Turkey Dog Food (with no chicken)

    • Bronze

    Turkey Dog Food (with no chicken)

    I have a chocolate lab who is allergic to chicken (lucky me). When he eats foods with chicken in it he gets yeast infections in his ears. Sadly almost all dog food has chicken in it (when you read the ingredients). I have tried almost all "flavors" and he seems to do best on turkey. He used to be on the Eukanuba Wild Turkey food but they have discontinued it. Now he is on the Blue Basics Turkey. Its okay and his ears are not a problem but the vet says he needs to lose weight. So I tried cutting back his food (only 3 cups a day) and he hasn't lost any weight. He is 110lbs and not "fat" but very tall. The vet said maybe the Blue brand is high in calories. So I am looking for other turkey food options (dry food) that may be less in calories. Does anyone know of any? I am not to the point where I am willing to cook for him. Help!
    • Gold Top Dog

    Cut him back maybe a quarter cup to start and fill in the rest with salt free green beans.  then cut back a bit more, adding more green beans.  Increase his exercise as much as you can.

    • Gold Top Dog

    I just saw it the other day at Petsmart but I was in too much of a hurry to look at it-but Nutro has a new grain free line-and they have a turkey/potato formula-you could look into that one too.

     

    • Gold Top Dog

        I agree with Glenda; Blue Basics is not a high calorie food; it has 366 calories a cup. Start with feeding a quarter cup less like Glenda suggests, and weigh him after a week. If he hasn't lost any weight, cut back another quarter cup. I've been there with Jessie and had to cut her calories to about 730 before she lost weight even though I walk her an hour a day. She's not quite as big as your dog, so you probably won't have to go that far.

     

    Griffey'sMom
    I am not to the point where I am willing to cook for him.

      When you reduce your dog's food, you reduce the amount of protein he's getting. A food that has a moderate amount of protein like Blue probably has about 6 grams of protein per 100 calories. Make sure your dog gets at least one gram of protein per pound of body weight or he will lose muscle (not a good thing). I add a few ounces of baked turkey cutlets to Jessie's food as well as an egg white and her treats are made from extra lean ground beef. It's worth the trouble because I can maintain her weight and she has great muscle tone for a 12 year old dog.

      

    • Gold Top Dog
    You could try a raw pre-mix like The Honest Kitchen's Keen line. All you do is add warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes. Don't get sticker shock, it seems like a teensy box for the $, but for every cup of food you add 1.5 cups of water - so it's a lot of volume.
    • Bronze
    Thank you all! I did cut his food down. He only gets 3 cups a day (which maybe I am wrong but I feel is not very much for his size when the bag suggests 5 1/2). He also gets a cup of celery as a filler because the vet said it is 0 calories. I think the key will be getting him out to exercise every day.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I did notice that my boys ate LESS while on BB. I fed the lower end of their weight range... I did have to increase the amount when I switched to another food.
    • Gold Top Dog

     I never feed anywhere near what it recommends on the bags. All of my dogs eat at least half of what it says they should be eating.

    Pinnacle has a turkey formula, I think

    • Moderators
    • Gold Top Dog

     I have no idea how tall your lab is but 110lbs does seem a lot.  I'm glad you are trying to get some weight off of him.

    I have a dog with allergies to chicken, turkey, duck and eggs so food is always an issue. He does very well on fish based foods.

    I absolutely agree that at 366kcals/cup it isn't a calorie dense food and your best option while trying to get some weight off is to reduce down to 2 3/4 or 2.5 cups and add in the green beans.  The guidelines on the bag are always off.  My dog eats a ton and I still don't think he eats the recommended amount.

    Keeping him lean and fit will give him a happier, healthier, longer life = keep that in mind when he begs for more LOL

    • Gold Top Dog

    Acana Pacifica has no chicken in it. It's fish based and grain free.  I don't feed kibble very often, but when I do, it's this one and the dogs do very well on it.

    THK's Keen also is Turkey based, we like that one a lot too.

    Goodluck!

    • Gold Top Dog

     My lab is allergic to almost all poultry so she gets Acana Lamb and Apple. She's doing AMAZING on it. So there's another option.

    • Gold Top Dog

    grab01
     I never feed anywhere near what it recommends on the bags...

    Same here.

    Another good food for an allergy prone dog is Natural Balance's LID line.

    • Bronze

    Hey, I work in a small pet store in a rural wisconsin.  I don't know all the brands you can get in Cali, but a couple customers have asked for chicken and or poultry free dry dog food, and we've come up with two brands that are totally poultry free.  They are both made by a company called Diamond.  The first is Premium Edge and the variety is called Skin and Coat.  It has some grains and veggies and fruits, so if your dog tends to be gassy, not a good one.  The second is called Taste of the Wild and the variety is called Pacific Stream.  It is a grain free type and will be a little bit pricier.  They both are salmon based with some other whitefish also I think.  Hope any of this helps.  I'm always on the look out for great dog foods, dog nutrition is one of my favorite hobbies.

    • Gold Top Dog
    My dogs are all eating TOTW now, and I'm thrilled with how they look :)

    The kitties get it too - everyone loves it