STOP the presses!...actually saw a decent food at Target

[wags]

Wags,

No, I live in Michigan. But if I recall correctly, when I was scanning the label, could have sworn I saw a company in Florida listed as the manufacturer.

All in all, just mentioned it for fun conversation.

...and shock value

Michigan is so nice! A friend of mine moved out there and could not talk enough about how much she liked it! She moved back here her hubbys job! I have vacationed in some areas there! Really like the areas there! Nice for us to just drive up and laze around! Love it out there!

[kevin bradley]

hey kevin brad i was just curious what made you hoose EVO over orijen? heyre both around the same price, but to meorijen looks a little better, im just curious what im missing here! is orijen not avaiable by ou area?

RC,

You guessed it...EVO is a bit more readily available to me. Luckily, I did stumble into a boutique store near me(Kalamazoo. I live in Battle Creek)...and picked up a bag of Orijen. With the current deal at petfooddirect, I did grab a bag of Acana to test it out also....along with another bag of EVO. As soon as I work my guys through the EVO, I'll go to Acana to see how they do. I've been "treating" them with a few bites of Orijen here and there and they absolutely love it. Harry(my Chow/Border C. mix) stuck his whole muzzle/head into the bag and I had to pull the bag away from him ;).

But overall, honestly-in my opinion...flip a coin on Orijen/EVO/Acana/Innova...
Orijen certainly has the "sexier" ingredients IE-Walleye, Whitefish, deboned this and deboned that...not sure it matters alot.

I'm far from the Scientific mind on food and many here can talk about the "Science" of why Orijen and EVO. My love of Champion and Innova is more about their honesty and forthright business practices. The day I see either of them farm out their manufacturing to Diamond is the day that will push me to real food for my dogs....

Knowing what I know based on what I've seen and read about Champion and Natura....It just burns my blood to see Taste of the Wild and a few other foods "share" the 6 star status and other ranking methods with one another.

No way. No way. No way.

[kevin bradley]

Wags, nice to hear the comments about Michigan. We don't see too many nice comments these days with the state of the economy up here.

Lake Michigan sunsets, Premiere golf, beautiful seasons(well, 3 of them anyway;)....after I curse the 4-5 months of winter, I do love it here.

...and Fall Saturdays in Ann Arbor at the "Big House." Nothing compares ;)

thanks for the comments.

[kevin bradley]

I've seen Newmans own and Drs Foster Smith brand sold, but not anymore.

Uno, they did have the Paul Newman stuff....and I'd say that food is certainly better than most grocery store stuff...

but this was another brand. I'll try to get there in the next few days...just to settle this. its driving me nuts.

[RCTRIPLEFRESH5]

RC,

You guessed it...EVO is a bit more readily available to me. Luckily, I did stumble into a boutique store near me(Kalamazoo. I live in Battle Creek)...and picked up a bag of Orijen. With the current deal at petfooddirect, I did grab a bag of Acana to test it out also....along with another bag of EVO. As soon as I work my guys through the EVO, I'll go to Acana to see how they do. I've been "treating" them with a few bites of Orijen here and there and they absolutely love it. Harry(my Chow/Border C. mix) stuck his whole muzzle/head into the bag and I had to pull the bag away from him ;).

But overall, honestly-in my opinion...flip a coin on Orijen/EVO/Acana/Innova...
Orijen certainly has the "sexier" ingredients IE-Walleye, Whitefish, deboned this and deboned that...not sure it matters alot.

I'm far from the Scientific mind on food and many here can talk about the "Science" of why Orijen and EVO. My love of Champion and Innova is more about their honesty and forthright business practices. The day I see either of them farm out their manufacturing to Diamond is the day that will push me to real food for my dogs....

Knowing what I know based on what I've seen and read about Champion and Natura....It just burns my blood to see Taste of the Wild and a few other foods "share" the 6 star status and other ranking methods with one another.

No way. No way. No way.

i am feeding my dog canidae and hes been doing great for years but i have decided to switch to a grain free diet as you all know,

i was thinking of switching him to canidae grain free to get him accustomed to a grain free diet with medium protein levels, as opposed to just switching to oorijen,but i really want to switch to orijen for some reason.

the orijen is 57 for a 29.7 ounce bag and the can grain free is 45.99 for a 30 pound bag, so quite a price difference.

would there be any issue just going straight from regular canidae with grains to a rich food like orijen? or should i go with the canidae grain free for a few months


also is 57 for the adult orijen a good price? they had 6 frsh fish for 66 which is HEFTY!

[kevin bradley]

RC,

Wow, I'm very hesitant to tell ANYONE they should switch off a food that their dogs are doing great on...so you aren't going to get a black/white answer from me there. Canidae is certainly and undoubtedly a nice food on paper...the ingredients are great. I'm just not certain anyone could tell you scientfically that your Dogs will excel more on Orijen or Evo than Canidae.
My dogs did horribly on Canidae...as you've probably read, I spent $400 on an emergency vet visit after my Beagle vomitted for 24 hours. My other 2 had diahrrea and a cow patty poop like I've never seen in my life. All of this was AFTER a week long slow introduction to the food.

Like I said, for me, its more about my belief in Champion and Natura that leads me there every time. They seem uncompromised in ways that most other dog food companies are. Will they ever change? Who knows. I sure hope not. I Natura Rep told me once they never would compromise integrity for the dollar. I hope he's right.

