# Brands of Food



## Johanna (Jun 21, 2017)

I have been feeding Purina for over 50 years. Right now I am feeding the "sensitive skin and stomach" variety because one of my dogs (not a poodle) has digestive issues.


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## Raindrops (Mar 24, 2019)

If I recommend a kibble it's always Farmina N&D. I used it for a short time with a previous dog that was on kibble and I really liked the quality. Smells like actual food. Seems very high quality with little filler. Has options for grain inclusive or grain free.


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## Pytheis (Sep 17, 2019)

I feed Farmina to both of my dogs. My golden is now 10, so she’s been on a lot of different foods throughout her life. She’s by far done the best on Farmina as far as coat quality, skin quality (she gets bad rashes on certain foods, including Purina Sensitive Skin), energy level, and stool quality. My German shepherd has been on so many different kinds of foods in his short life (raw, freeze-dried, dehydrated, kibble) and every single one makes him throw up except Farmina.


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## Phaz23 (May 31, 2020)

My 16 year old (min pin) and 6 month old (toy poo) eat Nulo (the premium version, not the petsmart version) and Nature’s Logic supplemented with primal raw a few times a week. My older one has never had a health problem and has a gorgeous coat. I rotational feed her different proteins but same brands. We lived in Austin and had the opportunity to see Nulo grow from a small company and had access to the full selection at the local pet stores. At least then, they seemed to be really invested in making a great food. Orijen is too hard on my little dog’s kidneys, makes her pee crystallize so it’s not the food for us.


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## Michigan Gal (Jun 4, 2019)

I live in the middle of nowhere and the best food I can get is Taste of the Wild. It is a top 20 food by www.dogfoodanalysis.com. But, I actually usually feed predator raw.


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## Spottytoes (Jul 28, 2020)

Each dog is so different when it comes to food and there are so many good choices. We’ve tried a fair number as I like to rotate. Bobby did quite well with the Canidae Pure 
but they no longer carry the flavors he likes best. Nutro was pretty good too but his poops where a bit softer than I would like. We are in the middle of transitioning to Farmina. He’s almost at the point where he will be totally transitioned to Farmina. So far he really likes it and absolutely no digestive issues. We tried Orijen last fall as it looked so good and the reviews are amazing. Top notch dog food but not for every dog and certainly not mine. I was so bummed. Bobby absolutely loved it, more than anything we have tried but despite us taking it very slowly, it was a digestive disaster. Finding the right food for each particular dog sometimes takes a bit of experimenting. I’m pretty excited that the Farmina seems to be a hit so far. It is a great food from everything I hear and the ingredients are excellent. As long as it continues to work well for him we will stick with it but probably change up the protein now and then.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

The best food is one your dog does well on, likes to eat, and that you can afford to feed. I've fed a lot of different foods to different dogs over the years, everything from grocery store brands to "super high-end premium" brands. Currently, my APBT and GSD are on Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach Salmon and Rice formula.


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## eeeeeek (Dec 13, 2020)

I've tried feeding Acana to my puppy. Although it is a great brand, it wasn't a good fit for my pup. Her poops were a bit runny and she had trouble digesting it, I think due to the high protein. If I gave her Orijen, I think it would be a similar outcome. I also dislike how it's completely grain free. I think it's good to have a bit of whole grain, such as brown rice, barley, oatmeal, etc. Many of the grain free brands use fillers like lentils.

I know many PF members feed Farmina. I feed my puppy Solid Gold and she does great on it. I'm planning to switch to Honest Kitchen or Farmina, but will wait awhile since I just found a food that my pup does well on after a month of tummy trouble. 

I like to use dogfoodadvisor.com to look up brands of dog food and its quality.


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## PamZachZoey (Jun 8, 2020)

Thank you all so much for your replies.

I never heard of Farmina, but see that Chewy.com sells it.

Which flavor goes over best with your dog(s)?


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## Asta's Mom (Aug 20, 2014)

Asta did not do well on any of the Purina ProPlan formulations - severe constipation (poor boy) Heard good things about Hills Science Diet but mostly mixed opinions. We use the regular Science Diet light and Asta loves it, good poops, good skin and hair.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Peggy likes Farmina N&D (she chose Ancestral Grains - Chicken & Pomegranate from the samples we offered her). It really smells like food and contains no legumes.









Canine heart disease may relate to legumes, potatoes


Federal authorities are studying possible links between heart disease in dogs and diets containing legumes or potatoes.




www.avma.org





We purchase it from a local pet food store, because they’re a wonderful small business and resource that we like to support, but it’s also available at chewy.com.


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## Dogs4Life (May 27, 2018)

My dogs currently eat Farmina (grain inclusive). Honest Kitchen also is a good brand; they just came out with grain inclusive kibble. Open Farm also is supposed to be good. They have more of a flavor variety, but I couldn't get both of my dogs to eat the kibble, and they don't sell on Chewy. My dogs ate Purina in the past, and while I liked the brand, I wanted more protein and flavor choices.

