# Food For Griffonshire - Brussels Griffon / Yorkie Mix



## Ruffrider25 (Apr 22, 2010)

Hi Everyone,

My name is John and I have a 2 year old Brussels Griffon/Yorkie Mix that is the love of my life. On Saturday my wife and I left our dog with my parents while we were out doing some shopping. They have a dog and they love to play together in the yard. When we went to pick her up she was pretty much out like a light. Late that night she started vomiting badly, so the next morning I gave her some rice and chicken and she seemed to be fine.

Monday and Tuesday she was completely normal. Wednesday she started vomiting again. I was talking to my Dad and I found out that she had eaten a lot of a plant in their pool area. I took her to the vet immediately and they examined her and determined that the plant may have caused gastritis. They gave her IV Fluids and some Hills Prescription Diet I/D as well as a nausea medicine and antibiotic. They also have me giving her some pepcid for the next week. The vet told me I needed to switch to a better brand of food and really pushed for Science Diet. I didn’t know any better so I agreed to switch her after she was feeling better.

Anyway, I decided to do some Googling on Science Diet and why they vet made it sound like the best thing in the world and I found this site. Unfortunately this site caused a lot of shock and horror in just the first few minutes of reading. Not only is Science Diet a poor food, but the food my vet told me was okay to feed my dog when she moved off of puppy food is even worse (Beneful). It upsets me that I was feeding my dog something so horrible.

Now that I am armed with the knowledge of this site, I am ready to switch her to something that isn’t complete crap. Neither my wife or I want to try and do the raw type of feeding, but we really want to find a dry food that is of a better quality for her. We live in a very small secluded town and the only food that I could find within driving distance that seems acceptable on this forum is Blue Buffalo. My plan is to switch her to the Blue Buffalo Small Breed Chicken & Brown Rice dry food once everything with her stomach gets settled. My only other alternative would be to order food online which I am not very comfortable with since it would be easier to just run down to the store and be able to get food if she was ever running low.

Is the Blue Buffalo going to be an acceptable choice and a good step up from the Beneful? Could there be a better food out there for such a small breed of dog that I am just not aware of? She is very small, 9.6 pounds, and she is very active and playful. This dog will play all day if you have the energy even if she just got back from one of her 1 mile walks that we do twice a day. She has never had any health issues besides this current stomach symptom. I just want to make sure I’m giving her the best food that is available to me. 

One last question. Once she’s finished with this Hills Prescription Diet I/D that I am only feeding her because the vet said, should I start feeding her the Beneful again for a few days and then introduce the Blue Buffalo into her diet, or should I immediately start her on the Blue Buffalo and totally exclude Beneful from her diet because she hasn’t been eating it anyway?

Sorry for such a long post, and extremely sorry for my poor choice in food for my dog. I really appreciate any help or advice you give!

Thanks,

John


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

Welcome and I must add that you have very precious dogs 

As far as the food goes, definitely blue buffalo is a huge upgrade from beneful or SD, the only reason vets reccomend it is because they get perks from sales reps throughout their years at vet school such as free food, scholarships, paid lunches, material, vets arent required to take a cource in nutrition, so a rep from Hills comes in and gives them a lecture on how great corn is..

I'm really glad you've come across this forum, we all want whats best for our pups. If I were you, I'd start switching from SD to blue buffalo without going back to beneful, remember to transition slowly and you may want to add a couple teaspoons of plain yogurt to aid with digestion. 

Also if you have any feed stores in your area, they will often carry better brands, I livei in a small town and a feed store 5 mins away has a huge selection of premium foods compared to a petsmart thats 10 mins away, plus they have better prices. I buy taste of the wild for my cats and its $22 for a 15 lb bag at tractor supply and $35 at a local boutique, so shopping around is important. 
Forgot to mention, if you havent done so already, whatever brand youre interested in, each website has a store locator on it, which makes it easier to find places that sell it. 

Other good brands include innova, orijen, acana provincial, natures variety, wellness just to name a few. I think majority would side with orijen since its a high quality, grain free food, a bit on an expensive side, but its very nutrient dense and dogs need very little of it compare to other brands. 

Best of luck to you and your dogs and let us know how it goes.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Hello and welcome. I'm also glad that you came across this site...there are plenty of knowledgeable and experienced people out there. I just went to a seminar on nutrition (sponsored by Purina) and they all said that higher protein is now the way to go.

