Great results with TOTW

[Julie B.]

Thought I would put a plug in for TOTW. I had been having a lot of trouble with runny poops and GI upset in my new puppy due to Giardia complications. I also have an older doodle who has always had a sensitive stomach. I was looking for an all life stages food so I could feed them both the same thing. I tried Fromm's Salmon A la veg first but it didn't seem to help the poops plus it was pretty inconvenient to buy. I recently switched them over to TOTW and it is going really well. Both dogs have firmed up, the puppy has quit eating poop and I am able to feed the pup a lot of food because the calorie content is relatively low. I think she was going through a big growth spurt and I wasn't feeding her enough so she was eating everything in site even poop! Now she seems more content and I would even consider her a little chubby. For those of you trying to get your puppies poops in "order" I would recommend trying TOTW. You can find it at Complete Petsmart and I am going to see if Petsmart carries it because I bet they do. Tractor Supply also carries it which was surprising.

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

Hey Nancy - In Richmond, the cheapest place I have found TOTW is Crittertown Bath House off Forest Hill Ave. Simon eats Venison&Bison. My other guys eat Salmon/Sweet Potato Natural Balance. They have it there, too - at a much lower price.

[2m42srv7vi6sq]

Tractor Supply has it on sale, this week, for $39.99 per 30# bag!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We used to love TOTW here in the Food group, and many people used it with great results. The problem became that TOTW is made by Diamond Foods, which makes a lot of the other pet food lines including Blue Buffalo and Kirkland, and there seems to be an issue with the fish meal in Diamond Foods products being preserved with ethoxyquin. Dianne and others have tried to get a clear statement on this from the company and we cannot get what we would like to hear, which is that the fish meal used in their foods is not preserved with ethoxyquin.
All fish meals are preserved with something before they get to the company who is including them in their product; Diamond's position has been that while they do not add ethoxyquin, all fish meals are preserved with ethoxyquin before being shipped. But we do know that some companies, like Orijen, make their own fish meals and do not use ethoxyquin as a preservative.
For those who are using TOTW and other Diamond Foods, do not panic. While it would be best not to have any ethoxyquin in the food, the tiny amount in TOTW is well below what the government standard considers safe. If even this tiny risk is unacceptable to you, there are alternatives.
Julie, what is working so well for you is not TOTW per se, but rather, a high quality grain-free food. Fromm is a great food, but it is not grain-free. Any of the high quality grain-free foods would probably work as well for you.
Here is our discussion from September about the TOTW/ethoxyquin issue that will explain it all:
http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/i-have-just-shared-the?gro...

[Terri H and Kramer]

