Feeding Canidae

[ZcorgiZ]

Just last week I started feeding my dogs Canidae and so far they really enjoy it and are doing great on it. I have to travel 1-1/2 hours to get it, but they are worth it.

[MyPemCharlie]

Originally Posted by LaRogue

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.

Hopefully it's just the schedule change and not the food. You know, for all I know some dog may have peed/urine marked on the bag I bought. It was on the top of a tall floor stack, but if they restacked then the bottom goes to the top. When Charlie turned 6 months he embarassed me by marking several floor stacks of food before I put him in the shopping cart. Ha!

Originally Posted by LaRogue

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.

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.

Sorry to hear the rotation didn't work for you. I like the idea of grain-free foods too, but most of them do have really high levels of protein which is a downside. We'll see what Canidae comes up with.

[MyPemCharlie]

Originally Posted by ZcorgiZ

Just last week I started feeding my dogs Canidae and so far they really enjoy it and are doing great on it. I have to travel 1-1/2 hours to get it, but they are worth it.

Wow! An hour and a half. With the price of gasoline, it might be less expensive for you to order online and have it delivered to your door. I'm lucky that a Pet Supplies Plus opened a couple miles from my house. They carry all the premium and super premium brands.

[Chip's Mom]

Mine have been on Canidae for over a year now and they are doing well so I hope there are no changes. ZcorgiZ - You are a dedicated corgi mom to travel that far for Canidae.

[ZcorgiZ]

I've checked into ordering it online and it would cost me $50 to have it shipped here. At least when I go to Midland, Texas, to get the Canidae, I can do other shopping and eat at a good restaurant. Of course hubby doesn't mind going so he can have an excuse to pick up some fishing supplies at Academy! LOL!!

[LaRogue]

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

Chris, if you didn't already know, the info on the Canidae grain free is out. It's 34% protein and 18% fat. Canidae® Pet Foods - All Natural Dog Food - Grain Free All Life Stages dry

Ingredients:
Chicken meal, turkey meal, lamb, potatoes, peas, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), lamb meal, ocean fish meal, tomato pomace, natural flavor, choline chloride, sun cured alfalfa meal, inulin (from chicory root), lecithin, sage extract, cranberries, beta carotene, rosemary extract, sunflower oil, yucca schidigera extract, dried enterococcus faecium, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, dried bacillus subtilis fermentation extract, saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation solubles, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid, cobalt proteinate, organic selenium, papaya, pineapple.

[LaRogue]

Whoopsie! I posted before reading the whole thing. They are bringing out 3 new formulas: the grain free in the previous post, A Beef and Fish (with grains) Canidae® Pet Foods - All Natural Dog Food - Beef and Ocean Fish Meal dry and a grain free salmon Canidae® Pet Foods - All Natural Dog Food - Grain Free Salmon dry 40% protein 20 % fat...too high for me. I don't think they've hit stores yet.

[MyPemCharlie]

I saw that a day or two ago and posted on the Cairn forum that if I put Canidae back into my rotation, it will probably be the grain-free ALS. The new "regular formula" ALS seems a little grainy and I'm reading too many reports of people's dogs not adjusting well. Haven't heard too much here about Corgis on the new Canidae, but quite a few Cairn owners reporting watery light-colored stools and a lot of gas from the formula change.

The dogs just went to Innova last week and seem to be enjoying it so far. I'm feeding them a bit more raw whole foods too. They got used to getting a variety of "human" foods while I was adding bits and pieces of goodies to that last bag of Canidae just to get them to eat it.

