[trooperski]

Hello-
I have a lab/border collie mix who we adopted at about age 2.5. She is now about 10 years old. She's been on Sensible Choice chicken and rice Adult or Senior throughout her years with us. We tried switching foods a while back to Innova because it seemed like a fantastic food. The bad news is it seemed to have a bad affect on her system. She started throwing up quite a bit so the vet said to switch back.
She was on Sensible Choice chicken and rice senior until last month when she had urine crystals. The vet said to switch food, so we switched to sensible choice chicken and rice adult. She has been doing pretty well with it. Her coat is shiny although she gets flaky skin sometimes and her poop is pretty healthy as well. Now some of sensible choice's foods are showing up on that dreaded list (although not the one she is currently on). This makes me rethink the food thing once again. I have always wanted to feed her a superpremium food. I want the best nutrition for her, especially in her older age. I would also prefer the new food to be human-grade ingredients. We want to have the best for her.
She is still frisky for a 10 year old. She acts the same now as when she was 2, although I wouldn't call her super active. Again, she does have a sensitive stomach (I am assuming). I am wondering if maybe I should stick with a food that has rice in the top ingredients?? I noticed Innova has rice as the 5th. Maybe it didn't have enough rice to settle her stomach. What do you all think?
I am currently considering the following dry dog food Natures Variety, Canidae or Three Dog Bakery. I am not sure if these all have human-grade ingredients or not.
Thank you in advance for any help.

[Renoman]

Have you thought about switching from a chicken & rice based food to a fish based food? Sensitive stomachs are always a tough one, you have to go with what works for your dog.

There are several brands out there with some good alternatives; Eagle Pack Holistic formulas are good. They have a fish and oatmeal formula that's pretty good and easy on the stomach. Timberwolf Organics has an Ocean Blue formula that's also easy on the stomach.

Just a word of advice, any switch should be done very slowly so as not to upset the dog's stomach.

[MagicToller]

Maybe giving her a probiotic like Yogurt once or twice a week? The active cultures, particularly the Lactobacillus and Acidophilus, will help her digestive system to break down nutrients for absorption. Don't overdo it though - dogs digest dairy products much slower (Due to the lesser lactase enzyme count), and too much can bring on some serious diarrhea.

[TrinityQuiet]

Find a food with probiotics in it. Canidae is extremely recommended with cancer-fighting ingredients, probios, joint supplements, and it's all USA product so it's not likely to be recalled. That's the point of feeding your dog yogurt, as suggested in another reply. Definitely check for allergies...corn, wheat, soy? Ick.

[luvntzus]

I would feed her another simple food. Innova has WAY too many ingredients for a dog with a sensitive stomach. California Natural would probably be perfect (made by the same people who make Innova). There are 3 different varieties of CA Natural- lamb & rice, chicken & rice, and fish & sweet potato. Here's a link:

http://www.naturapet.com/brands/california-natural.asp

[Laurelin]

Canidae is good if your dog can stomach it. California Natural also has less ingredients. My dogs with allergies do well on those. They seem to do the best on raw though.

[Marko]

i am also looking for an ideal food for my 9 month old german shepherd that has a sensitive stomach and possibly the onset of pPancreatitus. i am switching from Nutro to Canidae due to consumer reports on Nutro products. what i can say is i tried Innova with previous dogs. Read the nutritional values on the pkg. They have a ridiculous amount of protien and fat content. those levels are great for dogs under constant stress such as Police working dogs Etc. if you have a household pet, stay away unless you want a dog with constant gas and diahrrea.