New Owner - Food Advice

[SBbulldog]

Hi, I am a new bulldog mom to Otto (14wks). I had a question about food. I originally purchased Royal Canin, and now understand it’s crap, so have switched him over to Acana Wholesome Grains. I see a lot of posts advocating grain-free, but my vet told me “grain free is a joke and dogs need grains like humans do.”

I’m wondering if anyone here has an opinion of feeding him the Acana wholesome grains or recommends switching to Acana grain free. Appreciate the advice in advance!!

 

[anatess]

My 3 dogs - 2 who died at age 13, and 1 who is currently 11 years old - prove your vet wrong. They are on Raw Meat Only nutrition.

Also, humans don't "need" grains either. There are people on grain-free paleo, keto, and even carnivore diet for lifestyle and health reasons. The human body can extract energy out of either Carbs or Fat. Each human body is unique with its own individual health requirements.

As far as grain versus grain-free. It's all about your dog's response to the food and his nutritional deficiencies. It is unique to every dog, ,even dogs of the same breed. Grain-free is usually preferred for dogs with allergies to certain grains (common in English Bulldogs). Some people think foods advertised as Grain-Free is lower in carbs and fiber that are just filler calories but this is not always true. Some grain-free foods don't replace the lost calories with fat and protein, rather, they just replace it with another filler carbs like potatoes. So, for example, a dog prone to yeast infection (also common in English Bulldogs) may benefit from grain-free dog food but not if the dog food is still high in carbs.

 

[Cbrugs]

My boys are raw fed but my girl gets Open Farm with Ancient Grains and she does fine it. Feed what works for your dog. I’m not a huge fan of grain free because I don’t like all the peas and legumes as the fillers they use in place of the grains.

 

[helsonwheels1]

Hi, I am a new bulldog mom to Otto (14wks). I had a question about food. I originally purchased Royal Canin, and now understand it’s crap, so have switched him over to Acana Wholesome Grains. I see a lot of posts advocating grain-free, but my vet told me “grain free is a joke and dogs need grains like humans do.”

I’m wondering if anyone here has an opinion of feeding him the Acana wholesome grains or recommends switching to Acana grain free. Appreciate the advice in advance!!View attachment 122302

Change vets. Dogs do not need grains like humans. Btw most vets gets a kickback from RC n Science Hill.

Go with your gut, Acana, Fromm, Zignature are great kibbles. My dogs are also n raw. I just got a newer addition a German Shepherd n she too is 14weeks. Breeder had her on purina puppy chow n when she got home she went straight to raw. RC, Science Hill or anyt made by Purina is full of grains. They are dogs not cows.

Acana/Orijen has a puppy kibble. You can start with that. Purple bag. Do rotate your bag to another protein once finished. The more you introduce different protein to a puppy the more they will avoid future allergies if any.

 

[benny]

for what it’s worth, prior to our current puppy, I had an EB from the same litter as my parents.

My parent’s eb was fed exclusively Blue
I fed Holistic Select (grain) for the first few years and then switched to 4 Star Fromm (grain free) for the rest of her life.

I never really had issues with my EB, in-fact she seemed to be healthier on the Fromm.
My parent’s EB had joint and weight issues and smelled bad.

I had started our new puppy (14w 4d today) on RC and just (this week) finished switching her to Orijen. Each day during the switch her stools looked better than the previous day.

 

[2BullyMama31]

We feed raw with oats in it, but you have to find what works best for you dog.. grain or not. Find the one and stick with it as long s they like it and they thrive it is trail and error, but when you find the right one it is worth it.

 

[Deanojft96]

Just a quick reply if you are going to feed otto puppy food ? If so make sure to only feed for a certain amount of months

 

[Wills]

Hi, I am a new bulldog mom to Otto (14wks). I had a question about food. I originally purchased Royal Canin, and now understand it’s crap, so have switched him over to Acana Wholesome Grains. I see a lot of posts advocating grain-free, but my vet told me “grain free is a joke and dogs need grains like humans do.”

I’m wondering if anyone here has an opinion of feeding him the Acana wholesome grains or recommends switching to Acana grain free. Appreciate the advice in advance!!View attachment 122302

Mine is 16 weeks old a boy we are on royal canin but the amount looks a lot 341 grams over 3 meals does that compare to yours ?

