# Holistic Select or Orijen or Other?



## chuckNashley (May 3, 2010)

Hi,

I know that Orijen is one of the best dry dogs food; but I have read a few articles that it's bad for the dogs liver. We have had great recommendations that Holistic Select is a VERY good food.

We have a new puppy, a Vizsla about 5 months old. We are currently feeding him Holistic Select Puppy and thinking of switching him to Orijen Puppy.

Any comments? Recommendations?

Taste of the Wild?
Evo?
Orijen?

Thanks,

Chuck & Ashley


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

^^^Why is Orijen bad for the liver?


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## SaltyDog (Mar 10, 2010)

Not sure who told you Orijen is bad for the liver. That's a new one.

Holistic Select is a Wellness product and everyone on here will tell you, I'm not a fan of Wellness. Not saying you shouldn't feed it....I've used many of their products previously and just don't like the results.


I feed my 8 month old puppy (weimaraner) Orijen Large Breed Puppy with the occasional Orijen 6 Fish and the occasional Honest Kitchen Embark. She loves it, digests it well and looks incredible.

Evo is a wonderful product and my 4 year old (weimaraner) generally eats this, but it is not suitable for your puppy. It has to high of fat content, calcium and phosphorus levels for your growing puppy.

Taste Of The Wild is a Diamond product who seems to have a few too many recalls. It's a decent grainless food, but the low calorie count leads me to believe it's missing a substantial amount of meat. I personally feel there are better grainless foods.

My puppy loves her Orijen Large Breed, and she looks fantastic and has all the energy she needs to enjoy her puppy day


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## buddy97 (Mar 29, 2010)

chuckNashley said:


> Hi,
> 
> I know that Orijen is one of the best dry dogs food; but I have read a few articles that it's bad for the dogs liver. We have had great recommendations that Holistic Select is a VERY good food.
> 
> ...


high protein being bad for the liver is mythology based on old outdated research. higher protein is fine. higher calcium is not fine for larger breed puppies.

therefore, most grain free foods are not suitable due to higher Ca levels. Taste of the Wild ans EVO have 2% or higher maximum Ca levels and i would never recommend those for larger breed pups.(nor do the manufacturers of EVO...Diamond, when pressed, will recommend foods other than TOTW as well).

Orijen has lower maximum levels of Ca and is the only grainless kibble i would feed to a larger breed pup (and probably even a medium breed pup).


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## buddy97 (Mar 29, 2010)

SaltyDog said:


> Evo is a wonderful product and my 4 month old (weimaraner) generally eats this, but it is not suitable for your puppy. It has to high of fat content, calcium and phosphorus levels for your growing puppy.


why would EVO be ok for a Weim and not a Vizsla?

a Weimaraner is a larger breed than a Vizsla. i certainly would not recommend EVO to either pup. id say if someone was asked to design a food to produce fast growth in a large breed pup (exactly what we seek to avoid in the larger breed pups), the design would essentially mimic EVO.


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## sal101011 (Jan 17, 2010)

i would make the switch to Orijen Puppy, wellness is an "ok" food, its not bad, but its nothing great! as far as the dry kibble, i would rather feed orijen to a puppy than any other dry kibble, once the dog gets to 16 months, you can alternate betweem different products by orijen (red, 6 fish) or even thrown in EVO into your rotation.


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## chuckNashley (May 3, 2010)

*Thanks!*

Ya,

I have heard that Orijen is GREAT food. Should I slowly reduce him from Holistic Select to Orijen over a few weeks? Would that be best? 

In addition to kibble, would anyone recommend wet or other foods to add a change here and there WITHOUT throwing him off his diet to much?

I was thinking of trying make some of my own food once a week. Sounds fun..anyone know of good recipes?

Thanks!


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## SaltyDog (Mar 10, 2010)

buddy97 said:


> why would EVO be ok for a Weim and not a Vizsla?
> 
> a Weimaraner is a larger breed than a Vizsla. i certainly would not recommend EVO to either pup. id say if someone was asked to design a food to produce fast growth in a large breed pup (exactly what we seek to avoid in the larger breed pups), the design would essentially mimic EVO.




I said I feed it to my 4 YEAR OLD ADULT weimaraner....NOT my PUPPY weimaraner. My 8 month old pup eats Orijen LBP.

Evo is too high in fat and calcium for a Vizsla puppy. Save the Evo for a year from now. :smile:


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

Everyone always recommends Evo or Orijen, but guys don't forget Horizon. That food is criminally neglected, and it is AS GOOD as Orijen or evo. 

For canned, I liked Evangers game meats, though there are problems with their license to ship interstate. Also I have read some people have had their dogs poisoned by it, so I stopped for now. Tripett is wonderful canned also. But I generally feed Evo canned, and Tripett.


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## SaltyDog (Mar 10, 2010)

Just an FYI in case you didn't know.....Evo canned is made by Menu foods.


The Trippett is good stuff


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

SaltyDog said:


> Just an FYI in case you didn't know.....Evo canned is made by Menu foods.
> 
> 
> The Trippett is good stuff


Yeah I know, and Evo answered an email from someone online, I forgot where it is, I just read it yesterday, but that they have their own inspectors there to check out the facility constantly, and that the ingredients before and after being combined are tested by an independent lab. They also inspect the equipment the food is processed on. 

Didn't Inova build a new, large factory in Nebraska to make more of their canned foods?


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## SaltyDog (Mar 10, 2010)

PUNKem733 said:


> Didn't Inova build a new, large factory in Nebraska to make more of their canned foods?




Not sure. I used to use Merrick can and Evangers Can. Dog's got sick on the Evangers, and since I've moved to grain free diets, I stopped the Merrick can awhile ago too.


My thoughts on can food is that it is expensive and if you are willing to spend the money on canned diets, why not buy Honest Kitchen? Just my 2 cents on it.


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

buddy97 said:


> why would EVO be ok for a Weim and not a Vizsla?
> 
> a Weimaraner is a larger breed than a Vizsla. i certainly would not recommend EVO to either pup. id say if someone was asked to design a food to produce fast growth in a large breed pup (exactly what we seek to avoid in the larger breed pups), the design would essentially mimic EVO.


agreed!!!!!!


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

SaltyDog said:


> Not sure who told you Orijen is bad for the liver. That's a new one.
> 
> Holistic Select is a Wellness product and everyone on here will tell you, I'm not a fan of Wellness. Not saying you shouldn't feed it....I've used many of their products previously and just don't like the results.
> 
> ...





SaltyDog said:


> I said I feed it to my 4 YEAR OLD ADULT weimaraner....NOT my PUPPY weimaraner. My 8 month old pup eats Orijen LBP.
> 
> Evo is too high in fat and calcium for a Vizsla puppy. Save the Evo for a year from now. :smile:


no you said your 4 month old weim....
i agree with buddy on this one.


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## SaltyDog (Mar 10, 2010)

RCTRIPLEFRESH5 said:


> no you said your 4 month old weim....
> i agree with buddy on this one.




Fixed it :smile:


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

SaltyDog said:


> Not sure. I used to use Merrick can and Evangers Can. Dog's got sick on the Evangers, and since I've moved to grain free diets, I stopped the Merrick can awhile ago too.
> 
> 
> My thoughts on can food is that it is expensive and if you are willing to spend the money on canned diets, why not buy Honest Kitchen? Just my 2 cents on it.


I only feed canned as a topper. A case of canned will last me like 4 months or so.


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