# Need recommendations on food



## BluePaw (Nov 2, 2019)

Hi all. A friend of mine recently adopted a shepherd mix puppy and was asking for my advice on what food she should feed. The shelter had her puppy on Purina One, but she would like to transition to something with less fillers and weird additives. She is deciding between Fromm, Victor, Zignature and Stella & Chewy's. I feed Fromm because it works for my picky eaters... so I'm a bit biased 😆...but I have never fed the other brands she's considering. Please let me know what your experiences have been like with these brands. Thanks!


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## LeoRose (Aug 20, 2015)

I feed Pro Plan. 

I've fed Fromm in the past, and it wasn't bad.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

If she wants easily available, Purina Pro Plan is decent and at almost every pet store.

I'm a fan of Victor as I find their foods to be well priced with a good percentage of meat protein. The Hi-Pro Plus is a solid all around puppy and adult food.

I like Fromm Classic for adult dogs, its been very easy on the stomach for several fosters and a good price. I think their higher end grain free foods are overpriced but they are still in line with similar foods, I just think not needed for most dogs.

I'd say go for a 30% protein, 20% fat food with a named meat meal in the first 2 ingredients, and at least another named meat meal in the first 4 ingredients. Meat meals are more concentrated than plain meat as the ordee of ingredients is by weight, inclusive of water (pre cooking weight). A named meat meal is like "beef meal" not like "animal meal"

Zignature has way too high pea content last time I looked at it. Stella and Chewys is a whole different category and price level than a dry dog food.


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## BluePaw (Nov 2, 2019)

I've fed Pro Plan in the past because it's been so highly recommended by veterinarians - many of my dog show/sport friends swear by it too - but my dogs didn't do well on it. One constantly had loose stool, one gained too much weight, etc. I don't really trust Purina either, but that's a personal thing... to each their own!


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## LeoRose (Aug 20, 2015)

BluePaw said:


> I've fed Pro Plan in the past because it's been so highly recommended by veterinarians - many of my dog show/sport friends swear by it too - but my dogs didn't do well on it. One constantly had loose stool, one gained too much weight, etc. I don't really trust Purina either, but that's a personal thing... to each their own!


Conversely, I've never had a dog do well on a high-end, super-premium food, and one that got seriously ill on a very highly rated, very expensive, food. That's why I always say that the "best" food is one the dog does well on, likes to eat, and that you can afford to feed.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

Loose stools can be caused by feeding too much. Weight gain is nearly always caused by feeding too much.

I also feed Pro Plan but I would not presume to tell anyone else what to feed - even if they're looking for suggestions. Every dog is different with different needs and lifestyles. Sadly, there is a great deal of trial-and-error involved and nutritional science is constantly evolving. For example my own vet urged me to switch to a grain- inclusive kibble because of multiple cardiac issues she has experienced in her practice that she believes may be linked to grain-free kibble.

Pro Plan is at least the 12th kibble I've fed in the last 20 years. It probably won't be the last. Trial-and-error.


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## Sanne (Jan 21, 2019)

Another Pro Plan feeder here. I have fed many, many brands over the years but lately I've just been sticking with Pro Plan. Especially after this whole DCM thing. I have a senior with heart problems so do not want to take any chances. I've found most dogs do really well on PP and that just makes it easier for me to feed, as the dogs can all be on the same food. Another brand I have used in the past and really liked how my dogs did on it is Annamaet

I wouldn't get hung up on what is "best" as it all depends on what the individual dog does best on. Back when I was a bit more gullible, I tried way too hard to feed my dogs brands that people said were the very best of the best. Some of those foods put my dog's digestive system through hell.


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## DaySleepers (Apr 9, 2011)

My older dog did well on Fromm (not available where I live now, so haven't tried it with the younger one). But we've used Pro Plan when we needed a gentle digestion formula after an illness, and currently use a weight control senior Pro Plan formula as treats for certain kinds of training (because it's low calorie and a complete formula, we can feed a lot and cut down on meal portions on heavy training days without worrying about the dogs eating a ton of junk). Works well for us in both cases.

No personal experience with the others, I'm afraid.


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## pandora (Mar 19, 2010)

there are many components about what makes a good dog food you can argue about the nutritional values high-end low-end fillers p proteins meat proteins whatever you like. but it comes down to this what will your dog eat and what do they do well on?

what can you afford it's all very well people telling you this or that brand is brilliant but if it is out of your price range there is very little point.

so work out what your dog likes what you can afford find the best that you can afford that they enjoy and feed that.
For us due to allergies it came down to feeding raw, our dogs do brilliantly on it but I know not everybody has the space the time or the inclination to feed raw meat for the next 10 or 15 years.
there are some very good dog food comparison sites which will help you to find weed out the ones with the most fillers or additives.


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## Tater33 (Aug 17, 2019)

Another Pro Plan user here, on our Vets recommendation. We feed our pooch salmon flavor and she loves it and it doing great.


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## parus (Apr 10, 2014)

Pro Plan here as well. I used to feed "higher end" commercial food but switched to Pro Plan after the DCM scare and my dogs did better on it in general, so I figure why change something that's working?


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## irabiginelli (Sep 7, 2020)

I like the Hill's Science Diet brand


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## Quinsation (Aug 1, 2017)

Of the brands you listed, I'd go with Victor. It's highly rated, yet affordable, and has no recall history.
I feed Victor to my 15 yr old Pit Bull. I was feeding Kinetic 26 to my agility dogs, since one needed grain free, and it was one of the few grain free with no peas/lentils, etc in it. I recently lost my older agility dog (cancer sucks!) so will be switching my other agility dog and my puppy over to Victor as well.


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## JenMorri88 (Sep 10, 2020)

Я годував свою собаку Pro Plan їжею.
мій ветеринар мені про це порадив.


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## ZAR (9 mo ago)

BluePaw said:


> Hi all. A friend of mine recently adopted a shepherd mix puppy and was asking for my advice on what food she should feed. The shelter had her puppy on Purina One, but she would like to transition to something with less fillers and weird additives. She is deciding between Fromm, Victor, Zignature and Stella & Chewy's. I feed Fromm because it works for my picky eaters... so I'm a bit biased 😆...but I have never fed the other brands she's considering. Please let me know what your experiences have been like with these brands. Thanks!



Most pet food companies produce junk.
Most pet food reviews are rubbish, because often they don’t use objective benchmarks, or they simply don’t know what they’re talking about and recommend higher priced brands thinking those are good.
Most site extolling the virtues of organic pet food or higher-grade pet natural pet food don’t understand the average pet owner would like to give good food, but it has to be practical and not break the bank.

I find cooking real meat and vegetables and keeping a batch of pre-cooked food is the best option for pet health and your wallet. If you want to supplement with dry food for convenience, use this litmus test. Buy the smallest packet of a dry food brand. Put out some in a bowl in an area where there are ants. Come back later to check if the ants have filled the bowl. If they have, the food is good for your pet. If they haven’t, the food is crap. That’s it. The easiest scientific way to know if a pet food brand is worth your money. And no need to rely on reviews that pontificate rubbish with a real clue of the ingredients in the food.


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## Lillith (Feb 16, 2016)

Another very old thread.


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