# Question about Orijen LBP



## Black Kali (Aug 31, 2013)

This will be a long post... Brick is 5.5 month old. Until last week he was eating Orijen LBP, 5 cups a day and was (still is) skinny. According to feeding guide he should eat 3-3.5 cups a day. I was overfeeding him because his ribs was visible. He is healthy (blood work ok, free of parasites) nice energy level, happy puppy. One thing is bothering me, his massive stool while eating Orijen  it's firm, not so smelly, but huge. He is eating 3x/day and poops 3x/day. Month ago he was eating RC GSD junior for a week (I really don't like RC but I ran out of Orijen for a week) I immediately noticed that his stool is tiny compared to Orijen and that I didn't expect considering RC ingredients. 
In the past week, he is eating Brit Care Junior Large Breed (food from the Czech Republic), he should eat 370gr but I give him 400gr (200gr 2x/day) + pound of meat (and starting to introduce some organs), 2 quail eggs, coconut oil, fish oil and about 2 cups of rice. Even with that much food his stool is half the size of what he had on Orijen. He is still very skinny, but I think he is looking a bit better.

I took this photos today, and measured him -> 24 inches tall and 56 pounds, his girth is 27.5cm





































this video is from 2 weeks ago, you can see how skinny he was






I started to worry about what was in the Orijen bags because (as I know) there is no direct importer for Serbia, we are getting it via Hungary. So my question for you who feed Orijen to your puppies, how did they grow? what was the color of their stool and how big it was? Was there any recall of Orijen LBP in the past year and how can I tell if it's really Orijen in a bag?


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

Your handsome Brick is looking so much better. I don't feed Orijen but I from your latest photos I suggest you continue with the Brite Care Junior Large Breed and the additions fo the meat, eggs, rice and other items.


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## Black Kali (Aug 31, 2013)

Thanks. 

I was feeding him Orijen because that is the best dry food I can buy in my country. It is very expensive for our living standards and he was eating 1.5 bags per month, which is roughly 180 USD, and he is skinny  I don't wont him to gain unnecessary weight but as you can see he was very skinny even though he ate almost 50% more than he should. 

I didn't have time to prepare proper meal for him and I wanted best dry food I can buy... Now I'm feeling guilty for feeding him that 

PS. just saw that I wrote "his girth is 27.5cm" I meant 27.5 inches


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

Ollie's not a puppy but I'm having similar issues, had to stop raw for a little bit because of my health issues... Finally found that he can't handle potatoes in kibble, all his issues cleared up when I put him on Orijen six fish and his stool is finally firm(that's one reason I switched to raw because his stool was always cow patty like on kibble) but they are massive! So so different from 100% raw diet. Maybe the Orijen is just too rich for him, either stick with what you're doing or can you possibly get Acana?


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## Black Kali (Aug 31, 2013)

Yes we have Acana, but isn't that lower quality food compared to Orijen? 

On the other hand, my problem is that I'm not 100% sure what is in those bags because my country is not direct importer  and another problem, that is very expensive food for our country and I can't find anyone to share experience about this food...

His stool was always firm on Orijen, but huge. I was under impression that he poops everything he eats, wasn't sure how he gained any weight at all  Now his stool is just a bit softer but tiny.


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

It's not lower quality just lower protein, some dogs can't handle the higher protein levels of Orijen... As to why he's so thin I'm no help there other than just a growing boy. If he had stool issues I'd say check for EPI, maybe test for it anyways just to be sure.


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## Black Kali (Aug 31, 2013)

He didn't (except for sheer volume) but I'll ask my vet anyway, thank you!


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

I would assume its because it without all the fillers like the other do foods. It may be better food to feed when they are older. Only heard some dogs may get loose stools.


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## KootenayMutt (Jun 4, 2015)

I would consider trying Acana or a different Orijen formula if you're worried about the quality of what you're currently feeding.

When not on raw, I've fed my dog Orijen and Acana. Interestingly, she does really well on 6 fish formula and the chicken based adult Orijen formula, but does not do as well on the regional red formula (the one with boar) -- with that one she has massive poops. It was to the point where the poop output looked to be the same amount as the kibble input...


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## Black Kali (Aug 31, 2013)

KootenayMutt said:


> ... the poop output looked to be the same amount as the kibble input...


exactly same thing here, I'm really not sure how he gained any weight  I'll try with Brit Care for now (I have 26 pounds of that food) and homemade mix. I've talked to my friend who fed Orijen and Acana to his dogs (****su and lhasa apso) and he had great experience. So maybe is to strong for Brick, like Carriesue said


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