Hi,

My 6 month old puppy is on a hypo allergenic diet - homemade fish & potato's - after recurring ear infections. We think that she has a grain allergy....lot's of great advice on this board around that topic!

Our vet has instructed us not to feed her any treats as they all contain grains in them and he suggested baby carrots, slices of apple or banana as treats for good behaviour or training. The problem is she is not interested in any of that. She loves her new food and wolfs it down as soon as we put it in front of her and seems to be doing really well on this adjusted diet, but I am wondering if anyone has a suggestion of what we can use as a treat?

Sorry for the long post!

Are there treats made by your food company? If so I would start there.

Does she have issues with protiein sources? If not you can dehydrate beef or chicken liver in your dehydrator to use as training treats or use freeze dried lamb lung pieces (available at the pet store) for treats that dogs go nuts over.

You can also take some of your kibble, moisten it overnight and mix something like mackeral or sardines into it to form a paste. Freeze this in kongs or other bones.

till you figure it out use pieces of the kibble for treats

Originally posted by lexi's dad
Our vet has instructed us not to feed her any treats as they all contain grains in them and he suggested baby carrots, slices of apple or banana as treats

That's promising coming from a traditional vet, you might want to hang onto this vet...very open-minded to adding healthy things to a dogs diet.

As Bett said, use his kibble as treats. Or these are grain-free and meat protein-free: (sorry, site is down). They're called DARFORD veggie dog treats.

Also might want to try dried (washed off) fruits; such as apricots, prunes, banana chips, etc.

Dogs on hypo-allergenic diets should NOT be given any other animal proteins at all, that defeats the purpose of doing the elimanation diet.

Good luck :).

Sorry for my misguided advice! I should have read more thoroughly... I think I'll stay out of these things in the future...

However, couldn't you still use his regular food as kong stuffing if desired?

Also- in the long run if you are eliminating grains could you not begin to eventually add animal proteins back in? :confused:

Sorry- I'm still confused between the variety = no allergies concept and the variety = allergies equation! Why can't it ever be easy? :(

Thanks for the advice, I think I will start putting some of her food into her kong. What we are giving her now is pretty much a mush of boiled potatos, canned tuna, and canine multivitamins from the vet. It's a little hard to use as a treat as it's soft and messy. I think I will try the dried food option and ask my vet about adding in meat/animal protein.

Thanks :)

(cute labbies btw)

Emma is on a special diet too, i boil carrots and mash them with rosemary and stuff them in her kong and then freeze it....she ADORES it...but then she ADORES carrots in any shape size or form...and she eats Darford Veggie hearts as Black as night mentioned.
Good luck...
Julie

Sierra used to love carrots - especially the chips - we tried green beans - no good. She stopped eating carrots over a year ago. She loves fruit but we don't give too much (sugar).

Any other ideas?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lexi's dad
[B]Thanks for the advice, I think I will start putting some of her food into her kong. What we are giving her now is pretty much a mush of boiled potatos, canned tuna, and canine multivitamins from the vet.

My understanding was never to feed canned Tuna..did i get this wrong?..something about mercury or something..salmon and mackeral are ok though.

Originally posted by callmeBill'swife
My understanding was never to feed canned Tuna..did i get this wrong?..something about mercury or something..salmon and mackeral are ok though.

That's true Bill'swife, I've read this also.

http://www.patmckay.com/FreePatMcKayBook.pdf (Go to chapter 5 under Proteins, then go to Fish.)

WOW! that was interesting! i am surprised that white potatoes are a no-no since they are in a lot of dog food. and the tip on feeding eggs is very helpful..i was always confused about that before, because of the egg white, but i see boiling them isnt the answer. i will have problem with adding the water to Dollys kibble because she doesnt seem to like it if it gets the least bit soggy or mushy, but i am going to try, because it sounds like feeding it dry isnt the thing to do..this is a site worth putting under your Favorites.. ty for the good info..