Frequent Pooping?

[dab_20]

What do you guys know about Royal Canin? My brother feeds that to Springen, it has a kind that is especially for Boxers. Good or no?

[king2005]

digi poops once a day & its really small & well formed... I spend about $7/week or less for her raw diet. she lovs it & has no allergy reactions to it cause i can control it 100% this way.

[MonicanHonda]

Well, Royal Canin's breed specific meals are a joke (nothing makes them special), but RC is a bit better than Science Diet I suppose.

*Sigh* I fear I must take back the recommendation of California Natural as a good pet food. I just found out today that Natura has been sold to Proctor and Gamble... the makers of some very bad foods out there. Euk and Iams used to be decent foods but once PandG got their greedy hands on them, they went downhill... Now I fear that Natura may do the same (Evo, Cal Nat, etc.)

[bckrazy]

What do you guys know about Royal Canin? My brother feeds that to Springen, it has a kind that is especially for Boxers. Good or no?

Royal Canin and Science Diet are both VERY BAD foods... they consist primarily of lower-than-cattle-feed-grade fillers, and the little "meats" they use are rejected scraps. Nutro Ultra is just a step above that, as it's still packed with grains and has very low meat content at all.

Corn Meal
Chicken By-product Meal
Animal Fat
Soybean Mill Run

Those are the first 4 ingredients in SD, and it gets worse from there. Chemicals, common allergens, etc. Nutro contains 3 types of rice in the first 4 ingredients, making the food primarily rice!!! That's a nutty price to pay for a rice-based dog food. This just doesn't seem like food that a carnivore should be eating, does it? A canine can only digest at MOST 25% of grains/plants. The rest of it is going to be converted into excessive, yucky poops. When you feed grain free, poops will be small, firm, and much less frequent. My dogs poop once or twice a day, never more, and they're very small.

I love Orijen & Acana... it costs $12 for a 5.5 lb bag of it, so it's about $2/lb. Same as Nutro Ultra! And you will be feeding much, much less of it. The ingredients speak for themselves.

Fresh deboned chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, russet potato, fresh deboned pacific salmon (a natural source of DHA and EPA), herring meal, sweet potato, peas, fresh deboned lake whitefish, fresh deboned northern walleye

If you can't get Orijen or Acana, Wellness CORE is a low cost, quality grain free option.

[dab_20]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

king2005, I would love to feed a raw diet, but unfortunately there is no way I could get my mom to prepare it when I am not home. She just wouldn't agree to it

bckrazy... is Orijen & Acana a good choice for Sam too? Considering he was put on this prescription diet for his allergies? I'm sure I can find it somewhere... I do live in the city... I'll do some googling! I think there is this place called the Dog's Meow that sells dog food that chain pet stores don't offer. My mom will CERTAINLY be happy that she no longer has to pay 70 dollars for a bag of Science Diet dog food! I'm going to send this thread to my bro so he can read about it for Springen.

[dab_20]

I am going to a place called the Dog's Meow tomorrow that sells holistic high quality dog foods and am going to pick out a new one. Hopefully the person working there knows something about them. Thanks so much for your suggestions everyone! I want the food I feed my dogs to be high quality, and yummy! They deserve to live the longest, healthiest life they can

[*LabLoverKEB*]

Oh, are you in vet school??!!! Or tech school or something!??!! Ugh, I'm nervous because I apply this summer/fall. >.>

Didn't see this until now.... oops!! I'm in a veterinary technology program. I will be an RVT! (Registered Veterinary Technician).

[bckrazy]

I am going to a place called the Dog's Meow tomorrow that sells holistic high quality dog foods and am going to pick out a new one. Hopefully the person working there knows something about them. Thanks so much for your suggestions everyone! I want the food I feed my dogs to be high quality, and yummy! They deserve to live the longest, healthiest life they can

That's awesome! LMK what you pick out!

Grain free is absolutely ideal for dogs with allergies. Most allergies involve corn, soy, grains, etc, as those as not in the natural diets of carnivores. I would pick of a fish-based grain free food, like Orijen Fish, just to make sure he doesn't have a meat allergy. I've never met a dog with a fish allergy. Then, once he has good poops and no side affects from the fish formula, switch him to a red meat formula, or a chicken/turkey formula. You have to work your way through meat sources to see if any of them give him an allergic reaction. It's called an elimination diet.

