[David C]

Hi fellow dog parents,

I currently have both of my dogs (5 month husky/pyrenees and 15 month lab/border collie) on Horizon Legacy after reading great reviews on here. Before that, I had them both on Blue Buffalo (the youngster only for a month and my older one from 3 months through 14 months). I switched them to Horizon Legacy from BB due to the controversy surrounding Blue’s ingredients and my older one having plenty of lose stools on BB.

Having two rather large dogs (lab mix is 80 lbs, pup could get up to 100 – 130) I wanted to go to a more budget-friendly food. So I got a bad of Horizon Complete. After a day I felt uneasy knowing there was a better food out there so I bought Horizon Legacy and put the Complete away. I am down to my last 2 servings of Horizon Legacy. Their stools are hit or miss, though they are semi-soft or very messy (not full-blown diarrhea) about 50-60% of the time. I’m beginning to wonder if BB and Legacy are too high in protein or the grain free is upsetting their stomachs.

After more research I have decided to try Fromm Gold Dog Food. The local store that carries it is closed on Mondays, so I’m going to buy it tomorrow. My question is, with transitioning them, since I’m just about completely out of Legacy, would it be ok to use some of the Horizon Complete that I have to transition them to Fromm? Or do I have to buy a small bad of Legacy since it’s a different food than Complete? Only pain about that is the closest store that carries Legacy is 40 minutes away.

On a side question – how long would you keep a pup on puppy food? I gave my 5 month old puppy BB, then Legacy all-life stages (they were out of the puppy food and all-life stages met the guidelines on this site for puppy foods), but I will probably buy a bag of Fromm Gold Large Breed Puppy for him. I have read that it’s actually not good to keep dogs on puppy food for too long, due to them causing growth at a much faster than normal rate which can lead to hip and other health problems. But opinion seems to be all over the board on this one.

[dianna M]

Hi everyone. I have a 6 month bullmastiff puppy who is a picky eater.. I have tried a few of the top brands like fromm, taste of the wild, dr. Tims. I also tried wellness before I knew about the green tea extract. Anyways the breeders fedd eucanuba which I mixed while transitioning and he ate his food fine no issues the problem is once the transition is mostly the top brand he won’t eat it. My conclusion is he doesn’t like the little baby kibble in all those brands. He eats eucanuba, and wellness no problem and even if mixed with the better brands.

So is there any great brands for large breed puppy with a bigger kibble??? Or is there an ok brand with big kibble that I can always mix with a better small k ibble food. I really want to feed him a great quality food but I am at a loss.

[Lazaro B]

I might try UNDER THE SUN which is made by CANNIDAE. For now, I’m transitioning from NBFD TO WEF HEALTHY WEIGHT. Both foods are affordable for my wallet.

[Jamie P]

We recently rescued a ridgeback mutt (9 weeks old), and I am researching the raw diet options and am so thankful to have found these forums to help me wade through the info available on the web (as well as help me formulate good questions for our vet!).

I’ll be checking out dr. Becker and other concerns listed here. My follow up question about transitioning to raw is– what’s the most cost-effective and convenient way to feed raw? Freeze dried or frozen? The prices are all over the place!

Also, is there a kibble that can (reasonably) mimic the raw diet?

[Jennifer E]

For a variety of reasons, I am in the process of transitioning Alice, my GSP/Redbone Coonhound mix, back to kibble with raw toppers. Alice has been exclusively raw fed for two years. (I no longer believe in the “never feed kibble mixed with raw!” mantra that’s been circulating the internet for years. See this article: http://therawfeedingcommunity.com/2015/01/08/digest-this-kibble-may-actually-digest-faster-than-raw/).

I’ve decided to start with Fromm Prairie Gold and then try Four Star. I’m hoping for information on how long I should expect the process to take. I started Saturday with 1/2 cup of kibble added to a smaller portion of raw. Alice does have a weak digestive system. It’s one of the reasons I decided to go back to kibble. The only time she had nice firm poops was when she got a raw knuckle bone. I was tired of having to put her teeth in danger to give her firm poop. Since Saturday, she has had pudding poops that have gotten firmer each day (so far). I have not yet upped the kibble portion from 1/2 cup. My main concern is knowing when the transition should reasonably be done so that if she still has pudding poops, I will be able to conclude that the food is not agreeing with her vs she needs more time to transition. Any guidance I can get would be so appreciated!! 🙂

• This topic was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Jennifer E. Reason: Added link

[Laura S]

I have a 22 mo. old female frenchie, Stella. I am searching for a new high quality kibble that is grain free and potato free. She has horrific allergies and is on Atopica. Allergy tests were pretty inconclusive with what she is allergic to. She is also a very picky eater. She was on Amicus, which she liked, but about every 2 to 3 weeks she would have awful bouts of diahrrea. So I started transitioning her to Acana Pork & Butternut squash and now she has terrible gas. I have also tried Grandma Lucy’s PureFormance in the past and it made her vomit. I think this food was too heavy handed on the garlic. So I’m not sure what is making her gassy that is in the Acana, perhaps the garbanzo beans??? The Amicus and Acana both have red lentils so it shouldn’t be that. Also, her vet put her on a food trial a while back of Royal Canin Duck & Potato and it completely constipated her and made her really sick. Any suggestions would be welcome. Kind of at a loss at this point as to what to feed her that will not cause ear infections, gas, etc. I do give her a probiotic too.

[Kona]

Hi all. I have been transitioning my dog (11 years old) to raw food over the past month. I have been feeding raw for breakfast and kibble at dinner, mainly because of the costs. However, she’s doing so well on the raw I’ve decided to suck it up and go completely raw (if it means I have to eat out less then that’s what I have to do). I have her on AllProvide turkey and beef. I have a couple questions and was hoping some of the more experienced raw feeders could help:

1) AllProvide packages in 16oz pouches. According to her “ideal” weight (she’s 75 lbs now but I’d like to see her down to 68-70 lbs) the food chart says she should have 22 oz per day. I’d like to keep her on one pouch per day. Any ideas on how I can supplement the additional 6 oz? I feed raw goat’s milk so there are some calories there. She also gets a few “treats” – cucumbers, sweet potato biscuits, but maybe only 100-150 calories. I bought some grass-fed beef organs – liver, kidney, heart. Should I add some of this to her food (AllProvide already includes these though in the food so I wasn’t sure if that would be too much)? Anything else I can add to reach her 22 oz?

2) She seems to digest it too quickly, which on one hand is good since i know she’s digesting it better than kibble but the problem is by late afternoon she will throw up a little bile (ever since she was a puppy this happens whenever her stomach is empty for too long). I’ve been having to put a little kibble in her kong when i leave for work to prevent this. I’d hate to keep adding kibble to her diet since I’ll be going completely raw. Anything I can add or suggestions?

Thanks!

[Alison T]

Hello Everyone!!

My name is Alison. I’m getting a boxer puppy next week. The breeder has been feeding it purina. I want to start feeding raw as soon as possible. How do I make the transition?
Thanks so much for your help!
Alison

[zcRiley]

Wild yeast naturally lives on potatoes, so I avoid all potatoes. It also feeds off of/thrives on oatmeal (in foods AND shampoos).

I transitioned for an entire year thru half of the 5 star listing to realize it was all the different fillers being used. Also, limited ingredient formulas may not have enough nutrition (my pups starved on it). I finally took out chicken, potato, tapioca, egg, and weird fruits/flowers. I chose peas as their only food “filler”. I skipped their dinner then switched the food cold turkey the next morning. Results were within days, not months. I do not agree anymore with these long drawn out transitioning periods, especially when their dog is suffering every second of every hour. It’s like you know the food is bad but you keep giving it to them, makes zero sense.

