FAQ: What do you feed your Frenchie?

bullmama · Oct 4, 2014

What food do you feed your Frenchie? Please include any details you have as to why you chose what food you did and any stories you have about it.

#FAQ

Schimpfy · Oct 4, 2014

I started reading about food well before I got my pup and the consensus favored Fromm Puppy Gold, he was on a brand called Now. I had no idea what Now was and did the transition to Fromm and had no problems. He is now transitioning to Fromm Surf and Turf and will be trying pork and peas soon.
Found out that Now is very similar to Fromm just Canadian made if I knew this before hand not sure if I would of switched.
Can not say enough good things about Fromm wish I knew about them when we had our last fur-babies

2bullymama · Oct 4, 2014

Fromm Grain free Pork and Peas... I sometimes ger Beef Fritatta or Game Bird, but mostly stick with the P-n-P

eeturk · Oct 4, 2014

Hudson eats the frozen Stella and Chewy's. We switch proteins every bag or so (so basically weekly) to prevent the formation of protein sensitivities. He loves it and has never been better. Unfortunately to keep weight on him we are still feeding (I think actually more than) puppy portions at 11 months which is expensive but worth it to me.

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bullmama · Oct 4, 2014

Long ago, we used to feed Iams. I was under the impression that it was the best dog food, which it was back in the 1990's before it and Science Diet were purchased by P&G.

I had nothing but problems with my bulldog Sarah, and the vet put her on science diet rabbit which didn't help at all. The more I bathed her the worse she got, she was so full of yeast.

I met Linda in Oregon and she would go on and on about dog food. I pretty much ignored her awesome advice. After all, my "VET" said that science diet and Iams were good foods, why would I believe her?

Fast forward several years, I started the English Bulldog News forum. When the question came up about what do you feed your dog so many people were talking about brands I had never heard of. At the time my Molly was battling a horrible skin infection. After several weeks of antibiotics and special shampoos, she did not improve at all.

One day I was in town and decided to go check out the dog foods at Petsmart. So many different choices- I was literally overwhelmed! I found a bag of Avoderm on a clearance shelf for 50% off, it was a very expensive food so I thought okay.... I'll try it. It was only about $20 for this big bag, which was actually close to the price of the big bag of Iams so I felt it was worth trying to see what all the fuss was about!

The results were amazing. Within a day I stopped giving her antihistamine, she stopped itching completely. She was only being transitioned and just replacing a portion of the food made an amazing impact!

By the time she was fully transitioned her tear stains were gone, no more yeasty paws, no more paw licking- she was a brand new bully!

That started my obsession with dog foods. I read everything I could, and started researching different foods. I started trails of different brands, and we started the dog food ratings here on EBN. Eventually I tried Fromm at the recommendation of a member of the forum. During my research I was calling different manufactures to find out more about their foods. When I spoke with Fromm I realized this was a company who put all their money into the food and research and not into advertising. They were a smaller family owned company who really seemed as obsessed with dog food as I was. Eventually I got to know them and they started the monthly contests for us on EBN.

During our trials we tried a lot of good foods, and bad ones too! Even tried royal canin for bulldogs-- my house was so full of gas I didn't dare light the gas stove! I had to laugh at that because on the bag it stated that it reduced flatulence in bulldogs--- which I found was the worst I had ever seen!

One other good one I tried was Natures Logic.

Eventually I always went back to Fromm. They just do really well on this food. I would still like to try Acana, Orijen, and a few others, but I don't want to fix what isn't broken.

My pack still does great on the beef Fritatta. We are currently feeding beef Fritatta for breakfast and Lamb & Lentil for dinner. They are thriving on it.

Sorry for the long post, but that's my dog food story!

Jakeyjake · Oct 4, 2014

Wow food.... where do I begin? I'll start with Jake. The breeder had him on Costco Lamb and Rice. I wanted a better quality kibble for him, so I switched to Wellness chicken, which I had good luck with in the past on my bull terriers, but his stools were too soft/loose. So I switched to Nutro Natural Choice lamb & rice. That was all fine until he started showing signs of allergies at around 5 mos. of age. Itching, red armpits and groin, licking his feet, ear infections, etc. So I switched to a fish based formula that I thought would be more allergy free if it was a food allergy. That was Horizon Pulsar fish formula. It is grain free and potato free. He is allergic to potatoes, pork, corn and peanut (so no Fromm for us, it has potatoes) I have also tried Grandma Lucy's freeze dried lamb food, which made Jake vomit white foam.
Stella is only 11 mos. old and was exhibiting allergies even younger than Jake, 4 mos. old. The vet recommended we do a food trial with Royal Canin Duck and potato. She didn't do well and got severely constipated and started vomiting after about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks on it. We took her to the vet and they x-rayed her stating she was full of stool and gas and had to do an enema on her. I went back to the Horizon Pulsar fish formula. She too is allergic to potatoes. I am still searching for the perfect food for Stella as she is very thin, very active, very picky and a food guarder, so it is sometimes hard for her to focus on eating her meal. Sorry for the long post, but just sharing all we've been through in the hopes it may help someone else.

