# Orijen too rich; need suggestions



## oliversmom (Jan 18, 2008)

After a month's-long roller-coaster ride of Orijen, nightime diarrhea, banning and reintroducing and banning rawhide, eliminating Orijen, boiled chicken & rice and then slowly reintroducing Orijen, I've concluded that my 6-mth-old pup simply can't tolerate Orijen. He's been doing great for the past couple weeks on chicken, rice, egg, and yoghurt and then 1/2 cup/day of Orijen (after he stabilized) but as soon as I increased to 2/3 cup (day before yesterday), his poops immediately went to pudding. 

I'm thinking the Orijen is simply too rich for him (or maybe it's the high protein...) and am now looking for suggestions from others who've been through this. What food did you find that worked for your sensitive pup?

Thanks!


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## bowie (Apr 26, 2010)

Are you sure you're not feeding too much? You could try Acana, which is also made by Champion. It has lower protein levels.


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## Kayla_Nicole (Dec 19, 2012)

I had to switch off of Orijen also and Fromm's grain free varieties have worked exceptionally well and I would recommend them. Protein percentage ranges around 30%-32%, they are good for all life stages, and have a low ash content. The food is prepared in small batches in one family-owned facility.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

Orijen does have very high protein (38-40%) that not all dogs can handle, it seems. I second the Acana suggesion; if its a protein issue, the protein levels in Acana vary from 25% (LID) up to 32% (Regionals). 

I was going to check those numbers, but apparently the Acana website has been blocked at work...


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## oliversmom (Jan 18, 2008)

Re. feeding too much. That's why we stopped the Orijen to begin with and got him stabilized on rice/chicken and then tried him back on it. He did very well on the 1/2 cup introduced in. Only when I increased to 2/3 of a cup (while decreasing his boiled chicken amount) did his stool get soft. Surely 2/3 of a cup per day is not too much???? I really think he just can't tolerate it and can see from surfing the net that he's not the only one... Re. Fromm's: thanks, Kayla_Nicole! I'll check it out.


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## bowie (Apr 26, 2010)

How much does he weigh? And yes, not all foods work for all dogs.


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## oliversmom (Jan 18, 2008)

He weighs 27 pounds. I used this - http://www.goldendoodles.com/care/food_calculator.htm - to settle on two cups for him, which is much less than what the back of the bag said (hence, we were likely overfeeding before) so have been aiming to get up to two cups...


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

Orijen is often too rich for dogs, and pups... I second Fromm. Great brand, great food. Acana if you want to stick with the same company but less protein/fat/etc and less ingredients. I think Orijen just has way too many different protein sources etc.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

How long was he on 1/2 cup? Some dogs need more time to adjust than others - he might need a week+at each step to fully adjust... But, you're right, it's also possible he just might not be able to tolerate it.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

I would call 2 cups for 27lbs WAY too much. Gem gets hours of hard exercise every day weighs 40lbs and eats 2 cups orijen a day! my dads dog gets average exercise, weighs about 35lbs and eats 3/4c of a high protein grain free a DAY.


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

I agree, 2 cups a day for a 27lb dog is probably too high. Casper is 18lbs and walks for 1-2 hours every day, and he eats around 2/3 cup of Acana per day.

Orijen was too much protein for Cas (he doesn't tend to drink a lot of water and got a UTI), so we switched to Acana, and he's been great.


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## oliversmom (Jan 18, 2008)

He was on the 1/2 cup plus chicken, egg, rice and yoghurt for six days and then 2/3 cup for two days (started day before yesterday and pretty quickly developed bad breath, gas, and today the soft poops...). I guess I could try going back down to the 1/2 cup, still combined with rice, chicken, yoghurt, and see if that helps. What do you guys think? Is there still hope that he could adapt to it? 

I'm trying so hard b'c I live in Northern Manitoba and the choices of high-quality food are slim up here.


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## oliversmom (Jan 18, 2008)

Maybe with everything combined - the chicken, rice, etc. - he only needs 1/2 cup/day??? He gets average exercise, I'd say. But would he just get that 1/2 cup once we stop with the rice/chicken too??? He's pretty skinny - can both see and feel his ribs - so we are hoping to put a bit of weight on him.....


