# Wellness dog foods



## RegDunlop (Dec 22, 2009)

I came here for dog food advice last November and after going through a few brands ( NUTRO - heard really BAD things about that company, Innova - he didnt like it at all and merrick - merrick was a disaster it was like me after drinking cheap tap beer and eating whitecastles) we settled on Wellness dry and cans every couple of days. He always has dry food out to graze on, and loves the canned food.


We also feed him what we eat if we remebr to put some aside for him and not season it, but this only happens very very infrequently and he never gets table food from the table

Recently he seems bored or not as interested in the wellness foods, a few weeks ago we discovered wellness started making or at least just became avialable to us "stew" and he loved them and they agreed with him ( no excessive gas or runny stools ) but now even that is not doing it for him.


Did wellness recently change their formula?


He is not even 2 years old and is very active , 4 walks a day and always playing in the house with me the wife or the kids. 


Could it be he has become bored with his food? Should I switch him to another brand for a few months. 


What other brands could I try, and because he is a small dog I do not want to go high protein and Raw is out of the question.


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## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

some don't agree but I rank Wellness up there w/ Orijen and Acana. I think they are a bit more pricey...but a solid line of foods and their Core formulas are very nice. 

As far as your Dog getting pickier...thats a tough one. Some Dogs just graze their food more than others. I have 3 Dogs so its a race to the trough every time...you don't eat your food, someone else is gonna swoop in and take it. You learn to eat fast I suppose. 

Gosh, if he's turning up his nose even at wet foods....wow, I can't even comprehend that one. Might want to make sure he's ok health-wise. 

net/net...Orijen, Acana, Honest Kitchen...I'd rank those up w/ the Wellness class of foods if you want to try something different.


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## RegDunlop (Dec 22, 2009)

Thanks for the fast response, health wise he's good he just had a check up, he eats his wet food eventually, just before he would run over and gobble it all up....

just looking through other posts and some say it's okay to feed dogs all different canned foods


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## lancewil27 (Aug 19, 2010)

you can call the "Honest Kitchen" and they will send you 2 free samples to try...
I just did this the other day.

With the advice here from so many nice people I will rotate with the Acana Pacifica and Grasslands formulas..(Grain free) and The Honest Kitchen Embark...

I hope all works out for you.
Ken and Wilbur


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## lancewil27 (Aug 19, 2010)

I may be wrong, but I've researched many many hours on this..The only company that makes their own "CANNED WET FOOD" in their own plant is EVANGERS.
They are in Chicago.I've even called and spoken to Joel Evanger, the owner..They actually make canned wet food for other companies as well under fifferent names.
I give my Wilbur a can of Evangers a few times a week as a special treat with baby carrots and Tuna or Salmon.
Not too often as I worry about the Sodium content being to high..

Most, if not all other canned wet food manufacturers outsource their canned foods, so I wonder about quality assurrance.
I asked Evangers a few years back for free samples and they sent me a case of cans to try...
best wishes
Ken and Wilbur


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## RegDunlop (Dec 22, 2009)

lancewil27 said:


> I may be wrong, but I've researched many many hours on this..The only company that makes their own "CANNED WET FOOD" in their own plant is EVANGERS.
> They are in Chicago.I've even called and spoken to Joel Evanger, the owner..They actually make canned wet food for other companies as well under fifferent names.
> I give my Wilbur a can of Evangers a few times a week as a special treat with baby carrots and Tuna or Salmon.
> Not too often as I worry about the Sodium content being to high..
> ...



wow good info,...that word"outsoiurce," scares me....has a cat die a few years ago after the chinese poisoned her across multiple brands, but that is a different story


What brands does evangers make food for?


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

You just need to add another dog to the mix and he won't be so indifferent to eating anymore!:biggrin:


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## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

RegDunlop said:


> wow good info,...that word"outsoiurce," scares me....has a cat die a few years ago after the chinese poisoned her across multiple brands, but that is a different story
> 
> 
> What brands does evangers make food for?




Reg,

Evanger's makes wet food for almost everyone. 

The wet food market is peculiar. Many of the labels you see really aren't made by the company on the label. 

Even Natura outsources their wet food as I recall. 


One reason I love Champion(Orijen/Acana). They don't have the capability to make wet food. 

So they don't make wet food. Kind of says something. 


