# Food suggestions



## whitBmom (Nov 27, 2006)

My breeder currently is feeding our puppy Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul Food, and I was wondering for all of you experienced hav owners which commercial foods you find are comparable. The chicken soup dog food doesn't seem to be common in my area, so any feedback with suggested foods or reviews would be very helpful to me. Thank you all for all your help


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

I think the Merrick brand of food is very similar, if it is available in your area. My pup loved these when he was younger, but stopped eating them at about 6 mos. But he still likes the one called Wingalings - it has whole chicken wings in it. This is the only problem area I have with Kodi. He is a very fussy eater. He really doesn't eat people food either, unless it's some chicken or turkey burgers. Good luck


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## whitBmom (Nov 27, 2006)

Thank you for that suggestion, I will look into it and compare. I guess it really all depends on the puppy and how they react to it. I know the breeder will be providing us with a small bag of the Chicken Soup food, so at least that will give the puppy some time with its normal food. Actually I am wondering how someone goes about introducing a new brand of food. I know for certain that you just don't do it at once, but I am sure there is a right way to do it. Could anyone let me know? Thanks again


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## whitBmom (Nov 27, 2006)

Thank you reece. When we do switch over we will do it as you suggested. Thank you - we are very excited to welcome our new family member. Just counting down the days now!!


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Welcome to being owned by a Havanese!

I go back and forth from Wellness to Solid Gold. My dogs tend to do fine when I switch foods if I slowly add the new food in. I just think this way I am not putting all my eggs into one basket but two!

Amanda


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## whitBmom (Nov 27, 2006)

Wow, so many responses by so many caring hav owners ( rather, "Wonderful people who are owned by their havanese") You are all so helpful, thank you. 

Helen


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## Melissa Miller (Aug 2, 2006)

I started out on Chicken Soup. I ended up switching once because I thought I found a better food. I switched to Flint River, but then Stogie had bad acid reflux from it, so now because of his stomach, they eat Purina Pro Plan Chicken and Rice.

Be prepared, Havs are picky eaters. Your new pup might eat like crazy as a puppy then one day just stop. You will switch foods, then they will eat like crazy then stop. Hehe Havs are funny. The best thing I did was get another and now they eat out of competition. I have to watch Goldie, she gets chunky.Her head will start looking tiny, and I call her fatty.

Now they have a game going where Goldie will not eat until Stogie is almost done, then as he comes for hers, she blocks him and gobbles her down.

When they stopped eating their normal dried food, I bought Natures Variety Freeze Dried Food and sprinkled a little bit on. They love the Chicken. Here is a link. 
http://www.naturesvariety.com/conte...n=naturesvariety:4CBB1ED81d9762D267PuL325CB63


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

http://www.frommfamilyfoods.com/

We have it shipped in 40 lb. bags.


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## whitBmom (Nov 27, 2006)

*Thank you all *

When I began my research on the different dog foods out there I was so overwhelmed because there are so many....  Now thanks to all of you I can atleast narrow it down to those few good brands that you have found so much success with. It is such a peace at mind knowing that there are very healthy options out there in the midst of the multitude of brands out there. I have bookmarked all the sites suggested and now I can relax and not worry about comparable foods for our puppy. Thank you


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

I would also suggest buying the smallest bags at first until you find the one he really likes. There is nothing worse than buying a 20 lb bag & they only east 2 lbs of it. When my girls were pups I mixed different kinds all the time, it gave them variety and they seemed to like it. Nutro was one of our favorites.


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## whitBmom (Nov 27, 2006)

Thanks for the heads up. It's really good to know. It's amazing how you sweat the small stuff even BEFORE the puppy comes...


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

I like Solid Gold Just a Wee-Bit dog food is especially formulated for small breed dogs. It comes in a hot pink bag with a Westie. The kibble is tiny, which works great for smaller dogs.

Good luck with your new puppy,
Julia


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## h-hhavanese (Dec 10, 2006)

Our 5 week old puppies will not drink any water, only alittle goats milk out of a bottle or a dish. They eat little to nothing of baby rice cereal, ground up science diet small bites, canned eukanuba puppy food, and Esbilac 1 and 2 puppy formula. Where do we go from here. We never heard of the foods listed her by others. HELP!!!


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

I assume that they are still nursing.???? Is this your first litter?


