[gsdmommy89]

Oh! that makes alot of sense now. I’ll definitely keep an eye out fortthose sales

[theBCnut]

As far as bag size and rotation goes, that is a personal choice. I always buy the big bag to save money and I have 3 dogs so I go throught it quickly. After you have transitioned a few times you will find that your dog no longer needs transitions so you don’t have to worry about having enough food for a transition. I know several people buy the small bags so they can switch more frequently. Once your dog is used to switching it really doesn’t matter, you can even do like I did last winter and have four bags open at once and feed something different every meal. And yes, you can feed a cheaper food one time knowing you are going to feed a more expensive food next. You can feed chicken one bag and lamb the next.

[Duke The Boxer]

My boy is not doing so well on nv. Everything is amazing and I definitely will be buying this food again cuz his coat is amazing and has no rashes anywhere but at this current time I think the formula has too much protein and is causing quite loose stools. Since then I’ve been mixing half nv and half of this natural balance and his stools has improved greatly. I’m thinking of trying dr Tim’s kinase grain inclusive next rotation. What do you guys think? Can a food with too much protein cause loose stools in a dog? I haven’t been over feeding him as I’m feeding under the recommended dosage and still wen I try and go back to more nv than the natural balance the stools go back to very soft.

[EHubbman]

Might be too much protein or his tummy might be disagreeing with something in the food. Try mixing in a little bit of plain canned pumpkin would be my suggestion, as it’s worked for me before.

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

[Duke The Boxer]

I tried giving him some natural pumpkin which I boiled for a little to soften it up for him. Unfortunately it didn’t help much till I switched him to a lower protein food.

[EHubbman]

Hmm.. the other thing that worked for Dom was putting him on a good quality probiotic as well. (Thanks to wonderful suggestions from the dog lovers here, actually! :] )

[theBCnut]

One thing with boiling pumpkin, it has already absorbed as much water as it can, so baking it may be a better strategy. Also if protein cause a loose stool, it is because the body has not adjusted enough yet and probiotics and digestive enzymes are the way to go.

[Duke The Boxer]

Yeah it’s just strange. I would give him a Swanson digestive enzyme with every meal and no luck in firming the stools. Also was giving him the Swanson probiotic but since then the vet gave me an iams probiotic with a really high bacteria count. I will though consider baking the pumpkin next time. Thank you patty

[sippmanjr]

Anyone have any opinions on Fromm’s Large Breed Gold. Everyone has given me some great ideas but I just ran across this yesterday. My indecisiveness is getting the best of me for these 11 pups! What makes this a 4 star food compared to something like Dr. Tims or Earthborn. To me the ingredients look better?

[mfulton7]

I believe the fromms gold is grain inclusive and its not all life stages.

[sippmanjr]

Sorry for the confusion. I meant the Fromms Large breed puppy. And yes Grain inclusive. The Dr. Tim’s is also grain inclusive. Or one at least the one in the top 5 list a couple back is.

[theBCnut]

Fromm is a really good food, top quality ingredients, but the protein levels are a bit low and the price is a bit high.

[gsdmommy89]

sippmanjr:
I feed my GSD puppy Fromm Gold Large Breed Puppy. he does very well on it. I don’t know where you live, but here in Los Angeles I go to a store that has the 33 lb bag for $49.99

[sippmanjr]

I am in Los Angeles too. Well actually La Verne/Claremont area. That is good to know. I am just trying to figure it out why it is only a 4 star food? The first few ingredients seem great. I have been starting to lean towards Dr. Tim’s because of the information I have been getting here. When reading the ingredients it seems almost better than the others but I may just be reading something wrong or not really know how to read the ingredient statements.

[mfulton7]

Maybe because it has 3 questionable ingredients?

[sippmanjr]

What would those be? Thank you all again for the info!

[sippmanjr]

How would you all feel about starting them on the Earthborn Holistic stuff right off the bat. From weaning on?

[theBCnut]

A major part of the rating is the amount of animal protein. Having red ingredients lowers the rating and having plant protein boosters lowers the rating.

