# Just started feeding Pro-Plan



## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

Zane was on CN's Puppy Lamb and Rice formula for almost 2 bags and he was doing great on it!! Unfortunately after the latest CN recall last week I decided to switch to another food. I had originally ordered a bag of Dr. Tim's Pursuit from Chewy's but FedEx lost the package and since it was the weekend I wouldn't have been able to get another bag from Chewy until this week. Since I could get Pro-Plan local I decided to try their Sport 28/18 formula. Since switching to Pro-Plan Zane's stools have been firm and he seems to like the food but then again he likes any food. Two things I've noticed though since switching that I'm not too happy about. 

He's been drinking more water now compared to when he was on CN and I don't know how to really describe it, he's not depressed or mopping around but he seems to have lost some of his pep? Even this evening at puppy social he just seemed like he lost some juice. On a scale of 1-10, he's always been a 11-12, but now he's like a 8-9. It's like his batteries aren't fully charged. 

My 8 year old nephew came down from Virginia last Thursday (I switched to Pro-Plan 2 days later) to stay with us for the Summer. My daughter, nephew and Zane have been inseparable since he's been here. They're all either in the pool, outback playing or inside playing Wii or Xbox. My wife and I call them the 3 Musketeers.







I've attributed both to Zane getting more exercise and getting tired out by both of them but my daughter and I do the same activities with Zane so it has me a little concerned. PP has more fat than CN so I would think that he should at least have the same energy level but not less? 

He's been eating around the same amount of calories, he's eating fine, his stools are fine (poops 2-3 times a day), he's not sneezing or coughing but he just doesn't seem like he's 100% himself. Someone on another forum mentioned the heat but Zane was on CN the first 3 weeks of June. This just started since switching to PP and he hasn't even been on it a week yet?

Have others that have switched to Pro-Plan noticed their dogs drinking more water and or acting less peppy?


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## dborgers (Dec 7, 2011)

Orlando heat at end of June + lots of outdoor play = thirsty and tired Zane?


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

dborgers said:


> Orlando heat at end of June + lots of outdoor play = thirsty and tired Zane?


It's been in the high-80s / low-90s pretty much all of June so far. He was fine the first 3 weeks of June. I'm going to keep Zane inside this weekend and see if he acts any differently.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Bear has been on Pro Plan 30/20 for ~2
months and we haven't had any of those problems. Bear drinks a lot of water, but he always has (even with little outside time). 

Could you be reading too much into it?


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

Brave said:


> Bear has been on Pro Plan 30/20 for ~2
> months and we haven't had any of those problems. Bear drinks a lot of water, but he always has (even with little outside time).
> 
> Could you be reading too much into it?
> ...


I'm the only one that gives him water during the day and I use the same cup to fill up his water bowl so I know without a doubt that he's drinking more water. 

I'm sure about his pep too. I've had this little guy since he was 8 weeks old, he turned 6 1/2 months old today.  When I'm home we're joined at the hip so I know if something is off. It's not that big of a deal where I think something is wrong health wise but his energy level has definitely decreased since I stopped feeding him CN last week.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

Just brainstorming but is there any truth that a darker colored kibble contains more meat than a lighter colored kibble?


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## Bumpers (Jun 21, 2013)

Dogs really quiet down as it gets warmer. They even sleep differently and prefer to stretch out rather than curl up to stay cooler. Your dog has a heavy undercoat too.

Doubtful his energy has changed due to diet.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

Bumpers said:


> Doubtful his energy has changed due to diet.


I don't think so. I've eaten food before and afterwards felt _blah _so I don't doubt a food can give a dog less energy too and make them feel _blah_. If this had been happening for sometime now I would chalk it up to something else BUT this all started happening when he stopped eating CN and started eating PP. Nothing else has changed in his routine other than my nephew being here. 

And it's not due to the heat because he was eating CN and doing the same activities the first 3 weeks of June, which was just as hot as it is now too. Even when he's not outside he still acts less peppy in the house too.

