We probably will not purchase Halo’s again

Lately there have been so many disturbing comments about Halo’s such as they are sending customers expired products(ie treats),have switched up the recipe without notifying buyers,dogs and cats not being able to digest can/dry food and having diarrhea,smells different, makes me really wonder if we can continue to buy it…Right now I am having Lacey finish up the last 6-8 cups of Halo’s.One brand we are looking to transition to is Taste of the Wild as one of her main brands then Blue Buffalo Wilderness & Earthborn for long term use.

Out of all the foods she’s been on as an adult she’s been on Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural the longest since December 2009.I am always looking for new foods for her to try to add in her rotation over the years.

Balancing grains & grain free feedings

Most people know that Lacey has started recently on Blue Buffalo & in the past we’ve had issues with grain heavy food.We’ve looked at Blue Buffalo for certain choices of food that she may be able to eat but when we got to PetCo we didn’t see what we were looking for so we picked up the Blue Buffalo Small Breed.Although I knew it did have some grains I picked one up because we drove all the way to Pearl City so we should pick up something so it’s not a “waste of time/gas”.I was going to do this several different ways with her dry food not to mention we’re trying to get her on mostly very low grains to grain free can food too.
The first way I was going to do this was switch out the brands/flavors every time she ate but I thought if I did it this way we couldn’t focus on the new brands…Later I was going to do exclusively BB & TOTW…But..I was talking to my mom and it seemed she was concerned about the amount of grains in the BB,however energy & bowels are also very good on it…One thing I remembered with grain free is as long as she doesn’t regurgitate the food we’re good with grain free so really it doesn’t matter when or what brand of grain free I introduce we’re good.She started grain free(Earthborn back in December 2009 & we’ve had no issues).The way I decided to go with my mom’s concern in mind was to do the usual amount(1/8-3/8 daily)and make 80-85% of her dry food very low grains & grain free with about 15% being moderate grains.Not to mention she will have can food available at lunch/dinner,also low grains-grain free.Out of 21 meals of dry food times 4 weeks=84 meals/month..more on another post.. a week only 3 would be BB.The other 18 meals would be Halo’s,TOTW,Earthborn…If we do good on this rotation with very little(3 meals per week of BB Small Breed) and no health issues we can choose from many types of BB..Her food would go something like this BB,Halo’s Wild Salmon,Halo’s Wholesome Chicken,TOTW,S&C Freeze Dried Chicken,Earthborn,Merricks then
Halo’s Wild Salmon,Halo’s Wholesome Chicken,TOTW,S&C Freeze Dried Chicken,Earthborn,Blue Buffalo.

AND I couldn’t give the BB Small Breed to the neighbor’s dog because on the BB small breed bag it says for dogs up to 30 pounds so Lacey would have to finish the bag

Lacey accepts Blue Buffalo……

We got Lace Blue Buffalo on Sunday.We were looking for certain ones of the Blue Buffalo but couldn’t find it so we picked up the Blue Buffalo Small Breed.The ingredient list was very similiar to Wellness so I am wondering what her reaction will be on it…She didn’t take it by hand but within two days she took it from the floor & in her bottle.She hasn’t had any can or dry food since Monday night so when she took it from her bottle I took up her other bottles so she can get used to Blue Buffalo…I was very surprised to see her eat it & I gave her tremendous praise for taking just a bite was a big start for her!Later she took some from the floor after I cleared up her Taste of the wild dry food which I replaced with Blue Buffalo..She even ate the Life Source Bits…the ones that are vital to her health!!Now instead of giving her different bottles w/different brands/flavors I am going to measure it out(3/8 cup of one brand/flavor for one bottle)and once she finishes that I will give her another brand/flavor.She doesn’t have to finish it in one day but whenever she’s done she gets another 3/8 cup of another dry food.She will always get treats,can food attempts at lunch & dinner & of course limited amounts of table food.When she’s hungry she’ll eat her dry food.
In her rotation of 3/8 cups of dry food per bottle it will be consisting of these brands(one brand/flavor at a time not all in one 3/8 cup serving mixed together) Blue Buffalo Small Breed Adult,Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wild Salmon,Taste of the Wild High Prairie,Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural, & Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wholesome Chicken

