[Naturella]

Welcome to DFA! It can be overwhelming, yes, but sometimes the best way to learn is just by trying some of the different ideas people post that appeal to you, see how it works with your dogs, and tweak the thing or choose something else.

I just posted the below info for someone else, lol, but it is altered to fit your questions. I am not a professional or anything, I can just tell you what I think and do:

I think that no single dog food is perfect, and different foods have varying amounts of protein, carbs, and fat, but Victor is a high-quality food and all the flavors within it seem pretty good to me. If you want, you can also rotate both within a brand (basically switch up the Victor flavors), or rotate the Victor brand with other good foods, like Dr. Tim’s, Earthborn Holistic, and Annamaet, among others – this will offer your dogs a variety in the formulas, tastes, vitamins, etc. The kibble sizes in most of these foods are pretty viable for a Chihuahua to handle, but I am not sure about Dr. Tim’s – the kibbles may be a bit big for a 4-lb dog.

If you choose to rotate brands, give it at least 10-14 days, adding a little bit of new food to the old at a time, and watching the stool – if stool is good for 2 days or so, add more new food, take more old food out, and so on. If stool is not good, back down the amount of new food, up the old food. When they get used to rotating, you can switch brands with every big bag (what I do, but with small bags, lol). For now, you can switch to a brand, then exhaust most of the flavors within the brand just so they don’t have too many changes at once, then go to another brand. Also, you can add canned plain pumpkin to aid their digestion in the process, or a supplement called Perfect Form by The Honest Kitchen (THK). I swear up and down by it – anytime my Bruno has an upset tummy, it tightens him back up in a snap! But don’t overuse the Perfect Form – use it only as needed, and the amounts to feed are on the package, as well as on THK’s website. Which leads me to…

… if feeding Perfect Form with kibble, you will need to add some water to it. It will look like a greenish soup of kibble, lol. But, with that said, extra moisture added to dry kibble is always good for the dog. You can add plain lukewarm water, yoghurt/kefir, coconut oil and water, or canned food (and water). Any mix of kibble and canned is fine as long as the dog’s tummy is ok with it and as long as you adjust the amount you add and remove the appropriate amount of kibble so that the caloric intake stays about the same. So introduce the canned slowly, and not while transitioning between brands. You can also add dehydrated/freeze-dried/air-dried foods and water to kibble as toppers too, canned sardines (no salt added, in water only), fresh vegetables and meats, some fruits, and the above suggestions. Make sure you add NO onions or any grape products (grapes, raisins), some mushrooms.

For my 15-lb terrier mix I feed 1/4 cup of dry kibble twice/day, each time with some different topper from the ones mentioned above. I use coconut oil (twice/week), raw egg (once/week), The Honest Kitchen dehydrated foods (4 recipes, each one once/week), Big Dog Natural air-dried food (once/week), yoghurt/kefir (twice/week), 1/2 of a 3.5-oz can of sardines (once/week), 1/2 of a small can of dog food (right now either Weruva or Wellness, twice/week, no kibble at said meal), and a raw meaty bone once/week. All toppers minus the egg, sardines, can of dog food and the RMB I give a teaspoon of. And I add warm water to the mix in all meals. The dehydrated/air-dried foods kind of require it, lol. Bruno loves his “soups” (that’s what kibble and water and toppers look like) and he is slim, but muscular – his body condition is great, his coat is great, and he loves meal time.

So you can implement some, all, or none of the suggestions, or tweak them to fit your dogs’ needs. Good luck, keep us posted, and let us know if you have any more questions. 🙂

[Naturella]

Oleanderz, thank you for the kind words! You are such an eager-to-learn doggie mommy, it is awesome! 🙂

Ok, let me first say that I completely second Dori’s suggestion to NOT start rotating foods before she is well recovered from the surgery and back to normal, stool included. Sometimes stress, or the pain meds, can affect the stool, so if you had just started introducing a new brand of food, you wouldn’t know what’s causing the stool change.

But, after she has fully recovered from her surgery, you can start introducing and transitioning her to a new food of your choice. I think that no single dog food is perfect, and they do have varying amounts of protein, carbs, and fat, but all 4 brands are high-quality foods and will offer her a variety in the formulas, tastes, vitamins, etc. Like Dori said, if she’s gaining weight, feed her less, exercise her more; if she’s losing weight, feed her more, and still exercise her – she will be gaining muscle mass, which is healthy.

Now, for the rotation – it really depends on how her tummy’s taking it. Give it at least 10-14 days, adding a little bit of new food to the old at a time, and watching the stool – if stool is good for 2 days or so, add more new food, take more old food out, and so on. If stool is not good, back down the amount of new food, up the old food. When she gets used to rotating, you can switch brands with every big bag (what I do, but with small bags, lol). For now, you can switch to a brand, then exhaust most of the flavors within the brand just so she doesn’t have too many changes at once, then go to another brand. Also, you can add canned plain pumpkin to aid her digestion in the process, or a supplement called Perfect Form from The Honest Kitchen (THK). I swear up and down by it – anytime my Bruno has an upset tummy, it tightens him back up in a snap! But don’t overuse the Perfect Form – use it only as needed, and the amounts to feed are on the package, as well as on THK’s website. Which leads me to…

… if feeding Perfect Form with kibble, you will need to add some water to it. It will look like a greenish soup of kibble, lol. But, with that said, extra moisture added to dry kibble is always good for the dog. You can add plain lukewarm water, yoghurt/kefir, coconut oil and water, or canned food (and water). Any mix of kibble and canned is fine as long as the dog’s tummy is ok with it. So introduce the canned slowly, and not while transitioning between brands. You can also add dehydrated/freeze-dried/air-dried foods and water to kibble as toppers too, canned sardines (no salt added, in water only), fresh vegetables and meats, some fruits, and the above suggestions. Make sure you add NO onions or any grape products (grapes, raisins), some mushrooms.

Finally, where to find Victor dog food: sportdogfood.com Victor GF and Farmina N&D GF are the best options, but Farmina is on the pricy side. Victor is pretty affordable.

Oh, and for the boxes – hope she gets some flying discs in her BarkBox or whatever other boxes she gets! 🙂

Ok, sorry for the novel… Good luck, keep us posted, and let us know if you have any more questions! 🙂

[Lynn J]

I personally rotate after each bag, allowing for about a week of transitioning. My main reasoning is that ideally I want to finish a bag within 3 – 4 weeks so that the fats don’t become rancid. I rotate through different brands and sometimes between flavors within brands. I also try to match the proteins in whatever toppers I am using to the proteins of the kibble.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

naturella,
I am chiming in here with a couple of thoughts-with kibble once it’s opened i put them in my refrigerator. I have pyrex bowls that I use to put kibble in say for 2-3 days-the bags are quickly taken out and put rt. back in.

