Which food do you feed?

Good luck Barb,
Before switching to blue buffalo, the vet said Sandstorm is at a perfect weight of 33 lbs (he is 18 inches). I hope he stays that weight!! It is so important for them not to be overweight, I know you are doing your best. Sandstorm gets 2 cups a day of kibble, and about 4 milk bones, give or take a few, throughout the day. So he is certainly not a starving dog!! Though he does act like he is at times, :lol:
 
BarbV said:
The 30% protein is too high for Bacca. We did determine that with a higher protein his ALT/ALS counts went through the roof.

I need to keep protein at less than 25%, I think.

I've not completed my homework, but here are the brands I'm currently looking at. I know each comes in various formulations (e.g. grain or no grain, high fat/low fat, etc.)

Innova
TOTW
Blue Buffaloe - chicken and brown rice
Fromm Gold - I think it also comes grain free?
Wellness (which formulation?)
California Natural
Great Life

Ideally, I would have grain-free, medium protein, adult maintenance (because my boys are getting fat)

Thanks guys!
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Have you looked at the new Go! formulas, Barb? They make a grain free now that has protein in the 20's.
 
Correct me if im wrong but i believe go! has only one grain free product, and that is endurance and its has 34% protein.

I think it is VERY hard to find another food other than NOW! that is grain free with low protein. Any other grain free food you find that will have the pea or potato ingredient high up as an ingredient will have the lower protein but from what i got from your post, you want smaller poops which means more meat and less of anything else, which means high protein.

I think now is one of the best foods that is low protein. I think that if you were to switch to another food like now, you will get the same results as there will be a vegtable high up in the ingredients, making the poops bigger.

Hope that mad sense, just my view on it
 
Lacey'sMamma said:
Correct me if im wrong but i believe go! has only one grain free product, and that is endurance and its has 34% protein.

I think it is VERY hard to find another food other than NOW! that is grain free with low protein. Any other grain free food you find that will have the pea or potato ingredient high up as an ingredient will have the lower protein but from what i got from your post, you want smaller poops which means more meat and less of anything else, which means high protein.

I think now is one of the best foods that is low protein. I think that if you were to switch to another food like now, you will get the same results as there will be a vegtable high up in the ingredients, making the poops bigger.

Hope that mad sense, just my view on it
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My mistake, Alyssa, you're right. The other Go! products aren't grain free. Thanks for the correction! :wink2:
 
So i have been looking around to try and help you out barb, but honestly, the only grain free food other than now! that i personally would consider feeding is TOTW pacific stream. It has 25% protein.

The thing that worries me about that food are some the ingredients and you know they heat the food at high temeratures because the food is a fish food which should have very high omega 3s (orijens 6 fish has like 1.5) but this food has only 0.3? Im not sure what now! is like for oils but thats one of the big factors for me in a food, only because i think its important for this breed of dog.

Now, MANY products that include grain have a much higher level of omegas. but at the same time, even though they are high quaility grains, as much as none of us want to admit it, it will bother us knowing those grains are in the food. high quaility or not, they are still grains and i know it bugs me. Some of the foods you mentioned have grains, yet you state you would ideally like a grain free food. Sooo im not sure what to look for for you.

Out of your list of foods, i would go with Innova. They make small bites as well!

But im not sure why you chose fromm gold over the four star, four star would be my pick over Innova even!
 
I know my list was a mix of grain free and grain.....Although I prefer grain-free, I'm equally happy with a high quality diet that contains grain as well as long as it has the desired effect - adult maintenance for weight control, better digestion (firmer, smaller poops)

btw - GO! and Now! are made by the same manufacturer - the difference is one is grain-free and the other is not.

I think this will be my weekend project to sort out once and for all. I'm thinking that my adding vegetables to the the kibble I might achieve what I'm looking for.

I am leaning towards TOTW but maybe its just because its the name that keeps coming up.

If I cut back on the kibble, go back to a higher protein, but supplement with veggies, I wonder if that would do it.

Thoughts?
 
BarbV said:
I know my list was a mix of grain free and grain.....Although I prefer grain-free, I'm equally happy with a high quality diet that contains grain as well as long as it has the desired effect - adult maintenance for weight control, better digestion (firmer, smaller poops)

btw - GO! and Now! are made by the same manufacturer - the difference is one is grain-free and the other is not.

I think this will be my weekend project to sort out once and for all. I'm thinking that my adding vegetables to the the kibble I might achieve what I'm looking for.

I am leaning towards TOTW but maybe its just because its the name that keeps coming up.

If I cut back on the kibble, go back to a higher protein, but supplement with veggies, I wonder if that would do it.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Well there is nothing wrong in offering veggies,along with a meal,or even giving in between the meals as a snack. You know we have use TOTW,now going on 2 years this August.

After going off the food for Trapp issues of not wanting to eat,and a short stint on Merricks,and most recently because of financial issues,there were noticeable downfalls & changes in all the pups here.

Earnhardt did extremely well on TOTW,even on his strict diet.Eating the food,but cutting his intake 20%,gave him a trim figure and our vet was extremely pleased.And we substituted lots of fresh veggies to satisfy his hunger.

We have gone back to TOTW,since I have got a new job,but while off the food Jasper suffered a weight loss.And it happened very quickly,and very noticable.He is not a big dog at all,so any weight loss is really noticeable,and he looked gaunt. But since being back on TOTW,he is back to his 20# mark,and doing fantastic. some think Jasper looks same size as Trapp,but he has leveled out actually shorter than his brother,since he hit 1yr old.

I know poop is a concern (size of) but with 4 dogs here,we are scooping all the time,and honestly I never got right out there to determine if poop size was bigger or not.The only time I have been able to determine poop is in the event Mia has had an accident in the house,which is rare,but I know her poop is not large or great quanity.
And with Earnhart being the largest dog here,his poops are no bigger either.all of them seem to poop 2x a day,and early morning,late evening is when they go.

We do not stay with only one variety,we mix them when one bag gets below half,we take another flavor and mix in.So they are getting a taste change.
 
Once you have had orijen, nothing really compares. I know even when i tried out Acana i just had to switch back, it was just in the back of my mind that orijen is just that much better. Maybe the Orijen and the high levels that seemed to reflect the food was a coincidence? I would try it again, and like you said feeding veggies and maybe along raw would be better? Or maybe just mix in orijen with the food you have?
 
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