A couple FACTUAL notes I CAN tell you...petfooddirect has free shipping with the code freeship50 this weekend. You can get EVO regular Chicken/Turkey for $52/bag. You can get ACANA for $50 for their basic grain free formula(I think Chicken is the primary protein)....grab a few bags and you're set for awhile.

I've seen all sorts of formulas for how to introduce a Dog to new food. None of it seems SUPER scientific except. I'd say no more than 1/4 new food for a week. Maybe 1/2 new in the second week. 3/4 third week...and full by week 4. This is my new "cautious" formula after my Canidae trainwreck and is very likely far more conservative than most would tell you.

Regarding your questions on Grain Free?...wow. We would start a huge debate there. Safe to say that trying your Dogs on a grain free diet is a nice strategy. Most get into trouble simply because they feed them grain free to MUCH and too QUICK. Slow and reduced qty's are important here.

Example-I CANNOT give my 55 lb. dogs(2) anything more than 1.5 cups/day TOTAL on EVO or they will put on weight fast. 2/3 cup 2x per day is what they get and it holds their weight perfectly.

[RCTRIPLEFRESH5]

i think ill just go with canidae grain free for now, and switch to orijen if i see fit. the place i buy from in real life s cheaper than pet food direct by a good few dollars!
i have some 2 dollars off coupons for canida grain free, so maybe i will use those up and then buy orijen.

i actually am kinda weery about switching in general. we have bought 10 bags of canidae als,and need 12 bags for a free bag...but id rather just go with the switch rather than just getting a free bag.

maybe i can sell my canidae upcs for 20 dollars on ebay?

[3feathers]

also is 57 for the adult orijen a good price? they had 6 frsh fish for 66 which is HEFTY!

RC,
I think that is a good price for Orijen! Here Orijen sells for $63. And EVO for $54. And if your dogs are doing well on the Canidae that is great!! My poor pup did horrible when the did the ingredient change My 5 month pup's littermates have been on Canidae Grain Free ALS and all are doing well. Good luck!

[RCTRIPLEFRESH5]

RC,

Wow, I'm very hesitant to tell ANYONE they should switch off a food that their dogs are doing great on...so you aren't going to get a black/white answer from me there. Canidae is certainly and undoubtedly a nice food on paper...the ingredients are great. I'm just not certain anyone could tell you scientfically that your Dogs will excel more on Orijen or Evo than Canidae.
My dogs did horribly on Canidae...as you've probably read, I spent $400 on an emergency vet visit after my Beagle vomitted for 24 hours. My other 2 had diahrrea and a cow patty poop like I've never seen in my life. All of this was AFTER a week long slow introduction to the food.

Like I said, for me, its more about my belief in Champion and Natura that leads me there every time. They seem uncompromised in ways that most other dog food companies are. Will they ever change? Who knows. I sure hope not. I Natura Rep told me once they never would compromise integrity for the dollar. I hope he's right.

A couple FACTUAL notes I CAN tell you...petfooddirect has free shipping with the code freeship50 this weekend. You can get EVO regular Chicken/Turkey for $52/bag. You can get ACANA for $50 for their basic grain free formula(I think Chicken is the primary protein)....grab a few bags and you're set for awhile.

I've seen all sorts of formulas for how to introduce a Dog to new food. None of it seems SUPER scientific except. I'd say no more than 1/4 new food for a week. Maybe 1/2 new in the second week. 3/4 third week...and full by week 4. This is my new "cautious" formula after my Canidae trainwreck and is very likely far more conservative than most would tell you.

Regarding your questions on Grain Free?...wow. We would start a huge debate there. Safe to say that trying your Dogs on a grain free diet is a nice strategy. Most get into trouble simply because they feed them grain free to MUCH and too QUICK. Slow and reduced qty's are important here.

Example-I CANNOT give my 55 lb. dogs(2) anything more than 1.5 cups/day TOTAL on EVO or they will put on weight fast. 2/3 cup 2x per day is what they get and it holds their weight perfectly.

RC,
I think that is a good price for Orijen! Here Orijen sells for $63. And EVO for $54. And if your dogs are doing well on the Canidae that is great!! My poor pup did horrible when the did the ingredient change My 5 month pup's littermates have been on Canidae Grain Free ALS and all are doing well. Good luck!

i'm sorry to hear about your pup. yes i think it was a bad and rude move on canidaes part to not give better notice on the formula change. i am lucky that it did not hurt my shane. i just got back from the feed store, and looked at some foods. it turns out innova evo is the same price as orijen at my store. that is very weird. the orijen fish formula is 10 dollars more though. i decided it would be best to just get the canidae grain free, since my dog did well on the ALS. also it would be the smoothest way to transition him into grain free.

my dog has never been a picky eater. i used to free feed him. i would put a full 3 quart bowl of food out every day and he would eat the proper amount and maintain a healthy weight. today i measured 2.5 cups of ALS, and put .75 or so cups of the grain free in there. within minutes all of the food was gone. dogs love meat ahhahahaah.

with a coupon i got the canidae grain free for 49.35 with tax for a 30 pound bag. its still on the expensive side for dog foods, but its cheaper than 61-62 dollars for orijen after tax. the coupon was for 2 dollars off, so it will be around 51 dollars on a regular basis. it kind of annoyed me they taxed the full priced product though =p.

[kevin bradley]

RC,

Great luck with the Canidae Grain Free. All in all, certainly a solid food.

I will say this in praise of Canidae...all correspondence with Canidae has been very positive. All emails I've sent them have been answered promptly and politely.

But I can't deny it, I'm a Champion and Natura guy truth be told.

thanks for the conversation RC.