I finally got a reply from Purina about a formula change to the ONE Lamb and Rice

Yes, they did change the formula, in December '07. That's what I figured, when I saw the different label on the bottom of the bag. It changed from "Total Nutrition" to "Lamb and Rice Formula".

Their reply to my dogs loosing weight, shedding profusely, and always hungry, was to take them to the vet and get them checked.

Isn't it strange that I changed foor and I already see an improvement, just in 8 days.

I knew they changed the packaging, but never thought, until I looked into it, they had changed the product. However, I don't think the change happened as early as they are saying. That would be over a year ago and the packaging change happened just within the last few months- around the same time the "shreds" came out. Anyway, these are the changes that happened, if anyone is interested (changes are in bold)...

Old Formula:
Lamb (natural source of glucosamine), brewers rice, oat meal, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), whole grain corn, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), non-fat yogurt, calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, animal digest, potassium chloride, caramel color, salt, choline chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, brewers dried yeast, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

New Formula:
Lamb (natural source of glucosamine), brewers rice, corn gluten meal, whole grain corn, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), oat meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), lamb meal, animal digest, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, salt, caramel color, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

(Just in case the bolding didn't work...Summary: Oatmeal went from 3rd to 5th. Corn Gluten Meal moved up from 4th to 3rd. Whole Grain Corn went from 6th to 4th. Non-Fat Yogurt and Brewers Dried Yeast were removed and Lamb Meal was added.)

IMHO, these changes could definately affect how dogs react to the food. I don't know how Purina thought that they couldn't. Not to mention, this is probably one of the reasons their product became more expensive. (Moving Corn up on the ingredients list means they're using more of it and Corn is probably at an all time high for prices. IMHO, it just provides fuel to my theory's fire that they're trying to pitch the Selects line harder. Coincidence that they recently released Chicken and Beef formulas in Selects??) I too am not happy that Purina was not more open about these changes. Although, at least they don't deny they made changes like a few other companies.

Now I'm curious as to whether there were changes made to the other formulas in the ONE line...

Good luck with the food switch, Gail!!

What did you switch to Gail?

Gregg

Right now I am feeding Exceed chicken and rice to get some weight on. They love it. I am looking for a reliable source for ONE Chicken and Rice that won't bankrupt me.

I have been feeding Purina dog foods since 1962 and it really distresses me that they are doing this to their food, to save money? Don't they realize they are loosing customers?

In the early days, I fed Purina Dog Chow when that was all that was available, and it was a good food. Look what they have done to that!

Somehow I knew this was going to happen when they were bought out by Nestles.

Right now we are buying Purina One Rice and Lamb at Sam's for right at $36 for 44 pounds. I was thinking that Sam's was going to stop carrying Exceed, am I wrong?

The subject of Sam's not carrying Exceed C&R was brought up a short time ago and I thought someone said they were not going to discontinue it. That is why I am looking for the ONE chicken and rice (not large breed).

How long have you been feeding the L&R? I have fed it for eons, and it's just the past 3 or 4 months that I have seen the dog's (all 14) condition change.

have you tried purina mills exclusive lamb and rice? when purina changed to shredded we found the purina mills....everyone loves it and the coats are great. it runs $36.00 for 35 lbs. the feed store we get it from gives us a free bag for every 6 we buy. only downside - no weight circles to redeem

We changed to Purina One in 1999 from Diamond, in 2003 we changed to Iams then Iams not only changed their Breeder Program but also their formula which we did not like the results. We went back to Purina One around 2004 and are still using it. During this time we have tried Exceed and freely switched back and forth between Pro Plan and Purina One based upon pricing.

The buyer from Sam's Club notified me personally and said that he had no plans to discontinue any of the Exceed dog foods. He also said if you are wanting any different foods to contact them (main office) and he will see what he could do to get it in the stores.

Purina Mills? Hmm. Checked the purinamills website and don't see dog food listed. Only products for typical agricultural animals.

I don't know anything specifically about this issue, but our local Walmart (Sams) discontinued the food I was buying for my cat. The manager told us it was that individual store's decision based on sales and was not a mass discontinuation of the product. Perhaps that is the same thing with the Exceed -- some stores don't sell enough to give it the shelf space and others do.

It sounds like Purina is making some really bad decisions. Why change what isn't broken especially without informing the clientele? Overall, they're going to lose breeders that fed their products and usually recommend it to their puppy clientele also.
Between the shredded formula change and now this I'm going to stay far away from Purina.

I hope your dogs gain their weight back and have better coats on the new food Gail. Thank you for taking the time to tell all of us your experiences. I'm sure you're not the only breeder having a problem with that specific food.

this is exactly what has happened to me and I ended up switching to Diamond Naturals chicken and rice, (no corn or wheat .....so far so good, the Lamb and rice formula diamond has is not as good as there chicken and rice.....hopefully they don't change it

http://www.pminutrition.com/main.html

Just curious about the pricing of the PMI Exclusive brand. What size bag and what price have you received from your local dealer?

Are you happy with the Dimond line right now i currently am using Eukanuba, but looking to change to new dog food the price is getting a little out of hand. There is just so many dog foods out there i am researching all and trying to talk with as many breeders, pet owners, vets and getting everyones opinion.

I am on my second, or maybe it is my third bag of Diamond Nat Chic/Rice and I am very please. Coats are coming in quickly on my girls. One who just had a litter. My boy is getting coat back and he has not had coat since maybe last April/May.
Stools are great.

I did some research on changing foods when PP made the shredded switch and also because my dogs coats where going to crap on the last few bags I was feeding of the old formula. Also because they just kept raising their prices and downsizing bags!
I had not realized Diamond had extended their line of Naturals so much and looked into it.
When you compare ingredients, even just the first three to five, I liked what I saw and I also liked that the bags were 40 lbs and cost me about $12 less than Pro Plan C/R and about $20 less than the Selects! Even with the breeder checks, in the long run it was not cost effective to feed ProPlan.
But even prices aside, I was not thrilled with what my dogs coats were looking like over the last few months I was feeding it.

Diamond Nat C/R: Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice

First in Selects: chicken, brown rice, corn gluten meal
Shreds: Chicken, brewers rice, whole grain wheat

Old PP formula: Chicken, Brewers rice, whole grain wheat

$36 for 35lb bag. buy 6 get one free. we are in nj