Dog Community

Has anyone tried Pinnacle?

Posted : 1/28/2007 4:20:20 PM

I'm thinking I'm gonna start Cherokee on an true homemade two-ingredient elimination diet pretty soon here. I'd really like to be sure once and for all whether she's allergic to any foods, and if so, what? But, before I do that, I would like to try a kibble with none of the ingredients I suspect she has an issue with. These include turkey, rice, and now lamb. I also am leaning away from gluten. The more I read about it, the less I like it, for me and Cherokee. Since Cherokee's diet is so much easier to manipulate, we're starting with her. [

] So, gluten is especially wheat and barley. And I'm also thinking we'll avoid casein (milk protein), soy, and corn as well.

What does this leave me with? Not much! Basically my choices are Natural Balance's allergy forumlas, maybe a couple Timberwolf Organics formulas (but I refuse to buy anything from them at the moment), and, I just discovered, Pinnacle.

The only issue I have with Natural Balance is the fact that meat is not the first ingredient in the Sweet Potato & Fish or Potato & Duck formulas, which are my only options. So I'm leaning toward Pinnacle. The ingredients aren't my absolute favorite, but it's slim pickins', so they'll have to do.

Any opinions? Suggestions between duck and trout? Or anyone know of any other foods that don't include the above ingredients? Thanks!

jjsmom06

Posted : 1/28/2007 6:19:16 PM

Pinnacle was a lifesaver for JJ!!!![

]

He was having grass allergies and I suspected food allergies and after trying about 6 other foods I decided to try Pinnacle. Within 4 days JJ#%92s allergic reactions on his feet and belly COMPLETELY cleared. It was a miracle food for us. The pups would still be on it OF it were NOT for the pudding poop. I had them on Pinnacle for 14 weeks and we tried all 3 formulas and the poop was not good on any of them. Their coat was outstanding and they ate it fairly well (it isn#%92t the best smelling food out there, but they still enjoyed it). I have heard that some other folks have had some softer poop on this food as well, but I haven#%92t heard that with everyone. AND to be perfectly honest my guys have sensitive bellies on almost any food…so Cherokee may be just fine.

I think the ingredients are great and would highly recommend a trail on this food to see how your pup does! The only other person that I know for sure has fed this food is Dakota#%92s Doodle and I think he has been fairly pleased with it as well…

As far as duck and trouth ...they did the same on both but I think the trout has a little more smell to it so it might go over better...

Margaret Tyler

Posted : 1/28/2007 7:53:03 PM

I've fed Pinnacle. Infact, I work for a distribution company that sells it.

I'm impressed with the ingredients, but it made my dog poop alot. I fed the Fish and Sweet Potato formula after Joey started breaking out in a rash. It didn't make the rash go away, which is nothing against the food. It was probably environmental, we were taking him to the beach alot. But he poohed so much on the food he couldn't even hold it over night.

A coworker of mine feeds it to her labs. She's thrilled with it. But she also lives on 5, fenced in acres.

jessies_mom

Posted : 1/28/2007 7:56:06 PM

If you want to do a 2 ingredient elimination diet, perhaps you could feed the Natural Balance potato and duck and add EVO canned duck for more protein.

brookcove

Posted : 1/28/2007 8:10:46 PM

I think Pinnacle is a good company and I'd like to try the Trout sometime. I forget what it's got that Ben can't have (prob egg). I've noticed that an awful lot of people with retrievers say their dogs do particularly well on Pinnacle for some reason. It made my friend's Saluki mix pack on the pounds, however. [

]

jennie_c_d

Posted : 1/28/2007 10:15:46 PM

If you want to do a 2 ingredient elimination diet, perhaps you could feed the Natural Balance potato and duck and add EVO canned duck for more protein.

That is not a two ingredient elimination diet. It has more than two ingredients, and is not an elimination diet.

chelsea_b

Posted : 1/28/2007 11:17:45 PM

That is not a two ingredient elimination diet. It has more than two ingredients, and is not an elimination diet.

Yeah. I'm sure it's a great food for allergies, once you know that the dog isn't allergic to it, or if you don't want to do an elimination diet. But by elimination diet I mean one novel protein source and one novel carb source, and that's it for 8-12+ weeks. No supplements, no treats that aren't those ingredients, nothing else. Potato definitely isn't novel for Cherokee. I'm not sure about duck. But that food also has canola oil, salmon oil, flaxseed, inulin, lecithin, and a million vitamins and minerals. After 3 months on that, I still wouldn't be sure if the problem was food or not.

Oh, and thank you everyone. [

] I'm going to buy some Pinnacle tomorrow. Still not sure between duck and trout, so I guess I'll just decide when I get there. Thanks again.

jessies_mom

Posted : 1/29/2007 8:36:36 AM

That is not a two ingredient elimination diet. It has more than two ingredients, and is not an elimination diet.

I forgot that they add flaxseed now; sorry. The majority of the time, the oils and vitamins in commercial food do not cause allergic reactions; it's the protein from the meat and grain that do. This is a response I got from Royal canin about the salmon oil in the IVD diets;

Thank you for contacting us. I am terribly sorry for the delay in our response to your inquiry. When a pet is sensitive to a food, she is typically sensitive to the protein portion of that food. Oils do not contain protein and typically do not cause a problem during a food elimination trial.

Hill's prescription Ultra Allergen z/d has soybean oil; Eukanuba used generic animal fat in their prescription allergy diet.