# Which dog food do you feed your shih tzu?



## Lori612

I have a 9 month old shih tzu named Maddi and I would like to find the best quality dry dog food for her. Right now I am feeding her Royal Canin Shih Tzu. She's been eating that since we got her from the breeder. The breeder was feeding her Royal Canin Puppy. We fed her puppy then recently switched to shih tzu. I was told that Royal Canin is not the best one out there. My shih tzu is starting to get bored of it and sometimes skips meals. I placed an order for a 4lb bag of Halo dry dog food for Maddi to try. Has anyone tried this brand and did your shih tzu like it? What brands do you recommend and why do you recommend them? Is it better to buy a dog food that is specifically for shih tzu's? How are the following brands, has your shih tzu tried it and did he/she like it?

Avoderm 
Blue Buffalo 
By Nature 
Nature’s Recipe 
Nutro Ultra 
Pro Plan Selects 
Science Diet

How long should your dog be eating the same brand of dog food? Should you switch after a few months?


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## El Fragil

orijin.......


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## flipgirl

It's Orijen. 

Orijen is a good food but depending on where you live, you may have to order it. 

I wouldn't feed Science Diet; I'm just not a big fan. They use ethoxyquin as a preservative and some other questionable ingredients. Amongst all of the other issues I have with the Hill's products. I'm not sure about the other brands but I fed my dog Eagle Pack Holistic Selects Chicken and Rice and then Innova puppy when she was a puppy. Both are good foods.


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## poodleholic

Innova EVO, Red Meat and the Chicken
Stella & Chewy's Dehydrated Lamb Steaks
Evanger's canned Venison


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## Lori612

flipgirl said:


> It's Orijen.
> 
> Orijen is a good food but depending on where you live, you may have to order it.
> 
> I wouldn't feed Science Diet; I'm just not a big fan. They use ethoxyquin as a preservative and some other questionable ingredients. Amongst all of the other issues I have with the Hill's products. I'm not sure about the other brands but I fed my dog Eagle Pack Holistic Selects Chicken and Rice and then Innova puppy when she was a puppy. Both are good foods.


Thx for all the info. Another canadian told me she feeds her shih tzu Innova also. Which pet store do you buy the Innova and Eagle Pack Holistic Selects from? We have a Ren's, PetSmart and Petcetera where we live so I will check if they have them there. Thx for the info about Science Diet. I won't be getting that.


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## TwoSweetBabies

Lori:
I have already posted a reply to your post about Halo dog foods earlier in this forum. But I did not notice your pup was a shihtzu as well. I have a 2 year old shihtzu little girl, and a 1 year old scottish terrier little girl. They both do very well on the Innova adult dry dog food (i buy the small bites, since my dogs are small, but they can eat the large bites just fine as well). 
You can go to naturapet.com and go to the "where to buy" link, enter in your city and province and the radius you would like the store to be in, and it will tell you if there are any locations near you.

I wasnt clear on exactly where you lived, but I did a search for places near Alberta and this is what it came up with:

Almonte Natural Food Store
34 Mill Street
Almonte, ON K0A 1A0
(613) 256-1833

Bark & Fitz Kanata
145 Roland Michener Drive.
Unit YO5B Kanata Centrum
Ottawa, ON K2T 1G7
(613) 792-3711

Critter Jungle
1405 Carling Avenue
Ottawa, ON K1Z 7L6
(613) 729-7354

Global Pet Foods
1176 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON K1S 3X9
(613) 422-6741

Global Pet Foods
3191 Standherd Drive
Ottawa, ON K2J 5N1
(613) 825-5615

Global Pet Foods
6081 Hazeldean Rd
Ottawa, ON K2S 1B9
(613) 836-3023

March Road Pet Food & Grooming
1112 March Road
Kanata, ON K2W 1B9
(613) 591-9423

Natural Pet Foods
339 Churchill Ave N
Ottawa, ON K1Z 5B8
(613) 321-7282
Website

Natural Pet Foods
61 Bridge Street
Carleton Place, ON K7C 2V2
(613) 253-7387

Rainbow Foods
1487 Richmond Rd.
Ottawa, ON K2B 6R9
(613) 726-9200

Sandy Hill Pet Food Co-op
304 Wilbrod Street
Ottawa, ON K1N 6M1
(613) 321-5915
Website

