Another dog food thread...I have a bit of a problem

[chocolatecoffee]

Well I have two dogs: a 3-year-old bichon/shih tzu, Mocha, and a 2-year-old Maltese, Panna. Now Mocha has been on Waltham Dog Food since she was a puppy, except for a brief period when she got sick and had to go on prescription food, and she won't eat anything else. We're lucky if she eats the Waltham! We have to cut her kibbles in half for her and hand-feed her. I was fine with keeping her on Waltham if that's what she likes, but the first five ingredients are chicken meal, rice, ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, and animal fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E) and that doesn't seem too appetizing. Panna, on the other hand, is on even worse food. I got her just over a month ago and she had been on Science Diet before (dry with wet mixed in), so I wanted to keep her diet pretty consistent. Now looking at the first five ingredients (Chicken, corn meal, ground grain sorghum, ground wheat, and chicken by-product meal), I definitely don't want to keep her on it.

I went out and got some Wellness Super5mix Chicken yesterday and mixed some of their old food in to no avail. Mocha did seem to take more of an interest in it than she has with other new foods, in fact she promptly took a kibble to the nearest carpet and started rolling around on it. Panna doesn't want anything to do with it though. I even soaked it in water then mixed it up, but she still won't eat it. Panna's a bit overweight so I want her on a strictly dog food diet so I can monitor how much she eats, but she won't eat it! They haven't been getting any table scraps and I'll put their food down for 15 minutes, but Panna walks away and Mocha rolls around on it for about a minute, lies down beside it, then walks away.

Do you guys have any tips? Should I just keep not giving them any other food, putting the food down for fifteen minutes, then taking it away? I'd really love if they'd go on the better food, but I don't want to stress out their little stomachs too much. Also, is Wellness Super5mix Chicken good, or would you guys recommend one of the other varieties? Thanks!

[chico2]

I tried Wellness on my cats and they did not touch it...I know it's great food but not great if they won't eat it
I hope you did not buy a great big bag,since it is one of the most expensive ones,at least for cats.
I have had my cats on"Chicken-soup-for-the-catlovers-soul"and Nutro Complete care and they love it..CSFTCLS has the exact same ingredients as Wellness except sweet potatoes.
I think you have to try different ones for your dogs,they are still young and better off with good quality food,I wish they could understand that Nutro is good medium priced food...try to get sample packages,that's what I did with my cats.

[topaz_n29]

I Have a 12 yr. old Maltese.. and a 14 yr. old Poodle/terrier..they are both on nutri source chicken and rice formula for Seniors...it is a bit more expenvsive
but even at a younger age Krikit(the malyese) was able to digest it better than any others..the peices are small.
I have my Shep/Rottie is 2yrs. old and he is doing quite well on Tuffy's Premium Gold for active adult dogs.
My Baby Shih/terr. is on nutri source for puppies and also adjusted quite well
with no probs at all...hope this little bit of info helps...Top.

[Prin]

My doggies have allergies and I put them on Solid Gold Wolf King (bison and rice). It's $71/33lb bag. i didn't know if my little one would like it because she was on Wellness before we got her and she only ate every 2 days!!! She hated it. I got a sample of the Wolf King, brought it to the car and left it slightly open to see what would happen if I left (usually I can leave a bag of cookies out and they won't touch them). When I came back the sample bag was RAVAGED. Every morning, they bug my boyfriend like crazy to be fed and then they ravage their entire bowls so fast. Even my big guy who is a slow eater. This food is sooo expensive but there is no way I am switching now.
I figure at least it's a pretty bag. I mean you pay $71 for the food, you get a gold bag with a handsome wolf on it as opposed to paying a fortune for a plain bright orange bag right? It's dumb, I know but you have to look on the bright side... I mean the dogs are healthier but I need "concrete" for my money--- in the form of a pretty bag... See?

[mafiaprincess]

A lot of dog foods have a guarantee on the side of the bag that they will take it back if your dog doesn't like it, and depending upon where you bought the food the store may take it back for a refund instead.

[coppperbelle]

I too feed Solid Gold, Wolf King. The dogs love it but they love everything I give them. Just to clarify it's ingredients are Bison and Salmon. It does also contain brown rice. I was also impressed by the packaging. It is not only pretty but will keep it fresh because it is vacuum sealed.
When doing my research a while ago I was advised by some people in the dog food business that it was excellent food.

