go! vs. Acana?

[Roni & Roxy]

Has anyone tried "go!" dog food? I think it's pretty new. I'm trying to figure out what to feed Roxy now (she's 2 1/2 years old). She was on Orijen for over a year with no problems, but then she got diarrhea, and just couldn't get rid of it (even with vet care). A friend suggested switching to Canine Caviar, which we did, and it was a miracle. Perfect poops the next day. She went through two large bags of Canine Caviar (first lamb, then duck), but when we bought the third bag (chicken), she wouldn't touch it. We returned it and got a new bag of lamb, and she wouldn't touch that either! The gal at Pet Supply said that Canine Caviar had changed their formula and that now there was a powerful alfalfa smell (which I couldn't detect). She gave me some samples of "go!" dog food, which Roxy likes (she eats it DRY, shockingly...we've always wet her food before).

So my question is, should be make the switch to "go!" which I don't see on the recommended list, or should we try Acana Limited Ingredient? She is a picky eater and has a sensitive stomach. 

If we switch to Acana at this point, do we need to wean her over, or just do it in one shot?

We just got new carpeting, and two days after it went in, we came downstairs and found diarrhea on it!!! Aughhh! I do not want that to happen again!

Thanks for any advice!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Roni, "Go!" is made by Petcurean. It's not new, and has been on our recommended brands list since the beginning, but the brand is Petcurean. "Go!" is just one of their formulas. 

Petcurean is a good company, but it doesn't compare to Champion (Orijen & Acana) IMO. If you want to switch foods, I'd suggest one of the Acana Singles limited ingredient foods. 

That said, you need to try to figure out what is causing the latest digestive issue. If I'm understanding you correctly, she just got diarrhea and she's currently eating the Go samples? If so, doesn;t sound like the right food for her, lol. If not, what is she eating right now? And we need to look at her entire food intake, including treats & chews. 

[Roni & Roxy]

No, she was still eating Canine Caviar when she had the diarrhea one day last week. And it was just the one incident...perfectly normal poops the rest of the day. My husband said he saw her eating a piece of wood in the backyard, so we think it was from that. She doesn't get any chews, and very few treats (if any, it's a finger of peanut butter or a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt or a carrot). She just started the "go!" samples two days ago. So I think I'll return the big bag of Canine Caviar we just got (and she won't touch) and get Acana Singles. Do you think we can go straight into it? Also, the gal at Pet Supply said less protein is better. I told her Roxy had been on Orijen, and she said, "Oh, that's SO rich in protein!" "Go!" has less protein than Acana, I think. What do you think about protein levels?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If there's one thing to take away from this, it's that you should never make food choices based on advice from salespeople in pet supply stores, lol. 

Less protein is not better.  Less fat can be better for dogs with digestive issues, and higher protein foods typically also have higher fat, because there is no fat in most plant foods, and protein levels are totally based on percentages of animal proteins versus plants. The lower the protein percentage, the higher the carb (plants) percentage. Plants provide mostly bulk in dog foods, so high carb levels can actually make digestive issues worse in some cases. The salesgirl doesn't know what she's talking about.

You cannot say that Go! has less protein than Acana. Which Go! formula versus which Acana formula? There are many formulas in both lines. The Acana Singles formulas have a lower protein content than the Acana regionals formulas, it's 27% for all of the Singles formulas. I looked at the Go! Grain Free Turkey formula, and it has 30% protein: http://www.petcurean.com/product/go-sensitivity-shine-grain-free-po...

So definitely not lower, lol. 

I would switch cold turkey. 

[Roni & Roxy]

OMG, Karen, you are such a GEM!!! Thank you for always being here! XXXOOO

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

So maybe the next time a sales clerk recommends something or gives you advice, you'll ask me first? LOL

I really am always here. :) 

[Roni & Roxy]

I DID ask you first!! I only took the free samples home, but I asked YOU before I bought any! :D

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd also suggest that right now today you order a bottle of Proviable DC capsules and start those when you get them. I think Roxy would greatly benefit from a good probiotic, and Proviable is the best canine formula on the market. 

[Roni & Roxy]

I got that awhile back on your suggestion. She gets it daily. :)  Thanks!!

[Ashley Thurman]

I had so many issues with my doodle when we brought him home with diarrhea... he was tested for everything, changing diets, nothing worked. My vet recommended trying this food before taking further measures and it is the ONLY food he's had that works for him. There is only one place locally that sells it where I'm at and he said that another lady comes in and buys it for her doodle because it's the only thing hers could eat too! I'm a big fan. Right now he's on the sensitivity and shine duck formula, but I'm considering moving him to a less fatty protein. But I highly recommend it! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The fat content of the protein source prior to processing has no bearing on the fat content of the finished dog food. The Go Sensitivity and Shine LID Duck formula's fat percentage is exactly the same as the Salmon formula and the Venison formula. They all contain 12% fat, which is very low. 

[Art Robertson]

I've tried Acana, the chicken flavor I think it was, and Ellie did not really like it.  I am now feeding her Wellness which I got at Pet Smart.  They have 2 or 3 flavors.  I got two different flavors but honestly can't remember right now which they were.  Anyway, Ellie seems to like Wellness a lot better than the Acana. I mixed the two bags together. I did some research and this was at the top of the list.  The only problem I have is that it only comes in a small bag,(4or 5 pounds), and a very large bag.  I wish they had a medium size bag!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Again, "Acana" and "Wellness" are only brand names. Within each brand, there are several different lines (grain-free, limited ingredient, etc) and within each line, there are several different formulas (duck, salmon, etc). So we just can't compare Acana with Wellness. We can only compare a particular Acana formula with a particular Wellness formula, i.e. "Ellie really didn't like Acana's Chicken and Burbank Potato formula, so I tried the Wellness Core Ocean formula and she liked that better." 

I'm also not sure where you did your research, but with all due modesty, I like to think that this very group provides the best information on dog foods out there, lol, and the brands at the top of our list are those made by Champion: Orijen and Acana. 

There's nothing wrong with Wellness; I feed one of their Simple Solutions formulas to my own dog. But I'd bet that Ellie would have liked one of their other formulas if she didn't like the chicken one. :)