Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
I would look for a better product that this. This first three ingredients are corn meal, chicken by-products ans sorgum. None of these should be in your dogs food.
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Best Dry Dog Food (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Buddy Ball 2K3
- Start date
joffer
Footballguy
IAMS sucks
Klimtology
Footballguy
We feed my dog Wellness Healthy Weight.
HTH
HTH
Chadstroma
Footballguy
pollardsvision
Footballguy
Anybody ever tried "Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul"?
I'd never really looked at it in the past because the name screamed "marketing gimmick".
We're looking for something to rotate with Whole Earth Farms (and maybe replace down the road, as it sounds like Merrick might be changing some formulas).
I finally checked out Chicken Soup at the pet store yesterday and it looks to be a pretty good food at a great price, like WEF.
The puppy ingredient list is pretty similar to WEF, probably a little better, depending on how far down the list the chicken and turkey really should be after the water is removed:
Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, turkey meal, cracked pearled barley, whole grain brown rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), white rice, oatmeal, millet, potatoes, egg product, tomato pomace, duck, salmon, flaxseed, ocean fish meal, natural chicken flavor, salmon oil (source of DHA), potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, kelp, carrots, peas, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, yucca schidigera extract, L-carnitine, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
I'd never really looked at it in the past because the name screamed "marketing gimmick".
We're looking for something to rotate with Whole Earth Farms (and maybe replace down the road, as it sounds like Merrick might be changing some formulas).
I finally checked out Chicken Soup at the pet store yesterday and it looks to be a pretty good food at a great price, like WEF.
The puppy ingredient list is pretty similar to WEF, probably a little better, depending on how far down the list the chicken and turkey really should be after the water is removed:
Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, turkey meal, cracked pearled barley, whole grain brown rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), white rice, oatmeal, millet, potatoes, egg product, tomato pomace, duck, salmon, flaxseed, ocean fish meal, natural chicken flavor, salmon oil (source of DHA), potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, kelp, carrots, peas, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, yucca schidigera extract, L-carnitine, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
JoeSteeler
Footballguy
Been feeding my labs Blue Buffalo for the last 3 years.
KiddLattimer
Footballguy
Was thinking about getting a bag of this for my dog... worth the extra $?
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Depends on what you are feeding him now. Blue Buffalo is better than any grocery store type of dog food. It is an upgrade over a lot of the dog foods out there. Natural and human grade ingredients and widely available (both national retailers carry it). My only concern with BB is that I believe that they contract out for production for their product and they had some pretty severe recall issues in the past. If you look at the ingredients of the current food you are feeding your dog and see 'corn' or 'meat' or 'by-product' and similar ingredients, then yes, it is worth the extra $. With the lesser foods, you will off-set the cost by feeding your dog a bit less than the cheaper foods because they are not getting the filler crap and the more nutrition in every bite. Another nice bonus is that with the higher quality food, you will end up having less to clean up on the 'back end' since more of what they eat is being used and not pooped out.
jamil
Footballguy
Update:I endorse Evo. My rottie will not touch any other food now that he's been eating that. Great coat and not to mention the solid BM's.Feed your dogs what works for them (the 2 "best" and happiest dogs I know eat "Beneful" and "Science Diet"), but if you want to look for something that could be better, but is the same price, the "Whole Earth Farms" brand I mentioned earlier might be worth looking into.It's literally the same price as Kibbles & Bits, Purina products, etc, but the ingredients are very similar to what you'll find in the premium, often really expensive dog foods, like most of the one's mentioned in this thread.First time I've come into this thread, because I know y'all are looking at higher end pet foods than I generally mess with! I just tried the Evo for my two cats when I saw it on sale--and they wouldn't touch it. I even tried mixing it in with what they're used to and they ate right around the Evo just cherry pickin the other stuff. That 'other stuff' is why I haven't joined in here--because from what I've heard on talk radio and such is that it's not so good. I often buy Purina products because way back when I first started feeding the critters that was supposed to be the name of the game. They're also real happy with Friskies, and since that's what goes on sale most often I'll get those and just switch around flavors for a little variety. All dry, no canned. They don't even go for scraps much and I don't think they eat the birds they catch (though I've had some that did).Just a heads up. Nutura was bought out and many pet stores are not endorsing their products anymore. We switched our greyhound, Asher, over to Prairie and he's loving it. His coat has never looked better!I don't, but I know they're a very high quality grain-free food made by Nutura (same folks that make California Natural & Innova).
For the dogs I'll switch flavors bag-to-bag as well, generally according to prices between Gravy Train, Kibbles & Bits, or a Purina product. The two I've got now really surprised me recently though--I bought the Harris Teeter store brand imitation Kibbles and they actually seem to like it best. Been through several bags now in rotation. Again--no canned food--but they'll eat just about any table scraps we throw out there. Once in awhile I'll set them up with rib bones as well.
