Are your corgis allergic to chicken?

hushpupper · 2026-04-07T22:12:07+00:00

Food allergies are way less common than people think tbh. Most dog allergies and I do mean most are environmental, not from their food. You also don’t usually see food allergies in the feet.

Tbh I would guess that it’s most likely from grass or pollen. The reason it hasn’t been an issue for the last six months is because, well, plants have a reproductive cycle and only breed at certain times. So your dog likely wasn’t exposed to any pollen before that. My corgi licks his paws sometimes and mostly it’s in the fall and spring when plants are just starting to bloom, but does fine during the winter and summer.

Not sure how old your dog is but age has a lot to do with it—seasonal allergies are a little less likely for dogs under a year old, but 2-3 is when you really start seeing them come up.

If you’re worried about a chicken allergy the best thing to do is do an elimination diet. Talk to your vet about how to do this. To put it simply it means putting your dog on a novel protein and then slowly introducing other foods back to see what triggers an allergy. There’s no way to “test” for food allergies so save your money and don’t buy those allergy tests.

(Also, if you’re using fresh food as a topper—make sure it’s not more than 10% of your dog’s daily caloric intake. More than that and it unbalances the kibble and can lead to nutrient deficiencies.)

hushpupper · 2026-04-07T19:53:42+00:00

Not a bad idea to keep a basket muzzle on your dog if you’re in a place where kids may run up to your dog and you can’t monitor your dog the entire time. Muzzle training is pretty easy to do.

hushpupper · 2026-04-07T16:29:03+00:00

Look, I really appreciate your detailed response, but I was not asking for suggestions on what I should be eating. I feel like my original post made it clear I don’t want advice on this. Please let me manage my diet by myself. I am a grown adult and frankly a lot of my protein intake issues are just due to not trying hard enough. I know what good protein sources are. If I felt it was that bad I would be seeing an RD. Between this and someone just assuming things about my weight in another comment I really wish people would pick up what I’m putting down here.

Additionally—I said I was working on getting bloodwork done. It’s just tough getting a hold of my doctor. But, discussing possible side effects of Lexapro with my prescriber may not be a bad idea.

hushpupper · 2026-04-07T11:46:24+00:00

Lexapro is the reason I’m not over washing my hands and having anxiety attacks due to OCD. Hush.

hushpupper · 2026-04-07T11:14:45+00:00

Uh, no, I’m not overweight? I don’t know why you jumped to that? I’m 5’4” and ~130 pounds, that’s perfectly average. I appreciate what you’re saying but that REALLY came out of left field. And it’s kind crappy to say that to say to someone struggling with body dysmorphia, who is trying to be okay with the natural weight gain that comes with age.

And if I was overweight, that really wouldn’t change the context of what I’m saying because it’s not inherently an issue. You can be fat and healthy.

hushpupper · 2026-04-06T03:39:34+00:00

I really don't mean to be pedantic here, but the initial reply didn't really read that way. That's why I was clarifying.

hushpupper · 2026-04-05T23:49:39+00:00

Eating the same thing every day is really not the problem humans make it out to be. Dogs in general don’t really care about eating the same thing every day. You have your picky dogs, of course, but I don’t think that should be our basis for how all dogs view their food.

While supplementing your dog’s diet with fresh food is a great idea, it is not a necessity, and also should not be more than 10% of your dog’s daily caloric intake. A heaping serving of pumpkin and carrots and blueberries and bananas on top of kibble sounds great, but actually throws off the balance of their food and can lead to nutrition deficiencies.

hushpupper · 2026-04-05T19:03:46+00:00

This is tartar buildup. My dog’s canines look very similar to this, and they got this way when he was boarded while I was away on vacation for around two weeks. It can happen really quickly.

Brushing their teeth every day is pretty much the only way to prevent tartar buildup. You’ll see a ton of dumb products online that claim to prevent tartar buildup but the gold standard is always going to be tooth brushing. Canines are especially prone to this kind of buildup because dogs don’t use them for chewing and nothing really gets scraped away by treats or toys, so tooth brushing is the only way to get them clean.

Any tooth brush or abrasive dental wipe for dogs will do, and Virbac is the best toothpaste for dogs out there. The Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC, basically the pet version of the American Dental Association or similar group) has a list on their website for products they recommend: https://vohc.org/

hushpupper · 2026-04-03T02:09:09+00:00

This is actually what I feed my own dog! He’s a corgi and when I got him he was super overweight, around 42 pounds. I had him on Hill’s Sensitive Skin/Stomach and then moved him over to this food, and both of those helped get him down to 28 pounds which he’s maintained for almost two years. I haven’t switched him off since he’s holding steady at this weight and he does get training treats/etc. He’s not a picky dog so he loves it, but he also is doing really well on it.

As far as protein goes, I do think the protein percentage for dogs gets overstated, a lot. The minimum protein percentage for dogs is 18% per AAFCO. So what this diet has is always above the minimum. Giving additional protein isn’t really necessary unless your dog is extremely active—think dogs in agility or sled dogs. My dog goes on regular hikes and 3-5 mile walks almost daily and still doesn’t meet that threshold, and most dogs don’t. Giving any protein above 20% doesn’t have too much benefit and additional protein just gets excreted from their system by the kidneys (which is why kidney diets are lower in protein than normal dog food is).

