I have a 11weeks old imperial shih tzu if that matters and we gave him flea medicine and all and he still licks his paws every now and then and bites his legs (sometimes). So i think it might be allergies { is it possible?} and it might can be the food. The owner said she feed him Eukanuba, but i heard thats whats in the food is bad for my puppy. Does anyone know FORSURE what is BEST for a shih tzu puppy?
A raw diet is the ultimate diet for any dog, especially dogs with allergies.
If you want to look into it, here are some websites that can help you:
www.bigdogsporch.com
www.rawfed.com/myths
www.rawmeatybones.com
www.rawlearning.com
If you want to feed kibble look into evo, orijen, innova, merrick, wellness. basically avoid corn, soy, wheat, by-products, colors, preservatives. and pick a kibble with a specified meat as its first ingredient, even better if the first two are meat.
Avoid grains if possible.
get puppy hard food (the little hard balls) add some water and let it get soggy. Thats what i did with my shih tzu
References :
Go buy some Canidae. Eukanuba is a horrible food!
Your dog might be allergic to fleas. Just cause you gave flea medicine doesn't mean that the fleas are gone, and doesn't mean that he isn't still feeling the affects of the flea bites.
Talk to your vet about the fleas. But don't talk to him about the food, vets only offer or recommend the foods that they have in their clinic.. They make money off those foods so have good reason to suggest you feed those foods that he makes best profit on. Not only that, remember that a vet profits when your dog is sick.. It works out well for him if you feed a crappy food.
References :
A puppy eats a lot of food. From birth up to six months of age, he'll need to eat two to four times as much as an adult dog to support all that growth. A good rule of thumb (paw?) is that after his first week of life, when his weight doubles from what it was at birth, a puppy should gain one to two grams per pound of anticipated adult weight each day. This means that if your German Shepherd puppy weighs 75 pounds as an adult, he should gain three to five ounces per day as a puppy.
What kind of food?
Generally speaking, puppy food is higher in protein and enriched with vitamins, minerals, and fats essential for growth–that is, when compared to dog food made by the same manufacturer. Still, ingredients across brands can vary greatly. Commercial puppy food must meet AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) nutrient standards for growth, and many companies go above and beyond those standards, testing their products to make sure they support puppies' development.
They don't have to, though–they're only required to meet the minimum nutrient standards. In most cases, you get what you pay for. Lower-quality ingredients are found in the cheaper brands while "premium" and "performance" varieties include higher quality ingredients for improved digestibility.
Buy "puppy food." It's more likely to have the extra nutrients a puppy needs until he's full grown. (Ask your vet for guidelines on when that might be–small dogs of course mature more quickly than big dogs.) Regular food labeled "for all life stages" is fine too.
References :
If there's a Trader Joe's around get your puppy their Organic Puppy food. is small, organic, and my dog loves it.
References :
Try a health dog food like Wellness,innova,canidae etc.
References :
A raw diet is the ultimate diet for any dog, especially dogs with allergies.
If you want to look into it, here are some websites that can help you:
http://www.bigdogsporch.com
http://www.rawfed.com/myths
http://www.rawmeatybones.com
http://www.rawlearning.com
If you want to feed kibble look into evo, orijen, innova, merrick, wellness. basically avoid corn, soy, wheat, by-products, colors, preservatives. and pick a kibble with a specified meat as its first ingredient, even better if the first two are meat.
Avoid grains if possible.
References :
Owner of three raw fed dogs.
Canidae recently changed its formula and many people are switching off the food. Apparently diamond foods bought them out, and they have changed to non-specific sources.