[mfulton7]

Brown rice, dried tomato pomace, brewers yeast. I’m thinking maybe that’s why its only a 4 star food. I’ve also been researching this site for weeks and days. Its so overwhelming! I have a doberman puppy and wanted the best food for the best value for her. I chose Earthborn Hollistic coastal catch to start with. I was going to go with fromm 4 star grain free but I felt it was to pricey for the quality of food.

[sippmanjr]

Yea am starting to lean that way as well. My biggest problem is having these 11 puppies, they are all going to family and close friends , I do not mind paying a little more for food but I am sure other people do and will not stick to a grain free diet. So I don’t know if it is better to start with Dr. Tim’s and maybe wean mine onto his grain-free formula or earthborn after a few months.

[jewels]

Thanks for all the info guys! I’ll try to find some good deals online. I guess that is a better option after all than paying $80 a bag or not even trying some of the great options out there. I appreciate all the help!

[apriliamille]

jewels
as per your post about bag size. i only get small bags of a food to test the dogs.
once they are transitioned i dont think it matters what bag size the dog requires. to me it just makes more sense to buy the largest size i can get. some of the price models are just nuts with the higher price per pound scaling the less you get. i assume we are talking large breed so i wouldnt even bother worrying about opened bags depleting nutrients through the air
but, just in case, the larger earthborn bags have a ziplock system even though i cut the upc off and mail into earthborn for the upc for trees program. my base dog food comes in zip lock 7 pound increments in a 7×7 pound shipment so i have probably 21 spare empty heavy duty zip locked foil lined bags to fill up with what ever large bags of food i have come

[aasteapots]

Is my Standard poodle considered a large breed? Should I be giving her a specific food? She is getting TOTW puppy right now which is a 4.5 star food but I am not sure if it is for large breeds.

[theBCnut]

Many standard poodles are not large breeds, but some are, so if I were you I would ere on the side of caution. There are no negatives to feeding a food for large breeds except that you have a little less variety to choose from. Once your puppy is grown, you no longer have to worry about calcium levels again and you can feed any food you want.

[maggy6577]

I don’t know if you consider weimaraners large breeds, but I now feed them hi-tec naturals. This dog food is make in China which bothers me, but no bad recalls. The problem is my dogs has gas all the time. Was thinking of going to taste of the wild, but so many recalls. I am also on disability so every dollar counts and still want the best I can afford for these beautiful dogs. PS my corgi even has gas

Maggy6577

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi-Tek Naturals isn’t made in China – Hi-Tek owns their own manufacturing facility in Georgia. If you’re looking for a new budget friendly option I would suggest Earthborn or Dr. Tim’s – both are around the same price as TOTW but made by reputable companies. You may also want to try supplementing with digestive enzymes and probiotics to help with the gas.

[Duncan2012]

Our 9-month-old Bernese mix has been doing well on Zignature, but we’d like to rotate his food. He seems to have a sensitivity to potatoes. Any suggestions for good potato-free, grain-free dry dog foods from HDM’s list? The top 5 she suggested earlier in this thread all seem to include potatoes. I know Canine Caviar is grain-free and potato-free, but it’s out of our budget.

[gsdmommy89]

hi Duncan2012. since your puppy is over 8 months, I believe you don’t really have to worry about calcium levels anymore. I don’t know many foods that don’t have potatoes, but on HDM’s list she does have Nature’s Variety Instinct. they are grain, potato and sweet potato free and they use tapioca as their starch source. I believe the least expensive formula is the chicken meal formula. so if your puppy doesn’t have sensitivities to chicken that could be your best bet. I absolutely love Nature’s Variety

[Duke The Boxer]

My dog absolutely devours and loves loves his natures variety rabbit meal. Great bag of food. I will always buy a 30 pound bag when it’s on sale. My dookie’s coat is gorgeous. Even when he’s the dirtiest and we are about to clean him he still has a shiny ad soft coat. I’m not too sure if he rabbit doesn’t have any potatoes but I know it is grain free.

[apriliamille]

i think earthborn holistic meadowfeast doesnt have potatoes

[theBCnut]

InkerMarie made a grain free, potato free list. It is a stickie in the dog food ingredients category. You can compare it to HDM’s list to find a good food.

