Orijen question

[UggaMugga]

I have a 16 week doodle. We brought him home at 8 weeks. The breeder had him on Iams. He wasn't really eating it so I very slowly introduced Merrick. He seemed to like the Merrick better initially but then stopped eating it without a topper. Vet thought he was too thin at 12 weeks. I ended up just adding a variety of toppers and he plumped up nicely. 25lb at 16 weeks.
Unfortunately he is pooping a ton! I picked up Orijen puppy. This morning and afternoon I did 1/2 Orijen and 1/2 Merrick. He loved it. No topper required.
Hoping this is my answer to the picky puppy. Other than a slow transition, any other tip when switching to Orijen? I have heard they eat less of the Orijen right?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Typically, you feed less of Orijen than other foods; sometimes a lot less, depending on what you were previously feeding. I can't tell you exact amounts, because to do that, I would need to know the exact Merrick formula you are feeding; there are dozens of them. But I can tell you that you cannot substitute a portion of the Merrick with an equal size portion of Orijen or you will likely be overfeeding, and that's what's probably causing the excess poop. 

So, which Merrick formula is it? 

[UggaMugga]

Merrick Grain free puppy. Approx 3 cups a day. Stool is well formed just a lot! We just started the Orijen today.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, if you look at the feeding guidelines for the Merrick food, you'll notice that they use the "GOAL weight" rather than the puppy's current weight. So according to that, 3 cups per day is not enough. However, calorie wise, it's fine.

Now if you look at the feeding guidelines for Orijen Puppy, a 25 lb puppy who is expected to weigh 55 lbs as an adult, which is a good estimate for your guy based on his current weight, should be eating about 1 and three-quarter cups per day. A lot less than the Merrick. So to feed a 50/50 mix of the two foods, you'd need to mix half a day's worth of Merrick, or 1.5 cups, with half a day's worth of Orijen, or about 7/8 of one cup. Then you need to divide that into 2 or 3 meals, whichever he's eating. You can see the problem with what you've been doing, lol. If you've been giving him 1.5 cups of each food, he's getting too many calories and too much food, hence the extra poop. 

[UggaMugga]

Thank you so much Karen. This is all very helpful. Thanks for doing the math! The lots of poop was acrually on the Merrrick alone. Well formed but at least 4 or more a day. I'm hoping the Orijen will help. He seems to like it. There is no way I could get him to eat any more Merrrick than he was. I often was throwing some away as he wouldn't eat it and it had been wet with water. His activity level at this point is pretty high( walked 4 miles today). I'm wondering if I'll need to adjust for that as well?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Not now. Start with the recommended amount of Orijen and see how it goes. The puppy feeding amounts take puppy's activity and growth requirements into account.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You also don't want to do a slow transition. It should not be more than 4-5 days. 

[UggaMugga]

I never would have thought to do it so quick. Thanks for the info.