Hi everyone!  

I have a recently turned one year old siberian husky named Hunter. He seems to be getting bored of the food we are currently feeding him. My boyfriend looked online and it turns out that this is normal for huskies.

This is his current dog food:


My question for all of you: what is the best food brand for young huskies? I am concerned price wise, but I also want him to be eating healthy so I will pay more if necessary.

Thank you! So happy that I finally found a forum dedicated towards huskies. I love this breed so much!

A lot of people on here really like Taste of the Wild (TOTW for short and made by Diamond.) It's pretty good with a reasonable price tag and there are several flavors like Pacific Stream, High Prairie, etc. Other food brands that people seem to like based off my research are: Blue Buffalo, Innova, and Dr. Tim's. You can also go here to see a list of some other dogs foods, however I would stay away from anything that's rated under 4 stars. Another thing to note is that if your dog has a sensitive stomach then it might be hard to find a food that he does well on. For example, some people find that their dogs don't do well on chicken based recipes; just some food for thought.

I hope that my research helped! ^_^

AMB wrote:

A lot of people on here really like Taste of the Wild (TOTW for short and made by Diamond.) It's pretty good with a reasonable price tag and there are several flavors like Pacific Stream, High Prairie, etc. Other food brands that people seem to like based off my research are: Blue Buffalo, Innova, and Dr. Tim's. You can also go here to see a list of some other dogs foods, however I would stay away from anything that's rated under 4 stars. Another thing to note is that if your dog has a sensitive stomach then it might be hard to find a food that he does well on. For example, some people find that their dogs don't do well on chicken based recipes; just some food for thought.

I hope that my research helped! ^_^

Thank you SO much! This has been a huge help. I am going to research the brands you have listed a little more.
Thanks again!! :-)

No problem! I'm sure that other more knowledgeable members will be able to step in and help you out with your research even more, good luck!

Also try to look for foods that are 'grain free'.  A lot of huskies have intolerance to grain and corn based foods, so keep that in mind as well.

I feed Taste of the Wild - Pacific Salmon.  They're an all-life-stage food, so you could feed it to your one year old.  

I also like Merrick Grain Free (any protein), Acana (Pacific Salmon), and TOTW (Salmon).  

TOTW will run you about $45 a 30/lb bag.

Acana will run you about $65 ~25/lb bag.

Merrick will run you about $50 ~28/lb bag.

Ziwipeak, Orijin and Primal are also very good food sources, but they are at least $80+ per bag.  It's top of the line though.  

Grandma Lucy's is also a good dog food brand.  It's freeze dried food though, not regular dry dog food.

www.dogfoodadvisor.com has a list of all of the dog foods you can think of.  Like Aidan said, try to stay away from anything less than 4 stars.  Try to look for foods that have at least 2-3 protein sources in the first 5 ingredients of the bag.

Also, keep in mind that although these grain free and higher quality food may be more expensive, you will be feeding less because they have less fillers and more protein so they will need less to be satisfied.

VintageJeans wrote:

Also try to look for foods that are 'grain free'.  A lot of huskies have intolerance to grain and corn based foods, so keep that in mind as well.

I feed Taste of the Wild - Pacific Salmon.  They're an all-life-stage food, so you could feed it to your one year old.  

I also like Merrick Grain Free (any protein), Acana (Pacific Salmon), and TOTW (Salmon).  

TOTW will run you about $45 a 30/lb bag.

Acana will run you about $65 ~25/lb bag.

Merrick will run you about $50 ~28/lb bag.

Ziwipeak, Orijin and Primal are also very good food sources, but they are at least $80+ per bag.  It's top of the line though.  

Grandma Lucy's is also a good dog food brand.  It's freeze dried food though, not regular dry dog food.

www.dogfoodadvisor.com has a list of all of the dog foods you can think of.  Like Aidan said, try to stay away from anything less than 4 stars.  Try to look for foods that have at least 2-3 protein sources in the first 5 ingredients of the bag.

Great information, I will definitely check these out! Thanks so much for your help

ccurran07 wrote:

Also, keep in mind that although these grain free and higher quality food may be more expensive, you will be feeding less because they have less fillers and more protein so they will need less to be satisfied.

Very very true. I am definitely taking this into consideration. Thank you!

Another TOTW advocate here, and I especially recommending trying out a couple different flavors with your pup. Yuki can't tolerate the High Prairie due to the chicken meal in it, but yhankfully they offer three brands (Pacific Stream, Sierra Mountain, Southwest Canyon) that are chicken-free My pups have tried Pacific Stream and Sierra Mountain and love it, the boys also loved the High Prairie but obviously we don't feed it anymore.

I'm personally a fan of Blue Buffalo Wilderness. I used to be feeding Lycus the chicken recipe and he got bored so I switched him to the duck recipe and he loves it! I pay about $50-$60 for a 24lb bag but it lasts some time.

How much should I be feeding him? I usually give him 2 cups per meal and he eats twice a day now. We were feeding him 3 times a day, but lowered it because he wouldn't eat his food for a while.

I would personally recommend Wellness CORE (and only CORE, not the regular Wellness foods). When my dogs were on kibble, we fed Orijen, Acana, and Innova EVO, mixed with CORE, but those are all higher end and more expensive grain-free kibbles. The CORE was cheaper, but still top quality, and can be found at most PetCo and PetSmarts. The regular Wellness gave them the runs and they didn't really like the flavor. They loved the CORE and their stool solidified literally overnight! I think the large bags were around $50. We tried TOTW, but the dogs didn't like the flavor and their stools were not as firm. We would only use TOTW when we were short on money as a last resort. Good luck though! It's sometimes complicated to find a kibble that the dogs like and at the same time do well on.

