New Orijen kibble variety!

[Abigail *George & Juno*]

http://www.orijen.ca/products/dog-food/dry-dog-food/tundra/



I don't know about everyone else, but I'm super excited about this. :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Excellent. 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Looks great, more variety for my boys. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm going to give one word of caution here, on the subject of variety.  Between the 4 Orijen formulas, you now have just about every possible animal protein source with the exception of kangaroo. In fact, leaving out 6 Fish, you still have just about every possible source of animal protein other than a few varieties of fish, since there is some type of fish in all Orijen formulas.. 

God forbid that any of you ever find yourselves in the situation of needing to use a novel protein diet due to serious GI disease, but the reality is that some of you might. JD is one of 4 doodles that I personally know who did have this situation. In hindsight, I really wish I'd reserved a couple of proteins. Prior to the introduction of this new formula, if you rotated the other three Orijen formulas, your dog was not getting venison, duck, or rabbit, all of which are in this new one. 

So while variety is nice, I honestly wish they hadn't used quite so many different animal proteins in the new formula. 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I was only thinking the same thing. I was saying to myself what is Karen going to advice to people who need to feed novel proteins if the pups have had all these?

[Abigail *George & Juno*]

Is there a problem with NOT rotating? Our girls do REALLY well on six fish and love it as well. Can we continue to feed only that and then have these other varieties to switch to if problems arise?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's kind of a Catch-22. The thinking is that a rotation diet helps to prevent food allergies, which can develop when a dog eats the same protein sources day after day, for years, but at the same time, you need to reserve some protein sources in case the dog does develop a food allergy. (THis is not a likely possibility, but it does happen.) It also helps prevent the dog becoming bored with the food.

This is not a problem with many lines, in which the formulas are limited to only a couple of protein sources. Fromm's 4 Star line would be a good example. You could rotate through a few of them and reserve let's say pork and duck, "just in case". 

But with Orijen, I would say you are fine sticking with the 6 Fish for now and maybe considering rotating with one other formula down the road. 

[Abigail *George & Juno*]

So maybe after a year rotate in some adult formula? Would two years be too long? That leaves the most "novel" proteins of any combination of two formulas. Is there a minumum amount of rotation that needs to happen? Does it really need to happen every other bag? We are six fish lovers here.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Abigail, I honestly wouldn't worry about it. There are really no hard and fast rules or guidelines about rotating formulas and no real solid proof that it makes that much difference. I think it might be more of a concern for dogs who already have other kinds of allergies or immune system issues, but for young healthy dogs, I don't think you need to worry. Stick with the 6 Fish for now, it's a really good food, and maybe revisit in a year. 

[Abigail *George & Juno*]

Thank you Karen. :)

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

If we have only used the " Orijen Adult Grain-Free Dry Dog Food", which would be a good one to try next? With the thought of reserving one?

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Orijen, Adult Grain-free is  what we feed our dogs, Leslie, day in and day out. They like it more now than they did a year ago.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And that's a perfectly fine option.