The Pampered Pet
2446 Bank Street
Unit 127
Ottawa, ON K1V 1A4
(613) 521-6272 

Now im not familiar at all with Canada so I have no idea if this helps you at all but I hope it does!
Keep us updated


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## Lori612

You are so sweet! Thank you for all your help. I did the search and found some locations in Oakville. Since I already ordered the Halo I will feed Maddi that then after I will give Innova a try.


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## flipgirl

Lori612 said:


> You are so sweet! Thank you for all your help. I did the search and found some locations in Oakville. Since I already ordered the Halo I will feed Maddi that then after I will give Innova a try.


There is a Global Ryans at Third Line and Dundas if you live in Oakville. That would probably be the only place that would sell Innova. Eagle Pack is available at Pet Valu stores as well as Ryan's. Bark & Fitz sells Orijen (so does Ryans). If you can't find Innova at the Global Ryans then there is a Ryan's pet foods in Burlington at Appleby and New Street or Walker's Line and Dundas.


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## Lori612

flipgirl said:


> There is a Global Ryans at Third Line and Dundas if you live in Oakville. That would probably be the only place that would sell Innova. Eagle Pack is available at Pet Valu stores as well as Ryan's. Bark & Fitz sells Orijen (so does Ryans). If you can't find Innova at the Global Ryans then there is a Ryan's pet foods in Burlington at Appleby and New Street or Walker's Line and Dundas.


Thank you for all the info. I really appreciate it. I will check out Global Ryans.


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## Lori612

flipgirl said:


> It's Orijen.
> 
> Orijen is a good food but depending on where you live, you may have to order it.
> 
> I wouldn't feed Science Diet; I'm just not a big fan. They use ethoxyquin as a preservative and some other questionable ingredients. Amongst all of the other issues I have with the Hill's products. I'm not sure about the other brands but I fed my dog Eagle Pack Holistic Selects Chicken and Rice and then Innova puppy when she was a puppy. Both are good foods.


At what age was your shih tzu when you started feeding Eagle Pack Holistic Selects? 

I purchased Orijen and fed it to my 9 month old shih tzu yesterday and she was pooping like mad throughout the day and night. She pooped 4-5 times as much as she use to. She pooped all over the house and she threw up once. She ate one of her poops. On her old food, Royal Canin Shih Tzu Adult, she did not poop this much. She only pooped 3 times a day when we took her out. Today I fed her her old food and only put a 5 pieces of Orijen in the food. She won't eat either. Not sure if she's scared to eat or if your tummy is still upset from yesterday.


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## StellaLucyDesi

I have a Cavalier, Shih-poo, and a Poodle/Brittany/Chi mix. I have used both Orijen and Eagle Pack Holistic Select. I fed Eagle Pack Holistic Select for about 4 mos. before switching to Orijen. The only reason I switched was I thought I would try the grain-free with them. Right now, they are back on Eagle Pack H.S. Anchovy dry mixed with EPHS can. They loved Orijen, I mean really loved it, but....I actually think they are pooping better on EPHS. They were on Orijen from November to March. They love Eagle Pack H.S., too. There is never a speck of food left. When they were on the Orijen, I fed it dry. That probably was a mistake, because Stella, my Cav., doesn't drink that much and she acquired a UTI. I'm not saying it was the Orijen that caused it, but it is awfully high in protein. I'm also not saying I won't ever use Orijen again, but right now they are doing great on EPHS. The Anchovy formula dry is actually recommended by Eagle Pack for urinary health. Stella is over her UTI, thank goodness! So, with all that said, I would recommend either. But I feel Eagle Pack Holistic is what I'm going to feed for quite awhile (or until something else comes up lol!). Good luck, and I hope this helped.


