Best dog food... help? - Page 2

[willowsmom]

Look into Wellness, too. Good ingredients and not terribly expensive.

[gingerstar]

We feed Fromm, and are very pleased with it. One thing I like is that it is fairly local to us (Wisconsin) and the owner of the feed store where I buy it tells me that they are extremely picky about their suppliers - quality control is very important to me, after that whole pet food tragedy.

I hear that Wellness was recently bought out, and that is why it is now in the big box stores. I would be cautious - I love their canned food, but I am watchful of product changes from a new owner.

[aurinia]

Originally Posted by greenmagick

Taste of the Wild is a food that people are really liking lately over on a dane forum i frequent. It is grain free, and while orijen and evo are probably a bit better, they are also way more expensive.

Raw is usually really cost effective too

This is what I feed my two, as well, and I love it! Tried EVO and while they did great on that too, its much higher in protein than ToTW (which can be very hard on their kidneys) and much more expensive. My 175-lb great dane gets 6 cups a day (as opposed to the 10 cups a day he got of Canidae, Chicken Soup and Solid Gold Wolf King, and was still losing weight on those), and my 100-lb rottie mix gets slightly less than 3 cups a day. Its actually been very easy to find...most feed stores seem to keep it in stock, and I've also found it at farm/tractor supply stores. Good luck with whatever you decide!

[tropicaldutchtulip]

We have two great dane puppies (9 months and 7 1/2 months) and just started the switch last week from Iams (that the breeder told us was okay!) to Merrick! We have been very happy thus far so we'll see how the rest of the bag goes.

I'm thinking of maybe starting some raw too once the kibble switch is complete. We just started giving our two cats some raw tonight and they loved it! Also just changed their kibble too!

[HealingBeam]

We switched from Hills to Canidae.
My pup has pretty soft stools. They are well formed but soft (I feel it when I pick it up). Could that be because of the food? Maybe he doesn't tolerate well this food?

[Ola_]

Originally Posted by HealingBeam

We switched from Hills to Canidae.
My pup has pretty soft stools. They are well formed but soft (I feel it when I pick it up). Could that be because of the food? Maybe he doesn't tolerate well this food?

Have you adjusted the amount you are feeding? We did the same switch (Science Diet to Canidae) a few years ago and I think the amount we fed was literally cut in half. Feeding too much will cause soft stools so I'd try to reduce the amount first.

How long have you been on the new food now? Did you do a gradual switch?

[HealingBeam]

Yes, we gradually switched the food.
He's on Canidae for a month now. We feed him as the table from Canidae site states (according to his age and weight).. about 1 1/2 cup (Hill's measuring cup) or about 150 g divided in 3 meals.

And he steals some apple or raw carrot from my toddler from time to time.

Ola, do you stick to one type of Canidae food or do you combine different types (ex. give your dog salmon type and then 4-meat type ... )? We don't want to mix it but the owner of the pet store thinks we can mix (not change it gradually) the flavours/meats as long as it's all Candiae's.

[Ola_]

We feed raw now, but when we used Canidae we stuck with one kind. I don't know that I would switch around suddenly because they have different protein sources and stuff. But if you were to mix a little of a different type into what he's eating, it would be similar to a gradual change in my mind.

How is his weight? If he's not too thin I'd consider feeding 1/4 cup less (over the course of the day, so feed 1 1/4 cup) as an experiment and see if that has any effect on his stools.

[HealingBeam]

He has 9 kg now (that's almost 20 lbs) at age of 3 months. When we got him, 2 months ago, he had 3 kg. He looks lean/elegant
I'll try to feed him less and see what happens. Thanks for the advice.