Dog being sick on Millie's Wolfheart

[Canshopwillshop]

After reading so many good reviews of Millie's, I decided to switch my lab from Wainwrights grain free to Millies countryside mix. Her poos were enormous and quite frequent on Wainwrights hence the change. However, although she happily eats the new food, she has been sick quite a few times since going on it. I did introduce it fairly quickly (over 2 days) as I had nearly run out of her old food but the Millie's website said it's normally fine to do this.

She's been on it just over a week now and was sick again this morning. I shelled out £40 on a big bag as I knew there wouldn't be a problem with her eating it (she eats anything!) but I wasn't expecting it to make her sick. She is perfectly fine otherwise so I'm confident that there is nothing else causing the sickness.

I'm not sure whether to persevere or not? Any advice?

Well I wouldn't go on feeding my dog something that's making her vomit.

Obviously the Wainwrights wasn't ideal if it's making her poo a lot but having said that, I'd be inclined to go back onto the Wainwrights for now just to let her stomach settle or try her on some chicken and rice for a few day to see if that settles her and then look round for something else.

I'd also take a great deal longer to change her food. I'm currently doing this myself with my dog and it tells you on the food I'm changing to to allow a week to introduce the new food.

I'm not as brave as you, my dog's very picky, so I bought the smallest bag I could find. £40 is a lot to waste if dog doesn't like it. Perhaps try to get her stomach settled and then introduce it more slowly, see if that works.

Millies is the fashionable food at the moment - it still has dodgy ingredients in it so have no concerns about changing from it.

Can give the Millies customer helpline a call tomorrow, they are really helpful and if its not the right food for your dog they will advise you to stop feeding it.

Are you feeding too much? Millies is higher protein than Wainwrights so you feed much less. Our 33kg lab get much less than the recommended quantity on the bag to maintain his weight.

Cheerful I wasn't aware I was feeding a "fashionable" dog food, found Millies through allaboutdogfood 2 years ago after trying another couple of foods first (not sure if they were fashionable either, but the smell definitely wasnt) and it suits my dog. Interested in hearing what ingredients you consider dodgy and what dry dog food you would recommend instead?

Sweet potato, tapioca, chick pea, pea fibre, tomato pomance (which has no nutritonal value at all) are just a few dodgy ingredients or ingredients that are just fillers and can not be digested by dogs. The need to have to add vitamins due to the cooking process killing off any in the original food is also a major issue. I would not recommend any dry food.

I reckon in a few years noone will be feeding or manufacturing kibble.

Dog food goes through phases. 10 years ago James wellbeloved and Burns were popular, then Orijen, Cangan and Millies for the last few years.

Thanks all.

Pigs - yes, makes sense to go back and re-introduce slowly but I'm also wondering if it's because she's guzzling it down too quickly.

Weallhave - I will give Millie's a call tomorrow.

Cheerful - thanks but it sounds like you are advocating a raw diet and I'm not going to go down that route.

When I think of all the dogs I've had or known over the years who were fed on the likes of Pedigree Chum and Winalot and lived to ripe old ages, I sometimes think I over analyse the whole situation!

Millie's is a very good dog food. A lot of people advocate raw feeding these days, it's become very fashionable, but obviously for a lot of people with busy lives and small children in the house it's not practical. Millie's is perfectly alright but like any food some dogs love it and some dogs don't. You might have to just try a few before you settle on one.

Cheerful, foods like Millie's are newer foods, their selling point is they are grain free, higher quality, and better cooking methods to retain more goodness, improvements on their predecessors not just dismissed as fashionable. It's a good thing dry dog food is improving as not everyone can feed raw.

But obviously you are an idealist and cannot see beyond raw so no point being involved in a discussion on dry dog food.

Thanks Sexlube - yes, I think it could be the problem as she's not being sick after every meal. It tends to be mornings when she's starving and just inhales it! Think I might invest in one of those.
Thanks Msadorable - I'm going to take on board some of the advice I've had and carry on with Millie's a bit longer. I don't want to swop and change too much and she clearly likes it.

I am not an idealist.

However I hate the way that kibble is being sold and the general public are being conned.

Why are Millies saying that there food is grain free, higher quality and cooked using better methods? Because the general public believe that they are buying a healthier food for their dog, they are prepared to pay more but the food is not necessarily better for their dog.

Kibble production kills off most of the nutrients from the original food, so if it is healthy to start with it will not be at the end of production - Millies production does exactly the same (hence the need to add vitamins and minerals)

Gluten and grain are removed from some "higher end" kibble as it is not digested by dogs (and the general public have latched on that this is not healthy for the dogs) but then they add similar fillers eg sweet potato starch, pea fibre , chick peas and tomato pomace.

This is also undigestable by dogs so not any better than leaving in rice or beet pulp. It is just added to bulk up the kibble and bind it together. You can see it is not digested by the amount of poos a kibble feed dog will produce. If you added water to the kibble you gave you dog and watch it swell you can see how it fills dogs up. You can also see how little of it they digest as the quantity pooed out is pretty much the same as you put in.

What you feed your dogs is no matter to me. I am not evangelical about raw feeding (although ready prepared raw is as easy to feed as kibble) but be aware that processed kibble is not the best way to feed your dogs whatever or however much you pay for your kibble.

Dogs will survive on scraps and dogs will survive on kibble, that is what dogs do but don't be conned by the "healthy" kibble clams or forced to pay ridiculous money for poor quality food.

I would definitely also try a slow feeder. My dog was sick once after his morning food and I knew it was because he had eaten it so fast (he's a lab) and would literally take about 5 seconds. The slow feeder that has been linked to is the one I got and we haven't had a problem since. It still only takes him about 45 - 60seconds for him to eat but he hasn't been sick since we got it. It's also much better to avoid any risk of bloat if your dog is a breed susceptible to that.

Agree Canshop, I think we do overthink what we feed our dogs.

My DD's DP has a rottie that has been fed on the cheapest kibble and scraps all his life. He's 10/11 years old now (rotties live on average about 8 years, or so I'm told) He's slim, with clear eyes, never needs to go to the vet, except for routine things and is still bouncing around with his soft toys.

Poos aren't very pleasant though.

Oh no, what dodgy ingredients?? Im just about to buy some????? Tell me quickly, please..... xx

Any advice on Canagan???????

Millie's comes out very well on allaboutdogfood.co.uk and my dog loves it and their treats and snacks are great.

Doh! Didn't see that it was an old thread.

Never mind, what's the current thinking on cold pressed kibble. My pup has naturediet in the morning and Gentle cold pressed kibble in the evening and her poo is small in quantity and firm. She also has raw bones a couple of times a week and sardines in a kong once a week. She is looking good, very happy and also has air dried treats most evenings.