# Could use some new ideas for food brands.



## bigpoodleperson (Jul 14, 2009)

I am looking for a new brand of dog food for Luke. I haven't found a food that we both like and want to stick with. I would like some other brand suggestions to try please. 

I have tried many over the years with my dogs. I have tried and liked Fromm, but Luke didn't do as well on it and wasn't a fan of the flavor. He is currently on Sport Dog Food, and has done really well. Again, he isn't a fan of the flavor. I'm not a fan of the price of the Origin. I don't like Taste Of the Wild or Merrick. Again, don't really like Blue Buffalo or Earthborn. 

I was thinking about Evo, but I remembered that Luke hasn't done real well with grain free foods. I would prefer to stick to something not as high protein. 
Where we used to live, there was a fantastic little store that carried a wide variety of really great foods. Nothing like that here.  Chewy it is for us. Thanks.


----------



## peppersb (Jun 5, 2011)

I do mostly home cooked food for my dogs, but they do get some kibble. We are currently using Open Farm, alternating between the fish formula and the turkey/chicken formula. Open Farm is more expensive than most dog food, and it is not carried by every pet store. But I trust the ingredients (at least I trust them more than most processed dog food). They are Certified Humane which means that a third party certifies that their farms follow reasonable animal welfare standards. You can order directly, or find a store that carries Open Farm here:

https://www.openfarmpet.com/


----------



## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

While I do not yet have my poodle I feed all my other dogs Victor. They do very well on it and they make several different formulas.
https://victorpetfood.com


----------



## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

Since you mentioned Chewy's... we gave their brand, American Journey, a trial run. Nike did fine on it. The biweekly visiting pitty broke out in hives, and ear infections, and my boys have the biggest poops they have ever had.So my boys are finishing off their bag,and then the pitty and my boys will be back on Acana and Zoic. This whole debacle with Chewy's, being bought by another company, has made me very relived that I had a list of several dog food I rotate. Meanwhile I feel like I need to rent a bulldozer to deal with the large piles of poo. I kid you not, this extra large pooper scooper is not cutting it!


----------



## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Charmed said:


> Since you mentioned Chewy's... we gave their brand, American Journey, a trial run. Nike did fine on it. The biweekly visiting pitty broke out in hives, and ear infections, and my boys have the biggest poops they have ever had.So my boys are finishing off their bag,and then the pitty and my boys will be back on Acana and Zoic. This whole debacle with Chewy's, being bought by another company, has made me very relived that I had a list of several dog food I rotate. Meanwhile I feel like I need to rent a bulldozer to deal with the large piles of poo. I kid you not, this extra large pooper scooper is not cutting it!


Charmed..........I tried the American Journey Salmon recipe and Molly did fine on it!Poops were normal but kibble is only half her daily food as she is feed raw too so maybe that;s why they were still small (& firm!) 

Bigpoodleperson........
Another economical brand (5 star on DFA) is called Hi-Tek Naturals in the grain free recipe I got the Fish recipe and Again Molly did fine...........
Their original formula is 4 star and it also is very inexpensive. (Both at Chewy's)


I am soooo glad Molly is so easy to feed! LOL! I like changing her food often so I know wherever we are, I will find a food she'll eat! Also per Dr Karen Becker, it is a good way to prevent food allergies See her video on UTube called 'Control Your Pet's Food Allergies'


----------



## bigpoodleperson (Jul 14, 2009)

Thanks for the suggestions. We went with Solid Gold, and Luke is doing really well with the food. He hasn't really had any gas on it, which is a big issue with him. Draco actually really likes it too, which is rare. Unfortunately, it majorly set off his acid reflux and he has been sick alot. I had to stop giving it to him, so he is now pouting and not wanting to eat his other food.  

It would be so much easier if I could put both dogs on the same food. Maybe someday I will find that magic food for them, but not so far.


----------



## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

If your dog doesn’t get diarrhea on champion foods I highly recommend them. I think Acana regionals is the very high quality. You can also try Orijen if your dogs are young and active. The downside to this food is that it isn’t cheap typically $80+. Unfortunately Lucky does not do well on Acana and gets diarrhea no mater how small the portion or how slow the transition. 
I have yet found a food that agrees with all four dogs. The closest is Merrick. 

