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When I first switched Skye to a grain free diet, I fed him the Blue Buffalo Wilderness brand (various flavors).  Then, a couple months ago, I got a bag of their Salmon food and upon opening it smelled very strongly of fish.  Skye gradually got sick (developed diarrhea, increasing lethargy) and I became concerned that the fish oils in the food may have become rancid, so I took him off of the food and he immediately got better.

 

I switched him to Orijen grain-free.  There's no strong odor to the food. He has done excellently on it.  His coat is shiny. His stools are smaller and denser (easier to clean up).  A major bonus is that his teeth are free of tartar build up, which may be a result of the combination of the Orijen food and the antler that he got for Christmas and that he gnaws on a bit every day.  Before we switched to Orijen and got the antler, the vet had told us he needed a teeth cleaning.  After a couple of months on the Orijen and with the antler, almost all of his teeth were free of tartar.  The vet was so impressed that he said there was no need to have the teeth cleaning now, just watch and see.  Given the cost of a teeth cleaning, I'm happy to spring for the Orijen and the antlers!

 

I found the discussion about whether BCs do well on grain-free diets interesting. It would make sense that carbs might be needed by extremely active BCs, but more moderately-active dogs may do well on a grain-free diet. I think Skye does not do well on grains; I base this on how sick he gets whenever he gets hold of a grain product when he's counter surfing when we're out of the house.  He needed to lose a few pounds, but no matter what we did, he did not lose weight while he was eating grain-based kibble.  Since switching to grain-free, he has dropped those pounds and was declared a healthy weight at his last checkup.

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I feed my Border Collie and Lab orijen. They really like the Beef blend and the Adult which contains chicken,lamb,turkey and fish.

 

Last week I bought the 6 fish my lab loves it. Keeva (my border collie does not.)

 

Back to beef, or other blend.

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I'm currently feeding Nutri-Source (the regular, not the grain free) and have been very happy with it. We have been through a number of different high end brands in the past year due to my very finicky puppy, but this seems to be the one brand that she deemed acceptable =)

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Also, which Pro Plan are you using? Maybe I should try the lamb and rice? I'm reading that some dogs don't do well with the chicken flavor (which is what he's having now with the Blue Buffalo).

 

Yes it's purina - I wouldn't feed any of the other pruina brands though, just pro plan.

 

Elsie gets chicken and rice, but we're shifting her onto pro plan performance (also chicken based). Lamb based kibble makes her fart... Seriously this dog just needs to sniff lamb and she gets the most horrendous farts LOL.

 

I would love to feed a kibble like orijen or acana, but they just don't agree with her and spending that much money to give her diarrhoea is pointless :( A lot of agility people I know feed pro plan, so I gave that a go and she looks great. Feed raw too for a bit of variation.

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Yes it's purina - I wouldn't feed any of the other pruina brands though, just pro plan.

 

Elsie gets chicken and rice, but we're shifting her onto pro plan performance (also chicken based). Lamb based kibble makes her fart... Seriously this dog just needs to sniff lamb and she gets the most horrendous farts LOL.

 

I would love to feed a kibble like orijen or acana, but they just don't agree with her and spending that much money to give her diarrhoea is pointless :( A lot of agility people I know feed pro plan, so I gave that a go and she looks great. Feed raw too for a bit of variation.

 

Thanks, Billie. We picked up the Purina Pro Plan (Lamb) and we started switching him over 4 days ago, slowing mixing it into his old food. He loves it and doesn't seem to notice it's mixed in. How long would you say that it would take before we would see a difference in his stools? So far they're still a little loose - pretty good in the morning but as the day goes on they are more like "pudding" lol. I'm guessing he would have to be totally off of the old food before we can say for sure and right now he is getting 1/2 of the Purina and 1/2 of the old food (Blue Buffalo).

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Thanks, Billie. We picked up the Purina Pro Plan (Lamb) and we started switching him over 4 days ago, slowing mixing it into his old food. He loves it and doesn't seem to notice it's mixed in. How long would you say that it would take before we would see a difference in his stools? So far they're still a little loose - pretty good in the morning but as the day goes on they are more like "pudding" lol. I'm guessing he would have to be totally off of the old food before we can say for sure and right now he is getting 1/2 of the Purina and 1/2 of the old food (Blue Buffalo).