I'll give it until next week to see if he just needs an adjustment period but if I don't notice a change I'm taking Zane off of this food. I know my dog and I know when he's not at the top of his game and since being on this food he hasn't been at the top of his game. :no:


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## Bumpers (Jun 21, 2013)

RichsRetriever said:


> I don't think so. I've eaten food before and afterwards felt _blah _so I don't doubt a food can give a dog less energy too and make them feel _blah_. If this had been happening for sometime now I would chalk it up to something else BUT this all started happening when he stopped eating CN and started eating PP. Nothing else has changed in his routine other than my nephew being here.
> 
> And it's not due to the heat because he was eating CN and doing the same activities the first 3 weeks of June, which was just as hot as it is now too. Even when he's not outside he still acts less peppy in the house too.
> 
> I'll give it until next week to see if he just needs an adjustment period but if I don't notice a change I'm taking Zane off of this food. I know my dog and I know when he's not at the top of his game and since being on this food he hasn't been at the top of his game. :no:


How many foods has Zane been on in the past few months and how long did you feed them? List them.

If Zane is eating, has normal stools and no gas. He is doing just fine. 

He is maturing and you will see his behavior will change.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

Bumpers said:


> How many foods has Zane been on in the past few months and how long did you feed them? List them.


Zane first came home on TOTW. I fed him a 15lb. bag. He did ok. He had firm stools but had large stool volumes. I did more research and didn't want to feed a Diamond made food.

I switched him to Earthborn Meadow Feast. He did ok, stools were firm but within 2 weeks of feeding it his coat got very dry and hard to the touch and he developed eye boogers which he never had before.

I switched him to Dr. Tim's Kinesis. I fed that almost a month. His coat improved and was normal, his eye boogers went away and his stools were firm. Zane started to look a little thin and unfortunately every time I tried to increase his food to 1c - 3x a day Zane would get very soft stools. I dropped it back to 3/4c - 3x a day and they would firm right back up. Dr. Tim agreed with me and said something in that formula doesn't agree with Zane. 

I switched him to CN. He almost went though 2-15lb. bags. Everything was great and I finally found a food that Zane thrived on! His stools were firm and I was able to feed him 1 1/4c - 3x a day (2006cal. per day) without any problems. He put on some weight and he started gaining a steady 2lbs. per week. Even our trainer commented on how good he was looking. His eyes were nice and bright, no eye boogers, ears were clean, coat was nice, energy level was great and his overall body condition was the best it had ever been. Then I got the dreaded recall notice and decided to take him off of it.

Now he's eating Pro-Plan. His stools are firm but his energy level is down and he's drinking more water. 




Bumpers said:


> If Zane is eating, has normal stools and no gas. He is doing just fine.


He's drinking more water and his energy level is down I wouldn't call that doing fine. Just because a dog is eating, has normal stools and no gas doesn't not mean they're doing fine, there's a lot more to a food than just stools and gas. You have eyes, ears, coat, energy level etc. to think about as well. 




Bumpers said:


> He is maturing and you will see his behavior will change.


You're right Zane is maturing but this started after I switched to PP. As long as no other variables have changed an increase in water intake and a lower energy is not normal and it's telling me it's the food. Since PP (18%) has more fat than CN (16%) at the very least his energy level should've remained the same not decreased.

Not all food works for every dog. Maybe PP just doesn't work for Zane.


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## Bumpers (Jun 21, 2013)

When you said Zane looked thin on Dr. Tim's did you weigh him? Did he actually lose weight?

Sounds like he was getting enough food when his stools were firm.

Sounds like he was doing well on that food.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

Bumpers said:


> When you said Zane looked thin on Dr. Tim's did you weigh him? Did he actually lose weight?
> 
> Sounds like he was getting enough food when his stools were firm.
> 
> Sounds like he was doing well on that food.


I weight him every Friday and have kept an excel spreadsheet of his weight and feeding since I got him at 8 weeks.  

He didn't loose weight on any food but all of his ribs were showing a little when I was feeding Dr. Tim's so that's why I tried to increase his feeding to give him more calories. While on it he would either maintain his weight or he would gain 1-2lbs. per week but it was not a consistent weekly gain. Dr. Tim recommended I try Pursuit but because it was so similar to Kinesis I didn't want to risk it not working. So I tried CN since it was a limited ingredient kibble and at 535cal. per cup it was just want Zane needed.

