TDG

switching to a better diet will help fight the whole issue and not just the symptoms. [url=http://greatdanelady.com/articles/suggestions_for_controlling_a_yeast-fungus_infection.htm]here's[/url] a page that might give you some pointers. it's specifically writen for great danes, but the principles apply to any kind or size of dog. unless you attack the problem at the root, symptoms are just going to keep popping up and possibly will get worse over time.

no, once puppies are weaned from their mother's milk, they do not need a specific type of puppy food anymore, since their digestive system is fully developed by that time. it's a bit of a far stretch to compare two species that differ so much in the time frame they mature and the entire digestive system, starting with the teeth and enzymes present in the mouth and the design of the intestines. all the extra nutrients puppies require to grow (and more important that they can even [b]get[/b] from a kibble!) are in the extra amount of food puppies eat. if you compare food intake per pound of body weight, the amount required decreases over time as the puppy grows. all dogs require exactly the same nutrients, just in differing amounts depending on life stage, breed, activity level, environmental influences and other factors. also, depending on the breed, dogs mature at different ages. if a food does not provide enough nutrients for a puppy, it is of such poor quality that it shouldn't even be fed to an adult dog. personally i think that [b]only[/b] specific puppy food for large breeds has any sort of merit, since it is designed to prevent a host of orthopedic problems during the growth stage, but even then it's not really mandatory, since an appropriately formulated adult food will do exactly the same job. in closing, note that eagle (an established manufacturer of quality dog food) even recommends that large breed puppies should not be fed their puppy formula after 4 months of age. [url]http://eaglepack.com/pages/ep_puppy.html[/url] there is absolutely [b]no[/b] scientific proof that feeding puppy food is required, other than provided by some dog food manufacturers who want to sell you a product. basically the same thing as the old "don't feed your dog table scraps" myth.

actually there is no real need to feed a puppy food at all. kibble size aside (especially for very tiny breeds), a food formulated for "all life stages" is suitable for dogs of all ages. in large breeds, feeding puppy food can actually be counterproductive due to providing too much protein and making bones grow too rapidly. foods for different lifestages are an attempt of dog food manufacturers to make their products take up more shelf space, thus become more visible, so more people will buy their brand instead of that of the competitor. wellness is a trustworthy quality brand and there is absolutely no reason not to feed the adult if your dog prefers it.

if you want to add fresh food to kibble, you will need to feed a dry brand that is specifically designed to have fresh protein sources added to it, otherwise you risk throwing off the mineral balance. i don't have a great dane, but i pretty closely follow the feeding program recommended by the great dane lady ([url]http://greatdanelady.com/articles.htm[/url]), feeding a high quality dry food, adding fresh foods (of all kinds, meat as well as fruits and vegetables, yogurt, eggs etc.) and high quality supplements for enzymes, efa's and phytonutrients. i recommend those articles for any dog owner, regardless of which breed, mix or size of dog they own, it's one of the most comprehensive sites on canine nutrition i know about. more important, this lady knows what she is talking about, it's all backed up by facts, unlike on some people's pages, where all you read is hearsay and myths that have been around for so long that they have the appearance of facts to less well informed folks. enjoy. :)

