Thank you!
According to dogfoodadvisor, Merrick had what looks like quite a few recalls. I hear some good things about Orijen maybe I'll look into that one.

Here is the link about Wellness, it's from 2012 but it states that they no longer purchase products from Diamond Brand.

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm303039.htm#

Layla's definitely become one of those dogs that eats exactly 25 percent less than what's recommended on the package. For her weight, TOTW recommends 2 to 2.25 cups per day. On average these days she eats 1.5 cups a day. Before she turned 1 year old she would scarf up any food she could find!

Most of the time the recommended amount on the bag is intended so you will overfeed. As in, you have to buy their food more often.

I feel better knowing these things, because for a long time now I've been trying everything to get her to eat enough and it's been such a struggle. I know now that part of the reason we were having so much trouble is because she had Lyme and then was on antibiotic treatment for a month, which didn't do well for her stomach. Now that she's back to full health, she's just regulating herself food-wise. Good for us, because, as most of you know, TOTW ain't cheap!

capellalayla wrote:

I feel better knowing these things, because for a long time now I've been trying everything to get her to eat enough and it's been such a struggle. I know now that part of the reason we were having so much trouble is because she had Lyme and then was on antibiotic treatment for a month, which didn't do well for her stomach. Now that she's back to full health, she's just regulating herself food-wise. Good for us, because, as most of you know, TOTW ain't cheap!

Liz - I dropped Ami's food 1/4 cup at each feeding and now he's back to eating with gusto...I remember my father long ago saying, in regards to new mothers worrying about their children's eating, that a child doubles their birth weight by 5 mos and triples their birth weight by a year...if they kept eating at the same rate as the first year, they would weigh 1000 pounds It makes me wonder if Layla cut down because she is not growing as fast, now and Ami cut down because he is done growing and because he is sleeping inside now (well, not now, now, he is sleeping on the grass over the septic tank, but at night, in house

Haley and others another member pointed out that dog food advisor was created by a human dentist, lol, sounds funny, but I do take what is recommended from there as a base line only. Another place that I do research on various dog foods is the site dogfood.guru. The neat thing about the site is everything about a particular food is listed right there, rather than having to search different areas on other sites. They list all recalls for that food, a basic idea on where they make their food and their sources, how good of a food it is, and a basic review. Merrick's recalls were limited to treats only. I checked maybe 10 or so top names and found Fromm and Earthborn to be one of the few that has never had a recall. There were a few products not listed, don't know if it is a newer site and are working on other products. My opinion is that reading several sources and opinions from real people can give you the best information on what to choose, not necessarily on what one web site says for you to feed.

Amy I think your analogy makes sense, Miya and Ami are pretty much done growing where Layla is doing her filling out phase, so her body is not requiring as much food as when she was a young pup.

Amy and Liz, yes I felt the same way, we dealt with tape worm during her first year, and I was frantic that she wasn't eating enough. I did research, and I mean a lot, and now I just let her eat what she wants, which is not a lot, lol, I feed once a day now instead of twice, and then give her a treat, which seems to work much better for Miya. So in the summer when she is less active she eats maybe 3/4 cup to 1 cup of kibble and winter typically 1.5 cups, now I do feed about 4 ounces of meat along with that, and a raw meaty bone several times a week. Miya is much closer in weight to Ami than she is to Layla, so 1.5 cups probably is perfect for Layla. Though don't be surprised Liz if she ends up changing again once she is close to 2 years of age...

Thank you Renee for the link for the dogfood.guru site, it was really helpful combined with dogfoodadvisor At this point I think I've narrowed it down to either Blue Wilderness or Earthborn. After doing some research for Merrick I loved everything about it however it's definitely priced accordingly $$.

Like I said before, my co-worker feeds her dog Nutro Natural Choice, it seem to rate pretty well and she gets 20 dollar mail in rebates from them often saving a lot of money! So I was wondering if for any of your dog food brands you receive similar coupons/discounts? Out of those choices though I'm leaning towards the Blue Wilderness because it is sold at Petsmart, and I have a friend that works there so I can get a discount.

Klaus is probably eating 1.5-2 cups a day, but seems to be a healthy weight. After going through a lot of these food/nutrition posts I see a lot of debate on the "large breed" subject. Klaus' mother was 60lb and his father 80lbs, because I think he is going to be larger than say 50lbs would it make more sense to have him on a large puppy breed formula like he is now, or switch him to a regular puppy formula? I don't want to interrupt his growth cycle.

Haley, no problem. Another site I forgot about was dogfoodanalysis.com, so I do combine info, lol. My Miya is between 65 and 75 pounds, I'll get a better weight when she goes in for her yearly shots, coming up soon. So she is larger than most huskies. Huskies are classified as medium to medium/large breed. The difference is in the weight, but also in the growing phases. From what I understand from reading, it's the difference in growth plates as far as to which type to feed. so even though Klaus may be on the large end of breed standard, his growth plates will stop earlier than large breed dogs. Typically with huskies growth plates start to close at 12 to 18 months of age and with large breeds it is closer to the 24-30 months. That's why large breed puppy food is designed with that in mind (it has to do with calcium to phosphorus ratios), so standard puppy food is appropriate for Klaus regardless of his end weight. I hope that explains things better for you.

I will mention 2 things about Blue, one many huskies do not do well on it, loose stools seem to be the problem, it may not affect your guy, so trying can't hurt. The other problem is they are currently being sued by Purina over false claims, as in there meat is sourced as meat when in fact(according to Purina) they are using lower grade meats and by products. Just take a look around and read up on that claim. I did try Miya on their can products, to supplement her kibble, she was very young when I got her and didn't feel like she was weaned properly, and she just couldn't eat their can products, loose poop is no fun, lol.  I do not want to feel like I am trying to sway you from one item or another, but I did want you to be aware of the"hidden" facts on Blue.