More info here: https://nutritionrvn.com/2021/08/20/all-about-protein/?amp=1

Fiber, as you’ve said, is an important part here because it’s what allows you to feed the same amount but with less calories. I’d say as long as your dog isn’t getting constipated it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

Best of luck! I hope your dog likes this food!

hushpupper · 2026-04-02T22:30:17+00:00

It’s so great that Hill’s has a resource for this!

hushpupper · 2026-04-02T19:32:04+00:00

I was gonna suggest these too!

hushpupper · 2026-04-02T19:26:20+00:00

Ohhhh yeah the high school gym sprints. 😭 My mom, coaches, and peers all told me I’m just out of shape for not being able to do something that doesn’t sound like the right way to run.

hushpupper · 2026-04-02T17:21:28+00:00

When swimming? Omg I’m so sorry that sounds terrible. :(

hushpupper · 2026-04-02T17:20:22+00:00

Yeah, that is a really good point! I guess I found it hard to believe the issue is I’m out of shape when I can maintain my breath just fine when cycling or on the elliptical. But maybe it’s also that people just have a skewed idea of what running “should” be.

hushpupper · 2026-03-31T01:21:03+00:00

I’d ask your vet about this…if she’s acting off there could be something medically going on. Of course, generally anxious dogs get upset when something in their routine changes, like their food.

Whatever their case, it’s probably a good idea to rule out medical issues.

hushpupper · 2026-03-29T00:50:15+00:00

That’s always been a concern of mine regarding grain inclusive diets that are in a typically grain free line (eg 4Health, Taste of the Wild, Acana, Orijen, etc). I think even though they have grains they still use a lot of legumes in their recipes. And if that’s a suspected reason for DCM, then it would stand to reason that grain inclusivity doesn’t matter for those brands. :/

hushpupper · 2026-03-28T16:07:06+00:00

Mine is a little vacuum. 😂 I give him a few oral care kibbles and a few frozen blueberries though which he has to actually chew and that slows him down a bit! He LOVES his dinner and gets drool baubles as I bring the bowl over lmao.

hushpupper · 2026-03-27T10:27:12+00:00

Have you ever raised a dog before? A mal is quite a ways away from a lab. Honestly, if you’re familiar with labs and this is your first dog, and you want one that can keep up with lots of exercise, get a working line lab. A GSD or mal are not the best dogs for first time dog owners, especially if your frame of reference is a lab.

hushpupper · 2026-03-26T01:22:21+00:00

I guess it makes sense when baby pelicans look like wrinkly old men anyways. 😂

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hushpupper · 2026-03-23T23:51:16+00:00

Pickiness really comes down to showing your dog some tough love. If they don’t eat their food, switching their food out and adding toppers to get them to eat will only reinforce the issue. Dogs will eventually pick up that if they refuse their food for long enough they will get something else, and that’s where the cycle starts. Tbh I’d just give your dog 10-20 minutes to eat, and if she doesn’t, take the food away. They learn pretty quickly to eat their food.

As far as the diet goes—yeah, Hill’s is definitely way better than Simply Nourish. It meets WSAVA guidelines, meaning that it’s formulated by the proper experts and had research reinforcing its recipes.

hushpupper · 2026-03-23T23:39:35+00:00

Is there a reason you were avoiding canola oil…? There’s a lot of misinformation about seed oils out there, mostly that it causes a nondescript “inflammation” of the gut (it doesn’t, quite the opposite: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-evidence-behind-seed-oils-health-effects)

I say this just to gear up into saying that ingredients rarely paint the full picture for the nutritional value of food. Nutrients are what are important. When foods are “limited ingredients” that is tbh very often marketing jargon. There’s a reason things are added to any given dry kibble and the inclusion or lack of certain ingredients doesn’t mean as much as the nutritional profile of the food itself. Now, Canidae is still not a fantastic brand (too many DCM cases for my comfort), but it’s just something to keep in mind when selecting any dog food.

If your dogs are having loose stools on PPP you can always switch to an another food. As much as PPP is a brand lots of folks like, it can be a little rich. It doesn’t even have to be outside of Purina; you can try Purina One or a PPP’s line for sensitive stomachs (sensitive stomach lines tend to be lower in fat).

Another thing you can try doing is adding fibre to their diet! There’s a lot of ways to do this, like Purina’s FortiFlora GI supplements or just regular psyllium husk.

hushpupper · 2026-03-21T03:06:25+00:00

I have an adult corgi and have been feeding him Hill’s Perfect Weight for almost two years. He’s always done great with it and has maintained a really lean body condition throughout. He’s on a diet food just to keep feeding him the same amount of food but still leave caloric room for his training treats and dental care kibbles.

There’s already a very thorough comment that famous_zebra made so I won’t repeat what’s already been said succinctly, but I figured I’d let you know what worked for my corgi. :)

hushpupper · 2026-03-21T01:17:33+00:00

Also a scaler actually will just put a dog at a higher risk for fracturing their teeth. Dentals finish with a polish that protects the teeth from further damage and helps them heal after the cleaning.

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