After much research and checking, I have decided to switch AJ from Pinnacle, a very respectable brand, to Instinct Duck and Turkey. I am doing this because of the tapioca content of the Instinct, which is said to help his arthritic shoulder. Of course, this change will take several weeks and use the rest of the Pinnacle I have on board. I will be watching for improvement to his arthritis. I am also doing this in hopes he will stop his occasional shedding of dandruff.

So far, he seems to like the flavor of the Instinct. We'll see how he does.

On another note, I am trying something different for his incredible butt-breath. I have PetzLife oral care spray that I will try on him. He has some tartar and this stuff is supposed to clean it off by enzyme action. According to what I read about it, it should show improvement in about ten days. I will let y'all know.

Cheers!

Good luck on the food change..I bet he will do great.
I am wanting to do the petzlife thing too..men haven't wanted to take the $30 plunge yet..let me know how it works..

@Basenjimamma:

Good luck on the food change..I bet he will do great.
I am wanting to do the petzlife thing too..men haven't wanted to take the $30 plunge yet..let me know how it works..

You can get Petzlife @ petedge.com for $15.

thanks for the tip Renault1..I had no idea..ordering some up right now.

@AJs:

After much research and checking, I have decided to switch AJ from Pinnacle, a very respectable brand, to Instinct Duck and Turkey. I am doing this because of the tapioca content of the Instinct, which is said to help his arthritic shoulder. Of course, this change will take several weeks and use the rest of the Pinnacle I have on board. I will be watching for improvement to his arthritis. I am also doing this in hopes he will stop his occasional shedding of dandruff.

So far, he seems to like the flavor of the Instinct. We'll see how he does.

On another note, I am trying something different for his incredible butt-breath. I have PetzLife oral care spray that I will try on him. He has some tartar and this stuff is supposed to clean it off by enzyme action. According to what I read about it, it should show improvement in about ten days. I will let y'all know.

Cheers!

If AJ has dandruff add some salmon oil to his food. The omega 3 fatty acids will also help with the shoulder as it's a natural anti inflammatory nutrient. I buy the capsules, poke 2 capsules per meal and squeeze on his food 2x daily and just mix in. Buddy has no dandruff and fur is soft and thick.

This new food has salmon in it. Pinnacle has oats…not a bad grain, but still a grain. I'm going to see how he does completely off grains. Might be what's causing it. He seems to like it, cleans his dish out every feeding. We're at 1/4 new, 3/4 old right now.

@AJs:

This new food has salmon in it. Pinnacle has oats…not a bad grain, but still a grain. I'm going to see how he does completely off grains. Might be what's causing it. He seems to like it, cleans his dish out every feeding. We're at 1/4 new, 3/4 old right now.

I do the rotation diet since I've had Buddy. Works fine with no upset stomach.

See this video. I don't use this particular brand.
http://www.naturesvariety.com/rotation_video

How funny…it's the same company who makes the new food. I have a kind of phobia about canned pet foods but wouldn't mind feeding raw occasionally. Unfortunately, I don't have anywhere to store it.

I know animals like variety in their diets as much as we do so I compensate for that by giving tiny bites of whatever I'm eating on his dinner. Besides...how could I say no to such a handsome guy.

I feed Gossy the new salmon-based Canidae (and she also gets a salmon-liver treat every morning) and her coat really shines! It's a little expensive compared to their other lines.

Don't have the butt-breath problem with her so can't help you there.

I'm not sure whether I like this change or not…AJ's got a musical behind again and I know it's not from green beans this time....Deadly! I'll give it a few more days and if this continues, I think I'll just stay with Pinnacle.

@AJs:

I'm not sure whether I like this change or not…AJ's got a musical behind again and I know it's not from green beans this time....Deadly! I'll give it a few more days and if this continues, I think I'll just stay with Pinnacle.

How about giving AJ a digestive aid/enzyme?

I'd rather keep pills and additives to a minimum if possible.

