# Help needed!



## LuvmychocLab (Apr 16, 2012)

I have an 11 month old Chocolate Lab. I've been researching Royal Canin Lab food for him and came upon this forum. What are your thoughts of Royal Canin? He has a sensitive stomach and he did really well with Eukanuba Lamb and Rice but our store stopped selling it. At the time he's on Science Diet large breed puppy but it's giving him horrible gas! We are stationed over seas so anything will have to be shipped here. 

Any advice is greatly appreciated!


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## 7766 (Sep 20, 2011)

I would stay away from all three of those. If he did well on a Lamb formula, Acana has a limited ingredient line and one formula is Lamb and Okanagan Apple. I am not sure how easy it is to find, where are you stationed. There are several on the board who are in Europe and might be able to help you find distributors near you.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

If you actually google what some of the ingredients are you will be sick! Almost anything that has science or royal in its name, just stay away from. It's just fancy sounding and draws you in. Pedigree, Iams, Eukanuba, Purina; crap in my mind


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## LuvmychocLab (Apr 16, 2012)

I'm in Germany. I was worried they wouldn't be good dog foods, especially when I couldn't find the real ingredients list online for Royal Canin. I've found the Orijen and Wellness Core on Amazon that will most likely ship here, I'll look for Acana too.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

Oh ok Germany cool! You might want to try a dehydrated food or even raw. I believe a lot of dogs in Germany are raw fed if my research is correct. (At least in Boxers) you could probably find meat pretty easily and find a co-op like thing.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

LuvmychocLab said:


> I'm in Germany. I was worried they wouldn't be good dog foods, especially when I couldn't find the real ingredients list online for Royal Canin. I've found the Orijen and Wellness Core on Amazon that will most likely ship here, I'll look for Acana too.


You can get Acana and Orijen locally in Germany. Other foods to look for over there are Bozita Robur, Josera, Mera and Platinum. Here's a German webshop


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

SaharaNight Boxers said:


> If you actually google what some of the ingredients are you will be sick! Almost anything that has science or royal in its name, just stay away from. It's just fancy sounding and draws you in. Pedigree, Iams, Eukanuba, Purina; crap in my mind


Before moving over to this side of the pond I remember Royal Canine being very popular in military, police and SAR circles in Europe, at least in my area. At the time they offered a few specialty series with good quality ingredients aimed at various working dogs. Never seen any of those formulas sold over here. When I moved over here I brought with me my last certified SAR dog who ate that RC food. Literally the first thing I did here was to run into the first Petsmart I saw to look for that food. Bah, all I could find was their ridiculous breed specific formulas in ridiculous sizes at ridiculous prices. To be honest I don't know what they have or don't have these days. Haven't given them any thought in a while. I know they took over Techni-cal and Medi-cal which are popular among certain trainers and handlers.


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## Sapphire-Light (Aug 8, 2010)

DaViking said:


> Before moving over to this side of the pond I remember Royal Canine being very popular in military, police and SAR circles in Europe, at least in my area. At the time they offered a few specialty series with good quality ingredients aimed at various working dogs. Never seen any of those formulas sold over here. When I moved over here I brought with me my last certified SAR dog who ate that RC food. Literally the first thing I did here was to run into the first Petsmart I saw to look for that food. Bah, all I could find was their ridiculous breed specific formulas in ridiculous sizes at ridiculous prices. To be honest I don't know what they have or don't have these days. Haven't given them any thought in a while. I know they took over Techni-cal and Medi-cal which are popular among certain trainers and handlers.


Is sad how they change the formulas depending on the country were you are, when I got Pompadour he was on RC mini puppy and before picking the puppy I got a bag for transition.

I didn't noticed until later that the formula for latin america (made in Mexico) was different from the US one that was review in some web sites, the latin america version of all their foods has corn, wheat and rice as the first ingredients and all the meats and fats are unnamed :frown: good thing he is out of that horrible overpriced food, is the most expensive we have here.

Even the breed specific ones have the same ingredients as the normal ones but just have a pretty package and they are even more expensive  I got some sample bags in a petshop and he hated the poodle version.

