# I hope I picked an okay food?



## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

My dog Lincoln has had many issues. He has hip dysplasia, Pannus, gut issues and allergies. For 2 years he was on a raw diet and did wonderfully until recently. He started having explosive runny poos. He also stopped digesting bone fully so I figured maybe because he wasnt digesting bone it was scraping his intestines and causing these issues as well as the bacteria. His immune system isnt as strong as it was and I just dont feed hes thriving on the diet anymore. 

So, I decided to put him on kibble. I feel bad for it because I never liked kibble, I picked this brand because
1. Its Canadian Made 
2. It doesnt contain Chicken (which is a suspected allergin) 
3. its Oven Baked instead of the other method. 

He cannot eat higher protein diets like Orijen, Taste of the Wild etc. He just never did well on them and always had mushy poo so anything over 28% I try to not feed. 

Does this look okay to try? It costed me $62.99 for a 29 pound bag

Lamb dog food - Oven Baked

Deboned lamb, oatmeal, ground brown rice, ground pearled barley, lamb meal, ground whole rye, herring meal, dried egg product, canola oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), ground whole flaxseed, potassium chloride, sea salt, choline chloride, inulin (prebiotic), monosodium phosphate, yucca schidigera extract, taurine, herring oil, glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin sulfate, vitamin E supplement, beta-carotene, fresh spinach, dried kelp, fresh broccoli, fresh whole sweet potato, fresh whole apples, fresh whole blueberries, fresh whole pears, fresh bananas, lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, lactobacillus lactis fermentation product, lactobacillus casei fermentation product, vitamins and minerals (vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, niacin supplement, calcium pantothenate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, riboflavin supplement, thiamine mononitrate, calcium iodate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, sodium selenite), natural flavor, rosemary extract. (This product may contain trace amounts of peanut)

I dont like the grains but they arent as bad as ive seen in some brands lol.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

I'm unfamiliar with this food. But the only way to see how good it is is to see how your dog does on it. It's ingredient listing and nutritional analysis looks pretty ordinary. Please let us know how he does on it.


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## Looni2ns (Mar 26, 2010)

Would it be possible to keep him on the raw diet, but with no bones?


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

If so, be sure to add the correct amount of calcium..... most important.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

The only person who's gonna tell you if the food is okay is the person eating it. Er, well, in this case... the dog eating it.  Good luck!


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## AnimalLuver (Oct 13, 2011)

Lincoln_16 said:


> For 2 years he was on a raw diet and did wonderfully until recently. He started having explosive runny poos. He also stopped digesting bone fully so I figured maybe because he wasnt digesting bone it was scraping his intestines and causing these issues as well as the bacteria. His immune system isnt as strong as it was and I just dont feed hes thriving on the diet anymore.
> 
> He cannot eat higher protein diets like Orijen, Taste of the Wild etc. He just never did well on them and always had mushy poo so anything over 28% I try to not feed.
> 
> Does this look okay to try? It costed me $62.99 for a 29 pound bag


It's strange that he did well for 2yrs and out of the blue started getting sick, perhaps something else is to blame, I would get a vet's opinion on that (although I know a lot of vet's frown upon RAW feeding to begin with).

Many people that have tried higher protein diets like Orijen and TOTW and decided it wasn't good for their dog due to runny poops are more than often overfeeding, this is all too common. It is guaranteed that your dog will get runny stools from too much "rich food" like Orijen/TOTW, and the guidelines are often too high. Try feeding much much less than what you were and it would probably firm up the poops. (my 85lb Retriever only needs 2-2.5cups a day of Orijen, any more and he gains weight and runny poops)

The food you're looking at looks ok, I think there's a lot of better options out there, especially in the price range you're looking at there! Your dog will need to eat a LOT of this food to benefit from it, due to all the grains, only 1 of the first 5 ingredients is meat  .

My suggestion would be to first check with your vet that something's not wrong with your pooch suddenly getting explosive diarrhea after no diet change? That's unusual. Then consider (for the price you're willing to pay) feeding a higher quality (I hate to say it, but grain free is often higher quality because it contains more meat ingredients) dog food. I don't feel that "Oven Baked Lamb Dog Food" is the best you can get for $62.99.

Hopefully this helps, Good luck!


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## AnimalLuver (Oct 13, 2011)

Looni2ns said:


> Would it be possible to keep him on the raw diet, but with no bones?


Just wanna add, this can be very dangerous. A RAW diet has to be properly balanced as much as the ingredients in kibble does. This means meat, bones, and organs. A dog fed RAW without one of these components would lack in certain nutrients/vitamins that it needs.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

I couldnt afford to feed him just boneless. Also, the bone would be needed to harden his stool or it would always be runny. I know I can do better but this is what I wanted to try for now since it looked okay. He was down to 1 cup a day on Orijen and still had runny poos. 

I will go start a thread in the health section to explain what brought me to his diet change. So go read that I dont want to veer off topic on this one lol


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

Can you get a grinder to grind the bones/meat??


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

I thought about that and did look online for grinders. But one to grind Turkey necks would cost me $1000 and I just dont have that kind of money at the moment. Im hoping when finances pick up in the next year I will be able to though.