[jakes mom]

OK guys, time for a raw update. Long story short, I’ve failed. Still only have one cat who will eat it at all. I’ve tried 3 different probiotics. They refuse to eat anything with 2 of the brands mixed in. The third brand has helped with Dustin’s sloppy poos, at least. I’ve tried raw and cooked a bit. I’ve re-read all the tips on raw sites. Watched videos by Dr. Becker about transitioning cats, very interesting if you haven’t seen them. She says cats have addictive personalities, very hard to make changes. Some cats take a year!
I just think my guys, all being geriatric, are too set in their ways. If they were younger I would persevere and keep at it. I’m concerned about them not eating well as they try to avoid any bites of canned that may have a bit of raw mixed in. I’ve weighed them and they’ve all lost a few ounces and that’s not acceptable to me. They’ve made it to ages 15-20 so I guess I won’t rock the boat. Jake will be a happy boy. I will use up the raw I have from this shipment, about 20#, geez! on him, and the one cat who likes it. Dang, really wanted this to work!

[Smokey Dog]

We’ve had our dog a week and have been trying to transition him into a partially raw diet. I have fed him chicken, eggs, yogurt, spinach, and BLUE dog kibble the last couple days. He has had an allergic reaction, but I’m not sure if it’s from something in the grass in the backyard or because of his food. He doesn’t itch that much but he has small to large red spots on his paws, stomach, and ears. We thought it was going away, until last night when he seemed to have an especially bad reaction to something (I had recently fed him part of a raw Perdue chicken). Could anyone give me some advice?

(PS he also hasn’t had solid stool since we got him, but I’m not sure if that’s just because he is transitioning from one food to a different type of food)

[Smokey Dog]

We’ve had our dog a week and have been trying to transition him into a partially raw diet. I have fed him chicken, eggs, yogurt, spinach, and BLUE dog kibble the last couple days. He has had an allergic reaction, but I’m not sure if it’s from something in the grass in the backyard or because of his food. He doesn’t itch that much but he has small to large red spots on his paws, stomach, and ears. We thought it was going away, until last night when he seemed to have an especially bad reaction to something (I had recently fed him part of a Perdue chicken). Could anyone give me some advice?

(PS he also hasn’t had solid stool since we got him, but I’m not sure if that’s just because he is transitioning from one food to a different type of food)

[Christie]

I know that feeding labels on dog food are just suggestions based on weight and estimation of caloric intake, but my dogs eat nowhere near the amounts on the food.

I’ve been transitioning my two dogs (6 year old american bulldog mix – 110 pounds, 6 month old Mega Mutt™- 20 pounds) from Organix to Whole Earth Farms and the Feeding Guidelines says that the larger dog should eat 5 3/4 cups per day and the puppy 2- 4.5 cups per day (at the bottom of the guideline is says that puppies can eat 2x -3x of the listed “adult recommendation”)

It’s harder now since I’m transitioning between the old food and the new food so they won’t have digestive upset. But even before this, the dogs didn’t consume as much as Organix recommended (2¾ – 3¼ cups for the large dog, 2 ½ – 4 cups for the puppy).

From their official websites:
Organix
(Adult Food) “Calorie Content (calculated): 3,570 kcal ME/kg, 394.0 kcal ME/cup”
(Puppy Food) “Calorie Content (calculated): 3,628 kcal ME/kg, 400.0 kcal ME/cup”

Whole Earth Farms
(All Life Stage Food) “3500 kcal/kg – 1 cup (100 grams) provides 350 kcal of metabolizable energy, calculated value.”

The dogs are supposed to consume X amount of calories to maintain good weight (adult) and grow (puppy), but if they’re not eating the recommended (smaller) amount of the Organix, how am I going to get them to eat even more of the WEF?

I mix in a couple of spoonfuls (about 1/4 can for both dogs) of the canned WEF in each meal or else they’re not very interested. And I know you’re not supposed to leave dry food that’s mixed with wet out for very long, so I’ve wound up wasted all this extra food that they won’t eat.

When I first rescued the puppy (two months ago), I discovered last month that she had tapeworms. She seemed petite (my vet’s words) for her size (her DNA results came out so mixed that there’s nothing to really compare her to) and she was very hungry all the time. We’ve attributed that to the worms. Now, after treatment, she has definitely grown in size and weight and I’ve stopped free eating dry kibble and now feed both dogs two meals a day. She’s not as voraciously hungry as before (she would eat her puppy food and then eat the adult food in my other dog’s bowl…the primary reason that I’m switching to a food that is good for both of them to eat).

Both dogs probably eat about half of what is recommended daily. Is this problematic? Both are fairly active. I try not to give too many treats, and only after meal time. I figure that as long as they seems healthy and aren’t losing weight that they’re eating enough.

Can the guidelines be that far off the mark?

[Christie]

She vomited 6 times within the course of about 45 minutes or so– then was set for the rest of the night. She drank some water this morning (not too much) and nibbled on a bit of her regular dry food. And she was playful and rolling around with my other dog outside this morning.

I only put about 20% of the new food in her dish last night. But it must have upset her stomach because I noticed some grass in the vomit. And she was whiny and attention seeking earlier in the night before she became sick.

I know that transitioning can sometimes be a difficult process, and some dogs go through it with no issue and some dogs don’t tolerate any change well.

I’m not going to give up on transitioning, but I might put it on hold until after the weekend as I am going to be puppy sitting and I really don’t want to worry about possible vomit on top of worrying about my 110 pound giant eating this 10 pound pup.

I hope she’s not allergic or intolerant of any of the WEF ingredients. I did notice that she was rubbing her face and pawing at her ears last night. And I did check this morning and her ears, while a bit dirty inside (my dogs love play fighting on the one area of my backyard that’s all topsoil), they weren’t red or inflamed or anything suggesting sickness. And she was trying (unsuccessfully) to bite at her tail. All symptoms that I read this morning of possible food allergies. I thought the Turkey and Duck recipe was the safest bet.

I have been transitioning both dogs from free eating dry kibble with a canned treat each night to two meals/day. And I did only start to mix the canned with the dry kibble and both dogs finished their meals rather quickly. Definitely a change over how they normally eat. So maybe it’s a combo of the food itself and how quickly they eat it.

Hopefully it was just a one off and she’ll transition to WEF without any other issues.

Thanks again for all the help!

[Christie]

She vomited 6 times within the course of about 45 minutes or so– then was set for the rest of the night. She drank some water this morning (not too much) and nibbled on a bit of her regular dry food. And she was playful and rolling around with my other dog outside this morning.

I only put about 20% of the new food in her dish last night. But it must have upset her stomach because I noticed some grass in the vomit. And she was whiny and attention seeking earlier in the night before she became sick.

I know that transitioning can sometimes be a difficult process, and some dogs go through it with no issue and some dogs don’t tolerate any change well.

I’m not going to give up on transitioning, but I might put it on hold until after the weekend as I am going to be puppy sitting and I really don’t want to worry about possible vomit on top of worrying about my 110 pound giant eating this 10 pound pup.

I hope she’s not allergic or intolerant of any of the WEF ingredients. I did notice that she was rubbing her face and pawing at her ears last night. And I did check this morning and her ears, while a bit dirty inside (my dogs love play fighting on the one area of my backyard that’s all topsoil), they weren’t red or inflamed or anything suggesting sickness. And she was trying (unsuccessfully) to bite at her tail. All symptoms that I read this morning of possible food allergies. I thought the Turkey and Duck recipe was the safest bet.

I have been transitioning both dogs from free eating dry kibble with a canned treat each night to two meals/day. And I did only start to mix the canned with the dry kibble and both dogs finished their meals rather quickly. Definitely a chance over how they normally eat. So maybe it’s a combo of the food itself and how quickly they eat it.

