# Freeze dried food for toy poodles, yay or nay?



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I home cook for my dogs based on having had some chronic health concerns that we wanted to clear up (excessive ear wax for one and urinary tract concerns for the other two). I had them NutriScan tested to see what foods were acceptable/good for them and what things they were sensitive or intolerant of. Because I wanted to be able to feed all three dogs the same diet and their test results left me with a fairly limited ingredients list, home prep of food made the most sense. I do not feed raw because of concerns about health risks for a couple of people in my family who have chronic health concerns and also for ease of having other people feed them when we are away. There is some evidence that infectious agents unkilled in raw food can pass through to people in households where dogs are fed raw. The one thing that people who are on the two sides of the raw/not raw debate agree on is making sure that whatever you feed that it is nutritionally complete and calorically adequate. 

You might want to consider NutriScan or similar testing before you make changes. All of the things that were problems have either resolved completely or significantly enough to be very easily managed based on using the test and results to plan the changes I made.

I don't think corn or other grains are automatically bad for dogs. Dogs are not wolves. They have coevolved with us and are not obligate carnivores. Two of my dogs could eat corn, but Lily cannot so I don't use corn. However all of them can eat wheat and therefore I use whole wheat pasta as their carbohydrate calorie source.

If you want a place to get reviews and be able to do some comparison shopping check out https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

I hope you can get things straightened out for your poodles.


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## LizzysMom (Sep 27, 2016)

Lizzy is a petite miniature (she only weighs 9.4 lbs., and she's fully-grown) and was a VERY finicky eater. I went through multiple, high-quality dry kibbles, tried canned, etc. She wouldn't eat regularly (and she threw up whenever her stomach was empty). I finally tried the Stella & Chewys meal mixers - as her entire meal, not mixed with anything else. She has eaten it regularly for several months now. She's very healthy, her weight is stable, and her teeth look GREAT. I confess, somewhat guiltily, that I don't brush her teeth, but there's not a speck of tartar on them.


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## Pineapplepoodle (Sep 28, 2017)

Thanks for the info, all. I confess I'm a worrywart, and drive the workers at the pet food supply store crazy with my questions.
I also end up adding boiled chicken, various boiled vegetables to their kibble, stella's and would like to get them all on the same foods but they are indeed finicky (when my tiniest was sick this past week, she was not even interested in pumpkin puree, while the other one would come and try to steal it from her plate!)
That is a good point about raw food coming contact with humans in the house also, it is indeed something I should consider (as it also has a waring on the package about that come to think of it).
I've stick with the Stella's patties over the meal mixers because price-wise out here in CA it's a better deal to get the patties and they come in a very large value pack (and also they don't make duck duck goose mixers). Also, I've noticed the protein is very high in these freeze-dried options (does your pupper get overly thirsty? The pet store workers always remind me of this and tell me to make sure they drink plenty of water with the food), so I need I should check out the dog food advisor site. 
Thank you both!


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

I give bits of the Stella and Chewy's meal patties as high-value treats for Archie (miniature), and he loves them. They do make him thirsty, though.

Tear stains seems to have multiple causes, but diet is often one. I've heard lots of people say they get less staining on grain-free kibble, but I haven't noticed that with mine.


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## LizzysMom (Sep 27, 2016)

Lizzy drinks an appropriate amount of water, but I've never noticed her being excessively thirsty. I will add, though, that if I had a bigger dog, or more than one dog, I would definitely rethink feeding her only Stella & Chewys, based on the expense.


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## sunfunartist (Mar 24, 2017)

How much do you feed her. I adopted a toy poodle several months ago. She is about 8 to 9 lb. She is fairly active. I feed her 1/4 kibble with 1/4 canned dog meat twice a day. Plus treats.. Both dogs get Bill Jack senior. It took many dog food trials to get one they both like.


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