Puppy bored with Acana Small Breed kibble - suggestions needed

megts · Oct 11, 2018

Hi,

I feed my 5 months old girl Acana Small Breed Puppy kibble, three times a day. I am considering switching to All Life Stages Acana as she seems to not be particularly fond of chicken which is the main ingredient in the Small Breed Puppy kibble. Right now she's going though a stage of not being super interested in her kibble again and it takes a lot of coaxing from our side to get her to eat. She seems to be doing well on Acana so I was thinking of sticking with it but any tips are welcome.
Does anyone have any experience with the Acana Singles and what protein have you chosen to feed?

I am also strongly considering feeding raw when she turns one. Would you suggest starting raw before that point?

GraciesMom · Oct 11, 2018

I believe you can start puppies on raw -- you just have to make sure the amount and/or calories are appropriate for their age and weight. I use an Answers Detailed raw product. They have a calculator to determine how much to feed puppies as well as adults based on weight. My girl is 11 months old and she's been on raw for several months now. One thing you could try is mixing just a little raw with her current kibble to see how she does. If you mix it well it would probably also encourage her to eat the kibble.

FroxerMom · Oct 11, 2018

I'm pretty sure [MENTION=2622]Frenchie Grrrl[/MENTION] has a newer puppy and feeds her raw along with her older brother. [MENTION=3106]GraciesMom[/MENTION] has good advice about the calculator to ensure you are feeding proper amounts.

My FB is fed a frozen raw product and loves it. I never have to coax her to eat, in fact she is at my feet when I prepare it, I almost trip on her as I carry her bowl to her feeding stand and she inhales it - every bite. ADDED BONUS: I saw in your other thread that you are concerned with your Frenchie waking at 5:30 am to poop. One of the benefits of raw (in my opinion) is the dramatic decrease in poop. Mine goes twice per day, and no more. It is a small amount and firm. Your dog will also drink less water, so just something to be aware of (I panicked at first but the good people on here assured me it was normal).

If you stick with kibble, Acana is a great quality one, but if she seems disinterested, perhaps try a different non-chicken formula? My older dog (a Boxer) has always been picky about his food and I've had to switch up brands and proteins over the years to keep him interested. He eats half kibble half dehydrated raw now and scarfs everything down.

Best of luck

Frenchie Grrrl · Oct 11, 2018

Yes, I started my puppy on raw two days after we brought her home. We feed Answers products right now. Both mine love it and clean their dishes of every last speck of food.

megts · Oct 12, 2018

Thank you so much everyone!!!!

We will finish the bag of Acana and in the mean time, I will research different Raw food brands.
[MENTION=2622]Frenchie Grrrl[/MENTION] and [MENTION=3106]GraciesMom[/MENTION] Answers looks great, I need to find if we can get it in Canada too.

Frenchie Grrrl · Oct 12, 2018

megts said:
Thank you so much everyone!!!!

We will finish the bag of Acana and in the mean time, I will research different Raw food brands.
[MENTION=2622]Frenchie Grrrl[/MENTION] and [MENTION=3106]GraciesMom[/MENTION] Answers looks great, I need to find if we can get it in Canada too.

Unfortunately, it's not available in Canada. I'm sure there are some other great brands, but since I'm in the US, I don't know one to recommend.

2bullymama · Oct 12, 2018

megts said:
Thank you so much everyone!!!!

We will finish the bag of Acana and in the mean time, I will research different Raw food brands.
[MENTION=2622]Frenchie Grrrl[/MENTION] and [MENTION=3106]GraciesMom[/MENTION] Answers looks great, I need to find if we can get it in Canada too.

Vital Essentials is another good frozen raw

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Honeys Owners · Oct 13, 2018

megts said:
Thank you so much everyone!!!!

We will finish the bag of Acana and in the mean time, I will research different Raw food brands.
[MENTION=2622]Frenchie Grrrl[/MENTION] and [MENTION=3106]GraciesMom[/MENTION] Answers looks great, I need to find if we can get it in Canada too.

Lots of good frozen raw in Canada- you can buy NatuRAWls or Tollden Farms at Global Pet Foods for example. NatuRAWls bought by the case is very economical. I personally just order from Big Country Raw either the dinners ( includes fruit and vegetables and sea kelp ) or the pure ( just meat ). https://bigcountryraw.ca/product-category/dog-food/ Over 150.00 is free delivery to your house and is good choice if you have a separate freezer. You have to supplement dinners from Big Country Raw with fish oil if you don't buy fish, and the pure choices with sea kelp and fish oil. You can include the sea kelp and fish oil ( Thrive brand ) with your first order.

megts · Oct 15, 2018

Honeys Owners said:
Lots of good frozen raw in Canada- you can buy NatuRAWls or Tollden Farms at Global Pet Foods for example. NatuRAWls bought by the case is very economical. I personally just order from Big Country Raw either the dinners ( includes fruit and vegetables and sea kelp ) or the pure ( just meat ). https://bigcountryraw.ca/product-category/dog-food/ Over 150.00 is free delivery to your house and is good choice if you have a separate freezer. You have to supplement dinners from Big Country Raw with fish oil if you don't buy fish, and the pure choices with sea kelp and fish oil. You can include the sea kelp and fish oil ( Thrive brand ) with your first order.

