Still having issues with Orijen

[Katie]

I'm really getting frustrated with my food issues.

My vet is beginning to give me a hard time about changing foods.  She says "although she is gaining weight nicely, I'm not too concerned but I can still feel her ribs and back.  I would like to see her filling out more"  She says the puppy food is too rich and she probably needs some healthy grains. She the first one to say shes not familiar with Orijen as there are too many on the market and she cant keep up with them all. 

Her poo has never seemed good and firm but they are tootsie rollish from time to time.  Mostly, she has poo that looks like pudding.  She is still only going 3-4 times a day so not a lot of frequency.  

I watch what she eats all day so no treats or people food and nothing outside. 

I do allow her beef trachea to chew on.

I'm watching the amount we feed her as maybe I am over feeding. She was getting about 1 1/2 cup a day.  once in the morning and once in the evening. I'll back that down to about a cup a day.  The vet will have a fit as she says thats not even thought I'm following the recomendations.  

Luna is 24 lbs and other wise a normal crazy doodle. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's very nice of you, Julie, thank you. 

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

Ditto!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

:)

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

It took nearly four weeks for Riley to settle with Orijen. You need to give this time. Hope you don't mind me saying but your vet sounds not very smart. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

At least, not smart about food and nutrition. The dog should gain more weight, so the owner should switch to a food with fewer calories? The poop is loose so the dog should be eating something with lots of unnecessary fillers? Um, no.

[Katie]

I agree that she is not very educated on the food options out there and she has been very honest with me about that.  She is happy with the weight gain on Luna but because she is uneducated on Orijen she thinks that 1 1/4 cup a day is not enough food for a growing puppy.  I am still seeing adequate weight gains as I jumped on my scale with her this morning and she's up to 27 lbs.  It may not be the most accurate but I know she is gaining.  

I'll start the probiotics as soon as they arrive.  Luna is going to be spayed the end of October so I hope to get this all under control. 

I hate that I have portrayed my vet badly.  She really is a good vet. 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I would say that up to 27lbs is terrific and your vet should be happy about that as this was the main concern. I'm sure the probiotics will help and my own feeling on the lots of poos is that as you are rightly feeding a very generous amount  it is a natural outcome.  My vet is also uneducated on Orijen but I only had a conversation once about it. She has never broached the subject again Lol 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm sure she is a good vet, but like most vets, she received no education on nutrition in vet school, because the only nutrition curriculum in vet school comes in the form of elective seminars presented by Hills Science Diet and Purina. Therefore, you need to ignore her advice about food, as politely as possible. 

Common sense tells us that the amount of food any dog (or person, for that matter) requires is dictated not by the volume but by the calories. A tablespoon of peanut butter contains more calories than two cups of green beans. You don't have to be a genius to understand that a tiny portion of a high calorie food is more "fattening" than a large portion of a low calorie food. So the next time your vet says that a cup and a quarter a day is not enough, all you have to do is give her the facts. "Dr., Orijen puppy food contains 490 calories per cup, which is 133 more calories per cup than Science Diet puppy food. So you can see that a smaller portion of calorie dense Orijen provides the same amount of calories as a larger portion of a less nutrient-dense food. Clearly, since she's gaining weight, she's getting enough calories to sustain her growth."

[Amy and Annabelle]

My only concern she was trying make excuses to get you on a food for her profit and not really for Luna's well being.