I should mention that almost all of the animals I've had over the past 30 years have been strays or rescues--so they might not be as picky as many pets.
Several of them just moved in on me and took up residence, including the two cats I've got now. All of them are outside animals with room to run so they're not even interested in coming inside. Long as they're happy with the cheap stuff--I'm happy with it!
It's ingredient list leads with 2 decent meats (Chicken Meal and Turkey Meal). It doesn't have any Corn, Soy, or Wheat. No by-products. It includes Duck, Buffalo, and White Fish, though probably too far down on the list to matter much. As far as I know, there isn't another product that has those qualities at that price.
I'm known to be fairly cheap, but I want to feed my dog decent food. I haven't found a better compromise than Whole Earth Farms.
I'm not a dog food snob by any means, but it might be worth checking out.
Buddy Ball 2K3
Footballguy
Still feeding our dogs Taste of the Wild and they are loving it. We switch between the different flavors every 3rd bag and it has seemed to work out well.
SHIZNITTTT
Footballguy
Don't know about the food, but the bags are awesome! Art of wolves about to attack differenet animals.
Buddy Ball 2K3
Footballguy
The forthcoming violence on the bags is what sold us.
Summer Wheat
Footballguy
Diamond makes Chicken Soup and Taste of the Wild. Both are decent middle of the road foods although Diamond has had many recalls in the past.Heads up on EVO, they were bought out by Proctor and Gamble and that is never a good thing.
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GroveDiesel
Footballguy
My Boston has some allergy issues and we think grains are a major factor. We give her Fromm's Surf and Turf and not only does she love it, but it seems to have cleared up a lot of the allergy issues. It's definitely on the pricey side though. But worth it for her not to be licking her feet all the time and scratching all the time.
Macdaddy_2004
Footballguy
I use the Kirkland brand from Costco and my dog loves it. Its also half the price of some of the other brands more sought after brands. If you look at the ingredients its all good stuff - no fillers like corn. It does have some brown rice but Fido likes that.
P00P volume has gone down since we switched to the costco brand which tells me there is less filler.
P00P volume has gone down since we switched to the costco brand which tells me there is less filler.
pollardsvision
Footballguy
We use WEF and like it. As best as I can tell, for foods that cost about the same as grocery store brands (about $1/lb), but have ingredient lists comparable to premium brands: They include WEF, Chicken Soup, and Kirkland (I think it's even cheaper, but I'm not sure, as there's no Costco nearby). Those 3 have alot in common in that they lead with a couple of named meat protein sources (usually some combo chicken, chicken meal and turkey) and don't have any corn/soy/wheat, but have more grains than the premium foods. They are grain heavy, but appear to at least have higher quality grains (like barley, oatmeal, and rice that's not brewer's rice). Unless we find another alternative, we'll probably settle on a rotation of WEF and Chicken Soup.
Gianni Verscotchie
Footballguy
I need advice. I switched my 8 month old cocker from Iams to Wellness Puppy. Just about done with a 30lb bag of Wellness now.
The dog has been gassy and has slightly loose stools the entire time on Wellness.
Any suggestions on another food? Also, at 8 months, do I still have to get him puppy food? Dog weighs about 25lbs.
Thanks.
The dog has been gassy and has slightly loose stools the entire time on Wellness.
Any suggestions on another food? Also, at 8 months, do I still have to get him puppy food? Dog weighs about 25lbs.
Thanks.
How much are you feeding him? Our dog had this problem when we first got him, and we were giving him very high quality food. Took him to the vet, and the vet kindof chuckled. We were way, WAY overfeeding him. We cut back a lot, and he's never had a problem since. Higher quality foods don't require as much volume since they're more nutrient dense/less filler. Use the dog food analyzer linked earlier and see how many calories your Pup is getting. My guess is you're over feeding her. Also, after years with Taste of the Wild, we switched our dogs to Nature's Variety "Instinct". One of our dogs just stopped being interested in the TOTW all of a sudden. She was very healthy and we'd never had problems with it before, she just started not really wanting to eat, so we switched. They LOVE the Instinct. Love...it.
Gianni Verscotchie
Footballguy
I don't think he's eating too much. Slightly less than a cup, 2x a day.
I'll go find that analyzer.
I'll go find that analyzer.
That's what I feed each of our 60 pound dogs - 7/8ths of a cup, twice daily. And they're perfect weights, not trying to lose any. We got both as dogs and never had them as puppies, so I've no idea how much you're supposed to feed a growing puppy. But you're feeding a 25 pound puppy the same volume I feed a 60 pound dog.