[KJohnson]

After Canidae switched their ALS formula, Westin wasn't taking it very well, so I bought a bag of Innova EVO and started mixing it with his Canidae (so I could make up for the extra grains with more protein). Right now he gets 1/2 cup of Canidae and 1/4 cup of EVO twice a day and it seems to have stabilized his system, and he loves it!!!
-we cut back some of his food to make up for the extra protein-

[IslandGirl]

interesting this comes up again.

we've had our pup on canidae ALS so far and he's 6months. we've expereimented with both orijen and evo a few occassions and while both are excellent foods (i think orijen is better but more $$ ) both made yogi way too active. we had him on each food for a week each time and noticed significant difference. he ate less but had lots of energy.

i mentioned it to the vet and he recommended that we skip these foods until yogi is at least 1+ years, noting that these foods are also high in calcium which isn't good for puppies. i think less than 1.3-1.5 is recommended.

this is why im waiting patiently for the new grain free canidae. it has the same amt of calcium as the original (1.2) and the protein % is 34..which is good at his age. im totally a fan of grain free foods and i have friends who solely feed their dogs high protein kibble and swear by it .. but yogi's activity level (which is moderate) and age doesn't mesh with them. i can't find this grain free canidae anywhere!! anyone found it?

[MyPemCharlie]

I would ask your store manager where you've been buying the ALS when they plan to order next and if they plan to carry it. They can probably include a few bags on their next order, even if they don't plan to carry stock. I know the Pet Supplies Plus here which carries all the super premiums can special order just about any of their vendor's items.

At a different store the manager told me that Canidae requires a huge minimum order so he would not be getting more of any products for awhile. I asked because they did not have many of the large cans of Felidae cat food for my kitties, and now it looks like I'll have to special order through Pet Supplies Plus or change brands.

[LaRogue]

I would ask your store manager where you've been buying the ALS when they plan to order next and if they plan to carry it. They can probably include a few bags on their next order, even if they don't plan to carry stock.

I believe most companies (except Merrick) will send you samples, if you call or email and ask. You can also get samples, online at k9cuisine (free with an order I think) k9cuisine.com - Free Samples If you could get some samples, you could do some taste testing and have an idea of which food might be best for you dog, before going to the trouble and expense of special ordering.

As an aside...my Pet Supplies Plus (all 4 closest to me) changed names and mine moved. It's actually closer now (not that it was far at the other location), but I wonder if it will be the same.

You can also get samples, online at k9cuisine (free with an order I think) k9cuisine.com - Free Samples

UPDATE: You can get the free samples without ordering, but you have to pay shipping...$8+)

[IslandGirl]

Thanks both of you !

The local pet store I get most of his stuff from had no clue Canidae brought out three new formulas. They called up the vendor to find out more. I called a couple chains in the area and they were all clueless. His current bag of Canidae is almost up so I was hoping I would get hold of this new food this week.
I guess I'll keep buying the original formula until the new one hits the shelf.

I checked out k9cuisine.com but they're aren't any samples for this new formula. I did a long intensive research on food yesterday that met both low calcium, no grain and moderate protein %s. It boiled down to this new Canidae formula. Wellness Core came close but they warned that dogs under 1 should not consume due to high calcium levels..so that was out.

I'll update you guys when I get word from our pet store.

[Michael Romanos]

Here is how I understand it, re calcium. For puppies especially and junior dogs secondly, up to the maximum (as per AAFCO standards) recommended calcium should be given daily. For adults and seniors, the minimum of calcium (as per AAFCO standards) is acceptable. The minimum and maximum AAFCO standards for calcium for puppies is greater than that of adults and seniors, therefore more calcium is requires for growing puppies and is far less vital for adults and seniors. Calcium is vitally important for puppies to produce strong bone and good conformation and sets up a dog for a hardy and energetic life as an adult.
I can provide recommended daily intake of calcium for puppies if necessary.

[LaRogue]

I checked out k9cuisine.com but they're aren't any samples for this new formula.

I noticed this too, after I had already posted and was checking on the ordering. Sorry! If you're interested in trying the samples, it might be worth it to contact Canidae directly. If I was them, I would have the little sample bags ready first, to send out to the stores as kind of an "advance" for the new formulas in an effort to try to win back some of the business they've lost. Maybe they can help you out with that and give you an idea when the grain free will hit stores.

BTW, if anyone needs the old formula ingredients or Guaranteed Analysis for comparison, etc, I've found (and copied) all 4 formulas and can send them in a PM.