# Help choosing one of three foods for my Golden Retriever



## JRGolden (Oct 21, 2010)

My golden retriever is almost exactly one year old and we have just finished transitioning her from puppy food to adult food. She weighs 64 pounds. Her current food is horizon legacy adult, switched from horizon legacy puppy chow. After reading a few concerning things about horizon, I've chosen to transition her to a more meat focused diet. So my choices are Orijen Adult Fish, Evo Herring & Salmon, and Wellness Core. They seem to all be great foods, but i just want to get the best food for my dog. So any help would be appreciated!


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

If I had to pick one of them, I'd pick Orijen moreso for company reputation than anything.

That being said, you really want to get some variety in there, so why not find a few different kibbles that utilize a few different animal protein sources, and rotate them all?


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## JRGolden (Oct 21, 2010)

Thanks a lot. Orijen seems to have a great reputation. So your saying I should get a couple different foods with different protein sources and rotate them? how often should I rotate the foods?


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## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

I think Orijen is the best dry food available. 

Yes, I would rotate every couple months or so. Some believe the more you rotate, the better.


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## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

I would go with Orijen, & a rotation diet. That is what I did with Shellie when she was on kibble, I rotated every 30# bag.


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## JRGolden (Oct 21, 2010)

wow thats some helpful information. that would explain why my pup gets bored with her food sometimes. so the optimal choice would be to get all three of those dog foods and rotate them every month or so? i was under the impression that switching dog food more than necessary was bad?


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## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

JRGolden said:


> wow thats some helpful information. that would explain why my pup gets bored with her food sometimes. so the optimal choice would be to get all three of those dog foods and rotate them every month or so? i was under the impression that switching dog food more than necessary was bad?



yep, right along w/ high protein is bad 

many myths exist in the world of dog food. You've come to the right place for clarity.


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## JRGolden (Oct 21, 2010)

Thanks for the clarity. Guess ill be buying a few bags of food haha. Do you feel that horizon legacy isnt the best option for my pup?


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## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

JRGolden said:


> Thanks for the clarity. Guess ill be buying a few bags of food haha. Do you feel that horizon legacy isnt the best option for my pup?


from an ingredient perspective? HL looks fabulous. 

Admittedly, I don't know much about the company. Isn't HL produced in Canada?


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## JRGolden (Oct 21, 2010)

yes it is a canadian product. i heard since they changed their ingredients that the protein level is lower and there are some questionable ingredients... i could be wrong.


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## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

JR,

Sometimes we get into these hair splitting debates over Wellness vs. Orijen vs. Acana vs. EVO vs. Honest Kitchen vs. Horizon Legacy vs. Instinct. And I'm not saying people don't have valid reasons for picking one or the other....

but what I would say is this....

Choosing ANY of these foods puts you in the 99th percentile of dry dog food when compared to what most are putting into their Dogs. 

Is Orijen BETTER than Horizon Legacy. Heck, I don't know. You'd have to conduct a million dollar study to find that answer and frankly, I don't have the cash to do so :biggrin: But I'm pretty comfortable in saying both are most likely pretty stellar foods. 

The one part of Champion(Orijen) I think many of us love is our perception of how they run their company, the ethical standards they uphold, and of course, their stellar ingredients in their food.


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## rescuedoglover (Sep 26, 2010)

I used to feed original formula HL. Rated 6* on dogfoodanalysis.com. Since the reformulation it has dropped from their rating system. Don't know if it is an oersight or they don't like the new formula. I think dogfoodadivisor rates it a 5*. I currently feed ACANA Wild Prarie. made by Champion Pet Foods and a more moderate protein leval than Orijen. Another good one is Go Natural Endurance. My standard Poodles couldn't take EVO(blow-out stools).


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## John Rambo (Sep 27, 2010)

solid gold wolf king FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## buddy97 (Mar 29, 2010)

rescuedoglover said:


> I used to feed original formula HL. Rated 6* on dogfoodanalysis.com. Since the reformulation it has dropped from their rating system. Don't know if it is an oersight or they don't like the new formula. ).


that sight is at times so arbitrary.....they probably dont even know why they changed the rating.


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2010)

JRGolden said:


> My golden retriever is almost exactly one year old and we have just finished transitioning her from puppy food to adult food. She weighs 64 pounds. Her current food is horizon legacy adult, switched from horizon legacy puppy chow. After reading a few concerning things about horizon, I've chosen to transition her to a more meat focused diet. So my choices are Orijen Adult Fish, Evo Herring & Salmon, and Wellness Core. They seem to all be great foods, but i just want to get the best food for my dog. So any help would be appreciated!


I, too, have a Golden that is almost exactly one year old (birth date is October 28). My Golden does very well on all of the foods I have offered him, which includes Acana, Taste of the Wild, Canidae grain-free ALS, and premade raw.


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## baggie (Jun 2, 2010)

From what Kevin said, when you look at everything, its hard to find a better dog food company than Champion. Love what my dog has done on Acana and I'm looking forward to a rotation through Orijen.


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## josh83 (Oct 24, 2010)

I would diffidently say Orijen my dog has been on it for almost a year now and it has been great. I rotate between the different formulas.


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