 

[benny]

Mine is 16 weeks old a boy we are on royal canin but the amount looks a lot 341 grams over 3 meals does that compare to yours ?

Our girl was getting 280g RC when we switched to 209g of Orijen

 

[Wills]

A

Our girl was getting 280g RC when we switched to 209g of Orijen

Anyone know if this amount seems ok ?

 

[dukebulldog303]

Cute puppy! I too have been thinking about going grain-free for our bulldog. He's been on Farmina Ancestral Grains (spelt & oats), Lamb food and seems to be doing great. Recently I noticed lot more shedding than usual and thinking about switching food to Acana or others on recommended list. As a side note, I noticed Farmina is not on the list. Anyone else try Farmina brand?

 

[Bulldog2001]

Cute puppy! I too have been thinking about going grain-free for our bulldog. He's been on Farmina Ancestral Grains (spelt & oats), Lamb food and seems to be doing great. Recently I noticed lot more shedding than usual and thinking about switching food to Acana or others on recommended list. As a side note, I noticed Farmina is not on the list. Anyone else try Farmina brand?

Since you are thinking of switching foods, I recommend raw diet as that’s best for them now and long term.
That’s easier to rotate proteins to prevent new food allergies from coming up.
Dogs need moisture in their diet, raw is around 70% moisture, kibble(even the good ones) are less than 10% moisture!
That’s why all kibble dehydrates them, even if they drink 4 cups of water with each meal, the moisture and everything is pulled from the kidneys even when water is added to dry food. That causes constant dehydration and causes Kidney and liver disease(my 2 other dogs that were kibble fed, are now have Kidney disease and they were given 6 months at most to live after being diagnosed)-they are on raw diet, low in phosphorus and sodium and it’s been 13 months since they have been diagnosed and we just got their bloodwork and urine checked, their kidneys are working great, even though they still have kidney disease, their kidney bloodwork and urine check have not been this good-it’s all in the normal range for BOTH of them!

Rotate proteins prevent food allergies(my dog recently developed an allergy to the food he is eating every day)- i didn’t know that rotate foods and proteins prevents food allergies until I did my nutrition courses for dogs, and people were coming to the pet store I work at with food allergies and kidney disease(every day at least 1 person comes in with food allergy from no variety).

I can give you recommendations on the great high end kibbles if you can’t feed raw.

I’m happy to help

 

[helsonwheels1]

Actually that kibble’s grains are sorghum, millet and oats. Much easier to digest than Wheat or rice. But yes sadly most vets will push for RC which is fit for farm animals n not for dogs.

 

[2BullyMama31]

Cute puppy! I too have been thinking about going grain-free for our bulldog. He's been on Farmina Ancestral Grains (spelt & oats), Lamb food and seems to be doing great. Recently I noticed lot more shedding than usual and thinking about switching food to Acana or others on recommended list. As a side note, I noticed Farmina is not on the list. Anyone else try Farmina brand?

It is shedding season so keep that in mind if you are thinking of changing just due to that

 

[dukebulldog303]

Since you are thinking of switching foods, I recommend raw diet as that’s best for them now and long term.
That’s easier to rotate proteins to prevent new food allergies from coming up.
Dogs need moisture in their diet, raw is around 70% moisture, kibble(even the good ones) are less than 10% moisture!
That’s why all kibble dehydrates them, even if they drink 4 cups of water with each meal, the moisture and everything is pulled from the kidneys even when water is added to dry food. That causes constant dehydration and causes Kidney and liver disease(my 2 other dogs that were kibble fed, are now have Kidney disease and they were given 6 months at most to live after being diagnosed)-they are on raw diet, low in phosphorus and sodium and it’s been 13 months since they have been diagnosed and we just got their bloodwork and urine checked, their kidneys are working great, even though they still have kidney disease, their kidney bloodwork and urine check have not been this good-it’s all in the normal range for BOTH of them!

Rotate proteins prevent food allergies(my dog recently developed an allergy to the food he is eating every day)- i didn’t know that rotate foods and proteins prevents food allergies until I did my nutrition courses for dogs, and people were coming to the pet store I work at with food allergies and kidney disease(every day at least 1 person comes in with food allergy from no variety).

I can give you recommendations on the great high end kibbles if you can’t feed raw.

I’m happy to help

Thank you for your feedback. Yes I would appreciate your recommendation on high end kibble.