# Which one do you think is best?



## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Based on the company itself (trustworthiness), ingredients/ratios, etc?

Helping a friend decide on a food for her dog.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

I really like Orijen so I went with Acana for Champion Pet Foods. I don't know to trust Evo, the ash levels are pretty high in Instinct and they get ingredients from China an other undisclosed places. I just don't love the ingredients in Earthborn, and I found out Petcurean gets stuff from China too. So that's why I went with Acana.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Wow, Petcurean does??? that's very surprising to me.

I hear only good things about Now in my area, it seems to be getting VERY popular here...and people rave about it. One thing that I wasn't sure about...

In their ingredient lists, just using the grain free adult as an example...it is:

De-boned turkey, potato flour, peas, apples, whole dried egg, pea fibre, tomato, potatoes, flaxseed, canola oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), natural flavour, salmon, de-boned duck, sundried alfalfa, coconut oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), carrots, pumpkin, bananas, blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, papayas, pineapple, grapefruit, lentil beans, broccoli, spinach, cottage cheese, alfalfa sprouts, dried kelp, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, lecithin, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (a source of vitamin C), niacin, inositol, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, d-calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, beta-carotene, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), minerals (zinc proteinate , ferrous sulphate, zinc oxide, iron proteinate, copper sulphate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, selenium yeast), taurine, DL-methionine, L-lysine, dried chicory root, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Aspergillus niger fermentation product, dried Aspergillus oryzae fermentation product, yeast extract, yucca schidigera extract, marigold, L-carnitine, dried rosemary.


I know when an ingredient list says "chicken" it means it's water inclusive, thus, not really the first ingredient...is that true for this formula too since it says "de-boned turkey"???? Which would mean...there's not a whole lotta meat in their formulas?


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Just looked at their website, and their Go formulas now have grain free's as well....which actually look better than the Now formulas...interesting.

THeir adult grain free:

Chicken meal, turkey meal, salmon meal, de-boned chicken, de-boned turkey, de-boned trout, potatoes, peas, tapioca, lentil beans, chickpeas, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), natural chicken flavour, whole dried egg, apples, duck meal, herring meal, salmon oil, alfalfa, de-boned duck, de-boned salmon, sweet potatoes, canola oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), coconut oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), flaxseed, potassium chloride, pumpkin, carrots, bananas, blueberries, cranberries, broccoli, spinach, alfalfa sprouts, blackberries, squash, papayas, pomegranate, dried chicory root, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Aspergillus niger fermentation product, dried Aspergillus oryzae fermentation product, vitamins (vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, inositol, niacin, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (a source of vitamin C), d-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, beta-carotene, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), minerals (zinc proteinate , iron proteinate, copper proteinate, zinc oxide, manganese proteinate, copper sulphate, ferrous sulphate, calcium iodate, manganous oxide, selenium yeast), sodium chloride, taurine, yucca schidigera extract, dried rosemary, green tea extract, peppermint, parsley, rosehips, zedoary, dandelion, chamomile, ginger, fennel, tumeric, juniper berries, licorice, marigold extract, cardamom, cloves.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

I could only choose one so I went with Acana, only because I've fed it and like the company & the food. If I could have voted for Earthborn, I would have, not from personal experience but from what I've read.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

I really really liked the grain free Go formulas until I found that out which made me sad. Doesn't matter now we're going raw, but it's really kind of disappointing.


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

Go! and NOW source some ingredients from China? That is so disappointing! I feed their canned food in my rotation for my cats. I tried switching them to raw but it was impossible, so just sticking with high quality canned and a tiny bit of dry. That really sucks, guess when Im done with the few cans I have, I wont be buying those anymore -.-


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/dry-ca...est-dog-food-without-china-ingredients-5.html

Sadly, major disappointment for me.


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## DDBsR4Me (Jan 23, 2012)

Do you guys still feel comfortable with Acana even though they are changing (or have changed,not sure) their formulas?


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

Definitely a step down. I'd go with Orijen. That might be the only kibble I would feed at this point honestly. I don't like any other ingredient lists that have trusted manufacturers.

And Dried-N-Alive if you count that as kibble. It's baked at 180 degrees Fahrenheit.


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## dr tim (Mar 27, 2011)

Is this an advertisement for one/by one of the 5 foods?