We’ll see how her body reacts to it.Hoping for no regurgitation or soft bowels.Hoping medically will be no problems too but wel’ll see when her annual comes around in July.By then she’ll be on TOTW & Blue Buffalo for 3 months.Providing she does good on BB medically we’ll try another choice of BB when we go to Petco whenever another bag is needed for rotation.

A Lacey update on TOTW dry food

We are going to add TOTW to our rotation but not the Wetlands formula.It gives her soft bowels & possibly even gas.Even though it was just once that told me it all on that one.The High Prairie(Bison) she does great on it so far.She loves both flavors but can’t handle the duck.Now she gets Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wholesome Chicken,Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wild Salmon,Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural(for time being unless she can handle Blue Buffalo better & likes the flavor better) and TOTW High Prairie.Hopefully in the long run her health continues to be good even on TOTW.We’ll see in a few months how she is medically.Halo’s is great.Earthborn is good(She doesn’t show “energy” after she eats it but she does eat it though),TOTW energy is there but medically we’ll have to wait it out…

TOTW Samples review by Lacey

Nothing can describe Lacey’s reaction to TOTW except the words:AWESOME,AWESOME,AWESOME!!!!!
Lacey LOVES LOVES LOVES IT without a doubt!!!
This morning we had gotten a package from TOTW.We were waiting on it for over a week already..Last year’s response with Chicken Soup was a much quicker response but she didn’t care for it a lot..The response for Halo’s was a lot better than Chicken Soup.That was a different blog though.

When my mom brought in the box Lacey was sniffing at it already. I opened up the box to find 2 trail packages of the Wetland Formula & 2 trial packages of the High Prairie Formula.I opened up the duck formula(Wetland) and here is Lacey just begging for more…more…and more…..She took it in almost less than half a second and gulped it down in a matter of seconds..Figuring she loves duck I decided to try TOTW after hearing so many raving reviews on dogster.We can find it locally…but we are holding off on halo’s for a bit 2 see how she’ll do on totw before we put it in her rotation.once i know how she does on the totw formulas we may or may not add it to her rotation.she’ll always go back on halo’s though..

So now we don’t have to get Nature’s Best and we won’t even bother with Nature’s Variety Duck Formula.
Her diet consists of Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wholesome Chicken,Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wild Salmon,TOTW Wetlands,TOTW High Prairie,and Merricks can food a few times a year.I plan on keeping her on this combination unless ingredients change with the companies and we’ll know that when she starts to refuse the food for days at a time..