Personally, I think it makes more fiscal sense to buy a bunch of chicken and cook it up and mix it in w/ your dry food. You'll have a better food and will probably save money.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

RegDunlop said:


> Could it be he has become bored with his food? Should I switch him to another brand for a few months.


Of course he is bored with his food but more importantly, he takes it for granted. It's always there so why rush. If you would leave it down for 15 minutes then take it up and not give him anything until next meal time, he will QUICKLY stop grazing and start eating. :smile:


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

we rotate canned foods just to give the doga a different protein source. Some days they eat beef, some days chicken, some days rabbit, venison, etc etc. They do fine on this. And some days they are hungry and some days they aren't so hungry, just like people. I've had mine gobble up their dry food and then I"ve had them leave it in the bowl for two days before they ate it. It doesn't worry me. I have a big dog and a little dog and sooner or later they eventually eat the dry food. They each get one small plate of canned in the morning and some days the little one gobbles it up and some days she just stares at it and takes a few bites and gives it up to her brother. She isn't always hungry. 

We use Evangers, Wellness, Back to Basics, Evo, and By Nature canned mostly. All of those are grain free and mine have done well on them.


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## lancewil27 (Aug 19, 2010)

found this on another site regarding Evangers and copied it for here:


Evanger's was incorporated in 1935, and acquired in 2002 by a husband and wife team. They are based in Wheeling, Ilinois. Their dry dog food manufacturers are Ohio Pet Foods, Lisbon, Ohio, and Fromm Family Foods, Mequon, Wisconsin. They manufacture all their canned dog food at their own plant in Ilinois.

The company produces all natural dog food products which contain all the best quality dog food ingredients. They are free of artificial preservatives, additives, and by-products. It is a human grade dog food, hormone and antibiotic free, containing no artificial chemical preservatives, additives, or by-products. They are also free of Vitamin K (a controversial ingredient).

Their products are also rich in vitamins and Omega three and Omega six fatty acids. The company representative told us they do not add probiotics or chelated minerals, as they essentially become ineffective after the cooking processing. FYI, there does appear to be two schools of thought on this subject. 

The vast majority of Evangers dog food ingredients are sourced locally; their lamb and venison is from New Zealand and Australia.


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

My dogs right now are actually eating wellness core reduced fat and wellness core regular. I actually went out yesterday and bought 9 cans of different variety of Evangers to mix in the evening meal. they ranged from $1.39 a can all the way to $ 2.89. so cost me almost 15 dollars. They get dry food in the morning. I give my one lab 3/4 cup regular and the other gets 1/2 cup of the reduced fat right now. The others the ori pei gets 1/2 cup regular and the beagle gets 1/4 cup regular core. then in the evening I mix in 1/4 of the canned which is evangers for each with the same amount of food. Then if they seem hungry later I give them an rmb. which I have to say I usually do this on the weekends not every evening. they get very little treats low fat or the ones that I have dehydrated such as beef liver or chicken breast. But as for them changing formulas have not heard this at all. I at one point shyed away from Evangers because of hearing some recall info. and have not seen any evidence of anything wrong with their canned foods so have gone back with the canned. Their is also the wellness five mix if you care to try these. I have also out different toppers at time. I like wellness, fromm, merrick just like going tot he mom and pop stores with the better quality foods and supporting them! But as for my dogs having problems they are doing great right now! I even went to the wellness web sight and asked them to do more than just weight reduction, fish and regular core meaning where's like lamb core and buffalo core and venison core hmm whether they got it though don't know! Oh well my dogs seem to be doing just fine on the foods. try putting it down even if you leave it for 1/2 an hour an two times a day your dog will get use to the idea that this is the feeding time. Try not giving too many treats and such maybe this will help. They get pretty use to routine and they do like routine!


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## thistle (Aug 31, 2010)

I'm getting ready to try the Wellness Super5Mix Just for Puppy for my 3.5 month old black lab mix puppies. So far, they've had Nutro Ultra Holistic Puppy (available on post, small bags-pricey), Verus GP Advantage (they liked this, but I'd need bigger bags), Solid Gold Hundchen-Flocken (liked the formula, big bags) but they are SO gassy-like, clear the room toxic gas! I was giving them a tbsp. of plain yogurt occasionally, to see if it would help, but they're still pretty stinky...they seem to like the new food (honestly, they like any food-they like dirt, too)-hoping for a reduction in gas & somewhat firmer poops...wish me luck!


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