How do you know if you put your bullie on the "right" food?

[2bulliefamily]

and how much time do you give? I know it's a crazy question but Brodie is NOW on the same food as Lola which is an all life stage food "taste of the wild". We have had Lola on this since day 1. We had Brodie on Merrick Puppy Plate but he constantly had bad . So over the course of the last 7 days we have converted him to "taste of the wild". NOW he has tear stains and so does Lola - she's never had a problem before. Is that food or something else? How do you know if you made the right decision on food and how long should you give it before you change it AGAIN? Sorry for the stupid question and thanks!!

 

[Bella'sMom]

It almost sounds as if you answered your own question about it being the right food. You will notice changes for the bad or good with changing. I would wait just a little bit more. Have they had treats over the holidays? That will also cause food-like reactions. Just be patient. Let their bodies adjust, if you don't see a change in a few weeks, then slowly change again. Very slowly, that is the key.

 

[KMARINO]

I knew I found the right one for Vegas when the tear stains, redness in his face, itching and the SMELL left him!! I still have to clean his face daily, and battle occasional tear stains but I could tell after about 3-4 weeks we found the right one, of course it could not be the 10.99 bag, it is $60.00 but soooo worth it!! He is on Nature's Variety Instinct grain/gluten free Salmon flavored.

 

[2bulliefamily]

Thanks [MENTION=900]KMARINO[/MENTION] and @Bella'sMom

Yes they have had treats good and bad treats.....you know how visiting family members can be and under the table they give them stuff they should NOT have...yeah well we have had alot of that over the past few days and i guess they don't understand the words "don't get them food off the table". Lola was given everything from dinner rolls to crab dip.

 

[BruceP]

I think that is your answer.......... the holiday treats!!!! Look for improvement as the week goes on.

 

[cali~jenn]

I agree give it some time to get those snacks out of their system. I think it is easier to know when the food isnt working rather than is. In a few weeks if you arent happy with the results then I say move on to something else. Slowly tho for sure.

 

[kazzy220]

I think it would depend on how long Lola has had the tear stains for ... if it was before the holiday season then you can't really say it was the BAD treats she got given over the last few weeks.

I changed Maggie to FROMM , firstly because I was totally oblivious to how bad Beneful was until I discovered this site in July and I also needed to boost her immune system. So with help from [MENTION=4]Lindathedogsmaid[/MENTION] I made the switch to FROMM because she said it was the best there was. It really does appear to have boosted her immune system because for the first year ever she has not come down with an auto-immune disease that she got every November. However, in a post about how your bully sits I put an old pic of Maggie up sitting side saddle and noticed how awful her tear stains were!! I never thought she had bad tear stains until I look and see how beautiful they are now!!!

 

[2bulliefamily]

Lola and Brodie have had no treats in a while now (okay a while = 1 week) and both tear stains have pretty much gone away, so feel so much better now. Now my problem is how MUCH should i be giving Brodie. He scarfs his food down (my daughter laughs becz he is so funny with how fast he eats) then he sits patiently until Lola eats (who is so slow) and then licks her bowl and all around it then back to his bowl. he acts like he is still hungry. He eats twice a day and 1 cup each feeding which is what is recommended on the bag, actually on the lower end of it. Now, Lola is starting to look like a twinkie so I have cut back her her food. She gets 1 2/3 cup per feeding which is twice a day. Hopefully they are getting enough and not too much.

 

[TessaAndSamson]

Glad they are doing better Puppies are always hungry LOL It's been a long time since Samson was a puppy but when he was I just followed the recommended amounts printed on the bag. As for Lola, that may be a little much depending on what formula she is on. The higher the protein the less you need to feed and I think the TOTW formulas vary on protein content like 20's% - 30's%. When Samson was eating Natural Balance (only 21% protein) I fed him at least a heaping cup of food a day, sometimes 3 cups when it was an active day. When I switched to Fromm (30%) and now Natures Vareity instinct (35%) I noticed he gained a couple pounds with the 2 heaping cups a day of those so now I feed him one less than full cup twice a day.

 

[kazzy220]

I give Maggie 2/3 cup Fromm, twice daily. That's less than what it recommends on the Fromm bag, but I keep reading that the food companies always like for you to give more than is really necessary so that you use more and so have to buy more! Maggie is about 37-38lb.

