# Wholly crud Batman this is spendy!!



## GermanSheperdlover (Nov 15, 2009)

I finally found some of Acana's new Ranchlands formula, but man was it ever spendy 69+ bucks a bag. Ya, the Ingredient list is great, but that's way over 2 bucks a pound. So I bought just a small bag to see if Tony likes it or not.


Champion Petfoods | ACANA | Products - Puppy Small Breed


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## rescuedoglover (Sep 26, 2010)

Have you checked the price of Orijen's Regional Red just for comparison? Did you find it on-line or locally? I've been told that there's a supply issue at Champion Pet Foods, and they've halted production of ACANA in favor of Orijen


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## jdatwood (Apr 13, 2009)

Wow, what an amazing amount of flowers in it!


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## pandaparade (Dec 29, 2010)

Flowers? Why would they need flowers?


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

pandaparade said:


> Flowers? Why would they need flowers?


They add in vegetation to mirror a dogs natural instinct to forage for grasses, fruit, and vegetables. It is not a necessary part of any carnivorous diet unless the diet is sufficiently lacking in meat. If we are to use the argument that you want to feed a diet that mirrors what your dog would be getting out in the wild, well, if your dog lives in an area with junipor berries and mint leaves, they might just be eating that mixed with whatever other food they can get their jaws on. There are vegetables in there that I would argue your dog would probably never eat or come into contact with if they lived in an area with no access to humans, but that's beside the point as dogs are "canis lupus familiaris" - they're domesticated wolves.

Dogs are scavengers, they eat what will satiet their hunger. I think ACANA does a bang up job of offering a high quality kibble which mirrors (to a degree) what your dog might find if they were scavenging, however you're not feeding whole foods which is what your dog would be finding out on their own, so it is a very processed form of what their natural diet might look like.


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

Yup, and also look how far down they are in the list. It would be a minuscule amount.


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## GermanSheperdlover (Nov 15, 2009)

jdatwood said:


> Wow, what an amazing amount of flowers in it!


You sound just like that guy who worked for abady. LOL, you 2 should get together and have a little party. Just keep in mind this guy is mad because he can not find any evidence to prove that raw feeding is better than any of top of the line kibble, so this is how he has to respond.


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## jdatwood (Apr 13, 2009)

GermanSheperdlover said:


> You sound just like that guy who worked for abady. LOL, you 2 should get together and have a little party.


Sorry, I know that fancy kibble won't cure Hip Dysplasia unlike the infamous Claybuster. Thanks for the comparison though :wink:

I just find it amusing that these "high quality" kibbles included such an insanely LONG list of inappropriate ingredients...


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## GermanSheperdlover (Nov 15, 2009)

CavePaws said:


> They add in vegetation to mirror a dogs natural instinct to forage for grasses, fruit, and vegetables. It is not a necessary part of any carnivorous diet unless the diet is sufficiently lacking in meat. If we are to use the argument that you want to feed a diet that mirrors what your dog would be getting out in the wild, well, if your dog lives in an area with junipor berries and mint leaves, they might just be eating that mixed with whatever other food they can get their jaws on. There are vegetables in there that I would argue your dog would probably never eat or come into contact with if they lived in an area with no access to humans, but that's beside the point as dogs are "canis lupus familiaris" - they're domesticated wolves.
> 
> Dogs are scavengers, they eat what will satiet their hunger. I think ACANA does a bang up job of offering a high quality kibble which mirrors (to a degree) what your dog might find if they were scavenging, however you're not feeding whole foods which is what your dog would be finding out on their own, so it is a very processed form of what their natural diet might look like.


You are pretty much correct. Wild dogs (wolfs,coyotes and such) used to get a lot of their supplements from the stomachs of those animals they would kill. Meaning the grass's, wild flowers and such that the kill would have eaten, would have been eaten by the wild dogs. Wild dogs would in fact eat berries and wild flowers if they were "not" receiving those nutrients.


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## jdatwood (Apr 13, 2009)

GermanSheperdlover said:


> Wild dogs (wolfs,coyotes and such) used to get a lot of their supplements from the stomachs of those animals they would kill. Meaning the grass's, wild flowers and such that the kill would have eaten, would have been eaten by the wild dogs. Wild dogs would in fact eat berries and wild flowers if they were "not" receiving those nutrients.


It's been shown time and time again that they do NOT consume the contents of the stomach. IF the stomach is consumed it is typically torn open and the contents discarded.


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## GermanSheperdlover (Nov 15, 2009)

jdatwood said:


> Sorry, I know that fancy kibble won't cure Hip Dysplasia unlike the infamous Claybuster. Thanks for the comparison though :wink:
> 
> I just find it amusing that these "high quality" kibbles included such an insanely LONG list of inappropriate ingredients...


Where do you get your scientific backing to say ""insanely LONG list of inappropriate ingredients.""" WHERE IS ALL THIS PROOF AND WHICH MINOR INGREDIENT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, please show me all this proof you have?? It is your OPINION and that is all it is!! Now don't get me wrong because I add FRESH meat to my dogs diet almost every day. Tonight he gets BEEF......But to just keep beating down quality kibble is just silly, it's just your OPINION.. Just like the list's of kibble I post, THEY ARE JUST MY OPINION.


