Canidae dog food
Canidae dog food
Canidae dog food is considered to be a premium brand of dog food. Canidae comes in 6 different formulas that gives you a chance to mix it up. Canidae dog food is sold in 5lb,15lb, and 30lb bags. When switching to Canidae dog food it is suggested that you switch over gradually. Switching over to quickly can lead to digestive and stomach problems. A good plan is to mix Canidae dog food with your older dog food brand. Mix 80% old and 20% new and gradually increase the Canidae for a smooth transition.
Canidae Dog Food Review
Canidae Dog Food Formulas:
- Canidae All Life Stages dog food
- Canidae Grain Free All Life Stages dog food
- Canidae Grain Free Salmon Meal dog food
- Canidae Beef and Ocean Fish Meal dog food
- Canidae Lamb and Rice dog food
- Canidae Chicken and Rice dog food
- Canidae Platinum dog food
I just got a new dog (Roskoe – 11 Weeks old on 07/11/09) One of our old employee’s become a Canidae distributer and has talked me into switching over from Science Diet to Canidae All Stages. After reading some of the posts on here I am a little concerned, but I have a question. Since I am not switching the food, and I am basically starting him out on this mixture, am I taking a risk? I don’t think I am but I am looking for peoples opinions on this since I am a novice dog owner.
Brian,
Don’t believe me – that’s your right and I do respect that! Do your own research (ingrediants, health mags, Vet talks, etc.) and search the Internet for other opinions – that is the REALLY the RIGHT thing to do. My suggestion – Canidae changed their formula in All Stages (ALS) over a year ago – search for 2009 comments (more recent). My experience is recent in the last few months (2-3), but I’m just one. After my ‘recent’ experience I began to search the Internet this last weekend (using this criteria) for updated complaints and was shocked! The main complaints in 2008 were diarreha, skin conditions and vomitting. Dogfoodanalysis.comm, which I (and others) highly recommend, ammended their analysis for ALS due to the ‘significant’ number of complaints they were receiving – I have never seen such a comment on any food I’ve searched for on their site. Other boards I checked on were breed specific (Lab, Boxer, Pit Bulls), agency boards (ASPCA), general dog sites (dog channel), consummeraffairs.com (rated so-so for the degree of monitoring/control) and the list goes on. You’ll be shocked by reports of skin problems, liver and kidney failure, major medical problems (e.g paralysis/seizures), and death. Then make your own ‘educated’ determination. Personally, I (2008) read the complaints and immediately switched – then I re-thought my decision in 2009 (I couldn’t believe such a fabulous company and food that I trusted for so many years could go as bad as what was being reported) and switched back to ALS. Within months (2-3) I learned it was true, and am paying the price now – or my dogs are.
Here’s another question to ask yourself…Evangers (a canned food I feed and a company I trust) recently had the FDA pull their ‘emergency’ permit (6/12/09) http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm166265.htm . A big OH NO here we go again! But Evangers didn’t stick their head in the ground like Canidae has – the CEO immediately started TV and radio interviews, and explained their issues to Internet news sites (efoodalert.com) to get the word out that it was a ‘wording’ issue (http://efoodalert.blogspot.com/2009/06/evangers-filling-in-blanks.html). The problem was resolved with the FDA 6/25/09). Two weeks – issue resolved, customers informed, entire story posted to Evangers website and the Internet, and faith in the company not shaken in their customers. Canidae has done the exact opposite with complaints dating back to 2008 – no interviews concerning the problems, website only states a transition period is needed for the new formual, and no response concerning everything that is being reported by their long-time customers (like me) on the Internet except a white-wash – aka no dog formula can be made that is acceptable for all dogs. This is a true statement, but I could feed Purina and not have the affects that I have experienced on Canidae’s ‘new’ formula – seriously!
Like my previous post – I have never had an entire pack of non-picky eaters become sick at the same time with the same drastic symptoms as I have had with the switch back to Canidae ALS. I have never had a food drive me to the point of performing complete blood panels on all my dogs to determine if there were other medical issues resulting in their symptoms.
There is something VERY wrong with the ‘new’ ALS, and I don’t know what it is since the my dogs blood work came in OK, and I don’t want to spend the money to send their food to a lab for analysis (which they should be monitoring). All I can tell you is in the 3 days that I have switched my pack to TOTW the vomitting and diarreha has stopped, their energy level is way up (which I didn’t even realize was also impacted), and my pack is beginning to recover in dramatic ways. I thank my luck stars that my ‘kids’ are beginning to bounce back after my bad decision.
All I can offer is do your own reseach, and make the best decision you can for both you and your pet(s) – no one can ask for more. Personally I believe Canidae’s business model has changed for profit vs quality, and I will not trust them with my dogs again. Their other products (not ALS, but maybe their grain-free) may be the high quality they use to provide, but I don’t know and am not willing to tempt fate after my recent experience – I just urge you not to feed ALS.
Best of luck in whatever you decide – maybe check out some of the breed specifc boards and ask what they recommend?! There really are some great foods out there – there are ‘dog savy’ boards that are willing to help you select a food that will meet your budget or you might decide to be adventureous and become a ‘raw’ feeder. I just have to many dogs and not enough time to go ‘raw’ at this time (smile).
I am new to Canidae and my dogs have been on Canidae ALS for about six months.
