Petfood-Connection

I have been feeding my dogs Primal dog food. The nuggets for smaller dogs, Chicken, Duck, and Turkey/Anchovies.
Well they say raw food is one of the better foods to feed your dog, but since I have been feeding them Primal for the past 5 months, I noticed that my Pomeranian's fur is not as shiny or lustrious as before, and my Papillon's fur is dull, thinning, and has a huge bald area on her chest and it was getting worse.
They are both energetic and everything is fine other than their hair.. When I looked at the Nutrition Analysis I noticed the the protein on all three products is only 14%, which most dog foods are over 20%. In fact, the Turkey one doesn't even have turkey muscles meat..instead it has turkey neck (as first ingredient), turkey meal, turkey liver..what the heck.. where's the meat.. the other ones are just almost the same..
I went to my holistic vet, and even he was concerned to the very low protein in the food and it's nutrition analysis. We both came to the conclusion after realizing there is nothing internally wrong with my dogs (thank god) that the protein is affecting their fur and hair loss on the Papillon...
I'm really concerned.. I am slowly switching over to Orijen dog food, but I really don't like to do the dry kibble, however, I don't have the time or energy to create my own recipe (I'm also concerned that they would not get all of their proper vitamins if I do it).
Does anyone have any suggestions?

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You have to understand the difference between dry and wet food labels. A wet food with 14% protein is actually quite high compared to a dry food with 20%. remember that moisture makes up a fair amount of a wet dog food. Frozen Primal has more than 60% moisture which lowers the perception of protein in a food. Remove the water and you will have more than 40% protein in the Primal. Also, higher quality food has a higher digestibility. So although the kibble may have a higher protein, some of that may not be as digestible as real food from a gently cooked or raw supplement. Orijen is a good kibble. If you are uncomfortable feeding only kibble (which I would agree with) use some real food (like a primal, or just real meat, fish, etc) and supplement the diet with it. For the coat, simply add a little fish oil and you will see a change. Well pride is an excellent fish oil, and don't be concerned it is primarily for horses, I've taken it myself. The coat is an indicator of health, but nutrition for the body is important overall so don't use the coat as your only indicator.

Davyd Smith
PeopleFud.com

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hi, what are your reasons for not liking the dry kibble?

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