# I ran out of food, but want to change...or do I?



## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

I started Kira at 10 weeks on Purina Pro Plan. She's soing OK, with solid stools, and a healthy appetite.

However, the _internet_ tells me that I could be giving her "something better".

I'm OK with the Pro Plan, and it's readily available, but I also feel that I want the best for my dog.

I don't want this to be another "what do I feed my puppy" thread, but if I wanted the absolute best for Kira, what should I consider?

And since I'm out of food, should I buy another bag of Pro Plan, just to mix it with the new, and gradually wean onto something new?


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I would get another small bag of it and mix it in gradually to transition to whatever food you choose to try. If she's doing well on it you might not want to switch until she's a few months older- up to you. What's 'better' for one dog isn't for another


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Yes, buy a 5 or 8lb bag of Pro Plan, and gradually wean her over to the new food. 1/8 new, 7/8 old for a few days, then 1/4 new and 3/4 old. . . etc. 

I don't think it's a good idea to jump directly from Pro Plan to something very rich and grain-free like Orijen LBP. I'd go with a good All Life Stages or Large Breed Puppy Food that's readily available in your area. I have no idea what that would be where you live.


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## s14roller (Nov 18, 2010)

Anthony8858 said:


> I started Kira at 10 weeks on Purina Pro Plan. She's soing OK, with solid stools, and a healthy appetite.
> 
> However, the _internet_ tells me that I could be giving her "something better".
> 
> ...


Definitely get a small bag of the Proplan if you are thinking of transitioning. As for the food, there are better foods, but it all depends on what will get along with your dog. 

I had my dog on Wellness LBP then Innova and she wasn't consistent on either of them. After months of dealing with stool issues, the vet wanted to try the IAMs low-residue ("bad" ingredients if you look at the back) but it worked for her. We are in the process of switching her off to something a bit better (Proplan Sensitive skin and stomach) since it looks to be a bit better than the IAMS but not as rich as the other stuff we tried before. If she does well on the Proplan, I may try a fish formula with a better company but at this point, I just want her to do well on something.


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## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

OK, so this could be a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" thread.

I'm reading about how people don't want their dogs to have anything with grain or corn in it.

Never heard any of this before.


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## Girth (Jan 27, 2011)

Who cares what the internet says...If you are happy and the dog is happy and healthy with what you are feeding why do you feel the need to switch?


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## suzzyq01 (Feb 15, 2011)

Pro Plan has grains in it. It is not the best food. If you can buy it at the grocery store, Wal-Mart, Target, etc then it is not something that you want to feed your dog. Is she going to die from eating it, unlikely, is she going to poop more often and larger amount, yes. Is she going to shed more, yes. etc. etc.. I would suggest bumping up to a better food. Something available at Petco or Petsmart is just fine. Always look for the first 5-6 ingredients, those make up the MOST of the food. I have underlined them. A couple of comparably priced foods at both these stores are:

*Purina Pro Plan Puppy 34lbs bag 33.99*
*Ingredients:*
Chicken, brewers rice, poultry by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole grain wheat, beef tallow preserved with mixed tocopherols (source of vitamin E), whole grain corn, corn bran, natural flavors, egg product, hydrolyzed sunflower oil, dicalcium phosphate, salt, potassium chloride, choline chloride, l-lysine monohydrochloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), riboflavin supplement, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, biotin, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite. 
*Guaranteed Analysis:*
Crude protein (min.) 28%, crude fat (min.) 18%, crude fiber (max.) 3%, moisture (max.) 12%, linoleic acid (min.) 1.6%, calcium (Ca) (min.) 1.1%, phosphorus (P) (min.) 0.8%, vitamin A (min.) 15,000 iu/kg. 




