Transitioning To New Dog Food

[Leslie PMember]

Hello, our boykin spaniel puppy came to us on Hill’s Science dry puppy food. After having researched this dog food we decided to upgrade his food to a higher quality product. We have now attempted to transition him FIVE times. Each and every time results with bad diarrhea that just won’t stop and this is only giving him a very small amount. So far we have tried Orijen, Fromm’s, Victor Grain Free, Taste of the Wild and Acana.

Does anyone have any suggestions? We think he may be allergic to chicken and we really prefer a grain-free diet for his breed.

[Freddy wMember]

Hello
I sort of had the same issue with my shepherds
But I found a solution that works well for them
It’s a dry dog good made by Victor

You can find it on chewy.com

There small bites so don’t get fooled by the photo of the German Shepherd
For my dogs the other dog foods had way to much fiber
Also my dogs are real active

Bets of luck to you

[Freddy wMember]

Ops here is the link for victor dog food that I use

https://www.chewy.com/victor-hero-grain-free-dry-dog-food/dp/120702

[SusanMember]

Hi, please get your Science Diet puppy food that your pup does good on, now read the Fat % the Protein % the Fiber % try & find a kibble with grains not grain free, cause the Science Diet uses crappy grains & there’s good premium kibbles with good grains & sweet potatoes that will be better then the Science Diet your feeding…
With the TOTW did the try “Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb”?? it’s an all life stages kibble & has the least ingredients & the protein is only 25%, fat is 15%, I have a IBD boy & he does really well on the TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb, it doesn’t have Garbanzo beans or lentils, Legumes, stay away from kibbles with Chickpeas, Lentils, Legumes…. have a look at “Holistic Select” Puppy/Adult its a grain free or the Holistic Select Anchovy, Sardines & Salmon & Rice or look at “Wellness Simple” range… Look for kibbles with limited ingredients that have brown rice there’s even “California Natural” it has limited ingredients only 3-4 ingredients & no peas, when my boy first stared eating kibbles with peas he got real bad wind…. Cause your pup is use to eating the Science Diet kibble you have to slowly introduce new foods in his diet once he’s doing well on a premium kibble, its taken me 3 yrs for Patch, & now he can eat apple, lean pork, lean beef, broccoli, carrot, egg, tuna. salmon, sweet potatoes, pumkin, raw almonds… I slowly started introducing all these foods once he was doing well on a kibble, TOTW Sierra Mountain, then I would give a couple pieces of peeled apple as a treat for 2 weeks, then 1 spoon pumkin with his kibble, then sweet potato etc… You will get there…
The other day I tried Artemis Turkey & Garbanzo beans, I had originally ordered Artemis Duck & Sweet Potato kibble but Pet place had sold out & gave me Artemis new formula & poor Patch was sick with diarrhea for 2-3 days until he was put on Metronidazole… 🙁 I’ll have to return & say he wont eat it, always check if the kibble is money back guaranteed.

[Freddy wMember]

Susan are you talking about taste of the wild ?

[Leslie PMember]

Thank you all for your comments. We did try the Victor Grain Free last week, only giving our 9-month old dog 10-12 small pieces of kibble. By day 5 the diarrhea started again. I’m really not sure at this point how to get him on a premium kibble since every reaction is the same. The ironic thing is that our dog HATES the Science Diet food. I put it down and he literally walks away. I have to add some ground turkey or other things to make it go down. We did try the Taste of the Wild lamb. Same results. I’m pretty sure he has irritable bowel syndrome and isn’t just a picky eater. Does anyone have experience with this?

[CockalierMomMember]

Hi Leslie,

I recently had the same problem with my girls after feeding them food without probiotics for a few months. I do not think Science Diet puppy has probiotics in it and your puppy probably has not developed enough gut bacteria yet to handle a transition. I know a lot of people say the probiotics in kibble are useless, but I never had a problem doing a food transition when my girls were eating a kibble that had probiotics.

I would suggest adding a good dog probiotic with multiple strains of bacteria and a prebiotic in it, or if you use one without prebiotics, add kefir, yogurt, or goat’s milk in also.

