Jen: I rotated from Orijen Puppy, to a 5lbs bag of EVO small bites (loved it). So I bought the 15lbs bag of EVO Small bites (red meat), and while he liked it for the first 3 weeks, it was work to get him to eat it thereafter (e.g. put kibble in kongs, etc.). Ever since, I've been buying the 5lbs bags to rotate through. Each lasts me about 3.5 weeks. I went from Orijen Puppy (3 months of stinky farts), EVO red bites (1.5 months of no farts but less eaten), Orijen Fish (loves eating, but stinky farts returned), B.G. (Before Grain) Pacific Salmon (loved the month he was on it), B.G. Buffalo (loved it for the first 3 weeks, but now losing interest).
Next on my list is the Acana, but the B.G. sample bags (>1 lbs) had $2.00 coupons for the 15lbs bag and the better half insisted on not wasting the coupon. So now, I'm halfway through the bag and Ichi refuses to eat more than 3/4 cup in one meal, despite the 15/20 min. poop jog/run I give him in 70+ degree weather beforehand, which usually whets his appetite.
I'm a bit stuck on B.G. Buffalo for a while. Acana is next on my list...or that new flavor of Orijen...or Solid GOLD.
Well, you can do one of two things I guess to not waste the B.G.
1. Go ahead and buy the next kibble on your list and start mixing it in until its half and half, and just feed two at a time. We've done that with Core Ocean and Instinct Turkey/Duck - our pups loved it
2. Spoil him Add canned sardines (in water, less salt the better) mashed up, OR cottage cheese mixed throughout, or plain yogurt mixed all over it.. anything to perk his interest. Though, you get into a sort of spiral with this sort of thing, as a picky dog gets even pickier when the goodness stops!!
Or you can accept that his self imposed limits have a purpose to him. When we do a kibble trial, our female will only eat so much in a sitting, rarely the recommended amount either.. just enough to fill her at her level and she's done. She's healthy, active, within her weight range so we trust her ability to nourish herself at her pace.
What is it with Orijen's propensity with the mad gas?! I'd love to talk to a company representative, but they have a habit of NOT answering emails...
I think Orijen only gives gas to the smaller dogs.. our Doberman has no problems with it.. it's probably the level of protein that isn't being utilitized/digested fully.. or something.. On another grain-free food (still by Champion Pet foods) but with lower protein, our small ones dog fine, though they had gas on Orijen..
I know many of the dogs here are about the same size as Lilith if they are Shiba, but I'm interested to know if any Akita dogs have problems on this food. That's a dog that's considerably bigger.
I was truly convinced that it was the zea mays ingredient (corn family) that gave my female her bad gas... but I can't imagine all these shibas have corn sensitivity like she does?
But Zea Mays isn't really considered a corn product as the chemical and molecular build of it is significantly different than the regular part of corn used in feed (kernels, cob, etc). In either way, it's used as a supplement in Orijen so doesn't constitute a significant portion of it, so I would be surprised if that was actually the reason why.
Just because no one has mentioned it yet. I feed Kuma mainly Canidae Grain-free Salmon. He really likes the food (for a VERY picky dog). I recently (within the past several days), bought some Evo Small Bites food for him to mix it up a bit. So far, we are transitioning now and he seems to like it equally well as the Canidae Salmon.
Comments
Next on my list is the Acana, but the B.G. sample bags (>1 lbs) had $2.00 coupons for the 15lbs bag and the better half insisted on not wasting the coupon. So now, I'm halfway through the bag and Ichi refuses to eat more than 3/4 cup in one meal, despite the 15/20 min. poop jog/run I give him in 70+ degree weather beforehand, which usually whets his appetite.
I'm a bit stuck on B.G. Buffalo for a while. Acana is next on my list...or that new flavor of Orijen...or Solid GOLD.
Jesse
1. Go ahead and buy the next kibble on your list and start mixing it in until its half and half, and just feed two at a time. We've done that with Core Ocean and Instinct Turkey/Duck - our pups loved it
2. Spoil him
Or you can accept that his self imposed limits have a purpose to him. When we do a kibble trial, our female will only eat so much in a sitting, rarely the recommended amount either.. just enough to fill her at her level and she's done. She's healthy, active, within her weight range so we trust her ability to nourish herself at her pace.
What is it with Orijen's propensity with the mad gas?! I'd love to talk to a company representative, but they have a habit of NOT answering emails...
I think Orijen only gives gas to the smaller dogs.. our Doberman has no problems with it.. it's probably the level of protein that isn't being utilitized/digested fully.. or something.. On another grain-free food (still by Champion Pet foods) but with lower protein, our small ones dog fine, though they had gas on Orijen..
I know many of the dogs here are about the same size as Lilith if they are Shiba, but I'm interested to know if any Akita dogs have problems on this food. That's a dog that's considerably bigger.