Hi there, my girlfriend and I got a female Husky Puppy, her name is Kira, 4 months old, vaccinated and in out Vets opinion in a very healthy state.

Now the only problem and questions we have right now is the selection of her dog food, because Kira eats literally everything but her dog food. We know that these might be the  most common questions but please bare with us, totaly newbees, first time dog owners ^^

We tried Taste of the Wild for Puppy, which came highly recommended, especially because it was GRAIN FREE and all natural ingredients. But it seemed that Kira didnt like it very much, she only would eat one small bit every now and then, and almost everything would distract her from the food.

So my girlfriend went to PetSmart where she bought  Royal Canin® MAXI Puppy (15,99 on Sale), great recommendations, and also the food that our Vet sells. But it doesnt say Grain Free, and reading all the ingredients I wasnt able to determ if it cotains grain or not.

So first question : Does it have to be Grain FREE ????

Because Kira likes it, she finishes her plate, still not that fast than other stuff,  but its definitly an improvement to Taste of the Wild.

Then there is the problem that the Royal Canin® MAXI Puppy was on Sale, normal price are the 20 USD for the small bag, and we already read in the internet that it is not worth it.

So is that true, or is it really one of the best brands you can buy ??? Anybody buying it too?

And if we should change again the food, which dog food brand would you recommend for my husky puppy that is a bit cheaper?? We get a lot of recommendations for Wellness, but also still expensive. Then also we hear a lot about Orijen from Canada, anybody knows this brand and its pricing, would you recommend it ??


Thanks a lot for your help and answers, we aprecciate it, we just want the best for our husky puppy ^^

My vet also sells Royal Canin and honestly, while it is a good food, if your puppy doesn't need a prescribed vet food, its not worth the money. No, the food doesn't have to be grain free, unless your puppy has grain allergies.

Honestly, she's a husky, they are not labs and will not scarf down food like a lab (at least not most of them, there are some that will.) But if you change her food because she wont eat it, she'll learn how to get you to change her food when she gets bored and that's not good either. I'd go back to TOTW, which it sounds like you could afford, and stick to it. As long as she is eating the required caloric intake needed in a day, its OK that she only picks at it and doesn't eat it all in one sitting. And she's a husky, they skip meals.

I would like to add, you mention "other things", keep in mind also that feeding her other goodies is also going to throw her off her food. Just like kids, if they turn there nose up at dinner and then get to have cake they learn to eat whats good instead of whats good for them. Simple term back off on the treats and people food, she may refuse a meal or two but she will not starve herself.

...and by the way, Royal Canin wet food was what I used after Maya's surgery to get her eating again and I would have shared it with her! This stuff smelled great! You could have served it as pate' at a party and know one would have known! And expensive, I only used about five cans but I had my doubts if she would ever wean back off of it. I would call it crack food.

Hughie wrote:

...and by the way, Royal Canin wet food was what I used after Maya's surgery to get her eating again and I would have shared it with her!  This stuff smelled great!  You could have served it as pate' at a party and know one would have known!  And expensive, I only used about five cans but I had my doubts if she would ever wean back off of it.  I would call it crack food.  

This post made me crack up!  Thanks!  

As far as OP goes, you're doing fine! Find the best food you can afford and stick with that. Unless your pup has allergies, she'll be fine. Grain free is great if you can do it, but plenty of dogs eat grains and live full happy lives.

Huskies sometimes skip meals, especially (as other posters noted) if they know they'll get some "good stuff" like people food and treats.

If she starts losing weight, *then* I'd start worrying and try a different food.

patiki wrote:

Hi there, my girlfriend and I got a female Husky Puppy, her name is Kira, 4 months old, vaccinated and in out Vets opinion in a very healthy state.

Now the only problem and questions we have right now is the selection of her dog food, because Kira eats literally everything but her dog food. We know that these might be the  most common questions but please bare with us, totaly newbees, first time dog owners ^^

We tried Taste of the Wild for Puppy, which came highly recommended, especially because it was GRAIN FREE and all natural ingredients. But it seemed that Kira didnt like it very much, she only would eat one small bit every now and then, and almost everything would distract her from the food.

So my girlfriend went to PetSmart where she bought  Royal Canin® MAXI Puppy (15,99 on Sale), great recommendations, and also the food that our Vet sells. But it doesnt say Grain Free, and reading all the ingredients I wasnt able to determ if it cotains grain or not.

So first question : Does it have to be Grain FREE ????

Because Kira likes it, she finishes her plate, still not that fast than other stuff,  but its definitly an improvement to Taste of the Wild.

Then there is the problem that the Royal Canin® MAXI Puppy was on Sale, normal price are the 20 USD for the small bag, and we already read in the internet that it is not worth it.

So is that true, or is it really one of the best brands you can buy ??? Anybody buying it too?

And if we should change again the food, which dog food brand would you recommend for my husky puppy that is a bit cheaper?? We get a lot of recommendations for Wellness, but also still expensive. Then also we hear a lot about Orijen from Canada, anybody knows this brand and its pricing, would you recommend it ??


