Changing to a new food

Question
I have a female-English-Cocker-Spaniel. She is 7 month old. I have been feeding her, first with Halo for puppies, and recently changed to Halo for adult dogs following the vet. recommendation.
I decided on using this food with my puppy based on the natural ingredients and holistic approach. She is a healthy and active puppy and I do not really had any concerns until now. The last three packages of food that I have bought have been evidently rotten with the worse smell ever. The first two sacks, I was able to exchange for new ones. But the third one that I recently bought, came with the same terrible smell. I checked many other sacks available and all of them had the same smell. I have been very careful with what I feed my dog and I do not want to put her health at risk. So I think that it is time to start her in a new product.
It is very confusing when trying to decide for a new food and I would like to have your advice on this regard.
Please let me know if you need any more detailed information. Thanks a lot for your help!

Answer
Hi,
Everything you have written to me is/are the reason(s)I stopped using all commercial dog food two years ago!! I don't care how 'high end' the product is touted to be, they all are loaded with synthetics, chemicals (that are disguised as healthy vitamins or other things), "natural" (sure) preservatives etc. Commercial dog foods simply are not the way to go in my humble opinion. That bad smell you are finding is disgusting and I don't even know why you went back a second, let alone a third time, with this food. However, we all live and learn, THAT I KNOW.

You have no idea how old that food was WHEN IT REACHED THE STORE...could have been sitting on a truck somewhere in the hot sun for months or longer, could be food from diseased or disabled animals etc.--you just don't EVER kno when you buy off the shelf in a pet store. Mass produced dog food is a very dangerous thing to feed our dogs. I've had my go-round with bad food too and then I scurried to a nutritionist and have been feeding my dogs home steamed meats and organic veggies and have been supplementing their diets (I have three small dogs--2 Yorkies and a Shih-tzu) as close to organic meats as I can find (expensive),with probiotics, dig. enzymes and nutrients from a wonderful company in Oregon. All of their products are loaded with blue green algae which means they are getting all the vits and minerals they would need etc. and you wouldn't have to worry about  home "cooking" not being complete.

I am afraid that by you using this commercial dog food that you are setting your dog up for allergies and other digestive problems. I had two dogs that were so sick when I rescued them that I was beside myself. I was feeding them what I thought was the best food on the market and guess what? It made their digestive systems go wild. You won't see this right away, esp.in a strong and vibrant seven MONTH old dog but later on, you might start to see problems and then the round of vets and antibiotics begin. This is what happened to me.

Luckily, I found this wonderful woman who though not certified in the field of nutrition IS an expert. She herself is alive today because of her research etc. and her love of animals knows no bounds. Once I was in touch with her, my dogs were on their way to wellness...FINALLY. i WILL glady provide her email address for you OR you can write me privately and I will give you more info and send you many things to read. But Donia is a gem, a diamond if you will and many people are thrilled with her dedication and knowledge when it comes to their pets. let me know if you are interested in contacting her.

Otherwise, please consider raw or home cooking (I could never bring myself to go raw)and also consider feeding organically. Your dog will thrive and you will never have to worry. Write to me and I will provide more info if you like.  My name is Sue Behlmar and my email is:
DazzlinDaawg@aol.com. Please I.d. yourself in the subject line so I don't delete you because I don't recognize the screen name.

Stop that food immediately. If you must use commercial food then at least go organic and frozen. There are several products out there that are stamped and approved and frozen and raw. The best on the market is PRIMAL--they are medallions like Nature's Variety (I stopped using NV because of the horrible bones in their medallions)and if you don't want to feed raw, you can LIGHTLY STEAM them. But you have to add pulverized veggies and supplements. This is what I was doing for the last year or so but now I simply buy organic meats and lightly steam them.

I hope this helped. Let me know and don't hesitate to email me. If you want Donia's address let me know, Sue