Top five dog food brands

[Serendipity]

I forgot Blue Buffalo Wilderness...maybe that instead of Timberwolf...

[Pet Geek]

if you had to pick the top 5 dog food brands which ones would they be?

grandma mae's country naturals
stella & chewy's
evangers
sojos
fromm

[Simbasmommy]

have been using Cesar, but no more! Just found cardboard in food, and found plastic this summer. Be careful what you feed!

[ajcstr]

I have read all your opinions on the best foods, and I have a question.

What about the foods that differenciate between large and small breeds.

Obviously there is a huge difference as far as digestion goes. Amount of exercise is another big difference. My frenchies (5) are all pretty laid back, but they do go to dog shows... therefore stress is another issue. Your opinions are really appreciated.

thanks

Let me start by saying I feed our Yochon a rotation of small breed dry foods (Wellness, Holistic Select, Solid Gold) and add wet. I think that the small breed formula angle is mostly marketing hype but I like the fact they tend to have a higher protein percentage than standard grain inclusive foods. The grain free foods are higher in protein but I have not crossed that bridge yet.

[speeddts]

Orijen -
Instinct:
Go/Now/Summit
Taste of the Wild (TOTW)
Wellness/Wellness Core

My choices are based on the:
1) quality and number of protein sources
2) grain free offerings
3) inclusion of Omega 3 and 6
4) Use of quality fruit and vegetables
5) Location of Production, bias given to Western Canada (Orijen/Go/Now)

As an aside:

Cosmo is my 4 month old Welsh Terrier, he is currently fed Orijen Puppy. The results are so far really good he has an amazing coat, high energy (he is a terrier) and has excellent stools. His trainer was happy with his food, as well as his doctor. I must admit he had some stinkers when we were transitioning him to Orijen.

I have been reading a lot about the following:
1) Grain Free Diet/High Protein Diet (70% meat/30% carb)
2) Rotational Feeding, providing your dog with varied pet foods and quality varied protein sources (if allergies do not exist), I am doing this via dry kibble and canned meat (Wellness Puppy or Instinct Rabbit 1 tsp per half cup)



Cosmo is 4 months/13 lbs:
A) Orijen Puppy (1.5 cups a day)

I am slowly mixing in:
B) Instinct Rabbit Formula Dog Food (Dry Kibble)
- quality lean protein from deboned rabbit and salmon meal

And Also will consider a third brand and am currently debating between
C) Go Chicken/Fruit/Vegetable, TOTW Wetlands and Wellness Superpuppy Small Bread Mix

Ultimately I would like to rotate the kibble brand weekly or mix them continuously.

I wanted to inquiry if any fellow readers had thoughts if this is too much rotation/selection or variety for him?

Thank you in advance for your time in review and responses.

Best,

Tejinder

[[email protected]]

No specific order:

Orijen
Canidae
Sold Gold
Innova
Evo

Also in consderation:

Prarie, Pure Vita, California Natural, and Taste of the Wild. Premium Edge doesn't read all that bad either.

[stajbs]

Speeddts,

The one thing I would be cautious of is consistently mixing 2-3 brands of kibble at once. If a problem develops it may take you longer to figure out which food might be causing the problem. We switch the kibble or Honest Kitchen every 2-3 months, and add a tblsp. of variety through either lightly cooked meat, or canned such as Merrick's BG or other quality canned. I also recently started feeding two cans of the same type in a row before adding the next kind. Just seems a bit "gentler" on the digestive system, and with my senior guys we are lucky they do well with variety but I was not liking their stool as much when I changed the "base" food every month and the canned after each single can variety. This is just what works for us and to give you food for thought.

Others may switch kibbles/foods differently and more quickly/frequently, if that works I say go for it. Also when transitioning the base food I give that 1-2 weeks max. Here again, it's just what works for us.

[Jazzy]

I don't have a list of 5; but I want to throw in another vote for Fromm.

I did a reasonable amount of research and checked out most big name, high end foods and decided that I was most comfortable with the Fromm Four Star Nutrionals line.

One thing that was very important to me was finding a food that was manufactured in the US, using all ingredients from the US (or Canada).

Some foods that I thought met this requirement when emailed responded that they use vitamins and minirals from Asia; and also apparently taurine is only available from China.

I know this is probably unnecessarily nit-picky...but the 2007 recall debacle really scared me.

[speeddts]

Thanks Stajbs,

that was really good advice and will look to implement.

So far I found when mixing, my pup is not as responsive at feeding time.

Best,

[Paws&Tails]

Not in any particular order....

Acana
Orijen
Wellness
Blue Buffalo Wilderness
Nature's Variety


(Though I personally think that homemade or raw always beats the pants off of any commercial food.)