# Best dry dog food for german shepherds.



## kbanderson22 (Mar 11, 2015)

My 6yr old German shepherd just got diagnosed with Perianal Fistula and I believe it could be an allergic reaction to a new food. We switched from Blue Buffalo Wilderness to Nurto Max after BB got a little expensive and the lawsuit. I have been looking at Taste of the Wild. Any one have any experience of this brand or other good brands? Trying to stay away from $65 30lb bags. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

I don't have any advice, but I would say this site might be a good source of information

perianal-fistulas


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I'd get him off kibble completely, if he's got a food allergy -- or at least on an "allergy" food (limited ingredient, novel protein -- Wellness Simple, Nature's Variety LID, Natural Balance LID, etc....) -- single ingredient, grainfree, short ingredients list. If you look in the archives, I've posted about my dog's story, surgery, and what fixed it (getting him off kibble).

I'd also look into a probiotic (plus maybe bovine colostrum), and a supplement called Glandex. (Alternatively, you can message Carmspack about Feedsentials + Sunday Sunday, which have some of the Glandex ingredients plus more.) At least, that's what worked for my dog -- but we caught his problems BEFORE a PF diagnosis. The vet thought we were headed that way, and we did a heavy intervention with diet and supplements before it got that bad. I don't know if it would be as effective once PFs are already present. 

If there's really an allergy, the key is going to be doing an elimination diet, with a vet guiding you, to get at the source of the allergy, if there's one. These take at minimum 8 weeks on a single diet. It's a slow, careful process with no cheating with treats that are different from the food. If you end up on RX food with hydrolyzed protein, it runs about $85 for 20 pounds at the vet (!!!), so getting at this with a commercial L-I-D food, or home cooking, or a good raw diet will be a lot less expensive, if you are careful and diligent.


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## Loneforce (Feb 12, 2012)

Try to get a limited ingredient dog food. Try to stay away from chicken, poultry, and beef. If your GSD likes fish, get something with fish in it. Did they put your GSD on atopica too? Luckily when Jonas's PF went away, I weaned him off of that and it has not came back. "Knock on wood" That medicine really messes with their immune system.


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## Loneforce (Feb 12, 2012)

Loneforce said:


> Try to get a limited ingredient dog food. Try to stay away from chicken, poultry, and beef. If your GSD likes fish, get something with fish in it. Did they put your GSD on atopica too? Luckily when Jonas's PF went away, I weaned him off of that and it has not came back. "Knock on wood" That medicine really messes with their immune system.


By the way. I could not use this advice. Jonas Hates fish. I had him on Acana singles Pork and butternut squash for a year. It seemed to help him, until recently. It seems Acana changed their ingredience and Jonas started getting an Ear infection. I blamed it on the change and he is now on Acana wild prairie grain free food. Hopefully everything continues to go good with mine, and it clears up on yours too. I am just giving a recommendation on food. I am in no way knowledgeable. Every dog responds differently to the meds and the foods. I wish you luck!


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## Strikker (Dec 2, 2015)

kbanderson22 said:


> My 6yr old German shepherd just got diagnosed with Perianal Fistula and I believe it could be an allergic reaction to a new food. We switched from Blue Buffalo Wilderness to Nurto Max after BB got a little expensive and the lawsuit. I have been looking at Taste of the Wild. Any one have any experience of this brand or other good brands? Trying to stay away from $65 30lb bags. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


We raised both puppies on Nutro Max and had good results. We just started to transition to Taste of Wild about a week ago and have had good results so far. The puppies like it and I liked what I found in the research about it.


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## kbanderson22 (Mar 11, 2015)

Thank you everyone for the responses. He seems to be the dog with everything wrong with him. (no life threatning conditions) eat infections, hot spots, etc. We are going to wean our dogs off nutro max and switch to taste of the wild, i've seen some good reviews with it. He won't eat raw that much and its hard to get him to eat all of it being he is already 6 and we tried about a year ago and its hard having a toddler run around touching all the dog food dishes and treats. Again, thanks for all the advice.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

All those things point to a dog who possibly needs a limited-ingredient diet (ear infections, hot spots, etc.). It's quite possibly all related. 

If you are set on the ToTW (which has too many ingredients for me to be comfortable with it for a potential allergy dog), at least go with their Pacific Stream (fish-based). Keep him off of any food containing chicken, which is Prime Suspect #1 for food allergies.

I've seen quite a few foster dogs with chronic ear and skin problems clear up on fish-based limited-ingredient food (and I owned a personal dog who had the same experience years ago). My current dog is allergic to fish too (and chicken, and lamb and venison!) so he had to go off kibble completely--he gets fresh beef + The Honest Kitchen's Preference base mix. His anal problems totally went away after we made that change, and his skin and coat are fantastic (the coat used to be thin, and he was often itchy).

All the stuff going on in your dog (anal problems, skin problems, ear problems) could be food driven. I would talk with your vet about how to do an elimination diet to test that hypothesis (it takes about 8 weeks, but if that turns out to be right, you end up with a healthy dog free of all those recurring issues).


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## Themusicmanswife (Jul 16, 2015)

We use Dr. Tim's Salmon and Pork. It's grain free and chicken free. I get it from Chewy.com. My girl likes it and she looks great on it. She's less itchy and it seems to do her body good.


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## dz0qp5 (Oct 12, 2004)

If you're a Costco member the Nature's Domain salmon is almost the same as the TOTW salmon for half the price. I get excellent results with it, even with sensitive dogs.


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## Doc (Jan 13, 2009)

Sounds like an immune issue. Try Carmen's products. You need to get his immune system boosted. Pre and pro biotics is a good place to start along with a limited ingredient diet.


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