I am really scared after reading the post. I am a collie breeder and take pride in my dogs health and coats as I can tell how much everyone has posted is dedicated to the well-being of their dogs. My collies are scratching as their coats are dry and dull, I am seeing hair loss and my boy of six years of age was taken to the vet this past Saturday. Stopped eating and lathargic. Elevated thyroid and liver counts.
That was a senior panel and Monday afternoon 7-13-09 I took him into the vet for a more evasive blood panel work. My boys are anywhere from 70 to 75 pounds.
My boy weighed 61 pounds. I started crying in the vet office. I also give healthy extra’s. Cottage cheese,yogurt, vegetables, chicken, pasta, etc.
Thank you all for sharing information and I am going to look up the info on WELLNESS dog food. Here I thought I was doing a wonderful thing for my dogs and all I did was make them uncomfortable. I am on such a guilt trip it brings tears to my eyes. Hugs to all!
Moose,
I also feed the extras – cottage cheese, eggs, yogurt, etc., plus supplements – Missing Link, vitamins, etc. I hope everything works out for your boy – I definitely know what you are going through, and how costly it is. If you decide to switch foods PLEASE post again! I am really curious if you experience the rapid change in your dogs that I did as soon as I stopped Canidae ALS.
As for my dogs they continue to improve daily! My big boy has already started to put some weight back on, and has started running the fenceline again – something he (and my other dogs) hasn’t done in months – which I again chalked off to the heat. After so many years of raising and owning so many dogs I feel like such an idiot – but I trusted Canidae. So I to am beating myself up daily for dismissing all the symptoms my dogs were experiencing and ‘chalking’ them off to weather, food reactions, etc. All I can say about myself is – DUH! – and thank my lucky stars for that ‘small’ emergency (a broken claw) which took me to the Vet for a reality check.
PLEASE post again with what is going on with your dogs and how they are doing! Right now you are going down a very similar path as myself. I have my fingers-crossed that your boy (and my dogs) bounces back with no long term medical issues.
I too was disappointed with the quick change in Canidae’s formula, but did find a different story with the support we received from the Canidae dealer. It did take some patience on our part, but Canidae was there to give our customers support, their money back, helped with vet bills and even paid for carpet cleaning. We as Canidae sellers and feeding it in our boarding kennel and to our own 10 labs, 3 cats and 1 min-pin, were fortunate to not have any illnesses. We were also able to give all of our clients instructions to slowly wean their dogs & to contact us at the first sign of any problems. Communication is the key issue and if any dog suffered that would be inexcusable towards Canidae. The only issue that bothers me is the totally inacurrate info on the internet & especially consumeraffairs.com that lists out & out lies about quite a few different brands of very good dog food. The internet can be very good & very, very destructable to many. I do hope & pray that your situations have improved along with your pets and I would still recommend you contact Canidae for at least some reimbursment for their lack of communication.
I switched to canned Canidae last week. I have 2 dogs, Border/Australian Cattle dog mix and a Pit Bull. Both become seriously ill. The Pit was vomiting a lot. After giving them each 1/2 can of Chicken, Lamb & Fish on Tuesday, Pit started to vomit. I gave them 1/2 can each of the Chicken & Rice on Wednesday night. They both seemed lethargic and Pit was hiding in the closet where she goes when she isn’t feeling well. I didn’t put it together so I gave them 1/2 can each of the Chicken, Lamb and Fish on Thursday. Both were seriously ill, Pit vomiting for 3 solid hours in middle of night. Pit seemed a bit better in morning and then Border started vomiting mucus. Took them to vet. Vet said looks like poison and they need critical care. I took them to ER, Border died in car on way there. Pit vomiting still. Pit seems to be recovering slowly. My beloved and precious Border is dead. Company denies there have ever been any complaints. They offered me 4 free cans.
We switched to Canidae when we got our rescue Greyhound Sherry. Sherry was 2 when we got her. After a couple of months she developed a limp, we took her to the vet and got the news of bone cancer. She would have good weeks and bad days.
As it progressed we switched to Canidae Salmon for better proteins. we also were giving her vitamin supplement ($180/mo). Then she started having diarrhea and vomiting. We assumed that we lost the battle with cancer and had her put down in June of 09. after reading all the complaints against Canidae I feel like I made a hasty decision.
I WON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE TWICE.
Sorry Sherry
I just got back from the vet after bringing them a stool sample from my 1 year old female Doberman pinscher. She has had loose stools ever since i switched to canidae about a week ago and a few days ago developed diarrhea and was excreting mucus in her stool. I was terrified. The vet ran a panel and absolutely nothing was wrong with her stool. she has had no other changes in personality or energy level, only that she has to use the restroom every 20 minutes for the past few days. I want to feed her a good and healthy food, ie no fillers and crap! Apparently this was a bad choice? I have been feeding her the chicken and rice formula. I will now be feeding her plain rice and boiled chicken until the diarrhea stops.
Can anyone suggest a good food to begin her on once she has recovered?
I am glad I caught this before it worsened and really began to effect her health.
Ok, now you all have my nervous. I just this week starting transitioning my dogs to canidae alsf. They are definitely gobbling it down quicker than usual, which had me thinking, “ok they like this better than natural balance, potato and duck. I just began looking at these reviews, which I should have done prior to feeding. Now I am unsure what to do. I dont often notice if my dogs have runny stools etc, as I am surrounded by woods and being the good boys and girls they are..they do their business out of the yard. Looks like I better begin doing a more research and following them into the woods!
