Food Suggestions?

[Samantha Fine]

Hey Guys! I need your help/experience from your doods. Steve has always been on TOW, the breeder we got him from said to NEVER give him chicken because they don't process it well??? (Not sure how much I believe that)

Rewind about 4 months back we had some issues with him passing fatty looking tumors that made him have severe diarrhea that went on for about a month. The vet was stumped as to what it was and put him on temporary meds. My Mother in law's groomer, who has had a lifetime of experience with dogs said to maybe re-evalute his food because it could be too "hot" for him. We progressively changed over to the adult TOW and he didn't like it one bit and so we switched back to his puppy until we can figure out a solid food for him.

Now, Steve has been doing the dog praying position stretch a few times throughout the day and sometimes wont eat his food until it has been sitting there for an hour or so. He isn't thrilled about it, i know that much. I am not terribly concerned about him at this point, he is still acting himself, bowel movements are still regular and solid, drinks water just fine but the stretching here and there indicates to me he may have a belly ache.

I know he isn't thrilled about the food he is getting so I would love to pick your brains as to what ya'll feed and what works for you. Thank you in advance!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, so first, it's nonsense that dogs "don't process chicken well". In fact, chicken is one of the easier proteins for dogs to digest. That's why most puppy foods are chicken based and why, when a dog has a digestive upset, we're often advised to feed them a "bland diet" consisting of chicken and rice. 

Next, it's also nonsense that the food "may be too hot for him". All due respect to your mother-in-law's groomer, a lifetime of experience with dogs doesn't make her a nutritionist. This "hot" foods and "cool" foods stuff is an idea from Ayruvedic medicine, which is old Indian folk medicine which has absolutely no basis in fact, in logic, or in science.

I also don't think that the food itself is the cause of any abdominal discomfort Steve may be having. I'm not convinced that stretching is related to any kind of discomfort; if so, my puppy must be miserable, because he does that stretch about 10 times a day, lol. It's what dogs do. 

Liking or not liking his food is really a separate issue; a lot of dogs are very picky about their food, and there is no particular brand or formula that is going to fix that. We have a lot of discussions here about that. Here's my favorite one. Please read thru it, it's fun and funny but you may also have a light bulb moment. :) https://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/an-ode...
However, TOTW is not a recommended food brand. It's owned and made by Diamond, which has had more recalls than any other pet food company in history, and the TOTW formulas do not have a very good nutritional profile. 

I can make some recommendations for a different food, but I need a bit of info: Steve's age now, and the exact TOTW formula he is eating. There is more than one TOTW puppy formula, I need to know which one he's on. 

[Samantha Fine]

:D I was hoping the stretching was nothing, he seems fine. I was worried about it because of the past tummy issues, I am all paranoid that every move he makes could mean something bad. It's been a trip with him, let me tell ya. 

I am so RELIEVED that them eating chicken isn't a bad thing. I thought that was a bogus statement, anyway. TOTW is what the breeder suggested we feed and that's what we feed now. He is on the Puppy Formula Roasted Bison and Venison. He is about 9 months. Any suggestions are so much appreciated. Thank you for your help and knowledge, also taking the time to help me.  -Sam and Steve

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jasper's breeder was also feeding the TOTW High Prairie Puppy (that's the Bison/Venison formula) and I talked her into switching, lol. She switched them to one of the Fromm grain-free Four Star formulas and they all did well. 

If you want to stay with a puppy specific formula, you could try Fromm's Heartland Gold. But Steve is old enough for an adult or ALS formula now, so you could also go with the Heartland Gold adult formula, or better yet, one of Fromm's Four Star line grain free formulas. There are about eight different ones, and you can rotate to a different formula with each new bag, which will help keep Steve from becoming bored with his food. be sure you get one that's grain-free, as the Four Star line also has formulas with grains. Since Steve has been on grain-free food, I wouldn;t introduce grains at this point.

[Samantha Fine]

He seems like he would get bored with his food, heck I would too eating the same dang thing all the time. I will look into Fromm from what I see the price is right. Steve thanks you for saving breakfast and dinner from getting boring. :)

[Samantha Fine]

The "Fromm" website is pretty comical...I was looking around and the weight management food has dogs on treadmills hahahaha

[Hannah & Pepper]

Yeah I was going to ask what doggie praying position is? If I think that’s the same stretch pepper does, she does it all the time and I think she’s a-ok!

[Samantha Fine]

Hahahahahaha I think Steve is fine too, I am just a paranoid mama. lol lol 

Googling "dog is stretching a lot" leads to saying he has a stomach ache or pancreatitis...causing me to worry he has bigger issues than just wanting to just have a good stretch hahahaha. That's what I get for consulting the almighty Dr. Google.