Besides, his digestion is working just fine…I can smell it from here.

@AJs:

I'd rather keep pills and additives to a minimum if possible.

Besides, his digestion is working just fine…I can smell it from here.

Wonderful! Gas is a result of poorly digested food. Digestive enzymes are a natural product that can mix right in. If AJ is not digesting his food thoroughly other problems will show up.

The musical butt could just be the transition. I would not give up the duck until you have completely switched. I use the the nature's variety raw diet mixed in with my kibble and dogs seem to enjoy the variety. I also use 1000 mg of human fish oil gel tabs (human version from wal-mart). beautiful coats! good luck

AJ didn't have any trouble at all when he was on Pinnacle. I'm considering going back to it because he's still got the toots pretty bad. I did notice that one of the preservatives in this food is citric acid. It's great for Vitamin C, but from what I've heard, it can cause "bloat." Isn't that another word for gas?

He didn't have this with Pinnacle. It was worth the try, but my olfactory receptors are getting burned out.

We used to alternate Kairoe on Nutro Natural choice Chicken or Lamb kibble when he was a puppy and found that he was doing well with it. We'd also add a teaspoon of cod liver oil into every other meal to keep his coat shiny and to reduce his dandruff. The added oil has been a bonus since he rarely has dandruff. However, it does not bode well for his breath. Ikes!

When he got to about 8 months old, we decided to switch him over to Nutro's ULTRA small breed adult formula and since the switch we've notice that he's doing extremely well on it. No gas, no bloating and his coat is amazing looking. He even looks leaner.

BUT…

I decided to ween him over to EVO's red meat small bites formula [heard good things about it] but he has yet to eat a full meal and actually puked a meal that he eventually finished! It's funny but He would pick out the Nutro kibble and leave the Evo alone. And his gas is h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e! Holy. This also happened with that Call of The Wild brand. When he was on those formulas he looked tubby and bloated looking. We didn't over feed him and actually cut down each feeding to 3/4 cups compared to full cups with Nutro.

I guess, the food is just too rich for his young tummy?

So, now we're switching back to Nutro.

Evo and other grain free foods can be quite rich for some dogs depending on what they had been eating. A really good alternative to EVO, made by the same manufacturer is California Natural it comes in chicken and lamb formulas. If you find California Natural doesn't have enough calories or fat they also have Innova so there is a whole range within the Natura pet line.

I have also had really good results with Nature's Variety kibbles both their grain free Instinct and the with grain Prairie.

@lvoss:

I have also had really good results with Nature's Variety kibbles both their grain free Instinct and the with grain Prairie.

+1

I'm now using the Instinct kibble and their raw food daily. Using both seems to have cut down on the room clearing gas. I was using just the Instinct kibble before.

@Kananga:

I'm now using the Instinct kibble and their raw food daily. Using both seems to have cut down on the room clearing gas. I was using just the Instinct kibble before.

The Instinct was causing gas? That's what I've been trying to switch the Knucklehead over to. Now he's an olfactory assault weapon. He was doing fine on Pinnacle, I just wanted to upgrade his food because of the dandruff. If adding fish oil to his kibble helps with that, I will go back to the Pinnacle and buy some fish oil. He loves fish.

@AJs:

The Instinct was causing gas? That's what I've been trying to switch the Knucklehead over to. Now he's an olfactory assault weapon. He was doing fine on Pinnacle, I just wanted to upgrade his food because of the dandruff. If adding fish oil to his kibble helps with that, I will go back to the Pinnacle and buy some fish oil. He loves fish.

It might have been, but I'm not certain. It is a bit rich but i think it helps to mix up his diet a bit by offering different proteins daily.

Since I've started doing raw meals in the evenings, he hasn't had any problems. Instinct is great dry kibble though. I'm really tempted to do all raw but it does get a bit spendy. He absolutely go nuts over the raw food and still desires his dry kibble.