citrusnut, My friend (who is also president of our local animal welfare group) had a collie who died from eating pork chops. She only ate a few & you would think it wouldn't matter to a dog that size. I think she said there is an enzyme they can't digest, I will check with her & find out. Karyn, Tell her to get her dog to obedience classes & quick. What would happen if the dog drug her in front of a car? You really need to be able to control your dog to keep both of you safe & a well trained dog is a much better family member. 15 to 20 minutes of training twice a day for 6 to 8 weeks is all it takes. After all the excitement last week, Abbi took a whole head of cabbage off the kitchen table & started to eat it! I have spent her entire life hiding food from her. In the past she has eaten several loaves of bread (plastic & all) & she knows how to get a full pan of food off the top of the stove without spilling much. She clamps her mouth over the edge & lifts it off, I wish I had a video of it, it's amazing. She has also figured out how to open both the oven & fridge doors but she doesn't do it very often. In her younger days, she could clear a 4 foot chain link fence (Newfs are not supposed to be able to do that). She is 9 now & slowing down & she hasn't jumped the fence for a couple years (I have an American Eskimo to do that for me now). Linda

Hey Kathy - here is something that may take your ? away from autoimmune: is the failure of an organism to recognize its own constituent parts as self, which results in an immune response against its own cells and tissues. Any disease that results from such an aberrant immune response is termed an autoimmune disease. Prominent examples include Coeliac disease, diabetes mellitus type 1 (IDDM), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sjögren's syndrome, Churg-Strauss Syndrome, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). See List of autoimmune diseases. I know that that's a lot multi-syllabic words, but basically, it is the body attacking itself, due to the inborn lack of ability to recognize it's own DNA. It is sorta like you kill your son when he comes in your home, cause you don't recognize him. Very sad, very scary. Hope you know I don't think you'd do that, but it is the best way I can explain how Be-Be's own body is attacking itself. ((((Hugs and purrs)))))) Nancy, Midnight, Nicademus, Sylvester and Ozzie!!!

Golddust, sounds like Belle is so lucky to have such a caring owner. I give my dogs fresh raw green tripe on occasion, which is essentially a non dairy, food sourced version of a probiotic for them. Smells unpleasant lol, but my dogs go crazy for it. I feed a Prey model raw diet, which is simply a diet of a variety of raw meat (certain bone in meats and boneless) and raw organs. http://preymodelraw.com/page/articles.html I do give them a little bit of veggies, or fruit on occasion, but it's usually just as a treat. As long as a PMR diet is fed with enough variety in meats and organs, it can actually meet the NRC nutritional numbers for dogs without the need to feed vegetables/fruits, or any carbohydrates etc. I have two small chest freezers in my garage and buy meat (sometimes in bulk during sales, or from a raw feeding coop, or I get meat donated from local hunters). Their usual weekly variety includes fish, chicken, beef, pork, eggs, and turkey, other meats they also get include lamb, venison, quail, buffalo, and duck. Each meal is usually just one single protein source. I just cut up the meats and organs into meal sized portions for them, freeze, defrost in the fridge, and feed. Feeding raw is just easier for me because it's far less calculating and less supplementing nutrient wise than most cooked diets. The natural enzymes still present in the food aids in digestion, making food intolerances and allergies less likely. I know some dogs who are allergic to a cooked protein, like chicken or beef, but can still have the raw version of it and be fine. Lola had chronic colitis for 3 years with episodes occurring 1-2 times a week, they cleared up within a few months on the raw diet. I don't usually feed much ground meat, my dogs get more satisfaction and dental/gum cleaning when I feed the bone in meats with the raw bones as a natural source of fiber, and calcium. My dogs are 8 and 12, and haven't needed Vet dentals due to eating and chewing raw bones (properly). Raw bones, fed properly to dogs can be a great teeth/gum cleaner. I've been feeding PMR for over 3 years now, and have had fantastic results according to regular blood work etc. done on them. The difference in health is interesting and my vet is very supportive of it. However, I don't think raw diets are for every dog or owner, and they certainly have their controversy. This post was edited by roobear on Fri, Feb 21, 14 at 15:26

My Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a retired show dog and was raised on Orijen and other pricey brands. She was a very picky eater when I got her and had issues with runny stools occasionally. When I was "dog-sitting" a friend's dog, she stole a taste of the food he feeds his dog - Rachel Ray's "Zero Grain" - and gobbled it down. I switched her over to that and the runny poop problem disappeared like magic. She's at a good weight, has the shiniest coat she's ever had, and now begs for her food. I give her 1/2 cup twice a day with a chopped up hard-boiled egg, and some frozen veggies mixed in. (She prefers Bird's Eye California Blend - broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.) She gobbles it up and is healthy, happy and has a glorious coat. Sometimes the premium dog foods have way too much protein in them and give dogs runny stools because they can't tolerate the extra protein. There is no one "best" dog food for all dogs, despite what surveys and well-meaning people say. You have to experiment with different ones and see what works best for your own dog. "Expensive" doesn't always mean the best. What is best for your dog may not be best for another dog or breed. If your dog likes it and it doesn't give your dog runny stools or constipation issues, and the dog's coat is glossy, not dry, and the dog is neither gaining excess weight or losing weight, then that's probably the best food for him/her.