# Ears, Diet & Salmon Oil



## Chris Daleo (Apr 22, 2010)

I have a 14 wk old male Malinois. I imported Jaakan from van de Haantjeshoek kennels and he’s a really great dog. I’m still getting used to Malinois after 10yrs of Rottweilers. The drive is intense, but incredible for work when he focuses. He is on a mix of 1, cup Royal Canin large breed puppy, 1 tablespoon cottage cheese, 2 pumps of wild Alaska salmon oil and ½ cup various raw meat, beef tongue, liver, heart, etc. 2x a day, still transitioning to full raw diet.
 Both ears stand on their own. However, his right ear, though still standing, leans over towards the left with a little bend from the base of the ear (picture giving the peace sign and then crossing the fingers) I know he is not through teething stage yet and I think nutritionally he is getting what he needs. Should I wait until he’s about 6 months before thinking of taping it or address it now? I don’t want the cartilage to permanently stay that way at the base. 

  Secondly, right after I feed him, he curiously gets into a frenzy that will last no more than 5 minutes or so, where he will bark and tear ass from the porch down the stairs, to the driveway back up the stairs, etc. I redirect with a favorite ball or tug and he gets aggressive with it, not with me, but verbal to the object. He can then sometimes become a bit obnoxious if you don’t immediately address him and play fetch/tug, etc. I don’t encourage and ignore this. He will break the frenzy when I ask him to come, sitz or platz when he sees the treat bag but will try & get mouthy when I put the leash on him, When I get it on, I don’t have to correct him and he calms down. He knows when he is and isn’t on leash and I am thinking it’s time to move to an e-collar. I am trying to work with him off leash for BR, but perhaps it is not time yet at less than 4 months. He is a hard dog though. 

 I also noticed he would get very itchy and scratch himself a great deal after eating & and I thought it might be the salmon oil and experimented by leaving it out of his evening feeding. There was a marked difference, although still high energy. I myself use to get flushed and itchy immediately after ingesting a certain liquid vitamin containing too much niacin and wondered if the same thing ight happen with dogs. I am curious if you have seen similar reactions with the salmon oil and or this burst of energy right after feeding?

Any thoughts on diet or any of the other behaviors described? Peace.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Why the Royal Canin?


Also, are there digestible bones in that meat? Sounds like a big chunk of his diet is boneless raw meat.

Niacin has that effect on lots of people. Has this pup ever eaten fish? How was that?


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## Chris Daleo (Apr 22, 2010)

Royal Canin was what the breeder in Belgium had him on. As I said I am transitioning. No there is no bones in the meals, but he gets a fresh marrow bone every few days. The plan is to intorduce chicken necks, backs, etc. I have not tried fish.


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## Shane Woodlief (Sep 9, 2009)

Royal Canin is not really that good of food to be feeding. It is also overpriced. 

I have used Salmon oil before with no issues. A good substitute might be a cold water fish oil.

Personally, I think raw is the best way to go second best is a grain free dog food. I used raw meaty bones and let him suck the marrow out. That was good stuff. The raw food I used for a while had 5% bones dust in it as well. He did really well on it.

I would not feed my dog Royal Canin, stuff is crap and it will cause your dog to crap a lot.

That is my own personal experience anyway.


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## Matthew Grubb (Nov 16, 2007)

My Mal has suffered with allergies since he was about 2 years old. It shows itself mostly with dry skin and ear issues. We have put him on an ALL grain free diet combined with fruit and vegetable supplements and some salmon oil to address the dry skin…. So far great results. I wish I could do all raw but this is a compromise.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Chris Daleo said:


> Royal Canin was what the breeder in Belgium had him on. As I said I am transitioning. No there is no bones in the meals, but he gets a fresh marrow bone every few days. The plan is to intorduce chicken necks, backs, etc. I have not tried fish.


I asked about fish to know whether there was a reaction to it. 

Recreational bones like marrow bones aren't a substitute for digestible bones. The puppy needs the calcium in the digestible bones; he's growing bones and teeth and organs. I'd start the chicken backs asap. 

PS
I agree with Shane about Royal Canin. I think it's crap-in-a-bag too. The first few ingredients: chicken meal, rice, corn gluten meal, brown rice, chicken fat, barley, wheat gluten ....


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

i'll leave the nutrition questions to those with more expertise than i 

i would like to address the question re: ecollar. NO WAY on a 14 week old puppy!!!! 

if he's getting leash-wise,then you just have him on a drag line whenever he's out of his crate. simple, easier and more effective for both of you.


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## Chris Daleo (Apr 22, 2010)

Thanks for the input. Folks, I get it, Royal Canin is crap. LOL! Between the flight from Belgium and having been on RC since whelping, I would think the less stress the better and not radically changing his diet & throw in intestinal problems as well. That being said I bought one bag as I transition him to raw. End of story, when its done and he is on full raw diet, no more RC. BTW, his stool is well formed and he craps once a day sometimes twice. I will start the chicken backs/necks this weekend. 
Drag line makes sense. Thanks.


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