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Rotating through Blue Wilderness formulas?

Discussion in 'Commercial Food' started by bkzoo, Jun 12, 2014.

  1. bkzoo

    bkzoo Forums Enthusiast

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    I switched my Heeler mix to Blue Wilderness Duck recipe back in Feb, and he is doing well on it. I am considering sticking to Blue Wilderness but changing "flavors" whenever we buy a new bag. Any ideas on this? I just feel he may benefit from a change in ingredients every month or so. Or am I asking for trouble?

    No idea what I will be feeding the new puppy when he comes home next month - guess it's time to start researching puppy foods...
     
  2. Mom2Melli

    Mom2Melli Forums Enthusiast

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    Every tme you change foods it could take days to even a couple weeks to settle in the tummy. Rotating seems like upsetting the digestion for no reason. I believe in stability, but I also have a bloatable-type dog.
     
  3. corbinam

    corbinam Moderator

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    I used to rotate between flavors of Acana. I liked that the dogs had exposure to a variety of proteins.

    Just as an aside I'm not a huge fan of the Blue Buffalo products. They are expensive and over marketed for what you get. It's definitely a decent food, but for the price I think there are better options.
     
  4. bkzoo

    bkzoo Forums Enthusiast

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    ok, I have heard that from a few people...but I dread going back to researching all of the higher quality dog foods out there again. I used to do TOTW Salmon, but my vet thought it had too many fish products. So I switched Toby to Natural Balance (after reading all the great reviews). Fed the same to Trace once he was off puppy food. Then Trace passed away at 4 1/2 with liver issues, a friend feeding the same had liver issues with her smooth Collies - a coincidence I'm sure.

    But not wanting to take any chances I read reviews again and found Natural Balance had dropped in ratings/reviews now, so we chose Blue Wilderness.

    I only want what's best for my boys - too many choices, too many opinions. I wish there was one, definitive answer - a neutral sliding scale from best to worse. So confusing...
     
  5. Mom2Melli

    Mom2Melli Forums Enthusiast

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    After much research and pitting local availability to Amazon Prime shipping availablity and on the recommendation of a husky breeder here, I switched to TOTW High Prairie Puppy. It is lower in calories and protein and sits really well with the dogs (being lamb & bison). It is THE best at keeping my grumbly tummy shepherd stable and the sheltie does well too. Since it is puppy, well, I will have need of puppy.

    Just thought I would mention that option. I've had 4 dogs on TOTW and all have done well (seniors, puppy, young adult, adult).
     
  6. MissieLynn

    MissieLynn Forums Enthusiast

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    I second TOTW! Emmy is on the Sierra Mountain (lamb based) formula and is doing splendidly. She was on the fish based puppy formula from 2 months until she turned 9-10 months, and did great, but I'm not too keen on feeding her too much fish with what I've been reading about mercury and possible radiation in the Pacific.

    And yes, Amazon seems to have the best price on it.
     
  7. corbinam

    corbinam Moderator

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    If you like it and it works, there's nothing wrong with it. It is not a bad food. Just wanted to throw that out there :)
     
  8. bkzoo

    bkzoo Forums Enthusiast

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    Thanks all - I am rethinking TOTW, and will take a closer look at it. I think one of the reasons I looked at other brands is because DogFoodAdvisor only gave it 4 to 4.5 stars years ago when I checked. I see now that they have 2 formulas that have 5 stars. I know, probably a minimal difference, but when you only want the best for your fur babies...

    If I switch I will also have to look other than our local stores for it. We are not Amazon Prime members - maybe need to look at that also.
     
  9. ute_fan

    ute_fan Forums Enthusiast

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    The brand we use (honestly don't remember now what it is) also has different flavors, and we do rotate through them. I used to work with a lady who bred and showed English Springer Spaniels, and her feeling was that giving them an exposure to different flavors decreased their likelihood of developing food allergies. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but so far Callie hasn't shown any allergies to anything.
     
  10. bkzoo

    bkzoo Forums Enthusiast

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    That was my train of thought when thinking of rotating through the flavors, and of course I would do it gradually - just as if we were completely changing food to a different brand.

    Funny - growing up it was Purina Puppy Chow for the babies, then Dog Chow for the adults. Things sure have changed.
     

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