# Thoughts on Blue Buffalo??



## AidensMom (Nov 12, 2012)

I just adopted a medium sized (about 25 lbs) yellow lab (maybe Chow) mix who had been a stray and hit by a car which severely shattered his rear right leg. He's had surgery to repair the leg but that leg is now significantly shorter then the other. That being said, he favors his rear left leg and usually walks and runs (or hops) with his damaged leg lifted. Also, it's only been 5 months since his surgery and so I know he's still healing. Regardless, I forsee that due to his favoring of that rear good leg I'm going to encounter some hip issues in the future. His foster mom had him on the Costco Natural Brand of dog food, but I don't have a Costco near me or a membership so I wanted to transition him to something else I could get easily. I heard great things about Blue Buffalo and started transitioning him over to the Life Protection Adult Chicken and Rice Formula. Occasionally I mix in some BB Beef, Lamb, or Chicken stew soft dog food to make it more appetizing since it's been a true challenge to make him eat while he's getting used to his new home and new mom and dad. I've read some mixed reviews about BB now though and I'm getting nervous. Kidney failure, excessive thirst, soft stool and vomiting? Please note, I also give him 1 fish oil capsule per day and Cetyl M Joint Action Formula Tablets for added glucosomine. What are your thoughts on Blue Buffalo? Is there a better option?

PS- Also tried to start the raw feeding and he was NOT having it. So, I'm not ready to venture into that territory again at this point in the game. lol


----------



## Trinity (Nov 12, 2012)

With dry food there are so many types out there. Where I am Blue Buffalo, although it is a decent brand of dry food, it's WAAAAAY to expensive vs the cost. It all depends on how much you want to spend. Is Orijen available in your area perhaps?

Remember your dog could always be holding out on eating hoping that you will give him something tasty! When you do decide what you want him to eat only leave the bowl down for 10 mins and if he doesn't eat take it away and he doesn't get anything until next meal time. I am a little more strict with my guys and if they even walk away from their food I take it away.


----------



## AidensMom (Nov 12, 2012)

Thanks Trinity! I have been leaving it down for an hour or so in hopes that he'll eat something! I'm getting so stressed. But these past couple days he's really been scarfing down his food when I combine the BB wet food with the kibble. 

I can purchase Orijen from chewy.com I think, and I've also heard good things about it. My thoughts are, if it's the best food out there for him, I don't mind shelling out the money for it. On the other hand, if it comparable to Orijen for example and just far more expensive then that's a different story. Would you recommend Orijen over the BB in both quality and price?


----------



## Trinity (Nov 12, 2012)

AidensMom said:


> Thanks Trinity! I have been leaving it down for an hour or so in hopes that he'll eat something! I'm getting so stressed. But these past couple days he's really been scarfing down his food when I combine the BB wet food with the kibble.
> 
> I can purchase Orijen from chewy.com I think, and I've also heard good things about it. My thoughts are, if it's the best food out there for him, I don't mind shelling out the money for it. On the other hand, if it comparable to Orijen for example and just far more expensive then that's a different story. Would you recommend Orijen over the BB in both quality and price?


for my are DEFINITELY! But I am not sure how much those foods are in your area. Here a big bag of BB is around $55 while Orijen is $60 (Canadian $) I live about 10 miles away from their plant so it's cheaper here while BB is expensive (no idea where their plant is). But if it flirts with the price range of raw I would just do raw as it is much better. Although, I am not sure how you would transition. I just started feeding raw myself and my guys just hoovered it! I joined this forum just for the raw advice. I am sure lots of ppl would love to be more helpful than me in the Raw section.


----------



## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

Blue Buffalo is a middle of the pack brand *at best*. More marketing than anything. Honestly, because of the price, I'd pick up a bag of Diamond Naturals before BB Chicken and Rice. If you want something better look for brands like Annamaet, Dr Tim's, Horizon, Acana, Evo, Orijen, Fromm, Go, Now, Victor, Precise, Verus or Red Paw. Royal-Canin or Eukanuba PP of the big banner brands. Feeding a good brand makes a world of difference compared to mediocre products many perceive as good.


----------



## AidensMom (Nov 12, 2012)

DaViking, thanks so much. Since I'm toawrds the end of the process of transitioning him to Blue Buffalo do you think I should complete the transition before I move him to something like Orijen? Or should I leave him on BB for a little while before I try to transition him again? I don't want to kill his stomach. How do you feel about Merrick Wet food? Any experience with that?


----------



## Trinity (Nov 12, 2012)

Remember it's all what your paying vs quality!

Some food are garbage but they slap a fancy label on it and a high price.


----------



## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

AidensMom said:


> DaViking, thanks so much. Since I'm toawrds the end of the process of transitioning him to Blue Buffalo do you think I should complete the transition before I move him to something like Orijen? Or should I leave him on BB for a little while before I try to transition him again? I don't want to kill his stomach. How do you feel about Merrick Wet food? Any experience with that?


You should be fine unless he have severe digestive issues. You can go ahead and start the transition say 5 to 10 days before the BB bag is done.

Never fed anything Merrick. Only know that they have had production/quality issues in the past and frequent the "recall list" more than I like.

