Need help picking new food or possibly raw diet due to allergies

[Ralphiethebulldog]

Hello, I am in need of some help. Currently we have switched over our soon to be 4 month old bully from royal canine to Fromm heartland grain free puppy. He started off great solid poop and all but about a week into being on Fromm he started itching all over and biting/licking his paws as well as his sides turning pink and one of his ears turning really pink. We believe it to be attributed to the beef in the Fromm. We would like to switch him to a raw diet eventually but not sure which brand of raw to try? In the meantime we had a little bag of royal canine which he has been eating but we would like to get him off of that as soon as possible. We are just looking for good suggestions on puppy food, either that be raw food brand or dry puppy kibble that doesn't contain beef. Thank you in advance

 

[Hankster]

Hi and welcome... Lots of food ideas here so i'll just say quickly that the Acana, and Origen foods are really nice. We liked the Acana fish a lot and still occasionally feed.. I'll leave it to some others with pups, and you will be hearing soon I'm sure.. Lots of great info and advice here. You should find everything you need

 

[Dollys Owner]

Someone just posted a link to contaminated pet foods, and the worst ones were fish based. Dog and Cat Food - Clean Label Project I would recommend a limited ingredient dehydrated raw formula eg. Honest Kitchen Spruce . Or if you want to stick with dry kibble, a limited ingredient product like Acana Duck and Pear; or Nature's Variety Instinct limited ingredient puppy formula ( either lamb and brown rice, or potato and duck )

 

[Hankster]

WoW!!! just checked it out!!!! blew me away!!!! going to do some ore reading now but holy smokes! Some of our favorites on there!

Someone just posted a link to contaminated pet foods, and the worst ones were fish based. Dog and Cat Food - Clean Label Project I would recommend a limited ingredient dehydrated raw formula eg. Honest Kitchen Spruce . Or if you want to stick with dry kibble, a limited ingredient product like Acana Duck and Pear; or Nature's Variety Instinct limited ingredient puppy formula ( either lamb and brown rice, or potato and duck )

 

[helsonwheels]

All great answers above. Congrats on getting him off RC!!!!

 

[Hankster]

omg,,,, the acana duck, of which I was going to order for spare, had ONE star! oh lordy,,, think I'm sticking with my Honest Kitchen, and then some Sojos turkey for travel mabie... anyway,,, thanks

 

[Dollys Owner]

Acana Singles get 5 stars on dogfoodadvisor (4.5 stars for US sourced), but only 1 star on that contamination listing site? I'm wondering if maybe duck is a bad ingredient because it eats fish? When I was looking up sources of good dog food, I came across one commenter who was criticizing how we feed our pets nowadays these artsy organic meals these days, and it cracked me up Something's Rotten in the Pet Food Industry - Modern Farmer

"I grew up the son of a veterinarian, and know that some breeders feed diets of whole critters like baby chicks and bunnies to the kittens and puppies they've raised. So if you want to be nutritionally on point, and go totally for-reals, there are companies out there that sell frozen whole animals for the hardcore dietary enthusiasts. None of this namby-pamby, crafty-crocheted stuff allowed. You need to hear skulls cracking and your precious little pookie-pups snarling at each other, (and maybe even at you), while they protect their food stash and get back to nature."

 

[Hankster]

ya know,,, growing up, seems like we never took our dogs to the vet, or had these modern day problems. I don't remember the why of , why we got the newFangeled dog food (I think called Kasco? casco?) but I so remember it was going to save the world and I was just a youngen and from there on out, I've always at least searched out the best of what I could read about. Don't know that that makes much difference sometimes as my Shih Tzu was fed top of the line everything, and her sister ate Walmart brand, and she outlived my girl!! Still gotta try, but geesh! frustrating sometimes.. .. and nope, don't think I need the crunch of skulls ... yuck! even if it was the best!