As for the probiotics I used the perfect Form when I was transitioning Pepper on the HK food, once I saw she was ok with it -i stopped, like everyone else said I want it to work when i need it. I also purchased the Pro-Bloom can’t tell you how that 1 works haven’t used it yet.
The only probiotics i used were the Mercola and honestly I just am not pleased with them.
I think just like for us a good probiotic MUST be under refrigeration and never quite understood why once they were opened (I did anyway) it was not recommended to be refrigerated.
Also, I just feel probiotics should not have to be used every day. But, again, that is a personal choice. If and when i need a probiotic, I am going to try what C4C uses-I think the mercola for the price is a thumbs down.

You might consider butting the food in airtight containers-I use the kind for bird food-I keep their unopened food in them in my laundry room.

Dori,
Again is so right , Pepper and Millie are researched much more than I would ever go through the trouble for myself-I need a TENS unit for my tennis elbow-I swear every time I go on Amazon to look for a unit- I wind up buying more stuff for my babies -sad but so-so true

[Diana B]

I have 2 Goldens. Oliver, now 2 was raised on Orijen large breed puppy and continues to eat grain free. Leo, now 5 months is eating Fromms large breed puppy, but I am transitioning him to Orijen, so he too can be grain free. Wellness Core Puppy would be my next choice. And besides being grainfree, (Goldies are notorious for skin issues,) both foods, Orijen and Wellness, have the DFA’s 5 star rating and are for large breed puppies. That helped me decide. Also, there is a new article about feeding large breed puppies on this site you will find helpful! Make sure you switch foods gradually if you change them. I made that mistake with Leo, and have changed my definition of “gradually.” Hope this helps!

[Dog_Obsessed]

I agree that it is good to get him settled on a food before starting rotation. Adding fresh foods is also a great idea. I always have to “do the math” while transitioning, luckily I like math. 🙂 I don’t think it really matters that much exactly how much food is given if it is just for a week or two, but I like to figure it out anyway.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Flowers!
First of all congrats on the new pup! Second of all, I love the use of the word “rubbish”. It sounds so polite compared to the words usually used on this site. Lol!

I agree that it would be a good idea to eventually switch to a new food. But, don’t be in too big of a hurry unless he is having issues with his current food. Stay on it for a bit and let him get used to his new home and people. He is already experiencing enough changes right now.

Acana and Orijen are both great brands manufactured by the same company. Either one would be a great choice. But, you are right, it may be too big of a jump to start with. Maybe choose a 4 star food, such as Nutrisource, as a transitional food before moving to Orijen or Acana. Either way, transition very slooowly. Replacing a small amount of the old food with new over at least a week period.

You won’t know if the food will cause “wind” until you give it a try! Many feel that adding probiotics and/or digestive enzymes while transitioning is very helpful as well.

Please write back with your results. Good luck!

[Heather H]

I need some help. I have a 1 year old large Rhodesian Ridgeback. We have had food issues from the beginning with him. The breeder had him on a mix of Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy Formula and Diamond Naturals Large Breed Puppy. When we got him at 8 weeks we transitioned him to straight Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy Formula. Shortly after this transition he started having some difficulty having a bowel movement. He would go once regular, and then shortly after he would go again but it would be very skinny. Sometimes he would continue to try to go for sometime afterwards with nothing coming out. Our vet said it was probably just a nerve that wasn’t fully developed yet and that was making him feel like he needed to keep going. She said as long as he was having regular bowel movements, and he wasn’t vomiting, we shouldn’t worry and it would probably clear up on it’s own. At our five month check up, I brought it up again because it seemed to be getting worse. She did an x-ray and determined he was backed up, his stomach was still very full of food (even though it had been several hours since he ate) and he had several pockets of gas. She said there were a few places where his bowel looked inflamed and thickened. She put him on a pro-biotic and an anti-inflammatory pill for a week. It wasn’t any better on the medication. She was concerned that his stomach wasn’t emptying property and his waste wasn’t moving through the bowel as it should. She did a barium study to rule out any internal issues. Everything came back normal so she said it must be the food and recommended their in-house brand Prescription Diet D/D. After research, I decided not to try that kind, but instead find a food that was rated 4 or 5 that agreed with him. We spent the next 3 months transitioning to different foods. We tried other flavors of Taste of the Wild, Diamond Naturals Grain Free Beef and Sweet Potato, and one other, I can’t remember the name of at the moment. Some caused diarrhea, some made his bowel movement issues worse and he strained more. Finally, we tried Merrick Grain Free Buffalo and his bowel movements got drastically better. I still don’t believe they are 100% normal, but at least to the point where he wasn’t straining or trying to go for an extended time with nothing coming out. He has been on this for 4 with no changes or issues. I just bought another bag and it has caused HORRIBLE, uncontrollable diarrhea. We have taken it away, fed rice and pumpkin, twice. Each time we start mixing a little of the food back in, one feeding of less than 1/4 of a cup of food in 1 cup of rice/pumpkin mix, causes horrible diarrhea again. The second time we took it away we took him to the vet and she put him on a pro-biotic and an antibiotic. He was on those medicines and rice and pumpkin only for a week. When we reintroduced, it was the same thing. I have emailed the company. I’m not sure if we just got a bad batch or we need to switch foods. Should I just go buy another bag of Merrick and hope it isn’t the same batch and it works? Should I try the Chicken Merrick? My store only stocks a few bags at a time, and I am worried they are from the same batch. I have spent the morning researching foods. Some grain free options I have come up with that our local stores sell are: Blue Wilderness, Wellness Core, and Earthborn. I would be willing to order something but I have nothing except for the potentially bad Merrick to mix with so we would be starting something new without a transition. I am wondering now if maybe he needs grains or even if he could possibly have colitis and need a high fiber diet? Does anyone have some insight or suggestions for me? Thanks!

