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Thread: Which food??

  1. #1
    Puppy
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    Which food??

    So our 1 and 1/2 year old English yellow lab has been on Pro Plan chicken his whole life (breeder too)---and his coat is very nice, and his poops are very regular (though somewhat soft lately)---However, he has always been somewhat "itchy", but not to the point of any hot spots. The pet store has recommended Nutro chicken adult food to stop all the itching. I hesitate to make the change from Purina..Our other 2 labs were on Purina foods and both lived to 14 without any big health issues. (SO much cancer seems to be happening). And since the dog food is the complete diet, the dog is what he eats!!! Any suggestions? Experience?
    Thanks

  2. #2
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    I'm not sure why Nutro chicken & rice would be preferable to Pro Plan chicken & rice. Since you like Pro Plan, maybe their sensitive skin and stomach formula would work for you.
    Sue

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  4. #3
    Senior Dog Meeps83's Avatar
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    It may be the chicken that he's sensitive to as well. I believe they also have lamb or salmon based foods.

  5. #4
    Senior Dog Doreen Davis's Avatar
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    We moved from PP chicken and rice to the sensitive skin which is fish based, it helped our Amy a lot.

  6. #5
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    I think sticking with Pro Plan but switching protein is a good idea. Some dogs do have a sensitivity to chicken, and he may just enjoy a switch. I've been rotating proteins with every bag for about 3 years now. Gives the dogs some variety.

  7. #6
    Senior Dog classiq's Avatar
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    I use the PP duck and rice. Mac does very well on it.
    Kathy--mom to:
    Mac--chocolate lab
    Scotty--Arabian gelding


    No philosophers so thoroughly comprehend us as dogs and horses.
    (Herman Melville Redburn)

  8. #7
    Senior Dog doubledip1's Avatar
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    Try adding fish oil before switching foods, but then again I'm of the "if you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras" beliefs.

    It's also winter, and their skin will be drier than if it were summer. You can run a humidifier in your house too. It's good for dogs and it's good for their people!
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  9. #8
    House Broken EGrant23's Avatar
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    We are having the same issue with our 8 months old. He has been scratching pretty often over the last month, not to the point of hot spots or anything. We have mixed fish oil into his diet as well as running two humidifiers in the house. It has seemed to help a bit, but hasn't resolved the issue. We have fed him puppy chicken and rice from blue buffalo since we have had him. We really don't want to change now, just to change again in a few months for his adult food. Ugh.

  10. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by EGrant23 View Post
    We are having the same issue with our 8 months old. He has been scratching pretty often over the last month, not to the point of hot spots or anything. We have mixed fish oil into his diet as well as running two humidifiers in the house. It has seemed to help a bit, but hasn't resolved the issue. We have fed him puppy chicken and rice from blue buffalo since we have had him. We really don't want to change now, just to change again in a few months for his adult food. Ugh.
    At 8 months he could go right to adult ... there’s nothing magical about waiting until 12 months. Especially if the adult food you choose is considered “all-life-stages”. We have switched all of ours off of puppy food at 4 months.
    Annette

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    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
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  11. #10
    Puppy FENTON ACRES's Avatar
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    I swear. Every time I decide to try a different (better) food other than Pro Plan I am always disappointed. I have been feeding Pro Plan Sport (there are several levels and I usually feed the lowest protein/fat one) most of the time with excellent results. GREAT coats (since we are in SoCal - for now - we need all the help we can get with our hot and often dry weather), perfect poops, etc. They never barf (unless Boise snags something stupid on our walks), they never have other gastro issues.

    Recently I noticed that Pro Plan Sport now has a SALMON formula. So I got a small bag to mix in and maybe gradually switch over. So far so good!! So you may want to think about that. I got ours thru Chewy.com (which is how we now buy our food). I was going to share a link to Pro Plan but their website seems to be down.

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