# Looking for nutrition advise!



## Fulkan (Sep 14, 2012)

I'm just looking for some general food advice. I have a little Maltese Male, his name is Rocky, and he's sixteen months old. He's really, really, active. Depending on the week, I'm out there at least 3-5 days, trekking it in the park for at least 3+ miles. He also love to play tag, with dogs or humans, so he runs a lot. On top of that, he's figured out that slamming into couch pillows, doesn't really hurt, so he generally always runs around inside house, just us much if not more. 

Right now, I give him about a handful of white chicken breast, that we boil in water, 3 different times a day. I kinda space it out evenly, because his play time can vary. Sometimes my buddies bring their dogs over at 10 PM, and they go berserk. In between that, he generally gets about a stick or two of the dried jerky treats (I know about the recent recalls) as reward for good behavior. 

I was just kinda wondering about the amount of food I was giving him. I don't want to give him to much at all, but he's not a hungry dog. He tends to have dry food in his doggy bowl at any given time, and I've never seen him eat it unless he's really had a crazy day. Most of that food gets eaten by other dogs anyways, they all know that it's gonna be there. 

Also, he kinds likes egg whites, and carrots. I've also heard of people giving that to their dogs as an alternative to store brought treats, but I haven't really experimented with such food before. If you guys know anything about that, please share!

Finally, if he could, he'd definitely tell you guys that he REALLY, REALLY likes chicken, in all forms.


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## eiksaa (Jun 8, 2012)

He should not be eating just chicken as his diet. That's not balanced and he is missing out on a lot of nutrients his body needs. 

Could you experiment with canned food if he doesn't like kibble? I like Fromm canned. Commercial food is formulated with all minerals and vitamins a dog needs and should not be replaced with home cooked food unless you've had a recipe formulated from a nutritionist and give him supplements. 


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## SweetMalteseAngels (Oct 16, 2011)

One of my dogs didnt care much for kibble and she had allergic reaction to many of them. So she was getting really bony and losing weight. However, she loves human food so I started home cooking for her. As Aastha mentioned in the above post, just giving chicken only will be detrimental to your dog because it is not balanced. So I started purchasing supplements from Balanceit.com. If you purchase heir supplements, they give u free recipes to home cook for your dog. It's pretty simple to make and you can make batches and free them. They love their food and no more allergic reactions. They are starting to get a little plump now which I am super happy with. Previously, I struggled to keep weight on my girl Mimi. Good luck with your search and welcome to SM!


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

eiksaa said:


> He should not be eating just chicken as his diet. That's not balanced and he is missing out on a lot of nutrients his body needs.
> 
> Could you experiment with canned food if he doesn't like kibble? I like Fromm canned. Commercial food is formulated with all minerals and vitamins a dog needs and should not be replaced with home cooked food unless you've had a recipe formulated from a nutritionist and give him supplements.
> 
> ...


I agree 100%. A puppy especially needs a nutritionally balanced diet or it can suffer permanent health consequences. 

Know What the Best Homemade Diet for Your Pet Is

There is no calcium in his current diet. Calcium deficiencies can cause skeletal, cardiac and neurological problems:

Calcium & Phosphorous in Dogs  - Chinaroad Lowchens of Australia -


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## Bailey&Me (Mar 8, 2010)

Rocky sounds like so much fun! 

As for the nutrition questions you had - I agree completely with what others have said. A home cooked diet can be really great and healthy for dogs, BUT ONLY if it's completed balanced. If it's not nutritionally balanced, a home cooked diet can go from being the best food for your dog to the worst. Especially for a growing puppy, you really want to make sure their nutritional needs are being met. I would recommend putting Rocky on a good quality commercial diet ASAP (search the forum for lots of recommendations) - you have lots of options, from kibble to canned to dehydrated raw, etc. You don't have to do a food specifically labeled for puppies - you can do an "All Life Stages" food. Go to your local pet boutique and ask for samples that you can try and figure out what he likes to eat. 

I have a three year old and a 4.5 month old. My boy Bailey is on a commercial dehydrated/frozen raw diet, and the puppy, Emma eats an All Life Stages kibble with some dehydrated raw which is also ALS.


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## Fulkan (Sep 14, 2012)

I really appreciate the info!

The deal with him is that he's really NOT showing any health issues what's so ever. He's really fit, he's back is wide and flat and he's just a little berserker. I assume this is because he does eat plenty of veggies as treats. 


What I'm going to start doing is buying Nupro supplements. So far, it seems to be the simplest and easiest way to keep him healthy. They also have active/small dog supplement so it works out for me.

Also, he's a little pic of Rocky.


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

Have you had bloodwork done? Dogs, like other animals often don't show when they are unhealthy and many cases of malnourishment take a very long time to show effects and by then it's too late to correct the issue.

I am all for home cooking but please get some direction with it. Dr. Becker has an excellent book or at the very least start using BalanceIT and following their recipes. https://secure.balanceit.com/

He certainly is a cutie pie but unfortunately it is not as easy as throwing veggies, meat and some random supplements together.


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## eiksaa (Jun 8, 2012)

I agree. It's like with us humans. Not all of us eat balanced diets. And while we may look healthy currently, even get great results back from blood tests, it takes a toll on our bodies in the long run. 

Many studies show people who eat a balanced diet live healthier longer. While our dogs might look healthy currently, a balanced diet is in their best interest long term. 


