# Looking for a new grain free - suggestions?



## andreah1 (Mar 8, 2010)

Hi all, I've been reading kibble posts and ugh, so confusing. Right now I feed my 10 year old lab/pit mix (40 pounds) Taste of the Wild mixed with Merrick Backcountry (28lb bag (totw) and 12 lb bag (merrick). I love TOTW but she seems to not so much anymore. I've fed it to her since probably about age 3 (before that tried a couple other higher ranked foods but too expensive). The only way I can get her to eat it is to mix the two foods together (we mix the bags then scoop out of a big container). From watching her I think reason number one is no interest unless we throw a few scraps in or mix in a little wet and reason number two is the TOTW seems to be too hard. She is missing one large upper molar, not sure if that contributes. The Merrick seems to be a bit softer so she picks them out first and eats them. She loves the soft dehydrated raw pieces too. I thought about buying only the Merrick but it's a bit too much for us to afford. When I could just do the TOTW it was a perfect price, around 50 bucks for 29-30 pounds. It's a bit expensive right now mixing but it's the only way I can get her to eat. 
From my reading I've been gathering that VeRus, Fromm, Dr. Tim's are good ones but my dilemma is that I can't buy all of them just to try them out and there's no way to see the size of the kibble or gauge how hard it is. AND, I've noticed a few people say the Fromm causes soft stool, definitely don't want that. I'm so bummed because she does quite well with the TOTW, shiny coat and nice hard stool. BUT, she does have a yeasty ear and does itch, not excessively but noticeably enough. Feel like it's time for a change. The three I mentioned are reasonably priced but how can I find out about the actual kibble? I want something she eats not something we beg her to eat. She's never been a big eater, I can dump a cup in her bowl in the morning and at supper time she's still not interested and then it's time to add another cup or so. 
So, looking for recommendations on a good dry food (I know that's hard because every dog is different), I want grain free and not interested in feeding raw or cooking her food. She's fairly active, we go for at least a 1/2 hour walk almost everyday, she bolts (literally) around the yard and plays a lot inside with her toys. She's also a big couch potato. So, I guess an average dog. Any help would be appreciated. I'm getting low on her food right now so the sooner the better! Thanks for your help!


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## MarieLovesChis (Mar 25, 2014)

Hi, not sure if you still need help with this as this post is a couple months old now. Just wanted to say both Dr. Tims and Verus will send you free samples if you email and ask them for some. Annamaet is another great food that will also send you free samples, one of my favorite brands. Fromm won't send free samples but I think they will give a $5 off coupon for your first bag if you ask. Their kibble is very small.

Also if you want to just stick with the TOTW, have you tried any of their other flavours? They have quite a bit and I know some dogs get bored eating the same flavour day in and day out. TOTW also sends out very generous amounts of samples if you are interested in trying any other flavours with her. Hope any of this info may be of some help. Well, hopefully you've found something you both like by now lol.


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