[Duncan2012]

Thanks, Pattyvaughn! I just looked at InkedMarie’s list and printed out. I found Nature’s Variety Instinct grain-free chicken on sale at petfooddirect.com for $50.99 (free shipping with code), so I just bought a bag to give it a try. I think I’ll try Earthborn’s Meadowfeast next. Thank you for all the suggestions!

[InkedMarie]

Duncan, if it works, sign up for emails at wag.com, Petflow.com and chewy.com. I find the last two to usually be cheaper than PFD.

[Sully’sMom]

Pattyvaughn, a few pages back you made a comment about ‘dogs who were on Purina avoid chicken and all grains like the plague’ May I ask you to elaborate? My lab is now 15 mos old. When we got him at 7 weeks, the breeder was feeding him Purina Puppy Chow (!). We kept him on if for only a couple of weeks more, than transitioned to Fromm Large Breed Gold Puppy. Now we’re on a rotation: we went from the Fromm LB Gold Puppy, to Fromm GF Surf and Turf and now we’re on a bag of Merrick GF Beef. I believe he has allergies. He is itchy all the time, and biting and chewing himself. Trying to decide what to rotate to next. Earthborn? Nature’s Variety Rabbit (could only get it when on sale)?

Curious why you mentioned about Purina and chicken and grains….

Thank you!

[theBCnut]

I must have been replying to someone whose dog sounded like it had an intolerance issue and mentioned that the dog was on Purina at some point, but I wasn’t sure if it still was. Almost all Purina foods are chicken and grain, so that would be the most likely things for the dog to develop an intolerance to. Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast would be a good one for you to try. Beef is a common allergy too, BTW. Look for something that has different protein and starch from what he was itching on. When you find a food that works for him, give him some time to get over ALL symptoms, then start adding single ingredients to his food to see if he starts reacting to them.

[GSDGuy]

I need help on adog food that helps slow growth rate ,my dogs growth problems bother him a lot and I want to know some foods that’ll help him rest easier at night :/

[Sully’sMom]

Thank you Pattyvaughn! Makes a lot of sense. I’ve been looking at Earthborn and was thinking the Great Plains would be a good one to start with also. And what would you think about the Nature’s Variety lines? I had never really considered them but in this thread there are often recommendations for the Rabbit…?

[InkedMarie]

GSD Guy, read this thread, somewhere here is a list of foods appropriate for large breed puppies.

[Weber hunde]

Good morning, all! I am new to this site, but have already found it so helpful. My request is to Sully’s mom: I too am experiencing excessive itching and biting of my two lab puppies. I have them on Blue Buffalo Wilderness Large Breed Chicken recipe. I have since changed the 3 month old’s food to BB Life Puppy with Lamb and Rice, with some success. He is still itchy, though. What food have you found has helped with this?

as an aside, he was on ivermectin for mites, which have since cleared up. Also, no people foods of any kind for either pup!

Thanks for any feedback!

[Duke The Boxer]

Sully is your dog has no problem with foods with high protein I would really recommend the rabbit if you can catch it on sale. I’ve never seen my dookie’s coat so amazing. He also loves the taste of te nv. I think it’s cuz they have a raw freeze dried putter layer so dogs go crazy over. It was a little weird when I first gt the bag cuz the food was so black but it is how it’s suppose to be. Let me know if you have an questions about nv. I just order dr Tim’s kinesis Grain inclusive so I will be reviewing that in a couple weeks.

[Sully’sMom]

Thanks, Duke. I’ve just emailed NV as I’d heard their rabbit is sourced from China. Awaiting that reply!

Dr Tim’s is on my To Try list also 🙂

[Sully’sMom]

To Weber Hunde: Hello, I wish I could be more helpful but we’re struggling now to find a solution! I will tell you that I once rotated to BB Freedom and in the short time Sully was on it, his stools were better than they had been, but he broke out in a terrible rash. It certainly could have been coincidence with the timing of the new food, but we got off it immediately…didn’t even finish the bag.

Now he’s eating Merrick Grain Free Beef and again, stools are the best they’ve ever been and he’s itching worse than ever. Although he’s been itching since the day we got him, he seemed the best on Fromm (both Large Breed Gold puppy and Grain Free Surf and Turf), but we’ve tried to get off of Fromm as it is really too expensive.