Blue Buffalo is a decent food and much better than SD or Beneful, which is full of preservatives and artificial colors. I would try and find a better food than compared to Blue Buffalo since there are better ones out there.

I did a search for stores that provide Orijen that are near/in Iverness that possibly are close enough for you to get food from.

Champion Products (Orijen and Acana):

Lakeside Kennels
5999 East Turner Camp Road
Inverness, FL 34453
Phone: (352) 726-5591

Taste of the Wild:

Taste of the Wild : Dealer Locator

Natura Products (EVO, Innova, Cali Natural etc):

Where to Buy Natural Pet Food, Organic Dog Food & Healthy Dog Treats – Natura Pet Products

Good luck...I hope you can find if any of these retailers is close by.


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## Ruffrider25 (Apr 22, 2010)

Thank you both for the comments so far! I really do appreciate the help

I guess I need to get out of the mindset of supermarket shopping :biggrin: . Thank you for posting those links, Bow Wow Boutique seems to carry a lot of the brands that everyone likes on these forums so I will be making a trip down there on my lunch break. I haven't done any work at all today, been reading this site for the past 3 or so hours.

So I have some new questions now, and forgive my ignorance on the subject, I know that I have already read the answer to this but I just want to be sure.

I am guessing that Innova Adult Dry Dog Food - Small Bites is a superior food to the Blue Buffalo product I had originally planned on using. However, the Blue Buffalo product was for “Small Breeds” which is what my dog is. I know I have read that companies just label things as “Small Breed” as a marketing ploy, but is there nothing that is specifically made for my size dog? I don’t want to give her anything else that could cause more problems so I am just being a little bit paranoid  . I guess after 20 years of being told “This Is GREAT for your pet!” it’s kind of hard to get out of that mindset.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Welcome to the forum, you'll learn alot and have many questions.

I talked my Mom into switching her mini/toy poodle from nutro to Innova small bites and her "Buffy" loves this food and it is not too big for her tiny mouth.

I think you should give it a try as Innova usually has sample sizes to try.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

theres no real difference between small and large breed formula, usually the only difference is in large breed puppy foods because they need different calcium/phosphorus requirements. 

I compared the ingridients in both formulas:

blue buffalo small breed:
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Oatmeal, Peas, Whole Ground Barley, Chicken Fat (preserved naturally with Mixed Tocopherols), Dried Egg, Natural Chicken Flavor, Whole Potatoes, Tomato Pomace (natural source of Lycopene), Fish Oil (natural source of DHA-Docosahexaneoic Acid), Flaxseed (natural source of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids), Dicalcium Phosphate, Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Blueberries, Cranberries, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Garlic, Alfalfa Meal, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Turmeric, Dried Chicory Root, Oil of Rosemary,(plus vitamins and minerals)

Innova:
Turkey, Chicken, Chicken Meal, Barley, Brown Rice, Potatoes, Rice, Chicken Fat, Flaxseed, Herring, Natural Flavors, Apples, Carrots, Pumpkin, Egg, Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt, Potassium Chloride, Herring Oil, Cottage Cheese, Alfalfa Sprouts, Direct-Fed Microbials, Lecithin, Rosemary Extract, Vitamins/Minerals 


With couple minor differences, either one looks fine to me. I would advice getting a small bag first because I heard that some dogs get really bad gas on BB during the transition period.


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## BRule (Apr 20, 2010)

Another great site for unbiased info is Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Mostly the difference is in the size of the kibble pieces. But the bigger the pieces are the more she will have to chew them. While chewing on kibble is not really effective at scraping tartar off, chewing her food well will help some. I would also recommend getting canned food as well. Contrary to popular belief, canned food is actually about 3 times lower in calories on average than dry food. Canned food also provides a bit more moisture which is good for the kidneys. 

I would also ask the boutique owner for some samples so you can give the different formulas a try and see what works best for you and your dog. They should be happy to provide them to you at no cost.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

youre right danemama, I completely forgot about the size difference.


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## Ruffrider25 (Apr 22, 2010)

Thank you all for the information that you are providing! 

I called the store I linked in an earlier post and they told me that they do not carry the Innova line of dog products, but carry the Evo line which has the same parent company. The woman on the phone suggested Orijen which they do carry and from reading on this site and Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble it looks to be a very good food.

