# Stella and Chewy serving size



## unicorn1098 (Oct 3, 2017)

Hi everyone!

Right now I have Dolly on a mix of Fromm and Stella and Chewy. It's been "fine" but she's really hit and miss with the Fromm and I'm wondering if I should just go completely raw and give her only the freeze dried Stella and Chewy? A lot of times she just refuses to eat the Fromm anyway. If I do switch completely over, is that okay? And if I do... how much should I feed her daily? Right now she's on the freeze dried Super Beef patties. I currently soak them in hot water for 15 minutes and cut them up before giving them to her. She likes to eat the patty and drink the broth LOL. The serving suggestion says two patties a day for a 5 pound dog. Dolly is almost 9 months old and right at 4 pounds give or take a few ounces. 

She's chewing a lot and I wonder if maybe removing the Fromm kibble will help? She's had a few allergy shots at the vet (cant remember the name) that are supposed to help until she's old enough to take the alpoquel but she's still chewing the paws and back-end area. 

Not to mention she's still tear staining. To be fair... it's only been two weeks since she got spayed and had 12 baby teeth removed... but I want to stay on top of this and do everything I can to clear up the stains. She drinks bottled water from nice porcelain bowls. I clean her face with Artero Pretty Eyes twice a day. It's not terrible staining... but enough that I can tell it's still growing in stained. I know it could be from bad breeding since she's most likely from a puppy mill... but i want to cover all my bases with her health and do everything I can to counteract the life she had before me.  

Anyway! Any suggestions or advice would be great! I've search the forum for all the raw and Stella and Chewy threads and learned a lot already, but wanted to ask my specific questions. Thanks!!


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## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

*Just trying to help, a lot to explain!*



unicorn1098 said:


> Hi everyone!
> 
> Right now I have Dolly on a mix of Fromm and Stella and Chewy. It's been "fine" but she's really hit and miss with the Fromm and I'm wondering if I should just go completely raw and give her only the freeze dried Stella and Chewy? A lot of times she just refuses to eat the Fromm anyway. If I do switch completely over, is that okay? And if I do... how much should I feed her daily? Right now she's on the freeze dried Super Beef patties. I currently soak them in hot water for 15 minutes and cut them up before giving them to her. She likes to eat the patty and drink the broth LOL. The serving suggestion says two patties a day for a 5 pound dog. Dolly is almost 9 months old and right at 4 pounds give or take a few ounces.
> 
> ...



Hi Unicorn! :w00t:
Sorry! Epic long post here , but your questions struck home with me because I went through very similar things myself with my boy only a couple of years ago, and think I may have some info that might help. It took me a bit of explaining which took a while to write out. These are my opinions and experiences. I offer these opinions with the best of constructive intentions and not meant to criticize, but are only to point out what the problem might be. if you are here trying to learn we already know you are a good puppy parent!

First thing I noticed about what you wrote is that you are using "HOT water" to soften the RAW food. The point of feeding 'raw' food is keeping it in a 'RAW' state. Adding 'hot' water will 'cook' the food taking away any benefit of feeding the raw food and defeat the purpose. Raw food is very expensive to too, and if you are eliminating it's rawness by adding hot water you are defeating the purpose at a big expense. Your good intentions are probably to make the food more appealing for your dog by making it warmer with the water, but not a good idea if you want to retain the 'benefit' of the food being 'raw'. Raw has enzymes & probiotis which are killed by hot water.

In my experience with my own 'son' I also use nothing but Stella & Chewy's freeze dried raw for my 6.5 lb. Maltese. That is all he ever gets is raw. I never feed grains of any kind EVER. When I prepare his food I crumble it into his dish with my hands. Or if it is a little hard to crumble I put it in a plastic bag and hit the meat patty with the flat side of a meat mallet to break it apart. Then I heat some spring water in a small pitcher for about 12 seconds to barley 'warm' the water very, very slightly so it is just barely luke warm just to take the chill off of it, but not making it 'hot' at all. I pour a few tablespoons of luke warm water over the food and mix it with a fork, the 'gravy' forms right away after mixing it and no need at all to let the food sit around for 15 minutes. I immediately feed it to my dog. He has never refused to eat the Stella & Chewy's. 

