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General observations

2K views 20 replies 10 participants last post by  sasasola 
#1 ·
So we went away for the weekend and left Duke with our neighbours. They LOVE him and are thinking about getting a dog but aren't completely sure that they want to take on the responsibility. They even walk him for us when hubby is working day shift :) Anyhow, while he was there he got into the cat food. I don't know how much he ate but from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday night he had liquid/explosive diarrhea. Thankfully he didn't have any accidents in the house but I was starting to get worried... until yesterday. His poops are now 100% back to normal! Thank goodness!

This may not have been the best time to transition him to grain free kibble (since he had diarrhea) but we were low on his kibble and were planning to transition this week. We've been transitioning since Monday. We're on to the Fromm grain-free Beef Frittata flavour. It is considerably more expensive but we'll be feeding less so it probably works out to the same. Hubby still isn't sold on the raw diet... I have to wear him down... but anyways, this is what we've done so far:

Monday - 1/4 grain free - 3/4 old kibble
Tuesday - 1/4 grain free - 3/4 old kibble
Wednesday - 1/2 grain free - 1/2 old kibble

Now, it has only been 3 days (this is day 4) and hubby thinks I'm crazy but I have a very sensitive nose and I already notice that he doesn't stink as much! His "doggy odour" seems to be disappearing. Is this possible already or am I imagining it? I'm relatively sure I'm not imagining it... any comments?
 
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#3 ·
No you're not crazy. When Moxie was on blue buffalo she had the worst dirty dog smell. I had to wash her every 2 weeks or so. Since going grain-free she has a pleasant sweet smell to her and only one bath shortly after we switched. I noticed a difference within a week or two. :)
 
#6 ·
Here's a list of grain free foods for you: Best Dry Grain Free Dog Foods

We are using Fromm grain-free but there are many others to choose from. Some popular ones are Orijen, Acana and Taste of the Wild. You just have to see what works for you and your puppy. Oh and if the food is grain-free it will say so right on the packaging.

As far as switching over, you can do so at any time. Just make sure you do so gradually over 5-7 days. Reduce the amount of the old kibble as you increase the amount of the new kibble, day by day until you are feeding the new kibble exclusively. :)
 
#9 ·
Hmmm, well Bruno still needs a bath again. He smells a bit doggy, but not as bad as my parents cocker gets (apparently they are known for smelling, I grew up with them and didn't know that until recently). However I know one part of him that smells MUCH better since going from the puppy chow that he came to us on to Blue Buffalo Freedom puppy. He no longer seems to have deadly gas at night time lol. We just finished his transition on Sunday night and it took about 2 1/2 weeks. We did 10% increase every other day so about 18 days. Actually it was 19, we held him at 50% for an extra day.
 
#12 ·
Actually I thought it was fairly normal or even short. I had read everywhere feed 1/4:3/4 for a week, 1/2:1/2 for a week, 3/4:3/4 for one to two weeks and then go full. The 10% every other day is actually a bit faster. His tummy seems fine now, originally he had fairly soft stools and now I know it was from the old junk food he was on. He's still having that a bit at times but I suspect that's because the day he went 100% (this last Monday) he also had to go on antibiotics for suspected kennel cough (really mild case hard to tell). I'm going to pick up some Greek yogurt as I was reading around here it will be good for helping with that.
 
#13 ·
I am about to transition Sally back to a grain kibble, She has been in a grainfree kibble for 2 months now (2 different varieties of same brand) and she is pooping twice as much, twice as smelly and very mushy... so I am going to tranistion her back to the grain food she pooped well on and give it another try in a couple of months. (my husband needs a break from collecting mushy poops, he is on poop patrol!)

There is only one pet shop which sells grainfree and it is 45 minutes away, so it has been a bit of a nusience taking up my weekends going to the next City, cause when you go there you can't just go there, if Sally is with we go to the beach, if not we do other shopping while there.

So back to Royal Canin we go... it is the highest Star food that any local pet shop/vet/farm supply shop sells.
 
#16 ·
flyinion - Really? Everyone I've talked to (including the vet) said 5-7 day transition. Funny!

We're transitioning Duke this week and he'll be 100% on his new food by the end of the weekend. This is the second time transitioning him and he's doing great! Nice solid poops (after getting the cat food out of his system! lol).
 
#19 ·
Well Duke seems to be doing fine with the 7 day transition or I would obviously do it slower.

Dawna - I heard the same about Orijen which is one of the reasons we didn't transition to that. Another reason we've stuck with Fromm is because they've been around since 1907 and never had a food recall.
 
#20 ·
[/QUOTE]
Dawna - I heard the same about Orijen which is one of the reasons we didn't transition to that. Another reason we've stuck with Fromm is because they've been around since 1907 and never had a food recall.[/QUOTE]


Yea it is 80% protein. They say it is the closest to RAW in kibble form. We just switched my 5 year old lab to it because she is allergic to everything and has dealt with chronic yeast infections in her ears all her life. Orijen is 100% grain free, meaning no rice. A lot of food say grain free and have oats and rice... SHE LOVES IT. its like dog CRACK lol. she is so excited to eat it. :clap2::clap2: its very expensive though, 29 pound bag came out to 97 bucks. :doubt:


Zeus is doing well on Blue Buffalo basics for puppies. great poops! he does have serious gas though! :stink:

I just want him to have the absolute best. he is my little boy and deserves it!
 
#21 · (Edited)
Fromm's regular gold line is corn, wheat and by-product free. That one has brown rice and barley in it.

But then they have the four-star grain free line that is completely free of any type of grains - rice included. We are switching Duke from the gold line to the four-star grain free line. It is also quite expensive. We paid $98 (incl taxes) for a 26 lb. bag. Yikes!
 
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