# Best brand of dog food for my Shih Tzu.



## Kylie- (Mar 14, 2011)

What brand is best to feed an adult Shih Tzu? I have Canidae, but I have some hesitations whether or not this is the best fit. I've read some negative reviews about skin reactions since their formula was changed and I believe it has a lot of protein? which I'm wondering if that's appropriate for his breed? I'd like to know what other Shih Tzu owners are feeding their dogs and any feedback on Wellness, Solid Gold, Merrick and Eagle Pack etc would be appreciated as well.


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## StellaLucyDesi (Jun 19, 2008)

Hi! The only Canidae I've fed to my 4 dogs has been their can food. I think Canidae is a fine food, if it works for your dog. That's the rub....it takes trial and error to find the best food for your dog as there is not one food that works for all dogs. So, there must be a reason for the questioning of Canidae for your dog....loose stool, coat not looking great, bad breath, etc.? So, if you're wondering about other foods, there are certainly alot out there to choose from lol. Wellness is a great brand of food. I've fed this brand. They have alot of varieties, even a grainfree (Core, which I love!) and a small breed formula that might be just what a Shih-Tzu wants. Solid Gold is another great food, imho. They also have grainfree and a small breed food. Merrick is another food that is used by many and considered good. I used to feed it, and still use their cans. They have 3 lines....Whole Earth Farms, their budget food; Merrick 5-Star, their all life stage food that comes in many flavors; and their grainfree food BG that also comes in many flavors. All these foods have a smaller kibble size, good for small breeds. The only Eagle Pack I would ever feed (and have fed) is Holistic Select. They have different flavors, too, and also a small breed food. Note that you can feed the regular formulas of all these foods, not just the small breed kind. I hope that helps. You see, it really is a personal choice as to which food to feed and trial and error helps determine which ones will work the best for your dog. You can also do a rotation feeding regimen...feed one bag of Merrick, then rotate to Wellness, then rotate to Solid Gold, etc. A lot of people feed this way. Good luck in finding the right food. You have a good start! Just so you know, I have fed quite a few different foods over the years. Some worked and some not so much. Currently, I am feeding 3 of my dogs Natural Balance LIDs and 1 of my dogs Acana rotated with Fromm Surf & Turf. I also mix in high quality can food with their dry. :wave:


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## kyle6286 (Jan 4, 2011)

We have given our shih tzu California Natural, Innova, Orijen, and he has done great on all of them, especially Orijen. We took him off it, however, because he isn't extremely active and Orijen has a higher than average protein %. We're now feeding him Before Grain Chicken (grain free food) and will be adding in Merrick Turducken. I'm thinking about eventually weening him off of BG and substituting it with TOTW. I like BG, but I never hear any information about it. It seems like not many people feed their dogs this food, despite it being under the Merrick brand. I should say I haven't noticed a difference in terms of appearance (coat, teeth) with any of these dog foods. In terms of energy, he did have a little more energy to expend when he was on Orijen. Other than that, we've been very happy with all of these foods.


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## kyle6286 (Jan 4, 2011)

tahk said:


> I am currently feeding my one year old Shih Tzu Taste of the Wild--Prairie. She gobbles it up, and only has 2-3 solid poops a day. I sometimes rotate with Costco's Kirkland brand Chicken and Rice dry kibble and have good results from it also. The ingredients are hard to beat for the price, and it gets really good ratings too. It's definitley better than anything you can buy at the Grocery store, and better than alot of foods that Petco/Petsmart sells. I strive to feed the best food I can find--for the buck!!
> We also have a 1 1/2 year old Boxer, so we try to find a good food that they can both eat. They are both thriving well!
> I am always reading about different foods being used. I like to hear what others are doing!!


Thanks for confirming TOTW. It's nice to hear another shih tzu doing well on it. I will switch onto that food in addition to using Merrick.


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