HGE: Hemmorrhagic Gastroenteritis
Symptoms: Bloody Stool, Vommitting, Mucus in stool, Lethargy, tired, weak, elevated pulse, labored breathing, Increased Thirst, Grass Eating. “HGE can be a huge malodourous mess”
Leads to: Hypotension (low blood pressure), shock, kidney failure.
No known cause, no known preventions, not contagious but dogs of the SAME household are known to develope it at the same time. Some parts of the country have had severe ‘outbreaks’ as of recent. Effects all breeds, all ages, both sex.
In January 2009, the L.A. County Veterinary Public Health department reported a much higher than normal incidence of HGE. Full investigations were done and there was no evidence that any food contamination played a role, because dogs across the board ate a variety of brands.
Some veterinarians blame the food: Raw food, home prepared meals, and human food shome more prevalance.
Common factor: Stress and/or hyperactivity.
Risk: If your pet has suffered once, it’s chances of a relapse are much higher.
Foods high in grains are said to help with ailing pets because grains are alkalizing, while meat based diets are acidifying.
Why am I explaing all of this? It is simple. There are 1.9 million dogs in the United States along with that huge population comes the risks of disease. Blaming pet food companies for every loose stool, pile of bile or death even is just plain ignorant. Believing everything you read on the internet is no different (consumeraffairs.com is a FOR PROFIT site, reader beware)
I must speak up again..
My experience with Canidae was posted on this site March 14, click on “older comments.” Those who chose to post here instead of Consumer Affairs have nothing to lose or gain, are not interested in sensationalizing, but are having a quiet discussion on this forum – over in the corner, so to speak.
As you see in my post, diarrhea was not an issue, severe itching and anal glands were, a theme lived over & over by Canidae users, previously happy before the formula change.
I read an interesting opinion on the internet that sounds plausible.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006051800543
It essentially says, if your dog is not allergic to anything, Canidae may be right for you, but problem is, most dogs are allergic to something and Canidae will cause those dogs to scratch & scrath & scratch…
If you are still using Canidae & are happy with it, more power to you.
If you had problems, or are concerned you might, we need some power too!
I, who have lived through this, thank this forum for the chance to tell my story & to confirm by reading the story of others that this horrible experience with Canidae food is not in my head. (of course it’s not! what do you think? we’re all lying here?!)
My dog did have a long 6 month bout with mucousy diarrhea after a reaction to a Lepto shot. (not related at all to Canidae food – this was long before the formula change) A round of Metronidazole helped for only two weeks. It took a while for me to figure that out that she could not tolerate anything but kibble (the old Canidae) & bicuits. Even a *speck* of “people food,” (such as a pea sized bit of chicken & 4 grains of rice), would send her into mucousy diarrhea the next day. But I was able to repair her immune system immbalance by putting her on a round of Missing Link, so that she could eat table scraps again.
After Canidae’s formula change the issue was not diarrhea, but around the clock, tortuous itching. I put her on another round of Missing Link, but this time it did not help.
After reading on the internet about the problems honest, concerned, loving dog people were having with the new Canidae, I changed foods. (to Wellness Super5Mix) That DID help – within 2 or 3 days! I saw nothing but improvement & have experienced good results since.
cinder
hello,
We rescued Sophia a weimeraner when she was 6 month old. We did weeks of research on food and ended up with Canidae. We changed from ALS to grain free about 5 months ago(she was on AlS for 6 months) and we have seen a huge improvement. No loose stools, lots of energy, skin is near perfect, and Vet visit non existent. I am concerned however about the lack of reponse from Canidae–not good.
Is anyone else using the grain free? There are two variety–meat and just fish. We opted for the meat. Lastly so for those of you that have left Canidea where have you gone? I have heard that Van Patten is very good???
I too had decided to switch to Canidea for my two dogs when the many recalls came about. There coats were beautiful they were doing great. Until….I bougth a new bag of this food and saw two different colors in it. I called the company they said they changed the recipe and were have the food that is why I see the two colors of food in the bag and that the food was now being processed at the Diamond factory (hint I should have taken)..they said go and exchange it if you want to and get a different bag..and open it first before leaving the store. Well here we go month after month my dogs slowly got WORSE on the new recipe Canidea switched to. There coats weren’t shiny any more, they started to itch on their paws, they had the very lose stools.. so I switched them to chicken and rice they got better, then a little at a time back on to the Canidea food again. This went on a few times…stupid me and then their noses started to itch and get red and raw and of course the loose stools would return, paws would itch and then one got hot spots under her tail and their voices changed to a hoarse raspy sound. Now they are back on their regular dog food they have eaten since they were puppies and they are better and noses are getting black again, but their bark is still raspy. I don’t know what in the world Canidea did by using the diamond factory to produce their food. But, I would never again tell anyone to use their food Too bad they seemed to have a lot going for them at one time. If anyone has had the raspy bark thing happened please let me know what to do about it. Thanks and hope some of your dogs do better. By the way the only thing I think helped my dogs somewhat was that they never got the full amount of Canidea everyday since I also cook food for them in the evenings.