*Wellness Super5Mix Puppy 30lbs -50.99*
*Ingredients:* Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Oatmeal, Ground Barley, Salmon Meal (a natural source of DHA - Docosahexaenoic Acid), Canola Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a natural source of Vitamin E), Ground Brown Rice, Tomato Pomace, Rice Bran, Tomatoes, Natural Chicken Flavor, Rye Flour, Carrots, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Blueberries, Ground Millet, Ground Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Minerals [Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], Vitamins [Beta-Carotene, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B-12 Supplement], Choline Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Taurine, Mixed Tocopherols (a natural preservative), Chicory Root Extract, Garlic, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation products. 
*Guaranteed Analysis:* Crude Protein (Not Less Than) 28.0%, Crude Fat (Not Less Than) 17.0%, Crude Fiber (Not More Than) 5.0%, Moisture (Not More Than) 11.0%, Calcium (Not Less Than) 1.3%, Phosphorus (Not Less Than) 1.0%, Vitamin E (Not Less Than) 150 IU/kg, Omega 6 Fatty Acids* (Not Less Than) 3.0%, Omega 3 Fatty Acids* (Not Less Than) 1.0%, Beta Carotene* (Not Less Than) 5 mg/kg, DHA* (Not Less Than) 0.13%, Lycopene* (Not Less Than) 0.25 mg/kg, Taurine* (Not Less Than) 0.09%, Total Micro-organisms (Not Less Than) 20,000,000 CFU/lb. 





Blue Buffalo Puppy 30lbs - 48.99
*Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe*
Ingredients: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Whole Ground Barley, Oatmeal, Chicken Fat (naturally preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Rye, Tomato Pomace (natural source of Lycopene), Menhaden Fish Meal (natural source of DHA-Docosahexaneoic Acid), Natural Chicken Flavor, Whole Potatoes, Peas, Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Dried Egg, Blueberries, Cranberries, Flaxseed (natural source of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids), Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Garlic, Alfalfa Meal, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Turmeric, Sunflower Oil (natural source of Omega 6 Fatty Acids), Fish Oil (natural source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Dried Chicory Root, Oil of Rosemary, Beta Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Niacin (Vitamin B3), d-Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Biotin (Vitamin B7), Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Choline Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Caramel, Potassium Chloride, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecium.
Guaranteed Analysis: CrudeProtein 27.0% min,Crude Fat 16.0% min, Crude Fiber 4.0% max, Moisture 10.0% max, Calcium	1.3% min, Phosphorus 1.0% min, DHA* 0.1% min, Omega 3 Fatty Acids* 0.4% min, Omega 6 Fatty Acids* 3.5% min

Keep in mind the higher quality food the less you feed. I use Blue Buffalo Widlerness. The 24lbs bag for two dogs 75lbs (4 cups a day) and 65lbs (2 cups a day) last me a little less than a month. So I budget about $50 a month for dog food. It's worth the little extra money for the extra perks like healthy skin and coat with less fur to clean up on my floor, smaller poops in my yard, no grass burns from acidic urine, and happy & healthy doggies!

$10-15 more a month is just a couple fewer iced coffees or meal out to eat with friends. Your pup is worth going the extra mile for his/her health. Just my 2 cents.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Anthony8858 said:


> OK, so this could be a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" thread.


If that's how you feel, then don't switch. Do your own research (in places other than this site) and decide for yourself. We share what we've learned and what our preferences are but they don't work for everyone. If you do switch, people are responded to that part and gave you good suggestions about how to do that.


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## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

suzzyq01 said:


> Pro Plan has grains in it. It is not the best food. If you can buy it at the grocery store, Wal-Mart, Target, etc then it is not something that you want to feed your dog. Is she going to die from eating it, unlikely, is she going to poop more often and larger amount, yes. Is she going to shed more, yes. etc. etc.. I would suggest bumping up to a better food. Something available at Petco or Petsmart is just fine. Always look for the first 5-6 ingredients, those make up the MOST of the food. I have underlined them. A couple of comparably priced foods at both these stores are:
> 
> *Purina Pro Plan Puppy 34lbs bag 33.99*
> *Ingredients:*
> ...


 
Thank you for the very informative response.


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

Definitely transition slowly. GSDs have notoriously weird/sensitive digestive tracks.