[Heather H]

I need some help. I have a 1 year old large Rhodesian Ridgeback. We have had food issues from the beginning with him. The breeder had him on a mix of Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy Formula and Diamond Naturals Large Breed Puppy. When we got him at 8 weeks we transitioned him to straight Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy Formula. Shortly after this transition he started having some difficulty having a bowel movement. He would go once regular, and then shortly after he would go again but it would be very skinny. Sometimes he would continue to try to go for sometime afterwards with nothing coming out. Our vet said it was probably just a nerve that wasn’t fully developed yet and that was making him feel like he needed to keep going. She said as long as he was having regular bowel movements, and he wasn’t vomiting, we shouldn’t worry and it would probably clear up on it’s own. At our five month check up, I brought it up again because it seemed to be getting worse. She did an x-ray and determined he was backed up, his stomach was still very full of food (even though it had been several hours since he ate) and he had several pockets of gas. She said there were a few places where his bowel looked inflamed and thickened. She put him on a pro-biotic and an anti-inflammatory pill for a week. It wasn’t any better on the medication. She was concerned that his stomach wasn’t emptying property and his waste wasn’t moving through the bowel as it should. She did a barium study to rule out any internal issues. Everything came back normal so she said it must be the food and recommended their in-house brand Prescription Diet D/D. After research, I decided not to try that kind, but instead find a food that was rated 4 or 5 that agreed with him. We spent the next 3 months transitioning to different foods. We tried other flavors of Taste of the Wild, Diamond Naturals Grain Free Beef and Sweet Potato, and one other, I can’t remember the name of at the moment. Some caused diarrhea, some made his bowel movement issues worse and he strained more. Finally, we tried Merrick Grain Free Buffalo and his bowel movements got drastically better. I still don’t believe they are 100% normal, but at least to the point where he wasn’t straining or trying to go for an extended time with nothing coming out. He has been on this for 4 with no changes or issues. I just bought another bag and it has caused HORRIBLE, uncontrollable diarrhea. We have taken it away, fed rice and pumpkin, twice. Each time we start mixing a little of the food back in, one feeding of less than 1/4 of a cup of food in 1 cup of rice/pumpkin mix, causes horrible diarrhea again. The second time we took it away we took him to the vet and she put him on a pro-biotic and an antibiotic. He was on those medicines and rice and pumpkin only for a week. When we reintroduced, it was the same thing. I have emailed the company. I’m not sure if we just got a bad batch or we need to switch foods. Should I just go buy another bag of Merrick and hope it isn’t the same batch and it works? Should I try the Chicken Merrick? My store only stocks a few bags at a time, and I am worried they are from the same batch. I have spent the morning researching foods. Some options I have come up with that our local stores sell are: Blue Wilderness, Wellness Core, and Earthborn. Does anyone have some insight or suggestions for me? Thanks!

[Naturella]

All yummy stuff, everyone!

Bruno’s menu today was 1/8 cup of Castor & Pollux Ultramix GF and 1/8 cup of Wysong Nurture with Quail (transitioning to it now), topped with 1 tsp of Sojo’s Beef – all that was for breakfast, and dinner was a raw chicken neck. Mid-day snack was 1/2 of a six-inch Etta Says deer chew (hoping for no loose stool from it) and a few Wellness CORE puppy kibbles as treats. I took him to the dog park today and he got nice and muddy, so when we got home, he got the full service – pawdicure, brushing, and bath by yours truly. He got the chew as a reward for enduring the “torture” and the kibble-treats for a bit of training. 🙂

• This reply was modified 10 years, 11 months ago by Naturella.

[Sam Koch]

Hello!

My name is Sam. I am adopting a dog soon, her name is Alice and she’s a Lab mix. I want the best food possible and an easy transitioning of food for her. Are there any suggestions? I’ve been looking at Orijen and Acana. They guessed that she’s a little less than a year old and she’s about 50 pounds. Any suggestions would be great!

Sam

[Dina H]

I was assured by the woman at Pet Valu that I didn’t have to do the slow transition. This is a dog that was born here. I do rescue and of the 5 in the litter, she was the typical ‘middle’ child, always sensitive and insecure. I think that may have some bearing. She was adopted and her owner had her on Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Adult Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe Dry Dog Food. She was returned to me bec owner was moving (boo) and that is the food I was transitioning from. I had read about the connection between Blue Buffalo and Diamond and decided to part ways with it. She has always had intermittent bouts of diarrhea; no parasites…she has been checked and she has been treated with panacur and metro a month ago. I think what I will do is get a small bag of the Blue Buffalo that she was on and slowly segue her to the Acana but will go with the Acana chicken this time. As well as replace that slow feeder bowl that one of my dogs decided was a toy. (:

[crazy4cats]

Hi Melinda-
I’m sorry your pup is having issues. A little more info is needed to make a good recommendation. Do you have any idea what she is sensitive to? A certain ingredient or fat level? Where do you shop for food and what is your budget? Did the vet make any recommendations?

You could print the list of 4 star foods and bring it with you to the store and see if it carries anything on the list. I wouldn’t jump to a 5 star food from what you were feeding. It might be hard on her system. Many posters have good luck with transitioning to Nutrisource and/or foods made by Well Pet, such as Wellness or Eagle Pack.

Good luck!

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Hi Everyone,
I need some advice if Millie my 7 month old mini schnauzer is : 1. too young to stop Puppy kibble? 2. If she isn’t too young to stop the puppy kibble, can I feed her the various kinds of the grain free Honest Kitchen(that would be the rotating) with toppers of lightly cooked meat or poultry for 1 of her meals? Does the Honest Kitchen have enough nutrients for a young gal or would i have to add various supplements/antioxidents/oils to that meal?
For the 2nd meal would it be ok to give her commercial raw? Rotating within say Primal or Vital Essentials (or whatever raw co. that will ship to me) their various lower fat proteins.
I do know the VE does not add the fruit/veggies so could I top that meal off with maybe some cooked veggies.
BC mentioned that it may be time to cut out her noon meal,so I am trying to figure out how to get her off kibble & increase the raw & introduce the dehydrated.
Thanks so much to all for the great advice and guidance you ALL have given me in these past months. I can’t tell you how much it has meant to me & the girls 🙂

[pugmomsandy]

Some dogs can take longer than three weeks. Were their stools good during the transition? I usually will suggest not increasing the percentage of new foods until stools are normal. Natural Balance grain free is very low in protein and Merrick is high so that was a big change. Sometimes transitioning to something “in the middle” is a good place to start before moving on to a higher protein food. That would be a food in the 3.5-4 star range. You can go back and add some NB to their food until their stools become normal and that will bring the protein down some (closer to mid-range). As an example of a dog needing a long transition time, one of my dogs took two or three months. You can also keep “mixing” foods together just to add variety and to get the level of protein that you want.

I foster and have many dogs. I did get some Merrick grain free of them once and put too much of it in their food at first and 4 or 5 out of ten maybe had GI issues. I just cut the Merrick some more with a lower protein food and they finished the bag without any issues and I’ve fed it again since then (mixed) and no one had issues.

My personal dogs have tried a dozen kibbles and have worked up to eating raw foods. You can just give it more time or try another food as there are many to chose from.