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## h-hhavanese (Dec 10, 2006)

Yes this is our first litter. We are in the process of weaning them off.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

We wait until the mother decides when it's time to start feeding them. Some don't want to have anything to do with them as soon as the puppy teeth come through. Others don't seem to be bothered. When the dam decides that the pups need to be fed she will go to them right away after she eats and regurgitate the food for them. We start watching for this but rather than let her get into that habit that's when we start feeding the babies and discourage the mom from throwing up her food for them. We feed Purina ProPlan for small breed puppies and soak it with bottled water. Keep the next meal soaking in the refrigerator, warm it a touch in the microwave, and put the next batch in the frig to soak. The food just swells up without really turning into a complete mush. By this time the puppies usually gobble it up as if they are starving. No fixed amount. We let them eat until they stop and then take the food up. They won't eat a lot to start with. Most likely they will still nurse some but not as frequently as before they start eating food. After they start eating food the mother stops cleaning up behind them so their pen will need to be watched. Ours would have already started using a litter box as soon as they can toddle so it's usually automatic for them to go to the box. The mother's will gradually slow up and stop nursing and dry up. We have never had a problem with mastitis with this system. We've probably had 40 or so litters and have no reason to change from this system.


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## Bruce (Dec 16, 2006)

*Poor eater*

Oliver, my two year old Havanese who is otherwise quite healthy, active and weighs 15 pounds, is a POOR eater. We've tried everything including, Gasp, people food. To our frustration, His only interest is in treats: Chicken drumsticks, meaty bones, etc. Any suggestions?


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## Melissa Miller (Aug 2, 2006)

This worked for my guys and for a couple of other people I know. 

These are freeze dried, but you dont put them in the freezer. They are in these zip lock bags. I just sprinkle some of the Chicken and Turkey over my dogs dry food and they love it! 

Getting a second dog worked for me. Goldie eats just so Stogie wont get hers. Otherwise she wouldnt. 

My guys also like Filet Mignon, hehe.


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## Bruce (Dec 16, 2006)

*Feeding problems*

Thanks Melissa, but I have tried those freeze dried chicken fillets with indifferent response. Have tried all kinds of kibble, and canned food, from Iams to Pedigree and from Sam's to Eukanuba, and many so called "healthy" boutique brands. I am about to try cat food. Does anyone else have this problem? And, by the way, I have tasted all of the food Oliver has tried and snubbed; if I had to eat that stuff, I'd go AWOL and report my owner to the ASPCA.


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## h-hhavanese (Dec 10, 2006)

Bruce, I'm still not having alot of luck with our puppies but the parents are not picky at all. We feed them Exclusive chicken and rice dry food and they love it. I don't know if you have that in your area but it's worth a try. Buy the smallest bag you can find. h-hhavanese


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## Melissa Miller (Aug 2, 2006)

Bruce do you have other dogs? Maybe you need another dog. Hehe. 

Some people cook their dogs food. Some give chicken meat and mix it with other veggies. Thats a lot of work, but Im sure frustrated. 

Poor Oliver.


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## Bruce (Dec 16, 2006)

I've tried Iams chicken and rice. I am using Perdue chicken and turkey strips with mixed results. Oliver can go for days without eating any, and then he'll eat it all. Can anyone make a suggestion that does not include starving Little Oliver for several days? Oh Melissa, one doggie is enough.


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## Guest (Dec 16, 2006)

I add a little bit of baby food meat to my dogs kibble...they love it!!


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## BeverlyA (Oct 29, 2006)

My Cooper will be turning 1 in a couple weeks and I just bought his first bag of grown up dog food. He always ate Nutro Ultra Puppy so we got the Nutro Lamb meal and Rice and he loves it so far. We also have 2 dogs, but our other dog, a female Bichon, won't eat until Cooper is finished. 
There was a thread that mentioned some foods that dogs are allergic to and I should write those down, because my dogs love every fruit and vegtable they can get ahold of. They hear the sound of a produce bag or the cutting board and they go crazy!

Beverly


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## Teddy (Jan 2, 2007)

Great site. 

I've tried feeding my dog everything under the sun. I finally came to the conclusion that cooking food for my dog works out best for me. His usual diet consists of a boiled ckicken, brown rice and chopped mixed vegetables. I prepare this once a week place it into a storage container and keep it in the refridgerator. I use the microwave to reheat it for him.

I will vary it occasionally by switching the chicken out for lamb or beef.

As a special treat a few times a week I add in a tablespoon of chopped chicken liver (straight from the deli counter at our supermarket).

Prep never takes me more than 1 hour a week and my dog really seems to appreciate the effort. (So does my cat, his best friend, who he lets eat out of his bowl while he waits for her to finish so he can start eating)


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

For variety and for finicky eaters we keep some Nature's Farmacy Chicken Liver Powder to sprinkle on top. I just checked their website which does not show it listed but it's in their catalog at $10.95 for 1 pound. Some of our recent visitors were picky eaters but they would always eat either the Fromm's by itself or what they were sent with when a little liver powder was sprinkled on top.


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