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## Lori612

Thx for the info. I will purchase Eagle Pack Holistic and see if Maddi likes it. Maddi really liked Orijen the first night we gave it to her then the day after she liked it also until she started pooping like mad she didn't want to eat it anymore. I just fed her only Royal Canin, her old food, and she ate half of it.



StellaLucyDesi said:


> I have a Cavalier, Shih-poo, and a Poodle/Brittany/Chi mix. I have used both Orijen and Eagle Pack Holistic Select. I fed Eagle Pack Holistic Select for about 4 mos. before switching to Orijen. The only reason I switched was I thought I would try the grain-free with them. Right now, they are back on Eagle Pack H.S. Anchovy dry mixed with EPHS can. They loved Orijen, I mean really loved it, but....I actually think they are pooping better on EPHS. They were on Orijen from November to March. They love Eagle Pack H.S., too. There is never a speck of food left. When they were on the Orijen, I fed it dry. That probably was a mistake, because Stella, my Cav., doesn't drink that much and she acquired a UTI. I'm not saying it was the Orijen that caused it, but it is awfully high in protein. I'm also not saying I won't ever use Orijen again, but right now they are doing great on EPHS. The Anchovy formula dry is actually recommended by Eagle Pack for urinary health. Stella is over her UTI, thank goodness! So, with all that said, I would recommend either. But I feel Eagle Pack Holistic is what I'm going to feed for quite awhile (or until something else comes up lol!). Good luck, and I hope this helped.


At what age did you start feeding your shih-poo Eagle Pack Holistic Select? Which flavour did you purchase for your shih-poo? Is super premium better? Have your dogs tried that?


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## CorgiKarma

Did you transition her from her other food to the Orijen? If not,that may account for her adverse reaction to it.


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## Lori612

We only did it for 1 day because she wasn't eating the old dog food. She picked out all the Orijen and at that only so we decide to just feed her the Orijen. Then the first full day, yesterday, she was on only Orijen she had her mad pooping and threw up once after she at her poop.


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## CorgiKarma

I would blame the throwing up on eating the poop, and the constant pooping on not transitioning. But if you feel it's not the right food for her definetly try something else.
You mentioned Blue Buffalo, I don't have a shih tzu but I have my corgi on the Blue Buffalo. She has done well on it, though I am also going to try her on Wellness.


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## Lori612

She also ate more of the Orijen then her old food so that prob made her poop ALOT. She was really enjoying it until her tummy got upset. Is there an age when you should start on the Orijen? I read some posts which say you should not feed Orijen to your dog if she's under 2yrs. Maddi is 9 months. We are feeding her the blue bag, adult kibble.


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## Puppy_love_122

I feed my Shih Tzu/Poodle mix Taste of the Wild. I've only fed the high prairie formula so far, I might try the others later on, I've been very happy with it. Its easy to find (for me at least) and is well priced (especially for a grain free food) there's 3 places near me (1 vet, and 2 dif feed stores) and they are all right around $40 for a 30lb bag. One of the feedstores is local owned, but the other is Tractor Supply, which (I think) they have all around. I'm not sure they all have it though, it may be just mine.


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## Jasminecbrown91

Lori612.. haha Nature’s Recipe,Nutro,Ultra Pro Plan,Selects,Science Diet are not good foods to feed your dog. I have this website i go by that describes every ingredient in the foods, here is the link see for yourself http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/ hope this helps.


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## luvntzus

I've always fed my dogs holistic food and my Shih Tzu has never been excited about ANY dry food. I like him to enjoy his food so I always add something, either broth, canned dog food, yogurt or cottage cheese.


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## KayBee01

I emailed Wellness and they kindly sent me 2 sample bags , one Wellness Small Bites and one Wellness Core. Mollie just loved the Wellness small bites (she's a shih poo 6 yrs old.) Is this indeed a good food for a shihpoo 6yrs old? Also, should she just have the dry or should she be eating canned as well?

