[Canyx]

I've not had great luck with food ever since I took Brae off Victor. Granted, I think the formula change in Victor wasn't the best... And if I decide to try Victor again (which I'm hoping not to) I wonder if his stool will be great again. After the Victor formula change, Brae started shedding worse than I've ever seen him. But I'm open minded to the idea that it could have been a change of the seasons, maturity, annual coat blowing, or whatever. Brae's been on these foods, in chronological order, since 8.5 weeks of age:

Orijen original
Victor Ultra Pro
Go!
Farmina Pumpkin
Farmina Ancestral Grain
Dr. Tim's Glacier

Whenever I switch foods, I do it over the period of something like a month. I feel like I am excessively cautious. 1:5 old to new the first week, 2:5 the next week, 1:1 after that, etc. I haven't had a BAD experience with any of these foods, like flat out diarrhea. But on all of these foods except Victor, Brae's stool was very formed but soft. Well within the range of normal dog stool, sometimes leaving residue and sometimes not. But on Victor, he consistently had very formed and solid stool that left no residue. I am still in the midst of transitioning from Farmina to Glacier (4 cups Glacier, 1 cup Farmina), mostly to use up the Farmina. And I think there is slightly more stool tightness with Glacier compared to Farmina. But like clockwork Brae now has horrible gas now that he's getting mostly Glacier. This has never been an issue with the other foods. He's also been on proviable probiotics for the last 2 months. I do not notice a difference but I am sticking with it in hopes to head off the once-in-a-blue-moon explosive diarrhea (ie, boost general gut strength)

SO... The next food on my list is Sport Dog Food. (I've said this before on a few threads: I can't do raw).

I feel like I am splitting hairs here. His coat and energy are great. His stool is 'good'. He can have all sorts of treats. But I am just striving to find what is the best. Not sure if I'm pushing too hard or switching too much or what.

 

[Canyx]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Lillith, you are right that I shouldn't let my biases about the company overshadow the fact that Brae might do well on it. At this point it's the shedding that's keeping me from going back, but I will go back to Victor if nothing else changes with these other foods. I figure Sport Dog is the last one I will try before backtracking. I already ordered a bag, so not much to do but use it

Sydneynicole thanks for the tripe suggestion! I think feeding that regularly wouldn't work for my budget, but I'll invest in a few cans just to have. Brae sounds sort of similar to your dog - not a horribly weak gut, but definitely more finicky than some!

Always appreciate your insight on dog food Shell!

One thing I will try is feeding him less. I weighed him today and he is 77#, up from 75. And he's been getting 5 cups instead of 5.5 for a while. So although he doesn't seem to put on fat, maybe I've been overfeeding him in that he is eating more than he needs. He consistently poops 2x a day (3x if high activity) and he's so trim. So it's hard for me to imagine I am overfeeding. But I'll cut down to 4.5 and weigh him every week to see how that goes.