# Royal Canin/Blue Buffalo dog food



## SMoore (Nov 9, 2007)

I used to feed my dogs natures best but when we got this new Shepherd puppy she just would not eat it. I figured if I switched her i'd just switch the other as well, so I went through the process of giving them less and less of the natures best over time and finally had my older dog on Royal Canin large breed adult and the puppy on their large breed puppy food. They like it pretty well. I switched to this because they also have a German Shepherd breed specific food.

Does anybody know how good this food is? Is it worth the money to buy it? Also, my older dog has gained a decent amount of weight sneaking some of the puppys food. I seperate them best I can but accidents do happen.

A friend at work (I work at petsmart) suggested switching to Blue Buffalo lite for my older dog and keeping the shepherd on royal canin.

Although I love my job to death because I get to see puppies and kitties all day, I know first hand not everybody there knows the best about foods, training, etc.... so I always go for outside advice regarding my dogs own health and training.

So, any info would be great. I'm sure there are better foods out there but I'm trying to find something I can get locally.

I just don't want to be feeding my dogs something that is really bad.


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## Anela (Sep 8, 2007)

Royal Canin is a superior dog food, as far as I know. It does not have any grain fillers or other by products other foods have.

Since you have a Shepard, I would stick with this, Shepard’s are known for developing food allergies, using this you should minimize this issue.

As for the other dog gaining weight. If you feed them twice a day about 12 hours apart, you could separate them in different rooms with the door closed. If they don't eat everything within 5-10 minutes, they probably won't, take it away and make them wait until the next feeding. Never free feed unless your vet says to do so.

Good luck!

Anela


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## cascabel (Sep 25, 2007)

Anela said:


> Royal Canin is a superior dog food, as far as I know. It does not have any grain fillers or other by products other foods have.


Huh? Ingredients for Royal Canin GSD food:

Chicken, *brewers rice*, brown rice, chicken meal, chicken fat (naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols), *soy isolate*, *cellulose*, natural chicken flavor, zeolite, *beet pulp (sugar removed), *fish oil, *soya oil*, dried eggs, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, sodium tripolyphosphate, dicalcium phosphate, choline chloride, brewers yeast extract (Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation solubles), tyrosine, salt, taurine, inositol, niacin supplement, vitamin E supplement, glucosamine hydrochloride, marigold extract, DL-methionine, ascorbic acid (source of vitamin C), chondroitin sulfate, calcium pantothenate, zinc oxide, pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), riboflavin supplement (source of vitamin B2), zinc proteinate, iron sulfate, manganous oxide, vitamin A supplement, rosemary extract, manganese proteinate, folic acid, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, biotin, calcium iodate, vitamin D3 supplement, sodium selenite, vitamin B12 supplement. 


I'm just shocked at how Royal Canin can seriously market this as a good food for GSDs.  


As far as Blue Buffalo goes, it's an okay (not great, but decent) food. Personally I think it's too expensive for the quality. Have you ever tried doing a search on the Canidae website to see what stores in your area carry it? You might be surprised at where it may be available locally. There were stores in my area that I didn't even know about that I found carried Canidae (as well as other premium foods).


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## Renoman (Mar 20, 2007)

I agree, I would not have ever considered Royal Canin as a 'superior' food. Blue Buffalo is not that great either, in my opinion. 

Canidae is a far better, economical choice. Then you have Timberwolf Organics, Orijen, Evo, Innova, Natural Balance, Eagle Pack Holistic just to name a few. 

Shepherds are prone to allergies, believe me I live it daily. Feeding them a good quality food, free of additives, and other ingredients that would trigger reactions is a must.


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## MyCharlie (Nov 4, 2007)

We got a mini schnauzer puppy 2 weeks ago and he came with a bag of Royal Canin pupy food. After reading on this forum about food and what ingredients you should look for, I have started switching him to a different food! The best I could find at our PetSmart (which seems to carry mostly Science Diet, Iams, Purina, Eukanaba, etc.) seemed to be BilJac for puppies. I think I'll take Cascabe's advice and check out some of the food websites directly. I didn't even think of them having the retailers listed (duh!)....


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## Renoman (Mar 20, 2007)

MyCharlie said:


> We got a mini schnauzer puppy 2 weeks ago and he came with a bag of Royal Canin pupy food. After reading on this forum about food and what ingredients you should look for, I have started switching him to a different food! The best I could find at our PetSmart (which seems to carry mostly Science Diet, Iams, Purina, Eukanaba, etc.) seemed to be BilJac for puppies. I think I'll take Cascabe's advice and check out some of the food websites directly. I didn't even think of them having the retailers listed (duh!)....



If you order directly from www.timberwolforganics.com they have free shipping on all orders over $15. K9cuisine.com offers free shipping on Orijen over $50.00.

Lots of deals out there - you just have to check the best deal available on the food you decide to feed. Sometimes seems like it's an overwhelming task, but it's really not.


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## SMoore (Nov 9, 2007)

All right, im looking at both websites and they are within my budget. I am willing to spend up to $70 on a good size bag of dog food for them both. I'm not too familiar with either so if someone could shoot out some reccomendations for me i'll order it within the week.

Pandora (my shepherd) is 5 months old right now. Should I switch her over asap or let her finish this bag of Royal Canin that I have for her. 

Thanks for all the great advice!

Also from reading a few websites here and there do I have to feed the 5 month old large breed puppy food or can she start eating the adult food.

Some websites say that puppy foods can cause certain breeds to grow faster than their bones, etc... can keep up and resulting in poor development (especially with GSD's already prone to hip/elbow issues). I have never owned a pure breed dog to be honest. I've always brought home these funny looking mutts I find on the street and begging my parents to keep them (like the cutie in my sig). So, i'm not aware of all the issues that can come with owning a pure breed dog. That's why i'm trying to do my part and know I did my best in at least preventing some of these issues.

My vet suggested Pro Plan (I use Banfield at Petsmart) but a lot of other people have told me to look elsewhere.


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## Shaina (Oct 28, 2007)

SMoore said:


> All right, im looking at both websites and they are within my budget. I am willing to spend up to $70 on a good size bag of dog food for them both. I'm not too familiar with either so if someone could shoot out some reccomendations for me i'll order it within the week.
> 
> Pandora (my shepherd) is 5 months old right now. Should I switch her over asap or let her finish this bag of Royal Canin that I have for her.
> 
> ...


You could always start switching her right away, gradually like you did before. If you end up with leftover Royal Canin, you could try to donate it to an area shelter...it's still better quality than what many shelters have to feed.


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## SMoore (Nov 9, 2007)

I went ahead and ordered a 23lb bag of this: https://www.k9cuisine.com/p-244-natures-variety-instinct-duck-meal-turkey-formula.aspx

It was about $60 total, and I requested a sample bag of https://www.k9cuisine.com/p-98-timberwolf-organics-wild-natural-grain-free.aspx

I read some reviews and really wanted an all-life stage type of food so this looks pretty good. I also read an article on what to look for in dog foods from the website stickied on the forums. If this isn't what I should look into please let me know, but for know i'll see if they both like it! If not, we'll try something else...


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