Gianni Verscotchie
Footballguy
Yikes!
Buddy Ball 2K3
Footballguy
Puppies should be eating more than an adult dog. We have a 55lb dog that eats 2 cups a day. When he was puppy we fed him about 3 cups. Once he hit a year we backed it down to cups a day. Check the bag the dog food comes in. It should have guidelines set for that food specifically. Dont forget, all dogs are different. They all have different energy levels and different activity levels.
FBGirl79
Footballguy
We just switched from Blue Buffalo to that a couple months ago. Our dogs weren't eating the vit-bits from the blue buffalo and while we were in costco one day we checked out the ingredients and decided to try it. We mixed it in until the BB was gone and they love it and I love the price difference.
fasteddie_21
2006 NM Poker Champ
Same here. After months of trying to find the right food that 'agrees' with Asher, we settled on Kirkland and Exceed (Sam's Club version). He seems to like it well enough and his system does as well.
Bob Loblaw
Footballguy
I haven't read the entire thread, so I'm not sure if this is a honda.
We've been feeding our dog Professional (Lamb & Rice) for 6.5 yrs. She's an Australian Shepherd/Golden Retriever mix, and her coat is great.
We've been feeding our dog Professional (Lamb & Rice) for 6.5 yrs. She's an Australian Shepherd/Golden Retriever mix, and her coat is great.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Merrick is a HUGE upgrade from Beneful.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
I am not familiar with it since I don't go to Costco but what are the meat ingredients? Does it say "Beef" or does it say "Meat"?
Gianni Verscotchie
Footballguy
Fixed
HellToupee
Footballguy
We feed out puppy Merrick & he's doing great on itjust thinking our pup is 10 months now ...time flies
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Puppies do need to eat a bit more than an adult but also you feed higher quality foods less. Wellness Puppy has a chart on the back of the bag for their guidelines. I would try to follow that. Also, of course, it could be the transition from the Iams to Wellness. Even if you gradually transition over some dogs (even more so with puppies) are going to have some digestive issues like gas. The reason is a change in bacteria levels within their digestive system. The transition is meant to help ease or eliminate it but some dogs are more sensitive than others and puppies can be much more sensitive. Finally, it could also be that an ingredient in the Wellness just does not agree with the pup. Think of it like this, if you get a lot of gas from eating beans- it does not really matter much if the chili you eat is low grade crap or the highest quality chili out there- you are still going to have gas.Buddy Ball 2K3 said:
heckmanm
Footballguy
My local Petco just started carrying it, but they don't have the Whole Earth Farms line yet.And the free shipping code seems to have expired
Chadstroma
Footballguy
If you ask, they should be able to order it for you. Some stores got it and some did not- depending on sq footage is my guess. All should be able to order it as a special order for you.My local Petco just started carrying it, but they don't have the Whole Earth Farms line yet.And the free shipping code seems to have expired
heckmanm
Footballguy
I asked the guy there, and he said if the Merrick stuff they have sells, they'll probably expand and carry WEF as well. Seems to me that the WEF would be the one to start with, but I don't know dog food marketing.Anyway, Petco's website currently has free shipping on orders over $55, so I got 2 bags, a new collar, and some treats to nudge above that level. Saved $17 on shipping!If you ask, they should be able to order it for you. Some stores got it and some did not- depending on sq footage is my guess. All should be able to order it as a special order for you.My local Petco just started carrying it, but they don't have the Whole Earth Farms line yet.And the free shipping code seems to have expired
Gianni Verscotchie
Footballguy
UPDATE: Switched dog from Wellness to Blue Buffalo almost a week ago. He seems to like it and his poop firmed up. I'll keep him on this until he reaches 1 year, then put him on something else. I want to buy Taste of the Wild because of the most excellent bag art. (and it's good food)
pollardsvision
Footballguy
I think it makes sense to introduce Merrick's premium foods first, if a store must choose.
95% of the Petco customers probably aren't familiar with Merrick and their initial impression of the quality will be determined by the product's price and packaging. Before Grain or the "gimmicky name line" (Turducken, Grammy's Pot Pie, etc) have a price and packaging that says "premium". Not to mention, I'm sure Petco makes more money on those lines. Merrick's premium lines will draw people in and make them think of Merrick as a premium food company.
WEF, on the other hand, could really easily be overlooked (packaging could've been designed by an 8-year old). If a pet store isn't really pushing it (mine does, all the employees use it), it can be easily missed. For the people that do look at it, the price won't scream "high quality". WEF is best thought of as the value line of a company that normally only makes premium foods. Easier to do that if the premium stuff is introduced first.