Also, remember what works for some dogs may not work for yours. Huskies have sensitive tummies and its important to find the right food that works best for your dog. I find the best place to go for nutritional advice is the mom and pop non-chain pet stores that specialize in canine nutrition. They were extremely helpful in helping me choose a brand that worked best for my Dalmatians (I feed my huskies raw).

I feed my dogs NutriSource, which is grain-free and comes in a variety of flavors (seafood, bison, chicken, lamb, etc). I also chose this brand, because they have had no recalls, up to this point (at least to my knowledge). My dogs had no problems switching over and can try all the different flavors without stomach problems.

huntythehusky wrote:

How much should I be feeding him? I usually give him 2 cups per meal and he eats twice a day now. We were feeding him 3 times a day, but lowered it because he wouldn't eat his food for a while.

It depends how active he is and how much he weighs. For instance, Juneau is an active female and she weighs 52.6 pounds. She lays around the house during the day, but plays hard at night with her foster sibling. Sometimes she'll leave kibble in her bowl too.

I feed her 1 1/4 cup per meal, twice a day. Most members here feed about 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups per meal, twice a day.

Does he have big stools? If he does, you are feeding him too much. It is literally going to 'waste' lol. Most huskies poop 2-3 times a day.

I started feeding Dakota Blue Buffalo as a puppy, but it didnt settle well with her, and after having her get allergy tested we found out she is allergic to majority of proteins, the only thing she is not allergic to is chicken and lamb. She is also allergic to soy, so that needed to be avoided too. I looked into TOTW, Acana, and Orijen but most of their bags were multiple proteins not just a single protein I needed for Dakota.

After much research I came across a brand called Zignature (its relatively new), and they have a single protein option. I really like the limited amount of ingredients and that is grain/potato free. I chose the lamb formula, and I have seen such a change in Dakota, she is eager to eat, she loves it. With any other food I fed her she was not interested, I would have to trick her into eating, but not with Zignature.
She has been on it for a while now and she still loves it.

TOTW if you get it from amazon is like 45 for a 30 pound bag

When we got Kai, we transitioned her to Orijen, which is a phenomenal grain free option. It's expensive but it's amazing quality. She liked the puppy food just fine but prefers the large-breed puppy food. I'm looking forward to giving her their Six Fish food eventually, I think she's going to love that. bottom line: incredible food but comes at a high price.

fuhongnie wrote:

TOTW if you get it from amazon is like 45 for a 50 pound bag

This is misleading. They don't sell 50 pound bags. It's $45 for a 30 pound bag. Just wanted to clarify that.

HuskyLove wrote:

After much research I came across a brand called Zignature (its relatively new), and they have a single protein option. I really like the limited amount of ingredients and that is grain/potato free. I chose the lamb formula, and I have seen such a change in Dakota, she is eager to eat, she loves it. With any other food I fed her she was not interested, I would have to trick her into eating, but not with Zignature.
She has been on it for a while now and she still loves it.

I just discovered this brand as well. I'm in the process of switching my pup to raw, but if I were going to continue him on kibble I would add this one into the rotation. He is allergic to chicken, and possibly fish (not totally sure about the fish yet though).

huntythehusky wrote:

How much should I be feeding him? I usually give him 2 cups per meal and he eats twice a day now. We were feeding him 3 times a day, but lowered it because he wouldn't eat his food for a while.

How much does he weigh? 4 cups sounds like too much, on a full kibble diet, my pup gets 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 per day. I'm in the process of switching to raw though, so he gets 3/4 to 1 cup in the morning, and then half a pound of raw at night. Also, if you switch to a higher quality food, make sure you adjust the amount, otherwise he'll pack on the extra weight pretty quickly.

Edit - also, when he was fully on kibble, I switched brand/flavor every bag, and would mix the two for about two weeks when switching over. For whatever reason, my pup seems to do a lot better with more variety. If he's on the same food for too long, he'll start to get loose stools, that firm up when I add a new element. He's an odd one sometimes. Right now, I have him on Canidae pure sky, but they recently raised their prices, well the prices stayed the same but the bags got a lot smaller. They went from a 30 lb bag to a 24 lb bag and kept the price the same. Hence the switch to raw.

VintageJeans wrote:

fuhongnie wrote:

TOTW if you get it from amazon is like 45 for a 50 pound bag

This is misleading.  They don't sell 50 pound bags.  It's $45 for a 30 pound bag.  Just wanted to clarify that.  

You are right my mistake, I corrected it, thanks! I wish they did though lol:lol!: 

fuhongnie wrote:

VintageJeans wrote:

fuhongnie wrote:

TOTW if you get it from amazon is like 45 for a 50 pound bag

This is misleading.  They don't sell 50 pound bags.  It's $45 for a 30 pound bag.  Just wanted to clarify that.  

You are right my mistake, I corrected it, thanks! I wish they did though lol:lol!: 

Same here! That'd be an awesome deal. 50 lbs for $45, can't beat that.

I'm currently feeding my puppy "Chicopee Puppy"

http://www.harrisonpet.com/index.php?p=view_products.View&mode=1&aid=2&bid=2&cid=1&pid=15

Has someone had some experience with this food?

Grandma Lucy's is also a good dog food brand.  It's freeze dried food though, not regular dry dog food.

Of course Grandma Lucy is getting up there in age and who knows how much longer she's gonna be able to make dog food before that long dirt nap!    o.k. I'll behave now.

There are alot of good dog food out there. I think wha tis important in general is that it is grain free.

I´m feeding Orijen right now, it is really great, the only thing I noticed that there are doggie farts form time to time since I feed it.