Im so tired of Exclusive!

I think it's intersting how people will try one higher quality food, have it not work, and then proclaim that they are all over-priced crap.

 
Who has said that?
 

If she has diarrhea, first thing you need to do is take her *off feed* for 24 -36 hours, only offering water. Her gut needs time to rest. This is most important!
During this time, you can offer her a tablespoon or two of canned pumpkin a couple of times a day. You should notice a stool change with the first stool after getting the pumpkin and it will improve from there.
 
After the "resting" period, then you can start adding the rice/chicken or boiled AND drained hamber mixture for a couple of days. Then if all is well, gradually add some kibbles (which ever you decide to use) into the mixture and increase the kibble (lessing the mixture) with each feeding over the next couple of days.
 
This should give her tummy a chance to calm down and start functioning normally again.
 
Good luck and hope you can find a good food that works for your fur kid!

kennel_keeper knows more about treating a dog with diarrhea than I do, so I think you should follow her recommendations. When you do start cooking the chicken and rice, I think you boil the rice longer than is recommended on the package ,( I hope someone corrects me if I'm wrong) , to a mushy consistency so the dog can digest it well. It's up to you whether or not you boil the chicken seperately. Your poor pup must be getting weak from having diarrhea; I hope she isn't dehydrated; is she drinking any water?

Welcome to my club. Others may wish to avert their eyes as I am going to use the "n" word. I had Shadow on Nutro, on which he was doing great. Then I came to i-dog and was told repeatedly, ad nauseum that it was "high-priced" (at about 88 cents a pound), "grainy" (with rice in the formula name I expect there would be some grain) "mid-grade" (I guess because it didn't have carrots, apples, and potatos, oh my). So, I was given an ingredient comparison of Nutro to Innova. The ingredients in Innova looked good enough for me to eat. (mistake) So I took Shadow off of what he was doing well on. (mistake) After two weeks of sneezing fits, enough was enough. I put him back on Nutro and the symptom went away. So, I will continue with my "high-priced, grainy, mid-grade" food, considered, I suppose, by some, to be a mere step above Ol Roy because that's what suits his system, though it may make me the pariah of this here forum. And before someone says that I didn't have him on it for long enough, he is my dog and my responsibility and I had him on it long enough. Innova is a good food that simply didn't work for us. And it may not work for all dogs. I say Innova is a good food, not because it has apple, carrots, and potatos, oh my, but because several dogs have done well on it.
 
There is currently no legal definition for "high quality" ingredients and any ingredient put in commercial dog food cannot be legally described as human grade. And, regardless of what ingredients go in, the nutrient profile is what matters. Whether you have one meat source or three, the food is still only going to provide, for example, 24 percent protein.
 
So, I include my experience here so that you know that you are not alone. And if your dog doesn't do well on a highly-touted brand, go to what works and be glad you have something you can feed them. Some people have dogs so picky that can hardly find anything the dog will eat twice in a row.

ORIGINAL: ron2

I think it's intersting how people will try one higher quality food, have it not work, and then proclaim that they are all over-priced crap.

Who has said that?

 
I have heard it several times on here.  Usually it's someone who says "We TRIED to give him high quality kibble but he didn't do well so now we put him back on grocery store food Y."  When they discuss it further you find out they tried one or MAYBE two foods and then gave up.
 
I didn't really intend it at Lizzie as much as it was a more general thing--what she said just made me think of it....

Very good point Janice! Keep her hydrated.

ORIGINAL: sandra_slayton

He is 11 1/2 now and this was about 7 years ago, so i guess he had been on it about 4 1/2 years.  He was on Purina puppy chow when I got him, and since my Irish Setter and other golden were on Purina, I didn't change him to a another puppy food.  Then he went to the Purina.  I lost my irish Setter at age 12 1/2 to bone cancer, and my other golden I had at the time to a sudden and unexpected heart attack at age 5.  Until his death we had no idea he had a heart problem.  It had never been detected by the original vet, nor the one we have now that came here about 10 years ago, and had been Scooters' vet for 3 years.

For the life of me i can't remember what the brand of food was that I tried Buck on, but after 4 days of throwing up monring and night, I tossed it and went back to Purina, which he had never thrown up, and hasn't since. 

I would think that a dog eating the same food their entire life (for 4 years) would have a really hard time initially switching over to ANY different food- even if it was a gradual switch.
 
Also, I really don't think that after trying one other food, you can really say that Purina is the only food your dogs could do well on. And I honestly don't think that 5 years and 12 1/2 years are great lifespans... JMHO.

Totally agree with Luvntzu's.

Just because one food didnt suit,doesnt mean a dozen others wouldnt have. Sandra was the 'better' brand a grocery store one aswell? Some people would say Purina is a super premium food compared to ol roy for example.

TBH i thought this is what sally was referring to in her previous post when referring to people trying one food and thinking all high end foods are crap.

And I honestly don't think that 5 years and 12 1/2 years are great lifespans...JMHO

 
12 1/2 is pretty good for an Irish Setter; in case you didn't know, large dogs don't live as long as small dogs.

I think it's intersting how people will try one higher quality food, have it not work, and then proclaim that they are all over-priced crap.

 
Actually,. it was marked in reply to me after I said I had tried Buck on a better food and after he threw up morning and night feedings for 4 days i tossed it and went back to Purina and he has stayed on it.
 
HOWEVER I have NEVER said those foods were over priced CRAP.  As a matter for fact, I have never called ANY food, including the much put-down Beneful, Science Diet, Ol Roy, etc. CRAP.  But I HAVE SEEN THEM and Purina  called crap, garbage, etc a number of times.
 
