lrbb Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Hello everyone, I am new to this forum. We adopted our first retired racer four days ago. He is 63/64 lbs but his racing weight was 71lbs. His coat is awful, lots of bald patches and he has lots of dandruff too poor guy. He's been eating Pro Plan Performance 4 cups a day which I have been giving him. But I want to get him on Acana. I chose the chicken to as closely match the Pro Plan. So when is it safe to transition him? I was going to wait two weeks but would it be okay to add say a 1/4 cup of Acana? I have a huge bag of pro plan as they only sold it in this size so I'm planning on doing a very slow transition. But is it okay to start now or should I wait? I don't want to upset his tummy. Thanks, lrbb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walliered Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 My Greyhound is allergic to chicken and has IBD. The Galgos eat Canadee (spelling?) But, when I have had to switch their food I would just ease into it..1/4 cup for a few days..1/2 cup for a few days..then all of their meal with the new food. I use salmon oil in my dogs food everyday and they have beautiful coats. Just got a Galgo about a week ago and his hair is already coming around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoutsmom Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 You can start changing over at any time. What's his poop like? The big D or nice and bouncy? The big D is very common when a dog goes to a new home due to stress. You can try to wait for his system to calm down or just go ahead and have it calm down on the new food. I am not familiar with the brand of food you are planning to use. Be aware that greys sometimes have problems with some of the high-end foods. They sound wonderful, but can be just too rich for our grey's delicate tummies. I ended up feeding my pups Iams green bag. Not fancy but I get solid bouncy poops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrbb Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 Thank you Walliered and Scoutsmom, I have just added salmon oil to my shopping list. Acana is a step down from Orijen which is pretty rich and what we fed our coonhounds on though it took some getting used to. I went for Acana this time as it is not quite as rich. I only got a small bag to test it out. His poops are medium sized and kind bouncy but sometimes a little slippery but not diarrhea. So I think it might be worth a try now then. He needs to put on a little weight as you can see every single rib, every spinal vertebrae and his hip bones are very prominent. But we are taking it slow as the treats are giving him extra too right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliemac Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 lrbb ... when you get enough posts, we want to see pictures! Welcome to the Greyhound cult, and to Greytalk!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walliered Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Right now I am using Alaska Naturals Salmon Oil..I bought it on line. Usually I use Grizzly Salmon Oil, but there must be a problem because it is out of production until some time much later in the year…But, Alaska Salmon Oil is made and sourced in the USA and that is good enough for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrbb Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 lrbb ... when you get enough posts, we want to see pictures! Welcome to the Greyhound cult, and to Greytalk!! Thank you so much. Yes I will keep working on the posts so I can show you our boy. This is a great place Right now I am using Alaska Naturals Salmon Oil..I bought it on line. Usually I use Grizzly Salmon Oil, but there must be a problem because it is out of production until some time much later in the year…But, Alaska Salmon Oil is made and sourced in the USA and that is good enough for me. Thank you, I will check out our local store, I thought I saw some there in the health section. Much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobesmom Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Hi! Welcome! If you have a big bag of food that he's used to - why not use it up? I wouldn't change food too quickly - even if he has loose stools. Loose stools (the Big D) is a common stress reaction. It often happens when a dog changes homes and may have nothing to do with his food. Honestly, I'd wait a couple weeks, then start introducing the new food. You CAN change now - but why throw an unknown factor in the mix? The first couple weeks are messy - physically and emotionally. Keep it as stable as possible - in all aspects. It's completely normal for new greys to look really rough. It's actually not necessarily an indication of their physical health. Lots of dogs look "rough" at first. Coarse hair, bald patches, etc. But are perfectly healthy. And - it's early spring - a lot of dogs "blow coat" between Feb and April and look absolutely aweful. If it were me - I'd stick to the food he's used to for 2 weeks. Then start to transition gradually to the new stuff. And brushing is great for the coat - and great bonding time. Keep it SIMPLE the first few weeks. As few changes as possible. There are already so many. GOOD LUCK !! HAVE FUN!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Hi irbb Hope you and your retired racer have many happy years ahead. This is such a great place to learn about, well everything to do with these very special dogs. Your question interested me a lot, as I am currently in the middle of transitioning my boy Ned to Orijen seniors . He is with me many years, and we are currently one week down, and heading in to 50/50 ration of old food to new food. The first few days with only small bits there was a bit of runny tummy, but over all its been fine. However, imho opinion i would consider sobesmom, as being particularly wise in the advise above.. There so much going on already in the settling in process. Food means so much dogs, and it probably is a great comfort to them while going thru all the new home changes. From my transition to Orijen, I & Ned, are trying to get our heads around the reduced amount of food on offer. Its a big difference on our transition. You mention he's on four cups of his current food. When he's on acana ,will it be the same or less in amount. Same as above, good luck, have fun and wishing you and your greyhound many many happy healthy years ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrbb Posted March 9, 2017 Author Share Posted March 9, 2017 Thank you everyone, very helpful. We started on the salmon oil and already I can see his coat improve a bit. We started on Acana just 1/4cup per day mixed in with his ProPlan and so far his poop,is looking firmer and bouncier so it does seem to suit him. According to Pro Plan he should be on 3 1/3 cups per day. His racing weight was 71lbs but he came to us at 63 and the adoption agency had him on 4 cups..... so this is going to be tricky to work out because he needs to put on weight ( every bone is showing) so I have been giving him 4 cups ( including the 1/4 cup of Acana) plus treats etc and I think he is slowly gaining it back but I will only know when he goes on the scale next week. But Acana suggests for a 66lb dog between 2-3 1/4 cups per day and 2 2/3 - 4 for an 88lb dog. So I was thinking of trying him on 3 - 3/14 cups per day of pure Acana when he has finished Pro Plan. Until then, keep mixing the Acana in slowly and gradually reducing the Pro Plan and overall amount, mixing with green beans once he has put on weight to bulk it up a little ( he loves his food!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lauralyzer Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 Hello everyone, I am new to this forum. We adopted our first retired racer four days ago. He is 63/64 lbs but his racing weight was 71lbs. His coat is awful, lots of bald patches and he has lots of dandruff too poor guy. He's been eating Pro Plan Performance 4 cups a day which I have been giving him. But I want to get him on Acana. I chose the chicken to as closely match the Pro Plan. So when is it safe to transition him? I was going to wait two weeks but would it be okay to add say a 1/4 cup of Acana? I have a huge bag of pro plan as they only sold it in this size so I'm planning on doing a very slow transition. But is it okay to start now or should I wait? I don't want to upset his tummy. Thanks, lrbb lrbb, I think we adopted from the same organization! We also got our dog just two weeks ago and he is on the same food currently. (Oh, and his coat isn't great either!) Like you, we could only find an enormous bag of the Pro Plan locally, so we're feeding that until we run out. At four cups a day it won't take too much longer! We're switching to the President's Choice dog food, so we'll start adding that when our Pro Plan is about 3/4 gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrbb Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 lrbb, I think we adopted from the same organization! We also got our dog just two weeks ago and he is on the same food currently. (Oh, and his coat isn't great either!) Like you, we could only find an enormous bag of the Pro Plan locally, so we're feeding that until we run out. At four cups a day it won't take too much longer! We're switching to the President's Choice dog food, so we'll start adding that when our Pro Plan is about 3/4 gone. Did you adopt Powzner? He was a handsome boy ! Hope all is going well with him. Is he needing to put weight on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.