Hopefully it was just a one off and she’ll transition to WEF without any other issues.

Thanks again for all the help!

[Christie]

Hi everyone.

I have a 6 year old American Bulldog Mix and a 6 month old Catahoula mix. I’ve been going back and forth trying to find a quality food brand to feed them. Right now they eat Castor & Pollux Organix Adult and Organix Puppy. And they share a can of Castor & Pollux wet food once a day.

Both Petco and Petsmart have essentially rid themselves of the brand. And while I can buy online, I’m essentially looking for a food that I can feed them both.

Both Merrick Grain Free (rated on here at 5 stars) and Whole Earth Farms (rated here at 4 stars) offer dry and wet All Life Stages foods. I know Merrick owns WEF. Is there a big difference in quality between the two? There’s an approximate $15 difference in price between them and I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth it. Or it WEF is a decent brand.

My dogs aren’t happy with the C&P food. Before that they were on Ideal Balance dry (which they also didn’t want to eat). I’ve spent a lot of time transitioning from one brand to the next and I’m hoping that Merrick (or WEF) will be a quality food they will look forward to eating. I know that big brands fill their foods with ingredients dogs love to eat and sometimes it’s harder to get a dog to adapt to a higher grade food.

My mother recently adopted a puppy and the shelter gave her a bag of Purina Smart One Puppy. She gobbles it up and won’t eat anything else. I’ve already schooled her on their questionable ingredients. I fed a small amount to my very picky eating puppy and I was not surprised to find the bowl empty 1 minute later and that she was literally licking it clean. It would be easy to feed her that (my vet recommends Purina Pro Plan and says he feeds his dogs that). But I know what’s in the bag and I’ve already attempted to feed my large dog their Pro Plan Large Breed dry a year ago on the vet’s suggestion, only to find nasty meal worms crawling around inside the storage container I had the food in and my dog’s food bowl (I know this has more to do with packaging/shipping than production, but still. I’ve since read up on the brand and am not impressed.

Merrick seems to be a decent brand of food. And on paper WEF seems just as good. Both are readily available at my local Petco and online. But it Merrick brand worth the extra $15/bag over WEF?

• This topic was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by Christie.

[aquariangt]

Depends on the dog. The first couple times transitioning you can start blending a little at a time in. After 1-2 transitions you can probably just go cold turkey. The only time I mix is if I don’t have enough kibble for a full meal and I mix a bit of the next bag. Otherwise I open up, and use the new bag.

[David H]

I have 2 labs and 1 lab / boxer mix. Recently switched from science diet to blue buffalo. I know, there are still better choices but that is for a later day. I mixed the remaining science diet with BB about 20/80% and fed my dogs. Two of them are doing fine but one has vomited. Should I buy some more science diet and make it more like 50:50 or switch the one with a weak stomach to rice with a little of the 20:80 mix or???

[Pitlove]

Hi Jeaneene-

Everyone here has offered good advice and given good suggestions. I wanted to touch on a couple points that people brought up and elaborate on them. Firstly the Beneful…unfortuntely Beneful is well known as a very poor quality food filled with artifical dyes, corn, by-products as the only source of animal protein and propylene glycol which is the second cousin to the main ingredient in anti-freeze. Your transition to Blue Buffalo was met with diaherra because like others said, when dogs each the same food for several years they no longer produce the healthy flora (bacteria) in their gut to be able to handle a dietary change. This is why many dogs switching foods need to be transitioned for much longer than the normal 7 day period. Now, I don’t consider Blue to be that great of an all natural food, but it is a much better food than Beneful and that will also contribute to diaherra. A lot of times dogs bodies will detox poor quality foods when fed a better one.

My dog used to have a “sensitive stomach” as most people call it and once I started to give him a digestive supplement during food transitions and kefir/yogurt as a probiotic his whole life changed. I change his food constantly now with no digestive upset what so ever. Lately hes even had one food for breakfast and something different for dinner.

Second point I’d like to make is that the theory about dry food cleaning a dogs teeth is a myth and was debunked a long time ago. Dogs teeth are carnivorus and are meant to tear and rip flesh, they dont have the grinding motion humans do and therefore often don’t chew their food enough for the dry to benefit the teeth. I feed both wet and dry and brush my dogs teeth regularly and his teeth are in good condition.

Lastly, concerning the UTI. I have only experienced it with a cat and yes he was put on the feline Urinary SO dry, which I now find a strange recommendation as the top reason for crystals is eating all dry food. Adding wet to the diet even if it is the RC canned food would keep his system flushed as someone suggested as well. If you are planning to continue feeding the dry I would highly suggest adding a canned food as well and also when the vet tells you he needs to be on an rX diet for life, that is wrong info and a way to get your money. You can certainly in time transition him back onto a normal HEALTHY diet. I would suggest something other than Beneful and transitioning very very slow.

I wish you a lot of luck dealing the the UTI though, I know how awful it can be to see your baby in pain like that.

[Edward B]

PitLove,

Sorry that’s kind of funny though as I’m transitioning my dogs to Merrick dry from Blue Buffalo. Researching dog food can be a nightmare in itself but i realized something in the process. Not every dog is the same, what works well for my dog might not do so well with yours. You kind of have to tone some of the discussion out and know your dogs well and see what they do best on. All the higher end dog foods still have their own issues and you still have to keep an eye out for things that aren’t acceptable to you as a pet owner. I completely agree that you not only have to know the food but the company and their practices as well.

[Pitlove]

I’ve read too that texture and even shape can be a huge factor for cats. maybe there is a way to make the raw mixture more chunky like canned food? im not really sure. it sounds like you have a lot of the difficult parts out of the way. i had such an easy time transitioning my kitten to wet food. she would get dry in the morning and canned at night and she actually PREFERED the canned food! it was awesome. she only weighs 6lbs at 8mos. Very small for her age but not underweight at all. vet told me she was a “teacup”??

darwins site recommended for her age feeding 4%. idk if thats right but it said about 2lbs a week if I remember correctly.

[Pitlove]

jakes mom- Keep at it! I was watching Dr.Beckers video on transitioning cats to raw and from what she said, if they have a dry food addiction or are just stubborn it can takes months up to a year to get them switched to raw! She has great tips for it in the video though if you want to check it out.

Patience seems to be the key with cats. Maybe they will be smart and take Dustins lead on this one!

[jakes mom]

Well, somebody ate the raw I put out for their dinner. Don’t know who or how many. I put a spoonful on each plate along with their usual canned. They all looked at it and sniffed, then looked at me very suspicious! lol! I didn’t see anybody even take a nibble. I left them alone and went to look again later on. The raw was gone!
I agree with their logic, too. But as I told them in my email, I don’t want to pay for something they won’t eat. Don’t mind giving something from the sample pack to Jake if the cats don’t like it but certainly won’t waste money buying it again. We can always supplement the raw with occasional cans for variety if necessary.
BTW in case you didn’t notice, the site has tips for transitioning to raw. Pretty much common sense, but worth a read so you’ll be ready to go when you get your samples.

