Annamaet and Dr. Tim's are the only dry foods I would use. Precise in a pinch. I am surprised that so many people feed such junk.

I would wager that most people aren't foraging around internet forums trying to expand their nutritional knowledge base (for themselves let alone their dogs). I am one of those who feed "junk". The way a lot of our members understand the different foods is WAY beyond me. Until I get some sort of signal telling me my dogs aren't doing well due to food, they eat what I buy them. Convenience and cost go a long way in swaying my choices. When I look at $35 for 20 pounds, I see over $200 a month. Then I'll be told "no, you'll feed less because...", but I'm not motivated to do the math or really figure it out when the dollar numbers start at that point.

harrise wrote:

I would wager that most people aren't foraging around internet forums trying to expand their nutritional knowledge base (for themselves let alone their dogs). I am one of those who feed "junk". The way a lot of our members understand the different foods is WAY beyond me. Until I get some sort of signal telling me my dogs aren't doing well due to food, they eat what I buy them. Convenience and cost go a long way in swaying my choices. When I look at $35 for 20 pounds, I see over $200 a month. Then I'll be told "no, you'll feed less because...", but I'm not motivated to do the math or really figure it out when the dollar numbers start at that point.

I tend to agree with you. I pay just a little over $1lb for those two foods in 35lb & 40lb bags. I can't believe people pay $2-$3 for some of these untested foods.

The bottom line is that every dog is different and what works for one dog, won't necessarily work for another. It comes down to what people are willing and able to pay, and what their dogs do well on. Before the P&G buyout, I tried Koda on Innova Evo, and although he loved it, it simply did not agree with him. At the time, it was one of the best kibbles on the market.

Therefore, sometimes the most tested, reliable, and healthy foods just don't agree with every dog.

Be careful how you word things. In general, stating opinions as facts tend to rub people the wrong way

Welcome to the forum.

Just bought ourselves some California Natural Venison and Earthborn Holistic Turkey, Chicken and Whitefish to try out in our rotation diet

I so appreciate the attitude of the members of this forum on the subject of feeding. I know everyone has their own way of doing things and their own reasons for doing it, but most people here are so gracious to keep their opinions as opinions. When I have asked questions that require information about food types or feeding schedules, people are very quick to recommend a change to what they believe to the the best for our dogs. However, I do not believe I would be "looked down upon" for not taking that advice.

You guys really are the best...all you raw feeders and grain-free kibble feeders and regular kibble feeders and "junk" feeders and table scrap feeders....kuddos for caring for your dogs in the best way that you can!!

SabakaMom wrote:

I so appreciate the attitude of the members of this forum on the subject of feeding. I know everyone has their own way of doing things and their own reasons for doing it, but most people here are so gracious to keep their opinions as opinions. When I have asked questions that require information about food types or feeding schedules, people are very quick to recommend a change to what they believe to the the best for our dogs. However, I do not believe I would be "looked down upon" for not taking that advice.

You guys really are the best...all you raw feeders and grain-free kibble feeders and regular kibble feeders and "junk" feeders and table scrap feeders....kuddos for caring for your dogs in the best way that you can!!

Thank you so much!!! It makes me feel like we're doing something right!

SabakaMom wrote:

I so appreciate the attitude of the members of this forum on the subject of feeding. I know everyone has their own way of doing things and their own reasons for doing it, but most people here are so gracious to keep their opinions as opinions. When I have asked questions that require information....I do not believe I would be "looked down upon" for not taking that advice.

Ditto here!

Hi ya,

I have finally switched from Royal Canin to Orijen (almost!!). However, the one for Nero (5 month / puppy) is not available and I will have to wait another 2 months for that.
They have Acana, but the one for puppy is not available either.