I have been feeding my own dog Canidae lamb and rice for a few months now and my dog seems to be doing very good. She has a sensitive stomach so I haven’t had the best luck with some of the other top foods. My question is… is anyone having these problems with any of the other formulas?(ex. lamb/rice, chicken/rice, etc…) Or is this just a All Life Stages problem? I have done a fair amount of research on dog foods and I decided on Canidae not necessarily because it is the best food you can possibly get, but because it is of a fairly high quality and has a much lower price than some of the other premium foods. I have a 5 1/2 yr. old GSD/Rottie mix so I don’t really want too high of protein because of her age. I’m open to any suggestions/advice or corrections to any of my pre-conceved perceptions of what I should be feeding my dog. Any feedback is very appreciated. Thanks
Scott
I almost lost my dog to the bad Canidae ALS. So I personally say run for your life (or your dog’s life) from that company. If you decide to continue feeding your dog the Canidae lamb and rice, please, please be very aware of any new problems that may arise with your dog. Such as a change in her coat (shine and thickness), excessive shedding, significant loss of energy, unexplained weight loss, licking or chewing paws, gas, seizures, vomiting or diarrhea. If you see any of these occur, please switch to any other food and see if the problem goes away immediately. The “HGE” that Wendy explains above does not immediately go away when you switch to a different food. The Consumer Affairs web site stories explain that once the dog’s diet was changed from Canidae to anything else, the dogs all showed a huge improvement within a day or two. I will never trust another commercial pet food company with my pet’s life and now prepare a home-made diet of cooked meat, fish and vegetables, along with multi-vitamins, fish oils, digestive enzymes, and probiotics. If cooking for your dog seems overwhelming, you might contact the GSD or Rottie people for their suggestions on what foods work best for those two breeds. Good luck Scott!
John,
After my Canidae ‘new formula’ ALS disaster (posted a few months ago on this thread) – major Vet bills, major weight loss, explosive diarreha, struggling to walk into the yard just to go in to convulsive vommitting, etc. I ran for the hills away from Canidae (throwing unopened bags into the trash) to Taste of the Wild Pacific. It took several weeks for my dogs to recover (weight gain, energy pick-up, etc), but my dogs (all five of them) were in pretty bad shape as a result of Canidae. They are all thriving now, and finally back to normal. I have my worries about TOTW because it is manufactured by Diamond, but so far so good – no problems. BTW, TOWT is grain-free.
Hi John,
This is my opinion, and seems common sensible to me.
Dick Van Patton Natural Balance Ultra and Innova are very rich, high calorie foods (as is Canidae), good for growing out puppies and for young active dogs, or dogs who don’t like to eat much. My mom put her Collie puppy on Natural Balance Ultra.
As a dog gets a little older (about 3 1/2), they have a natural energy drop, and may start putting on weight. This would be a good time to cut rations.
If they want to eat the same volume to feel full, or start getting food aggressive, (guarding resources because they are still hungry), switch to a mid calorie food, such as Wellness, etc, for mid age.
As a dog gets older still, into senior age, they will have another naturally occurring energy drop and, in order to keep them a healthy lean weight, it is time to switch foods again to a low calorie food such as Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul, or Solid Gold’s Hund-N-Flocken.
For dogs of any age who like to eat & eat & eat, look for a low calorie food.
The pet food industry sells different formulas for different stages, puppy through senior – largely a gimmick to keep customers brand loyal through the years. The senior (and “diet”) foods, to me, lack enough protein to support healthy muscle and coat, and lack enough fat to lubricate eyes and arthritic joints. And we have all learned that the amount of glucosimine/chondroitin in “senior” formulas is nowhere near enough supplement, (the dog would have to eat 10 cups!), so giving a separate supplement is the way to go.
Changing dog food brands according to k/cal per cup as your dog goes through its life stages also gives the advantage of switching foods now & then, to give a more complete nutrition, as the people who like to rotate foods now and then do.
ps Due to lower protein needs of my breed (Old English Sheepdog) I do not feed grain free, though some highly allergic OES have had to use that diet.
Wow. My 5 yr old Newf has been on Candidae for a couple yrs now. But more than a year back she developed an odd crusty rash on her back, and the hair fell out. She became SO itchy all the time. The vet said it was NOT a hotspot, blamed it on the groomer (it wasn’t and she hasnt been back since anyway) and put her on an antibiotic, which did nothing. The rash has spread on her back (and then the hair falls out), but the vet repeatedly said it wasn’t a hot spot, wasn’t mange, thyroid is fine, and put her back on antibiotics (3 times now in a yr) and gave me medicated (anti-itch) shampoo. Nothing works and the vet is perplexed. Other Newfie owners are baffled too.
We are going to a pet dermatologist this week (ok, we’re all in the wrong business). On a whim I decided to research her food and whammo! I can’t believe the negative feedback on Candidae. This might be it!! She’s also lost 15 lbs since last May. I knew I cut back on snacks a bit, but I was shocked at the weight loss amount. (Newfie’s are huge and furry so it’s hard to tell).
The poor thing has man-fist size bald patches on her back, and I can almost peel the fur off in places (it just falls out all over). The itching is awful. Maybe it’s an allergy to the food? Thoughts anyone?
Thanks and regards
Holy Smokes Shu!
Sorry for the long delay. As this isn’t a regular list I think people check in sporadically.
Too bad you couldn’t put off going to the dermatologist for a couple weeks, (if that poses no danger to your dog), while you transition to another food because “more than a year back…” is exactly the right time frame of late Oct./early Nov. 2008 for your dog’s problem to be the Canidae formula change. Perhaps your dog didn’t react as quickly or as strongly as others due to less food sensitivities or stronger resistance..
