Blue buffalo?

[Jdcell100]

Was wondering any chow owners out there feed there chows blue buffalo wilderness I was feeding my new puppy science diet but its laded with by products and corn. And I'm noticing he's scratching a little more then usual His coat is gorgeous no hot pots or anything But I read corn is not to good for there skin

[Merlin]

There really is no comparison.
Science Diet products are considered very "low end", and yes, contain all kinds of unwanted products.
Blue Buffalo is a premium food that is entirely grain free, so a much better choice.

[oceans]

At one point I slowly switched Matilda to Blue Buffalo and she constantly had very soft stools . Stools never would firm up on it. I tried Organix (castor and pollux)and she has done wonderful on it.

[TyChowgirl]

Mmm. My poor chow has been through many brands of food as I've learned what's good, what's not, and what also works for him. At one point, I had switched to Blue buffalo. That's when his hot spots started showing up. While I feel it's more an environmental trigger, I'm still wary of different proteins, and of Blue. When I took him to my vet, he told me he went to a seminar done by a friend of his who does research on dog and cat foods and long term effects. He had previously had his dogs on Blue as well, and after the seminar promptly switched them. He told me to switch back to Nutro. I went with Nutro Grain free because I almost went to Taste of the Wild...but right around that time they had a recall and I had had Ty on Freedom by Blue buffalo. I'm now switching to Taste of the Wild because the quality is better and I can get more for less than I do of the Nutro grain free. There's about a seven dollar difference between the two, and Nutro's grain free is only 24 lbs. TotW is 30. 6lbs more 7 bucks less and better ingredients...I'll settle lol. Besides, Ty loves that food too.

[Cocoa]

Cocoa is on Taste of the Wild as well. Like Ty we went through a lot of trial and error with foods before we settled on the TOTW as the one that best agrees with her. She is on the ocean fish formula. Also like Ty we are pretty sure the allergies and hot spots with Cocoa are environmental but I'm not going to take chances with a lot of food change.
Interestingly a neighbor of mine ha been having all kinds of issues with hot spots on her little terrier while he was on Blue. She has changed him over to a limited ingredient food and the hot spots are clearing up.
I certainly wouldn't switch your pup back to Science Diet, I don't think that is a quality food at all, but there are other options of good foods out there if Blue doesn't work for you.

[Blackbear]

After trying many brands we have also settled on taste of the wild. No more hot spots and coat is much better. I was not aware they had a recall though? When was this?

[Tippsy'smom]

I switched Jazz to it (the duck formula) after the recall (back in April) on TOTW, but as soon as TOTW was back on shelves I went back to that because it turns out Jazz is not only allergic to grains, but chicken as well. And he was ridden with hot spots and awful ear infections the entire short time he was on BB. I won't feed BB again. I've had nothing but a good experience with TOTW though. My picky pom, who wouldn't touch ANYTHING except Kibbles 'n Bits has taken to eating TOTW and is thriving on it along with Jazz! Dixie's too picky and will go for days without eating if offered anything other than Kibbles n' Bits and I'd rather her eat crappy food that she likes and is doing good on than go for days without eating and feel every rib, spine, and hip bones (she eats 4 cups of food a day and still stays at an ideal weight because she's so active; any cutback in food and she gets sickly thin) but at least my boys have taken to better food.

[cherriemater]

Before we got the boys I did a LOT of research, especially on this site but also here is a great varticle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTWHxvjI ... ure=relmfu

We decided upon Taste of the Wild High Prairie (Buffalo and Venison) and the only switching we did was when the puppy formula came out, it has the added DHA, we switched to that. They are now (OH MY HEAVENS) 15 months old and back to the adult formula.

What I learned that I found to be true (we once had a shockingly tight financial month and used the free bag of science diet we got from the vet) is that they actually poop less with high quality food. (Is it sick that I watch what comes out that end?!! I guess I really don't think so because it's a great way to "take their temperature," so to say.) If they have softer stools and they act all clingy, I know they're not feeling well and I can love 'em up accordingly. Also, as their treats have change quite dramatically I have had success in weeding those out (we only give them cheese, balls of rice and noodles now because I can't keep up with all the recalls and dog deaths) because their poo would change depending on how a treat digested.

