We've had Kira on Innova large breed puppy for a few months now. We've always suspected that it didn't agree with her (ear infections, loose stools, etc.), but many of those symptoms were attributed to other things (swimming, giardia), so we stuck it out. Now she's just stopped eating it entirely. We had to have her on rice/cottage cheese/boiled chicken for a while (when dealing with symptoms of giardia). We figured she just got spoiled, but the truth is she's never really enjoyed Innova.

The other day she was playing with another lab in the same complex. She caught wight of his food and started eating it like she hadn't eaten in days. They were feeding Nature's Variety. It could just be the novelty of a different food (or eating out of somebody else's bowl), but it just seems like after months of struggling it would be wise to make a switch.

So, now.. after this long-winded explination, could anybody recommend a new food for us? We'd like something of a really great nutritional quality, yet pallatable. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Maybe Canidea if you have it in your area :) or Eagle Pack

Innova is a very complex food (lots of ingredients) so try going with a single protein food. If she was so thrilled with the natures variety, give that a whirl :)

How's Kira in her new home now...has she settled more??

In the last few weeks I have been switching Hestia over to Canidae and so far no bad reactions at all. She loves the food.

Maybe if she loved the other dogs food so much, why not give Nature's Variety a go????

If she's struggled regularly with ear infections & loose stools, I'd try a simple food with either no grains (like Natural Balance Duck or Fish foods) or at the very least a food with rice as the only grain (like California Natural).

My loose-stool and appetite-deficient greyhound and ear infection-prone lab both do beautifully on NB Duck & Potato, and the really like it, or on a raw diet.

Good luck!

I would not feed any of the Natural Balance foods to a puppy, they are very low in protein. The California Natural line can be okay, but keep an eye out on calcium, a few of their foods are loaded with calcium...way too much for a Lab pup (some are > 2.5% Ca).

In the last few weeks I have been switching Hestia over to Canidae and so far no bad reactions at all. She loves the food.

Maybe if she loved the other dogs food so much, why not give Nature's Variety a go????

I hate to sound like a broken record, but again be careful with calcium. Canidae is okay, but if she does like the Nature's Variety, I'd stick with the Chicken (1.41% Ca). The Lamb (1.89% Ca), Venison (2.00% Ca), and Raw Instinct (2.49% Ca) are all pretty high in calcium.

Before you take all this to heart, how old is Kira? I'm assuming since she was on Innova LB Puppy that she's still fairly young.

Nor would I give a young dog a protein source like duck that is specifically for dogs who have allergies. By giving a young dog an "off" protein source you are cutting out a source that you may need later if the dog develops allergy problems. Try to stick with chicken since its the most digestible, then lamb if the dog cannot handle chicken.

We switched from Innova to Wellness Fish and Sweet Potato when Buster had allergy issues. He tolerated that well but Jake didn't. Now we feed raw and everyone is happy.