Please help me...I LOVE my dog food... but...

It's not enough protien/fat intake for 3 of my 7 dogs. They are slimmer than I would like, and the muscle seems to not be as substancial as I would like. They get pleeenty of exercise each day... if they're not playing with the flirt pole, they're in their 10x10 run, running my acre, or on hand walks. I currently use Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Limited Ingredients List the Fish and Sweet Potato

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dog...as/SPFish.html

I want to find something equal in quality, ingredients wise (I'm open to changing protien sources as well). I've tried the Blue Buffalo and I wasn't happy with them... STINKY gas, and I wasn't impressed with their coat nor activity level. I've used Taste of the wild which made 4 out of 4 dogs vomit, and have diahreah... it's not a pretty smell to come home to lmfao.

I cannot afford to feed more of this food since it is 50.00 a bag for me, and i go through 1.5-2 bags a week. I want to use a protien of about 25-30% and a fat intake of 15-20%.... any suggestions????

EDIT: This is about 400.00 a month.

EDIT EDIT: This is the first brand of dog food that I have used which has had positive results with all seven dogs, I wish it would give me the protien and fat that I want!

It's hard to say when you probably want to keep it grain free... and not go expensive. TOTW is the cheapest you're going to get, but you say it doesn't work. Orijen and Evo are awesome, but very expensive. Before Grain? It's made by Merrick. NB is usually used by dogs with allergies... so that's probably why it doesn't have adequate protein for certain dogs.

These are all high quality foods

This is BG
(This is the Buffalo, there is also chicken and salmon)
Crude Protein (Not Less Than) 32.0%
Crude Fat (Not Less Than) 15.0%
Crude Fiber (Not More Than) 3.0%
Moisture (Not More Than) 11.0%

Did you try the Blue Wilderness or just the Blue Buffalo. If not, I'd try the wilderness

Crude Protein (min)42.00%
Crude Fat (min)16.00%
Crude Fiber (max)3.00%
Moisture (max)10.00%

You could also try Nature's Variety Instinct. There is Rabbit, Duck/Turkey, and
chicken.
Goes from 35-42% protein and about 15% fat.

Wellness Core

34% protein, 14% fat

Solid Gold Barking at the Moon

42% protein, 20% fat

Origen?

I've looked into Orijen, and it is pretty high in the protien intake. It's like 70% which is waaaay too much for my dogs and their activity level.

It sounds like I need to look into Before Grain or Wellness Core.

I used the food that I have now for one of the dogs that I have that has severe allergies. She seems to be doing Okay with it, but it's still not as good of results as my Raw diet for her as far as allergies go. I wasn't able to provide her with an adequate diet with the raw because of her allergies, she was losing way too much weight, but she seems to be maintaining now that she's on the real dog food. The regular/healthy dogs did phenominal on Raw, but we've switched back to kibble to save time in the morning. I used to pre package it and keep it in the deep freezer, but I've also outgrown my deep freeze hahahaa

You guys rock... I asked this on my breed specific forum and they only focused on the fat intake advising to add oils and lard. I just don't think they get it lmfao.

Right - I forgot that dogs' nutrition requirements are different. My cats are on the Origen cause it keeps their urine pH at a good level to prevent crystals, and the higher protein keeps their weight down (in theory ;) ).

Sooo...I don't know what to suggest, though Purina has come out with some surprisingly quality food, in the feline area at least.

Orijen has 40% protein. But still, it's super expensive. Lol Usually it's higher protein is too much for smaller dogs.

I agree, I would look into BG or Core. They are both good brands and I don't think they are TOO much more than TOTW, probably around the Blue Buffalo price range.

What kind of allergies does your girl have? It's been known, that allergies dogs have to processed kibble isn't always the same as raw. Like... dogs that are allergic to chicken aren't always allergic to raw chicken. Who knows. :) I understand the freezer thing. I was lucky enough to get a free one! I was so excited. Lol But now I'm going to pick up 75 lbs of vension tomorrow and 50 more pounds of meat on Saturday. I really don't think it's going to fit in my tiny freezer. I don't think my husband would let me buy another one. hahaha

What about doing half kibble half raw? That might cut down on costs if you can get cheap meat. Feed kibble in the am, wait 12 hours, then feed raw for dinner? As long as you feed the two a good time apart, there shouldn't be any problems.