[Rita G]

I am transitioning to Stella and Chewy raw frozen food. The amounts recommended seem excessive. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations?

[Dog_Obsessed]

Hi everyone! As many of you know, I have been transitioning Lily to Fromm Four Star Nutritionals Lamb and Lentil formula. She loves the food, and her stomach hasn’t seemed upset with the transition, but she has been trying to eat things on walks the last few days. Sometimes they are plants or weeds, other times they are random things in the dirt that I can’t recognize. She hasn’t been doing this around the house though. The Fromm is a bit lower calorie, but not enough to make that much of a difference that fast. For dinner last night and breakfast this morning I just gave her the old food, but it hasn’t seemed to make a difference. She also got groomed on Sunday, so maybe having less fur has to do with it? She didn’t start it until Wednesday though (We started the transition Monday.).

I also have another bag of a different formula of the food she has been eating, Nulo, and a bag of Nature’s Logic Venison. If the problem is really just her feeling full then we can probably deal with it by feeding green beans or something, but I am worried about the food being deficient in some nutrient. We are running out of her old food, we only have a few days left. What do you think I should do? Should I keep her on the Fromm and see what happens? Go back to Nulo for a little while and then try again? Just bag the whole Fromm idea? Thanks!

[Bobby dog]

Cheryl:
I hear you about being cautious! I have tried transitioning my dog to a few raw meals per week, but he just doesn’t care for it. Commercial raw he will eat, not prey model. That is why I am interested in home cooked.

I also tried to introduce RMB’s to him and he just buries them in the yard. Several posters feed chic and turkey necks. It just depends on your comfort level and your dog. Weight bearing bones are not recommended because of their density, your dog could crack a tooth. There is allot of info about RMB’s & raw diets in the forums. Here is a recent RMB thread, check it out and ask away. I unfortunately will not be much help with your RMB questions!
/forums/topic/rmbs-and-recreational-bones/

[jakes mom]

I’ve learned about so many things on this site sometimes I don’t know where to begin, canned, raw, high quality kibble, ABC and kibble, RMBs, geez! Jake will eat anything as I’ve said before, I don’t even need to transition him from one bag of food to the next. Put it in the bowl, it’s gone. Sometimes I doubt he even chews! The cats are a little more high maintenance. Will try the Dr. Becker method for transitioning cats to a different food and see what happens.

[DogFoodie]

Hi Ezra,

Glad you posted over here. I was just trying to reply to you on the review side, but was having trouble.

A couple of things…, it’s odd to me that the fish oil supplement your vet recommended used peppermint as a carrier. I can certainly sympathize with your fish woes. You mentioned that your pup also has environmental allergies, but that the fish oil might have made it much worse. While you have things pretty well controlled, I think would I’d try adding fish oil to his food and see what happens. If he reacts, stop and you’ll have your answer about the fish oil. I’ve been using Ovega-3 and Springtime Naturals Skin and Coat Oil. Both are vegeterian and I’d recommend both.

The change in bowel movements could be the result of the increase in peas. Is he gassy at all? I believe, the other varieties of NVI LID, have a bit less pea protein. I really would encourage you to try one of those. I would also recommend adding a digestive enzyme to his food – I had great luck with Swanson’s BioCore, which works great at digesting carbs. Canine Caviar Lamb and Pearl Millet is fish free as is Canidae Pure Sky, which is a duck based food. Canidae is also a Diamond product if that concerns you. Addiction Viva La Venison is also fish free and uses potato as a binder. As we talked about on the other side, Acana Duck and Bartlett Pear (not Singles) and Lamb and Apple (not Singles) would both be good fish free choices, also.

I know you said you feed other proteins for treats, but I really think it’s important to rotate proteins in kibble, too. Even though NVI LID Duck is far and away my dogs best food, I’m constantly looking for others to rotate it with. I rotate brands with varying proteins and binders. I’d encourage you to rotate varieties of ZiwiPeak that you use also.

I think you also said that transitioning him from one food to another food takes a long time. That’s OK, he’ll adjust, the important thing is to keep rotating. If he’s not used to switching, he doesn’t have optional gut health; keep rotating and he’ll improve.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Monica,
I am tempted to try it on my sick 11 1/2 y.o. schnauzer bad gastritis & irritable bowel.
I am just transitioning her to the Honest Kitchen, very slowly, she seems to love it.
I may just try the Dr. Harvey’s is there 1 in particular you could recommend I try for her, a particular type good for IBS/IBD issues?
As I mentioned I got the freeze dried grain free beef for my 6 month old schnauzer.
Pepper has always eaten Amicus Senior grain free kibble soaked, she has never had freeze dried, that’s why I ask what you would try on her first.
Thank you.
Have a Happy New Year

[Dog_Obsessed]

So I don’t usually post here, because my dog is about six times too small to be considered a large breed. I just wanted to weigh in about rotational feeding and stomach upset. Erin, does the stomach upset seem to happen most while or right after transitioning foods? If so, that could be what is causing it, but rotational feeding does have many benefits. Like OnyxMom said, adding a digestive enzyme, such as THK Perfect Form, could help. The cat food could definitely cause it too, and adding an enzyme could also help with that.

[Amy G]

Thanks for the help! He has started eating the Blue mixed in with his puppy chow but we are down to 1/4 of that. I’m also adding some natures recipe wet puppy food to it as he seems to really like that. He’s eating about 3/4 cups of dry food with maybe 2 tablespoons if the way mixed in 3 times a day. He always eats most of his food. I have noticed that his stools are still really soft, not diarrhea, but not completely formed either. He’s going like 4/6 times a day, sometimes more. Since he’s already transitioning into the blue, once he’s fully on it, when is a good time to try and switch him again or should I just leave it for a while? He doesn’t have a vet appointment until after Xmas and they are huge science diet vets…. Thanks so much and happy holidays!!

[Nancy M]

P.S.

CLARIFICATION: I did not start out with this amount of the new food, I have slowly transitioned up to the 1/2 cup at each feeding that I’ve been giving. This portion still contains some of the previous food, but not much now. I just started noticing the increase in stools yesterday.

Also, I don’t have any more of the Victor to add to the new food, so should I just cut back down even further on the amount at each feeding, or use something to cut the ratio of the new food back down again, like cooked rice?

I don’t want to end up with a major explosion of diarrhea from too many “fixes”. This puppy has done exceptionally well in transitioning to a new home.