amino acids and essential fatty acids (efa's) are not the same thing. amino acids are the "building blocks" that make up protein. the body uses them to build muscle, hair, nails, organs and so on. for this, the protein in the form it is fed is broken down into the single amino acids, which are then utilized by the body. there are hundreds of them, 10 are essential for dogs, meaning they [b]must[/b] be provided in the diet, since dogs can't synthesize them. efa's are found in certain types of fats and oils. i won't get to the molecular level, it's not for everyone and whoever is interested can look it up on google. efa's are important for skin and coat health, fight infections and support the immune system, help utilize nutrients from food intake, aid in regulating blood flow and are involved in a lot of other things. they are often referred to as omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids, but omega 9's are still largely ignored in animal nutrition. flax seed contains efa's but also enzymes that add a considerable health benefit. once the grain is ground, they are destroyed quickly though, so if you want that benefit you have to buy whole flax seed and grind it at home as needed. flax seed oil is an excellent nutrient too, but also needs to be consumed rather quickly once a bottle is opened, so buying large quantities doesn't make much sense. wheat flour is a highly processed ingredient and has lost almost all of its valuable nutrients already. whole wheat would have been a much better choice. what's more important in any sort of grain used for dog food is its quality - poor quality foods often use feed grade grains that have been deemed unfit for human consumption due to contamination from mold and other toxic substances. anyone who is interested, look up "vomitoxin", there have been some episodes where dog food was recalled because dogs died. i disagree with rosebud about the "ton of vitamins added" indicating a poor quality food. many top quality brands have quite an impressive list as well, it's simply an effort of the manufacturer to add back into the food what was lost during processing and to ensure that sufficient levels will still be present after the product has been sitting on a shelf for a while. some vitamins and minerals are added in stabilized forms that have a time-release effect, so that smaller quanitities will be released throughout the digestion process instead of just releasing all of them at once and large quantities passing through unused. here are some examples of vitamin and mineral supplementation in high-end foods: eagle pack: DL-Methionine, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplements, Vitamin E Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, d-Pantothenic Acid, Niacin Supplement, Choline Chloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Biotin, Rosemary Extract, Inositol, Dehydrated Kelp, Polysaccharide Complexes of Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Copper and Cobalt, Potassium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Enterococcus faecium, B. Subtillus, Bacillus lichenformis, Bacillus coagulins, Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger. canidae: Monosodium Phosphate, Choline, Linoleic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Ferrous Sulfate, Mixed Tocopherols (Source of Vitamin E) Zinc Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Manganous Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement (Source of B2), Yeast Culture, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Streptococcus Faecium Fermentation product, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Niacin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, D- Biotin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium, Iodate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Papain, Bacillus Subtilis, Aspergillus Niger, Yucca Schidigera Extract. wellness: Probiotics (Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus), Prebiotics (Inulin, Fructose), Glucosamine, Chondroitin Sulfate, Beta-Carotene, Potassium Chloride, Zinc Proteinate (a chelated source of Zinc), Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Proteinate (a chelated source of Copper), Copper Sulfate, Niacin Supplement, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate ( a chelated source of Manganese), Sodium Selenite, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid. back to basics: Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Biotin, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B 12 Supplement, Thiamine Monoitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite (Source of Vitamin K Activity) Citric Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Potassium Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate. timberwolf organics: Probiotics (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus lactis, Bacillus bifidum, Steptococcus diacetilactis, Bacillus subtillus), Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Oxide, Vitamin E supplement, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Thiamine, Niacin, Vitamin A supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, D-Activated Animal Sterol (source of Vitamin D3), Biotin, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Copper Sulphate, Sodium Selenite, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Calcium Iodate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide (source of Iodine), Papain. also, petsmart only has the AAFCO industry definitions included on their page, but does not really tell people what's actually in them. the natura website does a better job of that. [url]http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=ingr-wiz[/url]

unless an animal is allergic, multiple protein sources are actually beneficial because together they provide a greater variety of amino acids and thus are more likely to offer a well balanced profile. any byproducts are to be avoided because they are much less digestible than a whole meat product and you can never be sure of consistency in quality and nutrients. (just as a side note, any "whole meat" sources in "meal" form, such as chicken meal, lamb meal etc. include meat and bones in most cases, so they have a balanced calcium/phosphorus ratio and are actually more nutritious.) the official AAFCO definition for "animal digest" is: [i]A material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind or flavor(s), it must correspond thereto.[/i] in other words, a cooked-down broth made from unspecified parts of unspecified animals. the animal tissues used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. any kind of animal can be included: "4-D animals" (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, animals euthanized at shelters and so on. this "blue seal" brand doesn't have much going in the department of main ingredients, it's mainly all byproducts and flavorings, but it does have better absorbable forms of some vitamins and minerals than the average food. it's a concern for me that apparently it has more salt than "egg product". corn gluten meal is an inexpensive protein booster, a harmless ingredient but definitely an indicator of a low-grade food. it definitely gets nowhere even close to solid gold, which is a trustworthy, high quality product. if someone is tight on money, i would recommend nutro natural choice or nature's recipe over this "blue seal" stuff any day, and heaven knows those two aren't anywhere near getting on the WDJ top 10 list either. :)