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

If he's not doing well on it, there's no reason to keep trying to feed it -- there are a lot of quality foods that aren't as rich. Could you try Acana? It's by the same company and uses quality ingredients. It shouldn't be about feeding "the best" just to feed the best, you know? Choose what works the best for your specific dog.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

oliversmom said:


> He was on the 1/2 cup plus chicken, egg, rice and yoghurt for six days and then 2/3 cup for two days (started day before yesterday and pretty quickly developed bad breath, gas, and today the soft poops...). I guess I could try going back down to the 1/2 cup, still combined with rice, chicken, yoghurt, and see if that helps. What do you guys think? Is there still hope that he could adapt to it?
> 
> I'm trying so hard b'c I live in Northern Manitoba and the choices of high-quality food are slim up here.


How much and what kind of yoghurt is he getting? Snowball (30lbs) gets soft-serve if he gets more than about 1/2 tbsp/day. Maybe combined with the orijen its just too much richness, depending on if its fat-free, low-fat, greek-style, etc.... or just too much food in general? 

Hope you get it figured out soon though... Or, have you considered feeding raw?


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## bowie (Apr 26, 2010)

Sounds like Orijen just may not be the food for your dog. Give Acana a try.


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## oliversmom (Jan 18, 2008)

Actually, Crantastic, I just noticed what you said about water and our guy doesn't drink enough water either.... Maybe all these signs are just pointing to us needing to switch foods


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## oliversmom (Jan 18, 2008)

Gingerkid: Come to think of it, I think I did give him a more generous TBSP of yoghurt this morning. It is low fat but still.... And we're training (or trying to..., so I've been giving him kibble bits as incentive (although more-or-less adding that in to the final measurement).... Maybe it's just too much.... Argh. A light dinner of chicken and rice for him tonight... & I'll see what else I can find up here. Has anyone tried Wellness Simple? My last dog did great on Wellness but got bored with it after a few years.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

Its _usually _not the fat in yogurt, but the lactose (but I figured fat in the yogurt might contribute to overall richness with the orijen, especially if it were high-protein greek yogurt). Most dogs are somewhat lactose intolerant, although it varies. Snowball does pretty well with cheese (which naturally has less lactose than yogurt because of how it's made), but just a little bit too much yogurt and the results are.... not so good. On the other hand, if we give him just a small amount of yogurt his poop is extra super great. Its really a balancing act.

If you can get Acana you might want to try that instead. You could switch right away and keep whatever orijen you have as special training treats (if he really likes it). Mixed in with other treats, and used only occasionally, should avoid the richness issue, mostly.

I've never fed Wellness. I checked out some of the ingredients, etc. online. To be honest, I'd prefer to feed a kibble with more meat ingredients in the top 5, but it seems decent; especially the grain-free options. The grain-inclusive varieties got 3 stars on DogFoodAdvisor; the grain-free ones 4-stars. If it's readily available in your area, might as well give it a try.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Two cups is WAY too much for a 27 lbs dog!! I was feeding 1 1/4 cups to my 45 lbs foster dog. Your dog would definitely get diarrhea from Orijen if you were feeding that much. Orijen is higher in protein, and generally more concentrated in nutrients, which is why it's so easy to overdo it and cause diarrhea. I would say cut back by a lot, and see how your dog does. If it still isn't working, then I would suggest Acana (grain free line).


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## TorachiKatashi (Sep 29, 2010)

My older guy had a problem with Blue Buffalo being too rich; I switched him to Canidae and he's been doing well on it.


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## NicoleIsStoked (Aug 31, 2012)

My vote is for acana chicken and Burbank potato. Good quality. Not nearly as rich.


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## oliversmom (Jan 18, 2008)

Just to conclude this - we switched his food and he's been doing fine ever since. Using Orijen for training treats, which he's done well with, also.


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## KBBar (Feb 29, 2020)

oliversmom said:


> After a month's-long roller-coaster ride of Orijen, nightime diarrhea, banning and reintroducing and banning rawhide, eliminating Orijen, boiled chicken & rice and then slowly reintroducing Orijen, I've concluded that my 6-mth-old pup simply can't tolerate Orijen. He's been doing great for the past couple weeks on chicken, rice, egg, and yoghurt and then 1/2 cup/day of Orijen (after he stabilized) but as soon as I increased to 2/3 cup (day before yesterday), his poops immediately went to pudding.
> 
> I'm thinking the Orijen is simply too rich for him (or maybe it's the high protein...) and am now looking for suggestions from others who've been through this. What food did you find that worked for your sensitive pup?
> 
> Thanks!


I had the exact same issue with Orijen every time I would introduce it to my puppy. He would get over his bouts of diarrhea and then I would slowly introduce less than a 1/4 cup and each time he would go back to having diarrhea. I finally realized it was the dog food. He was on blue diamond but I’m not sure that’s the best dog food but it definitely doesn’t upset his tummy.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

Seven-year-old thread.


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