Well hello there, world! Everybody, meet Foxy Brown. Foxy Brown, meet everybody.
While we were not planning on getting another dog so soon (too soon? still pretty sad over here), a lovely gal at my work was in need of re-homing her puppy. That puppy you see there who is the tiniest Corgi-mix mutt abandoned in Compton you ever did see. April (seriously, that was her original name by the rescuers) went to live with my co-worker, who re-named her Bree, who then realized she already had a house full and this set up was not ideal for the world’s most adorable part-rabbit dog. It seemed like a no-brainer.
What’s not a no-brainer is what to feed this gal. You see, I have not had a puppy since I lived at home with the parents. I usually get rescue dogs who are older, and therefore have not had a “from fresh” dog in way too long. Bad habits, bad food, bad whatevs have already been ingrained. I supply the love, cuddles, and way-too-lenient attitude, and there we are. But this girl? This girl is new. And I don’t want to fuck it up.
So I went into a local dog shop that gave me the full-court press on how to best raise a dog here in Los Angeles, and wouldn’t you know it, they’re all about the paleo diet up in there. (Gluten-free was sooooo 2012.) And while I do love the idea of just giving this pup fresh chicken, I do not love the prep, the cost, or the rigidity of the situation. Still . . . I maybe kind of sort of get it. As does every single dog food manufacturer because ALL OF THE DOG FOOD IS GLUTEN-FREE, you guys.
I mean, hey, I’m a special eater, and know a zillion of you people who may not be celiac but feel way better eating gluten-free. So maybe when the very nice man at the store suggested she would shed less if I gave her grain-free foods, well, he’s probably . . . right?
Still, the farm girl in me is saying, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me right now. Purina is the way to go here.” So I don’t know.
Dog owners/lovers/professionals, do please weigh in. What do you feed your pup? And did that change once you went GF? Oh, and, ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THESE EARS??????
Gluten is my Bitch 
She’s adorable!!! I don’t have any puppy food advice, but thank for sharing the cute puppy face!!
Thanks SJG!
She’s adorable! My big mutt dog is gf. He can eat an entire pan of gf chocolate brownies with no ill effects (darn dog!) but he itches himself to pieces when he has gluten. It’s worked well for him for several years (long before I knew about my own issues). Go gf – Purina is cheap because it’s crap. And raw meat? No thanks!
My cocker spaniel who I just lost could eat chocolate every day (not that she did…)-some dogs just have iron stomachs.; )
She’s oh so cute! We initially went GF with our dog’s food because no matter what we tried it just didn’t agree with him (him and I just get each other lol), but last year decided to try them on raw food and haven’t looked back since – our 125lbs ‘baby’ can finally eat food that doesn’t make him sick, made his shine and his teeth health amazing. Best. Thing. Ever.
I have been feeding my older dog a grain free diet for years. She is prone to skin issues and this type of diet really seems to help. We got a puppy this past summer and his breeder already had him on a grain free diet, so I stuck with the brand she was using. It is called Taste of the Wild and it comes in different formulas. My dogs eat the roasted bison/venison version and really like it and are doing well. I don’t think it’s silly at all to be concerned about what our pets eat. I think a lot of their health problems stem from being on a rather unnatural diet to begin with. It reminds me of a human living on boxed cereal for every meal of their life….yuck. I think the added cost of quality food will be balanced out by fewer vet visits over time.
Adorable puppy!! I wouldn’t have been able to resist either. Good luck and enjoy her!
An adorable puppy and a great name. We feed our pups Canidae grain free-they love the Pure Sky with duck both wet and dry. One of ours gets the itchy scratchies if he doesn’t eat grain free-lucky for this GF mom! I think there’s a puppy food as well.
Oh em gee, she is cute, cute, cute! As a professional pet sitter I see the gamut when it comes to diets that people feed. You are wise going with the best you can afford! All my brats are fed grain free. Not just because I don’t want gluten kisses, but because I think it’s the best for them! Mine do very well on Blue Buffalo Wilderness.
Look for foods that are actually tested to meet the AAFCO guidelines. Many dog foods will state the formulas are in line with the AAFCO guidelines but only a few actually are tested/certified to meet the standards…..Eukanuba, Science Diet, Purina Pro Plan and Royal Canine meet the standards. While I’m a Celiac I do not do GF with my dogs food – I focus more on the safety of the food and where it is produced.