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## jdatwood (Apr 13, 2009)

GermanSheperdlover said:


> Where do you get your scientific backing to say ""insanely LONG list of inappropriate ingredients.""" WHERE IS ALL THIS PROOF AND WHICH MINOR INGREDIENT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, please show me all this proof you have?? It is your OPINION and that is all it is!! Now don't get me wrong because I add FRESH meat to my dogs diet almost every day. Tonight he gets BEEF......But to just keep beating down quality kibble is just silly, it's just your OPINION.. Just like the list's of kibble I post, THEY ARE JUST MY OPINION.


Oh come on now Jess. Get off your "scientific backing" horse...

In MY OPINION it has a long list of inappropriate ingredients. I'm not beating anything down. I'm merely stating my opinion of the ingredients list.... :wink:

Answer me this, is Tony a carnivore?


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

Going to look up the studies right now which show that the stomach contents are normally left behind. Lets be realistic, when it comes to small prey items its "Chomp, chomp, chomp, gulp" they're not going to take the time to pick through it. 

International Wolf Center Learn - Frequently Asked Questions about Wolves
Go to "What do wolves eat" And you will find what is left behind listed.


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## SamWu1 (Oct 15, 2010)

GermanSheperdlover said:


> You sound just like that guy who worked for abady. LOL, you 2 should get together and have a little party. Just keep in mind this guy is mad because he can not find any evidence to prove that raw feeding is better than any of top of the line kibble, so this is how he has to respond.


I understand you didn't appreciate his sarcasm but I wouldn't compare him to Abady. As far as kibble is concerned, I think Champion is as good as it gets imho. To be candid I've never looked for "real" evidence to justify if raw was better. I simply used the logic of fresh, whole foods vs. cooked, processed food and the fresh option appeared more appealing.

To be perfectly honest, my unbiased observation has shown that my dog's condition improved after eating raw and he was on a combination of Orijen and Honest Kitchen Thrive which seems to be the pinnacle of commercial pet food. Results may vary of course but most wouldn't deny that fresh and unprocessed is generally a healthier option than processed.


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## SamWu1 (Oct 15, 2010)

jdatwood said:


> In MY OPINION it has a long list of inappropriate ingredients.


Perhaps the term "inappropiate" may be a bit too harsh, "Unnecessary" seems more fitting because it may not offer a great deal of nutritional benefit, but at least it isn't particularly harmful with the exception that the digestive team needs to work a bit harder.

I'm not the one to claim expertise in the matter, but if the stools are large, soft and smelly, that's a strong indication of digestive distress. Poop that I see with poorly fed dogs, large, soft and smelly. Poop that I see with high quality kibble, smaller, firmer, still stinky but less so. Poop from my own dog, very small, very firm but not dry and the least stinky out of the three.


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## jdatwood (Apr 13, 2009)

SamWu1 said:


> Perhaps the term "inappropiate" may be a bit too harsh, "Unnecessary" seems more fitting because it may not offer a great deal of nutritional benefit, but at least it isn't particularly harmful with the exception that the digestive team needs to work a bit harder.


Fair enough :wink:


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Love how every thread with GSL in it turns into a raw vs kibble debate.. 

I feed my cats Champion and they do well on it. I do add fish oil and fresh liver often as well as canned fish. They are picky little buggers and turn their noses up at the raw I offer (except the liver). I would love to see a kibble without all the flowers and veggies and fruits and just have the meat, a binder and vitamins only.


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

bishopthesheltie said:


> I feed my cats Champion and they do well on it. I do add fish oil and fresh liver often as well as canned fish. They are picky little buggers and turn their noses up at the raw I offer (except the liver). I would love to see a kibble without all the flowers and veggies and fruits and just have the meat, a binder and vitamins only.


They do! Natural Range Of Premium Pet-food Products - Ziwipeak - Natural New Zealand Pet Nutrition It's pretty spendy, though. But if you're feeding a cat, it might not hurt the ol' wallet as much.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Ha, I forgot about Ziwipeak. I've never seen it in pet stores although I did see it at the Alberta Kennel Club dog show.. $40 for a 2lb bag. Natalie I don't even want to think about how much you would be spending on that for your dogs if you fed it LOL


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## bumblegoat (May 12, 2010)

Ania's Mommy said:


> They do! Natural Range Of Premium Pet-food Products - Ziwipeak - Natural New Zealand Pet Nutrition It's pretty spendy, though. But if you're feeding a cat, it might not hurt the ol' wallet as much.


ZiwiPeak isn't really like kibble though. The texture is very different, more like crumbly jerky. I have offered my cat some ZiwiPeak (the one for dogs though, which I use as treats) and she won't touch it. Cats can be extremely picky and refuse to touch things they don't recognize as food.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Amazon have the 2.2lb bag of venison for $20.00. I've been seriously contemplating transitioning my cat over to it (ha ha) as she eats far less than the dog. Plus the Ziwipeak cat food is only 8% carbs which is heaps better than the kibble.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

I am seeing some provocative and/or inflammatory posts in this thread. Let's tone it down a few notches. Thanks. :smile:


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## SamWu1 (Oct 15, 2010)

MollyWoppy said:


> Amazon have the 2.2lb bag of venison for $20.00. I've been seriously contemplating transitioning my cat over to it (ha ha) as she eats far less than the dog. Plus the Ziwipeak cat food is only 8% carbs which is heaps better than the kibble.


But raw is heaps cheaper than $9+ a pound.


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