I just have some questions regarding kibble. I know that most everyone here feeds raw, however I tried that and my girl did not do well on it. I have a female GSD that just turned a year old and a male that is 17 weeks. We feed them Innova Large Breed puppy. They seem to do ok on this food, however my girl sometimes gets an upset stomach. I was looking at changing their food and just wanted to see if anyone could help. I have been looking at Orijen Large Breed Puppy. The two differ quite a bit, for instance, Innova has 26.00% protein, 0.9% calcium, and 48% carbohydrates. Where Orijen has 42% protein, 1.5%min calcium, 1.7%max. calcium, and 20% carbohydrates. I am a little concerned about the calcium in the Orijen and the Carbohydrates in the Innova. Just wanted to see if I could get a different opion.

"Didn't do well" and "upset stomach."

What does each one mean, specifically?

Weight loss and diarrhea? Or dry coat and vomiting? Or what?

"Seem to do OK" but "gets upset stomach" doesn't sound OK to me.

We need more details.

Also, you are feeding a one-year-old puppy food?

What I mean by did not do so well on the raw was that she started vomiting, and she gets soft stools with the Innova every once is a while. Her coat is a little dull right now but she is shedding. Her weight is at 71 lbs. and she does not look heavy at all. We still feed her the puppy food because with Innova it says to feed them until 2 year old. I won't feed her it that long though. We had her to the vet last weekend for her shots and had them do an exam, they drew blood and everything came back normal. We have had some changes in the past couple of weeks, we had to put our 14-1/2 year old GSD down and they were really close. I know that this could be a factor this week, but this is not the first time. The vet suggested that the Innova might be what is causing the upset. I have read alot on the internet about protein, calcuim, and fat. One thing you read says that the protein should be around 26 to 30% and the next thing you read says that the more the better, and the calcium all seem to suggest the same the max should be at 1.2%. Just trying to do the right thing for her and driving everyone crazy in the meantime.

I think you're living proof that there is no single "THE" right thing when it comes to feeding dogs. (But I know what you mean--you want to do what's best for her, and are trying to figure out what that is.)

Dogs are individuals just like people, and they come with their own biological quirks. Based on what I hear from others, it isn't at all unusual for people to go through several brands and varieties of kibbles to find one that works best for their dog. Nobody can tell you which brand will work for your dog. But as a general rule of thumb I don't think puppies, especially large breed puppies should be eating "puppy food" for nearly as long as the bag says.

Stomach upset, soft stools and a dull hair coat are all signs that the current food isn't optimal. But you won't know until you try something different whether or not it will improve things. But It's no different with those of us who feed raw. We feed, then watch the dog to see what happens.

The big difference with raw is that one can more gradually introduce new foods, and have a better idea of what particular food might be causing issues. With a kibble made of dozens of ingredients, if there is something in the food that's causing problems, you'll have to do some extra deducing to figure out what it is. (I'm not proselytizing for raw---there are many high-quality kibbles out there that millions of dogs thrive on. Everybody's got to choose for themselves.)

Changing foods can itself cause digestion issues--so you'll want to gradually make whatever switch you decide upon.

If its between the two kibbles, I prefer the Orijen over Innova.

Have you thought about the Honest Kitchen? Might be a good solution since the raw didn't work out.