So stinking cute!! I feed mine Nutro-Max – the chicken and rice – they do very, very well on that – it’s a bit pricey, but it’s a dry food and easy : )
Who doesn’t do baby animals, huh? (specially roasted. Nah. Just kidding. Mostly.) Cute. Purina. Dog won’t care.
I am celiac, of course GLUTEN FREE… my entire house is….. therefore that also means the dogs (AND the cats when I had cats !!)…. they kiss me, I touch their food…. I wouldn’t have it any other way !!! and they don’t mind a bit…. !!
should have added I feed Canidae all life stages or all all grain….. or one of the other grain free/gluten free varieties !!
I feed blue buffalo wilderness to my puppy. My last dog had such a gluten allergy that he would get staph infections on his skin and his fur would fall out. Never again will I buy cheap food. 🙂 I also highly reccomend american made as the ingredients from places like china are dangerous.
I put my maltese on a gluten free diet on the advice of my homeopathic vet.
She had cronic ear infections, and that was the only thing that eliminated them. I worked and did not feel like preparing a raw diet, and the vet had a freezer filled with Steve’s raw diet in 3 flavors. Frozen cubes …and you just count them out onto a plate and defrost and feed. Totally convenient and the best thing I ever did. I tell all my friends whose dogs have ear infections to at least try it.
Absolutely too cute! Our Yorkie, Chaucer, is on a grain free diet too 😉
We’ve used our farm store’s brand forever….high in protein and we also give them eggs, meat, cheese, and only treats made in the USA. I’ve started adding pollack oil once a day to stop the itchies and they lap that smelly shit up! LOL
Dogs are omnivorous, like people, but they do best on a high-protein diet. Short of going with straight-up raw meat, getting a non-grain dry food and supplementing with fish oil, the occasional egg, and/or some raw veggies is the way I go. Some dogs will go crackers for a whole, raw carrot (or sweet potato) that’s had a good scrub.
Also, I follow the limited-access school of thought for feeding. The bowl goes down for 20 minutes in the morning and 20 in the evening. This has a whole bunch of benefits, but a big one is that it prevents the kind of constant grazing that can lead to obesity – a condition that Corgis seem particularly prone to.
Good luck! She’s beyond adorable, and I love the name.
She is ADORABLE! When I was growing up, we made our own dog food. (We lived abroad and couldn’t get “dog food” there). Rice, carrots and beef, all cooked together. An occasional egg or egg yolk. Oats instead of rice when we brought her to the US (American dog food gave her the squirts, the only thing that ever upset her digestion..she was also a cocker, got into chocolate, cheese, butter, the finger food for my sister’s birthday party….)
Ok, first of all: she’s stupid cute! I have a Pomeranian (Jax) and he is gluten free and I realized it shortly after I went GF because that’s when I actually started giving a shit about what I (and he) ate. And I did notice that he has less digestive issues (like his mommy), AND I just feel a whole hell of a lot better! Sometimes though, I do make food for him. All natural, raw meat with veg or Some plain chopped cooked chicken w/ veg, and even throw an egg in the mix here and there. He loves it!
I have been feeding my very sensitive stomached husky mix meals I make with recipes from http://justfoodfordogs.com. He loves them and hasn’t had stomach issues like he did on dry dog food. It is time consuming, I will admit, however I want him to get the best. And when I make it, I know what’s really in it.
So… my dog is GF. It’s actually more of a coincidence than anything. She was getting fed Royal Canin (Canadian brand I think), which I believe was GF and had no bad additives… and my pet store actually stopped carrying this brand because they changed their ingredients and it was no longer bad additive free (or maybe it was no longer GF, who knows). So they recommended something else (NOW foods, which IS GF for sure) that I switched her to. That was a year ago. I was diagnosed with celiac disease serology in december, biopsy in march. I mentioned to my friend who is a vet tech that my dog eats a grain free food and it’s initially because of coincidence but then continued due to celiac. She said that it’s not that healthy for dogs. She said that in nature dogs eat grains/plants/etc from the stomachs of their kill, I guess it’s one of the first things they eat. Honestly, I love my pooch, but she licks… everything, I have never been able to get her to stop no matter what I did haha. So, it’s just not safe for me to have her eat gluten. Is it unhealthy for dogs? I’m not 100% sure, my friend, who admittedly is in that field, thinks it isn’t super good for them. However, I’ve also read about lots of people who feed their dogs GF for whatever reason, with no issues… so, no idea. Personal choice.
Interesting info. Since my new pup is such a licker, I think GF is going to be the way to go.