My brother switched his 2 dashounds over to Taste Of The Wild dog food. He called me and has an issue. Now the dogs are constantly begging for food. I told him I thought it was just a ‘OMG this is awesome stuff…more!’ thing but wanted to get more opinions on it. The dogs used to eat Nutro lamb and rice. He said the TOTW was buffalo flavor.
Yep, this happened to my dog when I switched him from Orijen 6 fish to EVO red meat. He would happily eat the Orijen with no problem but the EVO drove him nuts! He started waiting by his food bowl 20 minutes before every meal.
My brother’s dog has done the same thing with the switch from EVO red meat to raw. Anytime the freezer is opened, his dog is sitting at his bowl waiting for food to be put it in.
Actually, my little foster pups both did this too. One was on TOTW and I switched to Acana and he started almost choking in his frenzy to eat the Acana Grasslands. My other pup was on Canadian Naturals and the switch to Acana Ranchlands made her MUCH more food motivated.
So, I think it could very well be the flavour making them beg. You could have your bro double check the calorie content of each food and compare so you know they’re getting the same amount of calories with the switch, too. Actually, if I’ve got the formulas right, the Nutro Lamb and Rice is 337 cals/cup and the TOTW formulas are all higher or equivalent. So if they’re getting the same calories, I’d say it’s most likely the flavour/food is more appealing!
I recently switched to TOTW too and my dogs LOVE it. I try to keep them on a schedule for their afternoon meals (there’s no way I’m feeding them at 5am in the mornings on weekends LOL) and they’ll sit around for at least 30-45 minutes prior to food time begging for their meal. I was feeding Chicken Soup before and I do think maybe there’s less calories (I haven’t checked) because I’m feeding the exact same amount and I think my bigger Lab has lost a bit of weight. I need to increase his portion.
TOTW is 3719 kcal/kg or 370 kcal/cup – which is actually more than what’s in Chicken Soup. So maybe I’ve just been feeding my Lab less food by accident 
I had a bit of the same issue with my lab when I switched from Eukanuba to TOTW. He was kind of apathetic about eating the Eukanuba, he’d eat it, but fairly un-enthusiastically and would sometimes leave a little bit behind.
Now that we’ve switched over to TOTW he is ready and begging before every meal. I actually had to work on training him to not wake me up in the morning because he wanted breakfast early 
I’m inclined to think it’s just because the food tastes so much better and that’s why the dogs are acting extra hungry.
My 50lb lab/boarder collie/sloth mix eats TOTW and I’ve never had a begging problem with her. She enjoys eating, but sometimes she doesn’t and that’s cool too, though to be honest her eating has gotten MUCH more regular once we put her on the TOTW Buffalo (she was underwhelmed by the seafood option).
It’s probably a matter of deliciousness, but if you’re seeing weight loss, I’d add a snack meal if you can. Or, add the snack for a few days and see if the behavior changes. If it does, then maybe they are hungrier sooner. And if they still beg, it’s probably a “yummy food” issue.
I’ve never known a daschund that would starve itself. Mine (all three of them)
were rollie polies.
When I switched my lab to TOTW about a year ago, I noticed he actually GRAZED when outside, ripping up and eating grass like one of my horses! I didn’t like the way he started looking on the TOTW, so I switched him back to his prior food within 4 months. The grazing instantly ceased. I didn’t have a good experience on it, but at least thought it merited a “try”.
Up the feeding quantity. TOTW has less calories her cup than many other high end brands. Your dog may simply need more per feeding.
I was really happy to find TOTW for my picky eater. I kept buying the small bags thinking he was wasn’t going to continue liking it. Well , at this point, I should have bought stock in the company.
Thanks for all the info!
One of the boys is at a great weight… the other…uhh… not so much. I seriously think he could be almost double. (well, maybe not quite that much)
There is quite a bit of discussion regarding the lack of a fully nutritious diet regarding many of the grain free foods. It certainly is the case that dogs are omnivores and in lieu of the very legitimate concern that the meats in the commercial foods (plus the dyes, various kinds of useless or toxic additives) may have driven the pendulum too far in the opposite direction. Now there is a food that is for raw food feeders that is a balance of fruits and vegetables called SOJO, very expensive dehyrated stuff. It may be that your dogs are not getting a fully balanced diet. I would switch.
I have never used TOTW, I did use EVO red meat and now am using Acana, dogs seem to be doing well but my sensitive stomach Jack Russell does seem to be grazing more than usual. He loves all kinds of veggies, so clearly he has a much greater need than my meat and potatoes gal Abby the Labby.
[QUOTE=Mali;6087082]
When I switched my lab to TOTW about a year ago, I noticed he actually GRAZED when outside, ripping up and eating grass like one of my horses! I didn’t like the way he started looking on the TOTW, so I switched him back to his prior food within 4 months. The grazing instantly ceased. I didn’t have a good experience on it, but at least thought it merited a “try”.[/QUOTE]
My Labs are huge grazers too but they have always done that regardless of which food they’re on 
Mine have also been grazers, and I’ve seen no correlation between the food they’re on and their grazing tendencies. They graze more right before mealtimes, but that’s been consistent for the four years and half a dozen brands of food they’ve been on (all high-quality kibble).
