Hi All,

I have had Meeka for roughly a month now give or take. She currently is at 26 pounds and was born 12/5/12. I initially started her off with Purina Puppy with DHA ( 6# bag) and moved her over to Purina Puppy food for Large Breed.

At the moment I have about half the bag of Purina left over from the 30 pound bag and would like everyone's input on the below brands as I recently discovered Dog Food Advisor.

I will more than likely give the rest of the Purina away or dump it out despite Meeka loving it. After researching it, I would like to decide on one of the brands below that best fits my current budget:

Orijen
Innova
Holistic Select
Canidae

Has anyone had experience with the above brands? If so, what are some of the pros and cons of it? Blue Buffalo seems rather expensive at $56 while the above brands I found anywhere from $40-$50. At the moment I can do that price range as I am very tight on budget (helping parents on their mortgage due to loss of employment while maintaining my own place...so every dollar counts right now for me).

I know the move from 2 star Purina to the above brands will be great regardless.

Since budget is definitely a concern, I'll throw in another suggestion. Costco carries a grain free food called Nature's Domain that runs around $30 for a 30# bag. I feed the Turkey formula, but they also have Salmon. I know a couple other members feed it as well. It's not quite up there in quality like Orijen, etc...but I believe it's 4 star on dog food advisor. Plus, you need to have a Costco membership. Though the membership fee is more than worth it for us simply on dog food savings alone.

Others will surely chime in on the brands you asked about though!

Edit: Another concern for some people is that it's made in the Diamond dog food factory, which has a history of recalls, but I just pay close attention to it.

thanks for the advice, may need to re-sign up back to Costco.

Forgot to mention I did buy a 5/6 pound bag Innova Puppy and a bag of Canidae to try out. Meeka demolished a 1 1/2 cup of Innova. Usually with Purina it takes her about an hour (she eats a bit, plays, eats, etc).

When I read other posts, i read about the poop. Poop looks like, well poop to me. What exactly is different when they eat these better brands?

+1 for Nature's Domain. Pippa does really well on it.

Ideally, poop should be small, solid stools. If a food isn't as high in quality or is too high in protein, the poop can been looser and a low quality food car also mean more poop because they aren't absorbing as much of it.

High quality food should also create darker stools and the stools should break down quicker.

That's my understanding!

Nothing more attractive than talking about poop...

The lower quality foods are full of fillers. Your pup isn't getting anything nutritional out of the fillers, it just makes them fell full. So your paying for stuff that goes in, and right back out.
Another option is Earthborn holistic. It's not as pricey as some of the other better foods. I pay $43 bucks for a 28lb bag, and it lasts Lucian a little over a month. He eats 3 cups a day currently.

I also just switched koda over to earthborn holistc primitive. Todsy actually.. He was on Bbw but alot of rumors going on with them and i kind of just wanted to stay away

Is earthborn select the same company as as Holistic Select?

As for the stool, I will need to check her pool tomorrow morning to see if its any darker than when she was/is eating Purina. Looks dark to me, but then again I'm no poop expert. Will need to start paying closer attention to it.

I will definitely check out a small bag of Nature's Domain. I saw it today at the new feed store I visited today and most if their prices are reasonable compared to Petsmart (I refuse Petco fue to terrible customer service)

Thank you all for your tips. Much appreciated.

No, Holistic Select is different afaik.

We feed Earthborn and LOVE it. We used to feed Canidae and LOVED it too! But Luka can't eat rice and Earthborn's grain-free is cheaper than Canidae's, so there ya go. We go through a 28# bag each week @ 45 bucks a bag! Glad they have a buy 12 get 1 free deal.

Oh about Costco's Nature's Domain.... my pack didn't do well on it either. About the same bad things happened as when they were on BB .... HUGE stinky FREQUENT poops :/ Also, I personally think it's just a ton of potato.

How do you know if your dog can't have grain? Do their poo come watery?

I know with Meeka she loves Peanut Butter SmartBones (Digestible Rawhide) and I guess what everyone calls bully sticks (peanut flavor) however the other day I gave her some Kong Cookies with Peanut Butter on her Kong (She just eats it, doesn't really play with it) and it was watery. Haven't made that mistake since...

Sometimes puppy poo can vary just because they're young and they get into things, their immune system is still developing, etc. It's when it's multiple piles of runs or soft serve that you want to look into the cause. At least in my experience that's been the case.

