My dog is an itchy dog.
I understand that the number one reason Americans take their dogs to the vet is itching.
An itchy dog appears to be obsessed - unnerved - and it's difficult to watch too.
You want to relieve them of the itch.
The first thing you do is bath your dog.
You think shampoo - conditioner - and topical ointments.
You think fleas, bug bites - especially spiders.
You switch around their food.
"Grain Free" is popular.
However, what's the substitute for wheat or corn?
(Are "Gluten Free" people thinking DOGS should also be Gluten Free?)
So here is what my research and experience has taught me.
In nature dogs are lucky to breed once and are often dead before the age of 6. They don't get old enough to loose teeth or lay around. They are either contributing to the welfare of the pack or they are put out to die alone.
One dog is accepted as the leader, usually a good hunter. That dog gets to eat first. When they kill an animal whose meat they like, this pack leader goes for the stomach. THE CONTENTS OF THE STOMACH are gourmet food to the dog and it includes DIGESTED VEGETATION.
The vegetation is usually grasses and berries - think what a deer eats.
The number one meat dogs are allergic to is CHICKEN. But birds are not all alike.
So READ LABELS. And what do you read?
SOY. I learned that soy plants and beans and oils are a big export of Hungary to the United States. However popular soy is as a protein substitute for vegans and vegetarians, it can have an estrogen effect and should be avoided unless used minimally by people with cancer or danger of cancer that can be grown by estrogen. (How much soy or yams a person can eat is subject to debate.)
I read labels and I see things like TOMATO SKIN, BLUEBERRIES, CACTUS, ROSEMARY put into dog food.
I seriously question tomato in dog food. As for blueberries, see if your dog will eat one without the kibble. Mine rolls them on the floor not knowing what else to do. Cactus? Forget it. I hear of dogs who like bananas and watermelon. Mine could care less.
However she loves - cabbage - sauerkraut, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower (I hear there are cautions about how much of these), yams and pumpkin (I hear to avoid white potato and sweet potato), chick peas. She could care less about lettuce or other table greens.
So I indulge her. About a teaspoon full on the kibble. She will dig out the real food over the kibble.
I have a friend who feeds his dogs chicken and kibble every day. My dog likes to raid his dog's bowls.
Thus if you have a Hungarian-American dog and must give it people food, forget the spices, but give that dog some stuffed cabbage - but not anything with soy.
A sign that a dog has allergies is black discharge or tears from its eyes. A sign that the food change is working is the end of that discharge or tears.
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