We also buy a small bag of the Salmon (Pacific Stream) and I use that as a special treat. Leo will put his nose right on the drawer where I keep it when he wants some. It's so cool!!

Anyway ... research the formula for switching food. DON'T DO IT ALL AT ONCE!!! Your poor pup's stomach cannot handle an immediate change. I think it's like, two weeks of gradually adding the new food. But research that, or perhaps Victory can chime in here for me, because your effort to get your pup on good food will take longer if they're sick from a quick change.

Best of luck to you. Go to all the websites and read the ingredients lists. Orijen, Acana, TOTW, Blue and the others that are listed here. I printed each of them out and compared before I headed to our local pet store, who was also VERY helpful (NOT a "PetCo" ... a local, fabulous, caring, personal attention kind of place). There are also recipe's on this site if you decide to cook your own food.

[Sirchow]

A word from the other side of the pond where our foods are different sometimes the same food has different ingredients as I have found out recently. I tried several grain free diets and found the protein was just too high for our guys. Windy city and soft poops and worse sometimes. It is a case of trial and error and finding what suits your chow and sometimes even mixing two foods to get the best from both. Ours were on Orijen for a while but as I say couldn't manage the high level of protein and I mixed it with a food that has a high level of brown rice and that helped.
Just make sure you take your time changing them over or you wont know what food doesn't suit and upsets their tummy and what is upset from changing....if you follow Good luck.

[cherriemater]

Huh, Siriol ... that's our Max!!! He's a rootin' tootin' chowboy for sure! So you think that it's the protein content? They're both doing well on the TOTW High Prairie, except for the constant gas from Max. I think I need to research that a bit then ... see what I can add for him. Maybe just some extra rice as a treat to help stabilize his tummy. Guess it's back to the drawing board for me.

[Cocoa]

Siriol, I had the same problem when I tried Acana (made by the same company as Orijen) for Cocoa, the high protein content gave her very runny stools and it is a bit lower protein than the Orijen. That's one of the things I like about the TOTW Pacific Stream, it is grain free but only 25% protein opposed to most of the grain free foods that seem to be 30% and up.

[Sirchow]

I like the sound of that one....I wonder if you can get it in the UK. I must have a look.

[Merlin]

I tried several grain free diets and found the protein was just too high for our guys.

Look for "brewers yeast" in your food that is bothering the dog. A high content of actual meat is not going to bother a dog, but must companies heighten the protein content of the food by added a lot of brewers yeast, and it is that yeast that causes the problems with high protein commercial foods.

There are high protein commercial foods that actually use meat to achieve the high protein. Those foods are actually very safe and make all the difference.

[Sirchow]

Look for "brewers yeast" in your food that is bothering the dog. A high content of actual meat is not going to bother a dog, but must companies heighten the protein content of the food by added a lot of brewers yeast, and it is that yeast that causes the problems with high protein commercial foods.

There are high protein commercial foods that actually use meat to achieve the high protein. Those foods are actually very safe and make all the difference.

There was no brewers yeast in the foods I use. I steer well clear of it as it can cause hotspots. It was purely the high level of protein unfortunately. However I have found a lower level food that suits them all now.

[cherriemater]

Okay Karen ... so you threw me a bone there. The boys like the Pacific Stream as a treat/supplement to the High Prairie ... Hmmm ... maybe I should try switching them over to Pacific Stream 100%. Hmmm ... thinking, thinking, thinking ... They didn't like it straight outta the bag when I was testing which food they'd like ... but that's when they were puppies. They certainly love it as a supplement food. Hmmm ... pondering, pondering, pondering ...

[Cocoa]

Can't hurt to try Marti, the boys might like the Pacific Stream for meals instead of just treats. Cocoa loves it and it does seem to agree with her system very well.