It took us over a month to figure out what was wrong with Luka, when we got him at 8 weeks old. His poop came squirting out into a puddle, and solidified into a pancake on the ground. It was very WEIRD and distinctive. After a round of meds that did nothing, and then some sleuthing, I figured out it was the rice because the food the breeder had him on was IAMS puppy, corn based with chicken, and the food I had him on, Canidae, had chicken but no corn, but DID have rice. Originally I thought maybe it was the other protein sources in Canidae, so I tried the chicken & rice version, no improvement. Common denominator? The rice was in both Canidae versions!

Now that he's older, he can have treats with rice occasionally, he can handle it a bit better, but multiple days of anything with rice in it and we're back to pancake poops. The sad thing? When he had the runs originally we tried the tried and true method of giving.... chicken and RICE. His POOR stomach. His poop was bright green and stringy/tiny. My poor, poor baby....

Removed the rice from his diet, his poop is perfect.

It was a horrible experience.

I learn something new every day on this website. Thanks 5woofs.

Question for Keyda - where can I get an age tracker for my pups age? I know how old she is, but looks cool.

You get the age tracker from pitapata.com .

As for the food, Canidea isn't really high up on my list. They have had a lot of complaints (402 on Consumer Affairs) and I just prefer to stay away from them, but I know people who feed it without complaint. I like Orijen and Innova from that list.

Also on the grain topic, dogs don't need grains. They can't really process them and a lot of dogs can't eat grain food. I buy grain free food and always have. Most foods just have grains as fillers. A lot of the better foods have more then one protein source. I fed Merrick awhile ago and I was really happy with it, one of the major reasons being they had 5 sources of protein which I though was totally awesome!

If you found Nature's Domain at a feed store, it's probably not the same one we are talking about. It's a Kirkland brand, which means only Costco carries it (that I'm aware of).

Use foods used by professionals.

Dr. Tim's
Red Paw
Annamaet

These are the cream of the crop right now. Annamaet has been for over 25 years. Dr. Tim's had been used only at the professional level until about 2 years ago, 10 total. Dr. Tim's is completely dominating canine sports now, from racing to herding trials to even dog dogging and flyball. Interesting, both Dr. Tim's and Annamaet are WDJ approved foods and approved by Mary Strauss of Dogaware. Dr. Tim's dominated the Iditarod again this year. Skijoring as well with a monster Greyster named Ridge. Several of the top show kennels use Dr. Tim's and Annamaet. Bralin and Diamond T as well as others.

Red Paw is a nice food as well. All three are pretty reasonable, but Annamaet is expensive on-line compared to stores.

The ones to avoid are Earthborn, Fromm's Grain Free, Orijen and Acana.

Earthborn has dangerous levels of Ash mainly phosphorous, Orijen and Acana are chock full of legumes and both Fromm and Earthborn use massive amounts of factory made Pea Protein, which is like Corn Gluten but sounds better to most consumers.

If Canidae is easier to get, the Single Grain high protein food is a good looking kibble.

Sometimes I think some people overthink food... but that's just my opinion. Basically.... I suggest finding what works for your dogs. Sometimes you have to try a few to see what your dog likes. No kibble is perfect but you can see in your dogs behaviour, appearance, waste produced, health, and their actual preference, which works well for you.

TooManyHuskies wrote:

Use foods used by professionals.

Dr. Tim's
Red Paw
Annamaet

These are the cream of the crop right now. Annamaet has been for over 25 years. Dr. Tim's had been used only at the professional level until about 2 years ago, 10 total. Dr. Tim's is completely dominating canine sports now, from racing to herding trials to even dog dogging and flyball. Interesting, both Dr. Tim's and Annamaet are WDJ approved foods and approved by Mary Strauss of Dogaware. Dr. Tim's dominated the Iditarod again this year. Skijoring as well with a monster Greyster named Ridge. Several of the top show kennels use Dr. Tim's and Annamaet. Bralin and Diamond T as well as others.

Red Paw is a nice food as well. All three are pretty reasonable, but Annamaet is expensive on-line compared to stores.

The ones to avoid are Earthborn, Fromm's Grain Free, Orijen and Acana.

Earthborn has dangerous levels of Ash mainly phosphorous, Orijen and Acana are chock full of legumes and both Fromm and Earthborn use massive amounts of factory made Pea Protein, which is like Corn Gluten but sounds better to most consumers.

If Canidae is easier to get, the Single Grain high protein food is a good looking kibble.