Like a month ago I get to the pet store to get a propac mini chunk bag they didn't had a the moment (the shipping came a week later) so the seller said I should get the poodle formula, so I told her that he hated the food and he was not willing to eat it, that I had to gave away the sample bags because he didn't wanted to touch it and can go into hunger strike, hehehee (yes I'm that mean)... :tongue1: the seller was confused on how Pompadour hated the poodle food "that was made by expert scientists to fit all the needs poodles have" LOL


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## _unoriginal (Apr 8, 2012)

DaViking said:


> You can get Acana and Orijen locally in Germany. Other foods to look for over there are Bozita Robur, Josera, Mera and Platinum. Here's a German webshop


I read that Solid Gold is also available in Germany. They have a distribution center in Leipzig, Germany (not sure where that is in relation to you though). Looks like you've got quite a few quality options. Good luck! Let us know how you fair.


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## LindsayMaryland (Jan 4, 2012)

Have you considered a fish-based formula? My lab is on Natural Balance L.I.D. sweet potato & fish because he has allergies and digestion issues. This formula is also grain-free FYI. We went through a bunch of foods before finding this one to be a perfect fit. And he loves the taste and never turns down his food. We get him the treats and canned food in the same formula too. Good luck!


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## NotAChampionFan (Apr 6, 2012)

LuvmychocLab said:


> I have an 11 month old Chocolate Lab. I've been researching Royal Canin Lab food for him and came upon this forum. What are your thoughts of Royal Canin? He has a sensitive stomach and he did really well with Eukanuba Lamb and Rice but our store stopped selling it. At the time he's on Science Diet large breed puppy but it's giving him horrible gas! We are stationed over seas so anything will have to be shipped here.
> 
> Any advice is greatly appreciated!



Blah Blah Blah...stay with Royal Canin if that is what you can get. Not one person that recommended any of the other foods can give you any evidence that what they recommended is better. Royal Canin has vast scientific and production expertise and top dogs, especially in Europe, thrive on Royal Canin. Many companies would kill for the scientific expertise at that company.

Does the company go over board with shapes and breed specific kibbles, well yeah it does, but so does Champion with its nonsense. 

Royal Canin is a good product and it is thoroughly tested. For a normal pet dog almost all good quality foods are fine. Royal Canin is particularly good for dogs with tummy issued because it uses a very very fine grind and has always be made with digestibility in mind. In fact the company started by making foods just for German Shepherds which are known for having digestive issues. Really no other company has the same levels of expertise with large breed dogs.

Don't drive yourself crazy by reading labels and being sucked in by marketing.


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## _unoriginal (Apr 8, 2012)

NotAChampionFan said:


> Don't drive yourself crazy by reading labels and being sucked in by marketing.


Getting sucked in by marketing is EXACTLY what happens with crappy kibble brands like SD and Beneful and all that. Reading labels and researching the ingredients is a good idea if you care about what you put into your dog's body.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

NotAChampionFan said:


> Royal Canin has vast scientific and production expertise and top dogs, especially in Europe, thrive on Royal Canin. Many companies would kill for the scientific expertise at that company.
> 
> In fact the company started by making foods just for German Shepherds which are known for having digestive issues. Really no other company has the same levels of expertise with large breed dogs.


This is true. RC is very popular in Europe and got a long track record of proven performance among medium and large breed dogs. Had I found our "old" formula when we moved over here I would probably still be a customer. I don't like all the formula splitting they do but since they keep doing it there must be money in it.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

_unoriginal said:


> Getting sucked in by marketing is EXACTLY what happens with crappy kibble brands like SD and Beneful and all that. Reading labels and researching the ingredients is a good idea if you care about what you put into your dog's body.


The various marketing dept. at all the big companies are so good that they can "get you" with both packaging and label reading. Just look at Blue Buffalo. They have actually managed to turn label reading into their own marketing weapon by airing all these commercials about "real chicken" and "corn gluten meal" They try to redefine the truth for you, knowing that most people do not know what corn gluten meal is.


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

I don't mind Royal Canin, actually. I think some of their formulas are crappy, but they also have some decent ones, and as a whole, I like the company. Though I wish they were produced in-house at their own plant. I think they're owned by Mars. Unsure where the food is actually made though?

