switching dog food

[Elsa]

Hi Everyone! I have been reading several threads on dog food but thought I'd also post this in case anyone experienced the same. Our boxer is almost 14 months old and we have been feeding Riley Acana Puppy large breed since bringing him home at 10 weeks old. He has a very shiny coat and is 70 lbs. Having said that his poops are generally soft and messy, he has eye boogers and some eye redness, and his urine does burn the grass. We have been thinking of switching his food for a while now due to all the above and have been researching. We are thinking of some of the following;
Taste of the Wild, Merrick Puppy Plate, and Grain before Chicken

We are in Canada but have found most brands available here.

Has anyone experienced the same with their boxers then were able to manage by switching to a new food?

thanks in advance for your help!

[JoeV]

Lucky developed allergies, but found out it is something outside rather than in food. However, we had her on Orijen puppy, then adult (I believe they make Acana as well) and it was a good kibble. We also tried Taste of the Wild, didn't seem that great. We switched to 100% raw after reading about it on this site as well as a recommendation by our vet. I'd give it a shot - I was under the impression at first that it is hard to do, etc. but it is really easy and IMO really heathly for dogs. If you want to stick with kibble, maybe try something with less protein to help the poop situation, too much protein is often the culpret of an upset stomach.

[Elsa]

Thanks for your help. Last week we tried him on a sample we got of Canisource (suppose to be dehydrated raw) and he had the runs for 2 days. I'm not sure what we'll try next but I agree that we should try something with less protein from he is currently getting.

[Spyglass Sally]

We feed raw too. We offer Buddy kibble if he's eaten his raw (~2 lbs/day) but mostly he turns it down. I agree with Joe that it's really not that hard and very healthy. If you haven't already looked at the AussieGirl's great posts on raw, check them out Raw Feeding - BoxerHub

If you're looking for analysis of dog food try Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to post questions - this is a great group, if I do say so myself.

[AussieGirl]

Hi and welcome!
Sounds like the Acana Puppy isn't agreeing with him if he is having soft poops. I just want to point a few things out:
*you don't need to feed boxers a "large breed" formula - they are actually a medium size breed so "regular" food will do
*not sure if I misunderstood but puppy food is not required for a 14 month old, you can switch to a "regular" food (providing it is not a high protein food) when they are around six months old, a high protein food however should NOT be fed until 12 months old.
*when changing to a new food it should be done slowly, so feed the old food and add a small amount of the new one, slowly increasing the new food and decreasing the old one until you are feeding only the new one. This is done to avoid tummy upsets and RUNNY poo. Which makes me wonder about the runny poo on the sample food you tried.
*lastly when trying a new food sometimes you have to give it a while, so feeding it twice may not be enough time to see if it really works for that dog or not. You see, if he is having a reaction to the food he is already having it will take a while for his body to recover and the symptoms to stop, so you need to enable enough time for this to happen otherwise you will never know if it is the old food or the new food. Sometimes it gets a little worse before it gets better - I think Sally refers to it as a "healing crisis". Again this makes me wonder about the runny poop with the sample food you tried, I personally would wait a few weeks to a month before deciding if a new food wasn't working.

I haven't tried the foods you have mentioned so I can't comment on them, but remember that all dogs are different - so what one dog does really well on, another doesn't. You really have to be patient and find the right fit for your dog.