I would change foods as soon as possible. Normally I’d be reluctant to stress a dog’s immune system by changing foods while being treated with meds from the dermatologist (meds may stress a dog’s immune system), but under the circumstances the food may be the very thing stressing the immune system in the first place. If this is happening to the dog on the outside can you imagine what may be happening on the inside, as outside symptoms often reflect something amiss inside.
Did you go to the dermatologist yet? Did you get a diagnosis? Meanwhile, it couldn’t hurt (and it could be the answer to your prayers) to immediately get some food suggestions from the Newfie people, do some fast research & transition your dog to a quality kibble – like now, quick as a bunny. I would also withhold any unnecessary, non prescribed supplements – to better determine if changing foods works.
If after only a few days on a new food you start wondering to yourself, “Is it my imagination or is this dog itching less?” you can (finally!) expect relief for your girl & expect improvement to continue. (also save some $ on vet bills..) If it IS the food, I hope you post again & tell your tale! If it isn’t the food I’d be interested to hear what happened anyway.
All best wishes & hoping for full & speedy recovery.
Hey guys. Try a brand from breeders choice called AvoDerm. My two dogs (mastiff and a mastiff pit mix) have beautiful coats and I can’t even believe how well it sits with them. Never had any stomach problems either! It comes in lamb, beef or chicken, puppy and lite at the pet store I work at but I do believe in other store there may be more flavors. It’s just a suggestion but it sounds to me canidae needs to shut down and start over. Wellness and Natures Variety are also two more top brands. Natures Variety also comes in frozen as well!! Good luck to all of you dealing with these issues.
Hi guys, I read all the negative comments and I was shocked.I have been feeding my 3 labs and 1 GSD and 1 spaniel Canidae ALS for the past 7 years my dogs were great they loved it more complements on their coat and energy. My experience goes back in 2008 when the formula change had taken place, I brought home a new bag of canidae als(New formula)and my dogs got gas and bloody diarrhea, as I usually feed canidae I did not doubt them 2 days went by and still diarrhea, so I got worried restless and searched on the internet and to my surprise there were so many posts just like my problem so I knew there was a formula change and I called up the retailer and confirmed it, I asked him why didn’t you inform me he said” its the same company and same brand what is the problem with that” and then I realized no one transitioned to the new formula, of course they didn’t know it was a new formula or they ignored it. Since canidae has helped my dogs for so many years I sat down called every pet store I could and found one store that had the old formula, I drove 180 miles to get this 3 bags of old formula and transitioned my dogs slowly in 3 weeks time and you know what my dogs still eats Canidae Als(new Formula) and they love it they look great healthy. I could have changed my dogs immediately to another dog food like most people and money was no matter for me, but When I chose canidae 7 years ago i was proud of my decision and now I still am. For those who changed to another brand what if the new food caused even more problems ? What canidae did was increase the meat content of ALS and add rice barn major changes, if you do a proper research you will find new and old ingredients list. Every good dog owner knows that sudden increase in meat content leads to diarrhea, what most people did is after seeing the posts and diarrhea switched to a less or equal meat content brand of the old formula. and Rice barn has very good nutritional value and few dogs might be allergic to it, That happens in every brand certain ingredients may not suit your dog. Search the internet and you will find similar posts for every brand. If all the canidae customers had problems that is if the food had problems there should me over 250000 post in the internet. Most people did not even notice a change, and those who did not have problems did not post the fact that there is no problem with the food.
For those who had problems, Canidae should have made even more efforts to inform its customers, it was very bad on their side. But manufacturing under Diamond factories I don’t see a problem, because they have a supervisor who checks every 30 mins, and for your information Taste of wild, solid gold is also made in Diamond.
I am saying all this only because you can call canidae whatever you want for not informing you of the change, but you can’t say their dog food is crap. One last information Wellness had fish bones in their foods recently. Every brand has a problem just search “(brand name) problems ” and you will see it all, while the actual problem is your dog can’t take it or you didn’t do enough research.
The formula change was by june 2008 and there is now way you could get the old formula after june 2009, many complaints here are recent ones, which means your dog has gone through the new formula just fine, and now your dog is sick for some reason its better to check with a vet properly. IF there is any problem with the dog eating canidae als food in june 2011 they will blame the formula change.. do a little research take canidae’s ingredients and search for every single item and you will see every item is 100 percent good for human consumption even. My friends started of with the new formula and have very healthy and shiny GSDs.
JZ how is your dogs now ,DID canidae go well? and brian please update on your dogs status are they doing good on canidae ?.. those who had no problems are not coming up to tell others.
Catrina, I would consider Avoderm a middle of the road dog food. It is pretty grain heavy. If my dog had his hair falling out I would switch to California Natural in a heartbeat. Then I would be looking at Orijen, Acana or one of the other products produced by naturapet.
http://www.naturapet.com/
Oh Shan, you have soooo got the wrong end of the stick..
Like I said, if Canidae works for you more power to ya. For the very many 1,000s of the rest of dogs who transitioned fine with no runs or blood, it took us a few months to discover there had even BEEN a formula change to transition TO – in short, the dog transitioned fine.
For these dogs who could not tolerate the new formula, the effects took a while to accumulate in their system. Little by little. Our once robust dog got itchy, then scratchy. Their coat became brittle. The dog started scratching coat out. Mine started chewing & licking her anal glands. Her skin became doggie smelling – my clean, CGC/Therapy dog, 4 yr.old smelling like an old dog. It was very sad. She started trailing fur around wherever she went. Then she itched more and more, until it became around the clock torturous itching. The owner had to do something, started to research and discovered other Canidae users were experiencing the same and worse. This toxic/allergy process took months to evidence itself – or more, or less – depending on tolerance, age of dog, genetic predisposition.