Looking back at Lacey’s first year:Health and all

Name:Lacey Princess Maltipoo Akamine
Current Weight at one year old:7.11 pounds according to vet records,7.6 according to home weight
Birth Date:March 13 2009
Born:Kailua,HI
Breed:Maltese/Toy Poodle
Mom:Poodle
Dad:Maltese
Adopted:july 17 2009
Age of adoption:16 weeks old
Found on:Kijiji.com
Price:$600
Name of Vet:Dr John Kaya
Vet Hospital:VCA Animal Hospital aka VCA University Hospital
Weight at first vet visit:4.5 pounds
Dog Food:Science Diet & IAMS,Beneful Prepared Meals till December 2009
Puppy Pad Training:9 weeks
Health Issues:Yeast infection in ear,worms,UTI,Spaying(February 2010)
First Heat:November 2009
First Treats:Nutro Dog Biscuits,Pupperoni,The Goodlife Recipe treats
First Walk:November 2009
Shortest Walk:<<<than 5 minutes
Longest Walk:62 minutes on her birthday
First Time Out: December 2009
First Thanksgiving:Thanksgiving 2009:Family Dinner
First Christmas:Christmas 2009:A new top,Waggin Train
Brands of dog food we tried:Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit,Chicken Soup for the Pet lover's Soul,Wellness Super5Mix Small Breed/Super5Mix Complete Health Chicken,Halo's Spot's Stew
Current Dry Food Brands:Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit,Halo's Spot's Stew(Wholesome Chicken & Wild Salmon flavors),Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural
Brands of Can Food we tried:Natural Balance,NV Instinct & Prairie can food,Wellness Can Food then lost interest,Halo's Spot's Stew Can Food,Merricks
Current Brands of Can Food:Merricks
First introduced to Raw(Freeze Dried):January 2010
Started accepting Freeze Dried Raw:Feburary 2010
Brands we tried:Stella & Chewy till APril 2010 then we'll be switching to Nature's variety Freeze Dried
First Freeze Dried Raw Treat:Primal Pet Turkey Liver(A birthday present)
Organic Treats she's tried:Trader Joe's,Waggin' Train,No Grainers
First Boarding Facilities we considered:Di Ventus Dog Hotel & Spa
First Boarding Facilities we looked at:The Ohana Doggie Day Care,Pets in the city
First Starts understanding people conversations:7-8 months old
First Command:SIT
Commands she knows:sit,stay,don't move,time out,sit & stay,shake paw/hand,"eat",hi5,shake your tail,down aka sit,lay down,kiss,learning roll over,"wait",inside,outside,table manners at the table
Uses Common Sense while walking:About 8-9 months old
Checks for cars like a human(right,left,right,left,center,then walk)about 10 months-1 year old
Goes outside for afternoon poop:December 2009-learned by example of aunty's dogs
Vaccinations:Distemper,Parvo,Lepto
First Carrier:casual Canine
First Crate:Pet Mate Kennel Cab
Characteristics:A definite mix of Maltese/Toy Poodle.Brains of the poodle.Looks of a maltese.eyes are poodle.Loves to play.Loves to sample food
Types of food she tried:Mexican,Italian,Japanese,Chinese
Favorite Fast Food:KFC chicken skin
Shops we shop at:Naturally Pet,Halo’s Purely for Pets,The Pet Spot,Kalihi Pet Store
Misc:Also tried Hartz Oinkies
Able to climb steps:10-11 months old
First Shampoo;Sergent’s Puppy Shampoo
Current Shampoo:Halo’s Cloud Nine Herbal Shampoo/Earthbath Shampoo
Grooming:Cardinal Pet Gold Metal Pets Unicoat Professional Spray

Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wild Salmon

Lacey has just given Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wild Salmon her maltipoo approval on how she likes the “new” food!We just got it in the mail this morning and when I took it out of the box for her to try she wouldn’t take it but when my dad tried she did eat one kibble.I tried to hand feed it to her but she wouldn’t have it.So,I did it the other way where I place her food in her bottle to introduce her to the “new” food.After I did that she ate one whole 1/8 cup of Wild Salmon!She also took a bit of it in her crate tray too!At least we know that Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wild Salmon has gotten her approval!A few more flavors if Halo’s should ever introduce you can bet that we will defiantly give it a try for Lacey!Whatever flavor it is Wholesome Chicken or Wild Salmon she will most likely eat it!Thank Goodness we found Halo’s!Now we switch up her proteins almost every meal every day.We start out with Halo’s Wholesome Chicken,then SG Just a Wee Bit (Bison)MIXED with Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural(Turkey),then we give her Halo’s Wild Salmon.Once a week she gets Merricks Can Food(any flavor)on Saturdays.Mean while,we also use Stella & Chewy as a supplement with any of her dry foods.I break up a small amount into her kibble and she will usually eat that as well.Lacey’s review on Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wild Salmon for finicky eaters…Give it a try!Your dog(if finicky) might thank you!

“When do you think the Wild Salmon will come for Lacey?”

