Who feeds ACANA??

[hugz4all4]

Originally Posted by Britster

I'm glad you found a good that works well for you

California Naturals though is made by Natura, who was just bought our by Proctor & Gamble (makers of Innova, EVO, etc).

thanks for the correction.. sorry about that folks..lol.. and yeah I know procter and gamble bought them. I have sent them a email stating my concerns and was basically promised that they will not change any of the ingredients or quality of the food. The owners/employees of natura are still running the plant so things are suppose to stay the same. At this point I have 3 of my 4 dogs on thier new grain free lamb line and they are doing good, Tucker isnt overally excited about the food but he does eat it, but I have no plans on changing foods anytime soon, so I just have to trust that they will stay true to what they said. i do have that emails still if anyone is intersted in reading it.

as a side note.. i posted about tucker having itching issues again.. well I discoverd that he was sneaking cat food that was being dropped on the floor by my cats.. it has corn in it, he is highly allergic to corn.. so that explained the itching.. so he is no longer allowed in that part of the house.. icthing has become better..

[mimimomo]

Originally Posted by Maximo

Thank you Jenny. Max may have been fired up because of all the electricity in the air last night with the thunderstorms moving in. I'll watch him over the next few days.

I hope switching from our current Fromm chicken to the Acana Grasslands isn't the problem -- mixing 2 radically different foods.

I just ran into this link as I searched on google: 'is mixing dog food ok'
How often should I change dog foods?

I guess I shouldn't mix their food, but rotation is ok. Ugh, this food thing driving me bonkers.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by mimimomo

So...being hyper & fired up is a bad thing? Lol I thought it was a yorkie thing.
Maybe the higher protein level is giving him more energy.
As long as it's not from a low quality food to a premium one (which they'll need 14+ days), they should be fine. Any bad sign will come out in their poopies.

He is like a puppy again, but good poopies. I remember now Max behaved the same way when we changed to Natural Balance, and again when we started Fromm. Grandpa is teasing me that he is going to give the boys Ol' Roy to slow them down.

Originally Posted by mimimomo

I just ran into this link as I searched on google: 'is mixing dog food ok'
How often should I change dog foods?

I guess I shouldn't mix their food, but rotation is ok. Ugh, this food thing driving me bonkers.

Thank you for the link and info.

This stuff hurts my head. I would much rather think about hair products.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by hugz4all4

thanks for the correction.. sorry about that folks..lol.. and yeah I know procter and gamble bought them. I have sent them a email stating my concerns and was basically promised that they will not change any of the ingredients or quality of the food. The owners/employees of natura are still running the plant so things are suppose to stay the same. At this point I have 3 of my 4 dogs on thier new grain free lamb line and they are doing good, Tucker isnt overally excited about the food but he does eat it, but I have no plans on changing foods anytime soon, so I just have to trust that they will stay true to what they said. i do have that emails still if anyone is intersted in reading it.

as a side note.. i posted about tucker having itching issues again.. well I discoverd that he was sneaking cat food that was being dropped on the floor by my cats.. it has corn in it, he is highly allergic to corn.. so that explained the itching.. so he is no longer allowed in that part of the house.. icthing has become better..

Gotcha! Yeah, I can't really decide how I feel about the whole P&G buyout thing. On one hand, I still think they have really good food, so regardless of who owns them... hopefully the ingredients won't change. I just don't really trust the company. Especially since, just a few days ago, they've had even more recalls. I think Innova, CN, Evo, etc will probably be fine for a while. It's a year or two down the road, I'd get worried... if I was feeding their food and my dog was doing good on it, I probably wouldn't change either. Like you said, Tucker is finally doing good on a food so it'd seems silly to change now!

And what a stinker! Jackson loves cat food, too. lol. My dad has cats and he always manages to find some cat food or treats.


@Maximo I feed Jackson (15lbs) 1/2 cup a day of Acana Grasslands, plus a little bit of wet food at each meal. He does well with this. Acana has a lot of calories per cup so as much food isn't always necessary. When Jackson was free-fed, he self regulated at 1/2 cup a day of food. He could probably do okay with 3/4 cup as well but he never seems to need or want to eat that much, and I don't want to overfeed.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by Britster

@Maximo I feed Jackson (15lbs) 1/2 cup a day of Acana Grasslands, plus a little bit of wet food at each meal. He does well with this. Acana has a lot of calories per cup so as much food isn't always necessary. When Jackson was free-fed, he self regulated at 1/2 cup a day of food. He could probably do okay with 3/4 cup as well but he never seems to need or want to eat that much, and I don't want to overfeed.

Thank you Brit.

[mimimomo]

Originally Posted by Britster

@Maximo I feed Jackson (15lbs) 1/2 cup a day of Acana Grasslands, plus a little bit of wet food at each meal. He does well with this. Acana has a lot of calories per cup so as much food isn't always necessary. When Jackson was free-fed, he self regulated at 1/2 cup a day of food. He could probably do okay with 3/4 cup as well but he never seems to need or want to eat that much, and I don't want to overfeed.

yikes, I put 3/4 cup for my guys...it's 1/4 cup.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by mimimomo

yikes, I put 3/4 cup for my guys...it's 1/4 cup.

I know! I don't understand how Jackson survives, thrives on so little. My boys eat 3/4 cup of the Fromm daily when Jackson was eating 1/2 cup of his -- granted, he was eating the Surf & Turf, which is slightly higher in protein/calories.

[BonBon]

Originally Posted by Maximo

I know! I don't understand how Jackson survives, thrives on so little. My boys eat 3/4 cup of the Fromm daily when Jackson was eating 1/2 cup of his -- granted, he was eating the Surf & Turf, which is slightly higher in protein/calories.