EDIT: That is A LOT of money a month. Lol The low protein foods are also made for dalmatians. Or so I like to think. ;-D Dalmatians are missing an enzyme so they just build up the uric acid in their urinary tract. All dalmatians are predisposed to stones... but only some of them have them. Very interesting. So they say to keep them on a low purine (like chicken), diet. Which many people think is low protein. (your 21-23 percents) Since organs are immensely high in purines, Delta cannot have them, so I have substituted them with a fruit smoothie made of a few different things: Peanut butter, applesauce, and two bolthouse fruit smoothie drinks. Very interesting. Lol Just my diet restrictions I have to work with so you don't feel alone. LoL!

If I remember right, you feed your dogs in kennels -- I mean, they are separated, right?

Could you do the raw for the 3 that were doing fine on that, and keep the others on the kibble? I mean, there is no rule that says all the dogs in one household have to be fed the same food, right? Many folks (me included) do that because the dogs have access to each other's bowls.

Sorry to read Taste of the Wild didn't work, as I've just bought a HUGE bag of their High Prairie formula to try on my flock. Used it for 3 days now an they are taking it fine.

I suggest you give Blue Buffalo another try, but be sure to make the transition slowly. It is much more nutrient dense than the other two and your dogs need much less. I suspect that you overfed them on the BB. Calories per cup for fish and sweet potato are: 360 for Taste of the Wild, 394 for Natural Balance and 440 for Blue Buffalo. So a moderately active 100 lb dog would need about 1900 calories per day. That's 5 1/4 cups Taste of the Wild, 4 3/4 cup Natural Balance and and 4 1/4 cups Blue Buffalo. Gas and diarrhea are signs of over feeding.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freedom

If I remember right, you feed your dogs in kennels -- I mean, they are separated, right?

Could you do the raw for the 3 that were doing fine on that, and keep the others on the kibble? I mean, there is no rule that says all the dogs in one household have to be fed the same food, right? Many folks (me included) do that because the dogs have access to each other's bowls.

Sorry to read Taste of the Wild didn't work, as I've just bought a HUGE bag of their High Prairie formula to try on my flock. Used it for 3 days now an they are taking it fine.

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It's good to hear that they're doing well on it. I know many people who have had great success with TOTW... it just happened not to be a good one for me lol. Until i found the DVP LID, we did have a variety of dog food... i was just so stoked about the ingredients list being tollerable for the whole crew because it is so much simpler lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by maquignon

I suggest you give Blue Buffalo another try, but be sure to make the transition slowly. It is much more nutrient dense than the other two and your dogs need much less. I suspect that you overfed them on the BB. Calories per cup for fish and sweet potato are: 360 for Taste of the Wild, 394 for Natural Balance and 440 for Blue Buffalo. So a moderately active 100 lb dog would need about 1900 calories per day. That's 5 1/4 cups Taste of the Wild, 4 3/4 cup Natural Balance and and 4 1/4 cups Blue Buffalo. Gas and diarrhea are signs of over feeding.

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This is interesting to read, i mean about over feeding leading to Gas and Diarrhea. I've always associated it with difficulties breaking down certain ingredients. Does anyone else have an input on this subject? Now, you've gotten me intrigued :) Well, we can't necessarily stick to the feeding instructions on the back of the bag all the time. Just like humans, dogs have different metabolisms, and activity levels. My 50 pound pups are getting about 4 3/4 natural balance and they still could stand to pack on the pounds, but that is strictly based off of their activity level.

I never follow the bag. I've heard of dogs getting a whole cup less than the bag and dogs getting a whole cup more than the bag. It all depends on your dog.

And it is true I believe, I have heard of gas and diarrhea being because of too much food. So you could try it again.