Just a heads up on Orijen. This is obviously different from dog to dog but in my experience it takes about 3 weeks (4 weeks from the start of the transition) of eating nothing but Orijen until you see reasonably good and firm stool. For some reason I have seen better results with Orijen Regional Red then Orijen Adult.


----------



## bobulldog8 (Nov 14, 2012)

DaViking said:


> Blue Buffalo is a middle of the pack brand *at best*. More marketing than anything. Honestly, because of the price, I'd pick up a bag of Diamond Naturals before BB Chicken and Rice. If you want something better look for brands like Annamaet, Dr Tim's, Horizon, Acana, Evo, Orijen, Fromm, Go, Now, Victor, Precise, Verus or Red Paw. Royal-Canin or Eukanuba PP of the big banner brands. Feeding a good brand makes a world of difference compared to mediocre products many perceive as good.


Hey everyone, first time poster and i am glad that i found this forum. Anyway, i second this post. Blue Buffalo does a great job of marketing itself, but is an average food. There are a lot of better foods out there at the same price point (many of which are mentioned in the previous post).


----------



## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

Duke was raised on Blue until we switched to raw. I don't think it's the best food of course. It's a bit more expensive than what I think it deserves also. He has a sensitive stomach also and normally did ok on Blue until the end. The major problem was he had constant ear infections on the grain inclusive. We switched to Wilderness and they stated to clear up.


----------



## AidensMom (Nov 12, 2012)

Thanks all! I think I'm going to transition to Orijen Regional Red in a couple weeks. Since he just transitioned to BB I dont want to switch it on him right away. I appreciate everyones advice!!


----------



## Georgiapeach (Jan 24, 2011)

Orijen is a great food, but too rich for some dogs. If you find that to be true, try Acana grain free. It's cheaper than Orijen, and tolerated by more dogs. They're made by the same company.


----------



## monster'sdad (Jul 29, 2012)

AidensMom said:


> Thanks all! I think I'm going to transition to Orijen Regional Red in a couple weeks. Since he just transitioned to BB I dont want to switch it on him right away. I appreciate everyones advice!!


Chances are you will buy one bag of Orijen and not buy another, or you will think you are going to buy Regional Red and then look at the $90 price tag (for a very average product) and not buy it.


----------



## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

monster'sdad said:


> Chances are you will buy one bag of Orijen and not buy another, or you will think you are going to buy Regional Red and then look at the $90 price tag (for a very average product) and not buy it.


I hear you, we can discuss Orijen being better than foods costing half as much but I'll put that aside for now. Let's look at the price they are asking. In my opinion it's the consumers fault, not Champion. What they are saying is basically, "So, a naturopath with a 16 hour course told you corn is bad? You are afraid your dog will get diabetes from eating rice? You fear wheat will cause allergies in your pooch and he/she will get cancer from eating GM soy? Oh someone on the internet told you there is lots of feathers, beaks and other nasty stuff in by-product meals you say? You want lot's of acid producing meat? You want the meat locally sourced and short traveled? You want 200 to 400% more protein than your dog will utilize? No sweat, now... pay me. I'll make the product you are asking for but I will add an extra premium. Thanks for bankrolling Alberta farmers, much appreciated." In other words, they are simply responding to the mass hysteria that's been going on for years. It's legal to cash in on opportunities. Blame the consumer and blame moron dog food companies like Blue Buffalo with misleading and dishonest marketing. They do nothing but dumb down the discussion.


----------



## brandi (Nov 18, 2012)

Blue Buffalo is a good food, I work at petsmart and here good and bad things about it all the time.. that being said, the good things i here is that Blue has many different varietys and that helps with picky eaters, it comes in many can varietys also.. But i have also heard many bad things like Most peoples dog start out loving Blue but then stop eatting it because of the dark bits that are in it.. well the dark bits are the vitamins they put in the dog food.. i have heard that most dogs will pick them out.. weird yes.. i am recommending the Simply Nourish dog food.. you can find it at petsmart.. i think only Petsmart actually.. it has been a Heaven's sent for my dog.. well hope that helps a little


----------



## monster'sdad (Jul 29, 2012)

DaViking said:


> I hear you, we can discuss Orijen being better than foods costing half as much but I'll put that aside for now. Let's look at the price they are asking. In my opinion it's the consumers fault, not Champion. What they are saying is basically, "So, a naturopath with a 16 hour course told you corn is bad? You are afraid your dog will get diabetes from eating rice? You fear wheat will cause allergies in your pooch and he/she will get cancer from eating GM soy? Oh someone on the internet told you there is lots of feathers, beaks and other nasty stuff in by-product meals you say? You want lot's of acid producing meat? You want the meat locally sourced and short traveled? You want 200 to 400% more protein than your dog will utilize? No sweat, now... pay me. I'll make the product you are asking for but I will add an extra premium. Thanks for bankrolling Alberta farmers, much appreciated." In other words, they are simply responding to the mass hysteria that's been going on for years. It's legal to cash in on opportunities. Blame the consumer and blame moron dog food companies like Blue Buffalo with misleading and dishonest marketing. They do nothing but dumb down the discussion.




That is true the consumer is to blame, partly. However, many companies do not do this and take the high road.


----------