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## Bailey&Me (Mar 8, 2010)

Rocky is so cute! Glad he’s doing so well and has no health issues. I do want to caution you though – nutritional deficiencies can take years to show up in the form of health problems, so even if Rocky’s not showing any obvious signs of having a deficient diet now, he could in the future. I don’t claim to be a nutrition expert so I can only offer you my opinion – I know for my own dogs, I would not want to take that risk. You can always supplement his main diet with fresh meat and veggies but I would make sure the majority of his food is something that’s nutritionally balanced, like a high quality commercial food. Or if you want to feed him only a home cooked diet only, work with your vet to get a balanced recipe. There’s also a company called BalanceIT that will provide homecooking recipes that you can add their supplements to, so you can look in to that if you’re interested. I haven’t looked at the Nupro supplement you mentioned but my guess is that it’s not meant as a substitute for a complete and balanced diet. Especially since Rocky is a puppy, it is extremely important that his food is nutritionally balanced, or else he could be set for some health issues down the road.


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## Fulkan (Sep 14, 2012)

Again, thanks so much guys! Rocky is my first dog, mainly because my brother got him for my mother, but for whatever reason, he decided he likes me the best. 

Do YOU guys have recommended foods that your dogs like? The issue with him is finding a food that he will eat consistently. I can always go and buy many smaller bags till I figure out which he likes, but of course, I don't want to do it blindly. Some commercial dog foods just seem to have way to many nasty ingredients in them. 

Also, if any of you guys live near Atlanta or Georgia, and know a great local pet store that I can buy food from, that would be amazing as well! I know of Red Bandanna close by, I might check them out.


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## eiksaa (Jun 8, 2012)

Yes! I have a list of foods my little bugger loves. 

Kibble- Fromm Four Star (any flavor)
Canned - Fromm Four Star chicken
Dehydrated - Stella & Chewey patties any flavor, he liked The Honest Kitchen Embark flavor for a while and then decided he was over it
Frozen - Stella & Chewy patties

Good luck! I hope you find something he likes to eat


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## Fulkan (Sep 14, 2012)

shellbeme said:


> Have you had bloodwork done? Dogs, like other animals often don't show when they are unhealthy and many cases of malnourishment take a very long time to show effects and by then it's too late to correct the issue.
> 
> I am all for home cooking but please get some direction with it. Dr. Becker has an excellent book or at the very least start using BalanceIT and following their recipes. https://secure.balanceit.com/
> 
> He certainly is a cutie pie but unfortunately it is not as easy as throwing veggies, meat and some random supplements together.


Oh, yea, he's had blood work, stool samples and all that. When we got him, he had no medical records, so I made sure EVERYTHING was OK before I started with him. As far as the food is concerned, I've read books, many of them. It's just that the opinion on dog food, it's so radically different person to person, so that's why I came on here. 

It's a whole lot assuring to talk to someone who truly adores their dog, then to someone who's just trying to make money of me.


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

The Honest Kitchen is also great but I would e mail them for suggestions and ask for samples first because it's so gosh darn expensive. Freshpet might also work wonderfully for you as most dogs love it. You can get freshpet and pet stores and at a lot of grocery stores too, it's refrigerated.


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## Fulkan (Sep 14, 2012)

shellbeme said:


> The Honest Kitchen is also great but I would e mail them for suggestions and ask for samples first because it's so gosh darn expensive. Freshpet might also work wonderfully for you as most dogs love it. You can get freshpet and pet stores and at a lot of grocery stores too, it's refrigerated.


Thankfully, I have a Red Bandanna store down the street from me and they seem to carry all the rare to find dog foods. Of course, they're not cheap, but I'd rather pay more for his food, and less for his medical costs.


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## babycake7 (Jan 30, 2012)

My maltese has done well on Blue Buffalo Grain Free. She is doing even better now that I have switched to Fromm Grain Free. I order the Fromm from Chewy.com because there is no retailer here who carries it. Shipping is super fast and sometimes free. If not free, its just like $4.95 and arrives within a few days of me placing the order.


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## Grace'sMom (Feb 22, 2012)

We home cook.... My dogs are vegan 4 days a week, vegetarian the other 3....

They love it and do wonderfully.

Feeding chicken is fine. But the others are right - you can't only feed chicken and a bit of veggies.

So if you want to keep up with that, educate yourself on home cooking. It isn't hard


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## IzzysBellasMom (Jan 16, 2013)

babycake7 said:


> My maltese has done well on Blue Buffalo Grain Free. She is doing even better now that I have switched to Fromm Grain Free. I order the Fromm from Chewy.com because there is no retailer here who carries it. Shipping is super fast and sometimes free. If not free, its just like $4.95 and arrives within a few days of me placing the order.


 
I also feed the Fromm Grain free four star kibble and also the fromm wet. I purchased it at a local pet store and it was 16.99 plus tax for a bag, ended up being over 18 dollars. I ordered the next 2 bags plus a case of wet food from chewy.com with free shipping and the kibble was only 12.99 a bag, no tax and no shipping cost. And then a month later also received a hand written card from Chewy.com (Stephanie) thanking me for my order! I am definitely going to order from them every time.


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## maltese manica (Nov 6, 2012)

Hey he is really cute!!! I home cook for my three! But make sure that they are getting the other nutrients that are needed as well!


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## Fulkan (Sep 14, 2012)

After visiting the Red Bandanna store today, I ended up picking up a few bags of Fromms, some Raw Chicken dog food and they gave me a whole bunch of different Earthbound products to try. They also had USA made chicken jerky treats, that look, smell and I assume taste, much better then anything I've seen before. 

I really want to thank all of you for the advice, it helped out a great bit.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

Fulkan said:


> After visiting the Red Bandanna store today, I ended up picking up a few bags of Fromms, some Raw Chicken dog food and they gave me a whole bunch of different Earthbound products to try. They also had USA made chicken jerky treats, that look, smell and I assume taste, much better then anything I've seen before.
> 
> I really want to thank all of you for the advice, it helped out a great bit.


:thumbsup: Great!


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