I suspect Dolly might be allergic to the 'Fromm' you are feeding and the grain in it _because she is rejecting it_. Sometimes these little ones know themselves when something isn't agreeing with them and will try to tell you that by rejecting it. It is good to learn how to listen to them when they are trying to tell us something. They say it without words. Dogs give signals that are easy to miss especially if one is a new parent, or if a vet is telling you what you are feeding is 'fine'. It is natural not to question authority but vets are not always right and you know your dog better than anyone. It is a shame she is being prescribed allergy meds at only 9 months old. I would be a bit wary of a vet who would prescribe them for a puppy without first trying other solutions to correct the allergy problem. 

I suspect your allergy problem may be eliminated completely if you switch her entirely to the raw and that her allergy symtoms may go away entirely on their own as they did with my dog, you have to give it some time though. It may take several months of only raw feeding before you see her improve because the toxins and allergens still in her body from the Fromm may take a while to be eliminated from her body. Also, if you are feeding raw be careful not to EVER feed her any grains at all, not even in her treats that you or anyone else gives her. Make sure everything you feed is exclusively grain free.

Back when my dog Baby still ate kibble with grain in it, he began to refuse to eat the kibble and threw it up, he also began to refusing to eat the home cooked dog food that I was making for him and threw that up too. He would throw up after he ate either one {they both had grains}.He also had terrible, awful dark tear staining back when he was still eating the kibble. But when I switched him solely only onto the Stella & Chewys freeze dried raw for several months all of that dark tear staining started slowly growing out as his hair grew, and began to go away. He doesn't have any now.

However, your Dolly just had dental work and may still be teething at 9 only months old, she is still a puppy, and teething can cause tear staining no matter what you feed them. When she is a little older and is finished with teething the tear staining my clear up on its own, especially if you are feeding a strictly raw diet with no grain at all. *I am wondering why did she have 12 baby teeth removed? That sounds excessive. Were they not falling out on their own? My boy had to have two baby teeth removed when he was younger because they didn't fall out on their own.

As far as the 'amount' of raw to feed, try giving her 1 patty at breakfast and 1 at lunch. If it is too much she will probably not finish it all & leave a little in the bowl. If that happens a couple of times then decrease to 3/4 of a patty at each meal & see if she eats it all. I'd rather give too much instead of too little at first. That way you won't underfeed her. She will probably show you when she's had enough. She is growing so she may surprise you and want a larger serving size. At 6.5 lbs. My boy eats 1 patty at breakfast and 1.5 patties at dinner when he is not active in winter equaling 2.5 patties in winter. In summer when he is more active he gets an extra half patty with his breakfast making it a total of 3 patties in summer. I give a different flavor every day. example: Monday=Surf & Turf, Tuesday=Dandy Lamb, Wednesday=Duck Duck Goose. And then I repeat. My boy doesn't like beef much so I don't give him that one. But if your dog likes the beef it is fine. There is a new 'Turkey' flavor I haven't tried on him yet but will soon. A varied diet is healthy. Eating the same thing every day wouldn't be healthy for us and I don't believe it is for dogs either. 

You wrote "but i want to cover all my bases with her health and do everything I can to counteract the life she had before me. " which shows how lucky Dolly is to have a parent who cares and wants to give her a good life! I'm so glad you and Dolly are here and I wish you both well! I care and so am just trying to be of assistance,:innocent: --If you want to ask me anything feel free to ask!


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## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

P.S. Just to be fair and balanced, I need to add that there are varied opinions out there about weather or not to feed raw to a puppy, many people do feed raw to puppies and some don't. Some are opposed to it until adult hood. If you search the threads I'm sure you will find a variety of opinions about that. As for me personally, if I had a dog of puppy age there would be no doubt I would have a puppy in my care eating a raw diet.