[Pitlove]

Linda- Rotties! i love them. we also have a Rottweiler along with our Pitbull a chocolate lab and an English springer spaniel. Sam, our Rottweiler (technically he is my boyfriends parents dog, so I dont get to control what he eats unfortunetly but i still think of him as my dog since I give him the most attention as hes the outside dog) is 2 probably almost 3 years old now. The bf’s parents have had all the dogs on Purina ONE lamb and rice since forever. The family dog has always been Rottweilers and unfortunely all but maybe one passed away at around 8 years old. Cancer, e-coli poisoning, you name it its happened to our Rottweilers. If it were up to me and I got to choose his food I would feed him the way I feed my Pitbull who is also prone to the problems that large breed dogs have as he is 66lbs at a year old. I do what is called a rotational diet with my dog. I certainly have him on Orijen’s Adult Dog and after that bag is through i’ve got EVO lined up next for him to try. I also feed him wet food. Now that your Rottie is far past the point where you have to worry about the calcium levels not being too high or too low to prevent rapid growth thus causing many different skeletal related disorders, you can kinda give him a nice variety of foods. If you are on a budget as someone who is retired and need to stick with kibbles, definitely go for the 5 star rated ones. I know a lot of people on here have issues with Taste of the Wild. I BELIEVE its manufacture by Diamond which has a long recall history and a terrible reputation. You want to make sure that the kibble is as species appropriate as you can get if you, like myself, can’t feed a raw diet, which would be the healthiest way for any dog to eat. Species appropriate for ANY dog of any breed being high in animal protein, at least 30% or more, moderate in fats, and low in carbs. Foods that I like and have and will use in my rotation for my pitbull are Orijen (all of them), Wellness CORE, Nature’s Variety, Merrick (GF only), EVO, Grandma Mae’s GF. I’m still working on my list but that is what I have so far.

As for raw, if it is something you are interested in, PLEASE make sure you do A LOT of research before feeding raw because it is possible to make your dog very unhealthy by not feeding a COMPLETE and BALANCED raw diet.

Also to help with the transitions to the food, you can add probiotics to their diet, like canned pumpkin and kefir. I also use a supplement thats premade in a power form made by a very great company called The Honest Kitchen. They use human grade ingredients and make their food in a human grade factory. Its called Perfect Form. Probiotics help build healthy flora(bacteria) in your dogs gut to make transitioning to a new food pain free for you and your dog. Just like with humans dogs should be able to eat a different food or protein every meal if not every couple months without digestive upset. Dogs whos stomachs are already sick and lacking those bacteria that make their gut strong due to being fed the same food day in and day out are the ones who get loose stool and vomitting when you switch their food. Instantly the owner blames the food and switches them back and never switches the food again under the claim that their dog has whats commonly called a “sensitive stomach”.

The joint supplements are a great idea. Glucosamine is a great supplement for joint and hip problems. Cancer, I feel, and I think others do too can have a lot to do with a poor diet. A lot of poor grade dogs foods do contain ingredients that are carcinogenic even for humans and without variety in their diet they are being fed those toxins for years and eventually is catches up with them. The rotational diet helps prevent that and the build up of allergies as well. If your Rottie is already allergic to a protein source like chicken, you are going to want to be very careful with the food you choose as many have chicken meal or chicken fat hidden in the list of ingredients. Its all about reading ingredients but more importantly HOW to read the ingredients and the GA, which is why this website is so helpful. But like many here including Dr. Mike will tell you, its a jumping off point. Once you find a good food, you want to look further into the company that makes it, the co-packers, the recall history etc and make sure that you’re not being fooled into thinking its a good food based on the ingredients. Also knowing where the company sources from is important, what with all the problems we have been having with China lately. Avoid China. Thailand on the other hand is ok.

I really hope that I’ve helped a little and that others will contribute or correct me if I’m wrong about any of my points. I love Rotties so I’m glad to be able to give you some direction with his health!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 7 months ago by Pitlove.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 7 months ago by Pitlove.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Jamie F:
I can understand a busy life with family obligations! Making sure your dogs are eating properly can certainly add to the already stressful routine of taking care of your family. However, I also hope you re-consider eliminating canned foods. Here is a post with information about the benefits of canned foods:
/choosing-dog-food/canned-or-dry-dog-food/

It’s possible the canned food does not agree with them or maybe you are over-feeding a little. When you add canned or fresh foods reduce the amount of kibble to compensate for the added calories. You could even alternate between fresh foods and canned. If you still decide to eliminate the canned I suggest you continue to add boiled chicken or other dog appropriate meat to their diet. Fresh foods are a healthy addition to a kibble based diet. To keep your dogs’ diet balanced when feeding unbalanced foods, such as boiled chicken, be sure to keep the amount to no more than 10% of their daily caloric intake. Here’s info on adding fresh foods to a kibble diet:
http://dogaware.com/diet/freshfoods.html
You can find info on food calories here:
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/

As pitlove has already mentioned, consider feeding a rotational diet for variety. Look for several kibbles with different protein and carb sources. Check out the four and five star rated foods on DFA. If you buy from pet stores take the lists with you to help narrow down your choices.
/dog-food-reviews/dry/4-star/
/dog-food-reviews/dry/5-star/
Here’s some info on rotational feeding:
/frequently-asked-questions/diet-rotation-for-dogs/

L M’s suggestion for soaking the kibble and adding broth would be another option if you decide to stop feeding canned.

The Honest Kitchen Perfect Form is a supplement that contains ingredients to help with digestive upsets and firm loose stools, however it’s not a probiotic. Canned plain pumpkin helps with both loose stools or constipation.
3.2 oz Perfect Form Herbal Digestive Supplement
http://www.petmd.com/dog/slideshows/nutrition/3-health-benefits-pumpkin-dogs

Probiotics contain helpful live bacteria that may help with digestion. Adding a probiotic to their diet may also help with their gas and with transitioning to new foods. You could try something as simple as plain yogurt that contains live cultures or plain kefir; be sure they contain no artificial sweeteners. Here’s some info on feeding yogurt & kefir:
http://ottawavalleydogwhisperer.blogspot.com/2012/05/foods-rich-in-probiotics-beneficial-for.html
Here’s some info on probiotics:
http://www.dogaware.com/articles/suppsdigestive.html#probiotics

I have used yogurt, kefir, and Swanson’s Ultra Soil Based Organisms when my dog had skin and fur issues in the past. He is doing well now so I don’t supplement with any at this time. I currently feed Actipet Ultra Probiotic to my cat for his skin and digestion issues. It has helped him a great deal. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Pitlove]

Hi codexstark- C4C did a great job answering you. I also will give you some input as well. From the research I’ve done UTI’s are mainly caused by the build up of struvite crystals that will block the urethra. I have had a male cat in the past that ended up having a UTI. He ended up on a prescription food, however through my recent research I’ve discovered that a leading cause is a lack of moisture in their diet (i.e all dry food diet). Cats by nature don’t drink enough water. Dr. Pierson, who is the vet who started catinfo.org which C4C mentioned says on her site that she would rather see a cat eating a wet food full of by-products like Friskies than to ever see a cat eating dry food. I personally have never heard anything about litter causing UTI’s, so that is new info to me. Can you give a source for that info? Was it your vet or someone else or something you had read on the internet? I’m very interested for more info on that topic.

My kitten has been doing well with that litter, however she has peed outside the litter box about 4 times now. It hasn’t happened in a few days though. (fingers crossed)
C4C had a good idea about transitioning to different cat litter, however I personally have never done that. I never even thought about it like that. Ive always just put the new litter down and I have yet to have a cat that wont take to the new litter instantly.

I’m using the Dr.Esley’s Precious Cat which is a clay litter with very little dust. Its amazing at clumping all the urine which was not true of the Blue Buffalo walnut litter I had her on before. Dr. Pierson suggests the Dr. Esleys because of the clumping power of it. It’s also unscented which encourages litter box use. Be sure to clean the litter box at least 2 times a day and spot clean if needed.

I should have made my own litter box honestly. I ended up with a large one from my work (petco). its been working fine but I like the idea of the storage tub litter box a little more.

I hope me and C4C have been some help. Keep us updated!

[aquariangt]

I’ve never understood why people pop on with a comment like that, L M. Do I agree on puppy age? Yes. But she has the puppy, so your comment is moot.

