# Taste of the Wild formulas no longer for All Life Stages



## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

Hello! I was just reading that TOTW is putting out "puppy" versions of the High Prairie and Pacific Stream kibble formulas and changing its labeling such that the High Prairie, Pacific Stream, and Wetlands formulas are no longer recommended for "all life stages." (The Sierra Mountain formula labeling is apparently not going to change.) The puppy formulas seem like they have less protein and fat, a little more fiber, and smaller kibble size. And added salmon oil for DHA. 

Here's a link to their press release. 

Is it just me, or is this sort of annoying? They're not changing the actual formulas of the formerly-ALS kibbles (allegedly), but suddenly they're no longer recommended for all life stages? And suggesting that people might want to switch their puppies to the puppy version of the food? We put Biscuit on High Prairie when she was 8 months old, and she LOVES it and seems to be doing pretty well on it. Now she's 10 months and I'm wondering if we should switch her to the new puppy formula and worrying that we should have left her on puppy food for longer - but TOTW was labeled for ALS at the time! I know this makes me sound neurotic, but I don't appreciate the inconsistency. Grrrr.


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## Xeph (May 7, 2007)

Unless the high calcium has changed, their puppy formula, it doesn't mean much. Heck, I just looked at the site, and they don't even list the calcium levels....


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

Yeah now that you mention it, it's weird that they list the calcium levels for the "adult" formulas but not for the puppy formulas. Maybe they just haven't added it to the website yet or something. 

Kind of gimmicky. The ingredients are almost the same.


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## Jenn~n~Luke (Aug 20, 2010)

You're not alone trust me. I imagine a lot of GD owners that feed TOTW aren't too impressed by the sudden switch either. I've asked on their face book page for the levels, we'll see what they say.


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

So ... My dogs eat TOTW, should I switch foods? (Mine are both over 12 mos of age) are the ingredients changing any for the "adult" formulas ... Sounds like a gimmick to make more $ to me :S.


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## Jenn~n~Luke (Aug 20, 2010)

The ingredients aren't changing in the old stuff...the only difference in the puppy food so far is some added fiber and vitamins. I have yet to hear back from them about the calcium levels and whether those will be changed in the puppy food, but basically if you've been feeding TOTW and haven't had any problems there's no reason to switch.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

I don't understand how it's gimmicky. Loads of brands have puppy foods. People understand to feed puppy food to puppies, adult food to adults (..for the most part). They're keeping up with demand. More people will probably purchase as a result.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Yea I don't understand the angst. What I suspect is that their puppy formulas will have less calcium that their ALS/soon to be adult formulas. I've known people who called the company to inquire about feeding TOTW to large breed puppies and were advised by the company that the calcium levels might not be appropriate. 

So... company realizes there may be a problem calling their food ALS and changes their label to reflect this as well as possibly addressing the problem in a puppy formula (which we don't know yet), and this is an outrage... how? I really just think dog food companies can't do anything to make people happy.


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

The angst, at least for me, is because I put my puppy on this food because it was labeled ALS and now they have changed their minds about that. I definitely don't have an issue with them putting out a puppy food in and of itself. My issue is with the labeling change. They should have figured it out and stuck with it. If in fact they are decreasing the calcium and phosphorus in the puppy formula - it's not like that is based on new information or research. Why now? Now I'm left wondering if I've harmed my pup by feeding her adult food too early. I'm not going to switch now, but just like any other product, people depend on the labeling.


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

The fact that it has changed to puppy means little to nothing. Technically "all life stages" is puppy. AAFCO standards require any ALS food to meet all of the fat, protein, fiber etc levels required for puppies. As in, ALS and Puppy meet the same exact requirements. Especially if they changed nothing, I wouldn't worry about it. It is definitely a little weird they lowered fat and protein for puppies, usually puppy foods are higher in both as puppies require more of both than adult dogs. Anywho, that's just the technicalities. It may be just a marketing thing they are attempting.

Ahh just saw the link. Yeah I wouldn't worry about it. Most likely they're taking ALS off of the other foods because they now have a puppy formula and it would be bad to market both an ALS forumla AND a puppy formula. That defeats the purpose of ALS. TOTW will still be ALS as it will be the same forumla as before. If you really want to know check the AAFCO statement on the back of the bag as to which age group/s it is certified for. Most foods, even when they say adult, are formulated for "Growth and Maintenance" as in ALS. About the TOTW it appears to be marketing, I wouldn't worry about your dog if she's doing good on the ALS keep her on it. I raised Hallie on Wetlands until she was 6 months when we went to adult food.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

hamandeggs said:


> My issue is with the labeling change. They should have figured it out and stuck with it.


They should stick with the original label forever, no matter what? That makes no sense to me. As to why now... maybe they've gotten complaints about their labels... maybe it's purely marketing... maybe they have a new CEO... maybe maybe maybe. 



> Now I'm left wondering if I've harmed my pup by feeding her adult food too early.


I find this confusing. Surely either you felt the ingredients and levels of nutrients in the food were appropriate for your puppy or they weren't when it was still called ALS?


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## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

Try working in a pet store and getting puppy owners to buy anything but puppy formulas for their dog and you will understand their reasoning.


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

katielou said:


> Try working in a pet store and getting puppy owners to buy anything but puppy formulas for their dog and you will understand their reasoning.


Completely agreed! Remember, the customer is always right, of course!


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## SpiderGirl (Dec 27, 2009)

Oddly, no one has brought up the most important discussion yet, will the new puppy formula have adorable wolf pups on the package?