[QUOTE=onelanerode;6089062]
Mine have also been grazers, and I’ve seen no correlation between the food they’re on and their grazing tendencies. They graze more right before mealtimes, but that’s been consistent for the four years and half a dozen brands of food they’ve been on (all high-quality kibble).[/QUOTE]
I have only ever had my lab on Smartpak Livesmart Puppy formula or Smartpak Chicken & Brown Rice adult formula, with the exception of my few month trial on TOTW. My lab absolutley does not eat grass while on the Smartpak dog foods. When on TOTW, he would run out the door in the mornings and immediately head for the grass. He would eat until I yelled at him to stop, and only then would he go to pee. As soon as he was finished with his potty break, he would immediately start grazing again. It was almost non-stop and very incessant. Any time that he was outside, it was a grazing feast! Now that I’m thinking about it, I can’t even recall the last time I saw him eat a blade of grass.
[QUOTE=onelanerode;6089062]
Mine have also been grazers, and I’ve seen no correlation between the food they’re on and their grazing tendencies. They graze more right before mealtimes, but that’s been consistent for the four years and half a dozen brands of food they’ve been on (all high-quality kibble).[/QUOTE]
Perhaps every food that they have been on lack either the fiber or enzyme/probiotics needs that they have. Nutrition is a very difficult subject, and dogs/horses/cats or really, no living being, has exactly the same nutritional needs, hence the difficulty in preparing the pre prepared foods, we do the best we can and still need to tweak. If my dogs are grazing, I know there is something up with their stomach. Sometimes, no big deal, many times it certainly is as shown by either vomiting to get rid of something nasty they ate or cannot digest, or the other end having it’s evacuation style detail.
[QUOTE=Wraper2;6085672]
My brother switched his 2 dashounds over to Taste Of The Wild dog food. He called me and has an issue. Now the dogs are constantly begging for food. I told him I thought it was just a ‘OMG this is awesome stuff…more!’ thing but wanted to get more opinions on it. The dogs used to eat Nutro lamb and rice. He said the TOTW was buffalo flavor.[/QUOTE]
By the way, these are dachshunds, German spelling, although some of them are very fast I would never refer to what they do as “dash”. :lol::lol:
I have a diabetic dobie and feed her lower carb feed. I have used EVO Weight Management, Premium Edge Healthy Weight II, and she is now on Blue Buffalo Wilderness. She acted like she was starving on all of those feeds. Drove me batty especially at night, this after eating almost 3 cups of BBW for her evening meal.
I usually add a topper to their meals so I decided to try a roll of the FreshPet after having read on Dogfoodadvisor that he gives the rolls 5 stars. Hmmm, she didn’t act quite as hungry with that. I gradually increased the FP until she is getting 1/2 and 1/2 and no more begging. I can’t quite put my finger on why it is more satisfying to her, but it really does help her to feel satiated and no more pacing, barking and begging.
larger volume? the “wet” or “semi-wet” foods have water in them which tends to mean you have to feed a larger volume to get the same amount of calories as a completely dry food.
Some of the higher-end dry foods are very calorie-dense and if you feed the appropriate amount of calories to your dog, your dog isn’t going to get much volume into the stomach and may feel quite empty.
TOTW doesn’t fall into that category, though, being even less calorie-dense than most of the “mainstream” high-carb foods. You might be surprised at how much of it you have to feed- lower caloric density, plus since it’s lower in carbs than mainstream foods it doesn’t support body-fat deposition so your dog may start to lose body fat. Which may please you or not, depending on where your dog is starting from.
Some of the higher-end grain-free foods are also low in fiber, which might affect your dog’s “fullness” feeling, but at 3% TOTW isn’t.
Grazing- dogs graze when the grass tastes good, you’ll often see “seasonal” grazing when sugar-rich new growth appears. Sometimes dogs with upset stomachs will frantically graze. If a particular food seems to make your dog frantically graze, yeah, you should switch, something isn’t right. Just because a food looks good on paper doesn’t mean it’s good for your particular dog.
[QUOTE=li’l bit;6090545]
I have a diabetic dobie and feed her lower carb feed. I have used EVO Weight Management, Premium Edge Healthy Weight II, and she is now on Blue Buffalo Wilderness. She acted like she was starving on all of those feeds. Drove me batty especially at night, this after eating almost 3 cups of BBW for her evening meal.
I usually add a topper to their meals so I decided to try a roll of the FreshPet after having read on Dogfoodadvisor that he gives the rolls 5 stars. Hmmm, she didn’t act quite as hungry with that. I gradually increased the FP until she is getting 1/2 and 1/2 and no more begging. I can’t quite put my finger on why it is more satisfying to her, but it really does help her to feel satiated and no more pacing, barking and begging.[/QUOTE]
I wonder if the ‘topper’ simply has more carbs and the reaction you were seeing to the lower carb feeds was due to low blood sugars?
there’s a thought- blood sugar elevations from the carbs in the food could affect how hungry the dog feels immediately after eating, and the fat levels could affect how long the dog feels full inbetween meals.
When you look at the raw diet the dog’s body is designed to eat and compare it to a lower-carb kibble, the most striking difference is the fat level- example, when expressed at the same % moisture, raw diet is often up around 30-35% fat; EVO or other similar diet is usually only around 20% fat; a lower-quality “attempt” at being low-carb, like TOTW or Blue Buffalo Wilderness, is even lower in fat (15% or so). Diets formulated for “Performance” dogs usually aim for over 20% fat, recognizing the need the dog’s body has for fat.
Also when talking about carbs you have to consider the glycemic index (how fast the sugar is released) of the source.
I see that the main carb source in Freshpet is carrots, which is, I believe, a high-glycemic-index food = blood sugar goes up. Freshpet is also quite high in fiber for some reason, which could also affect how full the dog feels.
It’s a nice food, far better than most.