I'm so glad to see someone else saying this! I free feed, but I know from watching and monitoring mine that mine eat about a half-cup per day and they feel just right to me. I don't know how that Jackson does it AND be so active.

[KashasMom]

I guess it's quality that makes the difference. I just put my 23lb Scottie, Frosty, on Acana Pacifica and she's eating just under a cup a day (free fed) but she's a piglet. Granted she was eating 1 1/2 cups on Nutro but again on the quality.

Acana is awesome! When I'm done with Kasha's dry food( she gets raw but nibbles on kibble) I'm pretty sure I'll switch for her too.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by Maximo

I know! I don't understand how Jackson survives, thrives on so little. My boys eat 3/4 cup of the Fromm daily when Jackson was eating 1/2 cup of his -- granted, he was eating the Surf & Turf, which is slightly higher in protein/calories.

Originally Posted by BonBon

I'm so glad to see someone else saying this! I free feed, but I know from watching and monitoring mine that mine eat about a half-cup per day and they feel just right to me. I don't know how that Jackson does it AND be so active.

I think mimimomo meant that she was mistaken by her post, she doesn't feed 3/4 cup but 1/4 cup. lol.

But yeah you'd think he was starving but he's honestly not! I will leave dry food out for him after breakfast (which is wet+dry) and he never touches it. Like I said, when he was free-fed, he barely ate. He's just not a big eater. Plus, he gets wet food typically at both meals as well. Plus a lot of treats throughout the day. I belong to a few other forums as well and they all agree that is perfect for him. If he is extra active for the day, sometimes I will up it to around 3/4 cup a day. But he usually leaves kibbles in the bowl.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by KashasMom

I guess it's quality that makes the difference. I just put my 23lb Scottie, Frosty, on Acana Pacifica and she's eating just under a cup a day (free fed) but she's a piglet. Granted she was eating 1 1/2 cups on Nutro but again on the quality.

Acana is awesome! When I'm done with Kasha's dry food( she gets raw but nibbles on kibble) I'm pretty sure I'll switch for her too.

Yup, I've read this many times on other dog forums. 20lb dogs that get 3/4cup-1 cup a day of high quality food. Overfeeding is a huge problem that alot of people don't realize they do (including me! I tried giving Jackson 1 cup a day and it was wayyy too much for him!)

Here was one post from another forum:

Our Cavalier King Charles gets 1 cup a day but she's 22 lbs.
She exercises 4 hrs at a time in the park about 3 times a week plus a daily walk of 1 hr.

Nia needs a lot of food to maintain weight so she gets 1/2 cup a day she's 6.2 lbs.
Nia exercises tons though. Usually 2 hr walking and 2 hr run/fetch every single day. The least she ever gets is 2 hrs of running. Some days she goes up to 4-5 hrs of walking + 1-2 hrs of running.

Stop looking at "cups" of feeding and start looking at calories. Consider any treats also. There are a few different calories calculators for dogs online, they vary some but the good part is, each gives a range for a variety of activity levels.

I mean, I feed 2 cups per day to my 75 lbs dog, plus about 1 tablespoon peanut butter in his kong. Sounds like he should be starving but its a 720/kcal per cup feed. Versus a previous food that was 400/kcal per cup... he has kept weight-- as measured at the same feed store each time and visually by the ribs-- nicely for the 4 months or so he's been on this food (with a pretty active schedule)

I'd try to figure out how many calories he's been eating (based on what he finishes each day) and start serving about that.

Acana is around 430 kcal/cup I think, by the way.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by Britster

I think mimimomo meant that she was mistaken by her post, she doesn't feed 3/4 cup but 1/4 cup. lol.

Oops! I misread.

Originally Posted by Britster

But yeah you'd think he was starving but he's honestly not! I will leave dry food out for him after breakfast (which is wet+dry) and he never touches it. Like I said, when he was free-fed, he barely ate. He's just not a big eater. Plus, he gets wet food typically at both meals as well. Plus a lot of treats throughout the day. I belong to a few other forums as well and they all agree that is perfect for him. If he is extra active for the day, sometimes I will up it to around 3/4 cup a day. But he usually leaves kibbles in the bowl.

Jackson is a fuel-efficient doggy; he gets more miles per gallon.

[BonBon]

Originally Posted by Maximo

Oops! I misread.

Jackson is a fuel-efficient doggy; he gets more miles per gallon.

Jackson is one of the happiest, healthiest looking little guys I've seen. Whatever you're doing Brit, it's working!

[Britster]

Originally Posted by Maximo

Oops! I misread.

Jackson is a fuel-efficient doggy; he gets more miles per gallon.

LOL!!!! That's funny. He does! I wish he would eat more sometimes! LOL. I'll give him a nice ole' dinner tonight for you guys. He did alot of swimming today, so he could use it.

Originally Posted by BonBon

Jackson is one of the happiest, healthiest looking little guys I've seen. Whatever you're doing Brit, it's working!

Awwww! He is pretty happy! Most of the time. Sometimes he can be a stinker.

You're still feeding Acana and loving it right? If I remember, I think you were the one who convinced me to change? Maybe? I don't remember!

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by Britster

Yup, I've read this many times on other dog forums. 20lb dogs that get 3/4cup-1 cup a day of high quality food. Overfeeding is a huge problem that alot of people don't realize they do (including me! I tried giving Jackson 1 cup a day and it was wayyy too much for him!)

Here was one post from another forum:

Still, finding the right amount for each individual dog is a challenge.

Originally Posted by Britster

Acana is around 430 kcal/cup I think, by the way.

The Fromm I was feeding Max is 380 kcal/cup, so I'm thinking the difference might not be really drastic. Less Acana though for sure.

Determining the mixture of the foods during the transition period is a guessing game. Max doesn't appear hungry, but he is trying to get a few more of those yummy new kibble.