Earthborn Holistic Great Plains is next on our list. I’ll let you know!

[Duke The Boxer]

Please let me know you results sully I didn’t even think of where they sourced it from.

[Sully’sMom]

I will do that!

[Sully’sMom]

Duke the Boxer: this is what they’ve told me so far:

“The rabbit protein we use in our canned and raw diets is from China. We employ a U.S. educated food scientist in China to oversee our rabbit sourcing. All rabbit protein is tested before shipment from China and again after it arrives in the U.S. for processing into our diets. We are very confident in how we handle our sourcing from China. We source most of our ingredients from the U.S. and turn to other locations only as needed. We are very stringent on our sourcing and have good relationships built with our vendors for quality ingredients.”

I replied that I was asking about the kibble and have not heard back. Personally, if the canned and raw diet rabbits are from China, I personally would likely not order the rabbit kibble….(aren’t there US rabbits??)

[Sully’sMom]

So, Pattyvaughn, a followup question:

If I switch to Earthborn Great Plains in an effort to figure out allergies, how do I handle treats, bones, chews, etc? We usually give quite a variety of treats when we’re training, sort of like a trail mix variety so he never knows what he’s getting. I only give top shelf, high quality, made in US treats, but still….there’s quite a mix!

[gsdmommy89]

To Sully and Duke:

I used to work at a pet supply store that only carries super premium and premium brand foods (i.e: Fromm, Orijen, Merrick, Nature’s Variety, ZiwiPeak, etc). I did alot of research on every brand we carried because customers have a lot of questions about food, especially people that are switching from grocery brands like Pedigree and Purina since they want to know exactly why they should spend that extra money. I use Nature’s Variety, and I too am very wary of where things come from. As for their rabbit formula, I have used it and I love it. I know it’s sourced from China, but feel confident in it because of the testing they’ve done and also because for a while they did not carry the rabbit formula in the cans or raw. I called, emailed, asked many different representatives in many different ways, and researched as to why this was. I was satisfied to know that they didn’t want to source their rabbit from just anywhere. They’d rather not have any rabbit than to have questionable suppliers. Yes, there are U.S rabbits, but if what they use now is already pricey, could you imagine the price of it if it was U.S supplied? OUCH!! This is my opinion on NV Rabbit ( I’ve used all three varieties: kibble, raw, cans) and I am a huge fan of them. Of course everyone has their own reservations, I just thought it’d be nice to share my experience.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by gsdmommy89.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by gsdmommy89.

[mfulton7]

OT but I need some advice. I switched the dogs to Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch from Zignature Trout & Salmon on Sunday. I’ve been use 3/4 cup of zignature to 1/4 cup of the earthborn plus I’ve been adding a probiotic to it and 2 of them are having runny stools still. Is there anything else I should or could be doing for them to make the transition easier?

[apriliamille]

mfulton7

i used pure canned pumpkin with my transitions. i believe pumpkin is considered prebiotic. maybe look at a prebiotic or use canned pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie cans). the transitions i have done are slowwwwww. a couple pieces for a day or two. then 25 percent of one of their meals for a day or so then 50 percent of their meal for a day or so.. and on and on. also i use a tablespoon or two of pumpkin with their meals. and their bed time crate kong treat is a frozen layer of pumpkin and peanut butter (if i use too much new food and nightly walk looks a little off)
im in the middle of doing a drtim kinesis and am up to half of her breakfast meal. her poop is kickable if that makes sense.

edit. oh yeah i forgot about our sundays which might play a factor in how our dogs are doing (we do a variant of the 5/1/1 meal plan). our dogs get a raw breakfast of venison, elk (compliments of a game locker here in our region) a baked sweet potato, cooked green beans, herring in plain water, and either a cored apple, cored pear or bannana depending on what we have that morning along with plain greek yogurt. dinner is a raw marrow bone

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

[Sully’sMom]

Thank you gsdmommy89 ~ I appreciate that you took the time to share your experience. Obviously, NV is a highly regarded company and they probably are taking the necessary steps, however I could just never in good conscience knowingly feed my dog a food from China. Certainly not when there are so many other choices. There have just been too many “incidents”. I’m not saying I wouldn’t feed NV, just not the rabbit.

[Author]

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