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

Have you thought about home cooking for Lincoln? I did that for my boy when NSAID's really messed up his system, it saved his life, long story.

Here are a couple links to help get you started, they helped me a whole bunch:

DogAware.com: Homemade Diets for Dogs

DogAware.com Articles: Sample Homemade Cooked Diets for Dogs

Also came across this video a while back when researching. I never tried this slow cook recipe. Apparently the bones turn soft and crumbly. Decide for yourself.






Best wishes for you and Lincoln.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

I did think about it. But my concern was the cost of it. I guess I could try to figure out a cost or even add that into my kibble to so hes not on straight kibble. That sounds like a good idea 

ETA- I see he is using chicken. I suspect mine to have a chicken allergy so could I use Duck, Turkey, Beef or Pork in this recipe?


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

Lincoln_16 said:


> I did think about it. But my concern was the cost of it. I guess I could try to figure out a cost or even add that into my kibble to so hes not on straight kibble. That sounds like a good idea


Keep your eye out for sales. I purchased a lot of chicken and sweet potatoes etc. to feed an army when sales came around. Kinda felt like doing a clambake every week cooking for him. Bonus point for me eating healthier myself while feeding my dog.. 

I feed my current girl kibble, but do use toppings like sardines, sweet potatoes, hard boiled eggs (including the crushed shell) chicken, blueberries etc..Good stuff!


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

We posted at the same time lol

My concern was I think hes allergic to chicken. So, Could I use beef instead? I have Turkey here to and whole Ducks (that I grabbed on sale)


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

I understand your attraction to a food made in Canada.  What about Orijen's sister food, Acana? It is lower in protein. My dog is on Acana Senior, which IS chicken-based. It also has salmon in it. But I believe they have several non-chicken formulas.


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

Lincoln_16 said:


> My concern was I think hes allergic to chicken. So, Could I use beef instead? I have Turkey here to and whole Ducks (that I grabbed on sale)


I would not be so quick to dis the chicken. I would try a low fat diet. Boil the meat to reduce the fat. For beef you could try boiling some 93/7 hamburg but it gets expensive. Beef can also be harder to digest in some dogs. I would leave out the duck for now, they are pretty fatty birds. Turkey sounds better.

Please keep in mind that for me or anyone to tell you the proper way and food to feed your dog is next to impossible. Every dog is an individual.

In my experience whenever my dog had a dietary indiscretion/diarrhea I would go to the boiled chicken breast and rice. Usually cleared it up in a few days. If not then I tried the Metronidazole. If that did not work after a day or two it was off to the vet for some Panacur or stronger antibiotics or x-rays, tests and such. Every situation has been different. Sometimes "starving" a dog for 24hrs before starting a boiled diet works wonders. If I ever thought for a moment it could be an obstruction, then off to the vet asap.

In my own personal opinion I would try a boiled low fat home cooked diet for 3 days. If Lincoln does not improve I think you may have a problem other than diet.

Please keep us updated here and on your other thread too. Hope you get it all figured out soon.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I'll throw out a plug to Acana, as well. Ranger is raw fed but is occasionally supplemented with kibble and lately, it's been Acana Grasslands or Ranchlands. It's a great food and I'm really happy with it...as is Ranger.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

When he was placed on the boiled chicken/rice diet he immediately started to maul his butthole. It stopped as soon as I took out the chicken. I suspect he has a chicken allergy and therefore will not feed chicken until I figure it out. 

He doesnt do well on Orijen/Acana. Anything higher then 27% -28% he always has runny poos. I think the protein content is to high.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Not all acana foods are high protein, though. If you're mainly concerned with chicken and don't need to go grain-free, check out Acana Lamb and Apple. There's no chicken, just one grain source (oats), one protein source (lamb) and the protein is 27%.

If you're still anti-Acana, have you checked out Go or NOW Petcurean? My old border collie ate GO! and it added years to his life. He'd been on regular grocery store his whole life until he turned 9 and started to get shaky back legs, dull coat and eyes, and no energy. A friend recommended it (she was feeding it to her senior dog) and within a week, my border collie had done a 180 health wise. He lived another 5-6 years after that and was the picture of health.

Anyway, here's the link to Go! Natural Salmon, it's 22% protein and no chicken. http://petcurean.com/index.php?page_id=42 There's also the duck formula: http://petcurean.com/index.php?page_id=204


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

I will check into that one the next time I need dog food  Thanks. My main ones are corn, soy and wheat for grains are no no's for me


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

Have you looked at Fromm's foods?? Most of the flavors in their 4 star line (except for the beef fritatta and surf & turf flavors) have protein below 27-28%. Even the grain-free varities (beef fritatta and surf & turf) are only at 30%. It's made in Wisconsin in the company's own plant. We had a lot of problems with our Enzo having runny poops, but that cleared up immediately on Fromm.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

I will check into that one as well. I find the top of the line foods are not found easily here and when they are they cost a fortune. Orijen right now is $79.99 for a bag. If this food doesnt work out then I know I have other options . I did see a perfect one there but it had yeast in it so that turned me off that food


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