I thought I was choosing a better food for her...

[Millie "2"]

Hi, I just recently switched my Millie, who is 5 months old now from Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Formula (which the breeder had her on when we bought her) to Nutro for Large Breed Puppies. After talking to a Nutro rep at my local Petsmart store, the sound of all natural appealed to me and I have a few friends that feed their dogs this and they are happy with it. I was told by the rep that I will notice a difference in her coat, she will start eating less, and she will start pooping less. Well prior to the change, Millie couldn't wait for meal time and ate really fast, both morning and night feedings. Since I've changed her over to Nutro(which is 4 weeks now), there are many days where she will eat only once a day and I have to coax her into eating what she does. Is this normal? She went from 4 cups a day of the Purina to only 2 cups a day of the Nutro. Is this stuff that much better or do you think I should have stuck with the Purina? She is definately eating less like the rep said she would, but I'm concerned if she's eating enough now? Plus, she's not pooping as often either (which is a plus).

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Linda & Millie

 

[SC's Mom]

Linda-
A better food can mean that they will eat less. Caesar was on Nutro when he was a pup but we switched to CA Natural. After reading up on here about foods and the Whole Dog Journal we opted for a higher grade kibble (allergies were a factor as well).
Did you switch over time or did you just switch? This could be a factor as well.

T. and Caesar

 

[Chicagosarah]

Nutro natural is better then purina so that was a good step!!A side noite is that boxers are a medium breed and should not be on large breed food. If you like Nutro I would gradually switch to nutro natural puppy.
Personally Nutro natural puppy has WAY too much rice in it for me and by me NN is MORE expensive then canidae, a human grade food!!
IMO the Ultra lines looks the best out of Nutro's products.

 

[Slippynicla]

like verybody else said nutro is a better food than purina, but she could be getting a better food. I forget what our gilr was being fed by the breeder but we switched her to nurto as well and she did the same thing; would eat, but not as much, or not at all some days. eventually (after many food changes) we started feeding premium kibble, and she hasn't let a scrap of it pass her by in 8 months, which is a huga accomplishment for a dog who was very picky before that.

 

[Millie "2"]

Thanks for the responses. I was thinking of switching her to different kind of the Nutro line because it seems like ever since I switched her (which I did gradually over a two week period) she's had gas which she never had before. I've been trying to look online for the premium kibble but I'm unable to find if any stores near me carry them (the url link wasn't working on one of the sites). I think I'll go tonight and try picking up the Nutro Natural Choice Ultra Puppy seeing I have about a half a bag left of the large breed to mix with. Wish me luck and hopefully she will like it. Otherwise, I'll have to do further research to either find the Premium Kibble or the Canidae.

Thanks again.

 

[Jan]

You are more likely to find the good quality kibble in an independant pet food store. The big chains don't usually carry them. You can also often order them online.

 

[Millie "2"]

Thanks Jan, that will save me time on my search to not even bother looking at the pet chain stores.

 

[HarleyMama]

I've been feeding Harley Natural Balance Ultra Premium dry with the NB Duck & Potato canned. He Loves it! Of course I'm feeding this mostly b/c of an allergy to corn and NB has no corn, wheat, or white rice... which is a plus, less filler= more good stuff in smaller amounts.

Also, NB is for all life stages, so you just adjust the amount to yourdogs age/weight. I get mine at an independent retailer, however I have seen it at Petco and Petco only... but, per the store manager they "can only carry a few bags at a time b/c of the short shelf life" and thats why "it is priced slightly higher here [at Petco]". So that was nice for me to hear, knowing that shorter shelf life= fresher food, since it cant be stored for long periods of time in warehouses.

Anyway, just a thought... Harley really loves it and I've switched at least 5 times and he's never been so excited about eating as he is with NB... you can get more info at www.NaturalBalanceinc.com

Good Luck,
Melissa

 

[SC's Mom]

A good idea is to get a list of the foods you might be interested in and go to the company's link vs the pet store link. The company usually has a link to where their food is sold.
That's how I was able to find CA Natural for Caesar--Only 2 stores around here carry it one is a 40 minute drive and the other is about 20-25 minute drive (without traffic). It's well worth the drives. Not to mention the small independant stores usually have more knowledge of the brands.

Good luck!