Olive Oil okay to add to dog food?

[Auzzie]

We just switched Auzzie's food to a sensitive stomach formula (Nutro) because he's incredibly gassy and also has a tendency to throw up. It's been 100% better for our air quailty since giving him the sensitive food, but he doesn't like it. He'll eat it when he gets hungry enough, but he's probably only eating 4 -6 cups every other day, hence he seems to be begging more for our food and I just feel badly for him. (I don't give him our food).

I used to add yogurt or cottage cheese to his food, but I hate to add anything like that due to his gas & stomach issues. I was thinking that maybe olive oil would add some better flavor and also be good for his skin/coat without upsetting his stomach? I hope I don't sound like a complete idiot.

Thanks for your help.

Stace

[groupieindenial]

Olive oil is primarily monounsaturated fats, which is an omega 9 (found in lots of foods) and probably do not need to be adding any more of this to his diet. Adding an omega 3 would be better (i.e. salmon oil), since it is hard to get, and I doubt the food has much of it.

Yes, olive oil (any oil) will add sheen to a coat. I am not sure if you will be adding to the sensitivities of his stomach. If your dog is hungry, he will eat. I would not want to add to kibble to make my dog eat.

What were you feeding before?

[Auzzie]

I was feeding him Candidae before. He was thrilled w/that either, but he'd eat it every day.

I was reading on some other posts about the cons of "free-feeding" which is what I do. I maybe should start there first?

[groupieindenial]

Well, yeah. A dog that is free fed, will just pick at his food, eat whenever. SOme dogs will eat too much, some will only eat what is needed. (Rotties are generally pigs, so free feeding is not generally recommended on this forum). But there isn't anything wrong with feeding once a day at this point, have him hungry enough before he's fed.

Has he always had tummy problems? I would bet that your dog isn't eating because there is an underlying cause to his problems. Is he allergic to something? Was canidae possibly too dense for him? Just cuz he's less gassy on this new food, it doesn't seem to have affected his appetite. How are his poops? Before Canidae, while on canidae, now on Nutro? Poop tells you a lot of whats going on with your dog's system.

I would avoid trying to entice him to eat by adding something. I would be looking at getting to the root of the problem. If you suspect he's allergice to something, an elimination diet may be in order.

[Auzzie]

I think his poop is fine, it looks normal to me. It's stayed pretty much the same during the switch, nothing loose no major change in color or frequency that I can tell.

How would I begin an elimination diet?

[groupieindenial]

Well if his poops are normal, and have always been, an eliminatin diet will be of little to no use to do. You would feed a simple 1 meat, 1 carb source, and slowly introduce, different things and see how his system reacts.

In my experience with MY dog, is that if he's gassy, and stinks up the room with farts, his poops were loose. No gas, equals nice brown firm poops. Farts also just indicate that he's got to go take a crap.

With all tha being said, I'd honestly just start feeding his entire day's worth in one feeding per day. How much are you feeding? I"m wondering if he's just not hungry?

[groupieindenial]

I'm not sure which nutro food your on, but their better line (Nutro Natural and Nutro Max) is around 350 cal/cup. (give or take depending what your feeding) So 4-6 cups every other day is in around 2000 calories, so maybe it is just too much. As dogs age, and your dog is 3 years old, then he may not need as much food. My dog is active and still growing and he gets about 1500 cals/day.