# innova questions



## roxy84 (Jun 23, 2007)

kimba, my 9 1/2 mo old puppy, has been on canidae her whole life. shes healthy and active (had coccidia last month-was treated for that). she weighed 45 lbs in october and only weighs about 53 lbs now, 3 1/2 months later. i know the rate of growth slows alot after 6 months, but i thought i might switch foods and see if anything changes. im very careful to keep her lean, but she eats about 4.5 cups of canidae ALS per day and is still lean. it just seems like she should be putting on more weight. i do not care one bit if she is on the small side, i just want her to be healthy. her stools look solid, but seem rather often (3-5 per day)

so, i have 2 questions really:

1) is it normal for growth to slow that much after 6 mos, and is it possible she'll put any significant size after the age of 9 months?

2) id like to try innova. is it too early for EVO as she may not be done growing and the protein content is very high. additionally, is it too early to just put her on innova lg breed adult or innova adult. (the only difference i see in those two is the innova adult has many more calories than the innova lg breed adult)

thanks for any input. ive researched this, but the amount of information on the web is overwhelming and often contradictory.


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## ldpeterson (Feb 13, 2005)

I don't know much about Innova as my dogs have never been able to tolerate it. Of course my dogs have never been able to tolerate anything but prescription food. 

I do know that she is not finished growing. Annabelle weighed around that at her age, and seems to have finally finished filling out at 3 1/2. She is 24" and 73 lbs. However, now that she's gotten bigger she has hip problems *sigh*, so I'm kinda wishing she was back at 55 lbs.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

I know a lot of people on here use Innova EVO for their dogs and are happy with it, but if you decide she's too young for that, you may not have the same success with regular Innova. 

I think it's wonderful as a food and we have our two smaller (non GSD) dogs on it and all our small breed fosters go on it (it's terrific for putting weight on a too skinny dog), but it seems like it's just too rich for my GSDs or any of the foster GSDs I've tried on it; so far every time I've tried they get diarrhea. On the other hand, my dogs can't tolerate Canidae either, so if yours can, then maybe she could tolerate Innova too. 

ETA: I just quickly and accidently plumped Grace up a little too much on Natural Balance but her stools look great, so that could be one to look into.


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## roxy84 (Jun 23, 2007)

im not sure i see much difference between the innova large breed puppy and large breed adult. the calorie content is right around 350. why is the innova adult about 200 calories more per cup than the large breed formulas?


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

Slow growth is good! It sounds like your pup is coming along nicely and this should not be helped along; it seems to be a steady rate. Can you post photos of her from the top and from the side? Sometimes a dog at a perfect lean weight may appear underweight to those not used to looking at a very lean, fit dog.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

I don't know. I've found either one to be too rich for GSDs. The EVO is what more people on here use, I think. 

As Diana says - slow growth is good, and your dog may have quite a lot of growth left in her. I got Grace at 11 months, at which point she looked very puny to me, but she continued to grow and is now what seems to me like a medium-large sized female at a lean 75lbs. Our boy Leo came in at 8 months and about 55lbs. He continued to grow until about age 2 and is now about a lean 70. He's smallish, but not small. 

They grow a surprising amount even after 9 months.


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## roxy84 (Jun 23, 2007)

o.k., here are some pics from today. now that i look at these pics, i dont think i want any more weight on her. is she as slim as she should be? keeping a gsd puppy lean is the first thing i learned when i got kimba and discovered this site





























i may try the innova just to see if she is not pooping so often. since the innova regular adult is higher in cals than the lg breed adult, wouldnt i feed less, thus making it a better value?

is there any good reason to go with the lg breed puppy at almost 10 mos.?


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## MikeB06 (Mar 12, 2006)

Roxy84,

She is a Beauty. What a happy face. Not to thin from what I can see. I have seen worse for sure. Looks perfectly normal for her age. I wouldn't expect her to fill out till 18 months to 24 months. 

I am a huge user and promoter of CANIDAE. Have used it not stop for 12 years now. I used Innova before trying Canidae. Great food but to much money for 33# bag. I personally would not change food. Just my opinion since it is working well for your dog. 

What I would do is use a digestive enzyme supplement. I know that will help in many ways. You will be able to cut her daily food intake back some over time using a digestive aide.

There are 2 very good products on the market. You only need to use ONE. I have used Prozyme since 1984 with my first GSD and every dog since then. I wouldn't feed a dog today with out it. 

Here is a quick story....
I once used to board a clients 2 yr. old spayed female GSD who was really thin and could not keep proper weight on even though she eat 5 to 6 cups of Canidae a day. Stools were sloppy cow pies. Coat was not right either. 

I cut her back to 4 cups a day her stools were very solid and we added Prozyme to each meal. Over the next few months she filled out and the owner cut her food back to 3 cups a day. From 6 to 3 now that is a real savings.

When I saw her the next time they boarded I didn't recognize the dog at all. Amazing results. She looked like a show dog.

This story has repeated it's self many times over my years using Prozyme. Especially on the rescues I took in. 

PROZYME - http://www.prozymeproducts.com

Another excellent product is:
Total-Zymes - http://www.petenzymes.com

This is just my personal experience over years of using Prozyme. I know it will work for you too.


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## dogowl (Feb 28, 2012)

Will probiotics help? Just bought Pet Probiotics | Probiotics for Dogs & Cats - Mercola.com and I'm wondering ig it'll help prevent similar situations.


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## caninecrazy (Jan 1, 2012)

Ellie is 4 months and 40lbs, geez Im going to end up with a huge dog! I tried the Innova and she did awfully on it. My shep mix also had issues with different foods. I agree with adding a probiotic, I have used Prozyme and it works well, right now I am using Gentle Digest by Ark Naturals and it also works well. I am feeding Ellie Fromms grain free line though, it is formulated for all breeds and life stages, even large breed, the calcium is low so if she is still growing you won't push it and both my girls do amazing on it, they have shiny coats, good weights and lean muscle tone. Once you find something that workd for your dog stick with it, you can always adjust amounts given to add/lose weight if needed.


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## heartily (Jul 27, 2012)

caninecrazy said:


> Ellie is 4 months and 40lbs, geez Im going to end up with a huge dog! I tried the Innova and she did awfully on it. My shep mix also had issues with different foods. I agree with adding a probiotic, I have used Prozyme and it works well, right now I am using Gentle Digest by Ark Naturals and it also works well. I am feeding Ellie Fromms grain free line though, it is formulated for all breeds and life stages, even large breed, the calcium is low so if she is still growing you won't push it and both my girls do amazing on it, they have shiny coats, good weights and lean muscle tone. Once you find something that workd for your dog stick with it, you can always adjust amounts given to add/lose weight if needed.


I just want to ask for clarification about probiotics for dogs and cats, is it really healthy? Is there any side effect?


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## jewels04 (Jul 20, 2012)

I have never had good luck with Innova. Loose, runny stools everytime(the dog not me...I never tried it). I would suggest a very slow transition see how your pup does. She looks wonderful as is though!


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