Making the switch.

codykrr

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So we went and bought our dog Chloe some new dog food. Currently she is on nutro natural choice small breed.

But we noticed a hair loss that I believe may be a grain allergy.

Today we visited a place that deals with high end dog foods. like blue buffalo, Orijen, Acana...ect.

The people there were so awesome. Never in my years of dealing with people were they so truthful and nice.

They were out of Orijen(chicken) so we asked what she recommended and she directed us to acana wild prairie.

we bought two trial bags, because our dog is so small it would probably go bad before we got her fully switched(so the lady told us) at $ 2.50 a bag it wasnt too bad.

so right now we are mixing her old dog food with the new in a 75% old and 25% new untill she starts to get used to it. the lady said a week. then mix half and half...ect.

anyway, If anyone has any suggestions on making the transition easier please let me know.

Thanks.
 

kevin91172

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Oct 11, 2009
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That is what we do.Mix 75-80% old food the rest new.Some dogs are easy, but my wife's shih tzu is right now going through the change,she was allergic to the red dye in the old food and made her scratch, hair fall out.She is being slow at the switch over.

The best of luck to you.:)

Kevin
 

tarantulagirl10

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Sounds like they gave you good advice. Good luck with the new food. They can have allergies to many different things. Food allergy is one of the pretty common ones.
 

StephanieH

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You probably won't have to feed as much as what's on the bag. Being grain free, they can put on weight faster. The amounts on the bag are for intact male dogs, but most food companies won't tell you that.
go slow with the switch, it's better that having to deal with GI issues.

Steph
 

MS6582

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according to the vet we saw it could take as long as 3 months to see if the new food is going to help with allergies. In that time you can't feed table scraps, no treats, nada.

Also there are MANY of other reasons for hair loss on dogs, one is a skin mite. Especially common in smaller and younger dogs. If you see any signs of red rashes keep this in mind.

As for Acana I just made the switch to the Acana Fish and I don't think I could be happier. Our dogs coats look amazing (oily for the first few weeks), thier energy is through the roof, not like it wasn't before but its almost like they are puppies again and they poop way less. Only problem is the better food is adding some weight to our 3 year old dog and he is looking like he needs to go on a diet here soon. Something else to keep in mind.

Good luck!
 

codykrr

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according to the vet we saw it could take as long as 3 months to see if the new food is going to help with allergies. In that time you can't feed table scraps, no treats, nada.

Also there are MANY of other reasons for hair loss on dogs, one is a skin mite. Especially common in smaller and younger dogs. If you see any signs of red rashes keep this in mind.

As for Acana I just made the switch to the Acana Fish and I don't think I could be happier. Our dogs coats look amazing (oily for the first few weeks), thier energy is through the roof, not like it wasn't before but its almost like they are puppies again and they poop way less. Only problem is the better food is adding some weight to our 3 year old dog and he is looking like he needs to go on a diet here soon. Something else to keep in mind.

Good luck!
Yeah, I would never feed my dog table scraps! One good thing about our dog is she doesnt gorge on food. we give her 3/4 cup a day, and she really doesnt even eat that. she is very healthy and trim. she is a mini and weighs a whole 7.5 pounds

It was funny though, because we started this switch today, and we mixed it 75% old and 25% new. she literally picked out all the new food piece by piece. then about an hour later went back and ate some of the old dog food.

The only treats she gets are dentastix. which she has been getting since we got her a year about. when we got her we had her on nutro natural choice chicken and rice for puppies. she did great. we switched her to nutro natural choice "small breed" and thats when we noticed a loss of hair.

no mites, no skin problems. just hair loss. Also have noticed a little more "eye boogers" since the nutro small breed switch as well.

What really convinced me to make a definite switch was reviews on how nutro handled the dog food recall a few years back. I wasnt aware that they treated some of the families who lossed their beloved pets like crap.

we will continue to monitor the problem with the hair loss, and her weight. which is fine for now. But being a Dachshund it is extra important keeping them a healthy weight to help reduce back and hip problems.
 

malevolentrobot

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so far everything people have said is on the dot. i'm not familiar with acana as a food, but grain-free is a good direction to go in if you suspect a food allergy. single-source protein and carb is better, imo (like natural balance L.I.D.) if only because the likelyhood of an allergic reactin is so small.

like others have said, watch for weight gains. many times i have seen owners not follow the feeding guidlines for grain-free diets and end up with porkers! especially true since doxies seem to have a propensity for gaining weight.

you normally can feed treats if the ingredients match up to the diet (i.e. a dog on fish and sweet potato diet getting dried sweet potato treats) but you really need to scour the ingredients list thoroughly before doing something like that so the food isn't blamed for a reaction. most conciencious owners opt not to do this, although like i said success may vary. expect 2-3 months (almost like detoxing the body of the old food) before true results happen for minor skin/coat allergies, although i've heard people say they've seen results in as little as two weeks, usually those are the more severe issues though.

lastly, as someone else mentioned lots of other things can factor into itching and hair falling out. as example: shampoo was an odd culprit a lot of people would forget about at the store i worked at, especially a lower end one with a heavy perfume or dye. i'd ask people how often they were bathing their dogs and they'd say twice a week! that is totally in the realm of causing itching just from stripping the dogs coat of natural oils so often. so we'd reccomend something milder and only bathing twice a month, and then the problem would go away... strange how that works.

keep in mind other things if this problem doesn't clear up after a couple months, and feel free to pick my brain about anything i remember about dog food when the time comes :)
 

codykrr

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We use baby shampoo. it has never seemed to be a problem. Luckily for us, we noticed the hair loss like I said after switcher her from nutro puppy food, to this nutro "small breed adult". nothing else has changed. we feed the same treats, same shampoo. which all did fine before the last dog food change. so it kinda narrowed it down itself.

