From Chewing or Shedding?
My question is this: Finnegan is 4 months old. The hair on his rear is shorter than his other hair. It is uniformly short and also a greyer color. I was wondering if this is from chewing or a natural puppy shedding/color changing process. I just noticed this morning that he also has the same type and color of short greyish hair just behind his shoulder blades. I've never seen him chewing there and I don't even think it's physically possible. Any ideas? |
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| He is probably starting to change colors.....Pandas rear was the first to go grey. The last part to go grey was a stripe down the center of the back....she looked skunky..lol..but now alas, she is all grey.... |
| Yup, he's at about changing age. Perfectly normal. As you can see from most of our pictures, they all turn gray!
If he's having problems with allergies and food, you might want to consider stepping him to a higher quality food. There are brands like Nutro or ProPlan Sensitive skin and stomach that are still reasonable priced but probably a lot better for him. |
| When you say "Higher Quality Food," what does that mean? I have been comparing Analyses of Purina One, Pro Plan, and Nutro and they're basically all the same, and there are some differences in ingredients, but what are the major ones? In a comparison of ingredients Purina One and Pro Plan are almost exactly the same except for "Beet Root Pulp" (which I doubt my puppy is craving) and "Chicken Meal," and chicken is what he may be allergic to. Nutro has more vitamin and mineral supplements, but they seem to mostly be for preventative measures against things like hip displaysia and heart disease. Is that important in his immediate health and allergy concerns? It would cost the same to just buy dog vitamins and then I could really specialize what he getting.
/genuinely asking, not trying to be difficult. And yes, I do have too much free time. There's only so much internet job searching one can handle in a 24 hour period... |
| I think this is from a natural puppy shedding/color changing process.
Pirelli is only 9.5 weeks old and she has already started to be grey  |
| The order of the ingredients makes a big difference, even if they're the same. Also, some foods are baked, which is better than most alternatives, and as you've noticed, some have other elements that are better for preventative health. I don't think it's ever too early to start that. Also, giving a dog pills, at least in my experience, sucks! If you can get vitamins/supplemts already in the food, it's much easier and, in the longrun, a lot less expensive.
Check out this thread about grading dog foods. It has a good checklist: http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?t=9674 |
| Alright, I'm getting serious now. I'm in ingredient hell and I think I've found a solution (though, I do need help with an exact solution). I see that I should eliminate possible food allergens and reintroduce them one by one to find the offending ingredient. Can anyone recommend a homemade recipe that I can feed Finnegan for a few weeks or months to "cleanse the system" so to speak? Boiled hamburger and brown rice? Lamb and sweet potatoes? Blowfish and seaweed? Should I slaughter a kangaroo?
All of the dog foods list some kind of mix of proteins, whether it's beef and poultry fat or lamb and chicken meal and they all have corn or rye or wheat. And if they don't, they're rediculously expensive to just be testing the mix and hoping it doesn't make scratch his ears off. He's drawn blood on the left ear and wimpers when he bites his fanny. I need a practical solution that will give him relief, not an experiment. Thanks for your advice. |
| I'm not a very good cook, even for humans so I can't help with that part. I went to a dog food survey when I was looking for a better food for our dogs. It was pretty well written. It is under the website of a shelter in MN. www.animalarkshelter.org (I am doing that from memory, I hope it's right.
I would buy the smallest size bag of a new food and test it out. Check out if stores have a return policyon the food - if you get it home and your dog hates it. I hope I don't hear about missing kangaroos from Indiana zoos! |
| I'm not positive, but I think this has been mentioned on the forum before...if dogs are allergic to a food...it is usually the grain in the food (corn, wheat etc.) not the meat (chicken, lamb etc) that is the problem. |
Finnegan wrote: Blowfish and seaweed? Should I slaughter a kangaroo?
Doing all this research can drive you batty. It's nice to see you haven't lost your sense of humor. 
If you're going to cook for him, boiled chicken & rice are a good combo to start. |
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