I'm transitioning from Innova Red Meat to Orijin Red and am not sure if it's too rich and need to transition more slowly. Zoey (the little weasel terrier) is a garbage gut. No problem I could probably switch without transitioning her....Alice....hm, however she stole butter off the counter last night so that didn't help my experiment. (she's a Butterton)

I think the website is Dogfood Advisor/Dog food Ratings. Search that and please for the love of everything that's holy do not feed Purina Beneful.

*Cause friends don't let friends feed Beneful*


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## s14roller (Nov 18, 2010)

Anthony - if I were you, I would get another small bag, and decide if there's a food you'd like to transition to. You can do a search on here for what works for people. I'm a big fan of Wellness if your dog can handle it. 

After you find a food you'd like to try out, slowly transition and see how your dog does. It's not a bad thing to try and get the dog onto a better food. That's also the end goal for me assuming it can get along with my dog's stomach. 

Like I said, I started off with Wellness and Innova, both considered good foods. My dog just couldn't handle them so she went onto the IAMS formula (which I'd argue is pretty bottom barrel, or close to it). She did well on it so I'm moving her up to something a bit better (Pro-plan SS). So far so good but I'm still in transition and it's my 2nd week. If she does well on this, I may be brave and assume she just didn't do well on chicken, and stick with a fish formula but go with a higher quality. If it fails, at least I know I can go back down and find something that agrees with her. 

For 90% of the ppl who don't browse forums and look up dog food ratings, I'm quite sure their dogs do just fine...so go with whatever you want to.


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## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

The only time I've EVER noticed a difference in my dogs poop is when my neighbors gave me 50lb of Pedigree and I was too Jewish to throw it away. Yeah, they pooped a little more but it wasn't the worst thing in the world. No explosive diarrhea or anything, just bigger poops. Still twice a day as on any other food. I wouldn't buy it for my dogs, but feeding some that was free and then switching back to their regular food wasn't going to kill them. Now when I fed Iams, Purina ONE and Purina Beyond, I NEVER saw ANY difference in that or foods that are grain free/more expensive. I feed Sportmix to Eevee and fed it to Chance when he was alive. Again, no difference in the poop on that or the poop on other "higher quality" brands. I never had to feed more either. (If anything, I fed LESS than some of the other foods such as Natural Balance and Taste of the Wild which are potato filled and ridiculously low calorie)

I feel, if it aint broke, don't fix it. Plenty of dogs live long, happy and HEALTHY lives eating things like Pro Plan.

Now if you were feeding something like Ol' Roy or Kibbles N' Bits then we might have to break out some pitch forks and riot. 

I do highly recommend people supplement with fresh foods though (ie. raw meat and raw meaty bones) regardless of the food they feed. I don't feel ANY kibble, be it Pedigree or Orijen, is ideal as the only source of nutrition. Like us, our pets need fresh foods.


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## suzzyq01 (Feb 15, 2011)

You don't have to go with the greatest food out there that cost an arm and a leg but I would look at the first 5 ingredients and decide from there. Dog foods have come a long way, even the commercial ones. 

You want to avoid a couple of key grains:

*Corn* - Dogs like humans do not use any nutirents in corn. It comes out the same way it goes in. It is there to help bulk up the food. Brands that have corn meal in the top 5 ingredients are just about all corn. 3/4 corn to 1/4 meat/other stuff. If you start reading the ingredients list on dog foods you will notice that the 40lbs+ bags mostly have corn in the top 5 ingredients. You think your getting more food for you dollar, but in reality your not, it's just corn. Cheap and useless corn. Don't believe me, eat some corn tonight and share it with your fido friend then take a peak in the toilet and on the ground after a poo tomorrow, sure enough there will be whole kernels of corn. 

*Brewers Rice* - This is the lowest grade of rice out there. It's not consumable by humans and is cheap cheap cheap! This is another useless carb that is a filler in dog food. If you are going to buy a food that has rice in it you want it to be brown rice at the least, everything else isn't doing much but taking up space.