Have you tried adding a little olive oil to their food. It will help their coats and add a bit of flavor that may entice them to eat?

[chocolatecoffee]

Thanks for all of the responses.

LOL, thankfully I didn't get a huge bag. I bought a bag but didn't open it so I can still take it back. I got a little sample, except it was for the puppy food since they didn't have any other samples. I called another store today though (Fairplay Pet Food Stores) and they said they have a bunch of samples, so I'll go and pick some up tomorrow to see which ones my dogs like best. They don't have all of the samples I wanted though, they don't even have all of the food, but they said they could order the food for me if I decide I want it. Hopefully they'll have a good food my dogs like.

I'll try the olive oil with their next meal, I'm still persisting with the wellness! Panna has had a few kibbles when she's really hungry, but Mocha hasn't even touched it. I've read a few ratings on the internet and most people seem to like the Solid Gold, but some there were quite a few comments on the inconsistency of the food. Apparently the kibble changes from bag to bag, but the good reviews did outweigh the bad so I'm wondering if this is even correct, or maybe it's really rare. Have any of you guys had a problem with this?

Also, the highest rated dog food on the site I was on was Eagle Pack. There isn't any corn or by-products in it, but the first ingredient is Chicken Meal and I've read that this isn't as good as the normal chicken. Has anybody tried Eagle Pack? I definitely prefer the Solid Gold ingredients (but I don't get a pretty bag :sad:, oh well, I do get a cool name "Just a Wee Bit Adult", sounds neat), but I'm worried the kibble isn't the same every time.

Well thanks again for all of the replies. Haha, I'm can't wait to see if the furbabies like this food .

[coppperbelle]

I belong to another message board and have never heard that the food changes from bag to bag. How would that be possible if the ingedients are written on each bag as well as the amount of protein etc...
I checked into Eagle Pack but found the Solid Gold had superior ingredients. In fact when I was changing foods I had a bag of Eagle Pack in my hands. At the cash I checked the ingredients again and found that it did contain rice and it wasn't brown rice.
I am pleased with the results of the Wolf King thus far.

[mafiaprincess]

Eagle Pack does contain corn and rice.. You may want to play with this product comparison wizard.

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz

[chocolatecoffee]

Well I just came back from the store. They didn't have the Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit Adult or Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, so instead of ordering it I got the Solid Gold Hund-n-Flocken to try since they didn't have any samples. I got samples of Innova, California Natural Chicken Meal and Rice, California Natural Lamb Meal and Rice, Wellness Super5mix Chicken (not the puppy one this time...), and Nutro Ultra. I'm happy with all of the ingredients (I didn't even bother to try EaglePack if it has corn or white rice in it), let's just see if they dogs like one of them now. I also got some dehydrated food, but I'm not planning to put it on their food or else they might just eat it and not the kibble. It's called NRG and supposedly it's supposed to be good for them, but I want to look it up a bit more before I feed it to them.

Thanks again for the responses! I think I'm going to try the Solid Gold first, and thanks for the product comparison wizard, it was really helpful!

[coppperbelle]

A word about Innova. I have heard from a few people that their dogs have experienced difficulties when they switched to Innova. If your dog begins vomiting or having diarrhea it may be a result of the food. It is supposedly very rich.

[Prin]

I researched the Solid Gold site to find out why the food changes and it said it's because they don't add any colors to it. I haven't noticed it personally but it said on their website that it could happen. There are also no stool hardeners so if you switch be prepared for more loose stools in bigger quantity. (smellier too...)

I just washed my babies for the first time last night since I switched foods and my big guy is like a rabbit-- he's so soft. He was always soft but never soft like this. I am so happy with this food.

I forgot there was salmon in it. I'm just more concerned about the first grain in food and that there is no chicken... Thanks for pointing it out.

[chocolatecoffee]

Well the verdict has been decided. Panna will eat all of them, but seems to prefer both of the California Natural varieties and the Nutro Ultra...Mocha still won't touch either. I'm debating between either just not feeding her anything besides dog food then putting all of the dog foods out to see which one she likes the best, or just putting her on the same one Panna prefers, then not feeding her anything else so she'll have to eat it. Any suggestions? Oh, and another question, would the Solid Gold Hund-n-Flocken be a lot different from the Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit Adult? LOL, I prefer the ingredients of Solid Gold to the other ones and I've heard such good things about it I'd love it if they'd be on it, and Mocha still hasn't found a food she likes better than Waltham.

