New Bully Owner- food question

Kozman

New member
Nov 13, 2011
43
1
NYC
Bulldog(s) Names
Luna
I'm a proud owner of a 4 month old 23lb bully girl, she is doing great so far. I got her at 9 weeks and have a few questions.

Based on reviews from this site, we switched food about a week ago from Purina Pro(that what the breeder used - yuk!!) to Merrick Cowboy Cookout. I noticed saturday she is tearing/staining from her right eye. I'm a little surprised because we thought Merrick was good for her , she never teared with Purina. Is this normal to tear/stain when you switch foods or is this allegery related?

Please let me know if I should concerned and how to take care of the staining. She is soooo cute I hate to see those ulgy stains...

BTW, this site is awesome, glad to be here and thanks for the help.
 

cali~jenn

..........
Mar 28, 2010
0
419
Southern California
Bulldog(s) Names
Cutty, Miila and Mugsy the pug :)
Well that is a great food actually but each bully is sensitive in different ways to different things. lol Being good doesnt mean it is the right one for your baby. Which protein is that food? I know lamb made my boy very pink so no lamb for us. Welcome to the never ending search for the perfect food. :lol: It is never ending I think. BUT that isnt the worst thing to have to worry about as far as food related problems. Also snacks you give can affect your baby too so if you are giving diff snacks that can be the cause, not just the food. Also some foods have beet pulp in them and those cause major staining so you might wanna look to be sure there isnt any in snacks or food. There is a scrub that carolina pet pantry sells that does help, some have had success with angel eyes. Apple cider vinegar in their drinking water can help. No solution specifically tho. You will get more advice also so hang in there. :) Welcome aboard, dont be shy and we love pics so get a posting please. :D
 

JAKEISGREAT

.................
Mar 25, 2011
14,802
1,155
Southern California
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Jake
:welcome: and as [MENTION=390]cali~jenn[/MENTION] said..it just depends what works best for your girl. My Jake is sensitive to chicken..by trial and error..I figured this out! I still am not 100% satisfied with his food..but I'm sticking with Fromm for awhile. Purina is really not a good food for a lot of reasons. You should check the ingredients very carefully of the Merricks and see if you can find another one of theirs that might have a different protein. I'm sorry..there is just not a simple answer. It's the most frustrating thing ive dealt with!
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Jul 28, 2011
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Hello and welcome to EBN and the wonderful world of bulldogs!

Where so you live? Could be seasonal allergies... could be the protein in the Cowboy cookout -- I used that for a while with my guys till I went to raw, which I know have to get my girl off of so we are going to Fromm Beef (something or other - can't remember the full name) if that doesn't work it will be Merrick Wilderness blend. Banks is HIGHLY allergic to chicken and has issues with potatoes which cause her to tear and get the stains.

PICTURES PLEASE!!!!!
 
OP
Kozman

Kozman

New member
Nov 13, 2011
43
1
NYC
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Luna
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The protein in Cowboy Cookout is beef which was supposely in Purina also. I'm giving her a 3 cups a day, is that too much?

I live in NY so allegeries should not be an issue this time of year. Keep the suggestions coming...
 

GatorRay

I am in total control....I think
Feb 25, 2011
3,432
227
Louisville, KY
Bulldog(s) Names
Gator & Lucy Goosey, the Basset and Gigi (AKA Gypsy)
Read the bag and see if there is chicken in it. Most foods use chicken as a second protein no matter what the main protein is. Also, and forgive me for my laziness and not looking it up, is it grain free? Sometimes that is a culprit. It could just be you need to switch to filtered water. I would start with filtered water for a few weeks and see if it lightens up a bit :)
 

cowsmom

..........
Apr 27, 2011
6,996
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Virginia
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Sarah aka cow
well if you look at cowboy cookout there are like tons of things in the food that could be causing this. purina had fewer ingredients. maybe try something with not so many ingredients. a bullies allergies are a tricky thing and i find usually the less ingredients the better until you know what their allergies are. you may want to try a grain free food as most dogs do better without grains. watch the potato though as some bullies can get yeasty. honestly im liking the california natural grain free food. i may try it for sarah. meat and peas mostly. im just scared of the proctor and gamble involvement. natural balance has some nice limited ingredient diets. although i prefer more protein. their alpha dog maybe a good choice. natures variety instinct has a limited ingredient diet food. nutri source pure vita grain free is pretty limited. good luck and let us know how it goes.
 

cowsmom

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Apr 27, 2011
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just a note to [MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION] i notice the merrick wilderness has dried potato bout half way down the list and you stated no potato. not sure if it will be a concern or not just pointing it out.
 
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Kozman

Kozman

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Nov 13, 2011
43
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NYC
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Luna
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I don't know if this contributes to the staining but I give her Zukes mini naturals treats for training, not many, maybe four little treats a day.