They do have Acana Pacifista and Orijen Fresh Fish. Do you think it's suitable to feed Nero with either of the two? Otherwise I will still have to feed him RC or ProPlan :-(

NeroHusky wrote:

They do have Acana Pacifista and Orijen Fresh Fish. Do you think it's suitable to feed Nero with either of the two? Otherwise I will still have to feed him RC or ProPlan

You could switch to an adult food now considering you are faced with either using a really good adult food versus a lower quality puppy food. At 5 months I'd still want to stick with a puppy food though. Could you possibly feed a mix of the Orijen or Acana adult food with the RC puppy? Maybe half Orijen adult and half RC puppy? Or 75% Orijen and 25% RC? If you really prefer to be on one food only (no mixing) then I would probably go with the Acana or Orijen adult food if that's all you have available to you. Just be sure to adjust feeding as needed since you probably won't be going off the adult feeding recommendations. But really, a few more months on Royal Canin is not going to ruin your puppy's health if you want to stick with it until maybe 8-12 months of age. That's just my thoughts on it.

Huskyluv wrote:

NeroHusky wrote:

They do have Acana Pacifista and Orijen Fresh Fish. Do you think it's suitable to feed Nero with either of the two? Otherwise I will still have to feed him RC or ProPlan

You could switch to an adult food now considering you are faced with either using a really good adult food versus a lower quality puppy food. At 5 months I'd still want to stick with a puppy food though. Could you possibly feed a mix of the Orijen or Acana adult food with the RC puppy? Maybe half Orijen adult and half RC puppy? Or 75% Orijen and 25% RC? If you really prefer to be on one food only (no mixing) then I would probably go with the Acana or Orijen adult food if that's all you have available to you. Just be sure to adjust feeding as needed since you probably won't be going off the adult feeding recommendations. But really, a few more months on Royal Canin is not going to ruin your puppy's health if you want to stick with it until maybe 8-12 months of age. That's just my thoughts on it.

I think from his previous post he said that the Orijen Puppy would be available in two months, or did I read that wrong?

If that's the case, as Val said, I would continue feeding RC for another month or two (won't hurt him) and switch him gradually to Orijen Puppy when you can.

If that's not the case, then I would also recommend the mixture until he is a bit older.

Thanks Val and Koda for your input.

I think I will be mixing Acana/Orijen with ProPlan for the time being. Nero is on ProPlan now (RC will not be available until early July either - sorry my mistake).

Time and time again I read the INTERNET reviews on ProPlan, and I don't think my conscience allows me to feed Nero on ProPlan alone.

I guess I'll go with the mixture.

Koda wrote:

Just bought ourselves some California Natural Venison and Earthborn Holistic Turkey, Chicken and Whitefish to try out in our rotation diet

Okay... so far, of all the kibbles we're rotating, none *knock on wood* have caused runny stool. They've both remained firm and formed (although, I should give Earthborn a little longer since we just started Sunday night).

So, in terms of taste and preference, the dogs like in order from most to least favorite: Earthborn Holistic (Turkey), Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken, and California Natural Venison. Which is pretty funny considering that's probably the best to "worst" quality. Snobby dogs.

Here's my new plan... since Koda (who is MUCH pickier) is LOVING Earthborn Holistic (haven't seen him this excited in a while) and it's Turkey-based formula... The plan is going to try THK because I'd like to transition them to raw or mostly raw feeding. We're going to get some samples of Keen (going with the oats-inclusive formula because of price) to test out. If the kids do well on Keen for a few days, I will order it and switch them from TOTW Pacific Stream to THK Keen as their base food. Then I will start rotating in some different kibbles to get a little variety in there. The ultimate game plan is to get a chest freezer (honestly probably not going to happen until after the wedding), and when I can buy meat in bulk, I will start rotating in raw food.

So that's the plan! Wish us luck!

Good luck! Hopefully Mr Picky (aka Koda) will like THK. Let us know how it goes!

I went into a holistic dog food store and they suggested I go raw, which I've been trying to learn and read more about. They also said we could do a combo of kibble and raw.
They said if we were going to feed kibble, the best one we could get is Orijen with Acana as a close second. I ended up going with Orijen Large Breed Puppy as it is a local company. I was surprised to see it mentioned by a few of you in the states and I guess it is a bigger company than I thought!
Do you think this is a decent food to feed?

Orijen is a great food and comes highly recommended by quite a few of us here

YAY that is great to hear that the salesman knew what he was talking about!

