We have decided to try switching food after their current food is gone!

What is the current food you are feeding her?

Acana Lamb and Okanagan Apple

While that sounds like a healthy food, it has so many ingrediants it would be hard to find the culprit. Healthy foods cause allergies as well. There are dog foods with only three or four ingrediants, or you could home cook for a week and see if that clears it up. At least you would know what goes into it. Here's a site that gives a sample diet, for a short time a week or so, you wouldn't need to worry about adding the suppliment. http://support.mspca.org/site/DocSer...pdf?docID=1562 If the tearing clears up 50%, the first week, I'd say food is the problem, you might not get 100% clear up for a few months.

Acana is an excellent food, but Nancy is right, it does have a lot of different ingredients that make it hard to determine food sensitivities. Perhaps you'd consider trying the Gerber distilled water ($1. a gallon at Walmart in the water section). It's worth a try at this point. After all you've already done, you really don't have anything to lose (except your $1. ;) ) We use the Gerber water and have had wonderful success with clearing up everyone's eyes. Best wishes to you. I hope you find your answers soon.

I will check at Walmart for that water the next time I am there. I looked before and couldn't find it!

If the water doesn't work (or if I can't find it) I might try home cooking for a bit. Of course, if I home cook for one I have to home cook for them all lol!

Are there any kibbles that have limited ingredients? I checked the brands sold in the store we buy the Acana from, and all of their brands have tons of ingredients.

Wellness has a Simple line with limited ingrediants. Wellness Dog Simple Recipes

The pieces in this are huge!!

And not really limited ingredients:
Salmon, Salmon Meal, Potatoes, Peas, Dried Ground Potatoes, Tomato Pomace, Ground Flaxseed, Canola Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Dicalcium Phosphate, Natural Fish Flavor, Chicory Root Extract, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Beta-Carotene, Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Biotin, Folic Acid], Minerals [Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate], Choline Chloride, Mixed Tocopherols added to preserve freshness, Taurine, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Rosemary Extract.

Most of the ingredients are vitamins; it's unlikely the dog is allergic to those. You’re right the kibble is huge, I have to use a mallet to pound the pieces. I think I would home cook, just for this dog for one week, just to test for allergies, and no treats because sometimes they are the cause of the problem. You can learn a lot in a week.

Just my 2 cents but I'm not impressed with the limited ingredient foods I have seen online. I only glanced but synthetic vitamins are not the best and many times not metabolized well by the body. If you do decide to try home cooking there is a supplement made of mostly real food vitamins that contains some of the enzymes that kibble looses from cooking.(or home cooking) I have been giving it to Gracie with great results from the time she was a puppy. I home cooked for her for quite a while and wanted to make sure she was getting as much nutrition as she should. It's called The Missing Link and comes in a couple of versions but the Skin and Coat is the original. It is great for the coat but has all the other necessary nutrients. It is in powder form. It does need to be kept refrigerated after opening.
The Missing Link Ultimate Skin & Coat Supplement For Dogs at PETCO
This can also be added to kibble or any other type of diet.


If you did home cook for her you could try feeding her in another room so the others are not jealous or feel like they are missing out on something. I know that is quite a thing to pull off with Yorkies.

Gracie did not care much for the food I made her until I switched from rice or oatmeal to sweet potato instead of the grains. She just fell in love with chicken and sweet potato along with other veggies.

I think Missing Link is just a supplement if you are using kibble, It says it “targets the nutritional gap between what nature provides and what is available in commercial foods.” and I don't think it's a balanced supplement if you are home cooking where they need plenty of calcium. Balance IT Canine is a complete supplement for those that are home cooking. https://secure.balanceit.com/marketp...ls.php?i=5&cc=


For a week it isn't necessary to even supplement. Longer than a month, you should use a supplement. The idea is to know exactly what is causing the problem, too many different ingrediants will confuse findings.

I agree that while she is doing a trial the supplement should not be used. If she were to decide to continue to home cook the supplement could be very helpful. I would slowly work up to the recommended amount. When I was home cooking I felt I was giving Gracie healthy food but I did want to make sure she was getting as much nutrition as possible since I am not a professional nutritionist. Kibble is cooked at high temperatures at least 3 times to make sure all live elements in the food are destroyed in order to prevent salmonella and other food poisoning issues. Home cooking does not destroy as much of the nutrients as the high temps used on kibble but any cooking does lower the nutrient level of the food. This particular supplement is not synthetic so it is easily digestible and adds some of the enzymes that are lost in cooking.

I agree with you and even used it for a while, but it's not a complete supplement. If you are home cooking for any length of time, you must be sure the diet is balanced and this supplement won't do it. Concerning the synthetic/natural vitamins, I've been in on the debate for over 40 years, and neither side has convinced me that they are correct. There are true experts on both sides. It's one of the many weaknesses of nutritional science. The natural vitamin camp is much more vocal, but too many holes in their theories to convince me.

Sorry. I disagree. If you are making a healthy diet you don't need a multitude of synthetic vitamins. Even human science says that synthetic vitamins are not well metabolized by the body. Most go out in the urine. The body does use food based nutrition. Animals also need the enzymes and nutrients that are cooked out of other foods, especially kibbles.

I included a picture to help you identify it. It was in the grocery dept, in the isle where bottled water is sold at my Walmart. It was not in the baby food section. Someone else may weigh in with where else it may be found.