Pitlove gave you a ton of great information. Keep the pup on the purina for a week or two to make sure she adjusts well, then start transitioning. Definitely pick 2-3 4-5 star foods, and start her on a rotation diet early. I am a big Fromm guy and almost always use Fromm Puppy Gold as my go to first transition food, it’s easily tolerated, not usually a huge jump from what the breeder had them on protein wise, and is a great company to boot.

Good luck

[Lisa H]

We just adopted a 7 week old mini dachshund puppy. She is our second mini dachshund. We lost our 13 year old mini doxie this past December to pancreatitis. We were heartbroken and finally decided we were ready to love another. So we are a little nervous and maybe a little overprotective right now. The breeder sent her home with a bag of Purina Dry Puppy Chow and a can of Retriever brand canned puppy food. We knew we wanted to switch her to a higher quality dry puppy food. The sales clerk at PetSmart recommended Royal Canin Dry Puppy food for Dachshunds. I see on here it is only rated 3 stars. She is still so tiny and only eating a very little amount at a time. We are transitioning her from the Purina to the Royal Canin by mixing a little of the new with the old, a little more each feeding. She is not drinking water yet out of a bowl so we are soaking her dry food in water to soften it and to get water in her. I just want to feed her the best we can. Should I switch to a 5 star rated food and should we stick with the a breed specific food? She is the runt of the litter and a still a little wobbly on her feet. The breeder said to keep food available to her at all times right now which we are doing. We try to get her to eat every time she wakes up from a nap and she does most of the time eat a little each time. Any recommendations or advice would be appreciated.

[Lila S]

We’re going through some food issues with our rat terrier. He’s 1 year old and 11 lbs. I’ve tried a few different dry foods, most recently Natural Balance Ultra and Merrick Grain Free. He’s done okay on them, though he’d always have some inconsistency with his poops, which I attributed to a variety of treats for training or other treats (no more Greenies for him).

Recently he had some pretty bad GI troubles, and right now he’s on an antibiotic, a probiotic/stool firmer, and the Science Diet Low Fat GI Restore food. He’s doing fine, but I’m going to be transitioning him back to the Merrick Grain Free soon, but I’m not sure if that’s what I want to stick with.

Problem is that he’s picky and sometimes he just won’t eat his kibble. If I add some wet food he’ll eat, but often leave the kibble. Mixing Stella & Chewy’s in with water has worked the best. But I’m worried about the S&C’s fat content, because his GI problems were mostly attributed to too much fat. And apparently he does have a pretty sensitive system, so changing things up too much will keep causing problems.

On top of all this, in a month or so we’re taking in another dog from a family member who is moving and can’t take her: a 6 year old min pin, also about 11 lbs. She’s currently eating Iams, and I’d like to transition her to something better, and also ideally feed both dogs the same thing. I definitely don’t want her diet to be too high in fat because she’s getting less active.

Any recommendations for a good small breed (or small kibble-size) food that would be suitable for both of them with their different ages and energy levels? Also topper options to keep them interested without being disruptive to their systems?

[Bobby dog]

Labs:
4 Health is a decent food for cats, however mine don’t care for the brand. My one senior female will eat the GF Whitefish and Chicken dinner occasionally, but I really don’t like feeding a fish based food wet or dry too often. If I do, I prefer smaller species because they are likely to contain less contaminates. Wellness and Tiki cat have recipes that use either sardines or menhaden that I prefer.

pitlove:
This is a long thread and you would have to have the time to read through our trials and tribulations of transitioning our cats to a more species appropriate diet. The regular posters on this thread have written about spending several years trying to transition to other foods. We mostly have dry food addicts; not a healthy form of food for kitties. My cats grew up eating grocery store foods and like what they like. They are 7, 10, 12, and two are 17 years old. It is very dangerous, even life threatening, for cats to go on hunger strikes. I for one am not willing to risk my cats life if it comes down to a hunger strike. So rather than dwelling on the negatives of Purina I keep my cats eating consistently for good health and keep searching for other foods to try. As far as Purina products go I have a list of a few recipes from different lines I feed that IMO have the least offensive ingredients for my cats. Some have little or no fish, none have glutens, most have no added colors, some no grains, all are under 11% carbs for UT health, and probably other things I have forgotten about. Since wet foods make up a majority of their diet any food I feed must be 12% DMB carbs or under for their UT health.

A quote from Dr. Pierson, DVM of catinfo.org:
“…I would much rather see a cat eat any canned food versus any dry food – regardless of quality level of the canned or dry food. This includes Friskies, 9-Lives, Fancy Feast, etc., canned options.”

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition

My cats have transitioned to about 3/4 of their diets being canned foods. Wet foods are the healthiest for cats. My cats have passed all wellness visits (blood work included) over the last several years and the couple that were chubby have lost the extra weight. Paying attention to the recipes regardless of the quality of the brand has made a significant difference in their health.

I feed them a variety of commercial raw, canned, and dry foods. I only have one cat that is not finicky so my dog gets any leftovers from a new food that does not go over well with them. If you would like my list of what I call my cats’ “grocery store foods” just post and I will be happy to share. I also have a list of premium foods wet/dry/commercial raw if you are interested. And, welcome to the Cat Rec thread. The cat lovers on DFA post here about any cat topic!

Here’s my favorite cat sites:

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition

Home

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/
http://www.felinecrf.org/
The last site is for a specific feline health issue; I have found the site helpful in regards to foods to try.

[Pitlove]

Funny enough the only time my dog really had a problem switching foods was when we went from Blue Wilderness to Nature’s Variety Instinct. I switched him recently from NV to Orijen and I started out transitioning him the normal way and then when I got to 50/50 I just ended up giving him all Orijen and he was fine. I’m thinking about adding The Honest Kitchen Perfect Form supplement to his diet and trying to just switch him to his next brand without transitioning. I would love for him to have the proper flora to switch cold turkey.

Chewy.com actually ended up being cheaper than Petco where I work even with my discount! Really nice. Thankfully I only have to feed a dog and a cat and my little kitty is my champion eater as I call her. She is not picky at all unlike my dog. Trying out Weruva and Tiki Cat for the kitty from chewy.com as well. 🙂

[Bobby dog]

You’re welcome Andrea! Sounds like she’s getting some good human foods. It can get expensive buying canned foods. A few that I buy are a dollar/can and are DFA rated 4-5 stars. Just remember to reduce the kibble if you decide (I hope you do!) to add wet foods to her diet. As C4C suggested Freshpet is a good choice too. If she is doing well on TOTW try to keep the total daily calories about the same with whatever food(s) you try.

You will always see good and bad comments under each review because each dog is different. I think the only way you can know for sure about a food is to try it. I have fed many different brands of food and I have never had any of the bad experiences other people have had thank goodness. The worst thing that’s happened is Bobby wouldn’t eat the food. Take your time transitioning to a new food; as long as she needs. I understand your concerns about the increase in protein. Plain canned pumpkin (not pie filling) is helpful if she develops loose stools. You can freeze small portions to keep on hand. Add a tablespoon to her meal or feed separately if that works better.
http://www.petmd.com/dog/slideshows/nutrition/3-health-benefits-pumpkin-dogs

https://www.tumblr.com/drjeandoddspethealthresource/49201678233/pumpkin-diarrhea-dog-cat

Here’s a dried pumpkin supplement for digestive upsets:
http://www.dydusa.com/firmup_pumpkin/

Many on DFA also recommend this one too:
3.2 oz Perfect Form Herbal Digestive Supplement

[Andrea H]

Thank you for your lengthy answer! I greatly appreciate it. I’ll check out the links. I’ll also think more about serving wet with her dry. I just hate it, it’s messy and if you want to feed a good brand it’s expensive. We do offer her quite a lot of healthy human food…she’s a lover of salad (as long as the lettuce is crunchy and not wilted, lol) and loves all types of fruits. I add them quite often to her food and of course it seems to be the only way to get her to eat some of the kibble. I have never had a problem with TOTW (aside from her not being excited about it) healthwise and her coat is beautiful. She’s healthy except for the CCL tear, we’ve been quite lucky with her. I’ve read so many reviews my head is spinning. Some are reviewed well but then when I read actual comments from users many of them make me think twice. I was going to get some merrick grain free tomorrow to mix in her TOTW (of course just bought a new 28 lb bag) and see if she likes it. If she seems more interested I’ll probably try transitioning her over to the Merrick. That seems to have a better review from actual users. I just worry that the protein content is quite a bit higher than the TOTW, I don’t want my dog to start getting digestive problems…she does have problems with some dairy, poor girl can’t eat ice cream but yogurt she LOVES! I guess it’s a lot of trial and error! Being she’s 8, I want her to enjoy her next (hopefully) 8 years! Thanks again!

