep my eyes open for

Scoobydoobydoo

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

If you don't mind me asking, how old was your dog when this condition started and what were the symptoms? Just wondering what to keep my eyes open for

She was about 6 years when it started, though I heard a discussion on Liveline about it a while back, and someone said their puppy had it, just a few months old.
What we noticed first was that she was scratching a lot as if she had fleas, and then licking the sore areas. She scratched so much that she was leaving chunks of hair everywhere. Then eventually we noticed her skin turned blackish (though pink as well) in affected areas, we could only see it in the belly & groin areas, because there is less hair there, but she had it under her chin, leg joints, around her eyes, and also her ears were affected, they need a separate treatment as they were closing in, causing her to shake her head as though she was going a bit crazy. This is all a recent thing and she's responding well to diet and treatment. No meat for her but she loves fish, especially the oily types, and sometimes we mix in a little rice with it. We usually get her tinned fish in Aldi, and it's cheaper and healthier than dog food so we're all happy!
Also, watch out for a change in the smell of your dog, apparently it's a yeast thing, but you might find the dog is smelly even if having regular baths etc.

Cherry Blossom

Thanks for that info Scooby. Mine was chewing her paws a lot on Royal Canin but is doing much better on Hills Lamb and Rice, think I might change her over to Burns Pork & Potato though just on to be on the side of caution. She's not 5 months yet but seems very sensitive to certain foods. She has a hormone imbalance as well - went into heat at 18 weeks old! I will be getting her spayed at 6 months and hopefully this will end that problem and make her more comfortable. Needless to say I won't try changing her feed again untill about a month after her op as she's doing ok on the Hills. Think I may go and find a Westie forum to see what other foods may suit. If it took so long to show up in your dog I may try and find something tried and tested that agrees with them and stick to that as some sort of prevention measure.

<Edt> Appologies for high-jacking your thread OP!

lorebringer

smilerf wrote: »

Hey all i feed my westie Arden Grange with chicken mixed through but i was wondering is this too much protein?
Should i use a mixer or a lower quality nut instead?

thanks

Arden Grange (I'm assuming you are talking about the adult food) is 25% protein, which is perfectly fine for your dog. You do not need to add anything to the food as it is totally balanced for your dog. Adding a small amount of chicken will do no harm to your dog. If you are worried about protein content, Burns, James Wellbeloved and Hills Science Plan offer a lower protein food. I know Westies can suffer with skin issues (as adrenalinjunkie and Scoobydoobydoo said about theirs) which can be aggravated by a high protein diet so if you are worried it may be a good idea to change to a different brand.

If you are having problems with your dog eating dry food, wetting it a little with warm water can really help - it makes it smell much better to the dog and takes to initial hard crunch out of it. Once the dog is eating you can reduce the amount you wet it until the dog is eating only dry food.