# Guidance needed!



## DoglovingSenior (Jun 26, 2011)

I know absolutely nothing about kibble. A friend wants to introduce his 7 MTH OLD GSD-Husky mix to a better food that is not necessarily sold in the grocery store. I came on here to get sound advice & read that some of the better kibbles have been recalled?! He has 1/3 of a 20lb bag of Puppy Chow left-HELP! What would you advise-My first thought was to get off of the "puppy food" the next was NO grains, after that I am lost. Need your experienced input here! Thanks Much! Almost forgot, what is the best way to transition! NYC (pronounced Nick) is a real sweetheart.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I think Acana is good. That's about the only one i know off the top of my head, but i'm sure there are others.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Nobody ever mentions Flint River in here - it's not the top dog food but it's not been recalled and has no preservatives. I used to feed it to my dogs. And it's not horribly expensive. I got it online.


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## creek817 (Feb 18, 2012)

I've heard good things about Fromm too - trying to get my parents to change, but unless their Pro Plan and tractor supply brands get recalled, they're not going to =\

Can't convince him to go raw?


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

You can tell your friend to hit local pet food boutiques, most offer free samples that help to narrow down the food choices, especially if the dog is picky. Some feed stores also have samples and often the prices are quite a bit lower.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

DoglovingSenior said:


> A friend wants to introduce his 7 MTH OLD GSD-Husky mix to a better food that is not necessarily sold in the grocery store.


So next stop is Petsmart? :smile: In that case : Castor & Pollux, Nutro Ultra or ByNature are some of the better ones.


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## monkeys23 (Dec 8, 2010)

As someone who owns that mix.... pretty much the only kibble I would touch would be Acana grain free, Orijen, Fromm grain free, and probably Earthborn Holistic grain free.

Buuuuuut mine eat raw. And we got there because kibble wasn't doing the right things for them. Some of the best grain free kibble in fact. And they get explosively ill on anything grain inclusive, its pretty awful.

Petsmart? They have NV Instinct there now don't they? Thats about all I'd touch there. I wasn't impressed with BB Wilderness when my little foster mini Aussie tried a bag. NV Instinct was okay.


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## Little Brown Jug (Dec 7, 2010)

I'm quite a big fan of Petcurean (Go!, Now! and Summit Holistics). Found them to be reasonably priced for good quality. I've only ever fed the Go! Fit + Free but not only did my dogs (even our picky Lab) chow down like it was the best thing since tukey necks they had wonderful shiney, soft coats and small, less stinky output. I also feed and like Acana, Orijen and Nature's Variety Instinct. I recently tried a bag of Canidae pureLAND and got some amazing results again, similar to the Go! except their output was even smaller, the only down fall I have with it is the picky Lab isn't very interested in it but eats it in the end. I'm not bothered by the recall, none of their samples tested positive just like TOTW.

I've also fed TOTW, I didn't see anything amazing from it, the dogs liked certain flavors over others. The price went up from $66.99/30lbs to $77.99/lbs here, more expensive then some of the Orijen flavors and not as good quality. So its not something that will likely ever be back in rotation here.

I saw that Holstic Blend is now being sold in grocery stores. Not a bad food and they have a grain free version.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

What about Dog Food Analysis website that gives foods stars 1 to 6, 6 being the best? Not sure what others think about that site.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

I am switching my mom's dog from 4Health due to the recalls and ongoing issues with Diamond. I am going to try Hi-Tek Naturals that has both a grain and grain free variety. The pirce is very reasonable and it gets good ratings. It is made by a small, family owned company in Georgia.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

My dogs actually did fine on Evo and Innova. They have less ingredients like all the fruits and vegies that would cause reactions in my dogs. Plus, you can find them pretty easy at most pet stores which is a plus for many people.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

chowder said:


> My dogs actually did fine on Evo and Innova. They have less ingredients like all the fruits and vegies that would cause reactions in my dogs. Plus, you can find them pretty easy at most pet stores which is a plus for many people.


Evo here as well for our two GSPs.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I agree with EVO- I've never fed a dog kibble, but my cats ate it for a long time and they did the best on it out of any kibble. Careful with the amount fed though as it's really calorie dense so very easy to overfeed and cause weight gain and loose stool.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

sozzle said:


> What about Dog Food Analysis website that gives foods stars 1 to 6, 6 being the best? Not sure what others think about that site.


I think it's a good site. Sometimes foods I look for aren't listed and I'm not sure how often it's updated. They tell you why a listed "bad" ingredient is bad so people can make their own decision to agree or disagree.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I like dogfoodadvisor.com more.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Caty M said:


> I like dogfoodadvisor.com more.


It's funny. I don't have either of those sites bookmarked. Both look familiar to me so I have obviously used them both. But I didn't realize there were two


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## 7766 (Sep 20, 2011)

I prefer Dog Food Advisor. That is the site that lists out the bad ingredients. It is updated pretty regularly. It doesn't review every formula from the line, it only picks one.

Earthborn and NutriSource seem to be the brands most similar in price and formula to TOTW. Acana has a Grain Inclusive line as well. It would still be leaps and bound netter than grocery store brands.

I like Champion foods and my dogs have done well on them. Currently they are on Back to Basics Pork and seem to like it, but I find it very expensive.


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## Sheltielover25 (Jan 18, 2011)

Nature's Logic. It's one of the only ones on the market that derives its nutrients from actual ingredients verses sprayed on, synthetic vitamins.


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## Dana (Oct 27, 2009)

Back to Basics is a good grain-free food. My dogs are eating the Turkey formula. As mentioned above, it's pricey......but costs about the same as Orijen. Lots of good foods mentioned above, don't recall if I saw these mentioned - Horizon Legacy (grain-free) and Pinnacle.


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## Bxrdogs4me (Jul 21, 2009)

monkeys23 said:


> ... I wasn't impressed with BB Wilderness when my little foster mini Aussie tried a bag....


I'm not sure I'm loving the BB Wilderness Salmon either. I made a quick switch from TOTW but Cornelius' coat seems a bit dull since he's been on it. UGH. I hate trying to find a new quality, grain free food.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I don't love BB as a company.. It's no cheaper than Acana here and IMO you are getting a better quality product from a more reputable company.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

Caty M said:


> I like dogfoodadvisor.com more.


Agreed!

Dog Food Analysis doesn't seem as up to date as Dog Food Advisor...


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

SubMariner said:


> Agreed!
> 
> Dog Food Analysis doesn't seem as up to date as Dog Food Advisor...


No, some of their articles are from 2006... plus I like how they roughly estimate the carb content in DFAdvisor. They have a better layout and aren't as contradictory in their "bad" ingredients.


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## monkeys23 (Dec 8, 2010)

Agreed, IMO Acana is a much higher quality product for your price than BBW.

I fed Evo for two years. I changed from Evo to Acana after my dogs suddenly started not doing well on it. Coats got gross and they suddenly got farty, which they are never gassy so yeah. Acana went well, but Lily started having constipation issues on it and she was losing muscle and her coat was greasy and icky. So I tried THK for a couple weeks... fixed the poo issue but she lost muscle and gained fat, so I finally pulled my head out and went raw. I didn't notice until after the fact, but I stopped having to go to the vet to get cheat grass out of Scout's coat or to doctor up a torn nail and she's much easier to keep brushed out on raw.


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