[SusanMember]

Hi Leslie, yes my rescue boy has IBD diagnosed thru Endoscope & Biopsies.. He has Food Sensitivities & cant have real high fat or high protein over 28% kibbles, like I wrote above it has taken me 3 yrs to work out what he can eat & can’t eat if your feeding turkey with the kibble have you thought of feeding him a raw diet or a cooked diet & stop feeding him kibble. There’s balanced premade raw diets….
You have to read the ingredients in the Science Diet formula & Fat, Protein & Fiber percent & look at all the kibbles you have tried & see where the difference lays, is the protein, fat or fiber too high, look at ingredients what’s the protein in Science Diet? Science Diet usually uses chicken, what ingredients are in the Science Diet usually corn gluten brewers rice, beet pulp etc then look at the ingredients in the other kibbles you have tried, see if there’s an ingredient in all the kibbles he had diarrhea….
also look at what oils & fat that are in the ingredients like fish oil, Salmon oil, my boy can not eat these oils, the American TOTW uses Salmon Oil but the Australian TOTW uses Canola Oil…. the best thing to do is start an elimination diet it takes a while but you will know what he cant eat, also maybe see a vet that specializes in IBS & IBD..
Have you looked at Science Diet Ideal balance?? it has better ingredients the their Science Diet range…

[SusanMember]

Hi Freddy, yes “Taste Of The Wild” TOTW, but like I just posted above TOTW that’s made for Australia & a few European countries have a few different ingredients, we don’t have Garbanzo Beans in our Pacific Stream Smoked Salmon & we have canola oil instead of Salmon oil.. so I’d say TOTW had to change a few ingredients so their food could come into our country, Earthborn Holistic is the same they had to change their ingredients..
We have very strict laws for any imported foods for dog/cat & human… I prefer an imported dog food then an Australian made kibble cause I know the imported food has more strict guidelines to follow, where when the food is made in our country they can do whatever to the pet food & get away with it..

[Freddy wMember]

Hi Susan
Thank you for your reply
All this food is soooo confusing
I’ve tried sooooomany brands with a lot of failure
I have 2 German sheps that had a terrible issue with diarrhea
I’ve tried so many brands that just didn’t work out
And for some reason victor has worked for them
Now the stools are solid
Seems like low fiber with a high protein seems to do the job for them
I started them off with totw
Good food but the stools were water which was very confusing for me
Had all sorts of tests done on them all came out good
I don’t know

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by  Freddy w.

[Amy BMember]

Hello!
I’m having a lot of the same issues with our GSD, who we recently adopted after he finished his time as a MWD. He was raised on Hill’s Active, which is a senior formula and not ideal for a growing dog let alone a MWD. Either way, I’ve tried to transition him to many of the same brands without success. I’m looking for something lower in protein and I think grain free may be a challenge. I’m going to look at Fromm, which has protein in the lower 20’s.
Thank you for your thoughts.
Amy

[SusanMember]

Hi Amy, look for kibbles with rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, oats just be careful with kibbles with Lentils, Chickpeas & Garbanzo Beans they’re harder to digest, if they’re 2nd or 3rd or 4th or 5th or 6th ingredient that means that the kibble is mainly made up with those ingredients…. isn’t Fromm very high in Peas? Pea protein, Pea flour, Pea Starch etc too many peas for a dog with stomach/bowel problems might cause gas/wind problems causing sloppy poo’s…

Look at “Canidae” Life Stages, all life stages formula, Protein-24% Fat-14.50%….. All Life Stages, Large Breed Adult Duck Meal & Brown Rice & Lentils formula, Protein-21%,Fat-12%, it has Lentils but they’re the 12th ingredient, so the kibble isn’t just lentils, there wont be many so it’s OK…. All Life Stages, Platinum, Protein-20% Fat-8%min, it has the lowest fat & lowest Protein… Have you tried “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb Canine formula? Protein-25% Fat-15%…

[CannoliMember]

Hi Leslie,

Sorry to read your pup is having so many issues with new food. Sad to hear breeders are breeding dogs with food allergies.

You may need to embark (which it sounds like you are) on an elimination diet.

Probably visit a vet to ensure nothing else is at play with your pup

[Author]

Posts