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## unicorn1098 (Oct 3, 2017)

LOVE_BABY said:


> Hi Unicorn! :w00t:
> Sorry! Epic long post here , but your questions struck home with me because I went through very similar things myself with my boy only a couple of years ago, and think I may have some info that might help. It took me a bit of explaining which took a while to write out. These are my opinions and experiences. I offer these opinions with the best of constructive intentions and not meant to criticize, but are only to point out what the problem might be. if you are here trying to learn we already know you are a good puppy parent!
> 
> First thing I noticed about what you wrote is that you are using "HOT water" to soften the RAW food. The point of feeding 'raw' food is keeping it in a 'RAW' state. Adding 'hot' water will 'cook' the food taking away any benefit of feeding the raw food and defeat the purpose. Raw food is very expensive to too, and if you are eliminating it's rawness by adding hot water you are defeating the purpose at a big expense. Your good intentions are probably to make the food more appealing for your dog by making it warmer with the water, but not a good idea if you want to retain the 'benefit' of the food being 'raw'. Raw has enzymes & probiotis which are killed by hot water.
> ...


Thank you SO much for this post! :wub: This was everything I was looking for when I posted. 

I did not know that about the hot water... I think I've been totally ruining the purpose of the Stella and Chewy since I just pour spring water into my kuerig and let it run over the patties hahaha. So she's basically been getting boiled Stella and Chewy! Oops! :blink: 

As for the Fromm... I didn't even think about that but it would make sense. A few days she's only had Fromm and basically refused to eat until dinner time. It's like she'd rather go hungry than eat it. I just thought she was being picky because she wanted her S&C. I'm going to cut the Fromm immediately.

The baby teeth were pulled because the vet thought one of the reasons she wasn't eating was because her mouth was in such bad shape. With that many retained baby teeth and crowding she was having a really hard time eating, her mouth smelled absolutely terrible, and many of the teeth were beginning to yellow even with my brushing every single day. The vet was worried about the damage to her permanent teeth from the retained baby teeth so we actually pushed up her spay so she could have her teeth removed. 

Serving size suggestions sound perfect. I didnt even think to crumble the patties before LOL. I've just been "boiling" them whole then chopping them up. 

Thank you SO much for the advice! This is exactly why I love this forum. :wub: I dont know what I would have done without you all the past 6 months. I know my Dolly girl is so much better off with all the awesome advice you all give.


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

Dog food is very individualistic---we have to have something without any chicken & chicken by-products & grain free. We use Fromms Hasen Drukenpfeffer kibble (very little only 1/8 cup daily) & Stella & Chewys Absolute Lamb, & rabbit. We used the old absolute venison until they changed the recipe to a blend. We also give veggies, lettuce, some fruits & oats (grain--I use GF), some cheeses (very small amount) & cherrioes as treats. They love arugula, & parsley & almost all green stuff so we do variety here. 
You will just have to try & see what your pup tolerates. Have you done the Bile acids test?


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## unicorn1098 (Oct 3, 2017)

edelweiss said:


> Dog food is very individualistic---we have to have something without any chicken & chicken by-products & grain free. We use Fromms Hasen Drukenpfeffer kibble (very little only 1/8 cup daily) & Stella & Chewys Absolute Lamb, & rabbit. We used the old absolute venison until they changed the recipe to a blend. We also give veggies, lettuce, some fruits & oats (grain--I use GF), some cheeses (very small amount) & cherrioes as treats. They love arugula, & parsley & almost all green stuff so we do variety here.
> You will just have to try & see what your pup tolerates. Have you done the Bile acids test?


Yes! We did the BAT when she got spayed for a baseline and they told me it was "normal" and that I could do it again in 6 months if I wanted too, but that her numbers looked wonderful so it wasn't necessary. I can't remember now what the numbers were, I'm sure its on her spay paperwork they gave me back home. 