Why do you say to avoid Earthborn, Fromm's Grain Free, Orijen and Acana for having pea protein but recommend red paw when according to dog food advisor it has ground corn in it? I didn't see a grain free version of red paw listed

We have feed TOTW, wellness grain free and are now on nature domain salmon, jack did not like the turkey.
All the pups are diff. Got to a natural dogfood store and ask for samlpes of things to try based off what you found on DFA site and see what works. There might be some runny poo as they are adjusting but if it last for a week or more I would adjust the foods.

soul embrace wrote:

TooManyHuskies wrote:

Use foods used by professionals.

Dr. Tim's
Red Paw
Annamaet

These are the cream of the crop right now. Annamaet has been for over 25 years. Dr. Tim's had been used only at the professional level until about 2 years ago, 10 total. Dr. Tim's is completely dominating canine sports now, from racing to herding trials to even dog dogging and flyball. Interesting, both Dr. Tim's and Annamaet are WDJ approved foods and approved by Mary Strauss of Dogaware. Dr. Tim's dominated the Iditarod again this year. Skijoring as well with a monster Greyster named Ridge. Several of the top show kennels use Dr. Tim's and Annamaet. Bralin and Diamond T as well as others.

Red Paw is a nice food as well. All three are pretty reasonable, but Annamaet is expensive on-line compared to stores.

The ones to avoid are Earthborn, Fromm's Grain Free, Orijen and Acana.

Earthborn has dangerous levels of Ash mainly phosphorous, Orijen and Acana are chock full of legumes and both Fromm and Earthborn use massive amounts of factory made Pea Protein, which is like Corn Gluten but sounds better to most consumers.

If Canidae is easier to get, the Single Grain high protein food is a good looking kibble.

Why do you say to avoid Earthborn, Fromm's Grain Free, Orijen and Acana for having pea protein but recommend red paw when according to dog food advisor it has ground corn in it? I didn't see a grain free version of red paw listed

Ground Corn in the old Red Paw foods is different than Corn Gluten Meal. Corn Gluten Meal is like Pea Protein a man-made concentrate except Corn Gluten has been fed for a long time and is safe. Ground Corn is about 6% protein. Corn Gluten and Pea Protein are about 60%. Big Difference.

Orijen (the new formula) and Acana have high protein legumes like lentils and chickpeas.

So in answer to your question the new Red Paw X Series foods do not have corn at all. I don't like foods with Pea Protein. It has certain qualities that interfere with nutrient absorption and it is untested.

I don't use GF foods not even Annamaet's or Dr. Tim's.

So do u do raw or what do you feed your husky?

TooManyHuskies wrote:

soul embrace wrote:

TooManyHuskies wrote:

Use foods used by professionals.

Dr. Tim's
Red Paw
Annamaet

These are the cream of the crop right now. Annamaet has been for over 25 years. Dr. Tim's had been used only at the professional level until about 2 years ago, 10 total. Dr. Tim's is completely dominating canine sports now, from racing to herding trials to even dog dogging and flyball. Interesting, both Dr. Tim's and Annamaet are WDJ approved foods and approved by Mary Strauss of Dogaware. Dr. Tim's dominated the Iditarod again this year. Skijoring as well with a monster Greyster named Ridge. Several of the top show kennels use Dr. Tim's and Annamaet. Bralin and Diamond T as well as others.

Red Paw is a nice food as well. All three are pretty reasonable, but Annamaet is expensive on-line compared to stores.

The ones to avoid are Earthborn, Fromm's Grain Free, Orijen and Acana.

Earthborn has dangerous levels of Ash mainly phosphorous, Orijen and Acana are chock full of legumes and both Fromm and Earthborn use massive amounts of factory made Pea Protein, which is like Corn Gluten but sounds better to most consumers.

If Canidae is easier to get, the Single Grain high protein food is a good looking kibble.

Why do you say to avoid Earthborn, Fromm's Grain Free, Orijen and Acana for having pea protein but recommend red paw when according to dog food advisor it has ground corn in it? I didn't see a grain free version of red paw listed

Ground Corn in the old Red Paw foods is different than Corn Gluten Meal. Corn Gluten Meal is like Pea Protein a man-made concentrate except Corn Gluten has been fed for a long time and is safe. Ground Corn is about 6% protein. Corn Gluten and Pea Protein are about 60%. Big Difference.

Orijen (the new formula) and Acana have high protein legumes like lentils and chickpeas.

