Help Karen, what am I doing wrong!!

[Amy and Annabelle]

So my husband and I had a discussion over Champion dog food and the recent issue. We decided to switch from Orijen to the Fromm grain free chicken. Especially since there was a big price increase at the place I get her food. Annabelle has been on Orijen since I switched her off of the breeders Purina crap. She has never been one to love her food. When I first bring in a new bag, she will go and sniff it, that is about as much interest in food she has ever shown. So I thought it would be easy to switch her over. I was wrong. My plan was to do half 1/4 new/3/4 old, then new/half old, then 3/4 new/1/4 old over the course of 4-5 days. But she won't eat the new. She eats the old and leaves the new in the bowl. Next meal I try to give her the new she left. She walks away. I tried to give it to her the next day. I could tell she was really hungry, but wanted nothing to do with the new. I tried hand feeding her the new, she turned her nose up. My granddaughter who Annabelle adores and would eat anything she gave her, tried hand feeding her the new, she wanted nothing to do with it. I finally broke down and gave her the old after about 30 hours of not eating anything. She of course gobbled it up and begged for more. I am now out of the old. What should I do? 

[Ron English]

I've been following this issue a little and have communicated eith Champion several times but it has not resolved it for me. I, too, was looking for a good replacement for Orijen Adult that might avoid the heavy metal issue. From what I've seen on the Clean Label site (I'm still not convinced of the integrity of their findings but thought I would err on the side of caution), the Earthworm Holistic Natural get the same rating in the heavy metal category. Therefore, that would not avoid the problem. Is there another choice that would be closer to the Orijen formula. BTW, I'm in Ontario.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Unfortunately, the issue seems to be fish in the food. Orijen is fish heavy, and anything comparable is going to have similar "ratings" regarding heavy metals. I am also not convinced of the integrity of anything having to do with the Clean Label group, and I truly believe they have an agenda that has nothing to do with dog food. They themselves stated in a previous article that they are not looking at the nutritional content of the foods they rate.

You can go through our list of recommended brands, focusing on the grain free formulas and check the ingredients and "guaranteed analysis" on the respective websites. To get something comparable to Orijen, you are looking for poultry based formulas with some amount of fish included, with a protein content of at least 30%. 

On a side note, I find spellcheck hilarious. It turned Earthborn into "Earthworm" in your post, lol. 

[Ron English]

Thanks, Karen. Yeah, I usually try to keep track of what the spell check is doing, but it obviously got away from me there!

It would be nice if we actually would get any reports on where this case is now and periodically in the future, but that's

probably not going to happen. So it could be quite a wait for us to get any answers, if we ever do.

[Amy and Annabelle]

I remember in the first post on this lawsuit, saying it being fish heavy as being a reason for the heavy metal rating. That was one reason why I was trying to find a formula without fish. I bought a small bag of the Orijen today so she should be set until I can find something else for her to try. My pet food store posted on their website about this lawsuit and the owner called that Susan Thixton a noted dog food advocate. I was ready to quit shopping there just for that. I don't know how she can call herself a dog food advocate if she isn't looking at the nutritional content and only looking at one thing.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Susan Thixton is a writer who lost a dog in the 2007 pet food recalls and since then has been on a crusade. (She's also made herself a fortune with her for-profit newsletters). She has no training or education in nutrition at all, canine or otherwise, nor in any other health related field. I have found much of her information over the years to be incorrect. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

What about Acana Regionals?  

Definitely available in Ontario and there are three non-fish formulas.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There is a good amount of fish in all of the Acana Regionals formulas, in both Canada and the USA. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Oh you're right, I didn't see the fish buried in there after all the chicken etc.  

I was under the impression it was mostly freshwater fish anyway (low heavy metal content).

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That may be true. 
So I guess it is not just about formulas with fish, but where the fish comes from. 

I wonder if this group's agenda is to stop deep sea fishing and support farm raised fish. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Until I hear differently, I think I'll keep feeding my boys Orijen, but once you guys settle this as a close to Orijen solution, I'll use the information for my back up.  However, did I hear you say something about the higher protein content showing up in urine?  Is this why my dogs are killing my newly sodded lawn? I am so upset.

[Amy and Annabelle]

I wasn't going to switch either, but the more I thought about it, I decided too. My reasoning was that if there was some truth to this, I would never forgive myself if I discovered I was slowly poisoning my girl and she got sick from it. So I wanted to get away from the foods with fish, since it seems to be an ingredient issue(fish), not a brand issue, regardless of what the lawsuit implies. Otherwise I might as well just stick with Orijen. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's nitrogen in urine that kills grass. A little bit is actually good for the grass; there is nitrogen in fertilizer. But too much will burn it. 
Protein doesn't raise the nitrogen concentration of urine. It only increases volume. Concentration is regulated by water intake.