I do use a lot of veggies as treats. Frozen blueberry pieces and small bits of cheese are used as "Holy Grail Rewards" hahahaha. I'm thinking that I was for sure just relying on way too much kibble and little bits of everything else.


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## Matilda's mommy (Jun 1, 2005)

Hi Jordan, first off you are a wonderful mommy, :wub:
Maddie is so picky she doesn't eat kibble, she loves veggies, here's what I give her

Breakfast.....I Stella and Chewy patty, I soak it in warm water while I have my breakfast, I hand feed, (I started it way back when Matilda was a puppy) and just continued it with Maddie, but I wish I hadn't started with Maddie 

Dinner.... I have boiled chicken breast in seal a meal bags, also from time to time I give her beef, I freeze them and take one package out for dinner, Maddie LOVES sweet potatoes, and LOVES snapped peas, green beans, carrots and once in a great while I will give her a small piece of tomatoe. She eats fresh blue berries, and once in a great while she will surprise me and eat a little piece of Apple. Maddie doesn't seem to like fruit as well as veggies 

When I'm busy or have company here she eats Stella and Chewy patty for dinner. 

I give her one treat a day, I cut it in two, she likes Wellness soft treats. I have tried other brands but she turns her nose up, SPOILED :innocent: Maddie's weight stays around 5 to 5.4 lbs. When we first got Maddie she weighed 4 1/2lbs, but she was to thin, she needed to be fattened up lol

I remember when Matilda was a puppy she had a little tear staining , but she grew out of it, I think she was over a year before the staining stopped.I know it was because of teething. she never had staining after that 

On a different note have you started brushing her teeth? I used the Emmi tooth brush on Matilda, she only lost 8 teeth and 7 of them was before I heard of the Emmi ultra sonic. Matilda was almost 12 when she went to Heaven's Rainbow Bridge, I still have days where it's hard, she's been gone for over a year. She was and will always be my heart 

Maddie has a very small mouth so I use gauze with a little tooth paste to brush. I wish she would have let me try the Emmi on her, she's lost 13 teeth, Maddie came to me at 3 1/2 So I 'm pretty sure the breeder didn't take time to brush her teeth.


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## unicorn1098 (Oct 3, 2017)

Matilda's mommy said:


> Hi Jordan, first off you are a wonderful mommy, :wub:
> Maddie is so picky she doesn't eat kibble, she loves veggies, here's what I give her
> 
> Breakfast.....I Stella and Chewy patty, I soak it in warm water while I have my breakfast, I hand feed, (I started it way back when Matilda was a puppy) and just continued it with Maddie, but I wish I hadn't started with Maddie
> ...


Such awesome info! Thank you! :wub: I have started brushing her teeth. I got really good about it when she had so many retained baby teeth. The vet told me to make sure I was brushing them after every meal since it was so crowded and her food was just staying stuck between teeth. Her poor little mouth was just in horrendous shape.  I'm hoping now with just her adult teeth and continued brushing she'll be okay! Her adult teeth are pearly white and beautiful. I use an infant finger brush and she doesnt seem to mind it too much... plus I'm able to really get in there with my finger.


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## unicorn1098 (Oct 3, 2017)

**Update**

Fixed Dolly and Felicia their dinner the appropriate way... no boiling water hahaha. So much easier! I broke the patties up before soaking them in warm water and it was a much faster and easier process.

Now my question is, do you all use warm tap water or do you warm up some spring water? I'm guessing using the tap water to rehydrate the food is defeating the purpose of the spring water in their drinking bowls.

Thanks!!


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## Matilda's mommy (Jun 1, 2005)

I use tap water, but I think it might depend on the area of the country it is.

Dolly will have the nicest teeth. Like I said earlier your such a awesome mommy


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## unicorn1098 (Oct 3, 2017)

Matilda's mommy said:


> I use tap water, but I think it might depend on the area of the country it is.
> 
> Dolly will have the nicest teeth. Like I said earlier your such a awesome mommy


Thank you!! <3 We're in NYC. I know the tap water is really great for kids but I think it's heavy in the fluoride and minerals so maybe not so good for the tear staining? I'll have to look it up.

