Hi - I need a little help, I just started Theo on a new food called Breeders Choice on about two weeks ago. He seems to be getting dry skin now. Is it the time of year or could the new food be causing it already? He was eating Nutro before. thanks for any insight. :confused:

HeatherA,
There have been TONS of discussions on food and you could do a search on the board - or - wait for replies :)
I can't remember how old you puppy is. We are feeding our two gals Eukanuba LB Puppy which they love and will eventually switch to Chicken Soup for Dog Lovers Soul. Our adults LOVE the food and we do too. But, yes, the food may be causing the dry skin.

i was giving jake canida then put him on dimond and his skin was all flacky so now hes back on canida and he looks really good. i have never fed my dogs the brand that u feed,it could be the dry weather.i just tend to blame everything on dog food.drives my hubby nuts.dana

Breeder's Choice is the name of the company that makes Avoderm and Pinnacle.

I suspect the food in question here is Breeder's Choice Active Care.

Here is the list of ingredients:

Brown Rice, Lamb Meal, Bovine Cartilage (Source of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate), Canola Oil, Flax Seed, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Grapeseed Oil, Brewers Dried Yeast, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Zinc Proteinate, Monosodium Phosphate, DL-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate (Source of Vitamin E), Sodium Selenite, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Copper Sulfate, Amino Acid Chelates of Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Copper and Cobalt, Niacin, Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, D-Biotin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement.

Look at these ingredients and decide for yourself.

One thing to point out that although it has flaxseed for Omega 3's it has no source for Omega 6's which is what helps the skin and coat the most of the two.

Good Luck!!

Here is the link to the website:

http://www.breeders-choice.com/Dog_Products/avoactivedog_lamb.html

Thats the one - is it bad? The woman at the store suggested it. It is what she feeds her 2 labs - and it was not cheap. I am thinking of switching to Solid Gold. any comments on that? its such a overwhelming thing trying to figure out what to feed them. I've been trying to fugure out the Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate thing - it seems as if you support it being in food and some others think it is not worth it???? I only switched foods because Theo was not eating the Nutro, but I think it may just be how he is - he just grazes and eats when he wants to. Thanks fo your help!!

It could also be the weather... My pup got really dry when it got cold but I hadn't switched foods. I've just been giving him two cans of sardines a week since it got cold and after a couple of weeks his coat went back to looking great! You could try putting a humidifier in your house too.

It's brutal where I live because It's super dry year round, and the cold makes it so much worse.

I wouldn't say that this food was bad, but I don't like to see that its first ingredient is rice. I prefer foods that begin with meat a source or even a two before listing a grain.

The Bovine Cartlidge lisitng too is something that I would avoid. This is how Puriana advertises their G&C supplimentation as a "Natural" source of G&C. Before the advent of LB foods and the addition of G&C, these igredients would have been listed as Bone Meal, and would have boosted listed protein %'s.

So when I am looking for G&C I look for the the actual suppliment of glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulfate.

Here is something you might try, buy a bottle of Fish Oil caps from costco, they are cheap. And give your pup a couple of caps 2 or 3 times a week. See if this doesn help the dryness. That you can finish off your current bag of food and maybe curb the dryness.

Good Luck!!

Thanks for the advice - We actually returned the food today (keeping some for transition) and got him the Eagle Pack -Holistic and some salmon oil. We went back and forth with Solid Gold and Canin, but were trying to avoid the lamb and beef because those two things were in the Breeders Choice but not Nutro. So... we will see how it goes.