help with my dogs fish diet?

I just switched my dane to TOTW - Pacific Stream and he's loving it! I had him on Diamond Natural Chk & Rice, but he's got joint problems and the ortho vet wanted him on a food with higher Omega oil % (he also gets an Omega 3 pill).

Anyway, he was a very picky eater before (and always had diahrea), now I can barely get my hand out of the way before he dives in. And his turds are always firm now. This is a 6-star food on www.dogfoodanalysis.com, you should give it a try.

I have tried the EP fish before also and can tell you that while both food smell fishy in the bag, there's a big difference in the dog having fish breath after meals. EP left him always a bit fishy (which grosses me out). On TOTW he's "fishy" for about 20 mins after a meal, but the rest of the day you can't smell it at all.

Also, just b/c he can tolerate one "flavor" food doesn't mean he'll be good on the same flavor in a different brand. The problem may be the fillers, etc which is different in each recipe. Just buy a small bag of the food you want to get to, and try it out for a few days to see how he does. (when switching, I do it over 4 days - new food 25%, then 50%, then 75%, then 100%). No need to drag it out longer. If he's on a good probiotic (or add a tblsp of yogart) it will be even easier.

All lamb food isn't good for a dog to be on long term unless reccommended by your vet for medical reasons. The lamb sku's up the calcium/ phosphorus ratio in the food which isn't good - esp for giant breed pups.

Check out www.greatdanelady.com if you haven't found her yet.

Also, forgot to mention, there is a huge difference between dogs eating raw bones (which is fine) and dogs eating cooked bones (which isn't). Cooked boned splinter and can perforate his digestive tract. Raw bones don't have this problem. If it was one tiny piece of cooked fish bone in a piece of kibble, it's probably not a big deal. It probably would have passed right thru with no problem. Bigger bone pieces, or a lot of them, would definately concern me.

I have a boxer pup with a food allergy to chicken products, so we had a similar experience trying to find a food for him. Lucky for us, lamb is ok for him and that works. I am a big fan of the wellness food myelf, but no I never tried the fish, and I would not like the bone thing either. I'm sorry to say though, that all fish based dry foods will be like this. No one takes the time to debone fish before making them into dogfood no matter what the company says. If it makes you feel better, generally whitefish are used and their bones are fairy weak. I normally don't give my pets Nutro products, but they have a big variety of meat based foods, fish, venison, etc...so maybe there is one that you could try. Unfortunately these are not puppy foods, but at 7.5 months and being a great dane, you could get away with not feeding your pup a puppy food. I hope you can find a food that works for your pup. Have you considered cooking for him? It takes more time, but there are a lot of great books out there on the subject. Good luck to you. I hope you find one that works soon for your pup.

My 4 dogs, ages 5 to 15, have gone from Canidae Pure Sea to Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon. They currently get Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream. They look great, feel great and love the fish. I think their coat had a bit more of a shine with Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon than the others but will no longer feed Blue Buffalo due to the noticable inconsistency of the kibble and LifeSource bits in each bag. If your dog should have any kidney or liver problems fish causes the least demand on these organs.

The bones shouldn't be a problem. My guys love Flint River trout and sweet potato. They don't have stomach issues but they do great on it.

I have never seen bones in it.

If you are on a trial run, try going to web sites and get free samples. I know Flint River will send you a little bag

The fish bones should really not be a problem. They are very small, and they have been pressure cooked into the kibble.

When I was feeding my allergy dog, he was getting whole sardines and smelts, head, bones and all.

Small bones should not be a problem. Your dog should easily digest them. My dog is on a raw diet and regularly eats raw chicken, duck, rabbit, and fish, bones and all. Wild dogs eat bone all the time. :)

Have you tried a lamb based food that helps many animals with sensitive digestive systems or allergies?

I did some research on this and came across this online. A whole forum dedicated to this and it has shown that the youtube video is a fake.. the guy was trying to bulk the welness company out of $8000 to get them to purchase this video. Numerous complaints were loged with wellnes as well as petco and this is a response one complainer got back

Here is the response we received yesterday from Wellness:

“There is currently a YouTube video being circulated where a consumer alleges that their bag of Wellness Fish and Sweet Potato Dry Dog food contains fish bones. This consumer approached us and told us that the video was “available for purchase”. When we refused, he posted the video on YouTube. All of our testing (and retained samples) clearly shows that there is not an issue with fish bones in our products. We put a tremendous focus on our product quality working closely with our co-manufacturers to continuously track product quality from ingredient selection to final production. The Wellness quality assurance program maintains the most rigorous standards of food safety, exceeding industry guidelines and following the same strict standards that are applied to human food. With over 80 years of dedication to pet nutrition and health, we stand proudly by the quality of our products and their safety.”

From PETCO’s perspective, our experience is that Wellness produces superior-quality food products and closely monitors its manufacturing processes to ensure products meet strict specifications. As you may know, PETCO operates nearly 1,000 stores in all 50 states, and we have not received any complaints from customers about this concern with Wellness. Our merchant team is also taking the precautionary step of spot-checking items on our shelf.

I would like to apologize for the concern this video may have caused you. As as a passionate pet parent, I would have requested information as well. Please know that our first priority is to protect the wellbeing of the companion animals and customers we serve. If an issue were to arise, we would take immediate action to remove the product from our shelves and look into the situation. Thanks, again, for writing, Mr. and Mrs. Archer. We appreciate your business an any opportunity we may have to address your concerns. If you need assistance going forward, please feel free to reach me.

Sincere regards,

Kristen W.

Senior Customer Relations Coordinator

I hope this lays to rest any problems..