Wellness Core Ocean Forumula kibble - need input about, experience
 

I started feeding Roxy & Bubba Wellness Core Ocean Forumula kibble For Dogs - Grain-Free, Protein-Focused Formulas a couple of weeks ago, and I'm not sure I am happy with it. What has your experience been?

Briefly their food journey - fed Innova - really liked everything about this product, but began noticing they were both licking their paws - Roxy more so, Switched to Merrick's Before Grain, because suspected the licking was due to the grains - they were on this for a few mths, but still saw some licking - that was the Buffalo and chicken formula. Roxy at this point was the only one licking - so is it food allergies, boredom or habit :confused: The pet store, suggested trying the Wellness Core Ocean - as it is the only grain free that is also free of chicken, at least that they carry (and they have a huge selection of top products)

They have the Ocean formula with a bit of Missing Link sprinkled on and water on top of that.

Within 2 weeks of changing the food, both dogs have black stools, and are straining to go. Lots of large pea size pieces - very atypical for them. So for the past 4 days I have been also giving them pumpkin and also 2 of those days they had some yogurt. Now they seem to be going a bit easier, but the stools are still black.

Something is not right - I'm considering now switching to a product that has grains but no chicken - so unsure about what the allergy issue is :confused: And just not as pleased with the food as I wanted to be.

The other thing is I feel bad for Bubba, want to feed them the same food, so he is suffering as I try to find something that works. Of course my biggest fear is he's allergic to one thing and Roxy to something else

It's possible that the paw licking could just be boredom. Is she licking now that you're on Wellness Core?

We fed Wellness Core (and will continue to.. we're on a rotation diet) and loved it. I kind of see what you mean about the poops - sometimes theirs was darker and in round pieces as well but I don't think they ever had a problem with it. I don't see why that's a problem as long as they aren't struggling.

Good luck!

I am feeding Wellness core original formula and Chloe's poo is also very dark in color. Maybe that is just something to be expected with grain free ? I don't really know. But she doesn't strain and it is just a normal firm poo , so I have been happy with the food .

They do occasionally lick at their paw's ( Sydney more so than Chloe) but I am not sure it has anything to do with the food , because it's not everyday so I assuming it's just more a habit or she hates long nails.:p

I haven't tried the Ocean formula yet , but I plan on rotating to it the next bag or so , so I will watch and see if they have any reaction to it.

should have added that yes, the paw licking seems to be gone. So that is why I am wondering if it is just chicken that is the issue. But also one day before I changed to the Core, she was licking - and I should say the licking always occurred right after they would eat. So one day she's licking, and I gave her a bone she had previously chewed on to see if she would lick & chew on the bone over licking her paws - she chose the bone, that couldn't have had much flavor left to it. So, I was thinking boredom.

I'm just so confused, and I do not like the dark stools nor do I think I should have to add pumpkin to their diet every day when I hadn't in the past. I know pumpkin is good for a lot of other reasons but I have never needed this on a daily basis. I just hate to see them struggle to go.

When you say Rotation diet - what are you rotating the Core with?

Well I was feed grain-free before the Merrick's BG (Before Grain) - but the stools were not darker than anything else. To go to a black stool just seems odd:confused:

We rotate between Wellness Core and Nature's Variety Instinct, currently. We may add more in the future.

I bought some of the wellness ocean and ended up giving it away. Lola wouldn't touch it. Have you tried Taste of the Wild bison/venison? Lola loves it.

no, I haven't. Is it grain-free? and/or chicken free?

TOTW is grain free but only their salmon formula has no chicken (my oldest has an allergy to chicken so we've been through the same research). All four of mine loved the TOTW Salmon. We also tried the Wellness Core Ocean and they would not go near it (and none are picky eaters). Also the kibble size was much larger than what they usually get.

We're now on NV Instinct, which is grain free. Two of theirs has no chicken - the rabbit and the duck/turkey. Mine really love Instinct, but I will tell you that the kibble is very dark in color, so their stools are darker. But, they've had no problems with constipation or upset tummies since starting Instinct months ago.

Since the licking has stopped on this food, I would think allergies are a possibility. The only way to know is to do an elimination diet. Have you tried Natural Balance Duck and Potato? Then after 2-3 months, you can slowly add other ingredients in to see if you are correct about the chicken.

While switching up ingredients, please be careful. Variety is fine but they should not be exposed to every protein and every grain source available because if there is a serious food intolerance someday and you have to go to something novel, that will be impossible.

This just happened to me with Ellie...I gave her too much variety in her carbohydrates and now I am regretting it. Her nutritionist said I have boxed myself it. :(

I have given Snick Ocean CORE for a treat here and there and he will never eat more than 1. It also seemed to give him fish breath which I was not a fan of. Have you tried Innova EVO Red Meat Small Bites?? I have it on hand in case Snickers revolts against his chicken EVO, we all know how that goes. Evo Red Meat has no chickken....Best Wishes

I've fed mine several protiens trying to find one without chicken that they could all eat and do well on. Should I be concerned if they only ate a protein for a short time? Since I have one with a chicken allergy, I don't want to assume others might develop in the future. How much exposure is too much in terms of future sensitivites?

Not sure. I mean, in theory giving anything more than once could result in an issue and some dogs react the first time (like with vaccines). However, I'm not sure how common it would be. If a dog has eaten dog food with an ingredient as generic as "meat", they have likely already been exposed to beef, pork mutton and goat. You can go to a prescription diet with hydrolyzed protein (I know this isn't the way most people would want to go because of the ingredients) just for two or three months and then start adding common ingredients back in to find the allergen. Not all dogs do well on these rx foods though.

Of course if they are allergic too all of these things, then you do have to change to see if you can find something that they can tolerate. They also may need to live on hydrolyzed protein if you can't find another food for them. But how do you know it is the protein? How about grains or environmental allergies (far more common than food allergies)? Or if all your dogs have it, how about fleas, mites, etc.? Where are they scratching and what tests have been done?

There are lots of protein choices though, so hopefully you haven't used them all.

Yorkiesmiles - did you also start the Missing Link along w/ the Wellness, at the same time? If so, I'd try eliminating the ML for awhile. Remember that ML is mostly fiber - so this may be causing the different poos.

Dark poos are not necessarily a bad thing. If they are tarry, that's bad. But just being dark doesn't necessarily mean anything bad.

If the paw licking has decreased, then it may indicate that they are allergic to some previous protein. If you do want to stick with this kibble for awhile, you might try eliminating the ML and/or adding a simple canned fish-formula and see if added moisture helps a bit. Glad to hear about less licking!!! :)

maybe it's because of Missing Link that your baby is itching. I had my Tumi on it before until she started itching like crazy. I would use fish oil instead of missing link. Wellness core ocean is a good food. OUr girls are on raw and homecook diet but when we travel, we give them the wellness core ocean or Orijen six fish.