my dog needs special food and zylkene

krlyr

I would recommend a thorough vet check (not just a look over, but possibly full blood panel and possibly x-ray to rule out joint issues) in case there's a medical cause/contribution.

I would also highly recommend this book for separation issues
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leave-Step-Step-Separation-Anxiety/dp/0981722733

30 seconds, half an hour, 4 hours - with separation anxiety, a dog will get distressed with any of these gaps. You need to teach the dog an alternative emotional response to being left alone.

It is not unreasonable to leave a dog for the day providing it is being given at least one or two chances to get adequate toileting opportunities and some mental/physical stimulation to break up a longer gap. Doesn't sound like that is the issue here, so work on the separation anxiety - I've managed to get my dog to the point where she's happy being left in the day, following the methods in the above book and various internet sources. She did turn out to have an underlying medical issue too - hypothyroidism causing anxiety - hence my suggestion to check out the dog physically too.

Rev

JWB isn't that great a good. Used to be until it was sold to mars. There's foods of equal or better quality for less.

Skinners salmon and rice or duck and rice is pretty pure. It's a budget food and the meat content is low. But it's basically just rice and meat.


Vets aren't experts in animal nutrition. Just as GP's aren't experts on our diets. They know basics.


High protein foods, when the protein is meat is better than a lower protein food as it will be digested properly. Dogs have no use or need for cereals. Grains. Rice etc.


Have you considered raw?


Have a look at http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/


Set your budget and see which food is best.

rising_from_the_ashes

vics1928 wrote: »

Obviously I'm not stupid - the dog food change was because he said he is not a working dog so should not be on such a high protein working dog food and the zylkene tablets to take the edge off his anxiety while we find someone to help train him and while we retrain him to reassure him that it is ok

What food was he on?

Sorry but the bit about high protein is absolutely b0ll0cks!

Vets know very little about animal food (I think they have something like 1 0.5 day training in it ) and often get commission for selling 'vet prescription' food at vastly inflated prices for what's actually in it

Foods with very high meat content will often have high protein levels - and they are absolutely fine for dogs (even non-working ones)

Re zyklene - the 450mg tablets usually retail for about £1 / tablet from reputable suppliers. I'm not sure I'd want to buy from somewhere like Ebay unless I could guarantee it was genuine stock