Acana Singles get 5 stars on dogfoodadvisor (4.5 stars for US sourced), but only 1 star on that contamination listing site? I'm wondering if maybe duck is a bad ingredient because it eats fish? When I was looking up sources of good dog food, I came across one commenter who was criticizing how we feed our pets nowadays these artsy organic meals these days, and it cracked me up Something's Rotten in the Pet Food Industry - Modern Farmer

"I grew up the son of a veterinarian, and know that some breeders feed diets of whole critters like baby chicks and bunnies to the kittens and puppies they've raised. So if you want to be nutritionally on point, and go totally for-reals, there are companies out there that sell frozen whole animals for the hardcore dietary enthusiasts. None of this namby-pamby, crafty-crocheted stuff allowed. You need to hear skulls cracking and your precious little pookie-pups snarling at each other, (and maybe even at you), while they protect their food stash and get back to nature."

 

[Ralphiethebulldog]

Thank you for your suggestions! Definitely a very helpful community! We are leaning towards getting him on the raw food diet as quick as possible. Especially after reading the link that Dollys Owner posted.

 

[Ralphiethebulldog]

I appreciate all your help! Do you have any experience with smallbatchdog? We have a small pet store that stocks it nearby us, so it would be easy to obtain. We definitely want to go ahead and transfer him to raw food. Were still trying to learn as much about it as possible. Thank you again for your help!

 

[Ralphiethebulldog]

Thank you! We got him from the breeder on RC and was instructed to use it. Definitely happy we did our own research.

 

[Dollys Owner]

I've never heard of smallbatch before, but looks like they make frozen raw and freeze dried raw. The frozen raw is listed on dogfoodadvisor as 5 star, and the freeze dried raw is not listed, so I guess they are OK. Looks like they had one recall of their duck formula in March 2016, so just one recall so far.

SmallBatch Raw Frozen Dog Food | Review | Rating | Recalls

I appreciate all your help! Do you have any experience with smallbatchdog? We have a small pet store that stocks it nearby us, so it would be easy to obtain. We definitely want to go ahead and transfer him to raw food. Were still trying to learn as much about it as possible. Thank you again for your help!

 

[ParryTack]

I purchased my pup from a breeder here in Florida at 8 weeks and immediately switched him to raw.
I use the Blueridge Brand in Beef, Puppy, Performance Blend, Venison, Rabbit, Turkey and mix it with the SOJO veggies. Im feeding about a pound a day.
I also belong to a CO-Op and get similar frozen raw in patty, 2 and 3 chubs by the case of 40#. Had to buy a freezer. It seemed like ALOT of work at first but now its pretty easy. I also purchase the meaty bones and let him eat the meat off and then toss the big bones away.
I was doing whole prey, chicken, Turkey and rabbit but my puppy wolfs everything he eats. So I cannot give him whole prey unless I hold onto it to make sure he doesn’t swallow a piece big enough for him to choke on.
All in all Im happy we've gone this route. Happy to share any info I have.
Anita & Montegue

 

[Hankster]

I purchased my pup from a breeder here in Florida at 8 weeks and immediately switched him to raw.
I use the Blueridge Brand in Beef, Puppy, Performance Blend, Venison, Rabbit, Turkey and mix it with the SOJO veggies. Im feeding about a pound a day.
I also belong to a CO-Op and get similar frozen raw in patty, 2 and 3 chubs by the case of 40#. Had to buy a freezer. It seemed like ALOT of work at first but now its pretty easy. I also purchase the meaty bones and let him eat the meat off and then toss the big bones away.
I was doing whole prey, chicken, Turkey and rabbit but my puppy wolfs everything he eats. So I cannot give him whole prey unless I hold onto it to make sure he doesn’t swallow a piece big enough for him to choke on.
All in all Im happy we've gone this route. Happy to share any info I have.
Anita & Montegue

Omg look at that gorgeous boy!!

 

[1Chumly]

Someone just posted a link to contaminated pet foods, and the worst ones were fish based. Dog and Cat Food - Clean Label Project I would recommend a limited ingredient dehydrated raw formula eg. Honest Kitchen Spruce . Or if you want to stick with dry kibble, a limited ingredient product like Acana Duck and Pear; or Nature's Variety Instinct limited ingredient puppy formula ( either lamb and brown rice, or potato and duck )

That list lost me when I saw Kibbles and Bits and Beneful as a 5 star!