You guys are seriously the best! I feel so much better about what to do for her now. :wub:


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## Valentinosmamma (Feb 26, 2018)

unicorn1098 said:


> Matilda's mommy said:
> 
> 
> > I use tap water, but I think it might depend on the area of the country it is.
> ...


I noticed this post while researching foods to feed my baby. I also live in NYC and found out about Stella and Chewy’s at my neighborhood Pet Heath Food Store in the UWS.

My baby has tear staining now (visibile in the photos sent by the breeder) and even though I haven’t taken him home yet I am already looking for solution. 

I actually did a research project about lead recently and realized that there are more contaminents in NYC water than we know about. From the info I found it seems like the idea that NYC tap water is clean and safe is a common myth. Except for bah water, I filter all of the water I use, I even have a shower filter (made by T3) which filters chlorine, lead, and other contaminents. I think that especially when it comes to our water supply (and the water for our fur babies) we are better safe than sorry. 

As far as food I have been thinking about switching my baby from the kibble his breeder is giving him to Wellness wet puppy food and eventually switching to Stella.


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## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

unicorn1098 said:


> **Update**
> 
> Fixed Dolly and Felicia their dinner the appropriate way... no boiling water hahaha. So much easier! I broke the patties up before soaking them in warm water and it was a much faster and easier process.
> 
> ...


Hi Unicorn! 
Sorry took me so long to get back to you, I'm in the middle of undergoing an intrusive all encompassing kitchen reno, and am only on here sporadically from time to time. Personally, I use bottled pure spring water for Baby in both his food, and also in his water dish. As you already know, for his food I warm up the water for a few seconds in the microwave, then I test it for warmth. If' its too warm I'll add a sprinkle of cold spring water to it & mix it around until it becomes a nice like warmish temp, but not warm enough to cook the food. Baby has never had tap water in his life since the time after I first got him when he was a little baby. I don't know what kind of water the breeder gave him. Hope this helps!:thumbsup:
P.S. don't even bother trying to stop the tear staining until after he stops teething. Teething puppys often get staining that sometimes goes away upon adult hood. There is nothing you can do about the staining when they are puppies, except to clean the 'sleepys' off of their eyes every day but that won't eliminate puppy-tearstaining entirely. Feeding the grain free raw diet is what helped baby get rid of his adult tear staining, no grains = no tear stains for us.


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## maddysmom (Mar 8, 2012)

Hi Jordan!
First, I want to say that your an awesome doggy mom! 

I wanted to mention a few things regarding allergies, with Dolly's butt scooting and paw licking.
Coming from a person with two dogs with food and environmental allergies, I find it very unlikely Dolly would be having a true food allergy so young. It's possible but unlikely, IMO.
A true food allergy is much different than food sensitivity.
I would be focusing on environmental, especially living in NY. You could try an air purifier in your apartment, to see if that helps. Having no carpet, even allergy proof dog bedding is helpful.
I personally live by foot soaks(povidone & h20) especially in the winter, when the heat goes on, the dust can be brutal on my girls and spring when my girls are most bothered by pollen, grass, ect.
Sometimes these things help and that way you can avoid allergy shots. They are just masking the symptoms temporarily, so very important to figure out the trigger and dispose of it.
As far as Stella and Chewys, it's an excellent food, no doubt about that. See how Dolly does for 3-4 months and go from there.
It's not a true Raw food, but close enough and better than kibble or can. i could never feed it because the fat content is much too high on a DMB and my girls don't do well on that high of fat content. Even my non-IBD girl was very sluggish on it.

Best of luck to you. Btw...Dolly is absolutely adorable!

In regards to the eye staining, if I remember correctly, my 2 youngest girls were around 1 1/2 before they cleared up completely. Dolly is still young, so I wouldn't personally worry just yet.


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