My response was to my parents”Well,it took them a while {before they got the sample out last year back when they did samples}but it wouldn’t surprise me if it takes a few weeks.It’s coming from Florida but my guesses for the delays are they only do so many shipments per week even for samples{when they used to} & possibly they have less worker than WellPet(Wellness).But it will come eventually.They always do send it out eventually.Maybe not in a timely manner but they get it done either way so don’t be surprised if it doesn’t come this week.”

However,that is one reason we bought Lacey another 4 pound package of Wholesome chicken.Meanwhile I am also giving her SG Just a Wee Bit mixed with Earthborn which she’s doing okay eating it but as for poop unlike last year when I switched her to SG Just a wee bit she did good eating it & her poop was good,firm but since I have placed her on Halo’s & supplementing proteins(Bison)her bowels are soft.We don’t really have other options at the moment.I am looking into other kibble but again what’s on the mainland isn’t always down in HI.We may end up doing more raw but we may look at other kibbles too.

Trying Lacey back on SG Just a Wee Bit but…

she now turns her nose up at SG Just a Wee Bit & goes straight for the Halo’s!she might eat a few pieces of SG Just a Wee Bit but defiantly not to the same extent as last November-early December when I introduced her to Halo’s she’s since then not only been faithful to Halo’s but does so by turning her nose up at other dry foods besides Halo’s.Since yesterday(Friday February 26 2010)I have reintroduced her to SG Just a Wee Bit to see how she will do on it healthwise but she has eaten a few pieces–not enough to even equal 1/8 cup–sniff it,walk away then she’ll find her Halo’s and happily eat it by herself!I really don’t know what Halo’s puts in the food to make it so appealing to her but whatever it is it must be good.Otherwise she’d be turning her nose up at it by now & refusing it..Now only if Halo’s can make a few more meats such as Lamb,Beef,Turkey or Vension Dry Food using the same ingredients our house would have every dry food Halo’s has to offer providing it has the same appealing taste in every flavor.Providing the Wild Salmon has the same appealing taste as the Wholesome Chicken Lacey will eat it just as happily as she is with the Wholesome Chicken!I am trying to get her to eat a variety of proteins.Right now she has Halo’s Wholesome Chicken,SG Just a Wee Bit(Bison-providing she will eat it….)& stella & chewy’s Freeze Dried Lamb Dinner which I am happy to report is eating it two days in a row(even just a few bites makes a difference).Not sure if feeding raw is making a difference but at night she used to go to the kitchen to tell me she’s hungry but since she’s been placed on raw she’s been eating very little of the can food(during the early morning hours)and is eating more Halo’s & Stella & Chewy’s.It also seems that her fur may be slightly more fluffy.Hard to say just yet though since it’s been only about a month since she started some raw.

There is something about the Stella & Chewy’s Dandy Lamb that she likes.The Dandy Lamb she will actually eat it by herself at times but the Super Beef that we tried first was the hardest to get her to eat.But the Dandy Lamb she’ll open her mouth and gulp it or will eat it by herself providing it’s broken into smaller pieces for her.

Picking up more Halo’s Dry Food on Saturday & stopping all of the Wellness can food including treats

Tomorrow(Saturday) we will be going down to Kahala to get Lacey some more of the Halo’s dry food(Wholesome Chicken & -a new flavor for her Wild Salmon).We won’t be purchasing the Wellness can food anymore or the treats because it seems that she has lost interest in eating the Wellness products.She eats it she’s hungry enough but seems Merricks can food excites her more.So we will be sticking with Merrick can food & try a few other brands to see what else she likes.We might pick up some freeze dried raw for her.Right now her Stella & Chewy’s has beets inside it & if possible I want to stay away from foods with beet,beet pulp in it due to tear stains.I know Primal Pets Raw is beet free but I’d like to stick to freeze dried since we can’t predict when she will eat it.Once she starts eating it more on a daily basis willingly we may consider frozen raw food for her but till then we’re going to stick with freeze dried raw.