My puppy love Eukanuba :

[Pam and Ginger Snap]

Why is grain free important?  My puppy came home on  Eukanuba lamb and rice puppy and has had no stomach issues.  I give her Zukes and baby carrots and green beans, cheese.

 

I looked at the list of recommended foods and I was confused.  If Ginger is having no stomach issues, why would I change her?

[Adina P]

The main reason most people on here say to stay away from Eukanuba is not because it necessarily causes stomach issues.  But because it is a poor quality food from a company that has a record of issues with quality and safety.  Sort of like someone can eat McDonald's every day and not have any stomach issues, but that doesn't mean that's how a person SHOULD eat every day.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Yes, it's not an issue of grains vs. grain-free (I feed my Peri food with grains - Fromm).  It is the issue that Eukanuba uses poor quality ingredients and it is not always safe (think recall lists).

 

 

[Pam and Ginger Snap]

So what should I change her to?

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

It depends on what you have access to.  At minimum, Blue Buffalo and Solid Gold can usually be found at Petsmart. 

 

I would keep Ginger on a "healthy grain" diet since you are currently feeding grains.  Our list of recommended foods is quite long.  You will find that all of us feed different foods on that list.  I personally feed the 4-star Fromm line to Peri.  We rotate between duck, pork, chicken, salmon and whitefish each time I get a bag of food. This keeps things interesting.  But, you may not have Fromm near you. 

 

We list the website links for each recommended food. If you go there, you can see where they sell in your area.  Most of them are not in a big pet store, such as Petsmart or Petco.

 

Here is the link:  http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/recomme...

 

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Any of these foods would be good to try.  Really, it is about trial and error - what works for one dog is not the same for others!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It also depends on how old she is, what size she is expected to be at maturity, and your budget.

I would look for a lamb and rice based food, since that is what she's currently eating. Chicken and rice would be fine, too, since there's chicken meal in her current food. You can also go with fish-based formulas, as the Euk. formula you're currently feeding contains fish meal. Once she's transitioned, you can try other "flavors" of the same formula.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The problem is not tummy issues, or grain-free food, but rather, preservatives that can cause long term organ damage, cheap ingredients that can promote food allergies and do not provide good nutrition, and ingredients sourced from thrid world countires through food brokers, which is how more than 2000 dogs lost their lives in 2007...a lot of them from Eukanuba. These problems take time to show up. We have dozens of discussions here about these issues. When I have time later, I'll try to do an analysis of what you are feeding, and provide links to the previous discussions.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Transitioning is always easier than all at once switches. You can start with 1/4 to 3/4 old versus new for a few days to a week. If all is well just keep increasing the new food versus the old until you're at all new.