Nancy

[Laura M]

I find that a canned food can put weight on fast and there are many grain free, good products to choose from. I mix canned and my dry which is Orijen adult and have a skinny boy that is hard to keep weight on and that does the trick. I also supplement with chicken or hamburger, etc. and that gets him interested in his bowl of food! Not sure if you have an issue with your dogs not wanting to eat or just hard to keep weight on. Be careful when transitioning, you can upset everything if you go too fast. Good luck!

[Naturella]

Dog_Obsessed, he usually stops chewing on it when oils are on it. And it literally looks like clear, healthy skin – is that what hot spots look like? I don’t know much about them. I just looked them up actually, and they look nothing like Bruno has – in fact they look like something Snowy has, on both her sides of the thighs, red, irritated, almost raw, skin, on the fold between the legs and the torso, and hers clear up very well with coconut oil, but her family is not very consistent with it and they come back.

As for foods, we started transitioning today, so it can’t be from that. Other than that, no change in his normal food routine. Until today he was on Back to Basics Open Range with usual THK and BDN toppers, plus fresh food toppers. Today we began introducing Castor & Pollux Ultramix GF with Duck, Turkey, Lamb, and Salmon meals. But the spot was there before, I saw it yesterday actually.

As far as seasonal or environmental allergies, it may be that, not sure. When he had the scrotum spots, I did see one flea on him, and there may have been more, but so far I haven’t seen any on him around the leg spot… But there MAY be some? The oil treatment helped last time, and I will try it again I guess, and if he gets another itchy spot, I will ask a vet.

[Naturella]

Hi, Bob. I second both Akari and Dog_Obsessed. See what you have around as far as dog food stores (or Walmart), and try to steer away from Purina, Beneful, Iams, Hill’s, Ol’ Roy, Alpo, and the like. Rachael Ray is an okay food, and Pure Balance is pretty good for a grocery store food.

Usually to get a dog to eat kibble they may be iffy about, putting some canned and water in it helps. Make sure it is nice and mushy and that all the kibble is coated with some canned. Pure Balance cans and tubs are very affordable at Walmart and decent too.

If you have actual pet stores around, try to look for brands like Earthborn Holistic, Victor, NutriSource, Wellness – these brands tend to be on the affordable side (depending on where you live though, NutriSource in my area is quite pricy), and having fed some of them, they seem pretty yummy to my dog at least.

Don’t be afraid to try different foods and see what Dixie likes, but do make sure to do it slowly in the beginning – like Dog_Obsessed said, transitioning over a week or so while monitoring her stool would be a good amount of time. If her stool is too runny, give more of the old food and reduce the new until she’s stable again, then introduce some more new food and reduce the old food a bit.

Good luck, and let us know what you picked and how she’s doing! 🙂

[Alisa L]

I hear some people speak so highly of the Kirkland dog food and some just slam it. I have been using the puppy food for my almost one year old 50 pounder and he is doing great. I am ready to start transitioning him over slowly to dog food and I would LOVE to keep on Kirkland since I go there often and it’s a great price. The one that was recalled back in 2012 should be fine now right? I am frugal, no question. But, I am also head over heals in love with my Dexter and I want to do right by him. Someone please help me decide what to do. Why is wheat free so popular? What would be the signs to look for if my dog needed a wheat free diet?

[Nancy M]

I need some opinions……FAST. Until I can get a vet appointment, I need some suggestions on skin issues. I have a year old mini Aussie, who has acquired a skin/hair condition over the last few weeks. I don’t know if it’s due to a diet change, the colder weather outside and drier, hotter temps in the house, or a flea med I’ve used lately; which was Advantix II ( this was just a couple days ago; the problem already existed beforehand).

She was on Diamond Naturals Puppy formula since 8 weeks old, but since it was time to change to an adult food, and I also just got a new Sheltie pup that was already on it, I’ve been transitioning VERY slowly, to a VICTOR formula; Hi-Pro Plus for Puppies and Adults.

At this point, I’m not sure what’s doing this, or what is “lacking” for her, but she is obviously being driven crazy by itchy or dry skin; although the skin does not look irritated. She is consistently rolling and scratching herself on the carpet, leaving small areas of hair (all I can see. Who knows how much hair she’s rubbing off), and then she’s obsessed with “shaking” her body, like she trying to shake off water.

Anyone have suggestions as to what this is all about, or suggestions to relieve her until I can get her into the vet? Gave her a bath yesterday, hoping it would would help, but it hasn’t. I used baby shampoo since I was at my daughters for the weekend and that’s the best I could come up with.

Thanks!

[Naturella]

weezerweeks, I don’t really know the answer to your question, but when Bruno was sick a while back, I also had him on chicken, rice, and Perfect Form, and transitioned him to canned by simply adding it to the mix one tablespoon at a time, and reducing the chicken and rice over a few days (as if you were transitioning between kibbles). Within 1 small and one large can he was off the chicken and rice and on canned and Perfect Form. I kept him on Perfect Form for about a month and a half. However, I never used a probiotic with it, hence I don’t know if it can be given with Perfect Form. Hope someone else can answer that.

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by Naturella.

[Leisa D]

http://dogcathomeprepareddiet.com/diet_and_chronic_renal_disease.html#dog

Dr. Strombeck (DVM) has a nice exposition of renal disease in addition to several home cooked (v. raw) diets for management of phosphorus levels. It might be a resource for you as you work toward managing this condition.

I performed quite a bit of research on RAW diets and canine nutrition before transitioning to them. (Managing allergic condition in senior American Bulldog adoptee. I’m not sure how it took me so long to stumble upon his site (perhaps because RAW was mostly in my searching!) Donald R. Strombeck, DVM, PhD, is Professor Emeritus, University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine with a specialty in gastroenterology. Accordingly, while I’ve not used any of the recipes on his site, I trust them to be nutritionally adequate as this is his area of his expertise. Further, I plan to use his recipes to mix things up with our RAW diet.

I have three senior girls (and one uber-exuber pitty boy). Until adopting the Am Bulldog (and I had a mix before), I’ve never had to worry about special diets.

Anyway, hopefully you will find it a resource in your information arsenal. Good luck.

[Mindy D]

Hi,
My 100 pound Great Pyrenees, Daisy, has been diagnosed with early stage renal. Her points aren’t really that far off normal, but nonetheless the Vet sold me Hills Science diet for Renal for 100.00. She has been on Natural Balance for 6 years, of Grain Free Chix and Sweet Potato. Her poops were always solid and normal with NB. And there wasn’t much radical change with Hills. But 2 weeks ago, I ran out of NB and she had straight Hills, and put up her nose and wouldn’t eat, and not even with warm water that she usually likes. So I frantically compared label ingredients and found a lower protein, and lower phosporous in Wellness Complete Health Deboned Chix and Oatmeal. And little did I know, the effects of NOT transitioning…holy cow…the diarrhea! I called the Vet and she said to mix it up with Hills again, and do 10 day transition. Her poops are getting more solid, buy still sloppy. Do you think I should get Wellness LID Duck and Oatmeal, and do a gradual transition with Hills? I don’t want her to be unhappy with her food and it’s so frustrating. TIA.

