# Orijen for Not-So-Active Golden?



## bababa123 (Aug 2, 2010)

Hello everyone! I have a 70 pound, 2.5 year old golden retriever female who is currently on Blue Buffalo Chicken and Brown Rice food and is doing great. She's not as active as some of the other dogs on this forum, but she's not overweight. She's not incredibly fast, but still loves to run around when she has the chance. Normally she just runs around the backgrounds for about a half hour or less every day and then just lounges around in the house with us, which is pretty roomy. Anyways, I know I should go running with her more often, but I want to get her a grain-free food because it's obviously better for her. I'm looking into buying a 30lb bag of Orijen Six Fish. The Blue Buffalo has a minimum crude protein 26% whereas the Orijen Six Fish is 40%. I think she's already stopped growing. Is it alright to buy a high protein food for a dog that isn't doing "2 hours of running every day and 9 hours of hiking on the weekends?" If it isn't, what other grain-free, equally healthy and nutritious food should I use that might be lower calorie and slightly lower protein content?


Her current diet - 2 scoops of dry food with a whole boiled egg.

What I plan to feed her (with Orijen 6 Fish) - 2 scoops of dry food with a Stella and Chewy patty


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## Bailey & Charlies Mom (Jan 27, 2009)

I switched my senior Golden to Orijen a couple of years ago and she actually lost the five pounds she needed to lose. I really like what the food has done for her health. She became more active and grew in a beautiful coat.


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## kgiff (Jul 21, 2008)

All of my dogs (including the senior/less active dog) are on grain-free foods and maintaining their weight just fine. You may need to adjust the amount you're feeding (mine all get roughly 2 cups), but I don't think you need to have an active dog to feed a grain free high protein food. 

If you're still looking for alternatives, one of mine is on grain free Acana which is made by the same company as Orijen, but only has 33% protein instead of 40%.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

We started Origin 10 days ago... for my active and less active dogs. They are having to eat a LOT (4+ cups/day) and are still not able to maintain weight... It hasn't worked well for us... I've never gone through a bag of food so quickly!

See how your dog does and adjust from there.


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## bababa123 (Aug 2, 2010)

Thanks. I'm probably just going to do the two cups with a Stella and chewy patty.


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## ChiPack (Jan 22, 2010)

I can't speak for my dogs, as they eat Wellness, but I have my three cats on Orijen right now mixed with a variety of wet foods and it has done wonders for their health. They are in great shape and have gorgeous coats!


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## bababa123 (Aug 2, 2010)

Okay guys! I'm going to go buy Orijen Six Fish! Wish me luck!


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## Oakley&SegersMom (Feb 1, 2009)

Oakley and Seger are on the Orijen 6 Fish formula and just love it. They are not super active and seem to be doing well. Beautiful coats, end of itching. They each get 1-1/2 cups twice a day and seem satisfied with that amount.


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## ebenjamin85 (Apr 13, 2008)

We just switched our dog from the same food (BB Chicken and Rice for Large Breeds) to Blue Buffalo Wilderness... which is grain free. They lowered the protein content on their new foods and have added a few different blends (Salmon and Duck) to thier Wilderness line. She hardly needed any transitional phase and loves her new food even more than her old food.


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## MyCodyBoy (Sep 27, 2008)

My cats have also lost a lot of weight by switching foods. We give them Acana, which is Orijen's cheaper line of foods.
A higher protein diet usualy means that your dog will require less amount of food.
Read the label for what a 70lbs dog should eat and I would actualy give less then what is reccomended. 
The food is also high in fat but the high protein will make them feel fuller and they wont require so much food.

As a side not make sure you do the switch very slow. Switching to a very rich high protein diet might not go well if you do it too fast.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Both our cat and our Golden pup are on Orijen. Our pup has been on the Orijen 6 Fish since the beginning and did very well on it. We since switched him over to the Adult Formula because the Fish smells very strongly, but he's not doing as well on the Adult Formula as he did on the Fish so we may go back (we think it's making him itch but that may not have anything to do with the food, not sure yet). One of the other April puppies didn't do as well on Orijen and I've heard others say it's too rich for their dogs. Hope it works out for you.

One of the reasons I support Orijen is that they try to be environmentally friendly. Their products are all local and their packaging is 100% recyclable.


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## bababa123 (Aug 2, 2010)

UPDATE: So I decided to go with Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon with a Stella & Chewy beef dinner patty for dinner. It's cheaper, has a lower protein % for my not-incredibly active golden, and is available at PetSmart/Petco as well as my local natural foods supplier (I'll get Stella and Chewy from them).

While switching over, I've noticed that she's been going to the bathroom twice a day instead of her usual once a day. We haven't increased the portions. Is this bad? Her stools are firm and fine.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Actually to me going only once a day seems odd, not bad, but none of the dogs I've had only went once. Usually 2-3 times, on a variety of foods. So I think it's nothing to worry about at all.


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