# What Dry dog food do you thing is best? What dry dog foods do you feed your dog?



## LuLuBelle (May 19, 2009)

I just started giving her Orijen (slowly) with her old dry to switch her to something new as she was having alot of allergies. She seems to like it, but wanted to know what everyone else is giving there dogs, and if you think Orijen is good?


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

Orijen is absolutely fabulous food. You made a great choice. 

Here's a review site if you wanted to do more research: Dog Food Reviews

Orijen is in the five star category


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## shellbeme (Sep 9, 2010)

I personally feel like 'best' is relative. I see orijen get a ton of votes but honestly, I don't feel like it's the best. I say relative because different dogs react differently to the brands. We use wellness here. I don't think there is a dog food that I would label 'best'. There are many that I would say are pretty great though


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

Orijen is a really good food, but we've never tried it. Sydney does fabulously on Taste of the Wild, but we're feeding Purina One Beyond right now because we didn't have to time to get to the feed store before our bag of TOTW ran out. I wouldn't call POB a great food, but it's the best grocery stores have to offer really. It's actually more expensive thant TOTW for much less quality, IMO.


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## BeyondBlessed (Jan 25, 2011)

Orijen, Acana, Before Grain, and Earthborn Primitive Naturals are what I'd put on the top tier. Bo seems to like Orijen the best as it has a different sort of texture and it's real crumbly, like it retains more moisture or something. I'd put Innova, Blue Buffalo, the regular Earthborn, and Merrick's stuff besides Before Grain as a small step down, but I'd still feed it. For dry food I've pretty much stuck with Orijen, but I also feed some canned food, about two cans a week, and Bo seems to really like Merrick's stuff when it comes to wet food. He ate canned TOTW, but didn't go crazy for it. He will not eat Science Diet at all. The vet gave me a small bag of it and he didn't eat it, and when she tries to give him a pill or something she puts it in SD canned food and he sniffs it, might lick it, and turns away. After being neutered and they knew I couldn't feed him beforehand he was recovering at the vets office and they called me to say he wasn't eating. I think I know why.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

There is no best.

It's a balance of quality, price and availability. 

I've had two dogs that have done well on Purina One, but one of my current dogs gets a chronically dry coat on P1 so we switched to Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul. It's a much better food (with a stupid name) for about the same price, but it's harder to find. 

Then I noticed that the co-op I drive past every day carries Taste of the Wild in several sizes and varieties and it's only a bit more expensive. We're now on our second bag of TOTW.

Different dogs do better on different foods and some (not mine) actually have taste preferences. Mine will eat any food with equal enthusiasm.

The best food is a moving target.


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## LuLuBelle (May 19, 2009)

The reason being that I was switching her to Orijen is because she was having alot of allergies to corn, grains, etc. I wanted to put her on Wellness but couldn't because of the corn, and grains. I also found myself a pet food co-op and he had put some Acana, and Orijen in a bowl for her to try and she devoured it, so I chose that. It says it's 75% Meat, 25% fruits and vegetables. She seems to like it, and eating it. I also mix it with a little bit of canned food to give it flavour. She's almost at the end of the transition of only Orijen as I did it slowly, and still doing good so wish me luck


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

My pups are on Nature's Variety Instinct at the moment. I decided to try the Duck formula, but think I'll go back to one of the Limited Ingredient Diets after this bag, they both did REALLY well on the LID lamb.

I'm not a fan of Origin, just don't think dogs really need that much protein. I did Acana for a while, but both dogs were itchy/licking their paws a ton.. that went away when I put them on the NV LID Lamb.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

I agree with others that there's no such thing as an objectively "best" food. A lot of dogs do great on Orijen or Acana, personally mine really didn't.


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## LuLuBelle (May 19, 2009)

covertune i heard that there is a recall on nature's variety? Here's the link if you want to check it out

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recalls/


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Thanks for the heads up, but the only one I see is from over a year ago.


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## Eden (Aug 7, 2011)

We feed our dog Instinct by Nature's Variety. We alternate between the flavors with no problem, although he likes the Duck and Turkey kind the best. Before we got him he was on Purina, which is total crap no matter how you look at it. We first tried him on Canidae, but he developed hot spots and the shedding was out of control. After switching to grain-free Nature's Variety, he has no allergy problems and we constantly get comments on how good his coat looks. It _is_ a high-protein food, but it works for us because Oliver gets tons of exercise. The only downside (if you can even consider it one) is that our vet doesn't approve of the food, since it's not specifically formulated for puppies. I'm not sold on the idea that puppies need a different formula than adult dogs, especially since Oliver is a medium-sized dog. My vet would rather him be on Science Diet ... that's a whole 'nother rant, lol.


