# Which Acana formula?



## riddick4811 (Nov 2, 2011)

I'm thinking of trying a bag of Acana for Casper, Pongo and Circe. Just not sure which one. I have a $10 coupon and figured I would try a bag. They are eating Earthborn Meadows Feast and doing really well. Casper seems to do very well on lamb. But then I'm thinking trying a different protein for a change would be good. I was thinking maybe the Duck and Bartlet pear. 

Oats are fine, but we can't have chicken. I'm not sure about duck. And Circe seems to do better w/o fish. So either Duck or Lamb formula. 

Also any opinions on the Chicken and Burbank Potato? Is seems to be the most affordable so I was thinking of trying it for my other dogs for a change.


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

Jackson's done really well on the Acana Singles line. He's been rotating between duck & pear and lamb & apple for a few months now.

We fed one bag of the chicken & burbank potato because it was cheaper, and it would have been nice to save some money, but I think Jackson may have some sort of an intolerance to chicken (or maybe something else in the food). Nothing big, but his poos were MUCH softer and bigger (and more frequent). So I guess we'll unfortunately avoid that formula for now. I think I paid $13.99 for a 5lb bag (compared to the $19.99 they charge for lamb & apple).

But on the Singles - his poops have been great, very consistent every day - small, formed, hard, lol. Love it. Not terribly smell (for poop anyways) and easy to pick up with a bag. Very minimal eye goop, his coat looks great and he's got a lot of energy.

He's probably done the best on this than anything else.

I'm potentially looking into a few other brands to rotate with so I can save a bit of money though because the price of the Singles line is the only turnoff (and I like to buy the smaller bags). So looking into Precise or Nutrisource.


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## Elisabeth (Jul 18, 2011)

i feed the acana ranchlands and mix it with water. piper is doing great on it. no chicken or chicken fat. i like that it's grass fed meat and certified antibiotic free and passed ‘fit for human consumption’.

Ingredients: 

Deboned beef, lamb meal, herring meal, russet potato, peas, beef liver, herring oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), deboned bison, deboned lamb, sun-cured alfalfa, salmon meal, lamb liver, pea fiber, pumpkin, spinach, turnip greens, tomatoes, carrots, apples, kelp, cranberries, blueberries, juniper berries, chicory root, licorice root, angelica root, funugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile flowers, lavender flowers, summer savory, rosemary, vitamin A supplement, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, selenium yeast, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product.


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## riddick4811 (Nov 2, 2011)

Thanks. I think I'm going to go with the Lamb and Apple. The Ranchlands is too expensive. It is $13 more per bag than the lamb. $23 more than the chicken. 

I am trying to decide between The chicken and burbank or Nutrisource Lamb grain free for the other dogs. Price is about the same. Rebel has been having soft poop and I'm wondering if he has a chicken allergy. If Casper eats anything with chicken in it, he gets explosive diarrhea, even raw chicken or cooked chicken. Rebel was on Dog Chow when I got him and I switched him to Native which my dogs were eating at the time and we went thru a bag and 1/2 of it w/ no issue, then we went on Earthborn Primitive- no issue, then on Victor Ultra Professional Grain free and he was fine then soft serve poop in the middle of the bag. So when that bag was done, we went back to the Primitive and still getting soft serve poop and he is losing weight. Vet check didn't show anything. He is very high energy. I am going to do another round of panacur just to make sure there are no worms. But I'm thinking of switching off chicken based kibble to see if that helps. I tried cutting back thinking I was maybe overfeeding, but he lost weight quicker and poop was still soft. I cut out all supplements and extras and just fed kibble and a bit of water for a week- no difference.


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## riddick4811 (Nov 2, 2011)

Well, I finally made a decision! 

Got Acana Duck since they haven't had Duck before. Evangers Duck and Sweet Potato can food. And 2 bags of Nutrisource Lamb grain free plus a case of Evangers beef can food for $160 and it should feed all 9 dogs for a month!


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## Grey (Jul 6, 2012)

Hi there! I just wanted to say that I am having the exact same problem that you had!

Quinn is worth everything to me, but some of the Acana formulas are just expeeeensive. What really narrowed it down for me, though, was the fact that only four of their flavors are grain-free. Now, I'm only choosing that because I've read a lot about grain-free vs. grain dog foods, but I must say that I really thought the Chicken and Burbank Potato along with the Lamb and Apple sounded like solid options. 

Grain-free options from Acana are:

Acana Pacifica
Acana Grasslands
Acana Wild Prairie
Acana Ranchlands

Wild Prairie (does include chicken) seems to be the least expensive.


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## riddick4811 (Nov 2, 2011)

I still have the bag of Acana- haven't opened it yet. Dogs went nuts over the Nutrisource. They got in the Wag.com box and chewed a hole in the bag! So right now they are all eating Nutrisource Grain free lamb formula and all are doing great. What I find interesting is they are losing weight (was needed) and looking better and the Nutrisource is higher kcal/cup than what they were eating and they are eating same amount. Poop is good, energy increased, skin/coat all look good. And all dogs are eating same food w/o issue so that is a big plus!


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## PDXdogmom (Jun 30, 2010)

Glad to hear the NurtirSource is working for all your dogs. It's always great when you can find a more reasonably priced good food that your dogs thrive on. I've used the NutriSource in rotation - on the Earthborn Coastal Catch right now.


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## riddick4811 (Nov 2, 2011)

Earthborn works well too on all my dogs. Mine all did best on the Meadows Feast. But I'm really liking the Nutrisource Lamb still. We are almost done with the first bag. Going to use the Acana next. So we'll see how it goes.


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