# Dog no longer liking Acana Regionals



## Midnight351 (Nov 26, 2008)

Hi all,
I have a senior shepherd mix who has been on acana pacifica for the last few years. He has done great on it and his coat is awesome with no signs of dandruff that he used to have. He's black so the dandruff really showed up when he had it. Anyways he gets his acana mixed with some canned and his supplements twice a day. He also gets a half a previcox in the morning so has to eat his breakfast as the previcox needs to be given with food.
Well he used to love the acana and would eat it without any canned as I used to only feed canned at dinner. Now he doesn't even eat it well with the canned He licks the canned off the kibble and leaves a majority of the kibble. I will coax him to eat and get him to eat most of it especially in the morning. In the evening he will eat but again leave kibble licked of the canned and I end up throwing it out. He does need to lose about 5 pounds, but this isn't the way I wanted to do it! He will eat his treats which are very few, and he begs at dinner, so there is nothing wrong with him(we just had bloods done and he is perfect) He has gone off certain brands before like this and it is frustrating. I did buy a bag of the acana grasslands for a change but he still is picky. I did have him on Innova adult for years but he started getting diarrhea with the last few bags of that back in 2010 so that is when I did the great food search and came upon Acana.
I am willing to switch to a different brand but acana and orijen were the cream of the crop or so I thought. I did read they did a formula change and maybe that is when he started not liking it.
If I do look for a new food, I want it to be grain free, about 32-38% protein and about 15-18% fat. I want it to be on the equivelent standard of acana and orijen. I pay about $40 for a 15 pound bag so I am willing to do that price point, though cheaper is fine as long as it is a good food.
I don't want cheap fillers and want several protein sources ahead of the binder aka potato. When I did do my search when switching from Innova I tried Merricks foods which gave him a bad coat, and Fromms which gave him bad diarrhea.
My main thing is sticking with a high quality grain free from a reputable company. I am willing to try Innova EVO or Prime as long as natura is still a decent company, part of the reason we switched from Innova was the loose stools coinciding with the P&G buyout. I personally love the quality and philosophy of Champion foods, but if my dog doesn't want to eat it or enjoy it, then it isn't going to work out.


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## shellbeme (Sep 9, 2010)

There are very few companies I trust anymore, I do like Acana and Orijen, but my favorite is Fromm. I don't know the fat levels on Fromm four star but I think on their grain free the protien only goes up to about 30%. We have tried nutri source too, since I've heard good things about it, but my dogs were not crazy about it. I heard all kinds of talk about Acana changing their formula's a bit to include more pea something-I'm not sure if it was pea flour or what, does anyone know if that has already been implimented? I'm wondering if that might be the issue.

It's such a pain sometimes you want to feed them right but you want them to enjoy it too.


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## zhaor (Jul 2, 2009)

....why not just feed orijen?

I've personally always thought Acana was a bit overpriced so I never paid much attention to it. A quick look at their web site shows "red lentils" and "field beans" on the ingredient list which I think is new. Both are fairly high in vegetable protein (>25% I think) so if that was part of the change, there is probably less meat in Acana now.


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## Midnight351 (Nov 26, 2008)

Yea it is the field beans and lentils added. I think that is when when he started being less enthusiastic about it too. Orijen isn't out of the running, but it is about 15 dollars more than acana, and if they do they same thing to orijen, he probably still won't like it. I did try fromms in the past, but he had bad diarrhea on it that never cleared till we took him off it.
I'm so mad right now at champion petfoods, as I felt I finally found a company I could trust, and then they go adding cheaper filler ingredients to their food. It is looking more and more like every other grain free on the market. I figure if I can find a good brand of dry, thatis a decent base, with a flavor he likes, I can increase protein content a bit as I do add grain free canned meats and such. Just very frustrating that they messed with a good thing. Now I hear there are going to be shortages because an oven broke and they are going to be decreasing certain lines for a bit. Very annoying


