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Canidae Pet Foods

A statement from Canidae:

September 2008
We apologize to all who have voiced their concerns with our new formulation. Canidae distributed letters to retailers, breeders, updated packaging, and provided in-store signage, however it appears that this message did not reach all of our customers.

The new formulation, with increased levels of meat protein, lowered carbohydrates, and an increased overall complex carbohydrate quality, provides the most nutritious, all natural, palatable products. Canidae never uses soy, corn, wheat, by-products, grain fractions, or fillers in our food.

If you believe your pet has experienced challenges related to the new formula we suggest feeding smaller portions multiple times a day. Adding warm water can decrease the chance of pets eating too quickly and not chewing thoroughly. It’s not unusual for pets to experience some digestive issues when transitioning, but if your problems persist, contact your veterinarian to rule out any underlying health concerns. For more tips, visit canidae.com/transitioningfromorig.html.

Due to increased commodity costs, we’ve changed our packaging sizes, reducing the overall weight by approximately 3-5 pounds per bag. The new sizes are more consistent with other brands and allow for easier handling.

We are committed to bringing quality products to pet owners and in June that commitment led us to Diamond’s manufacturing facility. Diamond facilities have rigorous quality control processes, utilizing a 141-point ingredient test protocol. All products are subject to a 10-point final product safety review and Canidae has also implemented hourly testing to confirm quality and product safety in our onsite laboratory. All Canidae products meet or exceed AAFCO nutrient profiles in USDA and FDA approved facilities.

At Canidae, we are committed to providing you and your pets the highest standard of excellence for product quality, palatability, and customer satisfaction. Please call 800-398-1600 or visit www.canidae.com to let us know what we can do to serve you better.

Canidae
Scott Whipple and John Gordon
Owners
PO Box 3610
San Luis Obispo, CA 93403

Debbie of Oregon City, OR October 16, 2008

Debbie of Oregon City OR (10/16/08)
I had heard through pet forums that Canidae was the food to feed. I had a new pup and wanted to give her the very best I could afford. After much research, Canidae was the food I selected. After I started her on the old recipie, I adopted two more dogs. So all in all I have 3 Newfoundland's and my boyfriend also has three Newfoundland's. I got him turned on to Canidae so we would be feeding all our dogs the same thing.

Our dogs were doing so well on the old Canidae, that he told two co-workers about it and they decided to try it for their dogs. And so by word of mouth alone, Canidae was sweeping our area.

Then the switcheroo with no heads up. Which I find offensive that Canidae didn't even bother to put on their bag New and Improved Recipie! Unless they new it was not an improvement. And they switched manufactuers, raised the price and lower the size of the bags! Were they hoping we wouldn't notice?

My extremely well house broken dogs began to have accidents in the house with loose stools and a weeks worth of belly troubles. I had no idea what was going on...and decided to ride it out and if things got worse...I would have to take them to the vet. From reading other complaints, I consider myself lucky. At least I had no vomit to deal with along with the loose stools. Then one dog began constantly scratching, her ears, her belly and chewing on her legs and feet. I now realize this too is because of the new Canidae recipie. She didn't have this problem prior to their change.

My boyfriend took his older dog into the vet because of her chewing and losing hair to find out she now has an allergy. We assume to the new recipie because like my girl, she did not have this problem before. Her skin is waxy and she has lost almost all of the hair on her belly.

When I contacted Canidae personally by phone and by email..both times I was told some dogs would have a little trouble with the new recipie but VERY few. That they have hundreds of very happy customers and sales have only gone up since the changes. And basically it's not their food, but more my dogs. However, I just spent the entire afternoon researching foods driving around to four different natural pet food store and none Canidae for sale any more.

They all said the complaints were across the board.

All I can say though is my dogs MUST have caught on about the switcheroo before I did, because slowly, they stopped eating it. Now one of my dogs wont eat it at all. Which is fine because we are switching foods today.

Jordan of Signal Hill, CA October 14, 2008

Jordan of Signal Hill CA (10/14/08)
after canidae switched their formula both of my dogs that were on it began throwing up violently, 4 to 5 times a day. there was no notice on my bag of food that anything had changed. ive spent hundreds at the vet all because of an irresponsible company that cares more about their bottom line then the dogs they feed. i would love to see something done about this to protect anyone else that is feeding their dogs canide.

Mary of Neenah, WI October 14, 2008

Mary of Neenah WI (10/14/08)
Our two Dobermans also experienced the diarrhea and foul-smellling gas with the new formula in Canidae All Stages dog food. We gave it over a month for our dogs to acclimate to the new Canidae as our distributor suggested, but I finally wised up and checked the Internet to see if others were having problems like ours.

After 2 courses of antibiotics with little relief, I found this website. We switched cold turkey to Natural Balance Salmon and Sweet Potatoes, and the results were immediate. I strongly suggest that we all contact the FDA as another person previously suggested on this website. (check the FDA website for the Consumer Complaints Coordinator in your region) And take the unused dog food back to your distributor if you still have the bag. The product is guaranteed. Don't let them get away with this. This should be a class action law suit.

Caryn of Yakima, WA October 9, 2008

Caryn of Yakima WA (10/09/08)
I am a havanese dog breeder. We have used Canidae dog food for nearly 8 years and were very happy and all my puppy buyers use this because i recomended that they use it. When buying a new bag of Canidae dog food i could tell it looked different. I went ahead and fed it to them and all of my dogs puked and had severe runny stools. One of my dogs couldn't even move she was so sick. Then i had at least 25 calls of past puppy buyers telling me there dogs were throwing up and had runny stools.

When we bought the bag of dog food it didn't list any changes on it and I called Canidae and they said that was up to the store i purchased the food at. I just flipped. If you can only imagine the clean up i had with al my long coated dogs. Also it made there coats blow out. I am so unhappy about how Canidae has treated there long and trusted customers. The lady i spoke to on the phome at Canidae was not very bright she told me it would take about 2-3 months before they would acclimate to the new food. My dogs would have been dead if i wouldn't had taken them right off the food.

My consequences are stress to all of my past puppy buyers having sick dogs. Also mental stress of hoping this didn't permanently hurt my dogs for breeding. I wish this could go on tv and warn people of Canidae dog food before there dogs die.

John of Oakland, NE October 8, 2008

John of Oakland NE (10/08/08)
This new canidae formula is garbage!! I had been feeding my weimaraner Canidae ALS for 2 years with no problems at all. I decided to start trying other foods for him the last couple months because i have no retailers near me who sell canidae so i have to order it off the net and just wanted something more conveinent.

Well after 6 months or so of trying out other dog foods i really wasnt satisfied with any of them, so i went back and placed an order for canidae als not even knowing they changed the formula until two days after i placed the order. It wasnt marked anywhere on the website i order from that the formula had been changed. Not that that would have stopped me from ordering it again, i read all the bad reviews for this new formula and just kinda figured everyones dogs where having these reactions becuase their dogs are not used to a change in dog foods.

Well i had my dog on about 5 different types of dog food these last 6 months with absolutely no problems making the transition between them. Thats not the case with this Canidae.  Im on the second day of feeding this to him and he has now got yellow runny poop, and some horrible gas. This is the last time i feed him canidae dog food.

Oh yeah, i followed the directions canidae gave on transitioning your dog to this new formula and it didnt make one bit of difference!!

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