Hi can any1 help my 18week old pup is in the process of changing food from naturediet to wafcol puppy we are in the first two days of the change over and she has had five poos today and when on nd it was 2 to 3 at most is this just the gradual changing over or not as i thought dry food meant less poos

Hi happygirlie it might just be the change over, give it a couple more days and see what she's like then.

Warm regards Susan

why are you changing from Nature Diet (a v nutritious, excellent dog food) to Wafcol (which is, imo a load of rubbish, additives, undigestible grains - can go into details if you want them). 

The reason your dog will poo more on Wafcol is that it can't digest most of it - it's a well known fact that dogs on poor commercial diets poo more frequently than dogs fed BARF, Burns, Nature Diet or James Wellbeloved (to name a few 'good' dog foods).  Dry food doesn't mean fewer poos if the quality of the food is bad.  I once had a dog which came to me being fed Pedigree - when I switched to Nature Diet the amount of poo was a fraction that produced on Pedigree.

If you want to feed something cheaper than Nature Diet and something dry, try either Burns or James Wellbeloved, both good nutritious foods - the dry equivalent to Nature Diet: www.burns-pet-nutrition.co.uk/    or http://www.wellbeloved.co.uk/

If you are doing the change over gradually eg:half and half it should be ok .
Sometimes giving a little too much food can cause them to poo a lot.
lessen the amount and see how it goes.

Well i dont know how i can be a rubbish food its hypoallergenic ect and infact a tad more expensive than jwb each dog is different she has been on jwb which caused terrible bloat and wind so there is one of the foods you recommended out the window plus there are lots of people on here whom have recommended wafcol as a good food for bad skin in dogs

Lots of foods are called 'hypoallergenic' but it in fact means very little and is just an advertising term.  Far better to look at the ingredients - which don't seem to be available on the wafcol website.  Call me a cynic but I wouldn't feed my dog something if I didn't know what was in it.

On the same subject, the cost of food also has little to do with the quality of it generally.  Some of the worst foods, imo, are also the most expensive. 

Not all foods will suit all dogs, so having found that JWB didn't suit you, doesn't really say anything...

Do you not read the packs then ingredients are on them and it doesnt look bad and full of rubbish at all

I do read the ingredients on the packs, but I don't feed wafcol, so I have no packs of it to read....  But perhaps you'd be kind enough to type up the ingredients list here and then we can all have an objective discussion about them and not a subjective one based on no evidence....??  Unless of course you have reason to doubt the ingredients, in which case just make up some reason why you can't post them here...

You just stated not all foods suit all dogs so therefore why are you saying Wafcol is rubbish. Like you say all dogs are different

Wouldn't rely to heavily on that statement as "onetwothree" doesn't appear to have researched the food you're using ;)  If you're happy with it and many *ingredient conscious* owners in multi-dog households are - then go with it.   If your pup looks and feels well on it when you've made a gradual transition from your current diet then that's all the proof you need.

Regards, Teri :)

Yes, not all foods suit all dogs.  However, there are to date 7 varieties of ND, 9 varieties of Burns and 4 varieties of JWB.  Even just looking at the puppy foods each of these make, ND make 1 food, Burns have 2 foods suitable for puppies, while JWB have a flavour in each variety, so they have 4 varieties.  Personally, I would try all of these foods before others.  All dogs ARE different, however surely there's enough variety in this lot to suit almost any dog?

Oh and the reason for the change is the yeast content in nd also apparently carrots are full of sugar so i was told as she keeps getting skin problems due to a test from the vet yeast is the trigger

I didn't know there was yeast added in ND? it doesn't say there is?

I didnt realise carrots were full of sugar either, should I avoid them if im dieting then

Its only what i was told i dont know to be honest i didnt think there was but i am a gullable person so i will take waht a vet says about the yeast but the sugar was a friend of mine

Do what you feel is best. If you like ND then let her stay on it, if you want to change then change. As long as it suits your pocket and your dog thats all that matters!

I also didn't know there was yeast in nd - it's not listed in the ingredients.  If I were you, I'd call ND and ask them about this, and also speak to the vet again and explain it's not in the ingredients.

Carrots are not 'full of sugar' any more than any other vegetable or fruit are.  Dogs (and people) need fruit and veg - there is also sugar in apples, bananas, tomatoes, pears - in fact, in all fruit and a lot of veg.  It is not unrefined sugar, though, or artificial sugar - it is naturally occuring fructose and so a much healthier form of sugar than the kind you buy in bags in the shop.  Carrots also contain a lot of vitamin C and D and they provide fibre....

The yeast reason, if proven true, might be a reason to change but the sugar/carrot reason is a no-go imo.

Hi onetwothree,

>Wafcol (which is, imo a load of rubbish, additives, undigestible grains - can go into details if you want them)

Personally I've used Wafcol's Salmon & Potato diet for an extended period to avoid artificial additives and undigestible garbage and found it an excellent food - it has substantially less ingredients than JWB and of course has NO cereal or grains.  They do have other diets of course but then so also do most manufacturers - except haven't noticed many offering a grain free diet yet ;)

While both JWB and Burns are very good foods in their own right, none of mine had firm motions on JWB and when I trialled Burns they turned into stick insects on it so like any dog or any food there's no guarantee - the OP will simply have to make a decision based on information made available and then having chosen a food see how well the dog's condition is when on it for a few weeks.   Regards, Teri :) 

hmmm, maybe you can tell me the ingredients Teri?  I'm prepared to eat my hat, if I can find it, but it doesn't bode well that they won't list the ingredients on their website...