I have been overwhelmed by trying to figure out the best food for my doodle. Joined the food group looking for some anwswers and info on feeding Kramer! I did have him on a high-quality food as a young puppy and had ongoing diarrhea, my vet scoffed at the high-priced "boutique" dog foods and recommended Puppy Chow, citing various reasons why this is a fine food for pups. Kramer did best on this food (no more diarrhea and picture-perfect poop) and loves it, but I just couldn't help thinking that now he's one and it's time to change. Reading all the info was confusing and time-consuming, but now that I home on medical leave I am determined to commit to researching food for my beloved pet. While unable to dole out for expensive food since my hubby just got laid off, and the need to meet the monthly bills and feed our human children, I believe it has come down to one brand that I want to throw out for doodle-lovers here to comment on. After spending much time on the subject, what looks like the best choice is Chicken Soup for large breeds. It is made by Diamond Foods and has excellent reviews while not costing an arm and a leg. The ethoxyquin was a problem, but according to several rating websites, DF has committed to eliminating this as of 2007. Everything else was rated VERY highly. I have seen this food locally so I know I won't have to drive far...I just want the best food that won't break the bank! Any feedback from other doodle parents is welcome!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We continue to be cautious about Diamond Foods. The "commitment" made by Diamond as of 2007 was not about ethoxyquin, but rather about the lack of quality control and use of unscrupulous food brokers that caused the death of thousands of pets due to the melamine in the gluten from China. Diamond was a major player in that tragedy.
DF has continued to state that it is impossible to get fish meal that is not preserved with ethoxyquin because the ethoxyquin is added to the meal by law before shipping. But this is not true. There are companies such as Orijen that make their own fish meal, thus eliminating the problem of having to buy it from another supplier already preserved. There are also other, safer preservatives that can be used, but they are more expensive, and Diamond is apparently not willing to spend the extra money to obtain these.
If there is no fish meal in the formula you are feeding, you are probably okay. Even if there is, the amount of ethoxyquin used is within the supposedly safe limits, although no one really knows what that is, and you have to go on faith that the company is telling you the truth about the amount used...but you have to go on faith when you buy any product from any company.
So the bottom line is that we can not recommend Diamond products, but we certainly don't criticize or condemn anyone for using them. Everyone has to make their own informed choices, and we are just here to try to inform. CS is a much better food ingredient-wise than Puppy Chow or any of the crap you can buy at the grocery store. We just are cautious about any food that is owned by huge corporations and purchases their ingredients from third world countries through food brokers. My group co-administrator lost her beautiful dog because of these practices. Another FG member who is very active here has a young dog who survived but is living with permanent kidney damage because of this.
Foods like Puppy Chow produce nice poops for two reasons; one is that the puppy's system is used to processing crap. People who live on junk food often have digestive upsets when you start giving them healthful foods like fruit or vegetables, but that doesn't mean the junk food was better for them, lol.
The other reason is that the cheap foods like Puppy Chow are filled with ingredients designed to keep poop at a minimum. This might be nice for us, but very unhealthy for the dog. It is well-known that it is a sign of a healthy digestive system for humans to have well-formed, bulky stools, and a bad sign for us to have small pellet-like stools. These are factors in colon cancer and other diseases. Tiny stools are not necessarily a good thing for dogs, either.

[Susan]

I do feed TOTW and with great results. Both of my dogs love it and have done extremely well. Marlow was fed Kirkland prior to my adopting him and I had tried so many different foods for Lola (my Dalmatian) because of her sensitive stomach at her advanced age including all the top foods. This is the one that works with her and with Marlow. I am happy till something changes for them!

[Kelly Gallagher]

I was also having problems with my puppy who is now 1. I made the switch to TOTW pacific stream and everything has been great ever since...we switched last August. I know there is a question regarding the ingredient ethoxyquin(spelling?)..but Maddy has done so well on it that I am very reluctant to switch. The only place that I have found that carries it is PetValue..a specialty pet food store where I live. No luck at any of the chain stores. I'm glad it's working for you.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The chain stores in general do not carry the premium foods that we feel are the best quality in terms of ingredients and manufacturers. Farm & garden stores and small privately owned "boutique" style pet supply stores are your best bet for the better foods.
Pet Supplies Plus is one of the bigger chains (they are actually individually owned franchise stores) that carries a good variety of premium foods.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

All I know is that a few weeks ago we changed Gracie Doodle to Acana and have had the best POOPs we have ever seen. They truly are worthy of a photo but I won't!!!! tee hee We also haven't noticed any "gas" since we changed. She was full of it before!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's the fact that Acana is grain-free that probably made the difference. I sometimes want to take a photo of JD's "perfect" poops, too!

[Ann Kendig]

I too have used TOTW and it worked great and the dogs seemed to enjoy it. It was great to be able to rotate the "flavors". We bought it at our local Tractor Supply store it was cheaper to buy it there than the pet stores. Due to Duke's allergies we had to switch to Natural Balance. Unfortunately the dogs don't care for it much. I'm glad that Sidney is doing better! What a relief for you!

[Julie B.]

Thanks Ann! I think we've turned the corner on all the GI issues. Once again, it was Giardia that started the downward spiral. These doodles sure do have a lot of that going around. I think Karen is right... the breeders are putting too many of these dogs out at a time and subsequently don't have the time or energy to keep their kennels clean and free of this parasite. My breeder seemed to have all of the other qualifications I was looking for but so did my previous breeder and her pups had giardia too. Frankly I'm not buying their excuses that "it occurs naturally and many dogs have it without any symptoms"... If I was to advise someone when getting a "designer doodle" I would suggest they look for a good backyard/hobby breeder who has one litter at a time with their house pet and that they do health testing. Then you can be more certain that the puppies were well socialized and kept in cleaner conditions. Just my opinion. Have a great day and enjoy this great spring weather we are having!