Champion Foods will be selling at Petco...thoughts

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Champion posted what is happening on their FB page this morning. The comments were pretty angry accusing Champion of "selling out". Do you think this will change the quality. I feed my dogs the Fit and Trim. Thoughts?....

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/petco-and-champion-petfood...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Wellness CORE Ocean and/or one of the other CORE formulas, Maybe the CORE Wild Game formula.

https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/natural-dog-food/product-catalog/co...

[Janet & Jaxson]

Thank you! I appreciate it! Will take a look at these and decide. I need to buy more next week! I sure don’t like changing!

[Stella]

I guess I just bought my last bag of Acana, sad after ten years of feeding it. I'm like Carla, I'm going to struggle to find a replacement. Hartley is on Light and Fit, it's hard to find anything else with similar calories per cup. I feel for people, like my friends, that have a boutique pet store and invested heavily to bring in the Champion brands and are now being screwed over. My local store can special order Fromm but doesn't keep it in stock, and they are going to be bringing in Farmina which I don't know much about.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Farmina is a recommended brand and some people rave about it. I haven't spent much time looking at it, but I will now.
I also learned last night when I was just browsing the website that they make a "veterinary diet" line, i.e. Rx . That would really be wonderful if I';m understanding it correctly. I looked at it after midnight, so I wasn't really absorbing what i was looking at, lol. 

[Stella]

It's easy to get bamboozled by the choice out there!!

[Stella]

I've ordered a bag of the Farmina Senior Kibble. I'll let you know what Hartley thinks of it!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Please do.

[Kristie Knowles]

I'm struggling to find a replacement of Acana Lamb & Pear for my 9 year old goldendoodle, Oliver.  Currently trying Fromm 4 Star Lamb & Lentil and Canidae Freeze-dried Raw Coated Fish Formula by giving as small treats with intent to transition.  I'm not sure where to start comparing the foods except, 1. the brands are on the recommended list, 2. Oliver actually will eat it!  Oliver is at a healthy weight of 75lbs, with the only health issues is he licks his paws, sometimes non-stop, and aging hips.  Going to the local stores, it seems like they have a couple recommendations, but pretty much leave it up to us.  I have a feeling of information overload, when trying to decide what is best for the best dog we have ever had.   Any suggestions?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's very unlikely that the paw licking is related to food. Contrary to what you may have been told, food allergies are actually fairly rare in dogs. If the paw licking is due to an allergy, it's much more likely that it is an environmental (also called seasonal or inhalant) allergy. Here is some information that may help with that:
https://doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/some-basic-facts-about?groupU...;

Food is also not going to play much of a role in helping with the aging hips, because the amounts of glucosamine/chondroitin in the foods, if any, are not enough to do any good. For that, you may need a supplement such as Dasuquin or Cosequin. 

When choosing to replace a food that is working with a formula from another brand or line, you first look at the main ingredients (protein source(s) and carbs, i.e. grains, grain- free?) and the macronutrient percentages: are the protein, fat and fiber content similar to the current food? If your dog does better on an LID formula, which is what you are currently feeding, you will want to stick with limited ingredients in the new food. 
I can help, but there is no "lamb & pear" formula in the Acana line. There is lamb & apple, or duck and pear. Which are you using?

[Kristie Knowles]

Karen, thanks for your response.  Excuse my error...we are using Acana Lamb & Apple Singles Formula.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You've actually done a great job matching macronutrients with the Fromm Lamb and Lentil formula; it contains 29% protein, 16% fat and 6.5% fiber compared to 31% protein, 17% fat and 6% fiber in the Acana formula. Your protein source is the same and both are grain free. So kudos to you, you maybe know more about this than you give yourself credit for, lol. The biggest difference is in the Omega 3 fatty acid content; the Acana food has a much better Omega 6:3 ratio and Omega 3 content, thanks to the fish content that is in all Champion foods. On that score, the Canidae formula is outstanding, and Omega 3 fatty acids are important for dogs with allergy symptoms and/or itching. The protein levels are higher, at 36%, and the fat is lower, at 12.5%; both of those are good things, and if the food agrees with Oliver, it's an excellent choice. You might even consider feeding a mixture of the Canidae and Fromm foods, or alternating between the two. :) 

[Marcy and Cocoa]

Hello All,  

a question on this discussion train ....  I have been feeding my 10.5 yo, 60 lb GD Orijen Six Fish for her entire adult life and am very reluctant to make a change. Is everyone here moving to new brands because of the decision by Champion to sell to Petco and a resulting fear that the need to source in larger quantities will lead to a lowering of quality?  Or alternatively, is it the fear that the company may be sold to Purina, thus a lowering of quality?  Or both?  

Am I correct that to this point there has been no change in quality of which we are aware?  Would it make sense to think about and research viable alternatives, but hold off making a change until we have more information, or do people feel that we will learn facts too late - after feeding our pets potentially low quality or hazardous food?  As I said, I am not anxious to make a change and don’t want to do it just because I would prefer that Champion stay boutique focused ....

thanks for for your Input!