I am going to pick up some samples from them tomorrow and see how everything goes. I'm still going to keep calling around trying to locate the Innova dog food products.



danemama08 said:


> I would also recommend getting canned food as well. Contrary to popular belief, canned food is actually about 3 times lower in calories on average than dry food. Canned food also provides a bit more moisture which is good for the kidneys.


My vet always told me canned food caused cavities and was bad for my pet's teeth. Would I mix the canned food with dry food or would I feed the canned food exclusively for a few meals a week.

Once again thanks for everything.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Ruffrider25 said:


> My vet always told me canned food caused cavities and was bad for my pet's teeth. Would I mix the canned food with dry food or would I feed the canned food exclusively for a few meals a week.


This *may* be true, but I doubt it unless the dog eats nothing but crap canned food. I do several dog dentals a week and dogs just don't get cavities like we do. Gum disease yes, abscessed roots, you bet but not cavities.

It sounds to me like your vet has no real knowledge on canine nutrition and dental hygiene. I would go ahead and feed both canned and dry and your dog should be just fine.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Ruffrider25 said:


> I am guessing that Innova Adult Dry Dog Food - Small Bites is a superior food to the Blue Buffalo product I had originally planned on using. However, the Blue Buffalo product was for “Small Breeds” which is what my dog is. I know I have read that companies just label things as “Small Breed” as a marketing ploy, but is there nothing that is specifically made for my size dog? I don’t want to give her anything else that could cause more problems so I am just being a little bit paranoid  . I guess after 20 years of being told “This Is GREAT for your pet!” it’s kind of hard to get out of that mindset.


Just for your information on "small breed' food. I am currently taking care of my son's 2 pound chihuahua puppy. We are feeding her Evo small bites dog food and a variety of canned foods. She actually is eating the exact same food as the 75 pound dogs and the 15 pound dog. Sometimes she gets a piece of two of an Orijen kibble (we alternate foods) and it just takes her a little longer to chew it. We don't give her anything special because she is a tiny breed. And she is growing up just fine and has lots of energy.


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## Ruffrider25 (Apr 22, 2010)

Well I ended up getting Orijen Six Fish because they didn't have the Orijen Adult, but they are ordering it and will have it on Tuesday for me if I need it.

I was expecting to pay a lot more for the food, honestly it's not to much more then the Beneful I was using. The store is even allowing me to take the food back if my dog doesn't like it, however Macchi seems to be fine with this new food. I haven't given her much, maybe a teaspoon, but she eats it just like she would her Beneful or Prescription I/D stuff.

One thing I noticed was the smell when opening the bag. It may be because I quit smoking and I am more sensitive to these things but holy crap does it smell. Has a much stronger odor then the old stuff!

I will keep you all updated on how she reacts to the food. Should I be looking out for anything in terms of a bad reaction? I doubt I'll notice an actual difference in her hair because she is already pretty shiny and soft due to us giving her fish oil for dry skin and a good combing every day, but is there anything else I could notice an improvement on? If she gets anymore energy I'm gonna be in trouble because she already can go all day and night playing :tongue: .

On a side note, I have gotten my parents to switch from Nutro because of what I showed them, and I pissed off a lot of people on facebook this morning by posting information I’ve learned about dog food! I pretty much just came out and said “If you’re buying your pets food at Walmart, your buying them trash” and linked to a few sites.

Thanks For The Help Everyone!


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

Yeah, it does have a fishy smell, though personally I dont find it unplesant, I just bought a small bag of Evo salmon/herring and it reminds me of a pike market in seattle when I lived there. 

Make sure to transition slowly since some digestive issues like gas and diarhhea are not uncommon.


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

One of the key things to look at is Macchi's poos. I know, it's weird. But it really is an important indicator of health. 

Since you have switched to a food that is soooo much better, you should start to notice smaller poos that hold their form well. Smaller because there is less undigestable filler in the new food, so Macchi will be able to actually USE more of it. 

And yes, the GOOD fish kibble reeks! I honestly don't know if WalMart has any fish based dog foods, but if they do, I'd be willing to bet that there isn't much actual fish in them. :wink:

BTW, where the heck did you find Orijen that is close to the same price as Beneful?!?!?

Good luck with the transition!
Richelle


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## Ruffrider25 (Apr 22, 2010)

Ania's Mommy said:


> And yes, the GOOD fish kibble reeks! I honestly don't know if WalMart has any fish based dog foods, but if they do, I'd be willing to bet that there isn't much actual fish in them. :wink:
> 
> BTW, where the heck did you find Orijen that is close to the same price as Beneful?!?!?
> 
> ...


