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12-06-2012 at 2:21 PM
kfree9
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Joined on 06-20-1998
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kfree9 is not online. Last active: 05-18-2013, 11:14 PMNewbie

I need a plan of attack for switching dog food

My husband and I adopted a dog a couple weeks ago. Her foster mom was feeding her a generic Purina Dog Chow which I quickly transitioned her from to Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice (in the dark blue bag). This helped with her stool but she's pretty itchy. She's been licking her paws (not a TON, but still a few times a day I catch her) and scratches quite a bit. So, I'm assuming she's got some food allergies going on. But, how do I figure out what it could be besides buying a whole bunch of different dog food and switching it out and trying each different kind for a week or two? That could obviously be expensive! I know that a lot of dogs are sensitive to chicken, so perhaps I should switch to a fish based food? I'm taking her to the vet next week just for a wellness visit, but I thought I would post here and see if anyone has suggestions.
 
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12-06-2012 at 2:24 PM
gamergirl5...
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gamergirl522 is not online. Last active: 03-22-2013, 7:52 AMBronze
It's probably an allergy to processed chicken. My dog was the same way. I give my dog lamb and rice food now. To transition, the best thing, IMO, is to mix the food. Mostly old food at first and every day make the mix more of the new food until it's all new food.
 
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12-06-2012 at 3:08 PM
chrisnjay0...
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Orange County, NY
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chrisnjay05212010 is not online. Last active: 06-18-2013, 3:56 PMSilver
i believe blue buffalo has a food for dogs with allergies. You could try that as the PP suggested slowly at first and gradually until its all the new food.
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12-07-2012 at 9:34 AM
River Pest...
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River Pestie is not online. Last active: 02-13-2013, 11:45 AMGold

Do you know about how old she is? If she is older than 2ish, I would put her on a grain-free food.

If she is younger than 2, there are grain-free foods with a lower phos level, such as Fromm Surf and Turf.

I HIGHLY recommend Fromm Surf and Turf. The company is based in WI and none of their ingredients are outsourced from China. 


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12-07-2012 at 9:41 AM
pattymctat...
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pattymctatty is not online. Last active: 12-17-2012, 10:13 AMSilver

Fish based is a great idea!

Love Fromm Surf & Turf. Another one is Wellness Core Ocean. If you have a Costco membership, they also sell a fish-based grain free food too (and it's cheap!).

With fosters we did a switch over about a week and a half. 3/4 old food, 1/4 new food, then up/lower the foods until you're at the new food 100%. You won't get diarrhea this way. 
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