I am not a food testing lab to test first one and then another food  on my dogs if what they are eating works for them just to please those that think other foods would be better for my dogs.  I could do more damage by trying to get them to eat something that doesn't agree with them than would ever be done by the Purina and home cooked they get now.
 
Just a little bit of information you may not know.  Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia can be caused by changes in food.  When Hunter was diagnosed, the first questions asked was had I changed brand of food or brand of treats for him--which I had not.  The ONLY thing different in his life the previous two months had been the proheart6 injection 
 
A new food can have a ingredient that the body thinks is bad and it attacks.  If you had EVER seen a dog die of AIHA like i saw my Hunter died, you would NEVER even try to feed anything different at all.  You would not change brands of food, treats, or change the food you cooked.    I am terrified every time mine get a vax, pick up a piece of dropped food, etc.  I know the chances are a mote of dust in the universe of it happening again, but I just am not going to take the risk.  Even tho Front Line Plus is not working like it did in the past, i am scared to try something new.  I did that once with Hunter, proheart6, and he died.
 
 

Also, I really don't think that after trying one other food, you can really say that Purina is the only food your dogs could do well on. And I honestly don't think that 5 years and 12 1/2 years are great lifespans... JMHO.

 
Twelve and a half is good for an Irish Setter.  And as for the 5 years for Scooter, he had a heart problem that was not found until after his death.  And purina did not cause his heart problem nor did it cause Boot's to develope Bone Cancer.
]
Life expectancy for golden retrievers id 10 to 12 yers.  Buck is 11 1/2.  he developed thyroid problems a little over a year ago----very common in goldens.  He has some arthritis in hips hips and spine--common in any large breed dog at his age and even much younger.,,.  And he is larger than the AKC standrard.  He has some problems with night vision and with depth perception but his eyeballs are healthy, just old.  He got a kidney infection the end of May, his first ever.  And iI
understand this can also be a common problem with older dogs.  in fact, I see many much younger dogs here with kidney problems
 
I think it was Ron2 who pointed out that many of the dogs here that are fed top of the line food have more health issues than his dog on Nutro and mine on Purina do. And I am not going to make dog sick in order to adjust their bodies to eating food that does not agree with them because persons 1,2 and 3 think Brand x is best, persons 4,5 & 6 think Brand Y is best, etc...especially since what I feed them does agree just fine with them, they get great physicals, blood panels, their fur is nice and soft and shiney, they don't have ear infections,. their skin is pretty and pink,  and their poop is nice and firm and does not smell.

 Sandra!  

I think there's a difference between trying a "premium" brand or two, not having luck and returning to a brand that was working and doing the same thing and saying or stating that the premiums were over-priced or high-priced crap. I just haven't seen anyone say that particular statement. I thought maybe you had someone or a particular discussion in mind.

ORIGINAL: jessies_mom

And I honestly don't think that 5 years and 12 1/2 years are great lifespans...JMHO

12 1/2 is pretty good for an Irish Setter; in case you didn't know, large dogs don't live as long as small dogs.

I'm aware that large dogs have a shorter lifespan. [] I don't consider 12 1/2 years to be that long, even for an Irish Setter. Many people (nutrionists included) believe that dogs SHOULD be living much longer than the average accepted lifespan. Many of the things that we consider "normal" like getting cancer may be preventable with a diet higher in antioxidants and without artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, etc.

I think it was Ron2 who pointed out that many of the dogs here that are fed top of the line food have more health issues than his dog on Nutro and mine on Purina do.

Maybe not quite in that way. In Fact, I think it is Papillon who has done a study on the nutrient profile between our "middlin" brands and the "premium" holistics. Have I seen a dog do better on one food than another? Yes. A framer I knew took in a Yorkie female who was in poor health from eating Ol Roy. He changed her to Purina and she had a drastic improvement. A co-worker of mine had a lab/pit that was eating whatever was on sale at the grocery store. She had poor coat, poor energy, an allergy symptom and underweight. During the time I was trying Innova, I gave my workmate the open bag of Nutro. Within a day or two, her allergy symptom disappeared. By the end of the week, her energy had improved, she gained her proper weight, and her coat turned around.

Conversely, I have read here, of other people who have tried the "premiums" primarily due to pressure. It didn't work and they went back to what worked. I know of a Siberian Husky female still alive 2 years past her life expectancy, never having had "human food," i.e., one of the big named brands. I have friends that use Science Diet. The tried Nutro and got more voluminous poops and went back to Science Diet. And I'll say it again, for contrast. My cat, Misty, a North American Short Hair Tabby, lived to approx. 17 years. The first 16 on Purina DeliCat. The last year on Purina NF, an rx diet. With almost no vet visits. She received her vaccs rarely. Being an indoor cat, she was simply not exposed to dangers. In Dallas, the condo next me burned and she had smoke inhalation, therefore a vet visit. At 16, she was acting ill. A vet visit with a dx of ailing kidneys. Last vet visit,  2-17-05, at almost 17 years of age, on to the Bridge.

Eating the same formula, if it meets the needs of the animal is not the same as an old hard-working farmer who ate bacon, eggs, and stuff cooked in lard. I do think we have to find what works well for our pets, be it Innova or Purina One, or whatever. Dogs, like people, get old and die. Regardless of what they eat. Genetics and acitivity have more to do with longetivity than diet does. Eating what may amount to a healthy diet in some human's estimation will forestall some effects of aging to an extent, if the genetics are good.