So in answer to your question the new Red Paw X Series foods do not have corn at all. I don't like foods with Pea Protein. It has certain qualities that interfere with nutrient absorption and it is untested.

I don't use GF foods not even Annamaet's or Dr. Tim's.

I thought you were gone..

5woofs wrote:

Sometimes I think some people overthink food... but that's just my opinion. Basically.... I suggest finding what works for your dogs. Sometimes you have to try a few to see what your dog likes. No kibble is perfect but you can see in your dogs behaviour, appearance, waste produced, health, and their actual preference, which works well for you.

You may be right 5woofs. Before joining this site I didn’t think much of food, hence I’m stuck with a thirty pound PurinaOne food bag that is 2 star rating.

As I may have mentioned, I did buy 5 pound bags of Canidae and Innova Puppy.

Meeka absolutely demolished her bowl of Innova yesterday. Perhaps she was really hungry from playing with my son all day before I got home from work, but I never seen her ate so fast. Usually with PurinaOne she would take an hour to finish her meal (ate a bit, play, ate a bit, etc). I didn’t have time to check her stool, but she looked a bit more energetic than usual after she ate her meal.

Once I finished the Innova bag, I will try out Canidae. Definitely will buy a small bag of Holistic Select and Nature’s Domain once I get around to get my Costo card membership again, but have but have all but ruled out Orijen now to see what works best for Meeka. The Feeder Store that I found yesterday, despite their small 5 pound bag being reasonably price their 28 pound back is priced at sixty-eight bucks.

forgot to add, the "Feed Store" doens't have any samples and I very much doubt Petsmart and Petco would offer any, so im stuck buying the small bags of each branch as my try-out method.

Just remember sometimes you can't see a food's true effect on your dog, overall, until you've been feeding it for a month or two. But the small bags will give you an idea if they like it or not, and their waste Remember to slowly convert whenever you give a new food, sometimes just up and changing a food is hard on their bellies and it gives them the runs! Depends on the dog though, some of mine could eat something new each day and be fine, lol.

kclee wrote:

TooManyHuskies wrote:

soul embrace wrote:

TooManyHuskies wrote:

Use foods used by professionals.

Dr. Tim's
Red Paw
Annamaet

These are the cream of the crop right now. Annamaet has been for over 25 years. Dr. Tim's had been used only at the professional level until about 2 years ago, 10 total. Dr. Tim's is completely dominating canine sports now, from racing to herding trials to even dog dogging and flyball. Interesting, both Dr. Tim's and Annamaet are WDJ approved foods and approved by Mary Strauss of Dogaware. Dr. Tim's dominated the Iditarod again this year. Skijoring as well with a monster Greyster named Ridge. Several of the top show kennels use Dr. Tim's and Annamaet. Bralin and Diamond T as well as others.

Red Paw is a nice food as well. All three are pretty reasonable, but Annamaet is expensive on-line compared to stores.

The ones to avoid are Earthborn, Fromm's Grain Free, Orijen and Acana.

Earthborn has dangerous levels of Ash mainly phosphorous, Orijen and Acana are chock full of legumes and both Fromm and Earthborn use massive amounts of factory made Pea Protein, which is like Corn Gluten but sounds better to most consumers.

If Canidae is easier to get, the Single Grain high protein food is a good looking kibble.

Why do you say to avoid Earthborn, Fromm's Grain Free, Orijen and Acana for having pea protein but recommend red paw when according to dog food advisor it has ground corn in it? I didn't see a grain free version of red paw listed

Ground Corn in the old Red Paw foods is different than Corn Gluten Meal. Corn Gluten Meal is like Pea Protein a man-made concentrate except Corn Gluten has been fed for a long time and is safe. Ground Corn is about 6% protein. Corn Gluten and Pea Protein are about 60%. Big Difference.

Orijen (the new formula) and Acana have high protein legumes like lentils and chickpeas.

So in answer to your question the new Red Paw X Series foods do not have corn at all. I don't like foods with Pea Protein. It has certain qualities that interfere with nutrient absorption and it is untested.

I don't use GF foods not even Annamaet's or Dr. Tim's.

I thought you were gone..

Do you have anything factual to add? If you actually went to a competitive event you would see what pro's feed. I can assure you it isn't Orijen, Fromm or Earthborn.

Dr. Tim's, Annamaet, Red Paw, Eagle Power and Inukshuk are the ones. The first three are the best.