[theBCnut]

First, please don’t settle on one food. Go over to the review side and do a search for the article on rotational feeding.

For the first couple weeks, feed him exactly the way the breeder was feeding him. That way, the only big stressor on your pup will be the adjustment to his new living arrangements. After he has fully adjusted, then start transitioning to the new food. I would only add one new food at a time, so if there is any issue, you know what is causing it. Transition slowly, but know that if you do go with a rotational diet, soon you won’t have to transition at all to switch to a new food.

Yes, use canned foods, and dehydrated, and freeze dried, and if you can handle it, even raw.

The benefits of using canned are in the moisture content and the meat content. Canned is closer to a natural diet. However, be aware that some canned food companies under report their fat level by a huge amount and dogs that are at risk for pancreatitis can become deathly ill from eating some of these foods, so read the review before buying canned, and pay attention to what is said about the fat level down in explanation. If you are only using it as a topper, it probably won’t matter, but if you ever have a reason to feed a whole meal of the canned you are using, it is something to be aware of.

[jcmccallum]

HDM,

Thank you so much for compiling this list- it looks like it took an amazing effort!!! I will be a first time puppy owner in December of a wonderful bernedoodle (bernese/poodle cross) that should grow to be about 60-70 lbs. Until I pick him up he will be fed Nature’s Domain Turkey and Sweet Potato. I am thinking about transitioning him over to By Nature, however, was hoping you could clarify which By Nature product had the .80% calcium. The only By Nature Organic food I see on their website is cans. They have a “Natural” and a “Grain-Free” line that includes dry food. Where you referring to the By Nature puppy formula? Any clarity you would be willing to be provide would be greatly appreciated.

[Cindy S]

I am transitioning my two greyhounds from Natural Balance to NOW Fresh dog food (dry). They get bored so easily, so I feed them that in the evenings, and I usually mix in some cooked ground beef and a little cheese, or some cooked chicken to make it more enticing/interesting. In the mornings, I now feed them K9 Natural – Chicken Feast raw frozen food, which they really like; the challenge with that is that I live in northern CT and it is hard to find a store that carries it consistently, so I’ve had to order it online (and pay a $30 frozen food surcharge, which I’m happy to do if it means my dogs will eat!). I have been looking for a dogfoodadvisor.com rating for the K9 Natural raw frozen foods, but only see the K9 Natural Freeze Dried Raw (Freeze-Dried); the raw freeze dried chicken feast has a 5-star rating, but not sure if that applies to the raw frozen chicken feast, does anyone know? Thanks so much!

[Amy H]

I am adopting an epileptic lab mix rescue pup, 10 months old, and I am told about 60 lbs. I have looked over these forums and printed out a few articles from the Mercola site to bring to my first vet appt with him. Once he is settled in our home I will begin transitioning him to a higher protein, lower carb, grain free diet. The first bag I bought for that is EB Holistic Primitive Naturals. He is on KBr already, as he had multiple grand mal seizures after poison ingestion, but he has been seizure free for several months. I am looking for advice from others who have dealt with this – what worked for you, and what didn’t? I am not up to a raw diet, but herbals and supplements would be manageable within budgetary reason. I wonder whether a rotation diet is still advisable, since I need to worry about affecting his KBr blood levels with varying salt content in different foods. Most labels I’ve checked don’t list sodium content. I read through about 55 pages of the large & giant breed puppy food forum, and think he is old enough that I at least don’t need to worry about calcium content. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

[Naturella]

How cute Ginger and Bailey are! 🙂 And I second Bobby Dog regarding the BCnut and her aunt – age is just a number – fabulousness is forever! 🙂

On my end, things are meh, but I am getting used to it. I think that even though I had been “preparing” myself for this for a loooooong time, I was a bit numb myself when it actually happened. I hadn’t fully thought out the aftermath. I forgot to consider the possibility of my family (mom) not REALLY hearing my message and just retaining her shock factors and not the explanations for them or the reiteration of love for my family and desire for us all to love and accept each other and be open and honest with each other. BUT, I am adjusting, as is she, and we will play it by ear and see if time plus constant/consistent demonstration of care and love on my part will help. Hope is still in me. 🙂

Also on another note, I went through Bruno’s “treat box”, which is overflowing actually, and I pulled out a few things to give to the dog of the family I babysit for. An early Christmas present if you will, lol. After I pulled out a can of Weruva, a dental bone, a sweet potato chew, a bully stick, a lamb ear, a pig snout, a cow ear, a beef trachea, a fish skin, a stingray tail, a tripe swirly chew, a pack of salmon treats, and a few buffalo liver treats, I still have an overflowing box of some of the above treats left for Bruno, plus a Himalayan dog chew, a pig foot (I will probably let Bruno share it with the roommate’s dog), and a ton of food samples! I use them as treats, but I may need to up my usage and just give him meal varieties, i.e. give him his regular food and additive for breakfast; a sample (his normal serving of it, not the whole sample) with THK for dinner. Probably 2-3 meal replacements/week will take care of one sample. And if I do this every other week, I should be good until my kibble supply runs down. And then we start over with collecting food and samples. I really think I won’t hoard like that anymore though… I don’t want to keep more than 6 months’ worth of food at a time in the house… I want more variety, freshness, and deals too, so I will stock up when deals come every 6 months or so, and try to include more fresh/natural additives like freeze-dried/dehydrated/frozen commercial raw. But for now, he’s doing well it seems, and I should be transitioning him to Back to Basics in about 2 weeks. Hope he does well and not like the NVI disaster! LoL.

(P.S. I just realized that my post is halfway entirely related to dog food, but I didn’t know where else to put that second half, so sorry guys – it s here!)

[Bobby dog]

Hi Dee J:
I agree with all the recommendations on food, especially DF’s on transitioning to a grain inclusive first. I have fed several recipes (grain inclusive and GF) from both Nutrisource and Precise; my dog loved them and did well on them.

I would just like to add since you will be mixing foods, if your dog is an easy keeper like mine, I found I needed to feed the least amount for his weight of the Nutrisource and Precise foods in both grain inclusive and grain free recipes. Keeping this in mind might help avoid any weight issues if that is a concern. Good luck!!!