Thanks, Karen


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## amazingpup

We raise Shiba Inu's and have over thirty of them I can guarantee there is no better food for them than Life Abundance you can find this on RightPuppystore.com take some time to compare this food brand with the brand you currently use or order some free samples. We had a problem with loose stool and once we started using this brand all of the issues with our puppy ceased. I love Shiba's


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## tecjunkie

I have two Shih Tzu's (pic over to the left) and I have switched them from their old food to Wellness. They send me coupons and I go to Petco and get food. Wellness is expensive, but my dogs have not been sick after eating it. They are healthy and active.


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## MagicRe

i had four shih tzus who have since died....all in one year...we think due to old age..

but one thing i noticed about nutro products is the synthetic vitamin k in their food.

all four of my shih tzus had high liver enzymes and now i know why. this might be anecdotal evidence in the ongoing controversy concerning synthetic vitamin k...but it's proof enough for me.

right now, my corgi/heeler/lab and my pug are on wellness lamb/barley/salmon, plus boiled chicken or canned salmon or boiled turkey, plus alaskan salmon gel caps (500 IU daily) plus missing link which more than halves their shedding, plus they get greek yoghurt twice per week.

i am now researching raw and very much considering switching over as i am having a hard time keeping both malia and bubba's weights consistent....

it's so important to keep pug weight down because of the breed..... brachycephalic (smashed face dogs)...and malia, who is at least 1/2 corgi can't get fat because of her long back and short legs....

their coats are wonderful on this diet..


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## tecjunkie

Hello Magic Re - I feed them Wellness now but Petco has a tendancy to run out of the food that I specifically feed them due to the fact that they are small breeds. They only have food for the large breed dogs and told me that I can only get the 8 pound bag. I went to another store that has Wellness for cheaper. 

I feed my babies the Wellness small breed formula mixed with canned food (Chicken and Sweet Potato Wellness also). They love the food and has not been sick since I have switched them. 

If I were you, I would stay as far as you can away from Nutro. I fed it to my labs and they had gas really bad and I took the bag back to Petsmart and requested their Eukanuba again. Labs were happy no digestive problems. Synthetic vitamins are bad for dogs period and it is sad that they continue to try to poison our animals with that. I have done researc hand through recommendation of my friend who also loves animals, Wellness is made up of natural ingredients for pets and no artificial vitamins and minerals. 

I thought about going raw, but after the experience with my dogs, they have not been able to eat it. I introduced them gradually, but they still got sick. So I instead stick with dog food and 50% cooked food that they can eat.


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## MagicRe

i am researching raw and other diets for dogs....and thanks for the warning about nutro...it's a little late for my shih tzus...but they did live to be 14 and their allergies were so much less pronounced....

i don't think the synthetic vitamin k killed them, but i also believe it did not improve the life span....or at least give them a chance to live as long as they were supposed to....

which is why i am now researching foods..

i did this for my husband and myself...it's only fair and right that i do it for my four legged kids...

i control every morsel of food that goes into our mouths....and i wonder why i'm not doing it for my dogs, considering what my ignorance might have cost my shih tzus.


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## Dog-Training-Outlet

Many of us now make the food
for our dogs at home. Yes, it's a little work, but the work is worth it
to keep our babies safe since you know exactly what is in it. Experiment with different combinations to find a winner and change any time you want.

The basic formula for a well-balanced and healthy dog food is 25%
meat and 75% carbohydrates. A very basic and simple dog food recipe
is: combine and cook brown rice, ground meat, vegetables, water,
and a small amount of brewer's yeast.

Remember that dogs don't easily digest vegetables, so the
vegetables need to be put through the food processor before they
are added to the mixture. The amount of water that you use depends
on whether you want the dog food to be dry or wet.

Most foods that humans eat are satisfactory to be used in homemade
dog food. Both rice (brown rice is preferable) and flour are good
basic ingredients. Liver, beef, tuna, lamb, or chicken are the best
meats to use. Most vegetables are okay, other than you must put
them through the food processor before you use them.

Never use chocolate, raisins, coffee, nutmeg, raw eggs, onions, or
any food that's molded. Do NOT include the pits of fruits. Many of
them contain cyanide.

