Best dog food out there?

Mickey · 01-25-2010, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikey

I highly highly suggest Orijen-it was named pet food of the year 09-10, it's grain free and ALL high quality ingredients. As well it exceeds AFFCO minium standards for protein. Orijen Pet Foods: About ORIJEN:

GUARANTEED ANALYSISCrude Protein (min.)40.0%Crude Fat (min.)18.0%Crude Fiber (max.)3.0%Moisture (max.)10.0%
Check these ingredients out:
INGREDIENTS
Fresh deboned salmon, salmon meal, herring meal, russet potato, fresh deboned lake whitefish, sweet potato, peas, salmon oil (preserved with vitamin E), fresh deboned walleye, fresh deboned herring, sun-cured alfalfa, fresh deboned flounder, fresh deboned lake trout, dehydrated organic kelp, pumpkin, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, saskatoon berries, black currants, choline chloride, psyllium, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile flowers, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, sea salt, vitamin supplements (vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, vitamin C, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12), mineral supplements (zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, selenium), dried Lactobacillus acidophilus product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product

Mikey where do you find Orijen in Edmonton? Havnt looked yet, but just wondering.

Tim

oliwa · 01-25-2010, 09:51 AM

I was going to switch Snickers to Blue Buffalo Chicken & Brown Rice for Large Breed Puppies because it looks like a much better dog food than Iams Large Breed Puppy. I never heard of Orijen Large Breed Puppy and I really like the ingredient list, but I'm concerned about the amount of protein. Snickers has somewhat of a sensitive stomach and I'm concerned about switching to her a high protein diet because I don't want her to have constant diarrhea (I would switch her over to the new food over a 7-10 day period).

Should this be a concern?

Mikey · 01-25-2010, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Mikey where do you find Orijen in Edmonton? Havnt looked yet, but just wondering.

Tim

Have you ever been to G&E? It's on whyte-it says 'G&E pharmacy' as it's also a vet pharmacy-but a huge store too. They have it the cheapest. G & E Pharmacy - Google Maps
Also Pookey's Pet Store in Sherwood Park carries it. Petsmart doesn't though.

Krazy4Pets · 01-25-2010, 02:29 PM

I normally use Instinct by Nature's Variety but last week I put my 2 Yorkies on Fromm - Grain-Free Surf & Turf it turned out that the dogs like this food a lot. I put it in a treat toy and both of them were all over it.
I also like the kibble size of this Fromm. It's about double the size of Wonka - Nerds candies so it's good for toy breeds.
Anyway, be careful about switching food often though because you can end up having a picky dog. I would say look at the label and if it has close to 30% or more of Protein content and about 18% fat it should be good. Make sure that top 3-5 ingredients are not grain (well there is nothing wrong with grain unless your dog has reaction to it) because it will not have enough Protein for your dog.

**Criosphynx** · 01-25-2010, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oliwa

I was going to switch Snickers to Blue Buffalo Chicken & Brown Rice for Large Breed Puppies because it looks like a much better dog food than Iams Large Breed Puppy. I never heard of Orijen Large Breed Puppy and I really like the ingredient list, but I'm concerned about the amount of protein. Snickers has somewhat of a sensitive stomach and I'm concerned about switching to her a high protein diet because I don't want her to have constant diarrhea (I would switch her over to the new food over a 7-10 day period).

Should this be a concern?

Kiwi had diarhea when I switched her to a high protien food. I had to do a aburpt switch tho. Cleared up after about a week.

I think if you switch slow you should be fine...I often will use the NEW kibble as a treat for a while, so they are primed for the switch

oliwa · 01-25-2010, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Criosphynx

I often will use the NEW kibble as a treat for a while, so they are primed for the switch

Scary...I was thinking about doing that!

toddreaves04 · 02-11-2010, 11:04 PM

I am currently feeding Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete to mmy 2 puppys. What is everyones oppinion of it? I am able to get a very good deal on it at $25 for a 40lbs bag. Both of my pups seem to do very well on it and love it.

oliwa · 02-12-2010, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toddreaves04

I am currently feeding Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete to mmy 2 puppys. What is everyones oppinion of it? I am able to get a very good deal on it at $25 for a 40lbs bag. Both of my pups seem to do very well on it and love it.

You can check out the analysis here. It's a 3 star dog food which is better than the 1 star given to popular brands like Iams and Eukanuba.

After reading a lot about dog foods, premium dog foods, gourmet dog food, and economy dog foods I've come the opinion that if your dog likes the dog food and is healthy and doing well don't change. I've read people switching to a gourmet dog food (I consider Orijen gourmet) and their dog's shedding reduced, their coat got shinier, their health improved, etc. I've also read not so positive outcomes.

Personally, I stopped the Iams due to animal testing and because Snickers wasn't interested in it. I was considering Blue Buffalo until I was turned on to some of the gourmet brands like Orijen, Instinct, or TOTW. I picked Orijen because they specifically had a Large Breed puppy formula and I found a local retailer. I figured if I was going to switch it made more sense to switch to gourmet to see if she liked it because that was what I wanted to feed her. She enjoys it, she eats it, and she has had no negative signs as far as I can tell. I think her scratching has reduced, but there are several other reasons (besides the food) that could attribute to this.

Bottom line...I think that if your dogs love their food and are healthy leave things alone. Otherwise you may spend a week switching, go through bouts of diarrhea, and then find out they don't like the food, then spend a week switching back.

fuccillo111 · 02-12-2010, 11:15 AM

there are quite a few good ones. i would find whats closest to you. barney boy likes taste of wild. its also grain free, although a bit pricey at $22-25 for 15lb bag. bigger bag=better deal but i like to keep it fresh for him.

tonisaysss · 02-12-2010, 02:59 PM

i personally would not feed diamond or nutro simply because i'd be hesitant after recalls. i'm not a fan of anyone that outsources their ingredients.

i had someone on another forum dispute and aggressively argue with myself and a few others about nutro. they're still outsourcing and their food is still ridiculously terrible and 98% grain-based.