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

dr tim said:


> Is this an advertisement for one/by one of the 5 foods?



huh???




(too short)


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## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

Of those I'd say Acana, but in the end, your friend has to listen to her dog to see which one works best for the dog. Acana has done well for my PWD girl, Echo. I am finishing a bag of the 'old' formula, and am undecided if I want to try the new formula or not. She looks beautiful and the new formula is a drastic difference. Probably better because myself, I eat low glycemic, which this new formulation is supposed to be lower glycemic. 
We shall see.
Good luck to your friend.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

SaharaNight Boxers said:


> I really really liked the grain free Go formulas until I found that out which made me sad.


What Chinese ingredients does Go and Now include? You make it sound like they are shipping poultry straight from the Chinese gutter. If you are talking about vitamin pre-mixes I say big deal, the big majority all include pre-mixes directly from china or indirectly from suppliers who source from China.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

dr tim said:


> Is this an advertisement for one/by one of the 5 foods?


Dr. Tim's Momentum "Holy macaroni, buckle up"

There you go :smile:


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

DaViking said:


> What Chinese ingredients does Go and Now include? You make it sound like they are shipping poultry straight from the Chinese gutter. If you are talking about vitamin pre-mixes I say big deal, the big majority all include pre-mixes directly from china or indirectly from suppliers who source from China.


That much I will admit I do not know. I just saw that they have ingredients from China, it would just make me wonder a bit.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

meggels said:


> Based on the company itself (trustworthiness), ingredients/ratios, etc?
> 
> Helping a friend decide on a food for her dog.


Any of those could work out for her. So could many other choices. If that list is absolute I'd say go with Go Refresh+Renew or Fit+Free but that's just me. The others are ok too, never cared for Natures Variety. Other good choices are Horizon Complete and Horizon Legacy, Annamaet, Dr. Tim's, Native, Fromm, First Mate to name a few.


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## PDXdogmom (Jun 30, 2010)

meggels said:


> Based on the company itself (trustworthiness), ingredients/ratios, etc?
> 
> Helping a friend decide on a food for her dog.


Trustworthiness: Earthborn by Midwestern Pet Foods / no recalls or problems whatsover; you can't say that of any of the other companies in the poll

ratios: Earthborn (excluding Prmitive) / not the highs and lows of EVO, NV or Now

Ingredients: this is a challenge because how can any of us really know the quality of the specific meat meals used in the kibbles? i do know that I don't feel like paying extra for lots ingredients that are there for consumer window-dressing. 

I would add "results" as a judgment parameter; because you may like something on paper but it may not make your dog thrive.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

I totally forgot about some of the other brands mentioned here like Annamaet, Fromm, etc.


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## riddick4811 (Nov 2, 2011)

I prefer Earthborn out of those listed. Not that I so much trust the company the most as I like the results the best. The company can be perfect on paper and never have a recall, but if the results are crap, then I'm not going to use them. 

I've fed all of them and Earthborn consistently gave the best results in multiple dogs. Nature's Variety would be next, their Rabbit formula and Salmon did very well on multiple dogs. Then Acana- the Ranchlands, but I found it overpriced for how the dogs did on it. I have the Acana Duck and Barlett pear, but haven't opened the bag yet. Evo was one of the worst foods I've fed. The Red meats was the best, but still not justifying the price and dogs did not care for the flavor of the food. 

I also like Fromm, Native, Nutrisource and Victor. To my knowledge, they all seem to be reputable companies and their foods have worked on multiple dogs I've fed and I find them more affordable than some of the other foods.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

is it safe to give your dog anything that's made in China?



DaViking said:


> What Chinese ingredients does Go and Now include? You make it sound like they are shipping poultry straight from the Chinese gutter. If you are talking about vitamin pre-mixes I say big deal, the big majority all include pre-mixes directly from china or indirectly from suppliers who source from China.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

doggiedad said:


> is it safe to give your dog anything that's made in China?


People gobble down the very same Chinese vitamin mixes by the tons every day. It's no more unsafe to give your dog pre-mixes from China than pre-mixes made in Mexico, France, Israel or the UK for that matter. With the production methods, storing and shipping and various stages of testing there is no way you can compare synthetic pre-mixes to animal or plant products from China. Those products carries a much higher risk of adulteration.


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