Canidae not working out too well, what else can we try?

[gooeydog]

Goo and Annie have been on Canidae kibble and canned food now for 5 or 6 months, and I've noticed several things that have me considering switching them after the next bag or two. First, usually about once or twice a week, Goo has soft poo, not usually runny, but definitely not the way it was when she was on Natural Balance. A few times over the past few months, they've had minor cases of the runs, and one major case, though I've attributed these to possibly being either chicken added to their meals or raw bones I'd given, I'm not sure now whether it was the whole issue or just a contributing factor. Goo has also been really gassy lately, she never was on the Natural Balance, and call me picky, but it's something I'd really prefer not to deal with. It also seems like she's had a bit more allergy troubles since she's been on it, though I think there's an environmental factor there as well, so I can't be sure it's the food causing it. I can't think of anything else that could be causing these problems, they only get Nupro (which they've been on for over a year), fish oil (I did increase Goo's amount from 2000mg to 2500mg, but that shouldn't have caused it I think?), vit. E (been on it for over a year, same as fish oil), and Goo gets MSM powder, which I wouldn't think would cause these problems. Annie is doing ok on it, but that dog could probably eat from a dumpster without any visible problems, she's got a gut of steel :lol:

In any case, I'm now on the hunt for another food, though I need to contact the place I was getting it from and see what else they can get me. I know for a fact that they stock Eagle Pack, Solid Gold, Innova, California Natural, Evo, and Merrick foods, and they told me they'd order in any others that their distributor stocks if I need them (that's what they were doing with the Canidae). I could go back to the Natural Balance, but had to get it from Petco, and at the rate they were increasing its price, it's probably at least $1.60 a can, $40 a 35 lb bag by now (at about the top of my limit), plus they had issues keeping it in stock, so I never knew if I'd be able to get it or not. I'm thinking about the following brands, but have heard varying reviews on a few of them, so hoping to get some experiences:

California Natural- I'm still a little unsure about Evo with it being so new on the market, maybe we'll give it a try next year, but I am using it for treats and they seem to like it, Innova I think would probably be too rich for Goo. I did read on another board that it's not good to have them on a diet with such limited ingredients long term, true or not? Plus I'm concerned about the sunflower oil in it being a possible allergen (it's also in Canidae, but since we're having issues with it, I dunno). I also know of someone who mixes Innova and California Natural dry foods, which I thought might work for us, bad idea?

Timberwolf Organics- Not sure if we even have a distributor for it here, and I doubt I could afford to have it shipped if not, but I've heard a lot of good things about it from bully people, and they have several formulas for dogs with different diet needs.

Wellness- Not sure whether the store can get this, but I could try to find someplace else if not. It's also towards the top of my price limit, and I'd heard of a lot of dogs having poo problems on it, which they have enough of already :o

Or if anyone's got anything to relate on any of the others mentioned above, I'd like to hear about it.

I haven't given either dog any meat in their food since whatever they had going on a few weeks ago, going to try again soon, I just wanted to give their bellies time to calm down. I'm also thinking about taking them off the Nupro and just giving them plain kelp powder for a while, but am wondering if I wouldn't be losing a lot of the benefits of the Nupro (kelp is the first ingredient of it, but there are some others) by putting them on plain kelp?

[DogPaddle]

I haven't tried Merrick dog food but I've heard good things.
You could also look for Wysong, its suppossed to be good too.

[ObedienceGrrl]

I used to have the cats on Wysong.

And right now, everyone is on Eagle Pack Holistic Lamb and oatmeal.

They are doing well on it.....but I am in the process of switching TO Canidae. :D

I'm happy with everyone on EP except PoGo. His poop is just never solid. So I'm going to try a food switch to see if maybe it's that. He's lactose intolerant or else he'd get yogurt like the rest of them. Found that out the hard way, if you know what I mean.