Also feeding her a cup of food 3x a day, is that too much for her? I'm not sure if the change in food from bad brand to good is too much protein for her. it does contain some grains - oatmeal, pearled barley and ground rice but no corn meal and brewers rice like the junk Purina had.

She didn't seem to look worse this morning but her white is still stained brown

...and finally added her pic...enjoy

100_2401.jpg
 
Last edited:

cali~jenn

..........
Mar 28, 2010
0
419
Southern California
Bulldog(s) Names
Cutty, Miila and Mugsy the pug :)
Not sure on the amount if it is enough or too much or not. Being so young I would think you are in the ballpark tho. Others will know this answer better. As far as the treats I just googled them and they are a good healthy one BUT I see they have beets I think. Here is a quote in the description "In other words, we don't put anything in our products that we wouldn't eat ourselves—except for Mark in accounting—he's not so crazy about beets." Beets can cause major staining so maybe try just healthy frozen green beans, baby carrots, banana pieces apple etc for training for a little bit and see if it makes any diff. If you do this before switching the food you will be able to know for sure if it is the food or the snacks. I finally looked up the merrick also, no beets so that is good. With Cutty the few times we went with beef frittata thru fromm foods he turned more pink also. Could be the beef. BUT knowing that there are beets in the treats I would def start there and see if you notice a change. It takes some time to get rid of them once they come up. This scrub helps to get rid of the stains also. But you need to get rid of the cause before I think this will work the best. Here is a link from our sponsor. lol
http://stores.carolinapetpantry.com/-strse-10/SPA-Fresh-Facial-Scrub/Detail.bok
 

cowsmom

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Apr 27, 2011
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[MENTION=3699]Kozman[/MENTION] well i dont know about how much to feed i think 3 times a day is how many times but not sure about how much as ive never had a puppy. some others here know more about that. i will tell you that what you are feeding now is less protein than the purina. its about whats in the food that she is allergic to. you may want to stop the treats for a bit see if the staining stops. thats why i say to pick something with limited ingredients. bullies can also have environmental allergies as well. when it comes to food you may have to try several to find one right for your dog. kudos to you for trying to feed her something better than purina. thats the first step. you may in the future when they are like a year old i think get her tested for allergies. it can save alot of headaches down the road. she is so beautiful. i believe they make something for tear stains angel eyes i believe it is. there is a thread under bulldog health about tear stains you may want to keep a watch on.
 
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Kozman

Kozman

New member
Nov 13, 2011
43
1
NYC
Bulldog(s) Names
Luna
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  • #12
thanks for all the help, you are all so helpful. I will cut down on the treats and see what happens. I guess I should try and research other foods to see what works best....I just bought a 30lb bag (duh) the other day....oh well !! :shout:
 

cali~jenn

..........
Mar 28, 2010
0
419
Southern California
Bulldog(s) Names
Cutty, Miila and Mugsy the pug :)
thanks for all the help, you are all so helpful. I will cut down on the treats and see what happens. I guess I should try and research other foods to see what works best....I just bought a 30lb bag (duh) the other day....oh well !! :shout:
No worries, use it up while you test the treat thing. Tear stains are not the worst thing out there so long as she isnt biting at her feet alot or acting itchy I would just use this and see what happens. Then if you switch the protein in that brand, so long as you keep within the same food line you can just go right into the next type you want to try. If you want to change brands then you have to do the slow switch but in the meantime I would focus on these treats for now. You are a great mama, most people dont try figuring this stuff out until the pups are much further along with allergies. :)
 

Lindathedogsmaid

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Jan 30, 2010
327
18
Sequim ,Washington
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Pippa & Peanut
please go to Fromm, 4 star, and try it , Merrick used to be good but have had some recalls last year. and stay away from dark meat like lamb, it often stains badly. , thanks for getting away from Purina ---anything!!!!
 

Davidh

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Mar 21, 2011
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Katy, Texas
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BeBe, Hazel, Lucy Lu, JLO, Hillary, Henri, & Katie
I agree with [MENTION=390]cali~jenn[/MENTION] try a different treat first to see if the staining goes away. We feed ours FROMM 4 star but Lucy cannot have the one with duck, she turns red on. Buddy will not eat the one with fish (sorry for not looking up the proper names of food) so finding one that works for your pup is a guessing game at times. Plus seasonal allergies are a problem down here.

Welcome to the site and we are glad you are here and little Luna is such a doll, too cute. Looking forward in seeing more pics from her.

Also just a note, you may already know this, but it does not hurt to be reminded. Please do not give your bully raw hides, pig ears, or greenies for chew toys, as they can become fatal. Kongs or Nylabones are excellent choices.
 

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