New Acana flavor

[Carli & Hank]

I am a fairly new member of Doodle Kisses and have been doing ALOT of reading on here....I can't thank you all enough for all of your knowledge!!  I have a 5 month old ALD who is pretty much perfect in every way except his food/poop...imagine that!!!  He came home from the breeder on Orijen puppy food, which I know is pretty much one of the best, but we have yet to have many solid poops.  Have done the pumpkin thing, although I feel if I need to give him pumpkin to have firm stool than he may not be on the right food?  He's not overly interested in his food, but I also know this may be par for the course with doodles as well!  He is about 30 lbs, supposed to be a small standard at 50ish lbs, so growing very well.  

Anyway after much reading and speaking to the breeder I have decided to bump down to the Acana, thought it would be an easier transition since it is another Champion food.  The store I bought it from yesterday only had the brand new flavor in a smaller bag, the Ranchland???  It is free-range beef, bison, and lamb.  Has anyone tried this flavor yet?  The Orijen puppy is obviously chicken, so I am wondering if there is an improvement on the new food will it be because of the new food or the meat??

Last night I started mixing the Acana in and he seemed a lot more interested in his bowl...probably because it was something new??  We will see how it goes.  I would love to stick with one of these foods.  I wouldn't even be opposed to mixing the Orijen and Acana half and half if that works, I think I have read where others have done that.  Ideally I would like to keep a little of the Orijen puppy in him for a little bit longer...not sure if it is ok to switch fully to an all life stage food (Acana) this early?? 

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Happy Saturday!

[Carli & Hank]

Just wondering, but what made you keep doing the mixture even as they got older?  Is the Orijen adult  better than the Acana adult??  I was thinking if this mixture worked for me once Hank was a year and off Orijen puppy I would go straight Acana???  Just trying to get educated:)

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Daisy was on Orijen but she became a picky eater, never had a poop problem though...we also moved to Acana and she gobbles her food up, she has been on it for about 8 months and never doesn't like it. She is eating the Pacifica (Salmon). It is the only flavor our Vet carries, he is on the buy 12 get one free plan. One 30ish # bag lasts a little over a month.

We also give her a tablespoon of Grain Free canned Chicken Wellness.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Lisa, there are pet supply stores that participate in the buy 12, get one free program. You might check the stores in your area that carry Acana, and see if they do, you could then try some of the other Acana formulas.

[KC]

Chiming in here too. We got a sample bag of the Acana Ranchlands and Milo LOVED it. He too had runny poops on Orijen, and will still do that with any change in the diet, although removing chicken and grains considerably helped firm up the poop. As a puppy Milo went from runny to firm poop within a few days of switching to Acana.

We are now thinking after seeing his enthusiasm with the new bag, that we are going to buy smaller bags, as they do seem to taste best right after opening, and also rotate through Grasslands, Pacific and Ranchlands.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

A bit of clarification, because a couple of people have mentioned their dogs having runny poop on Orijen and also mentioned grains. Orijen doesn't contain any grains, and never has.

[KC]

Oh, I think that was me, but we went to Acana from Nature's Varity via Orijen. I should have clarified. On that note, although I think you disagree, Karen, we did find that his constant ear infections went away once he stopped eating wheat and chicken. (I know typing doesn't convey the tone, so add cheeky grin at Karen)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I learn more every day, including how much I don't know, lol, so I'm now willing to concede that wheat and/or chicken might have contributed to the ear infections. But there's no wheat in Nature's Variety, or in any of the brands we recommend. The grains in the foods we recommend do not include corn or wheat.

[Jess and Pippin]

Oh.  Just thought of one other thing.  Pippin's stool got quite yucky when he was teething.  Might have been due to extra saliva due to all the extra chewing.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Carli...we have a 70 lb standard GD.  We changed Gracie Doodle to Acana (all flavors) around two years old with the help of Karen who heads up this group.  We were always having "soft serve" poops and wanted more firming.  Also, Gracie was not interested in her food.  When ever we introduced something new she would love it...for about a day or two.  Last January my husband heard about the "green bean diet" for dogs.  It really is used for those who need to reduce the weight of their dogs.  But we started giving Gracie 1/2c of frozen cut green beans (defrosted in microwave) with her Acana kibble and she loves, loves, loves them.  We are just coming up a year now of green beans and she asks for her breakfast and dinner and eats the beans first but always empties her bowl.  Her poops have been perfect.  Easy to pick up and if she poops on a hill they roll down!  ha ha.  She did lose some weight on the new diet which she really did not need to do.  We had originally cut back the kibble a bit to compensate for the beans but we have added the kibble back.  She is currently 68 lbs. but 70 is her all round normal weight.  We never give her any table scraps or human food!  The green beans have totally changed Gracie's life since she has never been a food motivated dog.  She loves her beanies and is a happy, healthy  4 1/2 year old.  This has worked for quite a few of our friends who are using the same diet now. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

In an entire cup full of sodium-free canned green beans, there is only 27 calories, which is practically nothing at all, so there's no need to cut back the kibble to allow for the added calories, unless you are using the green bean diet for weight loss purposes. In that case, the idea is that the dog will not feel as hungry from the reduction in calories caused by cutting back the amount of kibble, because the beans, being mostly insoluble plant fiber, will "fill him up".

[Carli & Hank]

Thank you so much for the information!!! I have read some others on here that have added the green beans for some bulk.  I am going to see how the addition of Acana goes...so far his first poop was perfect!!!  Funny after just 2 meals with the new food. We'll see!!!!  Your dog is precious!!