Protein / Carb Combo

 In terms of selecting good foods, I refer to this site:

 http://dogfoodanalysis.com/

Reading the reviews for a few is enlightening!  It also helps you learn what to look for when reading labels.

 In terms of the protein carb mix, that depends in part on your breed, and on lifestyle.  I have bichons (high food allergy!) and lap dogs (low need for carbs).  A working dog (Agility, herding on a farm e.g.) will need more carbs.  Also consider your dog's age: puppies need a higher calcium content. 

For rotating, I find this is pretty individual.  I stick to one brand and rotate toppings: pumpkin, Greek yogurt, parsley, 4 different oils, egg etc.  My friend rotates (she has bichons too).  

You knew to stay away from Science Diet, so I've probably told you a few things you already knew; sorry about that! LOL

Thanks so much for your reply.  I have a 5.5 yr old male bichon, lap dog for sure.  I do have some basic knowledge about dog food and I'm not sure I am going to follow my vets advice and not rotate, though rotating toppings as you do might be a good idea.  He doesn't currently get any toppings at all. 

I was more asking that if I decide to choose and stick with one food flavor, is there a preference over chicken vs beef vs duck vs fish etc.  I know each protein has different benefits as far as fish are high in the omegas etc so that is in part why I rotate and was concerned about settling on one in particular.  Needless to say, although I am at work and should be more focused on work, there is plenty of dog food research going on.  I'll check out dog food analysis site, don't think I've seen that one before.  I know I have a nutritional guide saved at home but didn't have time to find and forward to work so I could go through it more here.

Like I said, I did use Prairie and liked it because it incorporated fruits where the NB doesn't really.  He hasn't been eating NB long and truthfully I have been trying to decide if I want to stick with it or find something else.  I just don't like my itty bitty baby being sick, made me so sad yesterday when I got home from work. 

I think that the problem was simply the sudden change to something all new.

Yes, rotating foods is recommended because one might have a trace to much of something or a trace to little, so yeah, it does help keep things balanced.  And vets are NOT nutritionalists.

Think about it....if you are told you have diabetes, your doc is going to send you to a nutritionalist, someone who is extensively trained in that field.  I think that in general we expect our vets to have all the answers to every question and they just flat don't.  And, most particularly when it comes to foods.

NB, the last time I checked, was still considered to be a very good food.

Thanks Glenmar, I know he isn't a nutritionalist which is why I took what he said with a grain of salt...that and the fact that he pushes SD :)  Perhaps I might do it and perhaps not.  I know I needed to do further research.  My dog has never had an issue with an immediate switch before, when I rotate it is an immediate switch (I will not do that anymore...was honestly just never an issue).

This forum is definately one resource on my quest for information, as well as finding ingredient lists and comparing foods.  Since that will take a considerable amount of time, I just wanted to double check that NB was good...at least for now since that is what he was on most recently...and if I was wrong in the thought that rotation was a good idea.  I mean, for myself I try to rotate things so that I am eating across the food colors over the course of a week.  I can't eat it all at each meal but over time should provide balance and I felt the same would be true for my dog.

Feeling much better now....what is crazy is that I am not new to this dog owner thing...why am I so freaked out that my dog got sick.  I mean, I know I have been really lucky that my dog hasn't had tons of issues but still....he was sick :(  He just looked so sad and stressed and I knew he didn't feel well.  And I felt guilty that I was at work and not home, etc....  I'll live I suppose but, for the record, my dog seemed to bounce back much sooner than me last night.

I don't think you need to stick with one protein/carb just because your dog got sick on that one food. If he was doing okay with rotation before, it's probably just your sister's food brand that didn't agree with him.

A lot of people rotate formulas, and unless he has a chronic problem with it, I don't think he really needs to be on just one formula.

Ok...freak out over...finally !!!  I swear I was a bigger mess than my sick dog.  Going back to NB for now, still looking at difference between NB, Prairie and a couple of others....thank goodness for Excel !!  Thanks everyone for letting me have my moment yet giving me great advice.  One day I'll manage to get pictures and stuff up here.  I have been around for a long time just not that active usually.

 Oh a BICHON!!!! LOL

So I have one girl, Sugar, who is allergic to fish, all fish, any kind of fish, so a fish formula won't work for her.

I have one girl, Lacey, who didn't do well on grain free, she kept having low blood sugar reactions, no matter what treats I added at bedtime, morning breakfast. 

For bichons, stay away from brown rice and beet pulp - both come out in the tear stains and eye goop.

For grains:  barley and oats are less common in dog foods, so the dogs are less prone to have an allergic reaction.

Great job finding a food! LOL I can't believe you set up an excel spreadsheet!  He he heee.

The 2 resources I used exclusively in sorting out the food was the site I gave you (wwwodogfoodanalysis.com) and The Whole Pet Diet by Andi Brown.  Found it at my library, liked it and bought a copy off Amazon.com  That is where I got the info for the various toppers I use.  She has some good recipes in there too, which I make about once a month.

 Oh my yes, we NEED pictures!

 I've been using NB now for about 3 years and she does very well on it. Good luck!

I agree with glenmar, this only happen due to sudden change in your dogs food

 I agree with glenmar, this only happen due to sudden change in your dogs food

3greendogsvit

 I agree with glenmar, this only happen due to sudden change in your dogs food

   It can also happen if the dog has a food intolerance to one of the ingredients. For example, foods with corn give Jessie the runs.