Great results with Canidae

[splucinski]

A few weeks back I switch my GSP over to the Canidae ALS formula. With all of the negative comments out there I was a little worried about it but she is doing great on it. She has always been a picky eater with a sensitive stomach and I was feeding her pro plan select salmon until the switch. Her coat looks great, she is keeping the weight on with less food consumed daily. Her stool is nice and firm and she absolutely devours this food.

[mountaindogs]

Thanks I wish more people would post this type of comment. When they feed and actually see an improment and not just the dogs do well on, but do BETTER on...

[Grange]

Well I'm glad someone is having good luck with Canidae. I find myself having to switch from Canidae. I fed it to me lab for a good year or more when they changed the formula in mid 2008. I bought one last large 40 lb. bag in early August with the old formula. During the hunting season I went to Pro Plan Performance and began the switch back to Canidae (new formula) in late January. I'm just about out of my second large bag of Canidae (new formula) and I'm dealing with thin fur on my dogs snout. I've had to put on her protective collar for several weeks twice to keep her from scratching raw spots on her snout. This is too bad because even with the formula change I still thought is was a quality food and the price wasn't bad considering the the ingredients.

[ezzy333]

I'm dealing with thin fur on my dogs snout

How did you tie this to the dog food? I have never heard of any food that had the ability to change the thickness of the coat in any area.

eZZY

[Grange]

Well I can't say it is definitely from the food, but nothing else has changed other than switching foods when I noticed her scratching her face a lot, which is probably what's causing the thining fur. I'm going to the feed store tonight since she's almost out of food and will try another food. If she continues with the scratching well then it's probably not the food.

[Razor]

If you are having problems with the new formula try Natural Balance. I have tried them all and this is my favorite food by far. Dogs love it and they look very good on it.

[MikeB]

IF your feeding the Canidae All Life Stage 4 meat protein then it could be one of the meat meals. Could be the chicken meal. Try a Lamb Only food or NO LAMB in the food etc. There is plenty of single source protein foods out there. If this didn't happen till you started feeding Canidae then any other food may work better.

[brdhntr]

I feed the grain free salmon, and couldn't be happier.

[nanney1]

Several years ago I gave Canidae a try. I used the all life stages formula. It was so highly touted on another forum I visited (for Rottweilers) that I decided to give it a try. This was the early days of Canidae and no one carried it locally. A distributor in a nearby city was making home deliveries so Idecided to give it a try for my three dogs at the time, two Bernese Mountain Dogs and one English Shepherd.

The food was good, the dogs did well, and the distributor's business grew. Eventually she opened a retail store and quit making deliveries. Since I didn't have to pay shipping or drive any distance to get the food, the slightly higher cost was not an issue. But once she went retail, and I would have to drive one hour round trip, it was no longer worth using.

The food and diet forum on that particular Rottweiler board was jokingly known as the Canidae forum. Innova was also popular. I'm not sure what happened with Canidae, but the recent formula changes sure did aggravate some very loyal Canidae feeders on that board. As a result many have changed to something else, and the grain free foods are very much in favor.

Two foods that seem to get good results and are growing in popularity are Evo (made by makers of Innova) and Orijen. Those results are based on what I have read from other owners but not actually tried as both are very, very pricey.

[rlk80]

I was unlucky enough to get a gsp with food allergys. Started on Diamond, SD, Loyall. All of these feeds my gsp had severe itching to the point of bleeding, skin and ear infections. I was also using allergy meds from vet. Also couldnt keep weight on her. At one year she only weighed 40lbs. Vet wanted her on z/d SD. I like my dog but not willing to pay that much for dog food. I did some research and came across Canidae grain free food. I switched her over 2months ago to salmon and potatoe formula. The grain free product has worked great. I am still giving her allergy meds but itching and infections have gone away. At 14 months she is 48lbs and looks like a different dog. The other feeds that I tried are good products. I was just unlucky to get a dog with food allergys.

[ezzy333]

I was unlucky enough to get a gsp with food allergys. Started on Diamond, SD, Loyall. All of these feeds my gsp had severe itching to the point of bleeding, skin and ear infections. I was also using allergy meds from vet. Also couldnt keep weight on her. At one year she only weighed 40lbs. Vet wanted her on z/d SD. I like my dog but not willing to pay that much for dog food. I did some research and came across Canidae grain free food. I switched her over 2months ago to salmon and potatoe formula. The grain free product has worked great. I am still giving her allergy meds but itching and infections have gone away. At 14 months she is 48lbs and looks like a different dog. The other feeds that I tried are good products. I was just unlucky to get a dog with food allergys.

Glad you found something that works. That is not fun seeing a dog that itches all the time. The chances are about 10 to 1 though that the allergy was to one of the meat sources and not the grain. 90% of allergies are caused by the protien sources so the chances are it was the change from whatever you were feeding to the salmon. And it might even be some other cause than the feed if you are still experiencing some itching but just not as bad. But it is good you are getting it under control.

Ezzy

[big steve46]

Ezzy may be correct, or he may be wrong. True food allergies, where you can probably elicit a "antigen-antibody response" via lab testing, is usually protein in nature. However, a food sensitivity often is not. A food sensitivty is less searched for, but more prevalent than believed. Common sense has to prevail, but anything can cause anything.