Before this we were not dog food snobs, a lot of us never thought much about it – we didn’t have to. We didn’t buy into the Diamond plant hype, or any other hype. We did not care if Canidae or some other food was made in the Diamond plant or on the moon. Things were going along fine and mellow.
Now there is a kind of creepy horror feeling whenever we recall what our dog went through – how this Canidae food over the months we unknowingly continued to feed it after the formula change was causing bad reactions, it certainly affected quality of life during those months of toxic effects. But more than that how the dog is never really quite the same again. The food may have caused their auto-immune system to aquire a deficiency, to break down, how in the end it may have shortened their life. Gives me the creeps.
Yes we can practically recite the old & new Canidae formulas by heart now we are so well informed & have researched – we had to! fish bones, yadda yadda, reactions to all foods we’ve read it all – but none with the volume or severity of reactions to Canidae at the time of/months after the formula change. All I know is those who saw first hand what my dog went through would not even try this food. Nor would I, ever again.
Toxic effects ????? what do you mean… how can people come up with some false information just because their dog’s stomach could not handle a particular food. IMO its the peoples raging anger that their dog could not eat what they liked for years causing them to give such comments. I really feel sorry for the dogs that went through upset stomachs and itches, but its very clear that their dog developed some allergies to the new ingredients and the food is not bad, worse or contain toxic effects. ALL i can say is whoever sees my dogs and its health will only feed Canidae to their dogs.
Canidae should have advertised the formula change-so people’s dogs with known allergies could have avoided these problems.Most people don’t check the ingredients list if it is their usual brand.
I agree they should have, and its a big mistake and not fair to the loyal customers but the food as others say is not toxic not junk and definitely not killing their dogs or reducing its life.
Here is a list of whats in this food. Ok, lets take a closer look at whats in it, the first 4 ingredients are great, now I am not a fan of white rice but it isn’t that bad. Rice bran is a filler, but is far from bad. Dogs could do without peas, potatoes, oatmeal, barley and millet, but these are all OK and something has to go into dog food. Tomato pomace is another filler and is used for stiffining up dogs stools, buttt, where do you go with it?? I really don’t see anything bad, now ocean fish meal most likely has some left over ethoxyquin in it, as does all fish meal. Because all fish meal coming in to the US has it in it, because the US Coast Guard requires it’s use. Overall this is a good food, none of the bad stuff is used in this product. Yes, their is some fermation products used but in my thinking their isn’t enough to worry about. It’s not like their is enough to get the dog buzzing or anything like that and actually this much is good for a dogs digestive system.
Chicken meal, turkey meal, lamb meal, brown rice, white rice, rice bran, peas, potatoes, oatmeal, cracked pearled barley, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), millet, tomato pomace, natural flavor, flaxseed meal, ocean fish meal, choline chloride, sun cured alfalfa meal, inulin (from chicory root), lecithin, sage extract, cranberries, beta carotene, rosemary extract, sunflower oil, yucca schidigera extract, dried enterococcus faecium, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, dried bacillus subtilis fermentation extract, saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation solubles, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid, cobalt proteinate, organic selenium, papaya, pineapple.
The bigger picture with the ingredients list you just posted has brown rice, white rice and rice bran. It’s all rice!!! And for those that don’t know the term, it’s called splitting. When you add up all the rice together, could it possibly be the number one ingredient?
And what’s the deal with the synthetic vitamins?
Canidae is not cheap….for the money, there is better
Well Eric, I just looked at Fromm duck and sweet potato and it seems pretty grain heavy also, but I feed it because my dog loves duckies. My point is most foods have more grain than meat, with the exception of Evo and Orijen. Now when I went price hunting I must admit I did not look at this food because I agree in the assumption that their are better foods for the money. People do need to have options. It is also the reason I feed extra meat to my dog. He also eats the natures variety raw as treats, geez he just loves the rabbit.
well Eric could you please tell me some foods that don’t use synthetic vitamins
Hameed
Unfortunately to my knowledge, there is not a processed food (kibble) out there that does not use synthetic vitamins. There are kibbles that use less…Orijen and Evo. In fact, Orijen 6 fish has one synthetic, ascorbic acid (Vit C).
The only way to get away from it is to feed a balanced raw diet.
I’ve preached this many times on here that a kibble needs to be supplemented with a whole foods ingredient like Bio Preparation for dogs. Something natural, not some “vitamin” from your vet or petco. Another good one is Longevity, yet it does contain yeast culture and some dogs are allergic to yeast.
OMG..I wish I had found this site before putting my German Shepard, Cocker Spaniel, and Pom on Canidae. My babies started having the runs and I has scared they were sick because they had been exposed to parvo. They went to the docotr and got a clean bill of health. Yeah! But still had the runs. A co-worker brought a small bag of her Nature’s variety for them to try and they love it. I will be changing their food.
I have been sending off e-mails to alot of dog food manufatures about the use of ethoxyquin in their product. I have found that Canidae has some of the highest numbers in their product, todate, keep in mind that alot of manufactures have just flat out lied to me and some just don’t respond, those are the scarey ones. I’ll be post my results soon.
