12 replies to this topic

[KatieP]

I had my puppy on Royal Cannin (can't remember the exact name now) My vet had recommended it in Pet Smart, but I think this was one of their sponsers. Anyway, it is made for Puppies. Then I read on many Border Collie forums that many people prefer to feed their dog "Taste of the Wild". I agree that I would rather feed her a food with no fillers. Addie is 12 weeks now, I have been mixing the puppy food with the Taste of the Wild for about two weeks now. She seems to not eat that much of it, which would be normal I guess without the fillers, but she also seems very flatulent. When do I stop mixing the puppy food in with the Taste of the Wild and is plain Taste of the Wild (not puppy) o.k to feed to her? I've been seeing mixed reviews. She got sick the first day, and so I cut it back to 1/4 Taste of the wild, the rest puppy food. Now we are up to 1/2 and 1/2 and she seems fine except for being gassy. For a little baby girl, she can clean out a room really fast.. I would appreciate any advice on this. Thanks.

[Sue R]

Welcome!

Perhaps TOTW is not the right choice for your pup. Each animal is different and one thing I have noticed is that when dog food is discussed, one owner finds that a dog (or dogs) do well on a particular dog food, and another owner finds that their dog (or dogs) don't do so well on that food.

So, even though a particular food is generally well-received by many, that doesn't mean that that might be the right food for your particular dog.

I am sure there are others who will give you much better advice. Best wishes!

[bcnewe2]

I'm with Sue, if your dog is gassy with TOTW then I'd probably change foods. My dogs don't have that issue but I've been wondering about switching, as I think it's making a few of my dogs constipated. But haven't figured out what I'd like to change them over to.

I've heard some other vets recommend Royal Cannine but really don't see anything on the label that makes it that speical and was wondering about why some vets are recommending it.

We've been on TOTW for about 4 years. Besides the constipation it has been a good food for us.

Although my puppy eats the heck out of it. She gets about 2 1/2 cups a day +/-. No farts for her!
My adult dogs get anywhere between 1 3/4 cups a day and 2 cups a day, they all get fed 2x's per day.

Good luck and welcome to the boards!

[Fargo]

From an insider's point of view, the vets, particularly at Petsmart push Royal Canin, as it is one of their partners. The royal canin reps frequently give free bags/ super cheap bags of food. In addition, Banfield employees can order this stuff at cost. I don't refer people to royal canin, nothing special about it,especially for the cost! I do frequently refer to wellness (my own Bc's eat this stuff), avoderm and castor and pollux's. Those are probably the best brands Petsmart currently carries. The empployees are pushed to sell whatever brand the reps are selling that day, and frequently don't have a clue why one brand might be better than another. A great resource for dog food information is the whole dog journal.

[bcnewe2]

wellness (my own Bc's eat this stuff), avoderm and castor and pollux's.

These are a little bit to pricey for me plus I need to be able to get it at a feedmill or TS, we don't usually make it to big box dog stores.

The vet I was referring to was not a banfield vet. Independent, but that is usually the same story.

[Liz P]

I don't like all Royal Canin foods, but there is fantastic research behind many of their formulas. The studies I've read are excellent, and I even witnessed one feeding trial in action (they used client pets, not lab animals).

[rushdoggie]

Like someone else said, every dog is different, and all of mine did very poorly on TOTW. It gave them terrible gas, they had very soft stools on it. I feed a varied diet that includes raw, home made and prepared frozen and for convenience sake occasionally kibble, and they seem to like and do well on the Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers kibble. No gas, good size and appropriate poops.

[KatieP]

From an insider's point of view, the vets, particularly at Petsmart push Royal Canin, as it is one of their partners. The royal canin reps frequently give free bags/ super cheap bags of food. In addition, Banfield employees can order this stuff at cost. I don't refer people to royal canin, nothing special about it,especially for the cost! I do frequently refer to wellness (my own Bc's eat this stuff), avoderm and castor and pollux's. Those are probably the best brands Petsmart currently carries. The empployees are pushed to sell whatever brand the reps are selling that day, and frequently don't have a clue why one brand might be better than another. A great resource for dog food information is the whole dog journal.

Yes, I got the feeling that the vet was pushing it because it was advertised all over the office. I see nothing special at all in the Royal Canin and it looks very similar to Purina at a much higher price. That is why I wanted to switch to totw. Thanks for all the great advice.

[SecretBC]

Which flavor of TOTW are you feeding? Protein source can make a huge difference from dog to dog. If your dog is not thriving on one particular protein source, it may be that trying a different flavor is key. I've heard several friends say that their dogs have horrid gas on the Prairie formula of TOTW, but are fine on others.

I rotate my dogs' food with every bag so that their systems don't get overly sensitive to change (common when you feed the same thing over and over and over again). All of the flavors of TOTW are included in my rotation, as well as Wellness Core, Natural Balance LID and Blue Wilderness.

Nature's Variety (I think I fed the chicken formula) was too rich for my crew and caused a bit of loose stool & gas, so I have avoided throwing that into my rotation again. With the others, I'm able to switch back and forth without a problem.

[gcv-border]

I rotate my dogs' food with every bag so that their systems don't get overly sensitive to change (common when you feed the same thing over and over and over again).

I rotate kibble brands also - TOTW, Blue Buffalo & Blue Wilderness (same company?), Wellness and Solid Gold are the usual ones for me. I have 3 dogs and their systems are used to change so I only need one or two days to make a switch between kibbles. My feeling is that the brands I am feeding (all are grain-free) are quite similar so it is easier to switch between them than, say, a grocery-store brand and a high-quality, grain-free formula.

I agree with the advice given by others above.

Jovi

[Runzbarrel]

I was also going to suggest a change in protein source. I feed Acana Grasslands formula and Brock was having some gas and softer stools than I'd like to see. Now I cut back a tad on the Acana and add in a lower meat protein/higher veggie content food (just an 1/8 cup does the trick) and he now is less gassy and his stools are formed.

[BCSerendipity]

as an aside to the whole dog food conversation, Amazon, delivers darn near every brand of food on the market. their prices are usually lower and they frequently have free shipping!

[alligande]

Sometimes you have to try all sorts of food to find one that fits your dog, we settled on Blue Buffalo as it seemed to be the only mid-range food that agreeded with both dogs, but then the young one started not doing so well so we switched to lamb from chicken and that simple switch firmed everything up.