Finding the right food for 5 month old Bernese Mountain Dog

Hello!
I am brand new to this board, and am in awe of the amount of info already.

I am the proud 1st time parent of a 5 month old Bernese Mountain Dog, Tucker.  I have always dreamed of having a Berner, and am so happy Tucker is now in my life.

My question to you guys:
Tucker seems to have food allergies.  He was on Orjins (sp?) when we got him, but it is really hard to find in our area, so we switched him to Natural Choice large breed puppy....which, lets just say did NOT agree with his poor tummy.  He gets diarrhea easily with certain brands of food, and has a few "hot spots" and sparse fur patches which our vet is attributing to food allergies.  We need to find the right one!

What do you guys feed your Berners and/or other large breed dogs?  I see a lot of info posted for adult dogs, but what about when they are puppies?

Right now we are trying to make the switch from Gastro-something (?) a prescription Vet food, to Eagle Pack holistic large breed puppy....we are just wondering if its the best food out there.

Thanks for any info!
Sarah

I have an Akita that has allergies and any time I feed her ANYTHING with corn in it,  within days she is chewing and has hotspots.
I have been feeding her Wellness and Blue Buffalo and havent had any skin issues since. 
I was feeding my mastiff Eagle pack holistic LB/Giant and he loved it,  it just isnt avaiable to me unless I order it online so we will be switching him to wellness/BB here soon as well.
Best of luck to you and your pup.

I have always fed all of my Berners a raw diet.  My rescues that I foster are usually put on raw as well unless I know they are going to a kibble home - then they are fed and mandated in our contract to feed Orijen, Nature's Variety Instinct, or EVO.  I would definitely get Tucker back on Orijen puppy if he was weaned onto to that and doing well.  It is far superior to what you have been feeding and even Eagle Pack.

We can not find Orijen in our area.  Many of the pet supply/food stores don't carry it, the few that do don't carry the puppy formula- and even the adult formulas they carry are in the smaller size bag....which would cost a fortune feeding a BMD, if I can't buy in 40+ lb quantities.  We have looked into getting it special ordered in at the supply stores, but have yet to have any luck. They can't just order 1 or 2 bags, would have to order half a pallet at one store, and manager refuses to do so, claiming he can't sell it.  We can not buy 20-30 bags at one time.

We are going to keep trying to find it though, as Tucker did do well on it.  We finished off that one bag they sent us home with....and have been hooped ever since.  I guess the alternative is to examine the ingredients/nutrients lists of Orijen and find the brand that comes closest to matching, though it won't be exact.