Need a new dog food, help!

[Shelsi]

I haven't been around here in a few years but there used to be an amazing sticky in the old forum about dog food choices.  Does that exist anymore?

In a nutshell our dog when we first got her 7 yrs ago was on Iams.  She used to have explosive diarrhea and ear infections periodically.  Well our dd turned out to be allergic to everything under the sun and when she started to crawl I wanted to find a dog food that was safe just in case she got into it.  We switched to grain free Natural Balance and our dog got so much better!  No more diarrhea or ear infections.  Her skin got super nice.  We've been using that ever since so for about 4 yrs. 

However I think Natural Balance must have recently changed their formula.  The kibble is a different color and sure enough Chipper is the gassiest dog in the whole world now.  I've given it almost 2 months thinking she just needed to adjust but it's still just not treating her well.

When we first moved here a few years ago I tried to switch her since we couldn't get Natural Balance locally - I tried Taste of the Wild and she did not do well with it at all.  She was so disgustingly gassy we would keep her away from us and couldn't let her sleep in our room at night.  I mean it was bad.  She was also throwing up quite a bit.  So Taste of the Wild is out. 

Any suggestions?  I'd like to stick with grain free since dd and dh have celiacs and I just don't like bringing gluten into the home but they're 4 and 34 yrs old so I don't think I need to worry about either one of them eating it  ;)  lol. 

What about the new grain free Nutro?

[Ldavis24]

Hmm I heard one  person say the grain free Nutro sucked, the other loved it...But, my Dog loves her TOTW and she is never gassy because of it so it's hard with dogs being as different as people...

Our dog also liked the Wilderness Grain free from Blue Buffalo and we have also tried this stuff called...Earth born I think...

You will find that the grain free dog food market has EXPLODED in the past year or two. I mean there are A LOT of brands now to choose from and research the companies and ingredients...I love Taste of The Wild for our dog but it's such an individualized thing...

Maybe someone knows of the sticky you are talking about...haven't seen it.

[ChristyMarie]

Have you thought about switching to raw?

[Arduinna]

I remember the sticky but honestly it's likely outdated by now since pet food companies are bought and sold or change their formulas. I really recommend going raw, but if you insist of feeding commercially processed pet food check out the list here and their guidelines and choose one that is grain free.Dog Food Scoop

[tinuviel_k]

My pup had a lot of trouble with grain-based dog foods. She did pretty decent on Canidae Grain Free ALS... nice firm stool, good coat.

We switched to raw food several months back and she is doing even better on that. No gas whatsoever, shiny coat, good skin, pleasant smell, and no more eye boogers (she had those constantly). Poop is about 1/4 the quantity as before and it stinks about 80% less (its amazing!).

Raw isn't the easiest thing in the world, though it is pretty simple now that I have a routine down. it is also a bit more expensive for us, but I am finding more and more inexpensive sources all the time. I pay around $1 and $1.70 a pound for chicken quarters, beef ribs, green tripe, whole sardines, and organ meats. (Some people claim it is cheaper than kibble and I'd LOVE to know where they are getting their meat and how much it is!)
My 65 lb dog gets about 1.5 lbs of food a day. We spend between $65-$75 for her food each month. When we were on the expensive grain free kibble it cost about $60 a month.

[RabbitMomma]

I've been hearing lots and lots of good things about Orijen. It's pretty pricey, but based on the quality of ingredients and natural products, I'd say it's definitely worth the money. It's also grain free.

Here's a little review about it:

http://www.pet-food-choice.co.uk/Review_Orijen_dog_food.htm

[MommatoGray]

when we first got our dog, almost four years ago. We quickly learned that he had liver disease, of course the vet prescribed his food and out him on some pills. It was the first time that I started questioning what was in the kibble I was giving him. I soon learned that I did not like what was in the food and switched to making it myself. If you are like me and are not ready to go to raw but don't want to use kibble, homeade is the next best option. I have always fed him rice, a meat and veggies. But now with less free time I have switched to The Honest Kitchen. It is dehydrated, the one I use is preference, it is a base that you rehydrate and then you add some raw or cooked meat to it. We use cooked beef, chicken or salmon. Our dog loves it, and it is well balanced for him, all I do is add some salmon oil (just in the morning) and we are good to go. It is grain free and completely gluten free. Good luck! Hope you find something you are happy with! 

[ReadingMama]

I remember the sticky too, and came here tonight to try to find it.  But you're probably right, Arduinna.  I used that sticky to switch from Iams to Canidae years ago.  Canidae has changed their all life stages formulas, but not their chicken and rice formula (to my knowlege).  We feed the chicken and rice.  There are so many newer foods now that I am exploring our options again.  My almost 10yo lab mix has been healthy her whole life, but is recovering from an illness right now.  Her liver and kidney functions aren't where they're supposed to be, and our vet is recommending (of course....) Hill's prescription diet.  Bleh.  Not going to do it.  If we need to switch foods, I want another holistic food. 

I just discovered Dog Food Scoop last night!  Yippee!  It's like the old sticky here, but it's updated!  The comments below the reviews are often really helpful too, OP.  Thanks for mentioning this, Arduinna.

 

Originally Posted by Arduinna 

I remember the sticky but honestly it's likely outdated by now since pet food companies are bought and sold or change their formulas. I really recommend going raw, but if you insist of feeding commercially processed pet food check out the list here and their guidelines and choose one that is grain free.Dog Food Scoop

[Arduinna]

I wish there was a cat food scoop website LOL but I ended up just using their site and seeing which grain free dog food companies do cat food also. I was going to switch my kittens to Felidae but ended up with Wellness core for now because I didn't have time to get to the other side of town where the store is that sells it. I've spent the last 2 weeks researching cat food until I can get the kittens on raw. 

[Casha'sMommy]

I'm another to suggest a raw diet.

Search the internet for species appropriate diet. You might be surprised how much info there is on leaky gut syndrome in dogs and pointing the finger at dry kibble.

I also have lo's with food sensitivities and allergies. Have you considered the cause for the might be similar to the cause of your dogs ear infections?

Good Luck!

Cate

[swd12422]

I would recommend raw diet if there are too many allergies since most kibbles contain so many ingredients it's hard to narrow it down to one that doesn't have any of the allergens you need to avoid. We just started our dog on Pelican Bay grain-free salmon meal kibble. IDK if it has stuff your dog is allergic to or not, but our dog does really well on it, and we have a really tough time finding food that doesn't upset his stomach. (He was on Kirkland (Costco) Chicken and Rice but that's not grain-free and he stopped liking it.)

[kfillmore]

our doggies are sensitive too. It took almost 2 years to get it right. That food was Innova large bite (green bag, german shepard) BUT we recently switched becasue pet store stopped carrying it (for competiion reasons). We have stareted with Natures Vareity Prarie (chicken) We have had no problems at all and we are very happy. This brand is suppose to be VERY good.