Sounds like it he had a good idea

I'd like to do more raw also, but my freezer and the small garage fridge's freezer, often referred to as the 'beer fridge' - well, it's just not enough! I think Ginger & Storm's freezer will have to wait until the Fall...besides, that's probably about the time Storm will start on a partial raw diet. So far, I give him a couple of bite size raw chicken and turkey from Ginger's dinner, and he LOVES it! No need to sear or flavor it. And the small amount so far agrees with his tummy.

As far as kibble, I feed Ginger Orijen as well. Storm is currently on a weight management kibble, Wellness Core grain free reduce fat.

The freezer is an issue for us too. Maybe I can convince Matt to start hunting and get a deep freeze (he mentioned he wanted to get into hunting awhile ago). Then we would save on costs of the meat too!
I think we will be going partial raw once we have Mikko settled on Orijen. The owner of the store gave us a 2lb sample and Mikko got into it when I made the mistake of leaving it in the car when I stopped at the bank. He seemed to really enjoy it and will pretty much eat anything (including dirt), so I'm not worried about him being picky.

I agree with the salesman, Sarah. As far as kibble's go, I consider Orijen to be the best and Acana to be a close second. Good person you have there and great food to be feeding your sibe.

Having an extra freezer makes all the difference in feeding raw and allows you to stock up on meat when you find it at a good price too. I dabbled in raw here and there during my kibble days but waited until I bought my first chest freezer for the garage before really getting into raw feeding.

cmanding wrote:

I'd like to do more raw also, but my freezer and the small garage fridge's freezer, often referred to as the 'beer fridge' - well, it's just not enough! I think Ginger & Storm's freezer will have to wait until the Fall

Same here accept that I don't have the beer fridge! I would totally give them more raw,but a freezer for their meat will have to wait

Kody just finished his first bag of Orijen and he's done great on it! Mya is on the Wellness Core Reduced Fat also =)

cmanding wrote:

I think Ginger & Storm's freezer will have to wait until the Fall...besides, that's probably about the time Storm will start on a partial raw diet. So far, I give him a couple of bite size raw chicken and turkey from Ginger's dinner, and he LOVES it!

I've found that putting on weight as well as taking weight off is achieved best with raw. Seamus shrunk in size when we started him on raw. May I ask why you're not starting him on raw (even partial) sooner?

arooroomom wrote:

I've found that putting on weight as well as taking weight off is achieved best with raw. Seamus shrunk in size when we started him on raw. May I ask why you're not starting him on raw (even partial) sooner?

I was given a worksheet by my vet which calculated how many calories Storm could have at the very least for weight loss. I've only had him for about 6 weeks now, and transitioning him from his old kibble to another dog food and making him 'feel full' led me to feed Wellness Core Reduced Fat kibble. I could feed just under 3 cups a day, which is what he was used to, and still be able to give him a couple of treats.

Val mentioned that when she tried to get her boy to drop some weight by feeding less, it didn't happen but once she went to a weight management food, she could feed a little more and make him feel fuller but still managed to drop weight off him.

I noticed that once I started feeding THK and raw for Ginger, she leaned out a lot within a month's time.

So I asked about feeding raw with kibble due to the different digestion rates between the 2, and it sounded like a little raw with kibble was OK but because of the different rates a dog digests kibble vs. raw, you typically do not want to feed kibble and raw at the same time.

So I was planning to wait until Storm got down under 100 lbs and revisit starting Storm on raw and THK. I want to make sure the amount of food he gets still satisfies him.

If I can start raw with kibble, I'd prefer to do that....

cmanding wrote:

So I asked about feeding raw with kibble due to the different digestion rates between the 2, and it sounded like a little raw with kibble was OK but because of the different rates a dog digests kibble vs. raw, you typically do not want to feed kibble and raw at the same time.

So I was planning to wait until Storm got down under 100 lbs and revisit starting Storm on raw and THK. I want to make sure the amount of food he gets still satisfies him.

If I can start raw with kibble, I'd prefer to do that....

From what I remember that's a myth.... but someone is going to correct me please if I'm wrong. I feel like I know plenty of people who feed THK and kibble at the same time without issue....