I am going to try and ease her into the food over a 2 week period, and just keep adding a little bit each day until she is getting a full cup of it a day. 

I should've been more clear about the pricing. The food does cost 50% more then the Beneful, $10 vs. $15 for a small bag. I was expecting to be paying $20+. And since Macchi will be getting less of this food the price will almost even out.

On a side note, I've stumbled across a few post today stating that High Protien Grain Fee foods such as Orijen are for "Working" dogs. Do I have a chance of hurting Macchi or making her heavy with this food if I'm not careful?


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## BRule (Apr 20, 2010)

Ruffrider25

You made a great choice! I was in your shoes a little over a year ago. I have a 2 yr. old Miniature Schnauzer whom I purchased from a breeder when she was 8 wks. old. They had her on Nutro Max and I assumed that was a good food. When it was time to transition her to an adult food I began researching and found that Nutro, along with many other foods that one can purchase from those "chain" pet stores are CRAP!
She has been on Orijen, what I feel is the best dry food on the planet, for about a year now. It was great to take her in for her 1 yr. check-up and the first thing her vet said was, WOW! I credit Orijen for that.
I have also had many friends switch to high-quality foods, changing one dog at a time.


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

Ah, the "high protein is for working dogs" myth. 

Dogs are MADE to eat high amounts of protein. High protein foods are juuust fine for all dogs.

Orijen IS a much richer food than what Macchi is used to. As I said before, she will absorb and use more of it than she was with the SD or Beneful. So you'll likely need to feed her less of it. But it sounds like you already knew that. 

Just keep an eye on her figure. If you notice her gaining weight, lower the amount you feed her.


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## BRule (Apr 20, 2010)

Very good read.

http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/ORIJEN_White_Paper.pdf


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## Ruffrider25 (Apr 22, 2010)

BRule said:


> Very good read.
> 
> http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/ORIJEN_White_Paper.pdf


Started reading that, but the wife is getting mad that I'm playing on the computer . 

I am sure I will have more questions tomorrow. Goodnight all!


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## Ruffrider25 (Apr 22, 2010)

So far so good w/ the Orijen. She has been picking the Orijen kibble out of the Science Diet crap so hopefully that means she likes it.

I cleaned out the cabinet yesterday storing all of her treats; I started reading the labels on each one I threw in the trash, it really is depressing. Dog treats seem to be even worse than dog food when they are bought at Walmart.

Old Roy Miniature Dog Biscuits, Purina Tiny T Bonz, and Beggin Strips all in the trash. I had to keep her Kong Cookies because they are her favorite thing in the world and she gets one at bed time every night.

Going to order some new treats tonight and hopefully come to a decision on canned food that I can give her a few times a week.

Question of The Day: I see that a lot of you all rotate the food your dog eats every couple of months. A lot of you seem to jump from brand to brand. Is it acceptable to just feed Macchi all Orijen brand stuff, and just switch the formula she's eating every few months. So after a few months of eating the Six Fish I would move her to Adult and then to Red and then back to Six Fish?

Thanks!


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Switching formulas within a brand is perfectly fine, actually it seems more ideal to me. Considering the different formulas are mostly just a differen protein source anyhow and that is what really is the important thing to rotate.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

We stick to one brand of kibble and just rotate the canned foods we give. That way we switch out the protein sources without having to switch out kibble all the time. Chelsy is allergic to Salmon and it is a lot easier to find canned food without salmon in it then to try and find new kibbles without any salmon in it. We use a wide variety of canned foods that are grain free and stick to EVO kibble but have used both the regular and the red meat.


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## Ruffrider25 (Apr 22, 2010)

chowder said:


> We stick to one brand of kibble and just rotate the canned foods we give. That way we switch out the protein sources without having to switch out kibble all the time.


So the canned food doesn't need to have the same protein source as the kibble?

So I can give my pup the orijen 6 fish dry w/ Evo Beef canned and she can have her own little surf n' turf :biggrin: .


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Ruffrider25 said:


> So the canned food doesn't need to have the same protein source as the kibble?
> 
> So I can give my pup the orijen 6 fish dry w/ Evo Beef canned and she can have her own little surf n' turf :biggrin: .


