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Switching Labrador Dry Food...

Sticks1977
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Sticks1977

Sticks1977

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Henry finished his antibiotics today and his #2's are a lot more firmer and solid which is a relief after he had an awful bout of diarrhea or as I prefer to call it - the liquid squirts!

He was first being fed Supercoat Puppy Formula when we picked him up from the breeder and I read some reports that the food was not of the greatest quality so did some research and found a food by the name of Artemis that had some rave reviews and was highly recommended by a fair few people here on DOL and also on dog food review websites. He has been on Artemis Fresh Mix Medium/Large Breed Puppy.

During his medication and over the past week, he has been on a diet of plain chicken breast and rice. As of later this week I am going to be re-introducing dry food back into his diet gradually.

So now I'm wondering which direction I should be heading down... whether to reintroduce him back to Artemis gradually and see how his stomach handles it (I am unsure whether he had a minor infection or the food was causing the runs...) or whether to switch him onto another dry food that may be more suited to him.

Would it also be suitable that I could switch Henry gradually onto another dry food (different food than Artemis), since he has been on a diet of chicken & rice for a week? Would it upset his stomach that he would be going onto another dry food other than Artemis when switching back from a chicken & rice diet?

Also should there be any additional food or treats that I should be adding to his diet, bones? treats? new foods (he is currently 19 weeks old)?

The food choices in front of me are:

- Royal Canin, Eagle Pack, Nutro, Proplan, Eukanuba.

I realise the food debate and recommendations have been covered numerous times on forums, but I would be interested to hear - especially from other labrador owners - what food they would recommend. I am not ruling out keeping Henry on Artemis but I feel that it may have had something to do with him having an upset stomach and don't want to take the chance again if there is an equal or better alternative out there...

Thanks for reading and look forward to any replies!

Regards, Shaun (Sticks1977)

Edited by Sticks1977
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mrs tornsocks

mrs tornsocks

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Hi Shaun

We have had two labs, our current boy came to us on Royal Canin and we have stuck with it ever since. He's just turned one. I really recommend it. He gets other yummy raw stuff but RC worked for us. Our previous pup was on Advance, which seemed good too, although he went to the bridge at four months :laugh: so didn't really see the long term benefits.

Edited by mrs tornsocks
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Sticks1977

Sticks1977

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Thanks for the reply tornsocks - I have been giving a bit of thought to Royal Canin as they have a labrador specific food. Our last labrador (Fraser) was on RC and seemed to do well on it... Do you know if the puppy version of RC (from memory for when they are 15 months or younger) is smaller in size when compared to the adult kibble?

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Mas1981

Mas1981

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I feed Eagle Pack Holistic Select to my lab because it was yeast and gluten free and the only grains in it are rice. Royal Canin is not a bad food though I feed it my cats, I would love to try Artemis but its not easily available here in WA.

Edited by Masons_mom
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Chocolatelover

Chocolatelover

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Hi Sticks1977,

I have a choccy boy too and he is on Artemis. We have no complaints - nice shiney coat and nice firm poos and HEAPS of energy (maybe too much :laugh: ). He gets one cup in the morning and one in the evening. We do supplement a bit with yoghurt, sardines and K9 Natural and bones.

If Henry had a fever when you took him to the vet (I think that was the case?) then it was likely that he had something going on to cause the runs - especially if the vet gave him antibiotics. I would probably try the Artemis again and see how he goes, as it may have just been a coincidence..

What did you feed Fraser - he looked so lovely and shiney and healthy??

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mrs tornsocks

mrs tornsocks

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Thanks for the reply tornsocks - I have been giving a bit of thought to Royal Canin as they have a labrador specific food. Our last labrador (Fraser) was on RC and seemed to do well on it... Do you know if the puppy version of RC (from memory for when they are 15 months or younger) is smaller in size when compared to the adult kibble?

Yes it is for -15months, I don't know about the sizes, sorry. We've only ever fed lab junior but I guess we're not far off moving to adult since he just turned one.

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Sagittarian

Sagittarian

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RC Lab Jnr is an excellent option - but if you are only concerned about whether the food was involved in the tummy upset then keep in mind that if you were feeding a bit too much, then that can result (in some dogs) in a bit of looseness. Artemis tends to be very gentle on tummies (no beet pulp, includes milk thistle etc which aid digestion), so nearly always (in our experience), cutting back a fraction sorts out the "poo" issue.

Either way, two great choices that are highly suited to your pup.

Sags

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Sticks1977

Sticks1977

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Firstly a big thank you to everyone for the replies - I have just finished a small training session with Henry where we did a few "downs".

I purchased some new dry food for Henry and figure since he has been on chicken and rice for a week that it would be safe to gradually switch him over to a new food. Artemis may have been fine for him but I would rather not take the chance that he may end up with the liquid squirts again...

So what did I get? I ended up purchasing a 7kg bag of Holistic Select for Large/Giant Breed Puppies.

product-dog-large-breed-lamb-oatmeal.png

I think that they have bought out Eagle Pack as the packaging is now different and I can't see any reference to Eagle Pack on the packaging of the food. So far Henry has had 1/4 of the food mixed in with the chicken and rice. Hopefully his stomach will agree with the food.

Was still in two minds whether to choose between this food and Royal Canin Lab Junior. Will wait and see....

Thanks again for the replies and will keep you all updated on his progress

Regards, Shaun and Henry :(

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Tiggy

Tiggy

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I feed Eagle Pack Holistic Select to my lab because it was yeast and gluten free and the only grains in it are rice. Royal Canin is not a bad food though I feed it my cats, I would love to try Artemis but its not easily available here in WA.

I'm pretty sure Pookinuk sell Artemis, postage is only $5.

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Mas1981

Mas1981

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I feed Eagle Pack Holistic Select to my lab because it was yeast and gluten free and the only grains in it are rice. Royal Canin is not a bad food though I feed it my cats, I would love to try Artemis but its not easily available here in WA.

I'm pretty sure Pookinuk sell Artemis, postage is only $5.

Thanks I will look into it, we are on an elimination diet for 4 weeks now so will see how he is after that :laugh:

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