[mswaynay]

Hey guys, I have been watching/stalking this forum for awhile and it has helped me a lot transitioning my dogs to a full raw diet. One of my dogs completely ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and is in TPLO surgery right now, he should be coming home tomorrow, fingers crossed!

My dogs are fed half commercial raw grinds/nuggets, mainly Northwest Naturals and Columbia River Naturals, switching between meats such as lamb, beef, quail. The other half of their diet RMB that I find good deals on at the grocery store or local farmers (mainly chicken and turkey). We live in a small house so sadly don’t have room for a massive freezer yet! As far as supplements, they are already being given fish oil, green lipped mussel and K9 Level 5000. They also get sardines and local duck eggs several times a week. Thankfully he will not be put on antibiotics so thats one less thing to worry about. I did buy a exercise pen for him to be in for the next several weeks and was thinking for some of his meals I could use a Kong stuffed with grinds, frozen it would provide a pretty stimulating meal.

So any advice on what supplements, types of raw food may help his recovery, tips to keep him entertained, etc would be much appreciated! I’m sitting at home with all my other animals bored our of our minds waiting to hear from the vet!!

[Trout-lily]

thank you for your help on the chewing. I ended up finding the bully sticks at a local farm store and she loves them. I also found creative ways online on how to build a kong treat. So far, so good on the chewing!

Regarding the giardia, it’s not back but she’s getting loose stools. Our vet recommended ‘the science diet: I/D’ for 10 days with a tablespoon of yogurt, which really helped, but now that we’re transitioning back to the Earthborn Holistic: Coastal Catch her stools are getting progressively worse. The vet really zapped her belly with 2 different antibiotics, so is this food to hard on her tummy? Should I switch to the Holistic select or Fromm? I definitely know that little bag of SD I/D wasn’t enough to transition her verrryy sssllloowwlly back to the Coastal Catch, so I’m also wondering if this is our issue.

Thanks in advance for all of your help. I really don’t know what I would do without this forum as I work through issues with my first fur baby!

[aquariangt]

I would buy a variety of cans to make sure your dogs like them before buying a case to make sure they like the stuff. If your dogs arent used to transitioning i would also go slow, and mix in everything, both toppers and dry, slowly. I can switch kibbles and toppers at will, because my dogs are used to variety, but you sometimes have to work up to that point.

I’d give Whole Earth Farms a call and see if you can be refunded for the unopened cans

[Ashley M]

Hello,

I have a six month old lab puppy who seems to have food allergy or food intolerance. We started him on Nature’s Balance Large Breed Puppy and he would get awful tummy aches to the point of curling up on the floor and crying in pain for extended periods of time.

After several trips to the vet along with x-rays, blood tests, and an ultrasound trying to figure out what was wrong and being told repeatedly by the vet that it was not food intolerance or allergy I asked her to please recommend a starter food that they would give a dog who does have food intolerance. She went ahead and prescribed Hills Science Diet Branch I/D. Its been two months and Jaxon (my puppy) hasn’t had any of those awful tummy aches since.

That said, Jaxon is still not on the right food in my opinion. I feel in the long run Science Diet is a poor brand of food (the ingredients don’t strike me as high quality) and the ID formula isn’t right for a large breed puppy. I am terrified to transition him to anything else though and don’t know where to begin. My vet of course recommended Science Diet or Royal Canine Large Breed puppy. After thoroughly reading about both recommendations on this website I definitely do not want to feed Jaxon either of those. Can anyone give me a recommendation of other foods to research for a puppy who has a sensitive tummy or food allergy even though I have not been able to determine what exact ingredient causes this? Or possibly point me to a website that has more information on how to navigate through feeding a puppy with food issues? Thank you!

[crazy4cats]

Hi Anne C-
It is very hard to say what may have caused the diarrhea, but my guess would also be the lamb bones. Especially if he was fine fine up until you gave the bones to him. Is it the first time he had the bones? Did they have marrow in them? Just like L M mentioned, when I give my dogs marrow bones, they will have loose stools after because the marrow is very high in fat.

After an episode of diarrhea, it is best not to feed the dog for a while to let their tummy rest. Here is a website that may be helpful. It gives several tips on digestive issues: http://www.dogaware.com/health/digestive.html

I have two 3 1/2 year old lab mix dogs. They have the same issue every now and then and sometimes I never know what they got into. They are very naughty! LOL!

In fact, I just had it happen and I fed them very overcooked mushy white rice with lots of water and boiled chicken breast with some plain canned pumpkin for a few meals. I am now transitioning back to their normal food and adding some Perfect Form made by the Honest Kitchen and they are doing much better.

Write back and let us know how your dog is doing. Good luck!

[Akari_32]

It’s very easy! Once you start getting near the end of a bag (say a weeks worth of food left) you buy the next food you are wanting to try, and mix the new food with the old food, increasing the amount of the new food given as much as your dog will allow. Some dogs need slower transitions than others, just watch his stool, and as long is stays relatively firm, you’re good. Eventually, you will be able to switch the dog with little to no transition at the end of each bag. I’m fairly sure mine no longer any transitioning period, but I do it anyways, for a couple days at least.

[Abe A]

First I want to thank Mike for setting up this site. Great job! We have a 1 year old puppy who is healthy. We have been feeding her Blue Wilderness product and she recently stopped eating two meals a day and going to 1 meal a day. We switch per the recommendation of friends, a local pet store, and the vet said…try a raw meat diet.

We purchased Orijen Adult Food Kibble and then Stella and Chewy raw food. WOW!!!!! she devoured the food over the past three days.

Questions:

1.) We are thinking about transitioning her to Raw meat diet. Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

2.) Is it ok to give her a combo kibble/raw meat in the morning meal and then a full raw meat dinner? Frankly, I do not think she even cares about the dry kibble food. She wants the meat.

Thank you,

Abe

[crazy4cats]

I hope so! I share a little banana with my labbies every morning. They love them too. 🙂

Glad to hear your dog is transitioning to the new food well!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 9 months ago by crazy4cats.

[Dori]

William M. Your plan sounds good to me. Don’t forget with transitioning for the first time like his please be patient. Don’t try to rush the process or you’ll just wind up have to slow it down anyway. Your goal is to transition to a better food while all the while not upsetting his gut too much while doing the switch. Good Luck. Keep us posted.

[Dori]

Hi William. Glad you are going to change her diet to a grain free food. Most dogs do better with a high quality protein, modern to high quality fat, low carb diet. Also do your best to avoid high starch’s like white rice, white potatoes, etc. That will help with seizures. Please try to avoid any foods that have rosemary or rosemary extract in them as rosemary is known to trigger seizures in dogs that are prone to seizures. If you will type in Seizures on the forum search box there are a couple of forums on seizures.

