# Need food suggestions



## Dstevens (Nov 27, 2020)

I have been reading, looking, re-reading. My Maltese is 7 months old. Does struggle with Poop eating, which I have read food suggestion about. I worry about chicken. What is the best food for my little baby? Royal Canin anyone? She was on Flourish? Now Science Diet which my vet suggested. 
Thank you for any suggestions. You are all so wonderful!
Deb and Ari


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## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

Hi Deb, it is overhwelming, isn't it? There are enough foods on the market to make your head spin. I'm not an expert in canine nutrition, butI can just share a little wisdom: when "high-quality" foods became en vogue, I tried every single one, trying to feed my dogs the fanciest, best food on the market. Well, that was met with every digestive symptom in the book in some of the dogs, and obesity in others. We currently feed Purina dry and Hills I/D canned, and everyone is healthy and has good digestion. My opinion is that whatever food your dog will eat and is healthy on is the best food. And I would definitely listen to my vet's input on that. Royal Canin and Science Diets are very good foods, imho, despite what a lot of people might say. They have been lab tested for many years. 

As for the poop eating, sometimes they outgrow it and sometimes they don't. Have you tried putting a tiny bit of hotsauce on the poop immediately after she goes (I'd ask the vet if that's safe for a Malt--it is recommended for bigger dogs)?


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## maddysmom (Mar 8, 2012)

Hi Deb!
I feed Sojos and The honest kitchen to my girls and they thrive off these foods. They are considered a dehydrated raw.
If your worried about chicken, I’m assuming your worry is your fluff developing a food allergy, as long as you rotate the proteins every few months using the same company, it’s pretty safe to say they won’t develop an allergy. That said, high allergy proteins are chicken, beef, lamb, eggs.
Im adding a link to Dog food advisor. This site rates the food and breaks down the protein, carb and fat content on a dry matter basis, so you know exactly the quality of food your feeding.








Dog Food Reviews and Ratings | Dog Food Advisor


The Dog Food Advisor's unbiased dog food reviews and ratings searchable by brand or star rating. Find the best dry, canned or raw food for your dog.




www.dogfoodadvisor.com




Also, vaccinations can trigger mediated immune disorders (food allergies ibd) is one, so you might want to do a search on titer test. A lot of us here titer before we vaccinate, and most dogs never need another vaccination after their puppy shots.

Elizabeths advice on hot sauce is a great suggestion.
I did try hot sauce for my one poop eater, Ling Ling. It definitely can be a great deterrent, unless you have a fluff like my Suki. She has never been a poop eater until I used the hot sauce and she ran around eating every pile that was covered in it, so I had to stop, lol.
It did work very well for my poop eater though, so you might want to give it a try.


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

My girls have a chicken sensitivity (triggers Tessa's IBD) so we avoid anything with chicken and garbage fillers such as corn. They each Honest Kitchen base mix which I add gently cooked turkey, beef or fish to. They've been doing extremely well on it and I've never had a picky eater. 

When I first got Tessa 12 years ago, I was trying to feed kibble to what was then two very picky eaters. As soon as I switched to the dehydrated raw with meat, my picky eaters vanished.


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## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

maddysmom said:


> Also, vaccinations can trigger mediated immune disorders (food allergies ibd) is one, so you might want to do a search on *titer test*. A lot of us here titer before we vaccinate, and most dogs never need another vaccination after their puppy shots.


Great thing to bring up! If you have any questions, we have a few titer "experts" here  I have no doubt that Zooey suffered immune-mediated problems due to overvaccination before I got her  I only do rabies routinely on the poodles (every 3 years since it is the law in CA, but hopefully that will change) after their initial parvo/distemper puppies series (plus a booster for one of them at 1 year old).


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## Lilysdream (Aug 2, 2019)

zooeysmom said:


> Great thing to bring up! If you have any questions, we have a few titer "experts" here  I have no doubt that Zooey suffered immune-mediated problems due to overvaccination before I got her  I only do rabies routinely on the poodles (every 3 years since it is the law in CA, but hopefully that will change) after their initial parvo/distemper puppies series (plus a booster for one of them at 1 year old).


I am not a titer expert but Leia (my rescue) has allergies and it can get very bad. Thus we only do titers for Leia and Lena.
We never had to redo a vaccine so far.
And same as you Zooeysmom, we do the rabies because it is mandatory but I am very nervous.

For food, I use the Honest Kitchen and Fromm's but I am not an expert at all.


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## maddysmom (Mar 8, 2012)

Lilysdream said:


> I am not a titer expert but Leia (my rescue) has allergies and it can get very bad. Thus we only do titers for Leia and Lena.
> We never had to redo a vaccine so far.
> And same as you Zooeysmom, we do the rabies because it is mandatory but I am very nervous.
> 
> ...


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## Lilysdream (Aug 2, 2019)

Thank you so much for the link !
The vet never told us....
But I am not surprised because when I asked for titers (I learnt about them on this forum  thank you so much all of you), the vet was very very surprised.
Thank you 🧡


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## Moochie (Aug 9, 2019)

Dstevens said:


> I have been reading, looking, re-reading. My Maltese is 7 months old. Does struggle with Poop eating, which I have read food suggestion about. I worry about chicken. What is the best food for my little baby? Royal Canin anyone? She was on Flourish? Now Science Diet which my vet suggested.
> Thank you for any suggestions. You are all so wonderful!
> Deb and Ari


I haven't posted in forever but saw your concerns, My 6 year old male had a life threatening attack of pancreatitis when he was 3, warranting an emergency trip to the vet, a night in the hospital, and forever having to monitor his diet. I would be worried about chicken, too, and a lot of other food products. I have tried everything under the sun, and have ended up with 2 products that he likes, and he thrives on. And to your second point about poop eating, my little guy did that until I fed him these two new foods. After that the poop eating stopped, which suggests a nutritional component to the habit. The 2 that I feed him are these: Dr. Mercola's Freeze Dried Raw Organic Grass Fed Beef. It seems shockingly expensive for a bag, but for tiny dogs like these the bag lasts a long time. The other food is Tractor Supply's "4 Health" brand Salmon and Potato canned food. My wonderful vet feeds this to her 7 dogs because it its one of the cleanest, most honest products on the market. It even has probiotics. It consistently rates highly on dog food lists. As to the diets you named, (Science Diet, Royal Canin, etc.), all of these are owned by large corporate conglomerates and they have been the subject of repeated recalls. Their processing and ingredients constantly come under investigation. Really do your research, and find something that is of the highest quality because your baby's future depends on it.


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## Dstevens (Nov 27, 2020)

I ordered Wellness puppy small breed. Will keep you all posted. Thank you! You are all so helpful😍


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## Judy York (Feb 9, 2021)

Dstevens said:


> I have been reading, looking, re-reading. My Maltese is 7 months old. Does struggle with Poop eating, which I have read food suggestion about. I worry about chicken. What is the best food for my little baby? Royal Canin anyone? She was on Flourish? Now Science Diet which my vet suggested.
> Thank you for any suggestions. You are all so wonderful!
> Deb and Ari


I have tried so many foods for Mazie and the winner is refrigerated food at the grocery store...Real food for little dogs. Occationally a little plain boiled chicken or ground beef Good Luck. I am a new Maltiese owner, a rescue from the streets. It has taken me two weeks and several brands with no luck untill Natures Fresh real food.
Mazie's Mom


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