[Prin]

The "Just a wee bit" food is more expensive than the the hunden flocken for a smaller quantity. The just wee bit is made for small doggies who won't go through a bag in a month or a week. I believe the ingredients are almost the same.

[chocolatecoffee]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply. Out of California Natural Chicken and Meal, California Natural Lamb and Meal, and Nutro Ultra, which one would you recommend? I was thinking that lamb might not be too good since I've heard it's fattening and she's supposed to be losing weight, but maybe it's not fattening...I've heard such conflicting things about what's good for dogs and what's not, I can't figure out what's true or not! The thing I like about the Nutro Ultra is that it has glucosamine in it and both of them are on glucosamine, so hopefully that'll help their joints. It has cranberry in it also and the person at the store said that cranberry helps with urinary problems and since Mocha had bladder stones I'm worried they'll come back, but that was also when she was about 8 weeks old and they haven't come back yet. Panna seems to prefer the California Natural just a bit more than the Nutro, but she won't hesitate to eat any of the foods I got (she even eats the Wellness Chicken!).

[Prin]

Out of California Natural Chicken and Meal, California Natural Lamb and Meal, and Nutro Ultra, which one would you recommend? I was thinking that lamb might not be too good since I've heard it's fattening and she's supposed to be losing weight, but maybe it's not fattening...

I looked them up... would say the California Lamb meal and rice.

I'm told that while glucosamine may work wonders in puppies, the quantity you have to give to an adult to see any effects is huge. A young dog at our park had joint problems and was on glucosamine forever and all it took to fix it was a food change. Now she's off glucosamine and on a better food and she is great. I wouldn't really factor glucosamine in my decision. It may have benefits but I feel that glucosamine for dogs is like sundried tomatoes used to be in humans --- it's just very fashionable these days.

While you may have heard that lamb is fattening, if you look at this website:
http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=foods-tab
(pick your food from the list) You'll see that the kcal/pound of the chicken is 1860 and the lamb is less at 1814 kcal/lb, however it doesn't give you the feeding guidelines. If you end up feeding more of the lamb, then I'd go with the chicken. Somebody on another thread I think, wrote that some dogs do not digest lamb well at all, so that's something to consider as well... The nutro ultra has more protein and more fat so there is probably more caloric content in each pound as well, but again, you'd have to compare the feeding guidelines. Less of this food might be better than more of another, lower fat food.

They (california) also have a reduced calorie lamb food, but personally, I believe in exercise to lose weight, not laxatives (there is almost double the fiber in the diet version...)

I don't know about cranberry helping bladders. It works in humans because when you drink cranberry juice, the urine gets very acidic. If it's in dry form, I don't know how acidic it will be or it will cause the urine to be.

Did that help?

[coppperbelle]

I have researched dog food extensively and am not sure if I understand everything but I do know that Solid Gold is a better dog food. Nutro is not a bad food is it just that Solid Gold is better.
I feed Solid Gold, Wolf King and like the results in my dogs overall appearance and health.
California Natural which also makes foods like Innova is also very good but I am told some have had problems with it. It is a very rich food and some dogs do not do well on it. One dog I know of had to be hospitalized after eating Innova.

[LL1]

Eagle Pack also has 4 versions of their Holistic Select formulas,and they don't contain corn.

Originally Posted by mafiaprincess

Eagle Pack does contain corn and rice.. You may want to play with this product comparison wizard.

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz

[LL1]

Chicken meal is good,and since it is by weight it actually has more chicken after processing into the food than regular chicken when shown as an ingredient if you see what I mean.

A better description is here
http://www.canidae.com/meat.vs.meal/meat.vs.meal.html

Originally Posted by chocolatecoffee

There isn't any corn or by-products in it, but the first ingredient is Chicken Meal and I've read that this isn't as good as the normal chicken. Has anybody tried Eagle Pack? .

[Prin]

The good thing about solid gold wolf king too is that if you are feeding too much, the stool is soft so there is less time of trial and error for getting the right feeding portions. They really don't eat much of it. My 62lb doggy gets 2 cups/day and my 96lb dog gets 3.5 now. (That's not much for a dog that big). It's the first food my doggies have ever been on that actually smells edible.

My friend from Japan actually tries her dog food before she feeds it too her doggy-- she said, "How do you know if it's tasty and not too salty?"