The only time he consistently gained 2lbs. per week was when he was on CN eating 2006 cal. per day (1 1/4c - 3x a day) and that was also with him swimming daily. All of Zane's ribs are easily felt and you can faintly see his last 2 ribs, which I think is the perfect body condition.

Here's a picture of him when he was about 2 weeks into the CN:


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

My guess--guess, mind you--is that it's not the food. Or perhaps he just needs a bit more time to adjust to it. 

Re: water, mine always up their water intake at this time of year. Its really obvious. 

You might consider putting a cup of water onto his kibble and letting it soak in before feeding. It's a good bloat preventive measure if he's a heavy drinker.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

My dogs are drinking a lot more water these days too....it's hot out....I assume it's also hot where you live. Ours also are laying around more.....again, it's hot. I would give it some more time and see how he does. He is also reaching an age where he is going to start slowly maturing, behavior wise.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

OutWest said:


> My guess--guess, mind you--is that it's not the food. Or perhaps he just needs a bit more time to adjust to it.
> 
> Re: water, mine always up their water intake at this time of year. Its really obvious.
> 
> You might consider putting a cup of water onto his kibble and letting it soak in before feeding. It's a good bloat preventive measure if he's a heavy drinker.


I've always put water on his kibble. It's not drowning in water but I put enough (7 tablespoons) to where he has water to lap when he's eating the kibble.



goldenjackpuppy said:


> My dogs are drinking a lot more water these days too....it's hot out....I assume it's also hot where you live. Ours also are laying around more.....again, it's hot. I would give it some more time and see how he does. He is also reaching an age where he is going to start slowly maturing, behavior wise.


Yes it's hot but like I said it's been the same more of less the entire month of June.


I'm attaching a PDF with daily temps from June 1 - 29. The dates shaded gray are the weekends and the day shaded red was the day I started feeding PP. As you can see it was pretty much the same the entire month so his increased water intake is not due to the heat. He started drinking more water when I switched to PP.

I'm going to give it some more time. Every kibble and formula is different so I can see drinking more water while their body gets use to it but having a decreased energy level is not acceptable, especially when the new food is higher in fat.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

Zane has been on the 28/18 PP for a little over 2 months now. He's been through 2x-18lb. bags and is just finishing up a 34lb. bag. His energy level has returned and he's not drinking a lot of water like before. I think his energy level dropped due to my nephew. He never left Zane alone. He was always swimming with him or playing with him, he never let Zane just relax and lay down. About the water, I think it was due to switching kibble or maybe that one bag had more salt? Not sure but thankfully Zane is doing great on PP.

His coat is good, his eyes / ears are clean and his poops are great. After swimming so much through the summer his muscle tone is just fantastic! You can really see his chest, shoulder and rear leg muscles. It's getting harder to play with him w/ his pull toy because he has so much pulling strength. 

I'll report back in a few months.


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## dogloverforlife (Feb 17, 2013)

CrazyZane said:


> Zane has been on the 28/18 PP for a little over 2 months now. He's been through 2x-18lb. bags and is just finishing up a 34lb. bag. His energy level has returned and he's not drinking a lot of water like before. I think his energy level dropped due to my nephew. He never left Zane alone. He was always swimming with him or playing with him, he never let Zane just relax and lay down. About the water, I think it was due to switching kibble or maybe that one bag had more salt? Not sure but thankfully Zane is doing great on PP.
> 
> His coat is good, his eyes / ears are clean and his poops are great. After swimming so much through the summer his muscle tone is just fantastic! You can really see his chest, shoulder and rear leg muscles. It's getting harder to play with him w/ his pull toy because he has so much pulling strength.
> 
> I'll report back in a few months.


Glad to hear he is doing well on a food and you are happy with it. Would love to see new pics of the growing boy.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

oops, didn't read your update.


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## CrazyZane (Jan 28, 2013)

dogloverforlife said:


> Glad to hear he is doing well on a food and you are happy with it. Would love to see new pics of the growing boy.


Thanks. 

Here's some pics from this past Thursday.










He finally learned how to dive that day.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

He is a very handsome boy. I love the dive.


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## dogloverforlife (Feb 17, 2013)

He's getting so big! Very handsome dog. 

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