Hi guys,
I want to feed my two Puppies grain free. My only choice is Evo from naturapet, the company that makes Innova, I have a 3 month old Great dane puppy and 6 month old labrador. But the high protien 42% content and calcium is 2.21, which concerns me. Right now they are in Canidae Als and doing good, but I want to give them the best grain free. Even Orijen has high levels of both. I need a proper advice from you guys.
Thanks a million
Last time I posted was almost a year ago, and thought I would check up on the recent posts on this topic.
Jess – Sorry, but you’re post (a few back) sounds like you are a PR person for Canidae. I used Canidae for years (approx 7 yrs – old formula for ALS and loved it), my dogs aren’t picky eaters and don’t have food allergies. I switched when Canidae changed their formula, but trusted the company and returned to try their new formula. I buy food in pallets, so yep I bought a pallet of their new formula. My dogs became basket cases…all with the symptoms previously posted. I went through major Vet bills and tossed a few hundred dollars worth of Canidae in the garbage can…I wouldn’t threaten the lives of any other dogs in shelters by donating it. Yes, I contacted Canidae and received a generic respones of ‘Thank you for your input….we will keep in on file for future consideration in new formulations’. You can read into this response what you want concerning my thoughts of what the new Canidae Company and the quality of their ALS product is. Also, how do you explain the disclaimer that Dogfoodanalysis.com has on ALS due to the number of complaints they have received on the product? As Cinder has nicely said in previous posts…we are not all deaf, dumb and blind….we know are dogs, are dog savy, and have paid the price for whatever Canidae has done to their food. If you buy into their pitch that their change is for the better, and your dog(s) are doing fine – more power to you. But there are to many of us that are on the other end of that stick that don’t agree with you. Our dogs have suffered and we have finanically been hit with large Vet bills to diagnose and cure/comfort our pets.
Hameed – I switched to Taste of the Wild Pacific. Yes, it’s made by Diamond which can cause concerns since the recall. I own Lab and Lab-mixes and they love it. As Jess previously posted, ‘ethoxyquin’ is the hot button, but any fish caught in US waters is requred to be treated with ethoxyquin as a preserviative (Pacific is smoked salmon). As posted by a US DVM in Jan 2010, he would rather feed his pets ‘treated’ fish rather than spoiled fish…if you want a link to his report to the pet food industry let me know or you can Google it. Also, if you go to any of the Lab chat boards many of them are feeding their dogs TOTW Pacific and the dogs are thriving. The ‘fish’ formula is lower in protein then the TOTW ‘meat’ formulas which should resolve you concern about protein levels. Yes, I own working dogs – but they aren’t true working dogs and are more ‘coach potatoes’…so I also refuse to feed a formula that is 40+% protein. The Pacific is only 25% protein.
Best of luck in you food selection….my dogs range in age from 1 to 13 yrs and they are all thriving of TOTW Pacific.
No and I don’t even really like Canidae. I even contacted them about their use of ethyquin and the numbers they quoted me were pretty high. I like TOTW and my GSD loves their wetlands. I am just trying to stay as far away from fish meal as I can from now on. It seems their are only a few companies that can be trusted about it’s use. The Canadian manufactures don’t use E. and aren’t required. Petcurean & Wellness also do not use the E. and Nature’s Logic & TOTW were pretty intense about them not using suppliers who use it. But I don’t trust anyone else and am not sold on TOTW not using suppliers who use it.
Ginny – You sound like you are PR person for TOTW. If you want to talk about numbers of TOTW, I will give you numbers of Canidae, they recently became the Exporter of the year. And they export to about 21 countries, you can imagine how much they would be exporting, and if what you are saying is true that the canidae dog food is bad then 1000s of dogs would be dead right now, most of the countries would have stopped buying Canidae, The formula change happened in 2008 and there was 1 whole year of exporting after that, do you think that is possible after the food being toxic like cinder said or the food caused almost death to their dogs like most people said ? I totally agree a lot of dogs didn’t do well on the new formula but that does not mean the food would kill the dog if fed. I love TOTW I feed them often to my boys cause they love duck, I love Canidae because my boys love them. I tried Orijen My boys couldn’t take it, I don’t know why. I can’t go out and say Orijen has spoiled meat, my dogs won’t even touch them. I would tell, My dogs couldn’t take Orijen, thats it. If the food was bad as you say it, The company would have been shut down by now, but the company just got an award for exporter of the year. there are thousands of dogs not surviving, but doing great on Canidae dog foods including my boys, and thats the reason I am Speaking here.
I am a huge fan of Orijen, but I also realize all dogs don’t do good on it. Canidae is a good dog food and I really have no problems with it and I am sure your dog well do just fine on it. My dog could not handle Merrick but I would tell you that it is a very good dog food and I would recomend Merrick in a heart beat. Just because a dog doesn’t do good on one brand doesn’t mean it isn’t a good food.
LOL, your dogs love duck also. I even get mine duck and potato dog treats made by natural balance, boy they are his favorite treat.
I have three pugs & two yorkies. The oldest pug is very sensitive to anything with beef or wheat in it. Had been using Eagle Pack Holistic chicken & rice for almost four years until they switched something in it this past winter. He is a very picky eater & I had tried many different brands with no success until I had bought the Canidae ALS. He ate it pretty well until I noticed he was looking pretty skinny. Took him to the vet & the blood tests showed his liver enzymes were elevated. I had lost one pug during the whole fiasco with dog food a few years back & do not wish that upon anyone. During the trial with the Canidae brand, I had also dog sat my son’s ten year old pug & he got diarrhea for four days. What is wrong with dog food companies that really do not care about the welfare of our little fur babies-only about their profits?
