# Merrick Before Grain



## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

Anyone feed it?

I'm not really interested in switching foods or anything, but I'm just curious.

It seemed like over 2 years ago when I got Jackson, I saw it mentioned more often, and now I don't really ever. 

I did feed it to Jackson for a while, I think as a pup, from 5 months-7 months old or something. I can't remember why I stopped, probably just to try a new food.... 

The ingredients seem decent, and I know it sounds lame, but I like the packing of it with the zip-lock bag on the top.

Just don't see many reviews on it. What do you think about it?

Here's the buffalo one:
Ingredients - Buffalo (Deboned), Chicken Meal, Potato (Dehydrated), Turkey Meal, Canola Oil, Sweet Potato (Dehydrated), (preserved with mixed tocopherols – a source of Natural Vitamin E and Ascorbic Acid, a source of Vitamin C), Yeast Culture, Natural Dried Chicken Liver, Dicalcium Phosphate, Lysine, Guar Gum, Sea Salt, Alfalfa, Salmon Oil, Choline Chloride, Acai Berry (Dried), Blueberry (Dried), Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Venison Broth, Zinc Amino Acid Complex,Chondroitin Sulfate, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Natural Venison Flavor, Chicory Root, Marigold Extract, Rosemary Extract, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Natural Celery Flavor, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Vitamin E Supplement, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Natural Color (Turmeric), Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Copper Amino Acid Complex, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin D3, Niacin, Lecithin, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Cobalt Amino Acid Complex, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite

Calorie Content
3581 kcal/kg (calculated)
One pound provides 1625 kcal of metabolizable energy (calculated)
One cup (100 grams) provides 383 calories
*Caloric content calculated using Modified Atwater Method

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (min) 32.0%
Crude Fat (min) 15.0%
Crude Fiber (max) 3.0%
Moisture (max) 11.0%


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## buddy97 (Mar 29, 2010)

a couple of the knocks on it were that it was one of the lower calorie grain free foods, but worse yet that it uses chicken meal as the main meat in all three formulas. chicken meal isnt bad in itself, but it is limiting for those who want variety or cant feed chicken.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

That's my main complaint, is that it uses chicken meal and I think it's a bit misleading.


If you want a decent grain free with a pretty bag with a zip top, you should check out Earthborn Holistic lol


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

meggels said:


> That's my main complaint, is that it uses chicken meal and I think it's a bit misleading.
> 
> 
> If you want a decent grain free with a pretty bag with a zip top, you should check out Earthborn Holistic lol


Earthborn Holistic Primitive looks pretty good. I've never heard of it before. Is it a new line? It's not available in any stores near me.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Jacksons Mom said:


> Earthborn Holistic Primitive looks pretty good. I've never heard of it before. Is it a new line? It's not available in any stores near me.


The company is a few years old, but they are also owned by ProPac, who has been around forever. 

Two new grain free formulas (one is herring based, one is bison based) are coming out/are already out. 

My dogs have had the primitive natural and did really well on it. When the herring formula gets into the store I rep out of, I will be putting my frenchie on that. 

Did you try using the store locator?


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## Tinkerbellz (Oct 1, 2010)

I really wanted to like this food but I don't think it meshed well with Dexter's stomach. I mixed only a little bit with his current food (Wellness Core) and next thing you know - the livingroom floor was decorated with several lovely surprises. So no dice.


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## Serendipity (Aug 13, 2010)

I just finished feeding 2 bags of the Before Grain Chicken a week ago. My dog did well on it, with firm stools, and the kibbles are tiny (good for smaller dogs). I like the chicken formula, but I don't think the other two formulas are good if you want variety (everything's chicken based). I also prefer animal derived fat or oil, but I didn't really care about the canola oil, because I give my dog 1200 mg of fish oil daily.


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

meggels said:


> If you want a decent grain free with a pretty bag with a zip top, you should check out Earthborn Holistic lol


That's kool that it's a zip lock bag:biggrin:

Like everyone else, I would only bother with the chicken formula.


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## _Trish (Jan 31, 2011)

That's what I didn't like about it either, was that all of the formulas had chicken. Since I rotate my dogs foods, and change up the protein sources, I like to actually be feeding something completely different.


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