i just figured i'd point it out, since especially ACV is touted in many commercials as a "magical" weight loss aid (for humans). no offense intended.

i don't think that just adding kelp or apple cider vinegar really does anything for weight loss per se. don't get me wrong, they are both great supplements that deliver a lot of nutrients, but adding them doesn't make the weight magically disappear. you can supplement apple cider vinegar anytime without trouble, but be careful on the kelp. it usually contains quite a bit of salt and iodine, which is not healthy at all in excess amounts, so make sure to check what's already in the formulation of the food you are feeding.

the main idea of "soaking" kibble is to offer puppies a softer food they can manage while weaning them. if a puppy is old enough to leave its mother, it's old enough to eat dry food too. does your dog have any teeth problems? if you are interested in dog nutrition, [b][url=http://greatdanelady.com/articles.htm]this[/url][/b] is a good place to start reading. it's a page written specifically for great danes, but the basics of nutrition it describes apply to any dog.

chicken meal is fine. it's the ground, dehydrated product from whole chicken carcasses. if you see the "pure" meat ingredient (e.g. "chicken" or "lamb" etc.), it still includes over 70% water. ingredients are listed in descending amounts of weight [b]before[/b] processing. the end product has most of its moisture removed, down to a content of around 10-12% in most foods. if you start out with 1 lb of "wet" meat, you will have only about 1/4 lb worth of meat in the finished product, whereas the content of meat in form of meal stays the same. so a product can have "chicken" listed as first ingredient, but still consist of mostly corn and/or other grains after the final moisture content is reached. buyer beware. the "bad" meals you definitely want to avoid are the generic types ("meat meal", "meat and bone meal", "___ byproduct meal" etc.). fish meal is neither here nor there - according to US coast guard regulations, any fish meal not destined for human consumption [b]must[/b] be stabilized with ethoxyquin. since the manufacturer does not have to declare additives they did not add to the food, you may buy a product that seems to be free of this artificial preservative at first glance, but it may still be in there. more trustworthy pet food companies, like for example eagle pack, obtain [url=http://eaglepack.com/pages/fish_meal_facts.html][b]special permits[/b][/url] or use non-generic fish in their products. as far as quality and price goes, here is a little calculation example. for the sake of forming an unbiased opinion, i will leave out the names and brands of the two foods i am comparing. (as for the calculation: on average, 1 pound of dry dog food makes up about 4 standard measuring cups. sometimes it's more, sometimes less, i use this average to calculate if i can't find any details provided by the manufacturer.) food A: $35 per 33 lb bag, says feed an adult 50 lb dog 1.75 cups per day food B: $26 per 35 lb bag, says feed an adult 50 lb dog 4 cups per day result: food A: about $1.06 per lb and $0.46 to feed per day, 33 lb bag lasts about 75 days. you would need [b]just under 5 bags per year[/b], putting you at [b]$175[/b] in feeding costs. food B: about $0.74 per lb and $0.74 to feed per day, 35 lb bag lasts about 35 days. you would need [b]about 10 1/2 bags per year[/b], putting you at [b]$273[/b] in feeding costs. side note: this is a very generic example - how much you have to feed depends on age, metabolism, activity, environmental conditions and so on. i am just using this as an example to compare two food brands. now you decide which food is going to break your bank, all the benefits of a high quality food with healthy ingredients completely aside. :)