Since she has been on one food all of her life, I would start very very slowly by removing a few of the old kibbles and add some of the new food. Typically you can start (some say) by switching out 1/4 of her old food with 1/4 of her new food. You can add some canned pumpkin (grocery store), not the pumpkin pie type, just plain pumpkin or some probiotics to help her get through the change. Keep an eye on her poops. If they seem to be okay (“normal”), then you can move to 1/2 cup old food 1/2 cup new food. All the while checking her stools. If they start to get loose or diarrhea then go back to the mix when her stools were normal. Keep her on that till she’s regular again and then continue with the transition. Every time her stools are too loose, back up, stop and wait. Typically dogs can transition in about 10 days but some dogs will take much longer. I fear that with a dog that has eaten the same low quality dry dog food all her life it may take a bit longer. Some dogs can take up to a month or even two to fully transition. Good Luck. Do the transition slowly and all will be fine.

The Honest Kitchen makes a product called Perfect Form that a lot of us have used while transitioning foods and have been very pleased. It’s a staple I keep in the pantry for my three girls. Eventually, when all is well with your dog…..no more yeasty ears and such hopefully you’ll be able to feed her 2 or 3 or even 4 different foods that she’ll do well with. A lot of us here at DFA are rotational feeders. The more often you are able to transition to a different protein and brand the easier your dog will be able to transition through the different foods. It all makes for a healthier gut and also any nutritional needs that may not be addressed by one brand will be balanced, over time, with other foods. Also, if a food has a recall or your local store has suddenly run out of what you’ve been feeding her, there’s always another food you can feed her without upsetting gut.

[Natalie O]

Hi everyone!

I’m new to this site & need some advice. I am bringing home a Boston Terrier puppy in 2 weeks and am trying to figure out the best food to begin feeding him. The breeder currently has him on Purina Pro Plan but I plan on transitioning him slowly to a new food. I’ve heard wonderful things about Orijen and Acana – but I was hoping to find a food with the same quality as those, but a little less pricey.
I’ve heard Boston Terriers are prone to being gassy, so something to help with that would be great. I’d like to stick to a grain free food because of that as well. Right now I am between Wellness CORE, Nature’s Valley Instinct Raw Boost, Blue Wilderness, and Merrick Grain Free.

Can anyone offer any suggestions of which of those foods you would recommend?
Also, please feel free to suggest any other foods!!
I want the best for my pup 🙂 Thanks in advance!

[Dori]

Hi John. Firstly I just wanted to post about Marie’s suggestions. She want be upset with me as she’s a friend of mine and is fabulous at helping others with their canines.

California Naturals does have a Kangaroo grain free but the protein is incredibly low. 21 % to AAFCO standards.

Natures Logic Rabbit contains turkey meal, chicken fat, chicken liver, dried egg product and egg shells (for calcium).

Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance (their grain free line) is freeze dried food. Their foods that do not have any poultry or beef are: Rabbit, Goat and Lamb. (Be forewarned…fairly large poops on Grandma Lucy’s but it does have a good reputation with a lot of feeders).

On to the questions you just asked of me. Since you are already feeding your dogs a raw diet, transitioning to a commercial raw diet will be very easy for you and your dogs if, in fact, that is the route you want to take. Transitioning to raw is much simpler and quicker especially with dogs that are already eating raw. Also because you already feed grain free that will make it a bit easier as their guts are in better and healthier conditions than dogs fed their entire lives on foods that contain massive amounts of carbs and lower quality foods. Now, I’m assuming at this point that the only known allergens are poultry and beef. I would stay away from any and all poultry (all fowl….anything with feathers). Since you say that Bella reacted violently to Bison after only a few hours you’ll be able to tell fairly quickly if a new food is going to bother her. Typically when I first started out with rotation feeding I could tell within 3 days how Katie was doing on it. If she was going to have loose stools or vomitting, scratching, gas, bad breath and everything else that goes along with food sensitivities it would happen fairly quickly so I stopped feeding that food and went on to the next. In your case I would probably tell you to start with one food and if they do well on it then feed only that food for two or three months just to give their guts a bit more healing time and “detoxing” as it’s called. At that time you will already have bought the next food you want to try within that brand if there is another protein without any allergens that your dogs may have. If that brand doesn’t, then move on to the next brand. If all goes well I would then feed that food and start looking for the next protein within that brand you want to try. Every time you are done with one bag you move on to the next. Every time with a different protein within the same brand. Keep a detailed list of the foods you have tried and what, if any, reactions they had. Once you’ve exhausted the different proteins in your first brand then you move on to the next brand and start rotating through their proteins that your dogs can eat. Then you move on to the next brand. Before you know it you may be able to have 4 or 5 foods that your dogs can eat and do well on. You can then continue to rotate within these brands and proteins every time you have to buy a bag of food. You can then start rotating with the different foods you have in the freezer every day, every couple of days, every meal as I do, whatever. I rotate as often as I do because Katie can’t tolerate anything for more than a meal or two. She probably can at this point but since I’ve been doing it this way for so long and they’re all just fine with it and because I wouldn’t eat the same thing for breakfast and dinner I figure why should they. I also can’t afford for her to become allergic to anything more than she already is. In rotating foods if some ingredient bothers her a little or there is a pro-inflammatory ingredient in the food (which I try my best to avoid but not always possible) then she’s only getting it for one meal. Rotating foods for all dogs is, in my opinion, the healthiest way to feed canines but especially for canines with food intolerances.

Please keep in mind that the log (list) is very very important. In keeping a list it will also better inform you if your dog is having an issue with the protein or is it another ingredient in the food. If you feed rabbit and Bella has issues with it and then you move on to goat and the same thing happens, then you have to compare the ingredient labels of both those foods and see what other ingredients do both foods have in common other than the protein. When starting to gather foods for dogs with allergies it’s easy to assume that it’s the labeled protein in the food and keep moving from food to food thinking your dog is intolerant of every single protein. Typically that’s not the case. It’s that we forgot that they could be allergic or intolerant of any other ingredient in the foods. So it’s important…..keep a log of foods you feed and the ingredients in the foods. You can print out the ingredient list from their web sites or you can take a picture of the ingredient label on the bag itself for reference purposes.

“Toppers” by the way is just a term that’s used meaning anything that you would put on top of the food you already have in their bowl. I would suggest you not use any of them at all until you have some foods that you can easily feed to your dogs with no allergy symptoms. You’ll confuse the issue if you start adding other things. You won’t know which or what is causing the symptoms. I do add things to my dogs foods but I did not in the beginning. Had to find the foods first. Then started adding little things to see what the affect would be.

Plain Kefir (you can buy it in grocery stores) acts like plain yogurt in that it contains friendly “probiotic” bacteria that helps the gut. I will add here that my allergy girl, Katie, cannot have kefir, yogurt or cheese. Actually I’ve yet to find a probiotic that doesn’t contain something (yeast, or whatever) that she doesn’t have issues with. She’s too intolerant of them and the craziness starts all over again. Not saying that your dogs will react, but owners of dogs with food sensitivities have to be very careful of every single thing that eat. Their immune systems are pretty much in a weakened state especially until their immune system improves on better foods, less toxins and carbs to deal with. 70% of the immune system is in the gut.

Allergy symptoms can be skin issues and/or digestive issues as is the case with Katie. Once I cleared up all her food issues her digestive and skin issues all disappeared.

Once on line please check out all pro-inflammatory foods, fruits and veggies. Allergies are an inflammatory based issue so you need to avoid those foods as best you can. It’s not always easy to eliminate each and every single one but do your best to avoid as much as possible. That’s also a good reason for rotation. If one of your foods does have pro-inflammatory ingredients your dog will not be getting them for too long a time.