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

SpiderGirl said:


> Oddly, no one has brought up the most important discussion yet, will the new puppy formula have adorable wolf pups on the package?


Answer: yes. Pretty cute.


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

Hallie said:


> . If you really want to know check the AAFCO statement on the back of the bag as to which age group/s it is certified for. Most foods, even when they say adult, are formulated for "Growth and Maintenance" as in ALS.


That's really useful, thanks! Their website now says the "puppy" formulas are formulated to meet the AAFCO requirements for all life stages, while it says the "adult" formulas (except for Sierra Mountain) are formulated to meet the AAFCO requirements for "maintenance." (This is at the bottom of the individual product pages.) Which makes no sense, since they haven't reformulated it, so shouldn't it still be formulated for all life stages, not just maintenance? Maybe they put a different AAFCO statement on the bag.


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## FiveSibes (Nov 3, 2011)

For what it's worth I care for a Lab Pit mix who has very sensitive allergies. When I was feeding TOTW she did fine- never had any issues at all. Prior to the TOTW she was eating Wellness and was much better than before but the TOTW did better for her. So we had some batch issues with TOTW (kibble size/shape/color was changed and they provided NO reasoning) so we stopped feeding it. I put her back on Wellness- no problems. We tried TOTW again with her after her bag of Wellness finished up. So she had a PM meal of TOTW and the following morning she had torn herself up with chewing. I thought it was just a coincidence, so again I fed a PM meal of TOTW. The next day bumps began to appear along her body (consistent with her allergies prior to being switched onto Wellness and then TOTW.) And it got worse and worse until at the end of the week she looked just as bad as she did when she was eating store brand garbage. 

So reason #2 why I won't even TOUCH TOTW anymore. They have changed ingredients or something. That's the only reasonable conclusion I can come to.


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## Lindbert (Dec 12, 2010)

I'm still having amazing success with TOTW. The pups love it and they are thriving on it. Regardless of the AAFCO statement, it will stay in our rotation until they either make some big changes to the formula and/or the dogs stop doing well on it.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

FiveSibes said:


> For what it's worth I care for a Lab Pit mix who has very sensitive allergies. When I was feeding TOTW she did fine- never had any issues at all. Prior to the TOTW she was eating Wellness and was much better than before but the TOTW did better for her. So we had some batch issues with TOTW (kibble size/shape/color was changed and they provided NO reasoning) so we stopped feeding it. I put her back on Wellness- no problems. We tried TOTW again with her after her bag of Wellness finished up. So she had a PM meal of TOTW and the following morning she had torn herself up with chewing. I thought it was just a coincidence, so again I fed a PM meal of TOTW. The next day bumps began to appear along her body (consistent with her allergies prior to being switched onto Wellness and then TOTW.) And it got worse and worse until at the end of the week she looked just as bad as she did when she was eating store brand garbage.
> 
> So reason #2 why I won't even TOUCH TOTW anymore. They have changed ingredients or something. That's the only reasonable conclusion I can come to.


You do realize that dogs can develop allergies to things they have previously been eating, especially if they are prone to allergies to begin with?


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

hamandeggs said:


> That's really useful, thanks! Their website now says the "puppy" formulas are formulated to meet the AAFCO requirements for all life stages, while it says the "adult" formulas (except for Sierra Mountain) are formulated to meet the AAFCO requirements for "maintenance." (This is at the bottom of the individual product pages.) Which makes no sense, since they haven't reformulated it, so shouldn't it still be formulated for all life stages, not just maintenance? Maybe they put a different AAFCO statement on the bag.


Yeah that definitely makes no sense! Maybe they did change the AAFCO statement, I've never really seen that. That would certainly mean the puppy is better suited for puppies, but with a 7 month old you're in the clear.


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

Me too ... So far, if anything changes I will have to see about a nee food... Tho I hope not, Izze needs grain free tho natures variety sweet potato / bison looks good.


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

The line of Instinct kibbles from Nature's Variety seems only slightly more expensive (from what I've seen) so could be a good option if TOTW goes downhill. Splitting from being ALS into puppy/adult doesn't mean it's bad, but certainly something to watch.


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## Lindbert (Dec 12, 2010)

We have Instinct and TOTW formulas that we switch every bag. My dogs transition seamlessly between both brands and it's really about equal in cost. (I do feed less of Instinct. The dogs seem more full when they eat it.)


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

intresting, I will keep is in mind, one thing I do notice is that venison is getting further down the list, when I started feeding TOTW venison was the second ingredient, since then I have watched it slowly down the list.


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## Inga (Jun 16, 2007)

katielou said:


> Try working in a pet store and getting puppy owners to buy anything but puppy formulas for their dog and you will understand their reasoning.


Agreed! Some people are so brainwashed into the need for puppy food that they won't buy anything but when they have a pup. I never feed "puppy food" I think that the food is still great, it is just they have to "keep up with the Jones" when it comes to marketing.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

I just purchased a bag of TOTW Pacific Stream ALS with Smoked Salmon, Grain Free for the very first time ever. The first two ingredients are Salmon, ocean fish meal.....then the 6th and 7th ingredients are salmon meal and smoked salmon. Sweet potato and potato and canola oil are in between the fish (meals). I hope this is still good? I am trying to transition my two little dogs over to this. I am hoping to end some gas and allergy issues.

This has not changed?


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

Not that I can see tho I am not very familiar with the PS formula, as my dogs don't like it. 

Another issue, what do you guys think about the salt content? Is it cause for concern?


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