 

Hmmm I'm not too sure - I made a very quick switch (i.e. straight onto Pro Plan) as she had pretty bad diarrhoea on Orijen and I thought things couldn't get much worse. Her stool was pretty solid from them onwards and have not had any problems since.

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After 2 months on Purina One (after my husband switched him to that from Acana while i was traveling), the constant runny poop issue has been brilliantly resolved - probably due to the grains in the food - but his coat became kinda stinky and lacking luster. My odor free dog became smelly. Yuck!

 

So last evening we stopped at Petsmart and grabbed two expensive small bags (about $18 for 6 lbs or so!!!) - one of Innova Adult Small Bites and one of Blue Buffalo Wilderness - this one is grain free but I'm thinking of mixing it with the Innova.

 

I'll see how he does on these, he liked the Innova last night...

 

Everyone rushes to recommend grain free brands. How about a GRAIN including food that can be trusted? Care to share?

 

He had been on California Natural Lamb & Rice for the first 3 years of his life and he absolutely hated the taste.

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Well I'm the odd ball, always have been.

 

Been home cooking since 1983, for my first border collie that had severe skin allergies. Tried home cooking & everything cleared up, and never looked back to kibble with several dogs since.

 

There's no scientific metaphor, I use all kinds of protein, - chicken, beef,lamb, liver, fish, canned mackerel or salmon, organ meat. I throw in veggies, -spinach, kale, carrots, sweet potatoes whatever...sometimes I use grains, sometimes not, usually oatmeal, barley or quinoa. Other foods such as eggs, yogurt, and raw turkey or chicken necks twice weekly.

 

I don't follow any special regimen, or over think this, once a month I make a batch of food and freeze. I give a vitamin and a few supplements for what each dog needs. All my border collies lived into late teens and never had a problem. When I look at prices of the so called high priced quality pet food, I'm floored at what people spend. I pay less then half that and its not processed food. It takes some time to prepare, my dogs are worth it, and I don't mind doing it.

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This is the formula I am feeding right now. Even my dog with a sensitive stomach and mild allergies is doing great on it. No evidence of skin allergies at all for 2 years. My working dogs have had excellent stamina. No issues with loose stool. Their coats look fabulous. My picky eater wolfs down her dinner and looks for more. I pay $44 for a 40lb bag when I buy it in bulk. If you don't have enough dogs to make that work you can organize a coop with friends and split a shipment.

 

They used to make a formula I really liked a lot with just fish meal and barley. Unfortunately, they replaced it with this, which has chicken. Nothing against chicken, but it was nice to have a fish based food with a grain other than corn that was also calorie dense.

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He had been on California Natural Lamb & Rice for the first 3 years of his life and he absolutely hated the taste.

 

About 10 years ago, I used California Natural for my dog, and after about 2-3 months on it, she refused to eat it. I also noticed that her coat had become dull and dry. (They may have changed the formulation in the intervening years.)

 

Jovi

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Today my non boarder collie was diagnosed with lipomas (fatty tumor)

he is only 6 yrs old

I have been back and forth on the feed wagon and always feed what i thought was good food with no corn all thru his life

 

My holistic DVM contacts say its the carbs and his body is creating tumors because of his QI being off so he will be getting some herbs to rid body of toxins and change of diet

doing more research on what food but there so much out there hes been on Solid Gold Howling at the Moon my BC on Acana and my Pup on Merrick puppy food so my dog food cabinet looks like a food hoarder!

 

tonight its green beans and boiled chicken till I figure it out but I am being told this is the start of

cancer which freaks me out

 

On the bright side my BCs illio is offically healed last US today there alot of scaring ont he right side but we are going to try Rolfing on him as his massage and US have not done much to loosen the hips and allow nice free flow to his movement.

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Who is telling you that "This is the start of cancer"?

 

Have you read about fatty lipomas? They are rarely problematic unless they occur in a place where there is rubbing (like under the elbow). They occur most frequently (that means "not only") in middle-aged, over-weight dogs and bitches. A needle aspirate can determine whether a lump is a benign lipoma versus something to worry about.

