Ok I know this has be discussed before. But here it goes. I started one of my Labs on Canidae last week. I am tired of fighting his ear problem. I bougth 2 bags of the Lamb & Rice and 2 of the Chicken & Rice. I mixed them together in the bin. Everyone is different...how long until I start seeing some results? I really believe that his ear has started to clear up after a week. I was out on another forum & some people didn't like this food & some did. I also mixed in a bag of the senior with my senior Pro Plan for my old Cocker...he of course has 1 bad ear!!

I switched to Canidae a couple of months ago to see if it would help the funky ears I had here. I have had mixed success, 2 dogs have great ears now and coats look fine and 2 others (13 yr old and her 9 yr old daughter) had better ears but coats looked really bad. I switched those two to another highly rated food on the dog food analysis website. I've been feeding them Merricks Wilderness Blend for just over a month and coats have improved on both, ears are even better and the 9 yr old that I have battled lick granulomas on her leg appears to have quit gnawing on herself.

Canidae has a money back guarantee and maybe you shouldn't have mixed the foods or discarded the bags in case the food didn't work for you. I've had both of my dogs (not related) on Canidae for a week and unfortunately I will have to return the food. They really love it but are having skin issues on it.

Skin issues after a week? Hmm. Hot spots or what? It seems like my dog's ear has gotten better. As for coat, right now all the Labs are blowing so bad! This dog has always had a fairly decent coat though. I had heard that you need to feed at least 2-3 bags before you would see any changes. Again I think the ear is better. The reason I mixed was flavor. Yeah...I am one of those, mix chicken, beef and lamb every once in awhile.

My dogs are constantly scratching on Canidae, it started almost immediately. They are on Frontline and the pollen report for my area has been down during this time so their new food is the probable cause.

Typically it takes AT LEAST a bag of food to see how your dog is responding to that food.

I give any dietary or suppliment change at least 3-6 months.

"Typically it takes AT LEAST a bag of food to see how your dog is responding to that food"

Not with allergies, the response can be almost immediate. The scratching went from mild to severe over the week. If I left them on it any longer they will scratch themselves raw.

I tried it - it wasn't enough fat and protein for my guys to get skin and haircoat that I liked. I have a friend with Engies, and they do great on it. It's a good food - just didn't work for my guys. And the people at Canidae are very helpful.

I have been feeding Canidae for about 4 months now, and switched from Royal Canin. I have had less skin and ear problems than ever and the dogs do not gain weight on this food. You can feed less and still have the same energy level. I believe that it takes a while to clear up old problems. My last two litters of puppies had soft stools on the RC puppy. I switched them to Canidae and immediately they had normal stools. Some dogs are like us. We dont all do well on the same food. I would give it a chance before going to something else.

I switched my two labs Cole and Belle over to Canidae all life stages after the last food contamination debacle from Euk LB.I couldn't be any happier with the results.just my 2cents.

Debi,

I am curious why you mixed the chicken and lamb. One is typically geared to skin and the other to sensitive stomach???????

You might not be getting the results you should by mixing the two.

I also switched my lot over to Canidae. I have nothing but good things to say about the food. Well firstoff it is cost effective when you have 3 dogs to feed, and thier coats and skin are wonderful! Two of my dogs have allergies and this has really helped them with that: no more gooky ears!, and last but not least the dogs LOVE IT!

Erin,

I mixed it for taste. I doubt I mix it again. I am going to give what I have a chance before making any decision then I will go with one flavor...for now I just liked the variety for the dog. That's just me.

I do it all the time too, I try to keep the protein down some on fast growing puppies so I'll mix adult food in the puppy food to lessen the protein but still get the puppy food benefits. They look great and I don't ever have the "roll over" that you can get with straight puppy food. I like my babies to grow slowly! I see 8 week old puppies out there weighing 20 to 30 pounds!! Some of those puppy foods are just too much.

P.S. I was browsing puppy listings last night and over 1/2 of the puppies shown had the "roll over" in their front legs!

I've been feeding Canidae all life stages for quite a while and am absolutely happy with it. My dogs look great, and my puppies have grown really nicely on it.

Some dogs do better on one or the other protien source but if your dogs don't have any exsisting "issues" I would recommend the All Life Stages as the Fat to Protien ratio is middle of the road and your dogs will be gettig fish protien as well. Lamb and Rice is the lowest fat and Chicken and rice is the highest fat.

I'm a dog Groomer at a dog boarding kennel who after watching my dogs switched over to Canidae as the "kennel" food about 2.5 months ago. We have seen many dogs improve greatly from this food and Knock on wood have not had any complaints from our clients. My shop treats are Canidae Snap bisquits.

Good luck with your dogs and Canidae!

The grooming/boarding kennel where I work switched to California Natural about 3 weeks ago and the dogs seem to be doing well on it although there is a "bug" that is running through the kennel. It lasts about 24 hours with really explosive diahrrea. I don't think it is food related. We used to feed Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice until it finally made the recall list. My boss is considering switching back to Sensible Choice if and when things return to normal. I have told her about Canidae and suggested it to her before she went to the California Natural. Do you think the Canidae is a good choice both economically and nutritionally?

If you study the ingredients, fat/protein content, etc. and the cost vs. some of the other top brands it's a great choice. I get a 40 pound bag at a feedstore for $30. Also joined the breeder program and get a free bag for every 5 bags I buy.