Orijen Puppy

[Krista Smith]

So after a very long wait I get my little red girl Gracie next week 4/16. Her breeder has her on Iams, I feed my 6 year old Weim Orijen. Is Orijen puppy too much protein? Is Fromm Puppy a better choice? What has your experiences been? Has anyone had any issues with Orijen puppy??

Thanks
Krista

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I fed Orijen puppy-no issues. We are Champion people for life. Love that food!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We have many discussions here about this. IMO, there is no better quality dog food company than Champion, makers of Orijen and Acana. If I had a new puppy, Orijen would always be my first choice. 

Also, there is no such thing as "too much protein" when it comes to feeding puppies and dogs. There are only three sources of calories: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Protein is a dog's natural food. Orijen's Puppy formula has only 38% protein, which is not too much at all.

That said, there is no one food that works for every puppy or every dog. You can't know if it will work well for your pup until you try it. The fact that someone else's pup didn't do well on it doesn't mean yours won't. When switching a puppy from a cheap, cereal filled food like Iams to a high quality grain free food like Orijen, an adjustment period is required. Many dogs will have some gas for a few weeks until they adjust. 

Most importantly, and I cannot emphasize this enough: 

It's critical that you not change anything about her diet for at least two weeks after she comes home. That means you keep her on the food and treats the breeder is feeding, even if they aren't so great.

Do not introduce any new treats or chews either. Keep her diet exactly the same as it was at the breeder's. 

Many, many doodle puppies come home with giardia and other parasites. Giardia has a 10-14 day incubation period, so it won;t show up in a fecal test right away. The excitement and stress of leaving the mother, the litter, and the only home the puppy has ever known can contribute to tummy troubles, too. And an 8 week old puppy has only been eating solid food of any kind for about 4 weeks, so the digestive system is very immature.

We have even had members whose brand new puppies had serious health issues resulting in digestive symptoms.

If you change the food before the dog has had a chance to settle in, and before any parasite issues have time to show up in a fecal test, and the dog has diarrhea, you will not know if it's caused by the food change, stress, parasites, or a digestive illness, and the breeder will blame it on the food change. Thus begins a journey of frustration trying to figure it out and an endless round of food changes. You also don;t want to do anything to upset that delicate digestive system, as diarrhea can cause a young puppy to dehydrate very quickly, and is going to make housebreaking a whole lot tougher.

So you wait. If you leave the dog's diet exactly as is, and diarrhea develops, you have just eliminated any connection to food as the cause, and saved yourself a lot of aggravation. And of course, if the puppy comes home with diarrhea that doesn't resolve in a day, you know your breeder sent you a puppy with an intestinal parasite and you can probably recoup the cost of the fecal testing and the treatment, lol. (I personally would have fecal done on any new puppy I got, along with a general once-over at the vet's office, but parasites may not show up right away.)

So wait at least two weeks. If, after two weeks, the stool is firm and regular and everything seems fine with the pup's digestion, you can start changing her over. Make only one change at a time. 

[Dee & Chappie]

We got our puppy Jan 7th and I had read about Orijen so asked the breeder if she would wean Chappie to it, after taking him away from his mother.   She did, and sent him home to us with a small bag.    Chappie never liked the stuff, and did have loose stools (which I could have tolerated, they were not watery, just soft).  Thus began the hunt for a food he liked,  After trail and error with all kinds of kibble with a topper, or kibble mixed in water, we finally have found that Wild Callings Canned Beef is the only thing he will gobble down.  I did research on canned vs kibble, and decided he didn't need kibble, that canned only was fine.   He is a mini,  and now at 5 months old, he eats a total of one can a day, three feedings a day, and some boiled or sauted chicken breast before bedtime.   He does't eat near what the information says he should eat, but he is 18 pounds, about the same as his siblings, and healthy.   Just had him neutered, and he came through that fine.  

Hope this helps.   Dee

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The problem with feeding canned for for those of us with larger dogs is that it is cost prohibitive. Because it is mostly water, it's much less nutrient dense than kibble, so you have to feed a lot more. My Jack would need 5 cans per day, or 150 cans per month. Chewy.com sells a case of 12 cans of the beef formula you are feeding for $30.15. That would be less than 2.5 days worth for Jack. We would need more than 12 cases per month, and 12 cases run 361.80, for less than a month's worth of food.That's just not doable for most people. 

And once you start with canned food, the dog is never going to willingly eat kibble without toppers. I'm glad this is working for you, but I really strongly advise against it for most people. Most dogs do just fine with a good quality kibble. 

[Dee & Chappie]

I totally agree with you.  If Chappie were a large dog, I would have to go with a kibble or he would eat me out of house and home.   Fortunatley, he is small, and food is really not that important to him.  

One of his greatest joys in life is running in the sprinklers on our daily walks!  

[Dee & Chappie]

I am thinking about you Krista, and knowing your first night with Gracie may have been sleepless.   Every night gets better.   I am sure Gracie is the cutest thing on the block!!  Dee