Not to mention that if you put WEF ingredient list up next to the "gimmicky name line", the "gimmicky name line" doesn't look so great. The Before Grain line is clearly better, but the WEF line and "gimmicky name line" are almost the same food, with a drastic difference in price. For the people that largely by-pass the packaging (probably a small percentage, but still) and look straight to the ingredient list, Turducken's a tough sell if it's next to WEF.
95% of the Petco customers probably aren't familiar with Merrick and their initial impression of the quality will be determined by the product's price and packaging. Before Grain or the "gimmicky name line" (Turducken, Grammy's Pot Pie, etc) have a price and packaging that says "premium". Not to mention, I'm sure Petco makes more money on those lines. Merrick's premium lines will draw people in and make them think of Merrick as a premium food company.
WEF, on the other hand, could really easily be overlooked (packaging could've been designed by an 8-year old). If a pet store isn't really pushing it (mine does, all the employees use it), it can be easily missed. For the people that do look at it, the price won't scream "high quality". WEF is best thought of as the value line of a company that normally only makes premium foods. Easier to do that if the premium stuff is introduced first.
Not to mention that if you put WEF ingredient list up next to the "gimmicky name line", the "gimmicky name line" doesn't look so great. The Before Grain line is clearly better, but the WEF line and "gimmicky name line" are almost the same food, with a drastic difference in price. For the people that largely by-pass the packaging (probably a small percentage, but still) and look straight to the ingredient list, Turducken's a tough sell if it's next to WEF.
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jason12vb
Footballguy
Not too happy Orijen changed their ingredients in the last month. From what I understand they only changed the ratio of animal meat to veggies from 70:30 to 80:20...and I think most would consider it a good thing. However, after three weeks her stools are still quite soft and smells ridiculously bad. It sounds to me like they only did it because other companies were following their 70:30 lead and wanted to stay ahead. I'm 2 bags away from a free one...considering these are $70 a pop that's a nice little incentive to stick with it.
heckmanm
Footballguy
Good points. See, this is why I'm not in marketing.
pollardsvision
Footballguy
I'm not a pet food expert and I would've thought the change would've been good, but do you think it might be that you are feeding too much? I would think increasing the meat would increase the calories along with the protein, so maybe feeding the same amount as before might be too much. Just a thought. Orijen seems like about the best kibble out there, so I hope your pooch's digestive system adjusts to the new formula.
jason12vb
Footballguy
Hummm...you might be on to something in a round about way. While I'm positive I don't overfeed her (2 1/4 cups a day for a 55# lab), their new bags do suggest larger portions so I've gone up to 3 cups a day. It could be that with the winter months up here in MN, that the added calories and less active lifestyle could have as much to do with it as the change in their formula.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Petco is getting Holistic Select as well.
Petsmart just got in the basic line of Wellness.
Hopefully Petsmart will catch up with Petco on the natural brands so that the competition can lower the prices a bit.
Petsmart just got in the basic line of Wellness.
Hopefully Petsmart will catch up with Petco on the natural brands so that the competition can lower the prices a bit.
KiddLattimer
Footballguy
Chadstroma
Footballguy
I actually just picked up a bag of Castor and Pollox, but their Natural Ultramix line, to try with my Goldendoodle. The difference between the two lines being that Organix is certified organic while the Natural Ultramix is not. I got it because I got a great deal on it and will also get an extra 6 cans free with that deal and thought I would give my pooch a change of pace to see how he does. I am just starting to transition over. I'll let you know what I see from it.
But overall, it is a good brand and no bad things to name of it other than you might find better value normally with other brands.
pollardsvision
Footballguy
Yeah, it looks like an outstanding food. The value depends on how much someone cares about organic ingredients. I could certainly see someone placing alot of value in having organic ingredients.If someone doesn't care about organic ingredients, though, there are foods with similar, but non-organic, ingredient lists for about half the price. Organix is quite expensive for such a grain-heavy food.
KiddLattimer
Footballguy
Yea it looked ok, I asked because I couldn't find WEF at the local Petco but I ended up finding it after all... last bag though so she may have to switch eventually.pollardsvision said:
Chadstroma
Footballguy
I was told or read (I can not remember the source) that a lot of the ingredients of natural foods are actually organic but because the certification process is so tough and expensive, they do not get certified. How much truth is in that, I can not tell you but a big portion of the cost of organic foods (whether ours or dog food) is for the certification.pollardsvision said:
Chadstroma
Footballguy
If you can not find it anywhere else, you can order it from Petco even if that store does not carry it as part of their assortment. If you have to do that, you have to plan ahead as it can take several weeks for them to get it in.
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