[Jenny Rellick]

Frozen or salt-free canned green beans are great low-calorie and economical add-in. Sugar-free pumpkin and no-sugar added sweet potatoes are great mix-ins for new dogs who may have an upset tummy from transitioning to a new home with new food. Is there a no-kill rescue or shelter that will let you foster your 8 dogs? They could help cover some of the costs and find a forever homes for the “dumped” dogs. My dog and his brother were dumped by an amusement park in a rural area and wandered around for months before anyone helped them. A no-kill shelter 100 miles away took them and paid for their medical rehabilitation, so there may be a rescue somewhere that will help you foster you dogs. Thank you for caring for these helpless dogs.

[Karen J]

Because of the pre struvite crytals:

Freshpet Vital – Grain Free, a roll you keep in fridgy topped with BB wild cuts – she finally seems to eat that and BB Wilderness.

Last night and this morning I gave her Freshpet topped with wild cuts…but she left a puddle of pee no far from where she eats. She has a dog door and I’d let her out from where there is grass and she peed there 15 minutes early…any thoughts from this well informed group?

[Akari_32]

So I’m transitioning Ginger on to the newest mix of food: 8 lbs of Nutro Natural Choice Wholesome Essentials Puppy, 4 lbs of Nutro Natural Choice Wholesome Essentials Young Adult, and 6 lbs of Purina Pro Plan Small Breed Puppy, all mixed together evenly and shared with Haley and Dweezle. She doesn’t like the larger, Coco Puff sized pieces of the Young Adult. Spits them out. Its not a “This hurts my mouth” for of spit, its a “what the crap is this garbage??” sort of spit LOL She only spits it out when she gets to the end of her meal and slows down to have to work at the stuff stuck to the bottom of her bowl, so at least she doesn’t pick through her whole meal (Bentley used to do that, the little brat). The Small Breed Puppy is obviously nice small pieces, and the Wholesome Essentials puppy is about the size of a dime, and flat, so both of these she eats just fine.

Also, I think I’m making head way on getting her comfortable with being picked up. Since Tuesday, I’ve picked her up several times, both awake, and just woken up, and she’s only once protested mouthily (thats a word, right? It is now! LOL), and really she didn’t even try to bite me, it was more mouth open, and head turned back a little, like she was ready if she thought she needed to. She wasn’t happy, but she wasn’t going to outright protest it. So, I’m very happy with that! She even seems to enjoy being held, at times, as well. And I’ll rub her cheeks and ears and she’ll put all her weight on my hand as I scratch– its so cute lol And she’s been in really good spirits during the day, despite being extra grumpy at night. Not sure what the night-time grumpiness is all about, but I’ll take the running through the house, and the coming over for pets when I put my hand down, and face-to-face, tail-wagging greetings with Bentley (he’s really obnoxious, but she’s learning to accept that, and even like him, even if its just a little bit! LOL)– that last one in particular makes me pretty happy lol

I’ll be leaving friday and not coming home till monday for a cruise, and leaving the dogs and creatures in the combined care of my room mate, sister, and neighbor. This is apparently how many people it takes to do what I do for my animals every day for the weekend LOL I hate to leave them, especially Ginger, but the tickets are past their fully refundable date, and its the wedding of a very close family friend, so I’m obligated to go lol It’ll be fun though! So if you guys don’t hear from me, thats where I’ll be. I’ll have my phone, though, so maybe I’ll be able to internet from my phone… :p

[Dog_Obsessed]

Since I adopted my dog Lily 1.5 months ago, I’ve been doing a ton of research on her food. This is my first time having a dog, though I have fostered for rescue groups, where the food was provided. One of the things I read on this site was about rotational feeding, and I thought it sounded like a good idea. I am feeding her Taste of The Wild Wetlands formula, but I am transitioning her to Lotus grain-free duck small bites for rotation. Other brands I am thinking of including are Wellness Core grain-free and Orijen.

I was also considering mixing in some with wet food with her kibble, Wellness 95% or TOTW. The only issue is storage: wet food only keeps a few days in the fridge, and since she is small it would not be used up by then. I was wondering about freezing it as a possibility, does anyone know if this is okay?

By the way, all of the foods I mentioned are grain-free. This is not a must, but Lily may possibly have some allergies, so I thought it couldn’t hurt. One of the pet store employees recommended avoiding chicken, because it is a common allergen.

Lily is an ~3 year old, 10 pound, Bichon Frise. Any input or constructive criticism on the food is welcome. Thanks!

[Naturella]

Dori,
Ah, those damn shots!!! 🙁

In either case, nothing I can do now… glad to know it is not the Sentinel, although I will keep an extra eye on him November 1st (his next pill).

Also, he has MOSTLY been grain free, but just this past food I was transitioning him out of was lamb and brown rice, so it is not that new to him, he has certainly had it before, but not such gas. Pumpkin is something he hasn’t had in a while, but that shouldn’t be causing his gas, should it?

Also, I was going to add in THK tomorrow – wanted to go simple with just chicken, rice, and pumpkin before I add stuff so that I know what works…

As for that same food, NVI Rabbit, he had a sample of it, and he had it just fine as treats… either way, I am thinking of scrapping the NVI and moving on to Wysong Quail instead… it has brown rice, and I am scared of the rabbit now, lol…

I did certainly look through his stool and vomit too… nothing too crazy or unusual that I could see – whatever it may have been, he must have digested it at least some before it upset him…

In the end, whatever it was, I can’t really undo it now, I can just try to help him get over it and feel better. I will add THK Perfect Form tomorrow and hope for the best. If all goes well, I will add canned on Thursday/Friday, and begin introducing the Wysong Saturday/Sunday, so we’ll see how it goes.

Thank you for all the help!!! It is so much appreciated, Dori, really! And I don’t mean to hoag the thread, I just kept posting here to make sure it is not the Sentinel that could have been causing this.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Naturella.

[Kristin C]

Hi Jude-when I first started my puppy on raw earlier this year I would give her treats of raw chicken during the day. When I was sure she could tolerate it I gave her a full raw breakfast for a few days, then added dinner. I did the same thing transitioning her to raw beef. I have tried Darwin’s but the meat turns brown and it’s expensive. Nature’s Variety worked for us and it is very accessible as it’s sold at Petco, but it’s expensive too. Orijen Freeze dried works for us when when we travel, again expensive though. I have resorted to buying my own chicken and beef when on sale, add organs, puréed vegs, sweet potato and pumpkin and, as of this week, am adding in See Spot Live Longer to my homemade. I buy grinds of novelty meats from Reel Raw to get more variety and rotate those in. In addition, my girls each get a can of sardines per week and I make tripe and yogurt treats for them a couple times per week. You can request samples of THK on their website. I have a couple samples I have not tried yet. The best advice I can offer is to try one thing at a time, keep doing what works, discard what doesn’t work. Every household is different. I have revised my dog’s eating schedule many times this year!