Also we bath our dog about once a week and a half.
 

MS6582

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Keep in mind dogs can grow into allergies just like humans can and they can grow out of them. Just because the shampoo or treats were fine before doesnt mean they are fine now. Not saying that's the problem but just keep that in mind. Also you may want to double check but 1.5 weeks seems too often to give baths. From what I've read you can bath twice a month if skin allergies go nuts but that's an extreme case, seems 3-4 weeks is pretty common from what I've read and based on what the vet said. Each dog is different though, just one more thing for you to look out for.

Best of luck!
 

Crysta

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Yeah, once a week and a half is a bit too often. We bathed our dogs every month and a half or two. They where always clean. If your dog likes to swarm and roll in cat poop well i wouldn't blame you for washing once a week... lol

Mine where samoyed so they did not oil up like alot of other dogs with corse fur/hair.

Instead of using shampoo all the time, a normal water rinse would be good if you find there is too much excess oils.
 

sassysmama

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I would recommend bathing less frequently, and using dog shampoo. It really does make a difference, as human shampoo tends to strip the oils out of dog's fur, and they need the oils for their skin to be healthy. I work at a vet clinic and I always recommend an oatmeal based shampoo (just not one that says it kills fleas or ticks, those are pretty harsh) for dogs with dry skin, dandruff, or itching. It doesn't really matter what brand you buy, and most are pretty inexpensive. I have a chihuahua who tends to have dry, flaky skin, and I bathe him once a month and use a creme rinse (for dogs) and it seems to keep it under control. Good luck with your little girl! I love dachshunds.
-Ally
 

codykrr

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Our dogs skin is healthy. not dry, itchy..nothing. just the dog food making her go bald. LOL

Our vet is the one who recommended baby shampoo.
 

Fyreflye

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I would recommend bathing less frequently, and using dog shampoo. It really does make a difference, as human shampoo tends to strip the oils out of dog's fur, and they need the oils for their skin to be healthy. I work at a vet clinic and I always recommend an oatmeal based shampoo (just not one that says it kills fleas or ticks, those are pretty harsh) for dogs with dry skin, dandruff, or itching. It doesn't really matter what brand you buy, and most are pretty inexpensive. I have a chihuahua who tends to have dry, flaky skin, and I bathe him once a month and use a creme rinse (for dogs) and it seems to keep it under control. Good luck with your little girl! I love dachshunds.
-Ally
Interesting. I also work at a vet clinic, have a chihuahua with allergies, and Ally is my nickname. o_O

I agree with using a dog-specific shampoo, their coats have different needs from ours, and can get dried out rather quickly- especially small breed dogs, who tend to be overly sensitive. If dryness is an issue, adding some omega-3 fatty acids to her diet can help- my dog gets fish oil caplets i get from the drug store. She loves them.

Baldness without itching isn't very common, but at least she isn't suffering from the misery that can be allergies. Endocrine diseases (such as thyroid disorders) can cause hair loss, but generally come with other symptoms, like weight gain, lethargy and excessive drinking. If the new food doesn't work out for you (and i hope it does!), or you notice her coat getting worse, certainly make a point to have her regular vet check it out.
 

codykrr

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yeah, she actually has a vet appointment wednesday. since we switched foods, I want to get her checked out, weighed, and that will let us know if she is gaining to much weight or what.

I do have a question.

since switching her over I have been mixing like I said 75% old dog food to 25% new.

basically 1/4 cup new, 1/2 cup old, but I she has started to literally pick out her new food and only eating that. she hasnt been eating the old dog food at all. Should I go ahead and just offer only the new food or stick to the regimine. her stool is staying normal, no runs..

also I will post a pic in a minute of the balding. it isnt bad because it really just started since the last switch(2 months ago)

---------- Post added at 01:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:17 AM ----------

so here are some pictures of the area that are balding.

by the ears(front and back sides)





the chest also.



I know she wasnt very hairy in these spots before, but it seems to have gotten worse since the switch to last old dog food.

Ps. crappy pics because she doesnt like to participate in pictures! haha
 

Wadew

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Codykrr,
As long as her stools are remaining normal and you have been giving the new diet for awhile mixed with the old I would not see any harm in making the switch totally. Wysong has a Gel cap called Marine lipids and that would complement the coat with omega 3's and omega 6's. Also True Blue has a detergent free shampoo that would also be mild and produce nice results. The customer driven push for grain free food is incredible at my pet store. Grains are not so much an enemy as starch can be and wysong also has a product called epigen which is an interesting take on a more developed approach in diet.
Cheers Wade
 

tarantulagirl10

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We usually tell people to switch over a 1 to 2 week period. That is because some dogs have sensitive stomachs. We say 25% of the new food for a few days, then 50% of the new food for a few days, then 75% then 100%. Sounds like your dog is doing fine. I would maybe give a day or two mixing more of the new then just go ahead and switch. You definitely want to keep an eye on her weight. These little dogs are bad about back problems and any extra weight will multiply her risks. She looks great now, I just like to mention that to everyone who owns one. She's cute as she can be!
 
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