I would suggest looking at the ingredient lists to see what's best for your dogs.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Peggy gets roughly half her daily calories from Honest Kitchen Whole Food Clusters (grain-free, beef). I hand feed her this food during short training sessions and give her a quarter cup in her crate at bedtime. Definitely make sure you have water available 24/7 if you feed this (or any other) kibble.


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## Layla’smum (Dec 16, 2020)

I have been feeding Layla Fromm puppy gold as recommended by her Breeder. I love this kibble it’s a little pricey about $54 (Cdn) for a 15 lb bag but Layla is thriving on it and I don’t have any intentions on changing brands.


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## pepperR (Aug 22, 2013)

My two 5 pound poodles are so finicky. I finally tried The Farmer's Dog. They eat so little that cost isn't horrible but it is pricier than most. If I had big dogs I would not be able to do it.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

PeggyTheParti said:


> Peggy gets roughly half her daily calories from Honest Kitchen Whole Food Clusters (grain-free, beef). I hand feed her this food during short training sessions and give her a quarter cup in her crate at bedtime. Definitely make sure you have water available 24/7 if you feed this (or any other) kibble.


People grade food! Yum! Did you try it? Would this be good as a higher reward treat?


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## Ava. (Oct 21, 2020)

My dog eats pedigree, he looks great. Has plenty of energy.

He did awful on lots of brands before pedigree. Feed whatever you can afford, and what your dog will eat.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

94Magna_Tom said:


> People grade food! Yum! Did you try it? Would this be good as a higher reward treat?


I did _not_ try it. Lol. But my husband’s been known to sample some of her treats.

With Peggy, the Honest Kitchen works great for short little training sessions, that are not too active, in a low-distraction environment like our home. For higher value, we use soft bits of human food, about the size of a kernel of corn, which have the added benefit of being consumed very quickly and easily, without the choking risk of dry kibble. We especially like using string cheese while walking. It can easily be broken into small pieces on the go, doesn’t make a mess in your pocket, and can be nibbled whole, while you hold it, when confronted with something particularly thrilling and/or scary, such as a roaring street cleaner or cyclist whizzing past.


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## PamZachZoey (Jun 8, 2020)

pepperR said:


> My two 5 pound poodles are so finicky. I finally tried The Farmer's Dog. They eat so little that cost isn't horrible but it is pricier than most. If I had big dogs I would not be able to do it.


My two don't like The Farmer's Dog. They ate the turkey a couple of times, then left it... and never liked the chicken or beef. Way too expensive to buy to throw out.

My friend has two Chi's and they love The Farmer's Dog and are thriving on it. They are alert, energetic, good weight, nice coat.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

pepperR said:


> My two 5 pound poodles are so finicky. I finally tried The Farmer's Dog. They eat so little that cost isn't horrible but it is pricier than most. If I had big dogs I would not be able to do it.


I looked into that once. I really didn't like the fact that they wouldn't tell you how much it cost until after you filled out the questionnaire, and then the let you know that for your smaller dog, it would be as much per month as you are currently paying for two dogs, four cats, and a bird.


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## 5girls1guy&apoodle (Jun 12, 2016)

Does anyone feed their dogs Wellness Core Original? My dogs like it. I get it auto delivered from Chewies and it’s a five star rated food and in a price range I can afford. Sometimes I think they must get bored with it, but they are all at healthy weights. I feed morning and night. I tried feeding my smallest toy poodle, a smaller food for her mouth, but she wanted nothing to do with that. She wanted to eat what everybody else was eating!


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## eeeeeek (Dec 13, 2020)

5girls1guy&apoodle said:


> Does anyone feed their dogs Wellness Core Original? My dogs like it. I get it auto delivered from Chewies and it’s a five star rated food and in a price range I can afford. Sometimes I think they must get bored with it, but they are all at healthy weights. I feed morning and night. I tried feeding my smallest toy poodle, a smaller food for her mouth, but she wanted nothing to do with that. She wanted to eat what everybody else was eating!


I've tried wellness core, but Stella got super runny poops after, so I stopped.


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## 5girls1guy&apoodle (Jun 12, 2016)

eeeeeek said:


> I've tried wellness core, but Stella got super runny poops after, so I stopped.


Yeah I would have had to stop too if that was happening. Each dog is just different I guess. I got lucky all three of mine can handle the same brand of food.


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## BrooklynBonnie (Jan 16, 2015)

My two have been eating Nature's Variety Instinct for years now. It took a while to find something Mochi would eat consistently as she seemed real picky her first year. She also had runny poo almost constantly on all the other brands I tried. I like Instinct for its quality, options(Frozen raw, kibble, freeze dried, wet, toppers etc), variety of flavors, lack of recalls, and the fact it is still owned by the original company/hasn't been sold yet. Who knows what will happen to the quality if it ever gets sold to one of the big companies and starts getting made alongside all the other brands.


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