Frequent Pooping?

[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. >.>

[king2005]

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!

To my understanding its just a place to start, not a rule.

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.

From what I've learned & seen with many dogs, is when you feed the higher end kibbles, you can switch brands all you want & mix n match for variety, as they have no bad chemicals or doo doo in them, so there isn't any reason for the dogs to become ill. If I'm correct, its the chemical changes in the lower quality of kibbles that cause food change issues.

Before Digi's allergies became severe she was on 2 brands at a time & I use several brands with different fish/chicken flavours. That never made her ill, not even with her sensitive gutt... Well now it'll kill her as her allergies are severe... so I'm not sure if using her as an example is even good... But I've talked to many people at that store & they mixed things up all the time too, just like I did & non of their dogs became ill. So I really do think its all those chemicals that are hard on the gut when it comes to changes.

[dab_20]

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. >.>

Yeah, I know it's just a recommendation. Sam will eat the whole bag at once if he could! hehe I just fill Molli's bowl and she eats until she's full and they both have good maintained weight.

Ohhh, I see. I think I will do that, just to make sure the ingredients don't change.