I also think the breed-specific formulas are mostly a gimmick and it's horribly over-priced for what it is. But I still don't think it's the worst someone could do. And to be honest, I've seen a lot of dogs on RC with absolutely gorgeous coats. My uncle's GSD is on their puppy formula and I've never seen a dog so shiny!

I mean, honestly, there's major marketing gimmicks with almost all of these dog food companies. Look at Champion and their "red delicious apples" and Fromm and their "you don't eat Italian every night" etc, etc. EVERY company does it because, the bottom line is that they are a business looking to sell their food.


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## Sapphire-Light (Aug 8, 2010)

Jacksons Mom said:


> I don't mind Royal Canin, actually. I think some of their formulas are crappy, but they also have some decent ones, and as a whole, I like the company. Though I wish they were produced in-house at their own plant. I think they're owned by Mars. Unsure where the food is actually made though?
> 
> I also think the breed-specific formulas are mostly a gimmick and it's horribly over-priced for what it is. But I still don't think it's the worst someone could do. And to be honest, I've seen a lot of dogs on RC with absolutely gorgeous coats. My uncle's GSD is on their puppy formula and I've never seen a dog so shiny!
> 
> I mean, honestly, there's major marketing gimmicks with almost all of these dog food companies. Look at Champion and their "red delicious apples" and Fromm and their "you don't eat Italian every night" etc, etc. EVERY company does it because, the bottom line is that they are a business looking to sell their food.


I agree that the US formulas are a bit decent, beter that feeding alpo, but in latin america the formulas are almost the same quality as the alpo, this foods makes SD look like premium and is half the price.


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

Look at the ingredient labels on the foods you are interested in. I think that is the most important part of finding the right kibble. I personally do not like Royal Canin because it is very grain heavy. FORGET THE MARKETING and know what goes into the bag of kibble you are feeding your dog. 

Education is power.


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## shellbell (Sep 24, 2011)

Before switching all of our dogs to raw, my husband fed his lab Royal Canin and she did fine on it. My parents feed it to their labs and they do fine on it as well. I consider it to be a decent food. It is not as preferable maybe as one of the holistic types, and I do feel it is way overpriced. But it is definitely better than any of the Science Diet/Purina/Iams/Eukanuba brands, IMO. And I actually think it is probably better than a Champion product (Orijen/Acana). I used to feed Orijen way back when, but I have heard too many things where I don't think I really trust them as much anymore. 

And yes, all of the breed specific stuff is just a marketing gimmick.


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## KittyKat (Feb 11, 2011)

Jacksons Mom said:


> I don't mind Royal Canin, actually. I think some of their formulas are crappy, but they also have some decent ones, and as a whole, I like the company. Though I wish they were produced in-house at their own plant. I think they're owned by Mars. Unsure where the food is actually made though?
> 
> I also think the breed-specific formulas are mostly a gimmick and it's horribly over-priced for what it is. But I still don't think it's the worst someone could do. And to be honest, I've seen a lot of dogs on RC with absolutely gorgeous coats. My uncle's GSD is on their puppy formula and I've never seen a dog so shiny!
> 
> I mean, honestly, there's major marketing gimmicks with almost all of these dog food companies. Look at Champion and their "red delicious apples" and Fromm and their "you don't eat Italian every night" etc, etc. EVERY company does it because, the bottom line is that they are a business looking to sell their food.


They make at least some of their food right near where I live actually. 

I don't feed it though, and never would. It's not bottom tier food mind you, but I think that's a sad thing to say and just shows how much shit food is out there.

To the OP: Just read ingredient lists and look for meat. Things like meat meal are great. Things like meat byproduct are usually not. If it just says chicken, pretend it's down the list a bunch as that is chicken before they dehydrated it. There's no water in kibble. 

Dogs are carnivores so their diet should reflect that. Sadly a lot of food (even Champion, which imo is a top tier company) has fillers in it that really don't need to be there. Some worse then others (corn, corn gluten, corn meal - some foods have all three.... useless filler). 

But I wouldn't want to pay for the shipping of dog food, see what you can find locally, and always remember- question everything.


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## LuvmychocLab (Apr 16, 2012)

Thank you to everyone who helped. I'm planning on making a trip to the pet store today to do a lot of reading. I wasn't to sure what I was supposed to be looking for but now I'm pretty sure I can make an informed decision. Thanks again.


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