Happy cooking!


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## tecjunkie

Thanks, Re, I have researched dog foods as well and my friend recommended wellness. I see another reply from Dog Trainer that gives a good ideal of what to cook for the furry four legged children. I enjoy researching information like this as I would not have fed my labs when I had them that Nutro at all. 

I now have two Shih-Tzus adopted as puppies and I want them to live the full 16-18 years that they are supposed to. I pray that I am not in a situation where I have to give them away again, similar to the labs. I fed the labs Natural Choice that I've purchased from a grocery store. I found out that grocery store dog food is not good for them at all. It is always best to feed them food from a pet supply store. So I no longer get grocery store food for any of my dogs at all. I go to Pet Supplies plus to find out where I can get their food from. If no store is available to purchase their food, then I will go to cooking for them and research that as well. 

Good luck with your current dogs.


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## Aussie_Lover

I don't have a small dog but I do feed Blue Buffalo. They make a small breed chicken formula and just recently added a small breed fish formula. You might want to check them out. I have found Blue Bufalo to be very good quality for the price - and my Aussie has done very well on it.


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## tecjunkie

Thanks, Aussie, when I want to switch to another food that is cheaper than Wellness, I may get Blue Bafalo. I heard that one and Natural Balance is what is good for them as well. So far, Wellness is good as long as I am able to afford it.


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## tecjunkie

Amazing Pup - thanks for the website where I can compare dog foods. I used to feed my dogs Eukanuba, now I do not anymore. I didn't notice that they put corn, wheat, and soy by products in the formula for dog food.


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## MagicRe

tecjunkie said:


> Thanks, Re, I have researched dog foods as well and my friend recommended wellness. I see another reply from Dog Trainer that gives a good ideal of what to cook for the furry four legged children. I enjoy researching information like this as I would not have fed my labs when I had them that Nutro at all.
> 
> I now have two Shih-Tzus adopted as puppies and I want them to live the full 16-18 years that they are supposed to. I pray that I am not in a situation where I have to give them away again, similar to the labs. I fed the labs Natural Choice that I've purchased from a grocery store. I found out that grocery store dog food is not good for them at all. It is always best to feed them food from a pet supply store. So I no longer get grocery store food for any of my dogs at all. I go to Pet Supplies plus to find out where I can get their food from. If no store is available to purchase their food, then I will go to cooking for them and research that as well.
> 
> Good luck with your current dogs.


i've had dogs all of my life....and i'm tired...i'm exhausted researching the proper food for them...and then lightening struck one day, as i walked up and down the aisles to pick the dog food that would be 'right' for my current dogs...

because three out of four shih tzus dying before the age of fourteen is simply not acceptable...and yesterday was the fourth one's thirteenth birthday....

so now that i have ditch dog, malia, which is our fifth dog from our former pack...and the newest one, bubba the beastie pug..who is now part of our current pack......i can no longer, in good conscience leave their eating up to some company....i don't care how wonderful they claim to be.

i read labels...Lordie do i read labels...and i simply don't get it.

why potatoes....especially white potatoes? they are a high glycemic product, as is white rice. they cause an insulin spike...so if they are on the list of 'not recommended for humans....why give it to dogs....

i simply cannot do it anymore....the amount of grains in dog food is ridiculous unless your dog is a high energy, highly active dog....marathon runners need starchy carbs...not ten year old and two year old dogs who walk and play and sleep more than they walk and play and sleep.

whether i stick to raw or not...we'll see...but certainly, i will never go back to kibble. i'm so tired of others telling me what's good for my dogs when, in reality, the wealth of information is out there.....to choose what's right for my dogs...

and had i done this several years ago....researched...maybe, just maybe my beloved shih tzus would not have died because i fed them natural choice with their soy and synthetich vitamin k.


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## tecjunkie

I am sorry about your other dogs as I am mine. There is a vast of information out there, however, I experimented with my labs to find out which one is best. It gets exhausting but I hanged in there until I found a food good for them and my shih tzus.


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