Switching from puppy chow to adult food?

[Chip's Mom]

Emilie:

Your post got me curious so I checked the ingredients in the treats and T/D that I am giving Chip and you are absolutely correct, not one good thing listed in the first few ingredients. Even the Purina One biscuits that I am giving as treats. The one treat called yogurt drops has the first ingredient as sugar. I also give Chip pupperoni treats. I was really surprised! You have given me a reason to check out the new Petco today and I will shop for new treats for Chip. Thank you so much for your post as it got me to read the labels.

[glencorgi]

Okay, take this a warning for potential gross out factor.

Originally Posted by Checkers

Since when do we pick out our food based on how our poop looks?! l

Always at least in my case and as I was taught by my earliest mentor (breeder of a National Specialty Best in Show Winner Cardigan, many group placing winners and Best of Breed winners at Westminister). Poop is a telling indicator of how well a dog is doing on a food. You should want nice firm, solid poops with no off, funky smell to them. The better a dog is digesting its food, the less "output" there is and less poop to clean up. What the vet tech described about her dog's poops is an indicator her dogs are doing well on the Science Diet. Fine, it's working for her.

Back when Innova brand was first hitting the market I wanted to give it a try because of the quality of the ingredients. In my search for it, I found the Wellness brand and gave that a try. My dogs did well on it meaning their coats were good and poop was nice and firm and not a lot of it. I later found Innova and so gave it a try. The dogs liked it, but their poops were soft, almost mushy to almost pudding like and they had to go more often. It was too rich for them, so we went back to the Wellness. I still believe Innova is a wonderful food, just doesn't work for my dogs. They don't get the optimum benefits out of it based on their poop. So yep, poop is a very important part of food selection.

You know it has just dawned on me as kind of surprising that there's never been a poop thread on here yet.

Debbie

OH, PS Cheryl - this is no way saying you made the wrong decision about the SD. Chicken Soup and Nature's Recipe are both great foods and preferable to me over SD. I'm using Chicken Soup Senior for my old guys and have used some of the Nature's Recipe formulas for some special diet needs rescues. And for those of you who are Costco members, check out the Kirkland brand dog food there. It is made by Diamond and very comparable to a cross between Chicken Soup and Premium Edge. Dog show people by the droves are thrilled with the results they are getting feeding it.

[MissGambler'sMommy]

Thanks for the explanation glencorgi, the vet just always makes it sound like it's to our benefit, now I can see the other side, how it benefits our Corgis.

[milles2]

I didn't read Deb's post about switching earlier but glad to hear among this group that it is a good idea.

My Pet Store staff (a local family business) suggested Tucker change at 6 months after he had been neutered. She told me his hormones would change after surgery and puppy food might cause him to gain wait.

No one else supported this but I did it anyway. SO far so good.

I changed Tuck to Canidae when Lulu came to live with us because he wasn't eating anything I put in front of him so what the heck! Both ate the Candidae (I think the competition for food was a good thing for Tuck). But I thought there was far too much poo with Canidae so I switched both to Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken. It says on the bage for adults and puppies.

Tuck did great w/ Eagle Pack Puppy food but stopped eating it. I ;liked it best of the foods I fed (Purina Puppy, Merrick, Wellness).

I clearly wasn't feeding Lulu enough, she was way under weight compared to her sibs (live 3 miles away). So I have upped her amount and she is looking better. But she is the energizer bunny. When the battery runs down it only takes a 1/2 hour nap and she is zooming again.

[darci]

Susan I am a fan of Eagle Pack Holistic line as well....

I rotate a few brands, including Solid Gold, Natural Balance, and ofcourse Eagle Pack holistic chicken and also the salmon.

[darci]

Poop is a big conversation in our house. LOL ..... so sad..... LOL

Objective findings with your kibble/diet.

Breath
Teeth
Coat condition / shedding
Stools
lean muscle tone
energy level
doggy smell
Etc...

Stools give a very good indication of your dogs digestion.

[Checkers]

Debbie,

I certainly agree that consistently loose or smelly stools would be a problem, but when she mentioned it, I couldn't help but imagine poops that were too far to the extreme. I don't want Checkers straining to get out extrememly dry, hard poops either. There has to be some middle ground. That was the mental image I got from her at least, I could be wrong.

In looking back, the Chicken Soup was probably a little on the rich side... but I have been very happy with the Nature's Recipie. Most important though are the ingredients. I have also tried the Kirkland's (the one year that I had Costco membership) and it was great then because we had more, bigger dogs and it was so much cheeper to buy in bulk... honestly though I didn't see a marked improvement with it like I have the other brands. Anyhow... I do see how poop can be something to watch for, but I just didn't feel like it should be the number one factor in picking food.... especially not if your reasoning is that you just don't want to pick it up.

-Cheryl

[Chip's Mom]

Emilie:

Chip sends you great big slurpy corgi kisses and lots of aroo's. He loves the new treats I got for him. Of course, he sampled 3 different kinds and still is pleading with those puppy dog eyes.

[Dillydoodle]

deleted post

[Chip's Mom]

When I went shopping for Lady's canned dog food today, I was surprised at the low protein in canned dog food versus dry dog food. I couldn't find the dog food that the vet recommended so I bought some Nutro and also a can of venison for chiparoo. Anyway, the canned dog food I bought for Lady only had 6.5 percent protein vs. the can the vet gave me that had 7.5. Lady ate 1/2 a can of this tonight.

[darci]

Innova senior canned is usally reccomended for Renal insuff.
Its made by Natura. Protein level is 4.4

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab

You can look up store locations on thier site.

Or order online at

http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/p...CLLBBBLJ2679H3

I have ordered online from this site many times, they only draw back is it usually takes about 7-10 days to get it.

Good luck

[milles2]

Tucker went thru a finicky period. Lulu snapped him out of it!

But digestion was a real issue when I chose a food. I liked all the Eagle Pak for him. Solid poo, coat looked great, gained weight but didn't get fat.

Wellness was good too, solid poo. But gave Tuck gas. Woooo hooooo! He liked the Simple Solutions (venison and the fish) and no gas. So we did WQellness until he refused to eat it.

Canidae was good too but amazed at how much poo.

So once Lulu turns 1 I will rotate between the Eagle Pack fish and chicken. Tucker really loves the fish.

My pet store has sample size bags of Eagle Pack, Wellness, Nutro and I use them as training treats.

As for canned food, I really liked Merrick canned. Now that both dogs actually eat the kibble as soon as I put it down, I don't give them canned.

[tandemgal]

Poor Emma started her diet of 1/3 cup kibble with spoonfull of pumpkin twice a day and carrot or apple bites in between meals. She was reduced to chewing on one of Chloe's bones today and she is not one to just chew on pressed bones! B4 Chloe came alone it could take her 4/5 months to eat just one...

I feel her pain - only 2 cookies for me today
but we two will do what we must! Our new motto is "2 doggy pounds in 2 months!" for both of us LOL

[corgimom]

Originally Posted by tandemgal

Poor Emma started her diet of 1/3 cup kibble with spoonfull of pumpkin twice a day and carrot or apple bites in between meals. She was reduced to chewing on one of Chloe's bones today and she is not one to just chew on pressed bones! B4 Chloe came alone it could take her 4/5 months to eat just one...

I feel her pain - only 2 cookies for me today
but we two will do what we must! Our new motto is "2 doggy pounds in 2 months!" for both of us LOL

Maybe you will be able to relish one more cookie each, if you put in one extra mile a day