You will be amazed with the changes that your dogs go through on grain free. I work with hundreds of dogs every day, and I can pick out a grain free fed dog in a second! It's crazy. Most people just deal with dirty ears, itchies, rough coats, goopy eyes, and dirty teeth because they feel it's just the norm. I can honestly say that I never clean out my dog's ears... I never clean their eye boogers... I RARELY brush their teeth, and feed them raw meaty bones once a week... and they have spotless ears, eyes, and teeth, and soft, shiney, barely shedding coats just from eating a species appropriate diet. The changes are shocking!

[MonicanHonda]

Orijen or Acana should be excellent for allergies. I second the fish! Great food for allergies... and then the red meat. Dogs usually have the biggest allergies to chicken. Good luck hunting!

[MonicanHonda]

I will also add the significant changes you will see will be amazing! Lol At the office, I just see dog after dog that has horribly greasy nasty fur, boogered out eyes, heaven forbid you can even see into their ears. It's disgusting!!! But like bckrazy says, (Delta is on raw which I guess would be like a grain free. Lol) Delta never has her teeth brushed, I clean her ears out... maybe once a month???... it's ultimately cheaper (actually super cheap for me because of my co-op) but if she was on kibble, it would be cheaper because she eats less, and she just LOOKS healthy. And everyone just raves about how SOFT she is. Honda (fed Nutro) was soft... but kind of course feeling and always would feel greasy even a couple days after a bath. And she could only have a bath about every four months because it would just dry her skin out and she would ITCH! Delta could get a bath once a week and still have sparkly fur. Nutrition is the number one thing. If your dog doesn't have good things going in, it's not going to have good things coming out. Lol

[king2005]

^^ loved the post & agree!

[dab_20]

Thanks for the posts guys you're awesome!

So I went to the Dog's Meow today (awesome place and very knowledgeable people, but unfortunately the guy didn't tell me chicken is a huge allergen?) We actually ended up with California Natural Chicken diet. I may end up switching him to the herring diet now that you guys told me I should try the fish. Most of the foods there were all made by Natura, and they didn't have Orijen or Acana (although the guy said the owner is thinking about bringing those in).
I asked about the company MonicanHonda said they sold to. He told me that they are keeping the same building, same employees, same ingredients and sources for those ingredients. He said he understands if people switch for ethical reasons (not sure what that meant?), but nutrition wise it's staying the same. He also recommended Evo (the totally grain free option), but I don't have the money right now to feed that... I may end up switching eventually.

Although it's not COMPLETELY grain free, I'm really hoping that this will do. He said he recommended it for allergens. My dogs definitely have goopy eyes, and Sam has the itches and greasy fur just days after his baths! I'm hoping this will change. I also got some samples for Springen.

There was also this beagle mix there (possibly with lab?), that the owner is fostering and is up for adoption. I wanted to take him home sooooo bad!! Unfortunately my mom won't agree to another dog hehe, oh well, starting college in the fall I won't have much time for another one anyway!

EDIT: Oh and I looked today and realized Sam isn't fed Science Diet, it is Hill's Perscription Diet z/d (Don't know what I was thinking..) but I think it's about the same thing? Anyways, I looked and on the bag and on Hill's it says to feed a 20 pound dog 2 1/4 cups a day.... and on California Natural it says 1.5 cups!! BIG difference!

[bckrazy]

Cal Nat is still a really good food... HUGE upgrade! If Sam's allergies act up, he's probably allergic to chicken, and the herring would be a good idea. Natural Balance also has limited ingredient diets with a huge assortment of single meat source formulas, but the meat content is lower in those.

[dab_20]

Cal Nat is still a really good food... HUGE upgrade! If Sam's allergies act up, he's probably allergic to chicken, and the herring would be a good idea. Natural Balance also has limited ingredient diets with a huge assortment of single meat source formulas, but the meat content is lower in those.

Thanks for the help

[MonicanHonda]

Most of the time the dogs don't even eat what is recommended on the bag. Some eat more, some eat less. Delta, when she ate kibble, ate a whole cup less!

But I think when he said ethical reasons... he just means that P&G haven't been a very reputable company and just because of that, some people don't want to contribute money to their company. I really hope they do keep the kibbles the same... just watch out for adverse reactions to certain bags. A lot of times companies will make tiny adjustments in their kibble and sometimes dogs can't even handle that... and the company won't tell anyone. I would recommend cutting the ingredients off the bag and taking them every time you buy a new bag so you can compare. Even moving an ingredient up and one back can make a huge problem for some dogs.

Cal Nat is limited ingredients especially for allergies, so I hope it helps! Even though it has some grains... they are the better end of grains to give and not things like corn or the such... And I understand about the Evo... SUPER expensive. >.>