If Orijen Puppy Did Not Work For You, What Did You Switch To?

[SoSa]

I had to give up on Orijen Puppy. Ace's poop turned completely runny on it. It was awful. I am wondering if anyone had a similar experience, and what have you found success with. We were trying to transition him off of Costco's Nature's Domain, Salmon and Sweet Potato.

[Cyndi, The Boys & Callie]

Ours (all 3) eat ACANA ,have since they were puppies and have never had issues.  It's an all stages food so we never went with a puppy formula.  Ours eat Wild Prairie but there are

several different versions.  Pacifica is their primarily fished based one.  The company has never, to the best of my knowledge, had a recall and we've always been very pleased.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Acana is owned and made by the same company that makes Orijen, Champion Foods. Excellent quality, never a recall. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Is it possible you were feeding too much? You usually feed less with Orijen. It has approximately 150 calories more per cup than the Nature's Domain food, so you'd feed a lot less. 

Remind us of how old Ace is now. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You could try Wellness Simple Solutions Salmon & Potato. Nutritionally, it's very similar to the Costco food.

[SoSa]

We fed less with Orijen. Ace will be 6 months old next week.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

We had a similar experience with Orijen Puppy- mushy stools. However, looking back on it now, I have to wonder if it was maybe the combination of Orijen Puppy AND the boatload of bully sticks that we were giving her to chew on during that mouthy time! :-)  Even now, if I give her a bully stick, I can expect a softer stool the next day. I just don't give them to her near as often as I used to.

We ended up switching her to Wellness Core Puppy, and she did great on that with only an occasional soft stool. When she hit a year, I was able to switch her back to Orijen (Six Fish), and her poops are better now than they ever have been. I'm also giving her Proviable every other day, so I'm sure that is helping, too. 

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Tara had the same problem when eating Origen. She does great with any of the Acana choices.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Loki has done amazing on Fromm Gold, I've found with grain free he had lots of silent but deadly farts, maybe try a recommended food with healthy grains? Maybe it's just Loki or maybe I misinterpreted the grain free food for him but the current food he's on is great with his tummy!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The Nature's Domain formula that Ace is currently eating is grain-free, and he hasn't had problems with it, so grain-free is not the issue in this case. It may be the change in protein sources, it may be the higher fat content, hard to say, but it's not the absence of grain. 

A lot of dogs do go through a gassy period when they are first switched to Orijen, but that usually goes away after a month or two, as they adjust. 

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Oh interesting!

[Helga, Nimbus, Sierra, Clooney]

I had mine on Orijen for a long time. Never a problem with his digestion. He's just a very picky eater and didn't want it at all anymore. Same with Acana and Fromm. Now I'm trying Zignature. They don't like the salmon, but liked turkey and lamb. Turkey was their favorite. No stool issues. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Keep in mind that you don't have to switch brands to change formulas. You can rotate formulas within the same brand and line when dogs get tired of the same food all the time. Orijen makes 4 different adult formulas, Acana has 4 in their regionals line and 3 in their Singles line, and Fromm's Four Star line has 12 different formulas from which to choose, and is specially designed for the purpose of using a rotation diet. So instead of switching to another brand, you can just to a different formula in the same line. 

If you haven't already read "An Ode to Sojo's", I think you will find it interesting and amusing. :)