Daddy is on exactly the same type of food, because like you, I am feeding them an all-stages food. So it was confusing at first because the instructions for food allowance were for adults. So we looked at the weight of Daddy and the amount and gave him a little more than that. After a few days I actually increased it a little more because he was a little "too" starving after every meal. So Daddy is 29lb and he's on 1 1/4 cups of Fromm, twice a day.

I don't know if that helps ......

 

[Corinne0022]

Help!!!! Need advice on what food to try w/ my senior bullie!!!!!!

I adopted my English Bulldog from a rescue last July and all we've had were problems with her--chronic ear & skin infections, constant licking and very smelly. We then changed her diet to grain free Canidae which seemed to help alot and only fed grain free treats. She's recently had an explosion of yucky smelly fungal infection on her back legs/paws and belly. She's on all types of meds to get it under control but I really feel that we should try another type of food. I was also told she was turning 6, but she seems to be at least 8 or 9 years old. Any suggestions on food I should try? Should we stay away from chicken and try a salmon/fish based diet? I know Canidae has a grain free salmon meal formula--has anyone tried it??? PLEASE HELP--THIS IS SOOOOOO CONFUSING!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!

 

[Lacey28]

I would give it some more time! Silva has been on Fromm surf and turf since Dec 18 and I really hoping it will help with her tear stains everything else is good!

 

[Gertie's Mom]

I did some research when I first joined here, immediately after bringing Gertie home. I talked to [MENTION=4]Lindathedogsmaid[/MENTION] too and finally decided to switch Gertie from Iams Puppy, which is what her breeder had been feeding her, to Nature's Variety Prairie. All went well so I also got Ida transitioned over to it too, and they've been on it ever since. They each get 1 1/4 cup in the am and 1 cup at night. They're healthy and growing nicely. We weighed Ida yesterday and she's 35 lbs. Gertie refuses to hold still enough to get weighed, but she's usually just a pound or two less than Ida.

 

[TessaAndSamson]

[MENTION=583]Corinne0022[/MENTION] They say there is a link between potato and yeast growth. Which is a problem for us bully owners because we find that grain free greatly helpd their allergies but MOST grain free foods have potatoes in them. Natures Variety Instinct is grain free and potato free. After I swtiched to that from the other grain free foods that I had Samson on, that were very good but had potatoes in them, his chronic ear infections cleared up right away. It was amazing. I HIGHLY recommend you switch!!!

 

[Lindathedogsmaid]

try a food for at least 6 weeks -unless the dog is throwing it up or a obvious thing as the stains form the eyes. I would guess , fish might be a culprit for that dog. or if the dog has a white face . lots of problems there. try hydrogen peroxide on a paper towel. (careful to not get any in the eye) it works quickly !
sadly 99 % of the food companies change the sources of the meats, and just because one dog hasn't had tear stains until now, means that there has been a change in the food, processing/sources ! large pet food companies that are to big will buy from what ever source they can for cheaper. all in due time. a smaller family owned company like FROMM will only buy from their reputable source. and they tell me that it is shipped in daily, and everything is inspected also daily. they only use vegetable and fruit sources for the vitamins in their food. they never use man made vitamins. the nutritionist is on hand for you to talk to any time that you call.and they have voluntarily signed up for the notify owners if any problems arise in or with any of their food! as has several others . the only other food that I would ever feed a Bulldog,---to guarantee that in 4 to 6 years they would/shouldn't have any internal organ failure!
other than Fromm, is great 4life- or natures variety. (and they are not up to par with the pre and pro bitotics like the other two foods, and are balking at doing so .) they feel they have been around long enough not to need to . -- wrong- if it is not in writing in the guarantee !!! it may as well not be printed.
because only a trace amount is likely in it . by law that's all that's necessary to list it.
please keep the protein down around 30 or less. or look for hot spots to pop up any time. and often the bad stools are form an unbalance in protein levels or an intolerance to a protein. merrick is a good food too. but also not up to letting us know what temp it is cooked at or for how long. fish also upsets many bullies tummies. although I have had great luck with salmon and my gang.