I haven't had a problem with it in years. Today my dogs had their Evo Turkey and Chicken kibble and canned Back to Basics Pork. They absolutely LOVE the pork canned but only get it when it is on big sale. They had it marked way down last month so I stocked up and got two cases put away. Usually a can lasts me two days and then I switch to another food like chicken or beef or venison. Whatever is on a good sale and I have in the rotation (i.e. laundry room!)


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Ruffrider25 said:


> Well I ended up getting Orijen Six Fish because they didn't have the Orijen Adult,.....One thing I noticed was the smell when opening the bag. It may be because I quit smoking and I am more sensitive to these things but holy crap does it smell. Has a much stronger odor then the old stuff!


You made an excellent choice! The fishy foods are pretty stinky, but take it as an indicator that there is actually real fish in there. I rotate my cat's food every bag, and right now she's on EVO fish, and I can't stand the smell, but deal with it for her. 



Ruffrider25 said:


> I am going to try and ease her into the food over a 2 week period, and just keep adding a little bit each day until she is getting a full cup of it a day.


A slow transition will be key, and just keep in mind that you more than likely WILL notice some gas during and after the transition. This is normal, and should get better after about a month, don't let it scare you away, you'll see it with nearly any transition. 
That being said, I think a whole cup of Orijen for a dog under 10 lbs is a LOT. I personally have never fed Orijen, but I have fed EVO, which is comparable, to my Corgi, and he's 10lbs and I was feeding just under 1/2 cup/ day. He's incredibly active, was going to daycare five days a week at the time, and playing with my other dogs. I really advise against feeding such a small dog anywhere near a whole cup. Definately if you see loose stools, cut the amount back.



Ruffrider25 said:


> Old Roy Miniature Dog Biscuits, Purina Tiny T Bonz, and Beggin Strips all in the trash. I had to keep her Kong Cookies because they are her favorite thing in the world and she gets one at bed time every night.


A lot of people come to this realization pretty quickly after looking into what they feed their pets. You might want to look into making your own treats, that way you know exactly what goes into them, as well as the quality of the ingredients. I know a lot of people also buy dehydrators, and just dehydrte liver, kidney, or muscle meat and use them as treats. I think that's a great way of making dog treats, though I have yet to do it.



Ruffrider25 said:


> So the canned food doesn't need to have the same protein source as the kibble? .


Nope. :smile: In fact, if you'r going to stick with the same dry food all the time, it would be especially benefitial to rotate protein sources of the canned food. When I fed kibble to my dogs, they got a different kind of canned food every time i gave it to them. I rotated just about every good brand, and they loved it. Since you're feeding grain free kibble, I'd stick with grain free cans. Instinct, Evo, Core, Merrick B.G., Wellness Grain Free (wellness does make cans that are grain free that are not part of the core line for cats, so I'm assuming they do for dogs, too.. but I could be wrong)
You can also supplement with plain cooked meat. (obviously you don't want to mix raw and kibble, but cooked chicken or boiled ground beef can be great toppers)



Keep us posted on the progress, and good luck. It always feels great when you make a change for the benefit of your pets, doesn't it?:biggrin:


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## Ruffrider25 (Apr 22, 2010)

CorgiPaws said:


> That being said, I think a whole cup of Orijen for a dog under 10 lbs is a LOT. I personally have never fed Orijen, but I have fed EVO, which is comparable, to my Corgi, and he's 10lbs and I was feeding just under 1/2 cup/ day. He's incredibly active, was going to daycare five days a week at the time, and playing with my other dogs. I really advise against feeding such a small dog anywhere near a whole cup. Definately if you see loose stools, cut the amount back.


I will keep an eye out on her when she goes to the bathroom. Right now she is getting about 1/3 of a cup of the Orijen mixed in with her other food and I haven't seen any issues with her going to the bathroom yet. She has a little gas but nothing major.



CorgiPaws said:


> A lot of people come to this realization pretty quickly after looking into what they feed their pets


I am still pretty upset with myself and want to do something about it. I have actually been thinking about starting a website and blog directly targeting poor quality dog foods but I haven't done enough research on the current community yet, nor have I obtained enough knowledge about it to even be able to supply information confidently.