So fast forward to June 2016. I tried Acana Pork & Butternut squash with Stella, which she liked, but it made her super gassy. So then I had her on Amicus and about every 2 - 3 weeks she would have awful diahrrea. I took her to the vet twice to be treated and the vet thought that the freeze dried chicken I sprinkle on top was bad. It didn't add up because Jake was fine and eating the freeze dried chicken as well. So I decided to try yet another food and sure enough no more diahrrea. So now she is on Sojos pre-mix which is freeze dried, grain free and potato free and I add cooked lamb for her and cooked salmon and turkey for Jake. They both love it and she has actually put on 1 1/2 lbs!

davidh · Oct 5, 2014

We use FROMM 4 star, and at the time we are feeding Game Bird. They are doing well on it. We were feeding Pork and Peas, and will go back to it sometimes.

blushy · Oct 5, 2014

Isabelle is currently on the Game Bird Fromm.

She seems to absolutely love it, and no signs of allergies at this point.

Trying the lamb & lentil or pork & peas next bag!

Squishy Walnuts · Oct 6, 2014

Since Uma has a poultry allergy we had to stop feeding her Orijen because we couldn't find a formula that didn't have chicken. We switched to Acana Pacifica as it's made by the same company and they are located in Canada. I didn't want to feed the dogs different food so Wally also eats the same food and both of them love it. I add on salmon/fish oil on their food to help with their coats. They are both doing well on this food.

I used Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble to help compare foods.

mhuinker · Oct 6, 2014

Ours get Fromm for the dry kibble.... Leo gets Pork & Peas and Molly gets the salmon tunalini. They also get Blue Ridge Beef as the raw portion of their diet, but am thinking of changing to Stella & Chewy's and even possibly trying freeze-dried for easier storage options..... but am uncertain about this (any comments)?? In addition, they also get coconut oil, a probiotic, cranberry powder (Molly), peas, carrots, bananas and pumpkin (not all at the same time)

Wow, this is an old post that has re-emerged, LOL. My babies still get Fromm Grain Free Pork and Peas with some Lamb and Lentil mixed in as well as Surf and Turf. They still get the same raw as above.

Amylou · Oct 6, 2014

I have Louie on Now, and have been considering switching to Fromm just based on all the good reviews here. Louie's stomach does great on this food, very firm stool and very little gas unless he gets an unusual treat.

eeturk · Oct 6, 2014

mhuinker said:
Ours get Fromm for the dry kibble.... Leo gets Pork & Peas and Molly gets the salmon tunalini. They also get Blue Ridge Beef as the raw portion of their diet, but am thinking of changing to Stella & Chewy's and even possibly trying freeze-dried for easier storage options..... but am uncertain about this (any comments)?? In addition, they also get coconut oil, a probiotic, cranberry powder (Molly), peas, carrots, bananas and pumpkin (not all at the same time)

Hudson has been on both the frozen and the freeze dried. He does better on the frozen but the freeze dried is easier to deal with for sure!

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mrshanson · Oct 6, 2014

Does everyone that purchases Fromm's brand purchase locally or online?

blushy · Oct 6, 2014

mrshanson said:
Does everyone that purchases Fromm's brand purchase locally or online?

I go to such a cute little dog daycare, groomer, shop I found via Fromm's website.

I got such good vibes there, I'll definitely stick with them.

I've never seen Fromm for sale anywhere else.

MaplesMommy · Oct 7, 2014

I feed a 100% raw diet to my dog and my cat.
Why raw? Because it is nutritious and it is the most natural and healthiest diet someone could feed. I know what is in kibble and what kibble does with your pet and its body and I made the decision for myself to not let my pets go through this.
I feed grass fed,local meat that has been raised ethically (free range,grass fed,no stress etc).
I add organic herbs and sometimes some seeds and I am more than happy with my pet's health.
3x its beef
2x beef tripe
2x chicken

Then some organic coconut oil,turmeric,chia seeds and some Quinoa.

Treats are dehydrated or fresh liver and heart from grass fed animals or Honey beefers(beef dipped in honey and then dried)

bullmama · Oct 7, 2014

mrshanson said:
Does everyone that purchases Fromm's brand purchase locally or online?

I get mine from Petflow, there is no sales tax so it ends up being the same cost but I don't have to drive 20 miles to get it!

They have free shipping too!