Thank you!
I have been looking into raw more this weekend and the companies that pop up all the time are Big Country Raw, Mega Dow Raw and Primal. We have a Global Pet Foods across the road as well, so NatuRAWls or Tollden Farms would be easy to get. Honest Kitchen and Stella and Chewy's also seem to be liked by a lot of Frenchie owners. So many options!

Honeys Owners · Oct 15, 2018

megts said:
Thank you!
I have been looking into raw more this weekend and the companies that pop up all the time are Big Country Raw, Mega Dow Raw and Primal. We have a Global Pet Foods across the road as well, so NatuRAWls or Tollden Farms would be easy to get. Honest Kitchen and Stella and Chewy's also seem to be liked by a lot of Frenchie owners. So many options!

Honest Kitchen is dehydrated raw and Stella and Chewy's is available in either freeze dried raw or frozen raw. If you don't want to feed frozen raw for whatever reason, it's a bit more expensive to go dehydrated raw route but a lot more convenient. Freeze dried raw is very expensive, so I never tried that. I used to buy OnlyNatural EasyRaw dehydrated raw at Petsmart when they had 20.00 off sales, but Honest Kitchen is even better quality.

megts · Oct 16, 2018

Honeys Owners said:
Honest Kitchen is dehydrated raw and Stella and Chewy's is available in either freeze dried raw or frozen raw. If you don't want to feed frozen raw for whatever reason, it's a bit more expensive to go dehydrated raw route but a lot more convenient. Freeze dried raw is very expensive, so I never tried that. I used to buy OnlyNatural EasyRaw dehydrated raw at Petsmart when they had 20.00 off sales, but Honest Kitchen is even better quality.

Thanks! I was only considering dehydrated raw/freeze dried raw when traveling but we don't travel often enough to make either option our main choice. A few people I have spoken to said that Big Country Raw made their frenchies sick due to the high bone content. I would still like to try BCR first and perhaps use Stella' and Chewy's when we travel. Honest Kitchen is definitely very pricey!

Would you say that Stella and Chewy's frozen raw patties are superior quality to Big County Raw's dinner/raw patties?

Honeys Owners · Oct 16, 2018

You are right that Big Country Raw does have 15% bone content, which is more than the recommended 10%. I know this contributes to constipation but I guess maybe it can cause increased regurgitation too. My dog has been regurgitating more since switching to Big Country frozen raw, but she did that on the Tollden Farms wild boar as well. I think Stella and Chewy's is a good brand, but I couldn't find their bone content listed and I don't think it's worth the extra money. I think NatuRAWls and Tollden Farms ( other than boar ) were slightly better for my dog than Big Country Raw in terms of less regurgitation, but Big Country Farms was a bit cheaper so I have gone with that for the time being. Try buying a case of NatuRAWls and see what you think.

megts · Oct 17, 2018

Honeys Owners said:
You are right that Big Country Raw does have 15% bone content, which is more than the recommended 10%. I know this contributes to constipation but I guess maybe it can cause increased regurgitation too. My dog has been regurgitating more since switching to Big Country frozen raw, but she did that on the Tollden Farms wild boar as well. I think Stella and Chewy's is a good brand, but I couldn't find their bone content listed and I don't think it's worth the extra money. I think NatuRAWls and Tollden Farms ( other than boar ) were slightly better for my dog than Big Country Raw in terms of less regurgitation, but Big Country Farms was a bit cheaper so I have gone with that for the time being. Try buying a case of NatuRAWls and see what you think.

Thank you! I will get the NatuRAWl and go from there.

megts · Oct 23, 2018

Tomorrow is the first day of Kara's raw diet! We bought a case/pack on NatuRAWl turkey dinner - hopefully all goes smoothly

ray:
[MENTION=2100]Honeys Owners[/MENTION] - When we went to pick up the NatuRAWl, the salesperson at Global Petfoods mentioned Tollden Farms as the most frequently bought raw food they sell/stock. I remember you mentioned you guys tried and I don't know anyone else that has had them. Do you mind sharing your opinion of them?

Honeys Owners · Oct 23, 2018

They are both high quality, but NatuRAWls in case size is a better deal. My dog threw up a lot on Tollden farms wild boar, so I would avoid that protein if you try out Tollden farms. Also, I try to avoid venison from any brand because wasting disease in deer is getting more prevalent.

megts · Oct 24, 2018

Honeys Owners said:
They are both high quality, but NatuRAWls in case size is a better deal. My dog threw up a lot on Tollden farms wild boar, so I would avoid that protein if you try out Tollden farms. Also, I try to avoid venison from any brand because wasting disease in deer is getting more prevalent.

Thank you, very useful to know!

She gobbled up her raw meal this morning - I have never seen her this excited. Stool was a bit softer than usual but hopefully that subsides soon.

Honeys Owners · Oct 24, 2018

megts said:
Thank you, very useful to know!

She gobbled up her raw meal this morning - I have never seen her this excited. Stool was a bit softer than usual but hopefully that subsides soon.

Great ! a bit softer stool is very normal with a new food.

Honeys Owners · Dec 22, 2018

megts said:
Thank you, very useful to know!

She gobbled up her raw meal this morning - I have never seen her this excited. Stool was a bit softer than usual but hopefully that subsides soon.

Found a new supplier that delivers- back2raw, but haven't ordered yet. https://back2raw.ca/collections/all

FroxerMom · Dec 23, 2018

I was pleasantly surprised at how much less mine poops on raw. She goes once in morning and once in evening. Small amount and firm. Don't be surprised when she drinks less water as well. I'm glad to read she liked her new food!