canidae and ear infections

[lblax]

i've been feeding canidae for 18 months and for most of that time our boy has had ear problems shaking of the head and such but nothing the vet can actually see. so 3 or 4 days of cleaning usually clears it up also he has bouts of licking his paws till they have raw spots.. some freinds of mine switched there gsd to canidae and all 4 of them came down with ear infections that they couldnt get rid of. when they switched foods back the infections went away!!!! has anyone else had this problem. i tried switching to innova once and he had a severe reaction in his eyes the matted shut and he almost looked like he was blind... so i thought i might try flint river ranch has anyone had any allergy probs with this food???

[Bruce Lanthier]

I can't speak for Flint River but I use Wellness and my dogs do very well with that. You may just have to give a product, any product, a try for a couple of months and see what happens. I would also suggest that is an ingredient in Canidae that affects your dog and, although it may be difficult to determine which one is the problem, once you determine which ingredient is the problem then it won't matter to much which high quality dog food you use.

[mmgy]

I can't imagine 4 different dogs having the same reaction to any food! But the best way to find out is with a different food. One would be California Natural Lamb and Rice (the lamb is pretty far down in the Canidae, so it's not usually the culprit), or to try something completely different, like Azmira Beef. Many people on this list like Flint River, but it would not be my first choice when determining food allergies due to the wheat content.

Two of my six did not tolerate Innova, we believe one due to dairy, and one just because there's so much stuff in it. I do like Innova though.

M2

[Troy]

I've fed Innova for several years nows and my boy has done wonderfully on it. Before Innova he had ear infections, but when switched to Innova they completely disappeared. You may want to try a food with as few ingredients as possible. California Natural may be a good alternative.