[Max R]

I had a similar situation when my dog (half lab mutt) was a puppy and I switched him from a less protein rich food to Orijen Large Puppy. He loved the food but had loose poop.

Then I switched from Orijen Large Puppy to Acana Wild Prairie. That’s was made by the same company (Champion). Now that they have changed their formulas and relocated production to Kentucky, I believe the equivalent food is Acana Meadowlands.

Honestly, I think he preferred the Orijen to any other food, but he just wasn’t tolerating it well. The Acana fixed the problem and he liked it fine.

Once he matured (I know that’s an iffy word with any lab lab/based dog), I wanted to see if I could ramp up the protein again. After going through a series of other brands (Merrick and Evo before both were bought out), I ended up with Orijen Adult which he was now able to tolerate very well.

Maybe not completely relevant, but the new version of “Adult” is Orijen “Original.”
It has less fiber and it was just not enough for my dog. So now I’m transitioning him to Wellness Core Wild Game (another poultry based food) and he seems to be doing well.
I like Champion Foods – especially Orijen – but it looks out of the picture for me now.

The company did suggest Acana Meadowlands as an alternative to Orijen Original. It’s the Acana chicken based food. Haven’t tried it. They’re mailing me samples.

[Max R]

I agree that it might not make sense to indicate price in the rating, but think about this:

Dog food adviser rates nutritional content by weight. If your dog has to eat more of one food to get his/her required calories, then the health and wellness impact on the dog of a particular ingredient can be amplified.

For example, Orijen Adult (that’s the old formula or current Canadian formula) has a bit over 5g of fiber per cup. I looked at Wellness Core and it has 6g per cup. That difference my dog MIGHT tolerate. But because he would have to eat more of the Wellness, he’s going to be eating more like the equivalent of 7g/cup if he was eating the same amount as Orijen.

That’s a little convoluted, but the bottom line is, with lower caloric density foods, the Fiber measure in particular food will be understated if you compare it to a higher density food.

The fiber measure per cup is great for gauging quality of ingredients. But it isn’t useful for gauging whether your dog will be getting more or less fiber with normal feeding.

I thought this suggestions forum was basically read by the guy/person/people who run(s) the site. Not so? Just poking around a little, I don’t see too many Admin responses in the Suggestion Forum threads. Are they being read? Or just not commenting?

[Author]

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