New Food for Miesha!

[Prushanks]

It's no secret that i have been on the GI roller coaster with my girl from the very start. Through developed sensitivities, indiscriminate eating, 10 ingested SOCKS (and counting..), and a Hubby who thinks fancy expensive dog food is an unnecessary waste of money -- i have finally gotten Miesha on what seems to be a quality, grain free, well-priced food!
After rebooting post GI incident she stopped tolerating the Natural Balance LID Lamb&Rice. At his wits end, Hubs stripped me of my food choosing rights and put her on Pro Plan Focus Sensitive (salmon). Took her quite a while to get acclimated to it but after a month or so, was more solid and regulated.. BUT man.. did she poop!! 4-5 large voluminous (somewhat soft) poops a day that she would inevitably step in as she ran in the yard. She did gain the weight she needed back from when she was severely underweight on the food so i was thankful for that (some of which could have been all that poop in her belly!)... However it was time for something better.. if at least to reduce the amount of food consumed and excreted!
I came across this local new dog food by SportDogFood.com on amazon that was very well priced ($49 & free ship for us under subscribe& save!) with great ingredients. Behind Hubs back I ordered a 30# bag of the Elite Whitefish and did a 14 day transition from the PP. The transition was seamless and she is pooping much less and more compact. She is eating a lesser amount of kibble and seems to be utilizing more of the ingredients if judging from her deposits!
I got about 21 days out of a 30# bag of PP and get about 30 days out of the 30# of the SportDogFood Elite Whitefish.
Only thing i have some concerns about is that her stool is much more firm and even crumbly-ish if you squeeze it between (gloved) fingers.
Trust me, i'll take too firm over the alternative but i do wonder what that means. I have had this bottle of Grizzly Salmon oil in my fridge for months, afraid to use it and cause more diarrhea but i decided to start slowly adding it to her meals. Her dose is currently 5-6 pumps a day and im up to 4 pumps with no issues yet! I assume it can only be beneficial!
So anyway, the company is still new and sells exclusively through their website and Amazon.com with great reviews so far. The company offers a range of products and the website also has lots of incentives and even sends samples! I have to say i am impressed so far! Anyway, i will update with any changes or observations, but so far so good!

 

[NikiL02]

Sounds great that you've been able to get a good food for her. It's always a pain. I'm already have issues with Nero not being particularly happy about his food anymore. Could be the twigs he's eating or he just doesn't like it as much. He eats better with wet added in

 

[Rits]

Yay! I'd take crumbly poops over mush piles! I love that on raw, the dog's poops turn white after 2 days and crumble to dust. Almost no clean up required of me. Glad that you found something that works for her and their products look good!

 

[Drogon]

Wow Sport Dog Food Elite Series Whitefish Formula (4.5 stars) I might give it a try

 

[Prushanks]

Wow Sport Dog Food Elite Series Whitefish Formula (4.5 stars) I might give it a try

That review must be new!! So glad they finally did it!! I was originally looking at the Beef (even better price point at $42 under subscribe&save!) but took @Archer 's advice to stick with fish for now because of her sensitive GI. I would like to get the beef into rotation down the road when she's more settled amd see how she does! I will say the kibble bits are on the smaller side but it doesnt really matter to my dobervacuum.
On an interesting side note, I still soak her food and when we were transitioning, the old food (grain heavy ProPlan) would float to the top and the SDF Elite would sink like a pebble! I guess its dense!

 

[GennyB]

Yippie! Always good to get GI problems solved, what a PITA (literally for the dog)

Gotta bookmark that site, might have just added to our rotation diet. Another bonus for me doing the rotation, I can order online. Apparently I'm not smart enough to do it with one brand. Found myself with tons of overstock or running out.

 

[AresMyDobie]

That's great! Firm stools are the best stools. My guys take a bit to relieve themselves and it's small firm poops which is what you want and long bowl relieveal time because it expresses their anal glands glad you found something that is working for her !

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Thanks for the info. I will take a look at this. Oji has been in an acceptable place in terms of his excretions and his body appearance and weight. This is on TOTW Sierra Mountain (mostly lamb). I have been putting off trying something else, though I should. I'm giving him 5 cups per day and want to be able to give him less yet keep his weight from dropping.

 

[strykerdobe]

Looks to be a pretty good food!
A good go to supplement herb for loose stools is Slippery Elm.

 

[Prushanks]

Thanks for the info. I will take a look at this. Oji has been in an acceptable place in terms of his excretions and his body appearance and weight. This is on TOTW Sierra Mountain (mostly lamb). I have been putting off trying something else, though I should. I'm giving him 5 cups per day and want to be able to give him less yet keep his weight from dropping.

That was pretty much exactly how i felt with Miesha too. She was on 6 cups during weight gain and when she was at a good weight i lowered it to btwn 5.25-5.5cups later while on the PP. She is almost a year (9/18!) and on this food i currently have her on just about 4.5 cups. I'm watching her body condition to see how the amount works for her but im guessing i will be able to lower it in the near future!

 

[JanS]

I'm so glad you finally found something that works! As you know, it can take a lot of trial and error, but it's well worth it when you find the right one.

I think we need updated pics of her.

 

[Archer]

That review must be new!! So glad they finally did it!! I was originally looking at the Beef (even better price point at $42 under subscribe&save!) but took @Archer 's advice to stick with fish for now because of her sensitive GI. I would like to get the beef into rotation down the road when she's more settled amd see how she does! I will say the kibble bits are on the smaller side but it doesnt really matter to my dobervacuum.
On an interesting side note, I still soak her food and when we were transitioning, the old food (grain heavy ProPlan) would float to the top and the SDF Elite would sink like a pebble! I guess its dense!

I am glad that the fish is working out for her! I have noticed that many foods are switching to a smaller sized kibble. When Orijen made their switch to the new kitchen, their kibble size was cut in half. I still soak the food for the puppies, which makes a lovely yummy gravy. let us know how the transition goes if you decide to try it.

 

[Prushanks]

I am glad that the fish is working out for her! I have noticed that many foods are switching to a smaller sized kibble. When Orijen made their switch to the new kitchen, their kibble size was cut in half. I still soak the food for the puppies, which makes a lovely yummy gravy. let us know how the transition goes if you decide to try it.

Thank you!! Its been going great! We did a full 14 day transition and she has been 100% on the SportDogFood Elite Whitefish for about a week now and so far Fantastic!

 

[bomary]

Oh yay for Miesha (and you)! I'm so happy her little tummy is doing well. I'm gonna keep the name of that food in the event that Jax needs a change down the road.

 

[Prushanks]

Yay! I'd take crumbly poops over mush piles! I love that on raw, the dog's poops turn white after 2 days and crumble to dust. Almost no clean up required of me. Glad that you found something that works for her and their products look good!

So funny enough after you wrote this i left a "deposit" for observation to see how it broke down and how long... well it turned white and crumbly pretty fast (of course the Sun helps with that too!), not all turned white-ish but a decent amount did and overall broke down to dirt-like crumbles similarly to what you described! I guess that's good!