# Spring Naturals food



## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

I was in VA last week, spotted a posh little dog boutique and saw this food on the shelf. They have grain inclusive and grain free foods.
THe formulas look really simple, no offending ingredients which would bother my super sensitive Darby (bichon).
Mid range protein and fat and under 400 calories, which personally, I prefer since on other foods I have to feed such small amounts to prevent weight gain and then they walk around hungry all day.

I emailed the company, they use CJ foods as their mill for the dry and a plant in Mitchell, SD (my old stomping grounds!) for the canned.
On the grain free the ash levels are between 5-6%. 

I also make a raw topper per Monica Segal's Enhancing Commercial Diets bookelet, so there will be added in protein and small amount of veg/fruit.

Has anyone tried this? I'm concerned about the chickpeas/peas, do dogs get gassy? I used to feed Acana grain frees but they changed the formulas to include lentils. Darby was on California Natural Chicken/peas and her poops were ROCK HARD so this is a concern for me too. WDYT?


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

I recently heard of this food, I think on the dog food advisor but don't know anyone who's using it.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I remember seeing it at petsmart or petco, but I'm not too impressed with ingredients since it looks like majority of protein comes from plant sources. 

Chicken, chickpeas, peas, dried eggs, barley, oats, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), dicalcium phosphate, quinoa, sun-cured alfalfa, flaxseed, natural flavors, calcium carbonate, salt, spinach, sweet potatoes, tomato pomace, potassium chloride, choline chloride, blueberries, cranberries, apricots, carrots, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, niacin supplement, calcium pantothenate, biotin, vitamin A supplement, riboflavin supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, dandelion greens, chicory root extract, mixed tocopherols (preservative), rosemary extract.


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## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

Uno's mom ,that is one of the grain-inclusive formulas.
This is a grain free one:

Chicken, chickpeas, peas, dried eggs, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), sun-cured alfalfa, flaxseed, sweet potatoes, dicalcium phosphate, natural flavors, salt, spinach, calcium carbonate, tomato pomace, potassium chloride, blueberries, cranberries, apricots, carrots, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, niacin supplement, calcium pantothenate, biotin, vitamin A supplement, riboflavin supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, chicory root extract, dandelion greens, mixed tocopherols (preservative), rosemary extract, choline chloride.

It does seem like it might be a little legume heavy, doesn't it? Still, they have Beef, Chicken, Lamb, Turkey and Salmon, so could be a good option.

Tho my dogs are all doing great on Fromm grain free and I should leave well enough alone, I always mess up their tummies, thinking I need to rotate and try new things.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

it still has no meat meal backing up the chicken, so uncertain how much comes from meat vs plants, although it's possible that a part of it comes from eggs as well since they are dried. Maybe email the company and ask what % of protein comes from meat sources?


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

Dried eggs is a highly potent ingredient in terms of proteins per weight. Hard to tell without knowing how much chicken there is actually in there. Regardless, proteins coming from the peas, flaxseeds and sweet potato is modest. Also, nutritionally there is nothing wrong with smaller amounts of plant proteins balancing out the amino-acid profile of a food.


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## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

Found this. Someone has already asked them about the lack of meat meal.
We appreciate you taking the time to look into Spring Naturals as well as your question regarding the the meat content in our foods, it's a great question.

You are correct in your assumption that we're producing our products with more meat than standard formulas in the market. Because of the combination of ingredients we are using in our exclusive recipes, we are able to almost double the amount of meat we use in our formulas. On average 70-75% of our protein is from an animal protein source. 

Even when you combine the chickpeas, peas and eggs, meat is the number one ingredient in our formulas.

While meat meal is a good "low cost" source of protein, we believe the negative benefits of having to add high glycemic starches to the diets out ways the benefits of using the low cost ingredient. Plus, our Spring Naturals dinners and treats taste great and are easy for dogs to digest.

So that’s why our “More Real Meat - No Meal” formulas are different, and why we believe they are better than ordinary dry kibble foods.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any other questions or concerns, I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you.

Thanks,

Rob Cadenhead


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

70 to 75% of the protein from animal sources is not that impressive. I know many cheaper foods that are in that range.
Their entire "info page" is bs and per their email "you need to add high glycemic starches" if you use meals is also total bs.
$66 plus shipping for only 70% animal protein isn't that exciting. I'd stay away.


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## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

Guess I'll stick with Fromm and Acana. THose really are the only 2 companies I trust anymore anyway, and that the girls do well on...


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