Thanks a lot for your help and answers, we aprecciate it, we just want the best for our husky puppy ^^

Here's the ingredients for the Royal Canin:

Ingredients
Chicken meal, brown rice, rice, corn gluten meal, chicken fat, chicken, natural chicken flavor, dried beet pulp (sugar removed), anchovy oil (source of DHA), sodium silico aluminate, dried egg product, psyllium seed husk, potassium chloride, salt, fructo-oligosaccharides, dried brewers yeast extract (source of mannan-oligosaccharides), choline chloride, Vitamins [DL-alpha tocopherol acetate (source of vitamin E), L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C*), biotin, D-calcium pantothenate, vitamin A acetate, niacin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2) supplement, folic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement], taurine*, DL-methionine, glucosamine hydrochloride*, Trace Minerals [zinc proteinate, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, copper proteinate, copper sulfate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, calcium iodate], chondroitin sulfate*, marigold extract (Calendula officinalis L.), preserved with mixed tocopherols (source of Vitamin E) and citric acid, rosemary extract.

The second, 3rd, and 4th ingredient listed are grains, so it contains quite a bit of grain in it.

It's rated at 2 stars out of a 6 star rating:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=1520&cat=all

I personally feed Orijen, and both my pups thrive on Orijen. Keep in mind that although Orijen is expensive, you also do not need to feed as much as they absorb more nutrients when feeding higher quality dog food.

You do not necessarily need to feed a grain free food, unless your puppy show signs of grain intolerance. However, look for grains that have some sort of nutrition benefit rather than being just a filler like corn and rice.

For me personally I don't believe in feeding grains, but if they are fed a grain I prefer brown rice and oatmeal. I never feed by-products to any of my animals.

I adopted a greyhound pitbull from a friend who had him on pedigree, which is corn and some by-products. He had chronic diarrhea until I switched him to TOTW Pacific Stream. He has done amazing on it!

My 3 month old siberian husky puppy was started on Canidae then witches to beneful cause the grain free got to expensive and I believe the corn and dyes messed with her digestion, I put her on TOTW pacific stream (since it is an all ages food) unfortunately she started having diarrhea, I ended up putting her on Nutrisca Salmon and she has been doing amazing! It is grain free and potatoe free.. The bag is expensive however they eat about half of what they would on TOTW.

I hope this helps!

Congrats to have a puppy in your life, there must be fulfilled a lot of excitements and with a combination of loads of clean up.

I used to have 2 dogs and one was fussy eater and other one just eat whatever you give like your. I generally found that, the most tasty dry food which you can be easily to find in supermarket or chained pet store, are trend to be the worst in term of quality. Although I haven't tried it by myself, I can tell there looks like tones of colorant and flavor enhancer. I found the best way to tell how well the food is, by it's stool. The smaller, moderate firmness the stool is, the better absorption it is. Just something to bare that in mind, a lot of manufactures blend a lot of filter in to the "food" and this filter mostly dogs can't digest or to gain nutrition from.

Sorry to make a long opening, back to your question.
The most economic choice of pet food would be raw feed (It would be the most healthiest, as there will be very limited additive, remember, you don't have to get her sirloin steak for dinner, just grab meat from the freezer, and you could stock up when the frozen meat is on sale)
If raw feed is not in your favor, the best price of value pet food I have come across is Acana Pet food, which is sister brand to Orijien. The reason is good for us is because the protein level is slightly lower than Orijien and my dog won't fart that much.
The conclusion is from they have tried a range of dry food, canned food, and others. Dry food brands included James Wellbeloved, Hill's The science plan ( one of the worst money have spent), Baker, Bozita(this is pretty good one, but again for price of value I would go for Acana) Royal Canin, Iams, Purina Pro Plan, and Pedigree.

So back from vacations, Kira is now a celebrity in Sinaloa Mexico ^^
And thanks again for all your answers, I took my time to read them and used the links you guys provided me, and here are my conclusions:

We are going to change in time, Royal Canin small bags are back at 20USD and here in Mexico even more expensive, but right now everything looks healthy.
But the question is to what ?

Right now, new favourite is Wellness Core Puppy Grain Free, price is ok, and until now i could not find anything bad about this food.
Any opinions?

I don't know that food but analysis of it ingredients looks great! Keep it up
As to Royal Canin - here in Australia vets and petshops are selling it as super food but the truth is that it's rubbish. Overpriced with very little quality nutrients. When I first got my Winter I got a bag of it as well until I started doing more research. I then switched her to Canidae PURE, TOTW and Ziwipeak for wet and for treats. Unfortunately we have no Orijen available here in Australia as this would be my number one choice but I will stick to what I have found.
I also stay away from grain and add Organic Virgin Coconut oil for my pups.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/wellness-dog-food-core-dry/

hey there, here in Mexico its the same with the Royal Canin brand, it seems that it gets recommended by all the vets because they get sponsored and sell it, but fact is that is totally overpriced. We switched now to Wellness Core Puppy Grain Free, and Kira likes it, she finishes slowly her bowl, but she finishes it, so everything is fine.

i feed the wellness reduced cal food to get sierras weight down, wellness is a good brand.