Critique this food please........Thanx... - Page 1

This is the kibble I feed....My males stool is a little too soft and he has ( for lack of a better word ) dirty butt...Still a bit of a an issue with his feet, but that is 95% better.....Can I get some feedback/critique on the ingredients. Am I over looking something in the ingredient list that could cause some of what I have described...I was mixing in TOTW Pacific Stream as well, but I have stopped that for about two weeks now. Since stopping TOTW his breath has been better, butt has been cleaner, stool has been a bit firmer. However, I think the stool could still be firmer......Thanks for any insight.......

                   Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potato
Ingredients
Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Salmon, Salmon Meal, Canola Oil (preserved with natural mixed tocopherols), Potato Fiber, Natural Flavor, Salmon Oil, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Inulin, Taurine, L-Carnitine, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, d-Calcium Pantothe

 Opinions.....Do you like these ingredients better ???


       Pinnacle Trout and Sweet Potato........
Ingredients
Trout, Oatmeal, Toasted Oats, Herring Meal, Oat Flour, Canola Oil, Sweet Potato, Calcium Carbonate, Flax Seed, Lecithin, Grapeseed Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Dicalcium Phosphate, Quinoa, Rosemary, Sage, Papain, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium Bifidum Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Licheniformis Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Lactis Fermentation Product, Vitamin E, Potassium Chl 










           

Is this the ingredients of the food you're feeding?...And if so this means that Sweet Potatoes are the main ingredient in your food...Potatoes are second...Salmon is third...and so on...
If you'd ever have a chance to go to a seminar with a Veterinarian Nutritionalist take the opportunity...It's well worth the time...
There's one that I know of in Michigan...

~Bob~

If you are trying to feed your dog a fish based diet you should feed him one that is based on fish and not potatoes or oats. You can always add in a little canned whole pumpkin to help firm up the stool if that is the issue. It could also be an undetected parasite issue.

Better fish based kibble would be Acana Pacifica or Orijen 6 Fish.

These are from the same company and both excellent products.
The Acana will be less expensive than the Orijen.

 I would probably try to rule out coccidia and worms before going further.  Also, if the stool is the same no matter what is fed, the dog could have a low grade enzyme deficiency.  I like "Udo's Choice" for enzyme supplementation.   I hate a big steaming pile of soft poo, I'm a big believer in raw feeding, and nothing will firm a dog up like a raw meal with a lot of bone in it. My dogs' poops are ridiculously small and firm, almost like bullets.  Raw feeding since 2003, and I will never go back to dog food!  I'm on my 4th raw fed generation now.  But as a professional trainer, I seem my boarding school dogs come in on every brand imaginable.   In my experience, sweet potato tends to regulate the stool, not loosen it.  If this were my dog I'd switch him to raw and start with bonier meals to firm him up nicely, but you might get some good results by adding the udo's choice and treating for worms and coccidia.  Best of luck to you!  Nobody needs "dirty butt" to start the new year, lol.  Lisa

 For the money, the Nature's Domain salmon formula is, IMO, superior to the either of the ones you tried. Not as good as Orijen, but better than these. Neither of those has  meal as the first ingredient, meaning they have far less true fish than this food. Trout, whole, is mostly moisture, as is ANY meat or fish ingredient that is not a "meal."

INGREDIENTS
Salmon meal, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, canola oil, potato protein, potato fiber, natural flavor, flaxseed, ocean fish meal, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

            Qman, Yes, I feed the Natural Balance ....It is very hard to understand what are the best ingredients. My veterinarian wants me to feed Science Diet....yuck....


         others,,,    I am going to drop off a stool sample this afternoon....I think I will start there...Thanks

       I have not heard of Nature's Domain...I will do some research on locating  where to find it. I know I can find Orijen, but it is very expensive......

               Thanks for all the comments....

 You can buy Nature's Domain only at Costco.

natures domain is at Costco