To switch or not to switch?

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

My girls are currently eating Fromm Four Star grain free. I have one (Lucy) who will eat anything I give her and always finishes her meal within minutes. Daphne is very picky and sometimes eats and sometimes not. Pippa is sort of in between the other two. She mostly eats her food but sometimes she follows Daphne's cue and leaves half in her bowl uneaten. 

Lucy is at least 10 lbs overweight and has been on the green bean diet with no success. I was talking with the owner of my local pet food store and he suggested the Zignature line because besides being grain free it is also Gluten free. It is actually a less expensive option for me so that is a plus but not a necessity. I know it is on the recommended list and that is great. My concern is, is it really just as good for them? I don't want to make a change that might not be as good as what they are already eating. 

I will also switch Baby Lyla (my daughters Golden) just to make it easier for when she comes to my house. She eats Fromm but not the grain free option and Zignature is all grain free. She does eat the grain free when she visits because my daughter is lazy and doesn't want to pack up food for her..Lol. 

One interesting fact I found is that the Zignature costs the same whether I get it from my local provider or online at Chewy or Petflow. I do like to support my local store and that certainly makes the choice easier. Fromm has quite a big price difference on line versus locally. 

Is there anything to be concerned about? I have looked at their website and of course looked here at the list but I want to make sure I am not making a mistake and the nutrition will be just as good. I know Karen has probably done way more research than I know how to so Im hoping for some guidance and/or reassurance.

[Diana Erhart]

My Charlie has been eating the Zignature Turkey formula for about 2-3 years now and is doing great.  He is a very picky eater and this is the only food that he will eat consistently.  We tried every dog food on the market in the first six years of his life and he would not eat any of them for more than one or two small bags.  I had given more dog food to our local shelters over the years than I can count until we tried the Zignature.  He is very healthy and we have been happy with the product.  

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Thank you Diana! Thats good to know.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The information that pet supply store clerks are giving out gets more and more bizarre every day, lol.

First, gluten has nothing at all to do with weight loss. 

Second, there is no gluten in any grain free food, unless it contains brewer's yeast, which the Fromm Four Star grain-free formulas do not. 

So there is no reason for you to switch foods if you don't want to. Switching to Zignature or any other brand will not make a difference in Lucy's weight. For weight loss, you need to reduce the dog's calorie intake and/or increase exercise. Just like for people. :) You need to be carefully monitoring Lucy's caloric intake. Can you tell me how much of which Fromm formula she is getting per day, and what else she is getting in the way of treats, green beans, etc? I may be able to help.

All that said, Zignature is a very good brand. I'm actually considering switching JD to their Trout and Salmon formula because of issues with his current food. So if you'd like to switch, there are no concerns about the food not being "as good". But switching alone won't make a difference in Lucy's weight. 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

I measure their food with a measuring cup. The smaller girls get 1 cup twice a day. Lucy gets a smaller portion. There is a decorative line on the cup that I fill to and it amounts to, she get 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup so its a little more than 3/4 cup twice a day. I have also been adding a teaspoon of coconut oil lately to try to help. When I was feeding her green beans, I would give her 1 cup green beans + 1/2 cup of food. I do rotate the flavors so right now they are eating the Surf & Turf which has 409 calories per cup. All the grain free are within 2 calories per cup. I give her Purebites chicken flavor for treats and (poor girl) I usually break hers into a smaller piece than the others get. Sometimes I give them Fromm  low-fat Cranberry Liver Recipe treats that are 1 calorie each. I have cut way back on treats because of her and only give them maybe 3 or 4 per day. Occasionally a couple more but I really try not to.

When Lucy first came to live with us in Feb 2013 she weighed 33 lbs and was probably a bit underweight. Once we got her home we had her spayed because she was a breeding dog. Since then she has packed on the pounds and now weighs 49. My guess is she should be about 40 lbs to be at a healthy weight.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Stop the coconut oil. It has absolutely no benefit for dogs and she doesn't need the added calories. 

To get Lusy down to 40 lbs, she should be getting approximately 600 calories per day. A cup and a half of food (3/4 cup twice a day) @ 409 kcal/cup is more than that, and that's without the few treats, green beans, etc. So I'd give her two-thirds of a cup twice a day, which is 548 calories, and then you can add a half cup of no sodium added canned green beans, warmed, to each meal, which will add only 30 calories per day. That gives you room for 22 calories worth of treats each day without going over, lol.  And I'd make sure Lucy isn't getting any of that food that Daphne and Pippa are leaving in their bowls. :) 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Thanks Karen! I will give it a try. She is actually very good about not getting their food. Makes me feel bad because I know she wants it but she has been told before so she just walks by. I usually do pick it up once they walk away. Daphne sometimes just sniffs and turns up her nose before walking away but I know she is not starving. Its just her choice.

[Rae]

Karen, thanks for the info on coconut oil! I had been told it was GREAT for dogs and read a long list of reasons an older dog would benefit from it! So no coconut oil! Right?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd bet some serious money that you didn't get that info on the benefits of coconut oil for dogs from a fact-based source, lol. 

No reason to give coconut oil to dogs, young or old. They benefit from the Omega 3 fatty acids DHA & EPA, which are only found in fish.There is no DHA or EPA in coconut oil, in fact it contains very little Omega 3 fatty acid of any kind.

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

One of my cousins has been overweight most of her life. She was unable to lose weight. A few years ago she went gluten free and lost weight. It was found she had a gluten intolerance. I wonder if it is possible for dogs to have a gluten intolerance.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Anne, I'm not sure how it was determined that your cousin had a gluten intolerance, but when people cut out starchy foods like bread, pasta, and baked goods, i.e. foods that contain gluten, they do tend to lose weight. There's been a lot of anecdotal misinformation over the last few years in the media and popular culture about "gluten intolerance", but the fact is that it's extremely rare. I tend to think that your cousin's weight loss had less to do with cutting gluten than with cutting carbs, sugars, and calories. 

[Donna K & Quincy]

I'll vouch for that. I recently went wheat free as an experiment to see if it would help my energy levels, that didn't happen but was pleasantly surprised to lose ten pounds without counting a single calorie or avoiding anything but wheat. Cutting out wheat cuts out a lot of things that I would normally eat and made me think twice before eating something. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Good for you, Donna! 

I also tend to favor the kinds of human "diets" that don't involve measuring, counting, weighing, exchanges, points, or any kind of math in general, lol. They're easy, they're effective, they don't encourage obsessive behaviors or thought patterns, and you can still eat large amounts of food if you want to. :)