For this reason I feed 3/4 Merrick grain free salmon. I like this because it has sweet potato as a top ingredient. Can I ask why you don’t like Merrick?


----------



## Aberdeen00 (Jan 8, 2018)

I understand the quest for the perfect food, though it’s never been pickiness that’s the problem - it’s my labs awfully sensitive stomach. My dogs all did great on Organix, but they stopped selling their poultry free in store and it became a big pain, also it’s pretty expensive. They are currently on Tractor Supply’s brand Untamed, and doing great on it, and you can’t beat the price for the quality. I love fish based stuff, such pretty coats! My trouble with Merrick was that it was too rich for sensitive stomachs. Loose stool until we switched. I still see lot of dogs I work with who do great on it. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

I just switched to Canine Caviar for a change. So far so good!


----------



## Charleeann67:) (Nov 6, 2017)

*How to decide*

I'm overwhelmed now. Everyone has sound reasons for choosing the food they feed their dog/s and I realize when I get my pup I will start out with what the breeder was feeding it, but how do you go from there? Isn't it a slow process to transition to a new food?
I want something I can use to stuff chew toys with and use the daily allotment as training "tid bits".
So, what did everyone start out with when they got their new furbaby?
Thanks in advance!


----------



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Charleeann67:) said:


> I'm overwhelmed now. Everyone has sound reasons for choosing the food they feed their dog/s and I realize when I get my pup I will start out with what the breeder was feeding it, but how do you go from there? Isn't it a slow process to transition to a new food?
> I want something I can use to stuff chew toys with and use the daily allotment as training "tid bits".
> So, what did everyone start out with when they got their new furbaby?
> Thanks in advance!


I always transition slowly by doing 2 days of 1/4 new food, 3/4 old food. 2 days of 1/2 and 1/2, 2 days of 3/4 new and 1/4 old and then full switch.


----------



## swimingal (Dec 22, 2016)

Our boy was originally on Taste of the Wild with his breeder so we kept him on that for awhile. He started getting pick and would not eat it. We started using some of the Stella and Chewy meal toppers to get him to finish his bag. We then started by comparing well rated dog foods and what we could afford and started cycling through a bunch (in part to keep it mixed up for his finicky taste). 

We had terrible results with American Journey, could not go through that 24 lb bag quick enough. We finally settled on Victor brand. It is well rated and he likes it. It yields nice firm not too big poops too, so that is a plus. We just get a different flavor for him every time to keep him interested in it and so far every one has been a win.


----------



## bigpoodleperson (Jul 14, 2009)

I saw a few years ago that Merrick started sourcing some ingredients from China, so I decided to not go with them. I think TOTW does too. I am not hard core against this as I feed Draco a Purina brand (for many reasons). I just decided to go with different foods for Luke. 
I did try Acana in the past for Luke. I didn't see enough of a difference to continue to pay for it. Still had bad gas and occ. loose stools unfortunately.

CM, I did try the Canine Caviar food for Draco about a year ago to try and help with his acid problems. Didn't seem to make a difference, and he turned his nose up at them. Luke liked them (but Luke likes almost everything). I wouldn't be opposed to getting it again.

I am honestly really happy with the Solid Gold right now! I just told my husband tonight that I have not smelled Luke's horrible gas in awhile! He has been on probiotics for months, but nothing has helped for over a year to stop his gas. None lately though since switching! Luke really likes the food, but that is not really an issue.


----------



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

bigpoodleperson said:


> I saw a few years ago that Merrick started sourcing some ingredients from China, so I decided to not go with them. I think TOTW does too. I am not hard core against this as I feed Draco a Purina brand (for many reasons). I just decided to go with different foods for Luke.
> I did try Acana in the past for Luke. I didn't see enough of a difference to continue to pay for it. Still had bad gas and occ. loose stools unfortunately.
> 
> CM, I did try the Canine Caviar food for Draco about a year ago to try and help with his acid problems. Didn't seem to make a difference, and he turned his nose up at them. Luke liked them (but Luke likes almost everything). I wouldn't be opposed to getting it again.
> ...


Well, I do feel your pain. One of my girls just doesn't like kibble. She's a HUGE PIG when I feed raw, but I switched everyone to kibble a few months ago as I suddenly couldn't tolerate the smell of raw meat  And now I am probably going to keep everyone on kibble for awhile because it's easier for others to help out and feed the pack with kibble.


----------