Thanks for the input! I didn't come across that in my search. I think we'll give blue a try, if it doesn't work out I think I can convince my boyfriend to get Merrick.

And that does make sense about the growth plates, he was already on Diamond Large Puppy formula when he came from his breeder, so we'll get him switched to the regular blue wilderness puppy formula. Hopefully if he likes the food he'll like their treats as well. He's not really into treats, which doesn't make training any easier. He'll take them here or there pretty much only if he is in the mood for them.

Haley, totally forgot to mention a new line of Merrick's, at the guru website they gave good reviews, I think at advisor too. I'm mentioning it because it's their "budget friendly" line, but still use the best meats, it is their "Whole Earth Farms" line. I think that line is a more reasonably priced food. Take a look, it may be an alternative for you. I think that the guru site also had coupons available. Also ask the pet stores or the web sites of manufacturers on if they offer coupons and some offer frequent shopper discounts such as buy 9 get the 10th bag free, just ask.

For sure I'll look into that, thank you!

Haha, I've mentioned that about Miya, she is not into training treats. Using good boy and shoulder rubs may be as effective for you as it is for me. You just have to find what works best, some have success with string cheese or his regular kibble in a baggie. Food for thought, pun intended.

He doesn't even look at us when we say "good boy!" he's never focused on one thing for too long.
I have the day off tomorrow will be working on some simple commands.

Haley, hate side tracking on topics, but, using his name repeatedly with good boy in an exciting tone of voice should get him focused on you, the shoulder rubs along with that will keep him interested on what you want to do next.  Good Luck!!

I'm slowly trying to get my little boy in to Dr. Tims Kinesis.

I'm getting my 8 week old pup next month on Valentine's Day so I've been looking up as much information as possible about anything and everything! I have about five different brands of food to look into based on what I've read up on. I've always liked Blue Buffalo, but I'm also considering Nutro, Wellness, TOTW, and Orijen. I'm not very familiar with Wellness or Orijen, but they've had some pretty great reviews so far. When Jack comes home, I'll be slowly switching him over to the new food from Purina Puppy Chow.

Anyone else have any input?

Why not just switch to raw right away?

I actually haven't read up on that, so I'm not familiar with raw at all. Is that what you feed Link?

Yep.  He has eaten raw since the first week we got him.  He was fed Purina Pro Plan for the first two months of his life and we switched him over to raw right away, more or less cold turkey.

We had some kibble left over originally from the breeder and I think we kept it around for treats and training, but once it was gone, it was gone for good.  

You have a multitude of options available to you in Seattle, including many different commercial raw foods and lots of butchers in town, some of whom specifically deal scraps and pieces for dogs.

This was Ronin's dinner last night. It was a bit bigger than normal but he has been doing a lot of exercise . It was Duck carcass stuffed with beef and a small bit of liver and kidney. All served frozen

Ronin has been on prey model raw since 7 months old - he is close to 15 months now.

He is fed a variety of foods; Whole fish, kangaroo, lamb, beef, duck, turkey, chicken and a host of any organs I can get my hands on - he even had crocodile for his first birthday but that is way too expensive for regular feeding LOL

When he was a wee puppy he was fed kibble and raw which was recommended by our breeder - I know it is controversial to mix kibble and raw, but we never had any tummy issues or loose stools. I would say to anyone mixing kibble and raw that there is a need to make sure you get the calcium:phosphorus ratios right, especially for a growing dog  

I made it a mission when he was very young from 9 weeks to feed as many different meat sources that I could get my hands on - it is my personal view that early exposure like this has contributed to Ronin having no known allergies and a cast iron constitution... much like exposing out young children to different foods can reduce the likelihood of allergies. - again this is just my unproven theory  

Here is a long and possibly boring vid of him enjoying last nights dinner

I would love to feed raw! It sounds like it would be much better than kibble. The only thing is I live in an apartment and I don't have very much space, so I wouldn't be able to buy in bulk. Would that be an issue?

Also your dog is adorable!

I feed my maggie TOTW. I used to feed raw but can't now. TOTW is all my maggie will eat.

We feed TOTW too and have been for almost a year now. Layla started having runny poop with Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete so we switched.

I'm also happy to report that a couple weeks after she finished her Lyme disease antibiotics Layla's appetite has finally returned. It had been four or five months of struggling but finally we figured out the cause and solved it. It's so nice to see her so excited about food again and finishing every meal. I think she's finally started filling out a little, too.

suepatt22 wrote:

I would love to feed raw! It sounds like it would be much better than kibble. The only thing is I live in an apartment and I don't have very much space, so I wouldn't be able to buy in bulk. Would that be an issue?

Also your dog is adorable!

Thanks!

Bulk is obviously cheaper, but as you mentioned space can be an issue. I ended up buying a Waeco 60L portable camping fridge freezer. You just adjust to the minus temp you want and the whole unit becomes a freezer. So I use this and a small area in our normal fridge freezer.

Good shopping for whatever is on sale should equate to the a similar saving that you get by buying bulk.

It is possible without a separate freezer, in a very short period of time you will work out a system to make it work for you. It really is far less daunting than it seems.

Oh, and if you have friends or family near you with a chest freezer, they may let you put some food in it, this way you can just bring a weeks worth of frozen food home at a time and use your normal freezer compartment.

If you are really committed to feeding raw, some places have "food lockers"... places where you rent freezer space. You might want to see if something like that is available to you. Check with a custom butcher or look for "freezer plans".