If you find, eventually, that your dogs are not allergic to sardines then you can give them sardines packed in water with no salt added (canned in the grocery store) two or three times a week (as a “topper”) on top or mixed in with the food in their bowls. Sardines are an excellent form of Omega 3 which most foods are lacking. Most foods have plenty of Omega 6’s and not enough Omega 3’s to balance them out. That is true most especially in kibble foods. On the days that I don’t give my dogs sardines I keep a bottle refrigerated of Nature’s Logic Sardine oil. Oils go rancid fairly quickly so it’s best kept refrigerated and also says it on the bottle I believe. Anyway, once I’ve put their meals in their bowls, and on the days I don’t add sardines, I splash a little of the sardine oil on top of their food in their bowls and promptly put the bottle back in fridge and immediately give the dogs their bowls of food. I believe the oil has the dosing on the bottle. Please do not give your dogs salmon oil as we already know that they had issues with the salmon food. Also, salmon and tuna have the most amount of mercury in them due to their long lives. I don’t feed either because of those reasons. Sardines and krill have the least as they have very short lives and very short digestive tracks.

Just for your info I realize that I didn’t tell you what type of dogs I have or anything other than Katie’s allergies. So, Hannah (my avatar) is my 15 1/2 year old Maltese. Katie is my 5 1/2 year old Maltipoo and Lola is my 5 1/2 year old Yorkipoo.

One more thing. I no longer have my dogs vaccinated. I do the titers on the core vaccines. Rabies vaccine in my area is only required every three years. Though recently I’ve learned that the county I live in will accept rabies titers. Very few counties in the country are on board with titers for rabies. I don’t believe that any dog should be vaccinated unnecessarily. Dogs with allergies shouldn’t be vaccinated. Of course, I am in favor of doing all the initial puppy vaccinations spaced out as they should be. Each vaccine should be done separately and not the three in one type. It’s too much of an overload on their systems. After those initially puppy shots which, if memory serves me, ends when they are about a year old. After that having your vet do titers to check their antibodies to the core illnesses will let you know when and if they have to be vaccinated again.

[Dina H]

I am a ‘raw convert’ in the past 6 weeks. Initially, I was feeding the Honest Kitchen base mix called Kindly, but after speaking with others, they said no need for base mix, just feed the raw. As someone said above, when you add a base mix, you go from those dried-up nuggets of poo to the same steaming piles of poop…no thank you.

As far as transitioning (my own two are 12) from lamb to beef to chicken to whatever..I think that dogs in the wild will just catch whatever they can and do not eat the same protein source every day, so I have been doing the same with good results.

The skin issues on my 12 year old male have self-resolved as well as yeasty ears. I also do rescue and put 3 other dogs with skin issues on raw just this week to see how they would do. So far, so good. I think we have all been there with the dry when a transition would have you anxiously waiting for what’s gonna happen now….I’ve been there and done that one. But have not found the issue with raw.

[Jan P]

I have a 7 year old Australian Shepard who has been on Eukanuba most of her life. Another company purchased Eukanuba and she is not responding well to the food for some reason. I noticed you recommended Precise and the Nutrisource before transitioning to Wellness. Thinking about following your advice but neither Precise or Nutrisource is on the Editor’s Choice Brands for Feb. 2015. I am of new member as of a few minutes ago so new to this. Tell me more so I can get started in the right direction.

[Naturella]

Hello, Missie and Maisie! Welcome to DFA!

Good thing you’re trying to keep Maisie’s weight under control! I have reduced my Bruno’s portions over the winter due to lack of exercise also. So you don’t NECESSARILY have to use a weight-management food, you can also simply reduce the calories from regular food by reducing the amount to induce weight-loss, or weight maintenance.

As for the mixing of foods, myself and other forumers have done it and some probably still do. I also have a friend who feeds her pack of 5 dogs nothing but various mixes, and I used to do it myself, until I realized that with just one small 15-lb terrier mix, any mix of even just 2 small bags of food, even if they’re different flavors or brands, will produce 8-10lbs of a “single-flavor” food that my Bruno will have to eat twice as long as a “single-flavor” food for 1 month and then a different single-flavor food for another month. Does this make sense? Basically, once you mix and feed the food day in and day out for a while, the dog will taste different bites, but in its head, it is all the same food because it’s served together kind of. Like, if you ate beef and salmon (surf and turf) for two months – it is still different proteins and different ways to cook the salmon and the beef, with different “spices”, but overall it is one dish. Next two months, you would be eating chicken and pork (for example), two separate recipes, but in one dish. Vs. one month beef, one month salmon, one month chicken, one month pork, etc. Nutritionally though, if you mix separate brands and flavors, that will expose it to more protein variety and vitamin and mineral composition, which is good. That is what my friend does, she always mixes different brands AND flavors, and that’s kind of what I used to do (I would mix same flavors, different brands – brand A chicken + brand B chicken). The only other caveat to mixing is that should Maisie get sick on a mix, you wouldn’t be able to tell which food made her sick (unless you give each food about 2 weeks separately to be sure that neither makes her sick), and you would not be able to alert the manufacturer(s) because you wouldn’t know which made her sick, so you also wouldn’t be able to return their food for testing and/or a refund. This is another reason I stopped mixing and now I just switch foods with every small bag (more or less).

I would probably look for a food that while I’m transitioning to it, my dog has better stools and less gas, and hope that when I fully feed it, the results will stay the same. But, you can do what you think is best for Maisie. 🙂

[Naturella]

D_O – yep!

@Oleanderz, one more thing – you really need to get all family members on the same page about feeding Lucille food and treats, especially when establishing better habits, and while transitioning. You could make similar lists/charts like me about what food they need to feed, or even pre-package them mixes during transition (I still do it with Bru) like this:

3 freezer bags of food at 25:75 new food:old food, each packaged to last 2-3 days
2 freezer bags of food at 50:50 new food:old food, each packaged to last 2-3 days
2 freezer bags of food at 75:25 new food:old food, each packaged to last 2-3 days
1 freezer bag of entirely new food.

So, start the rotation with one freezer bag of 25:75. If all is well, then go to 50:50. If not, go back to the old food. If things are good again, go to 25:75 again. Then to 50:50. If things go bad at 50:50, go back to 25:75 (hence the spare bags). Then if all is good, go back to the 50:50. Then 75:25 and so on. If all goes well from the first bag and transition is complete, you can still feed the spare bags too, she should be fine. Or toss them. But I still feed them to Bru.

***EDIT*** – Also, you can make an Excel spreadsheet with Lucille’s meal times for each day of the month and space for whoever feeds her to put their initials, so that everyone knows she has been fed. Bruno’s meal times are 10.00am and 7.30pm. But you can do whatever works for your family. You can also label the transition bags and explain the procedure to your family, write it out even if you have to. Once she’s transitioned, it will be easier… Till next transition. Eventually it may take less and less time to transition her. Within a week, Bru is able to be entirely on new food. So just see how it goes with Lucille.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by Naturella.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

I would add 25% of the commercial raw to his diet for say 1-2 weeks, transitioning is a personal thing, some can do it rt away, some not.
But in my opinion with raw I would do it slowly, say after 1 week cut back on the blue buffalo by say another 25%,add more raw, see how his tummy takes to the new food. Also monitor his stool for any change, if you see a change cut back on raw & wait until his stomach settles down.
You might want to add a probiotic or digestive enzyme during the transition -the honest kitchen makes a so called transition enabler called “Perfect Form” which worked for me. TheHonestKitchen.com
I will check back later to see if you have more questions, 1 of my angels needs her walk ,so i must go.
Good luck