I am the lead technician for a marketing company on the web development side of things. I have a lot of knowledge on search engine optimization and have the ability to get content ranked very highly within search engines. From just doing some quick poking around, there are over 5 million searches done monthly about dog food, and that’s just basic searches such as “Dog Food” or “Dry Dog Food” or “Canned Dog Food”. If you were to make a site that really targeted what people were typing in the impact could be huge! I will let everyone here know if I do start something like this up. I just haven’t had enough time to really research it yet. Plus with my wife and I expecting our first child in October I really don't want to start something and then not have the time to invest in it.



CorgiPaws said:


> It always feels great when you make a change for the benefit of your pets, doesn't it?


I do feel really good about doing something good for her. My wife and I already see a difference in her in terms of her scratching. We were putting fish oil, this stuff, in her food when she was eating Beneful and it never really seemed to help the itching. She has definitely calmed down with that. The more I read about feeding RAW, the more I want to do it, but my wife is 100% against it so I am guessing Orijen is the best it is going to get .


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

We started our own website for raw feeding since we couldn't really find any that were helpful the way we wanted. Now we are one of the top ranked with search engines for prey model raw feeding.


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## Ruffrider25 (Apr 22, 2010)

One more day and Macchi will fully be on Orijen.

Today I noticed she is trying to lick her butt a lot. I don't know if this could be a reaction to the new food, she never used to try and lick this much.

Also, I went back to the dog food store at lunch today hoping to find some dog treats and I saw they had Evangers Super Premium 100% cans for $1.00 each(small cans). I remembered seeing this as a 6 Star Canned Food on dogfoodanalysis.com so I bought 16 cans of random flavors. I got back to work and searched the forums and found a post about how the company owners stole $1.7 million in utilities from earlier this month. So does anyone think I should not trust the quality of this food? Ingredients still just say meat and water.


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## Ruffrider25 (Apr 22, 2010)

So I don't know if I am over reacting and being a nervous parent or what, but Macchi didn't take a poop tonight. Usually she always poops right at 6:00 PM. It's like clockwork. The few nights that she hasn't pooped at 6:00 PM. She would go outside at 7:00 and do her business.

Well I've taken her out at 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 and now 9:30 and she still hasn't done her business. She is peeing just like normal. People told me her poop would get smaller, and it has, but is it possible that the Orijen could make her not have to poop at all at night?

She is acting normal and playful just like always. Only thing different about her is she keeps trying to lick her butt.

Tell me I'm just being ridiculous!


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

Ruffrider25 said:


> So I don't know if I am over reacting and being a nervous parent or what, but Macchi didn't take a poop tonight. Usually she always poops right at 6:00 PM. It's like clockwork. The few nights that she hasn't pooped at 6:00 PM. She would go outside at 7:00 and do her business.
> 
> Well I've taken her out at 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 and now 9:30 and she still hasn't done her business. She is peeing just like normal. People told me her poop would get smaller, and it has, but is it possible that the Orijen could make her not have to poop at all at night?
> 
> ...


Well with a higher quality food like Orijen, the poops will be smaller, and also less frequent.


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## Ruffrider25 (Apr 22, 2010)

PUNKem733 said:


> Well with a higher quality food like Orijen, the poops will be smaller, and also less frequent.


I was just being ridiculous I guess. She pooped this AM.

My wife and I were talking and so far we have noticed the following since being on Orijen.

- Bad Breath is gone, completely. Before she had very bad breath, now you really can't smell anything even when shes licking all over the face.

- Poop is definitely smaller, still soft but I attribute that to her not being used to the food completely. And of course, frequency apparent by freak out last night. 

- She doesn't seem to be itchy at all, and we haven't been putting the fish oil capsule in her food. I guess the Orijen Six Fish contains enough of it.

- Unfortunately she keeps trying to lick her butt, she used to never try and get back there.

I am pretty sure I can stop posting in this thread now! Thank you all for helping me get Macchi on a good food, I really appreciate the information you all supplied me.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

The only thing I can think off is that she possibly is trying to empty her anal glands, sometimes changes in food can trigger an overproduction if fluid, though I personally never had issues with Orijen and this issue since the poops are so small and firm, they naturally express the glands while coming out (sorry for being graphic), but its possible that it triggered some sort of reaction due to the food change. 
You can try empty it yourself(not pleasant), or take her to a groomer/vet, I think they'll do it for like $15, if thats not the case, then I would give it more time. 

Also do you deworm her regularly? sometimes licking can also indicate internal parasites.


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