Food for my new rescue boy

[gealach]

Hello everyone,
My husband and I are finally ready to adopt a new canine buddy. (Our sweet old man passed away about a year and a half ago and we are just now feeling like we ready). After MUCH research we are going to be getting a 2 yr old rescue Golden (though I seriously doubt he is all Golden). He is a sweet sweet guy and I am very excited. I'll post pics when we finally bring him home.

Here's the question: If I describe him, can someone suggest a premium foods for me? We fed our old guy Innova and he did great on it, but I am willing to try something else. I'm in a pretty big city so I should be able to get my hands on almost anything. But, I can't do raw so kibble suggestions only please.

So: our new guy is a 1 to 2 yr old "Golden". But, a pretty calm guy for that age. He is 70 lbs and very big boned. His foster parents say the vet wants him to gain a few more lbs as he's on the skinny side. (I think he looks good and I like to keep big dogs on the skinny side, but we'll see what my vet has to say about that).

He is currently finishing up treatment for heartworm so he'll still be on strict activity restriction for a few more weeks. Luckily, the rescue caught his heartworm case early. His coat is a bit thin in a few places, I assume from the stress of being a stray plus the heartworm treatment. I've read some of the food sticky above, but was wondering if anyone had any recommendations. Thanks!

[Ola_]

If you used Innova and were happy with it, I would start with that and see how he does. You may need to change if it doesn't agree with him, but if it does it's a very good food.

I'm with you on keeping large (really all) dogs on the slim side.

[gealach]

Thanks, Ola. I'll probably fall back on the Innova if I don't hear of a reason to try something else. Also, are there any particular supplements I should try giving him as he recovers from his heartworm and settles into our home? Perhaps fish oil or something to help his coat?

And, finally...I know that this dog is terrified of thunder. I know the deal of not babying him in his fear as that will reinforce that thunder is something to worry about. BUT this particular dog has to be kept calm for the time being so we'll probably have to hide in the basement if a thunderstorm happens. I have rescue remedy and am willing to try it but have NO CLUE how much to give a dog that size.
Thanks!

[beanma]

You could check out this site for kibble reviews: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/ . We feed Canidae right now and it's working out fine for us, but I'm not uber picky about it all.

[mistymama]

I'm a big fan of the Wellness brand. We raw feed, but are able to switch to Wellness Protein Based (grain free) when we board with no tummy issues.

[gingerstar]

Congrats!
We feed Fromm, and have been very happy with it. We use Wellness canned food, too.

For the thunder, I know Patricia McConnell has addressed how to deal with this, I will check for a link, but I remember her saying that the calming pheromone stuff, tho expensive, does help. (Here is what I mean. It also comes as a spray.)

Here is a link to her blog posts about Thunder phobia - note, though, that the way it came up has the most recent post at the top, so you may want to start at the bottom of the page....