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## Lindbert (Dec 12, 2010)

We rotate between Instinct chicken, TOTW high prairie, and TOTW wetlands. My dogs HATE fish so they wouldn't touch Orijen or TOTW pacific stream. Sierra Mountain gave them really loose poop. They seem to do best with at least 30% protein and they love the flavors of those three brands/varieties the best so I feed them what works!


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## igmomma (Jul 24, 2011)

I think it all depends on your dog. Some dogs can't handle alot of protein, some need high protein. Personally, I feed raw most of the time, kibble is a back up. I love Ziwi Peak, which isn't actually a kibble, but a dehydrated jerky style diet. I also like the Canidae Pure grain free diets, Pinnacle, and TOTW, but it all depends on the dog. My dogs that like to eat, I try to find foods with lower calories per cup so I can feed them a bit more to help them feel more satisfied. Dogs that tend to stay thin or not eat much, I look for a food with a higher calorie per cup so they can get the nutrition they need without having to eat alot.


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## Lindbert (Dec 12, 2010)

I'm interested in the canidae pure foods but can't find them in my area. How are they priced in comparison to TOTW?


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## igmomma (Jul 24, 2011)

Here, I can get TOTW for about $48 a bag, Canidae Pure is about $55 a bag, so just a little more expensive. But I often see coupons for $5 off the Canidae Pure, so it makes it very close in cost.


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## Lindbert (Dec 12, 2010)

It's definitely in the price range then. I just want to give them plenty of variety because the last time we fed kibble, the shepherds would wake up and decide that they didn't want to eat their food anymore! Hopefully, if I switch it up enough they won't get bored with their food. I'd continue to do raw but we lost our meat distributor/butcher due to the economy so it's no longer affordable for us


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

I feed all three of my dogs 4health dry lamb and rice. I just switched about a month ago from a pretty bad dog food. 4health is 4-star rated. It is about $35 for 35 lbs. My dogs do well on it. My one Schnoodle has all but stopped with the tear stains since I began feeding this food. I have been battling tear stains for almost five years. Go figure! I purchase it at the Tractor Supply Company.....it is their own brand.

I like this food because it has no imported ingredients or preservatives. It also has no corn, wheat, or soy. The first 5 ingredients are good and it has both omega3 and 6, also natural antioxidants. I don't have to feed as much in the long run as cheaper and lesser quality foods.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

LuLuBelle said:


> The reason being that I was switching her to Orijen is because she was having alot of allergies to corn, grains, etc. I wanted to put her on Wellness but couldn't because of the corn, and grains. I also found myself a pet food co-op and he had put some Acana, and Orijen in a bowl for her to try and she devoured it, so I chose that. It says it's 75% Meat, 25% fruits and vegetables. She seems to like it, and eating it. I also mix it with a little bit of canned food to give it flavour. She's almost at the end of the transition of only Orijen as I did it slowly, and still doing good so wish me luck


As an FYI, Wellness has three grainfree formulas. They're all called Core, one is adult (chicken), one is fish and the other is reduced fat



CoverTune said:


> My pups are on Nature's Variety Instinct at the moment. I decided to try the Duck formula, but think I'll go back to one of the Limited Ingredient Diets after this bag, they both did REALLY well on the LID lamb.
> 
> 
> .


I just picked up a bag of the LID turkey formula for Boone. I also got two bags of their Venison raw, after he's on the dry and I know he's doing ok, we'll start to add the raw. I'm anxious to see if he loses any weight, if he continues to paw lick (I think it may be behavioral).


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

InkedMarie said:


> I just picked up a bag of the LID turkey formula for Boone. I also got two bags of their Venison raw, after he's on the dry and I know he's doing ok, we'll start to add the raw. I'm anxious to see if he loses any weight, if he continues to paw lick (I think it may be behavioral).


I was 90% sure that George's paw licking was behavioural too, but it's reduced a huge amount since I put him on the LID a few months ago. Hope it works for you and Boone as well!


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## nikkiluvsu15 (Jun 18, 2009)

We're starting a rotation between Nature's Variety Instinct Duck/Turkey and Back to Basics Turkey. We're also going to try Fromm Surf & Turf in a little while.

The two that she has rotated with so far have all been great for her


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

CoverTune said:


> I was 90% sure that George's paw licking was behavioural too, but it's reduced a huge amount since I put him on the LID a few months ago. Hope it works for you and Boone as well!


Really? That's awesome, there's hope for Boone then LOL. I like NV's theory of rotation. I can't do chicken with Boone but I can do the others, hoping it makes a difference.


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