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## shellbeme (Sep 9, 2010)

Midnight351 said:


> Yea it is the field beans and lentils added. I think that is when when he started being less enthusiastic about it too. Orijen isn't out of the running, but it is about 15 dollars more than acana, and if they do they same thing to orijen, he probably still won't like it. I did try fromms in the past, but he had bad diarrhea on it that never cleared till we took him off it.
> I'm so mad right now at champion petfoods, as I felt I finally found a company I could trust, and then they go adding cheaper filler ingredients to their food. It is looking more and more like every other grain free on the market. I figure if I can find a good brand of dry, thatis a decent base, with a flavor he likes, I can increase protein content a bit as I do add grain free canned meats and such. Just very frustrating that they messed with a good thing. Now I hear there are going to be shortages because an oven broke and they are going to be decreasing certain lines for a bit. Very annoying


It is sad, I'm seeing many others switching to something else because they feel the same way.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

I was kind of irked with Champion because of the changes too. Their plant is also somewhat down right now, so who knows how they're going to keep up, or what shortcuts they might take, etc. Just feeling a bit uneasy about them as of late. 

A lot of times dogs are smarter than we think! I heard of a lot of dogs who just stopped eating foods right before they're recalled... etc. Who knows. But I've heard of it happening a lot.


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## Midnight351 (Nov 26, 2008)

Yea I was thinking maybe he knows something I don't. I am keeping a close eye on him though. No vomiting or diarrhea. Not acting sick in the least. He actually ate pretty well today with only a small amount of canned added. The food smells fresh though and I keep it in an airtight container. I only get a 15 pound bag so that it doesn't go bad before he finishes it. I also just found out about the oven issue and apparently the foods that they are downsizing production on happen to be all varieties of the regionals line, plus a few of the orijen lines too. I was also looking at threads from a few years ago that had ingredient listings of things like acana Pacifica. Man it looked so much better! Lots of meat at the top of the list. The ingredients look better than alot of brands nowadays but not as good as in the past. Just kinda sad that they seem to be going the typical shortcut route Like a lot of the others.


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## duperch (Mar 18, 2013)

Hello,

I have been experiencing problems with my dog who is eating Acana and had no habit of being sick. In the past week he has been vomiting tiny amounts, and does not seem happy with his food anymore. Has anyone else experienced this? I am considering switching foods, but I don't know where to turn. Any suggestions? (I have a Golden Retriever and a Bernese).


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

duperch said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have been experiencing problems with my dog who is eating Acana and had no habit of being sick. In the past week he has been vomiting tiny amounts, and does not seem happy with his food anymore. Has anyone else experienced this? I am considering switching foods, but I don't know where to turn. Any suggestions? (I have a Golden Retriever and a Bernese).


When does he vomit? And what does the vomit look like? Do you keep your food in an air tight container? It might not be the food causing it.


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## duperch (Mar 18, 2013)

taquitos said:


> When does he vomit? And what does the vomit look like? Do you keep your food in an air tight container? It might not be the food causing it.



Well I don't think that the container matters much anymore. My Golden has just been admitted at the vets for Renal Failure. We are waiting to see how severe it is.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Oh no  I'm so sorry to hear that. Hopefully he will make a quick recovery!


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## pugface (Mar 21, 2013)

The plant had a kitchen fire and production came to a complete hault. All that was delivered out is what they had already in stock. Anything else, nope. Only recently have stores been able to get in full orders.


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## pugface (Mar 21, 2013)

I would also like to add, if your dog has been on the same formula forever, eventually it's going to grow tired of it. 
Dogs can also develop allergies to proteins if on for an extensive period of time - vomiting can be a symptom. That's why it's recommended to alernate between formulas (if it's possible) so things don't happen. 

Have you heard of or tried Taste of the Wild?


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## georgiapeach (Mar 17, 2012)

Have you tried Wellness Core Reduced Fat? I've had very good success with a very obese foster I used to have using this food. She inhaled it!


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