Feeding Canidae

[MyPemCharlie]

I'm not concerned enough to stop using Canidae either. I had to dig deep to find many complaints about problems with inconsistencies or dogs getting ill on opening a new bag after the dog had been on the food for several months/years. I disregarded any complaints from people changing from a different brand to Canidae. Like you said, any food will get some complaints. I am very happy with Charlie's general health, energy, and beautiful glossy coat since he's been on Canidae. I just hope he'll decide this bag tastes "OK" before we get to the end of it...these 40 lb bags last almost two months!

[LaRogue]

I just finished up a little research of my own and found Canidae has changed ingredients of the lamb and rice allergy formula. They've added cracked pearl barley, rice bran (filler?), peas, and millet. Their explaination is to lessen the worldwide pressures on rice, supply shortages, and rising costs. Canidae® Pet Foods: All Life Stages: Dry: Lamb & Rice: FAQs

As far as I can tell none of the other formulas have been affected.

[MyPemCharlie]

That's interesting isn't it? I'd rather see them stick with whole rice than switch to rice bran. There seems to be debate about whether rice bran is a filler, or a nutrition-rich ingredient. The bran when chipped off human-grade white polished rice does have a lot of nutrients. It has a very high fat content, so it has to be processed to prevent it going rancid before adding to dog/cat foods. I guess if they didn't process it to make it shelf-stable, it would be swept off the mill floor and dumped. I wonder if the processing destroys the nutritional value? I'm once again out of my realm of knowledge. Why does it feel like we need a PhD to feed our dogs a premium food?

[LaRogue]

That's interesting isn't it? I'd rather see them stick with whole rice than switch to rice bran.

Me too. According to the site, they aren't elliminating the brown rice, they are just decressing the quanity and adding the ingredients to make up the difference. To me, if they have the brown rice and add the rice bran then it seems like a filler. I don't know for sure though...like you said, you need a PhD I've been toying with the idea of trying rotation, maybe seasonally or something, so maybe this is the time to try it out. The Lamb and Rice is Pip's formula and I'm not thrilled to hear it's being changed.

[MyPemCharlie]

Yes, shortly before I opened this bag of Canidae, I decided to try to rotate. I'm going to try Artemis and Innova, and pick one more food. Ideally, I'd like to feed every other bag Canidae and rotate in between...if Canidae doesn't start messing with their formulas too much.

[IslandGirl]

maybe he just doesnt like canidae or hes just a picky eater, but im thinking of trying freeze dried food with the canidae to see if that improves his eating. on a "good" day he gets in a whole 1.0 cups of kibble. he like it with yogurt or sometimes at dinner i mix in a small amt of canned innova. but lately his back to his weird eating habits and im lucky if he gets a whole cup in!! he's now 12wks and weighs 9.5lbs, (vet's #s).
i want get him weighed myself since ive seen them weigh and all they do is take him off once he starts getting off even if the scale's still going up. but i assume if hes really 9.5 lbs he's underweight. he doesnt look thin or sickly. he still has his chubby look, but he sure doesnt eat how he should.

[Vannette]

Hold him while you weigh yourself...thats how I do it. As if the scale isn't high enough without them..geez!
Vannette

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by IslandGirl

maybe he just doesnt like canidae or hes just a picky eater, but im thinking of trying freeze dried food with the canidae to see if that improves his eating. on a "good" day he gets in a whole 1.0 cups of kibble. he like it with yogurt or sometimes at dinner i mix in a small amt of canned innova. but lately his back to his weird eating habits and im lucky if he gets a whole cup in!! he's now 12wks and weighs 9.5lbs, (vet's #s).
i want get him weighed myself since ive seen them weigh and all they do is take him off once he starts getting off even if the scale's still going up. but i assume if hes really 9.5 lbs he's underweight. he doesnt look thin or sickly. he still has his chubby look, but he sure doesnt eat how he should.

If you continue to add canned food, freeze dried food or other "goodies" to his food you are guaranteeing he will be a picky eater.

At his age he might be teething. His gums might be sore. Try soaking his kibble till soft and/or rubbing a human baby teething gel on his gums.

Don't worry so much about his eating. No healthy corgi has ever starved to death next to a full bowl of food.

If it were me I'd not be adding canned food or whatever. I'd feed kibble, soaked. Put it down for 20 min and if he doesn't eat it take it up. NO food or treats till the next scheduled meal time. He will learn to eat what and when you want him to.

