So I began the switch to Blue wildness (duck) and I swear Balon's poop is already better formed. We are at a 50/50 mix with his old Nutro Ultra (breeder had him on). I hope to make the switch complete by next week. I am going slow. I have tried other things (Orijen/Acana) which he either didn't eat or didn't do well on, so wish me luck.

Blue Wilderness worked really well for Cato. Delilah has a chicken issue, so she can't eat it. We rotated between the Duck and Salmon before switching to raw. The dogs really like it and it's made with quality ingredients. Personally, I like the Salmon and it's Ethoxyquin free. Ever since the issue in 2007 with distributors of rice, they are VERY picky about who they get their product from. Thankfully, this means they do not allow distributors to preserve with ethoxyquin

Our Chance & Kayla both liked the salmon and duck blue wilderness. we rotated between the 2 also and had no issues with either one. we're trying them on the kirkland nature's domain since it's good for the 2 of them plus our 5 mo old Lucky. I don't have to worry about buying multiple bags now. They all seem to like the salmon nature's domain which my wallet is happy about.

We've tried Nutro, Natural Balance, Blue Wilderness, and now Kirkland Nature's Domain and their preferences seem to be
1) Nature's Domain - Salmon or Blue Wilderness - Salmon
2) Natural Balance
3) Nutro

As long as they're eating and they're not having any allergic reactions or stool inconsistencies, i'd say you've made a good choice. you just have to find the ones they like.

Honestly we fed Cato, our puppy, the Blue Wilderness for adults. He did great on it and is growing perfectly. At first I was hesitant, but Claudia gave me a few guidelines in regards to foods for puppies and it has turned out to be wonderful.

Thus, you could feed it to your Adult and your Puppy.

Megan: just curious, what were some of those guidelines. It's so hard watching Lucky everytime he eats to make sure he only eats his puppy food. I guess that's why I like the Nature's Domain all life stages kibble also. I have another 7 mos of Lucky being a 'puppy'. (even though he's just as tall as his mom and dad already.)

The most important one was the ratio of protein to fat.

Apparently, the protein needs to be 1.5x the percentage of fat. Or as close as possible. Wilderness is pretty close

Salmon - 15% fat & 34% Protein. Their puppy formula is honestly not that much different at 16% fat and 36% protein. We were supplementing with added fish oils. It worked great.

Yes I wanted to buy the salmon one my store was out, do you think I could switch it out next time from the duck to the salmon?

I got the adult formula for Balon (vet said too actually). He loves it!

We rotated Salmon and duck without a problem. he should be fine. It's the same base formula.

well aside from a little diarrhea setback after neutering, I really believe Balon is doing much better on Blue Wilderness in fact I am thinking of putting my lab on it too.

You'll also want to check the calcium:phosphorus ratio - for puppies, you'll want to keep the ratio close to 1.5:1.

cmanding wrote:

You'll also want to check the calcium:phosphorus ratio - for puppies, you'll want to keep the ratio close to 1.5:1.

Claudia - where did you learn this info? Just out of curiosity of course! I always like to learn more and more.

I learned from Val and confirmed:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1680828/pdf/canvetj00574-0077.pdf

Myth: Too much protein will make my puppy grow too fast, and hurt him.

Fact: (Taken from Relationship of Nutrition to Developmental Skeletal Disease in Young Dogs by Daniel C. Richardson & Phillip W. Toll
It is too little protein that will actually cause skeletal problems in growing puppies.
Unlike other species, protein excess has not been demonstrated to negatively affect calcium metabolism or skeletal development in dogs. Protein deficiency, however, has more impact on the developing skeleton. In Great Dane puppies, a protein level of 14.6% (dry matter basis) with 13% of the dietary energy derived from protein can result in significant decreases in bodyweight and plasma albumin and urea concentrations.9,10 The minimum adequate level of dietary protein depends on digestibility, amino acids, and their availability from protein sources. A growth food should contain > 22% protein (dry matter basis) of high biologic value

Myth: I need to have a specific ratio of calcium to phosphorus or else my puppy will get a growth disorder.

Fact: It is the overall calcium level that affects everything. Calcium excess is the culprit. (same source as above... What can I say? it was a GREAT cumulative study)
The absolute level of calcium in the diet, rather than an imbalance in the calcium/phosphorus ratio, influences skeletal development.2 Young, giant-breed dogs fed a food containing excess calcium (3.3% dry matter basis) with either normal phosphorus(0.9% dry matter basis) or high phosphorus(3% dry matter basis, to maintain a normal calcium/phosphorus ratio) had significantly increased incidence of developmental bone disease.2 These puppies apparently were unable to protect themselves against the negative effects of chronic calcium excess.3 Further, chronic high calcium intake increased the frequency and severity of osteochondrosis.

ok so what does this mean, does Blue Wilderness Adult not contain enough calcium, what about puppy?

Blue Wilderness both puppy and adult is 1.3 is that enough, how would I add more? I would hate to change his food he is doing really well!

Blue Wilderness (chicken, salmon or duck) calculates to Ca:P ratio of 1.44:1 and the protein/fat content is 34%/15% so you should be OK feeding them to your puppy.

ok whew you scared me lol, I was thinking great here I found something to feed my Balon that isn't causing the runs and now its not right lol. Thanks for the good news lol!

And thanks for all your knowledge and stepping in to share, much appreciated!