*Whole Grain Wheat* - Like humans dogs are allergic to wheat. In humans it's called a gluten allergy (Celiac Disease). In dogs it can cause dry and itchy skin, hair loss, stomach and bowl issues, etc. It is best to avoid foods that use wheat as a main ingredient not only for the simple fact that your dog could have a wheat allergy but because it is another useless filler that bulks up the dog food and make it stretch father. Barley is also in the wheat family so if you suspect your dog may have an allergy to wheat you will want to avoid foods with barley as well.

Grains are not the only dog food enemy, there protien source is pretty important also. Maybe to most important. So knowing what key words to avoid is important also. 
*
by-product meal *- By product meal is basically any part of the major protien source in the food. So for instance if you see Chicken by-product meal listed in the food the by-product meal includes any part of the chicken including feather, feet, beaks, bones, organs, etc. It's basically the whole entire chicken ground up and rendered down. In BARF and Prey Model diets this is ideal (maybe minus the feathers) but in a raw form there is massive amounts of nutrients, in the rendered form there is practically nothing. It is best to avoid this at all costs.



Take this information and make your own opinions and decisions about what foods to feed your pup. Just think of it like this, when you read that ingredients list on the back of the food, would you eat this food? 

*Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy*
Chicken, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, whole grain corn, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), whole grain wheat, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), pea fiber, fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), dried egg product, fish oil, natural flavor, salt, potassium chloride, calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, potassium citrate, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried colostrum, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, garlic oil, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite. 
I-4457

*Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy *
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Potato Starch, Peas, Flaxseed (source of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids), Natural Chicken Flavor, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid), Dried Egg, Tomato Pomace (source of Lycopene), Potatoes, Fish Oil (source of DHA-Docosahexaenoic Acid), Alfalfa Meal, Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Blueberries, Cranberries, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Dried Kelp, Taurine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Turmeric, Oil of Rosemary, Beta Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Niacin (Vitamin B3), d-Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Biotin (Vitamin B7), Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Choline Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Salt, Caramel, Potassium Chloride, Dried Yeast (source of Saccharomyces cerevisiae), Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Dried Bacillus subtilis fermentation product, Dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product.



Food for thought.


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## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

I wouldn't eat either because I'm a vegetarian. 

Though being serious, Wilderness isn't appropriate for LBP's. So that isn't even comparable. The dog is going to be much better off on Pro Plan with appropriate calc/phos levels than Wilderness and end up with Pano.

Don't get me wrong, I like Wilderness as a food for an adult if someones willing to dish that kind of money. But I do find BB's regular lines to be a rip off. You're paying for grains, food colorings and a name. The Wellness you pointed out is a LITTLE better than BB's regular lines but still not that great. Their CORE lines are ok (though still got quite a bit of potato in them) but again, it's not ok for LBP's. I would however, recommend Wellness Simple Solutions Lamb or Salmon formulas. 

Most grain free brands, you're paying for a bag of potatoes. Why are potatoes better than corn or rice?

Taste of the Wild, 4Health, Diamond/Diamond Naturals, Chicken Soup For The Dog, Canidae, Premium Edge, Professionals, and a few others are all made by Diamond who has a long record of inconsistency in their ingredients and recalls. Which is why I don't get why people put down Natura products now that P&G has bought them out but still continue to recommend Diamond foods. I personally LOVE California Natural and EVO. California Natural makes great foods for sensitive stomachs and allergy dogs that are at a very reasonable price. EVO is a little more expensive and NOT for sensitive dogs but dogs who can handle it, it makes for a great GF food to keep weight on active dogs.

I'd rather feed my dog Sportmix that is EU certified, has non-gmo corn (though their Lamb & Rice formula is corn/wheat/soy free and surprise! $25 for 50lb...Can't beat that!!!) and NEVER been recalled than something that is grain free, packed full of potatoes and I always have to be on my toes that it could be recalled YET AGAIN.


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