German Shepherds are prone to digestive problems and multiple food allergies. My dog Zagreus, had been suffering from skin allergies for the longest time. I started him on Royal Canine, German Shepherd food since he was a pu
p. It was then that his skin problems started to occur, but since Royal Canine was the only manufactured food I could find that didn't cause him digestive problems I had no other choice but to cook for him. I started giving him cooked rice, potatoes, chicken mainly and different vegetables. Regardless of his love and anticipation for the new food, I didn't see any progress in his skin condition and therefore I switched him back to Royal Canine.
A little while past by, when his trainer told me that she has all her German Shepherds on raw diet. I thought to myself that I should give this a shot and see if it will make a difference. I fed Zaggy mostly raw chicken with shredded raw vegetables like carrots, spinach along with olive oil and Cod liver oil. He loved the food, and he was doing great on it until all of a sudden his stomach couldn't take it anymore due to bacterial infection and I took him off the raw diet and back on Royal Canine. While on raw food, I saw a slight improvement on his skin condition, but nothing drastic.
p. It was then that his skin problems started to occur, but since Royal Canine was the only manufactured food I could find that didn't cause him digestive problems I had no other choice but to cook for him. I started giving him cooked rice, potatoes, chicken mainly and different vegetables. Regardless of his love and anticipation for the new food, I didn't see any progress in his skin condition and therefore I switched him back to Royal Canine.A little while past by, when his trainer told me that she has all her German Shepherds on raw diet. I thought to myself that I should give this a shot and see if it will make a difference. I fed Zaggy mostly raw chicken with shredded raw vegetables like carrots, spinach along with olive oil and Cod liver oil. He loved the food, and he was doing great on it until all of a sudden his stomach couldn't take it anymore due to bacterial infection and I took him off the raw diet and back on Royal Canine. While on raw food, I saw a slight improvement on his skin condition, but nothing drastic.
Finally and fortunately 2 weeks ago I found a vet that was willing to listen and gave me some good advice on how to go about pinpointing the allergy source. Right now Zaggy is on a limited diet of beef and potatoes. He needs to stay on this diet for 6-9 weeks, where I start adding one ingredient every 2 weeks, Olive oil, Carrots, spinach, etc.
When the source of the allergy is found, which I am suspecting it to be either grains and/or chicken, I have a choice of continuing to cook for him, or to find a limited manufactured diet that lacks those allergic ingredients.
Personally I do not like the manufactured diet mainly because of all they put in it, carcases of diseased animals, tumors and any other animal parts that are not fit for human consumption are turning into pet food. Some might argue that the meat is disinfected before becoming pet food, but that means more added chemicals and preservatives that will build up in our pet's system.
I really believe that any animal, including us humans and our domesticated friends, is entitled to having access to fresh food. So even if you do not have the time and resources to cook for you pet at a daily basis, ymy suggestion is to try to tinclude fresh produce and fruits in their diet. You can combine the dog food with some additional source of protein, like beef or chicken, some vegtebles like shredded carrots and spinach and a healthy fat source like olive oil. It won't be very expensive since they will fill up mainly on the dry food, but they will get a daily dose of fresh food.
Zagreus's skin problems forced me to look into what is good for our pets and what is not and in this process I learned lots of things that I wouldn't have known otherwise.
I want to thank Dr. Sampson for his great advice on limited diet. It has been 2 weeks that we started the beef and potato diet and Zagreus is doing great. He does not scratch himself anymore and looks calmer and more relaxed over all.
Best of luck to you!
