Dog Community

Posted : 9/23/2006 8:01:16 AM

Chelsea if you read my first post more carefully you could see I was referring to Purina and stated it. It's not easy finding a food that my dog can process. Harley has tummy issues with other foods so I have to be careful. He cannot process the higher end for what ever reason. I wish it were easy and I could just feed him better but right now I can't so I am giving him the higher end Purina Food.

ILoveChi

Posted : 9/23/2006 10:43:44 AM

I think some don't just can't handle the higher end foods, maybe too rich for them? My friend had a lab mix puppy and she tried a lot of the good ones and all she ever got was the runs (and she did switch slowly) She ended up putting her on Nutro Chicken and Oatmeal and her stools literally changed overnight.

sooner

Posted : 9/23/2006 11:03:59 AM

I tried Innova, California Natural, Eagle Pack, Timberwolf and Canidae. The puppy had disgestive trouble on all of them. I took a little step down to [linkhttp://www.sensiblechoice.com/SCHDLRA.HTM]Sensible Choice[/link] and he's doing great. I like it because it doesn't have corn, wheat, soy, by-products, generic sources, animal digest, or menadione. The ingredients are great, the only reason it's considered mid-grade is the brewers rice. Just wanted to throw that out there as a great 'mid-grade' food that I found that doesn't have anything really objectionable.

chelsea_b

Posted : 9/23/2006 12:10:47 PM

Chelsea if you read my first post more carefully you could see I was referring to Purina and stated it. It's not easy finding a food that my dog can process. Harley has tummy issues with other foods so I have to be careful. He cannot process the higher end for what ever reason. I wish it were easy and I could just feed him better but right now I can't so I am giving him the higher end Purina Food.

I did see that, just at the end of that post you said "I have to keep him on mid-grade", as if it wasn't a specific food he had to be on, just he couldn't handle the better foods. I understand now, and I really wasn't trying to start any sort of argument, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Like I said, my cats are eating Science Diet again, which to me is a really awful food, so obviously I believe in doing whatever works, but I will be trying better foods again in the near future, as soon as the female gains a little weight back.

sooner

Posted : 9/23/2006 12:14:25 PM

I think sometimes, it isn't the grade of food at all, but the density of the food. Some dogs just do better on 300 cal/cup than they do on 500 cal/cup.

chelsea_b

Posted : 9/23/2006 12:18:04 PM

Well, I was hoping to take out that last line before anyone read it, because I read over it again and it just seemed so...arrogant.

I think you might be right Kelly. I editted that post because I believe you about Boomer. And I believe Lori about Willow. In other words, I think there are a few cases of dogs who can't handle most better foods, but so many people claim that, and I don't believe them. After trying one or two foods, and probably overfeeding, you can't say "My dog doesn't do well on any good foods". That's what I mean.

sandra_slayton

Posted : 9/23/2006 12:46:22 PM

Well, I tried Buck on better food a few years back and after throwing up after every meal for 4 days, I said no way, back to Purina for me. I may could have tinkered around and tore his tummy up trying to find one that agreed with him, but decided it wasn't worth it. he was doing great on his Purina and home cooked. He is a golden retriever and turned 11 on Feb 8.

I think you should feed what works for your dog no matter what it is. to be honest I was surprised at Buck's reaction to the better food. I can't even remember what it was now, but don't worry, myself trying to remember as I am sticking with what works for them.

Margaret Tyler

Posted : 9/23/2006 1:11:44 PM

ORIGINAL: Firestorm

He has isssues digesting the better foods, he gets diarhea and his stomach makes all sorts of noises and he vomits it. I have tried to change for a month but he did poorly on it. He does fine with Purina one so I am sticking with Purina right now.

I know that this is annoying, but what other high end foods have you tried. I agree that Nutro isn't high end. I don't consider it much better than Pro Plan. My dog did not do well on Nutro.

I've found a few select high end foods that my dog does well on. Joey gets constipated on alot of foods, mostly the foods with multiple meat protien sources. I have found that Eagle Pack Lamb and Rice (Lamb is the only meat protien source) works well, but EP Chicken (with 3 different meat protien sources) does not.

There are also things you can add to the food, like Eagle Packs Transistion Powder, that aid in transitioning a dog over to holistic foods without tummy upsets.

jessies_mom

Posted : 9/23/2006 1:37:45 PM

I think sometimes, it isn't the grade of food at all, but the density of the food. Some dogs just do better on 300 cal/cup than they do on 500 cal/cup

That seems to be backed up by research conducted by Royal Canin;

[linkhttp://www.royalcanin.us/faq.html]http://www.royalcanin.us/faq.html[/link];

" I have a Labrador and I'm thinking of switching from Iams to your product, but I don't understand why your Daily Allowance Recommendation is about 7 cups and theirs is about 3 cups? Since your product already costs slightly more this would increase out costs 2x and with two Labradors this doesn't seem to make sense to me.

The answer comes down to two factors. The first and most important is product density. Our product is much less dense than other brands. By density, I am actually referring to two things. The first is actual product density and the second is caloric density. Our entire product range is 25% less dense than our competitors. Why? Decreased density increases both palatability and digestibility."