[Jude s]

So like the title said, I need help! I’m trying to start my puppies, that are about to be 4 months on the 11, on raw food. I was told that starting them on premix meals, then transitioning them to homemade or raw prepackaged food is best. The problem is I don’t know which premix meal brands are best…I have pitbull/chihuahua mix puppies. If anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it 🙂 …..oh and I’ve done my research but it’s a ll overwhelming :/

• This topic was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Jude s.

[Kayla]

Thank you so much!!!! and, I am slowly transitioning him to Pure Balance. It had 4 star rating and good reviews. I am a college student on a low budget so it was in my price range. Just need better treats. So glad I found this website. Learned so much already.

[Nancy C]

I had a very scary experience. Our GSD dog ( approx16 mos old) in March had had bad diarrhea from transitioning OFF TOW to Origen, then Acana. Spent lots of $ at vet for cure. A week later the dog had gotten back to normal. The vet did a “well check” w thumbs UP and on the way out I bought the Solesto HORRIBLE Collar. Everyone at the vet was raving and the vet herself told me it would probl be better than an oral flea/ tick med due to his sensitive stomach. So I BOUGHT IT and they put it on.

Within 24 hours this dog was so sick. He was literally CRYING in the crate and scratching the door to get out and poop total syrup. One night he woke me three times scratching and crying AND MOANING with discomfort. This was over the weekend. I put him on broth and no changes. Back to the vet on Monday COLLAR STILL ON. Long horrible story short: I finally realized it was the collar! I yanked it off and within 24 hours he was much better. I called Bayer, had to “work it” bec nobody wanted to refund me. I finally got my money back. The VET TECH secretly told me that the rep told HER that they have had a LOT OF TROUBLE with that collar!

It’s not for everyone.

[Nancy C]

Dear Ladies, How I share your feelings and fears. But knowing how good raw seems to be I felt that I must give it a try. Here is my experience and it is one of many – but I have learned at DFA Hearing others’ Experience helps. Due to my 15 mos old GSD having terrible problems due to transitioning to a high end food from TOW due to the recalls- we ended up for 6 weeks at the vet (due to diarrhea) who put him on antibiotics and HILLS POISON WD Formula to heal him. He lost 6 pounds over several weeks. A nightmare.
I was scared of raw, but felt I MUST TRY. So I hired a Homeopathic Vet to help me through to raw. (My reg vet is not into nutrition) He recommends raw for dogs. He also recommends two brands of raw which he feeds to his own 6 dogs: Darwin’s and Big Dog Natural. BDN is a air dried -dehydrated raw to which is added TRIPE to every formula and the veggies are fermented. BOTH these aspects support digestion. First I started with our 10 1/2 yr old Golden Retriever. He suggested that I start with the BDN – would probl be easier to digest. I went Cold Turkey. Chris at BDN strongly advised AGAINST mixing raw and kibble. She all but guaranteed cold turnkey would work fine. One morning I held my breath, stopped kibble totally and fed the BDN as directed. It was a piece of cake! Dog did not skip a beat. The vet said it is bec this food is SO EASILY DIGESTED. And my dog licked the bowl for over a 1 1/2 minutes! Loved the food. There was NEVER any diarrhea nor ANY signs of ANY difficulty. It was magic. I am leaving her on this for 1 month and then will start introducing the Darwins WITH BDN 2 oz at a time. I told my neighbor about BDN and she ordered it and today told me she went COLD TURKEY with her THREE dogs and no problems at all. EASY! She’s now into her second large order of the food! So I will start my GSD soon. He just arrived from training and I want to acclimate him to being back home and I too shall go cold turkey with him. Chris at BDN says one of her customers is a GSD Breeder and he LOVES the food and gives it to ALL HIS DOGS! So, hope this helps a smidgen. Good luck to you!
Nancy Calloway
Oh PS — I do not have stock in BDN, I am in NC they are in NJ, I do not know the owners nor do I know ANYONE there. Chris in Cust Serv is very helpful and nice. I never heard of the food until the Homeopath vet told me about it.

[Nancy C]

I started transitioning my 10 yr old Golden R to RAW 8 days ago. She ate kibble for TEN YEARS! I was scared. With the help/ advice from a good Homeopath DVM I started with Big Dog Natural, a dehydrated raw. He suggested it because he knows the company, it is an excellent food which he feeds his 6 dogs (rotates w Darwins). The strength of the food is that it is FERMENTED and every meal has GREEN TRIPE included. Both these 2 ingredients are excellent digestive aids. So when I fed the first meal — Cold Turkey – NOT mixed with kibble due to the different digestion times for kibble and raw (There are varied opinions on feeding raw and kibble simultaneously). Customer Service and Dr. Loops recommended cold turkey – NOT MIXING THE TWO. Customer service all but guaranteed me there would be no problem.
I was very nervous but I followed their advice. There was NOTHING TO TO IT! Worked beautifully plus my dog LICKED THE BOWL for over 1 1/2 minutes. She LOVED the food. NO DIARRHEA and NO LOOSE STOOL which I was expecting! NONE. This was a PIECE OF CAKE! She has Significantly smaller stools. After a few weeks on this raw food I will ADD DARWIN’S. Then will ADD other raw foods.Have Darwin’s patties, Tripe and Turkey Necks from HARE TODAY in my freezer. The homeopath said that going to BDN would be easier and a great intro into raw. They are on the net. Great Customer Service. The ONLY thing that is “difficult” is that you have to let the food REHYDRATE for about 12 to 15 min before feeding. Can do that at night and leave in frig so to feed your dog immediately in the morning. Check out the website and good luck.

[2nd2none]

yeah, flagyl usually works like a charm!
transitioning feed should be a slow process, typically from 7-10 to help prevent stomach upset. *white meat should be used with the rice. avoid the dark, as it’s higher in fat and beef should be your last choice unless it’s REALLY lean. same deal with turkey: white meat and stay away from the skin=can cause pancreatitis~another issue….
poop eating (coprophagia) has many different theories. from a nutritional deficiency to just being *really, really hungry. perhaps with the new feed, your dog will do well, get any nutrients he/she may be lacking and feel satisfied upon finishing his food. out of 7 i have one who will eat the other’s stool if i would let her, but being diligent about clean up and watching where she goes when out walking helps to ward off that unwanted behavior.
best wishes.