Well go dig out your hat and either head off to Pets-at-home and read what it says on the bag (I don't store my foods in bags but in air tight food bins) or contact Wafcol by email or phone - ask not only their full ingredients on the variety in question but if you can speak to their resident nutritionist - she's a busy lady but always happy to call back if you leave your number ;)

>>Wafcol (which is, imo a load of rubbish, additives, undigestible grains - can go into details if you want them)

Unlike JWB, the diet we're discussing has no rice, oats or barley in it - think they're still classed as grains and cereals but perhaps that's not part of the details you wanted to go into ...... :rolleyes:

If I want to learn about any foods I research them thoroughly to satisfy myself to the quality of ingredients, ensure they are free of artificial colourings, flavourings and preservatives and are free of known allergen such as unnecessary fillers, undigestible cereals/grains, that they are glutton free (from all sources) and also free of dairy.

Do your own research with Wafcol - get it straight from the horse's mouth as I have done with ND, Burns, JWB, Arden Grange, Wafcol & Nutro plus many more.  All good foods in their own right but none perfect for all dogs to thrive equally on just one.  I wanted a grain, dairy, gluten and artificial additives free diet,  so that ruled out all of the above with the exception of Wafcol Salmon & Potato.

They have recently begun revamping their website since they launched their new packaging a couple of months back - all the ingredients were listed previously on their site and no doubt will be added by their webmaster in course.

If you have had reason to investigate the quality of foods on the market you should not dismiss this one.  It's at the better end of the scale - on a par for quality with Burns as to minimum ingredients and high in Omega 3 & 6 but of course Burns base their diet on rice, and has less ingredients and of course no multi-grains such as in JWB.     

Well my nearest PAH is 45 mins away and I'm not going to drive there to check out the ingredients on their Wafcol packets... 

However, I've just found, online a list of ingredients and I'm now eating my hat.  It's pretty chewy and I'll sue you guys if I get sick.

The ingredients are: (small-medium dogs)

Salmon (32%), Potato (16%), Potato Starch, Lupin, Linseed, Rapeseed Oil, Seaweed Meal, Vitamins & Minerals

(large and giant)

Salmon (29%), Potato (20%), Potato Starch, Lupin, Linseed, Rapeseed Oil, Seaweed Meal, Vitamins & Minerals

I don't know why I had the impression Wafcol was rubbish - except once I did get some of their treats and I remember I wasn't very impressed with the ingredients - however those were the treats and not the everyday food....

Wafcol do the Salmon and Potato food in All life stages not just a straight Salmon and Potato if you look at their website there is puppy salmon and potato.
To state a food is rubbish should you not have already studied its ingredients ?
Otherwise you may find you are misinformed

Edited to add we must have typed at the same time glad you found the information you were looking for
:D

Hope your hat tasted nice (lol) :)

Oh!  Quite a different reply and tone from the one which came through in the email notofication - but I'm glad you found the ingredients list anyway.

Regards, Teri  ;)

Yes, I edited that one because I went off and found the ingredients list and realised I was wrong!

But hey, give me some credit, I came back here and said I was wrong and will eat my hat - not everyone would do that!

>But hey, give me some credit, I came back here and said I was wrong and will eat my hat - not everyone would do that! 

Abolutely!  fair play to you ;) 

Not sure about the other food but Nature Diet is a low output food which produces less poo than other foods as dogs digest all contents and the poo itself is normally smaller. The new food that you are changing to may not be a low output food which may account for the increase. Hope this helps a little.

Im sure you have your reasons for changing food but can I ask what they are? Sorry just being nosy!!

Don't forget also that different breeds definitely have different toilet habits and this is FACT! We have consistently found that Dalmations can eat most foods with little problems and they rarely have loose poos.Setters need care with feeding as they are inclined to poo a lot and will turn loose easily, and some Setters cannot take anti biotics.Spaniels we found only poo about twice a day but they are prone to some colitis problems and Gardia infections,they also cannot change diet rapidly.Bichon Frise have great digestion just like the Dalmations, and although fussy eaters,they can switch food round without "dropping" a loose poo :~) Staffordshire terriers are pretty good but tend to be greedy eaters and this can cause loose poos.They all get probiotic live yoghurt,some like it some do not.

To finish off we only feed our dogs fresh meat FIT for human consumption.We also feed Folds plain terrier wholemeal biscuit,also some Pro Plan complete if they fancy a nibble through the day.We have tried Burns and Pedigree complete but found it to be poor and the dogs hated it.One brand we always used to use was Vitalin,it is a very good food.

Hi happygirlie,

It sounds as though you may be trying to make the transition a little too quickly ;)  Pups when having a drastic change to their diet should have the new food very gradually increased and the original food decreased over a period of 10-14 days.   If I were changing my pup for eg. (particularly from a moist to dry diet) I would over the first few days just be offering the dry kibble as treats and tit-bits and then start to add a very small amount to each meal.

HTH, regards Teri

Thanks Teri very helpful

Carrots and Banana's are full of sugar banana's have a very very high sugar content, potassium the best ingredient in them. Plus all fruit and veg have different levels of sugar in them they are not all the same.

Warm regards Susan

Hi,

Any improvement yet with the diet change?  regards, Teri :)

No not really still the same thanks for enquiring though