You are the one that should decide what food he should have. It's his job to eat it. Decide on what kibble you want him to eat and teach him to eat it. You teach him to eat by doing just what I outlined above.

Now when he eats what you want, when you want then you can on occasion add other things to his food. But not until he learns to eat when he's given his food.

And if he doesn't look skinny, or sickly or act that way, don't worry about his weight or what/where he should be at a certain age. As long as he looks good, and is a playful, happy puppy he's fine.

Peggy

[IslandGirl]

thanks for the idea vannette!

peggy, i've been wetting his food from the day we got him. i started adding the yogurt or wet food when the pickiness started, thinking that it would help him eat... but now he just doesnt even care whats in it,he wont eat. i will try what u recommend. he definately doesnt look thin.

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by IslandGirl

peggy, i've been wetting his food from the day we got him. i started adding the yogurt or wet food when the pickiness started, thinking that it would help him eat... but now he just doesnt even care whats in it,he wont eat. i will try what u recommend. he definately doesnt look thin.

Ok, I didn't see where you said you had added water. Soaking it is more than just adding water, you have to let it sit awhile and get soft. Sometimes when a puppy is teething that helps.

Peggy

[MyPemCharlie]

Well it's been about 2 more weeks and the dogs are practically on hunger strike. I'm convinced that this particular bag of Canidae does not taste the same as any of the previous bags.

Charlie has been skipping breakfast and only eating about half or 3/4's of his daily intake in the evening after some coaxing to eat at all. Desta sniffs and walks away too, until she gets really hungry, so it's hit and miss with her. I'm still offering them half in the morning and half at night, but the last several days I pick up the morning portion mostly uneaten.

Today they each ate a tiny bit this morning finally but not much and I picked it up after a half hour. I left their dinner down just now for 20 minutes and neither touched it. I hate spoiling them, but I finally broke down and mixed in about a teaspoon of peanut butter, divided it back to their individual bowls, and they both dove into it and finished in minutes.

Other than not caring for the smell or taste, they do still have healthy poops and activity levels, bright eyes, etc. so we are going to finish this bag and go on rotation to a different food.

[Michael Romanos]

Funny enough, a member of the local Corgi club is sending away for a sample of Canidae. The product is not available off the shelf in New Zealand but of course anything is procurable through the internet or from agents. The member has two delightful Pems - Zara and Murphy.

[LaRogue]

It looks like Canidae is now reformulating all of their dog and cat foods. They're making the same changes as they did with their lamb and rice formula.

CANIDAE® Pet Foods: Facts About the Improved CANIDAE and FELIDAE Dry Formulas

I don't think I've run across the new lamb and rice yet, as their website says it will be lighter in color than the old formula.

[MyPemCharlie]

I was at the pet supply store last week, and asked the store manager if she had anyone mention that their dog suddenly didn't like Canidae after purchasing a new bag from her store. She said no, but mentioned to me that she had received word that they are in the process of changing all the formulas. She also said they are planning to introduce a grain-free product.

The bag I have still has the whitish flecks of grit so it looks like the original formula, but the dogs sure don't like the way it smells. I broke down and bought one of those dog food rolls that look like deli salami to crumble up into the Canidae so they will eat.

I guess the new formula will be on the market by the time I rotate through a bag of Innova or Artemis, then back to Canidae. Guess I'll see at that time if Canidae will still be a good choice for us.

[LaRogue]

The bag I have still has the whitish flecks of grit so it looks like the original formula, but the dogs sure don't like the way it smells. I broke down and bought one of those dog food rolls that look like deli salami to crumble up into the Canidae so they will eat.

The Lamb and Rice bag I opened a couple of days ago, seems to be the old formula to me, too, but Pip's been not eating as well as usual. I'm not convinced it's the Canidae though, as some other things have been going on-the biggie being that I have been working a different schedule since the beginning of May. I go back to my regular (and I use that term loosely) schedule tomorrow and I want to rule that, along with everything else, out before blaming the food. I think this schedule change may have really disrupted him.

I guess the new formula will be on the market by the time I rotate through a bag of Innova or Artemis, then back to Canidae.

I've scrapped the rotation idea. I tried a bag of California Natural so I would have a "go to" food in case the new Canidae formula didn't work out. It didn't work out very well.

She also said they are planning to introduce a grain-free product.

I'll be interested in seeing that. I like the idea of grain free, but I've only seen one with protein and fat levels I'd be comfortable with feeding. I only look at foods without chicken and chicken fat, so there may be some chicken based ones I don't know about.