Kelley Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Our Breeder suggests Flint River Ranch, so we started our puppies on that. Not stinky gas. Our Vet suggests Wellness, so we mixed the Wellness with the FLint River Ranch and now their gas is stinky!! Just curious what your thoughts are on these 2 brands of dog food are.. Thanks! Kelley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyFL Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Innova. The dogs look healthy with beautiful coats. No gas at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle T Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I switched him to Spot's Stew from Halo, and no more gas. He loves the food, and is doing great. Our three cats all eat Wellness kibble and canned, and love it and do great. Sometimes what works for one animal just isn't right for another. Michelle T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I switched him to Spot's Stew from Halo, and no more gas. He loves the food, and is doing great. Our three cats all eat Wellness kibble and canned, and love it and do great. Sometimes what works for one animal just isn't right for another. Michelle T I make Spot's Stew for my cats (the recipe has been published in Andi Brown's book, Whole Pet Diet: Eight Weeks to Great Health for Dogs and Cats); it's a lot cheaper than buying it. After talking to a few vets, I decided to take the cats off dry food...seems that there's increasing evidence that wet food is better for kitties' systems. As for your dog, I know that switching foods can cause some gas problems, and often these will go away over time. But, as another poster mentioned, some animals just don't do as well on certain brands of food. For example, I noticed that our cats' poop stank when they were on Wellness...it's nowhere near as bad when they eat the homemade Spot's Stew or Natural Balance. Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jg_puppy Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I posted a thread about dog foods a few weeks ago. After the information in the thread and other reviews that I have read I have narrowed our choice to either Wellness (fish), Flint River (probably fish and chips), or Natural Balance (either fish or venison). I am going to be watching this thread to see what others say as well. I have three dogs ranging in age from 7 months to 9 years and I would love to find one dog food that all three on them could eat. Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I posted a thread about dog foods a few weeks ago. After the information in the thread and other reviews that I have read I have narrowed our choice to either Wellness (fish), Flint River (probably fish and chips), or Natural Balance (either fish or venison). I am going to be watching this thread to see what others say as well. I have three dogs ranging in age from 7 months to 9 years and I would love to find one dog food that all three on them could eat. Jan If it helps any, our beloved lab (who died of cancer this past summer) absolutely loved Natural Balance. Prior to her sudden illness, her coat was lovely, she had tons of energy, and she just looked fantastic. We used the dry and canned, and I gave her several of the varieties. Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelley Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 Thanks for the info. so far. I watched a video on You tube about Wellness products...One had fish bone fragments in it!!!! OUCH!!! That may be something to look at on that website. Kelley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Thanks for the info. so far. I watched a video on You tube about Wellness products...One had fish bone fragments in it!!!! OUCH!!! That may be something to look at on that website. Kelley Yikes...was it a large bone? Or just fragments; I ask because "fragments" in and of themselves might not be a big deal...after all, anchovies contain bones, too, and I eat those. LOL. Can you provide a link? I'd like to watch this. Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryRon Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 and I love it. No stinky gas (keep away from the duck, though) and the piles are easy to pick up and "relocate". We use the sweet potato and venison - we have a golden and he loves it and looks absolutely fantastic! And, it's a little easier on the pocket book... I posted a thread about dog foods a few weeks ago. After the information in the thread and other reviews that I have read I have narrowed our choice to either Wellness (fish), Flint River (probably fish and chips), or Natural Balance (either fish or venison). I am going to be watching this thread to see what others say as well. I have three dogs ranging in age from 7 months to 9 years and I would love to find one dog food that all three on them could eat. Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jg_puppy Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Thanks for the info. so far. I watched a video on You tube about Wellness products...One had fish bone fragments in it!!!! OUCH!!! That may be something to look at on that website. Kelley If you go to the Wellness site you will see where they addressed this video on Youtube. I don't know who is right, but it doesn't hurt to get both sides of the story. It is good to hear that several people like the Natural Balance. One of my concerns is that my oldest dog has a horrible coat, but we also found out two weeks ago that he has borderline low thyroid. That may explain the coat issue. He just started medicine for that. We got a small bag of the Venison recently and have tried it mixed with the other food with two of the dogs. We have not made the switch to only it yet so we are not sure how it will work, but so far the dogs seem to love it. Most of the time my little girl will pick it out and eat it first and then when it is all gone she will eat the other food (Wellness fish) if she is still hungry. Our oldest dog just started medicine and we didn't want to mess with a new food and new medicine. He is on Wellness fish. I do remember him having more smelly gas when he first started on Wellness, but after about a week it went away. I am tying to decide if we should keep the younger ones on Venison and the older on the Wellness fish or switch them all to the Venison. Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in CA Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I just purchased a 20 lb bag of Flint River regular dog food to try on my lab. I have been mixing it with what is left of his previous food, Origen. Good grief does my dog LOVE the taste of Flint River! He will push all his Origen food out of the way and eat every little morsel of the Flint before even touching his Origen kibble [or any other treats I may toss in]. He cracks me up. It's apparently very tasty. ;) I don't know anything about the other brands mentioned, bit neither Origen nor Flint River give my dog gas, and both are top quality dog foods. Flint River is a bit cheaper in the long run due to only having to feed him 3 1/2 cups a day compared to the Origen's 5 cups which is the main reason I began looking to switch brands; his food was getting a bit too expensive. Origen has given my dog amazing heath and a gorgeous coat. I imagine Flint River will produce the same results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in CA Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I am resurrecting this thread to say that my dog, eating Flint River, looks ANOREXIC!! He eats plenty, and I give him much more than the bag recommends, but I can now see each and every one of his ribs! Perhaps it is a great healthy dog food, but my Lab looks horrible. I don't understand why, but I can't stand to look at him...it's that bad. With Origen he looked sooooo healthy, and was so healthy. I cannot go back to Origen though; it is far to expensive at approx $60-70 for a 26 lb bag. That's definitely a rich mans dog food. I am looking into trying out Natural Balance. At least it is something I can purchase locally. I am not at all sure which 'flavor' to try though? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I vote Flint River Ranch all the way. We have used it for the last 2 years and never been disappointed. My dog had lots of allergy problems - to the point of now having to take allergy shots each month like a person. The Flint River Ranch Lamb, Millet, and Rice has done wonders for his skin/allergies. :) We buy from www.flintriver.com and there is no tax/shippig is free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I am resurrecting this thread to say that my dog, eating Flint River, looks ANOREXIC!! He eats plenty, and I give him much more than the bag recommends, but I can now see each and every one of his ribs! Perhaps it is a great healthy dog food, but my Lab looks horrible. I don't understand why, but I can't stand to look at him...it's that bad. With Origen he looked sooooo healthy, and was so healthy. I cannot go back to Origen though; it is far to expensive at approx $60-70 for a 26 lb bag. That's definitely a rich mans dog food. I am looking into trying out Natural Balance. At least it is something I can purchase locally. I am not at all sure which 'flavor' to try though? :confused: A couple things come to mind: -has he been wormed recently? -is he otherwise well? How much you need to feed has little to do with what it says on the package IME with the fosters here. I swear the feeding guidelines on the bags are dreamed up by toddlers. I'd use it as just a starting point..... I'd probably start figuring this puzzle out by calculating how many calories you were feeding him on the Orijen & them comparing how many calories he's getting now. Flint River is not a crap food so if he's getting similar calories & not doing well, I'd consider parasitical infection or other underlying health problem. It would be very strange for a dog to start dumping weight off that quickly with no calorie restriction, so a vet visit is probably in order, but only after you do the math with the caloric intake so you know what's going on. Also a vet can help you assess whether he truly is too skinny. The vast, vast majority of dogs I see out these days are too fat & I find our eyes deceive us because of what we think is the 'norm'. This is particularly true of labs as the show lines are just plain obese.... As for foods..... if it saves you vet bills, Orijen may still be the best option if he did well on it. Some other good options: a couple of my fosters were fed Innova Evo (that's what the rescue supplies for them) and they did nice on it. Canidae is another brand which I think is good quality but a bit less pricey. Raw or home cooked can end up very economical if you have a freezer & can buy direct from the plants. I think I'm running around $50-60/month for raw for my 80lb malamute/GSD cross. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrid Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Flint River Ranch dogs here. Wellness gave our dogs horrible, stinkin' gas. Another that we like is Nature's Variety Prairie Beef; we tend to rotate between FRR and NVPB every three to six months. astrid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in CA Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Those of you who use Flint River... do you feed the recommended quantities that are on the bag? Or do you find you need to double it? Our lab is very active and has 2 acres to play in. I adjusted his food thinking perhaps he was not getting enough, but that has not helped. The quantities I am feeding him is costing about as much as Origen did. :glare: He LOVES the food though and wolfs it down, so I hate changing but seriously....right after switching foods I started noticing a diference. He has never been heavy, he's always been quite trim and fit [he's only 1 yr. old], but I know I shouldn't be able to see every single rib...should I? Oh, Soph the Vet...where are you?? :D Today I purchased a bag of Natural Balance at petco and have mixed it with his remaining Flint River bag. We'll see how things progress. As for parasites...I suppose that could be an issue. :confused: I'll have to look into that. He's very healthy and active...he just LOOKS unhealthy for some reason. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Is he skinnier than this? http://www.dailypuppy.com/dogs/maya-the-yellow-labrador_2007-06-27 She looks a good healthy weight IMO for a field type lab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in CA Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Is he skinnier than this?http://www.dailypuppy.com/dogs/maya-the-yellow-labrador_2007-06-27 She looks a good healthy weight IMO for a field type lab. Yep, he actually does look a bit like that! Especially the 7th picture down, with him standing in the field. I can't count that dogs ribs though, but the body style is quite the same! Perhaps he is just made to have that fitter, slimmer body? We have another lab who was never this skinny. He has always been a huskier version...shorter, bulkier. Well, OK, I feel a bit better now. :lol: Thanks for the pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Innova. The dogs look healthy with beautiful coats. No gas at all. :iagree:We only use Innova or Evo (same manufacturer). When we adopted our French bulldog last year and started him on Evo, his coat was coarse and scratchy, but within a couple of months it was glossy and soft; no gas, either (although he is still snorty, lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelley Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 Our puppies really like Flint River Ranch! When we add water to it to soften it a bit, it smells like good food! Kelley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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