 

Fatty lipomas should be monitored but are normally not a matter to be concerned about unless they do occur internally in a problematic location. I don't think this is at all as common as the lipomas in or under the skin.

 

A liposarcoma is a more rare, malignant fatty tumor. That would be something to worry about.

 

JMO.

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Hmmm I'm not too sure - I made a very quick switch (i.e. straight onto Pro Plan) as she had pretty bad diarrhoea on Orijen and I thought things couldn't get much worse. Her stool was pretty solid from them onwards and have not had any problems since.

 

Thanks, Billie and others for all of your advice. We have slowly switched him over to Purina Pro Plan and he's now completely on the new food. It has made a BIG difference and we are so glad! Stools are much firmer and smaller and he loves the food (although he seems to love everything lol). We're so glad we tried the Purina and it's interesting because in the last week or so as we were changing him over, friends have told me that their dogs are also on the Purina and have done great. We're very glad to see that so far this food seems to be agreeing with his system much better. We'll see how he does as we go along but it has definitely been an improvement :)

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Update - there goes my grain theory down the drain.

 

Innova (red meat) resulted in runny stools - grrr.... However the Blue Buffalo Wilderness salmon (grain free) seems to be working wonders - started him on Sunday and so far "things" look very firm :P

 

I might just need to stick to salmon/fish in general foods.

 

Now back to your regular scheduled programming.

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I might just need to stick to salmon/fish in general foods.

 

For a fish based food that seems to agree with a lot of dogs and won't break the bank, I often recommend the Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach (salmon and rice). So far I've not heard any complaints about it. It saved my dog when I was on a tight budget and was trying to manage his chronic SIBO. It stopped the flare ups of HGE and hospital stays.

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Anda, I like the Nature's Variety Prairie varieties.

 

Laura, we tried that a couple of years ago, unfortunately it didn't end up well.

 

 

For a fish based food that seems to agree with a lot of dogs and won't break the bank, I often recommend the Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach (salmon and rice). So far I've not heard any complaints about it. It saved my dog when I was on a tight budget and was trying to manage his chronic SIBO. It stopped the flare ups of HGE and hospital stays.

 

 

 

Liz - Thanks, I will give it a try if things don't continue to stay positive on Blue Buffalo. He really enjoyed the Salmon formula of TOTW a while back... Must be the super stinky smell of fish kibble!

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  • 1 month later...

So Miss Fussy Pants aka Annie has decided she no longer likes the food she's eating. She came with a bag of Puppy Chow which she wouldn't even touch when we got her and I tried her on a few different foods but she didn't react well to them (diarrhea, itching etc.). Her puppy plan at the vet came with a bag of Purina Veterinary Pediatric, which I didn't give her for a long time. I also got another free bag of the Purina Pediatric in the mail so we decided to try it and she liked it and did well on it. She has now decided she doesn't like it and won't eat it. First I thought it was because she isn't feeling well from her incision that won't heal on her leg, so I tried to mix a little of Tiga's food in with it to see if she would eat that and sure enough, she picked all of Tiga's food out and ate it and spit hers out. The bag we have is almost gone and we've been thinking about switching her to something that isn't a puppy food anyway so I'm going to find something this evening. I think I'm going to try one of the Fromm foods. We did try the puppy one and she was itching a lot but that may not have been the food. Do you think it's too soon to switch her to an adult or all stages food?

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My 6 month old is on Taste of the Wild, which is an all stage food, and I love it. It's grain, soy, by-product, and corn free, but not as pricey as other foods like it. Usually I can get it at a feed store. It's also not too high in protein, which I didn't like about the similar Blue Wilderness. Athena LOVES it, and her coat, skin, eyes, stool and energy have been great on it. I was happy I discovered it. I haven't heard of a lot of the dog foods that are on this topic, maybe they're just not available in my area?

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Kristen - many people fed Taste of the Wild (me included) until their recent recalls, which is what I think generated this thread.

 

BTW, we've been successful with Pulsar -which contains pulses (peas + lentils) and salmon - for almost a month! YAY!!! Happy Ouzo, happy Anda!

 

http://www.horizonpetfood.com/pulsar

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