Margaret Tyler

Posted : 9/23/2006 1:55:29 PM

ORIGINAL: jessies_mom

I think sometimes, it isn't the grade of food at all, but the density of the food. Some dogs just do better on 300 cal/cup than they do on 500 cal/cup

That seems to be backed up by research conducted by Royal Canin;

[linkhttp://www.royalcanin.us/faq.html]http://www.royalcanin.us/faq.html[/link];

" I have a Labrador and I'm thinking of switching from Iams to your product, but I don't understand why your Daily Allowance Recommendation is about 7 cups and theirs is about 3 cups? Since your product already costs slightly more this would increase out costs 2x and with two Labradors this doesn't seem to make sense to me.

The answer comes down to two factors. The first and most important is product density. Our product is much less dense than other brands. By density, I am actually referring to two things. The first is actual product density and the second is caloric density. Our entire product range is 25% less dense than our competitors. Why? Decreased density increases both palatability and digestibility."

I totally agree with you, but Royal Canin Labrador is not a good example. Royal Canin purposly makes the Labrador formula less calorie dense because Labs tend to be "hoovers" when it comes to food, so Royal Canin designed the food so you could feed an "always hungry" lab more without making him fatter. Make them feel full, so they won't constantly be begging, like labs do. They add extra heavy fiber, oatmeal, and there is hole in the kibble, so that the lab feels like he's eating more than he actually is.

I used to work for Royal Canin.

Roxie865

Posted : 9/23/2006 2:01:36 PM

ORIGINAL: jojo the pogo

ORIGINAL: jessies_mom

I think sometimes, it isn't the grade of food at all, but the density of the food. Some dogs just do better on 300 cal/cup than they do on 500 cal/cup

That seems to be backed up by research conducted by Royal Canin;

[linkhttp://www.royalcanin.us/faq.html]http://www.royalcanin.us/faq.html[/link];

" I have a Labrador and I'm thinking of switching from Iams to your product, but I don't understand why your Daily Allowance Recommendation is about 7 cups and theirs is about 3 cups? Since your product already costs slightly more this would increase out costs 2x and with two Labradors this doesn't seem to make sense to me.

The answer comes down to two factors. The first and most important is product density. Our product is much less dense than other brands. By density, I am actually referring to two things. The first is actual product density and the second is caloric density. Our entire product range is 25% less dense than our competitors. Why? Decreased density increases both palatability and digestibility."

I totally agree with you, but Royal Canin Labrador is not a good example. Royal Canin purposly makes the Labrador formula less calorie dense because Labs tend to be "hoovers" when it comes to food, so Royal Canin designed the food so you could feed an "always hungry" lab more without making him fatter. Make them feel full, so they won't constantly be begging, like labs do. They add extra heavy fiber, oatmeal, and there is hole in the kibble, so that the lab feels like he's eating more than he actually is.

I used to work for Royal Canin.

How does the hole in the kibble make the dog feel like he's eating more than he actually is? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just curious as to where you learned this.

The Healthwise Puppy formula kibble is a square with a hole in the middle. That's why I'd like to know more about this.

sandra_slayton

Posted : 9/23/2006 2:34:22 PM

How does the hole in the kibble make the dog feel like he's eating more than he actually is? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just curious as to where you learned this.

I was wondering the same thing. I didn't know that "nothing" (a hole) could make you feel fuller.

Margaret Tyler

Posted : 9/23/2006 3:08:06 PM

It makes the dog feel like he's eating more than he actually is. The dog is eating a big kibble that has a hole in it. Because it's a big kibble, it takes him longer to chew it, and therefore longer to eat the bowl full. Just like in people, if you eat slow, you become full on a lot less food. They recommend that for people who are dieting.

I guess it's kind of like if you had a really big donut in front of you with a big hole and a small donut in front of you with a small hole, your eyes would tell you that the big donut is a better deal, but in actuallty they are the same mass. You would also feel fuller on the big donut with the big hole because it took you longer to eat it.

http://www.royalcanin.us/dogfood/labrador.html

As I mentioned, I used to be a demonstrator rep for Royal Canin. There sight doesn't say anything about the kibble with the hole in it, but if you ask a RC rep, that will be their explaination.

willowchow

Posted : 9/23/2006 3:10:35 PM

I'm just guessing but if there is a hole in the kibble the dog sees a full bowl but is actually not eating as much as if the kibble didn't have a hole in it.

ron2

Posted : 9/23/2006 4:04:03 PM

I've made that point a few times here but it gets lost in the shuffle. Density is important when considering the quantity of food the dog is going to eat. For example, a toy breed may not be able to eat much food simply because of their size. So, a high protein diet might be better for them in order to get the right amount of protein in for the size of the meal eaten. Conversely, a large dog, used to eating a few cups at a time, could do with a lower percentage of protein and be fine. There is a thing called overnutrition, where excess, while maybe not straining the kidneys in one study, will get turned into fat, though.

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