So what are people switching to?

We went back to Blue for both the dogs and cats.  The price is a huge bite, but.....

 ETA:  Cal Nat is the same folks who are Innova and they've been sold to P&G so not sure of the quality control these days.

Even if your bag wasn't in the recall, I'm not trusting a blasted thing that comes out of Diamond.

 Someone on the bichon forum just posted about Blue, her dog was quite ill at the vet and they told her it was the food.  She shared this link with us:  http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/blue_buffalo.html

 I was using TOTW, have switched to Earthborn Holistics.  Was using the bison and venison forumla; Earthborn has a Great Plains Feast formula which is bison.  So I have that one.  It is one of their grain free formulas, which Willy must have.

 I'm with Glenda. Both Tootsie and the cats are now eating Blue Buffalo. I thought the cats would fuss, but thankfully no.

Back in 2007 when the huge recall was going on, Blue pulled every single can of food off every shelf in the country because they (as a matter of safety) tested their foods.  They discovered NO contaminents, but did discover that their canning partner was not following the Blue recipe in the wet food to an absolute T.  So they pulled the food and kept it pulled until they found a partner they could trust or built their own cannery...can't remember which.

Blue is absolutely proactive if food safety.  Something in the food might not have agreed with the dog, but I honestly doubt that their was anything BAD in the food.  Too much product testing and an excellent history of quality control.

 My mom switched Callie and Pigeon from Natural Balance to Earthborn. Callie, who typically gets diarrhea from even looking at a different food, did perfectly fine with the switch.

 Been using California Natural for years now and am not switching.  The formula has not changed.

Tasha, my senior chow mix was eating Natural Balance Venison with a cooked topper. A couple of months ago, she decided she just didn't like it any more, so we went back to 100% cooked.

I don't know if the food she had was "bad" or if she just got tired of it. She's always been a picky eater and I tolerate that as long as she eats healthy foods and I don't throw away food.

 I switched to home cooking a few months ago for a couple of reasons/ the primary reason being grain intolerance.  However, I was also concerned about the many food and treat recalls.  I do worry that I may not being supplying adequate canine nutrition but I also feel he is safer with me knowing exactly what he's eating.  As an interesting side note...2-3 months ago, I bought some duck jerky treats from a well known pet store that I've shopped in for several years.  Very shortly after, I read about a possible recall of chicken jerky treats made by the same company and decided not to risk feeding the duck.  I took them back to the store.  To my surprise, on a huge table in front of the registers was a stack of the chicken jerky treats marked down from $7.98 (I think) to $1.00. I questioned the on-duty manager who told me the recall wasn't for sure and they were trying to get rid of their stock.  To the possible detriment of our animals?!?  That was the day I decided I was done with store bought. - Susan

 I've thought about the nutritionist but right now, budget concerns are a factor in that choice.  I'm only vaguely familiar with Balance It and will certainly check that out.  Right now, I'm feeding him primarily beef/chicken, some turkey.  That makes up the largest portion of his diet.  I add a very wide variety of veggies - everything I can find that is suitable for dogs.  No grains at all - just sweet potato.  Then I add portions of organ meats and salmon/sardines.  And supplements, of course.  Weekly weigh-ins, coat, energy levels - all good and making me think (hope) I'm on the right track.  Thanks for the BI tip. - Susan

 I had mine on Diamond Naturals and switched them to Best Breed now. Blue is doing awesome on it he is my picky eater and this is the first time I found a food he will eat every day for the past two weeks!!!

SusanB

 I've thought about the nutritionist but right now, budget concerns are a factor in that choice. 

  Monica Segal will analyze the diet you're feeding and suggest changes, if needed. It's less expensive than a full consultation;

    Diet Analysis With Corrections  

  She is very knowledgeable and often works with vets, formulating special diets for their clients. She formulated my dogs diet for pancreatitis and my vet said the diet was excellent.

 Sabine Contraras is also very good and will do a full consultation for less than Monica charges;

Better Dog Care, Better Dog Nutrition - Creating Healthy Lifestyles for Canines: Canine Nutrition Consultations 

   A few suggestions; Are you adding calcium; it's necessary in order to balance the phosphorus in the meat. You should add a good b vitamin complex; even when feeding mostly beef it's hard to supply enough. They're water soluble so there's no danger of over supplementing them.

  Monica has a book called "Optimal Nutrition" which explains how to calculate your dogs nutritional requirements based on guidelines by the National Research Council. You can then use the USDA website;      Nutrient Data : Home

 or Nutrition data.com;    Nutrition facts, calories in food, labels, nutritional information and analysis – NutritionData.com

 to see which nutrients your diet is lacking and what you may be giving too much of. The book is $25;

  Optimal Nutrition

"A few suggestions; Are you adding calcium; it's necessary in order to balance the phosphorus in the meat. You should add a good b vitamin complex; even when feeding mostly beef it's hard to supply enough. They're water soluble so there's no danger of over supplementing them."

Excellent information!  Thank you.  I am adding calcium by way egg shells run through a coffee grinder.  I have not added B complex.  I'll look into that ASAP.  As for Monica's book...thank you for the reminder.  That was on my list of 'to do's' during the past week and, well...you know.   I'll get on that this coming week for sure. For a while I was on Monica's yahoo group and was able to track down most of the nutrient requirements in the various postings going way back.  She is definitely full of knowledge - no doubting that.  My biggest concern right now is the Vitamin E.  I was giving 200 mg a couple of times a week but each and every time he ended up with soft mucus coated stool.  Since the day I brought him home, he's had difficulty with that problem.  Stool samples have been negative.  In fact, if I fuss at him or even if he just "thinks" I've fussed at him, he'll have a soft mucus coated stool.   If, indeed, this dog is a Catahoula mix, he sure is a "soft" and "sensitive" dog!  Cats are supposed to be wild boar fighters - or something like that.    - Susan