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Old March 7th, 2007, 11:00 PM
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Switching foods - need suggestions

Hello,

I'm trying to find a suitable dry food to switch my 7 month old Lab cross to. Right now she's on Solid Gold Wolf Cub and I like it but over the past few weeks she has been gradually have runnier and runnier poops. I know it's not a stomach bug because she just had a fecal sample done and it came back negative. I know there could be any number of reasons for this but I'd like to start out with the food.

What I'm not sure about is the classifications on the food, by that I mean, large breed or small breed specific food. I classify her as a medium size dog by appearance but her dominant breed is Labrador, which I believe is considered a large breed and she's mixed with Border Collie, again I'm assuming they're considered a medium size breed. I'm not sure whether this classification really matters when choosing food but I just wanted to check before I pick a different food.

Next I guess I'm just looking for some input from you wonderful people. I have access to the better foods out there, through Global Ryan, so any foods suggested I can probably get. I'm kind of leaning towards Canidae All Life Stages, GO! for dogs or perhaps Innova

It's a hard decision and I want to find something she's going to like that doesn't have any of the nasty crap in it. Then I need to make the switch, which seems really difficult, last time it took over a week to get her used to the new food. Would it be possible to just make the switch since she's suffering from the runs anyways?

Thanks for your help!!
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  #2  
Old March 7th, 2007, 11:06 PM
Prin Prin is offline
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IMO, either Innova or Canidae are both good choices.
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Old March 7th, 2007, 11:08 PM
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TeriM TeriM is offline
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I agree with Prin. Is it possible that he is just not growing as fast and perhaps just need to have his food cut back a little bit? Overfeeding is a major cause of loose stools. I would also not do a cold turkey switch unless things are really bad.
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Old March 7th, 2007, 11:18 PM
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I'm not sure whether cutting back the food will fix it, she seems to be hungry all of the time but maybe that's just the nature of dogs, always willing to eat I could try it and see if it works.
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Old March 7th, 2007, 11:23 PM
Prin Prin is offline
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hehe, that's a lab for you. If you listen to a lab's "hunger", the lab will be super fat in no time.

Cut back like 1/8th of a cup a day for a couple days and see if that helps...
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Old March 7th, 2007, 11:33 PM
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Skryker Skryker is offline
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Yup, labs are nothing but walking stomachs! Bronny especially would eat until she couldn't walk if we let her.

I found when my guys were growing I had to constantly adjust the amount of food they were getting-more during a growth spurt and then cut back until no more goopy poop-then repeat.

I like the Canidae myself (although I add Salmon Oil capsules or canned salmon to ward off flakey skin. Our house is very dry.).
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Old March 7th, 2007, 11:43 PM
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Alrighty, I'll cut back her food for a few days and let you know how that goes.

I'm thinking about adding Salmon Oil to the food I'm feeding her now, she's getting a bit of dandruff.

Thanks for you help!!!
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Anatole France

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Kip - Female, DSH Cat
Moxy - Female, Lab Cross
Dagan - Male, Husky/Malamute Cross

Last edited by Aimster; March 7th, 2007 at 11:50 PM.
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Old March 8th, 2007, 02:57 AM
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I like the Innova and canadie.we have both foods here.and they are both doing well on either one.and canadie is a good price.
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Old March 8th, 2007, 11:24 AM
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I like the GO Chicken one, but you will be feeding significantly less than the others mentioned, due to calories. The Foundations chicken that they make may be better.
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