Is acana too much protein for a puppy?

My 3 month old Maltipoo has been eating this exact brand and type for over a month and it's been mostly soft but solid and fine.

chris416yyz wrote: ↑ Check with Pet Valu, I believe some Pet stores will take it back under these circumstances. You may be limited to store credit.

They only accept returns on open bags of the store brand.

I guess I should have bought from pet smart since they accept returns on any food.. Or global pet foods who have samples of various brands.

I bought a small bag of royal canin yesterday and the results were almost immediately better with a 50/50 ratio.

I'm going to try the transition to Acana one more time, but at a much slower rate.

If that still doesn't work, I guess I'll give away the leftovers. Surprisingly there are people who pick up open dog food.

PerformingAzura wrote: ↑ They only accept returns on open bags of the store brand.

I guess I should have bought from pet smart since they accept returns on any food.. Or global pet foods who have samples of various brands.

I bought a small bag of royal canin yesterday and the results were almost immediately better with a 50/50 ratio.

I'm going to try the transition to Acana one more time, but at a much slower rate.

If that still doesn't work, I guess I'll give away the leftovers. Surprisingly there are people who pick up open dog food.

Cockapoos can have sensitive tummies (my friend had one). It is very possible that your pup does not handle Arcana and/or too much protein in his diet. If it were not for the unfortunate results of the Arcana food, I would have suggested a ratio of 25/75 for a few days, and then 50/50, but in your case it was a wise decision.

There are allergies of course and then there is pancreatitis which is a whole different ballgame.

It is preferable to get sample bags of food if possible - some dogs and cats will immediately back off the new food, others will love it but it won't agree with their systems (of course that is not their fault!).

The only way to know is too ask if they accept returns within a certain time period, or better if they have sample bags that you can try (it helps re samples if you will be buying your pup's food from the sample giving bags store in future). Be sure to ask if across one brand of food - I mention Fromm Four Star only because that is what we fed our Spitz for over 16 years - is if you can substitute one "flavour" for another within the same brand. You could with Fromm Four Star (mostly) but not with some other brands. And without adding pumpkin or some other digestive treatment to the mix.

Perhaps look for a Cockapoo specific board and ask/read what the parents are feeding their dogs. I did this for our dog and it was very helpful.

And, perhaps I am wrong about you being the OP regarding number of feedings per day - I think that if it was you, you said that you were feeding 3 times a day instead of 2. I probably in your case would have gone with 4 smaller meals. Our dog ate constantly and he was most definitely not "free fed". How we kept his weight under control is a mystery to me and he did not have a hyper thyroid.

But remember, it is all about a quality food that your dog will eat, emphasis on the "your" dog.

Blanche123 wrote: ↑ Cockapoos can have sensitive tummies (my friend had one). It is very possible that your pup does not handle Arcana and/or too much protein in his diet. If it were not for the unfortunate results of the Arcana food, I would have suggested a ratio of 25/75 for a few days, and then 50/50, but in your case it was a wise decision.

There are allergies of course and then there is pancreatitis which is a whole different ballgame.

It is preferable to get sample bags of food if possible - some dogs and cats will immediately back off the new food, others will love it but it won't agree with their systems (of course that is not their fault!).

The only way to know is too ask if they accept returns within a certain time period, or better if they have sample bags that you can try (it helps re samples if you will be buying your pup's food from the sample giving bags store in future). Be sure to ask if across one brand of food - I mention Fromm Four Star only because that is what we fed our Spitz for over 16 years - is if you can substitute one "flavour" for another within the same brand. You could with Fromm Four Star (mostly) but not with some other brands. And without adding pumpkin or some other digestive treatment to the mix.

Perhaps look for a Cockapoo specific board and ask/read what the parents are feeding their dogs. I did this for our dog and it was very helpful.

And, perhaps I am wrong about you being the OP regarding number of feedings per day - I think that if it was you, you said that you were feeding 3 times a day instead of 2. I probably in your case would have gone with 4 smaller meals. Our dog ate constantly and he was most definitely not "free fed". How we kept his weight under control is a mystery to me and he did not have a hyper thyroid.

But remember, it is all about a quality food that your dog will eat, emphasis on the "your" dog.

I am feeding him 3 times a day. I can change it to 4 if you think it will have an impact.

His litter mates are eating orijen which has even more protein then Acana.

I'll restart the transition once he's back to having fully solid stools again

PerformingAzura - The fact that your pup's litter mates are eating orijen which has more protein than Acana kibble unfortunately does not mean that your pup can handle the extra protein. There is a reason that some people/dogs/cats are more sensitive to some products/foods than others. Look at me, I am an allergy waiting to happen and it drives me nuts that so many skin care/cosmetic lines continue to use the offending ingredients - or worse jump on the bandwagon.

There there is food. My husband can eat anything and I am severely restricted yet I don't have anything major wrong with me - it just makes life difficult.

Our dog could eat and would eat anything, whether edible or not - but his breed of dog had a real issue with corn - not that his food had any corn in it, but bottom line is he couldn't tolerate it without the need for a digestive enzyme in the hopes that it would help with the resulting diarrhea.

I remember being in a pet store and seeing the same breed of dog as ours being wheeled about in a cart with 5 different family members. The also had 6 different digestive enzymes in their cart and a bag of dog kibble that had a giant ear of corn on it. Unfortunately, none of the family spoke any English but you can do a lot with your hands - and a picture of the same breed of dog as theirs. I pointed to the ear of corn on the package and gave it a thumbs down and then spoke to the clerk who was "helping" them - she did not know anything about food. But the family got the message and put back the offending food. I saw them later - I only bought one thing at this particular pet store - everything else came from our groomer - and when I saw them they managed to convey that their dog was doing much better. Their dog like ours was also a major Hoover.

For my friend, multiple smaller meals helped so it is worth a try. Perhaps if the issue continues whenever your next vet appointment is maybe mention it to him/her (no doubt over the phone the way things are going and the way things currently are in Ontario and will continue to be for heaven only knows how long). Your vet should not push you to buy one of their carried brands of food - actually our vet was fully on board with us continuing to feed our dog Fromm Four Star. But if your pet has a health issue such as crystals, stones, diabetes, kidney disease etc. trying out the prescription food is recommended.

At any rate now is not the time to change vets unless you check and know for a fact that new patients are being accepted. In Toronto some animal clinics are not taking any new patients period. But I don't know where you are located, so things could be different as in better.