Switched back to Eagle Pack for sensitive digestion & now he’s doing great.
Do you mean Eagle pack that has corn and wheat germ meal in it. I am happy for your dogs as they are doing great on this crap food.
I just tried Canidae for the first time because my private pet supply store recommended it since all the service dogs in the area seem to use this brand. Something had me check reviews. Now I am totally terrified to continue using the food. My dogs (13 yr shep./rot mix and a 1.5 yr lab/greyhound mix see to be doing o.k. on it but it’s only been a week. I just went out tonight and got my old standby that while it isn’t the best high quality food out there I know they are o.k. on it. Maybe I’ll check the Canidae website for comments, etc.
Shan – I’d love the $$ from TOTW, but nope I’m not a PR person or associated with them. As for exporting, that’s a DUH! They have to ‘cause they are losing so many US customers. Check the Internet for the customer complaints, Dog Food Analysis for their (PC correct) warning about complaints, Amazon for customer reviews, store announcements that they are no longer selling Canidae as a result of Customer complaints. If your local market is shrinking, export as much as you can to keep your market share. I don’t know what Canidae’s bottom line really looks like, but I checked out the 2010 complaints on the Internet tonight and the complaints are still growing. As for Canidae’s website (and their responses to my emails concerning this issue) all I can say is it’s like déjà vu with BP’s response to the issues in the Gulf or Toyota’s response to the acceleration problems – aka there is no problem…it’s a transition issue….not all dogs react the same…it’s a change for the better….and so on.
As for Canidae killing pets – I for one came to close for comfort to losing one of my pack to Canidae. It was only a fluke I discovered the problem (due to a minor, unrelated injury), ran tests, and switched foods immediately. It took months to get my 110 to 120 lb boy that dropped to under 90lbs, and the rest of my pack that lost 15-20+% of their body weight, back to health – all experiencing explosive diarrhea, vomiting, hair loss, weakness/exhaustion, etc. – along with major Vet bills during this recovery period. I’ve turned my back on Canidae (after years of raving about their products), and I will never look back! If you continue rotating you boys on their kibble, you may be only delaying their negative response – in my case, it took 2-3 months feeding exclusively Canidae to bring my pack down.
Kinda a separate question here (to everyone – not just Shan) –
I’m a little confused – Really?! I know there are brand loyalties, but why after numerous complaints/reports of problems with Canidae from 2008 thru 2010 would anyone risk their pet’s health and feed it to them? I know I was talked back to Canidae by my feed store, then when I had problems they ‘fessed up that they had had several Customer complaints and sales had fallen off. After the ‘pet food scare’ we all found out there really aren’t any tough regs on the industry, and recalls are still going on – heck Iams and others put recalls out this week. OK, I jumped from Canidae initially because of what I found on the Web – then got talked back into it with really BAD results. I know I’ll never make that mistake again – maybe that’s the answer? Until you personally live through it you don’t believe it and mark it off to ‘wackos’ or animals with pre-existing conditions. Oh well, just thought I’d ask. I know I’ve had a ‘lesson learned’ now in my life and won’t make that mistake again.
My 6 1/2 year old Brussels Griffon terrier, came to us on New Year’s Day 2008. He’d been in rescue for 18 months, and fed exclusively on Canidae. Since he was used to it & doing well we have kept with it. He never had any health issues until about 4 months ago when he began chewing & licking his paws & genitals. I’ve also seen his stools start to look watery. Vet just gave him a clean bill of health, suggested we look into changing his food as it appeared he’d developed a sensitivity to the Canidae. I’d already figured that was the next step, that confirmed it.
I found this site when I started researching new food. I haven’t chosen a new one yet, as there is so much to look at. I will be looking at the suggestions here. Would value suggestions. I have no problem with ordering online, though it would be nice if our final choice was available at All Pets Club, PetSmart, Petco, or Agway. Deliveries can be dicey in our neighborhood. I know, probably wishful thinking. But one can hope. The most important thing is to get my little guy on food that won’t have him itching!
My guess and it is just a guess, that it could be the grains. I would buy a small bag of a something without grain in it. I feed Orijen but it is pretty spendy, but I feel it is the best dog food made today. Finely ground fresh raw beets or a can of pumpkin dog food well help stiffin up the poo(pumpkin works the best). I keep both around because my dog eats anything and everything, especially at the beach. Here is a list of some good dog foods. Taste of the wild is most likely the best price and my dog just loves the wetlands.
The A list
1. Orijen
2. Acana, Harvest, Pacifica & Grassland only.
3. Blue Wilderness
4. Wellness Core
5. Go, Grain free only.
6. Acana, the rest of Acana products.
7. Taste of the Wild, wetlands & prairie only, Grain free
8. Artemis
9. Fromm
10. Instinct
11. Evo
12. Merrick, before grain.
13. Horizon Legacy
The B list
1. California Natural
2. Now, Grain free.
3. GO, free indurance,chicken,salmon only
4. Merrick
4. Evangers
5. Timberwolf
6. Wellness
7. Solid Gold
8. Canidae
8. Natures Logic
8. First Mate
12. Kirkland, Costco