Eagle Pack - Which Formula?

[Idealconcepts]

I am a noob to the site, but have been reading topics from this site for about a month now. This is my first dog, but my girlfriend and her son have had dogs before, Rotts, German Shepard, and some others, so they have experience with dogs specifically the size our Rott will potentially reach. Carly will be 5 months old this Saturday and she is approximately 45lbs. We purchased her from a register breeder, and will be receiving the papers once we have her spayed, which will occur tomorrow. I’ve learned a lot from this site with just the reading and a good example of this was only going through one bag of Eukanuba, before switching to Eagle Pack. Carly was raised with Nutro from the breeder, and we transitioned her to Eukanuba, and now she has gone through a bag of the Eagle Pack Large and Giant Puppy Formula. She is starting on her second bag of the Eagle Pack Large and Giant Puppy Formula but wanted to get feed back from the guys and girls on here with the idea of transitioning her to Holistic Select Chicken Meal & Rice Formula (for adult dogs and puppies) once we finish the EP Large and Giant Puppy formula. My reasoning for this is reading the sites on here about many people not feeding Puppy Formulas and also the comment of the owner of the mom and pop store I buy Eagle Pack from. His comment was the EP Large and Giant Puppy formula is not as “good” as the other products EP has available. So what are your thoughts about transitioning my 5 month puppy from EP Large and Giant Puppy Formula to EP Holistic Select Chicken Meal & Rice Formula (for Adult dogs and puppies)? Thanks in advance for your comments.

[brunie's mom]

I think it is a good idea.
I have also found most of the Large Breed Puppyformulas, lacking in good ingredients. Seems there is an awful lot of grains and very little meat.
The Eagle Pack Holistic formulas are good...but around here the food costs even more then Innova or Canidae.

See how she does on the Eagle Pack, and take it from there.
Oh..yeah..welcome to the forums.

Gina

[spidey]

The Holistic formula is the only EP product I'd even consider. I don't think much of the EP line in general, frankly, but the Holistic one is a decent food (mind you, my dog flat-out refused to eat it, and he's not normally a picky eater).

[angel girl]

I swear by the Fish and Oatmeal formula. Best food I have ever fed my dogs. No doggie odor, no doggie breath, no nasty farts, always eager for dinner.

BUT...
What works depends on the dog.

Neither of my dogs LIKE the chicken formula (probably from eating chicken based foods for most of their lives). They'll eat it, but they will pick at it and daudle around with it.
Neither of my dogs can eat the lamb formula. Digestive system can't tolerate it, resulting in horrid breath, vomiting and diahhrea.
My Tzu likes the duck formula. Haven't noticed any change in her, but she has only been getting a small amount for about two weeks. My BCXGSD tried it. She had the same amount as the Tzu. She now STINKS. Her fur stinks, her breath stinks, her ears stink. She is just nasty and there haven't been any other changes in diet or environment (she hasn't even gotten to roll around in my minnows [fish bait] for several months). So she isn't getting anymore. We're finishing off the bag with the Tzu and not getting another one.

[boombamax]

I think it's a good idea to switch. The feed store I go to didn't like the Large Breed Formula either. She said she would recommend the EP Chicken or the Original Formula for puppies. But my pups have the most sensitive stomachs in the world, I think. They can't have chicken or corn. So they're on EP Lamb Meal & Rice and my female pup is doing VERY well on it but my male isn't. They also get like 10 kibbles each meal of the Fish and Oatmeal for a little boost on their coats.

[Idealconcepts]

Thanks everyone for your comments and the welcome to the board. Once this bag of EP Large and Giant Puppy Formula is done I'll switch her over to the EP Chicken and Rice.

Now I have two follow up questions:
1. Approximately how long or at what age or weight should I keep feeding her the EP Chicken and Rice? (Since it is for adults/puppies and I am thinking I would like to try the other EP Holistic Formulas )
2. Now switching between the EP Holistic Formulas, say from Chicken and Rice to the Duck or Fish, would you guys and girls recommend transitioning her to the new food? (what I mean by this is mixing her old food with the new food and gradually reducing the old food and increasing the new food amount – but since EP is what from what I understand a fairly good product and I have read switching between the higher end dog foods their isn’t really a problem with most dogs)

Thanks again.

[boombamax]

I would still feed her EP Chicken as long as she is good on it. I am very cautious with my dogs since they have sensitive stomachs, so I would recommend transitioning slowly with the new food. And it's just my opinion. My male pup didn't do well with EP Lamb and now he is on California Natural Lamb. I have switched like 6 different brands of food in the last 5 months and finally found EP Lamb for my female pup. I hope california natural is it for my male pup. I am sorry that I went off the topic. :)

[Idealconcepts]

Thank you Boombamax