# Food for Border Collie Pup? Annamaet?



## Mozzie (Mar 19, 2013)

In a few weeks I will bringing home a Border Collie puppy and I'm trying to figure out what to feed him. As a veterinary technician I generally recommend several high quality brands to clients, but now that I'm in a position where I actually need to pick one to feed my own canine... I can't make a decision.

For a long time I really liked Orijen, I've seen a lot of dogs that have done well on it. The more I look at it though the more concern I have with how complex the formulas are. The ingredients are top notch, no doubt, just worried about a little puppy's sensitive belly! (Have considered Acana LIDs as a solution to this)
I know that the "best" food to feed is the one that your puppy does well on but I'm still pouring over dog food brands and formulas to find where I want to start the journey. I understand the potential benefits of feeding raw (and may consider it in the future) but at this time it is not feasible... kibble only.

Recently I have run across and Annamaet Pet Foods and am very intrigued by the company. I do not personally know anyone that feeds it and I would love to hear from others who have their dogs on this brand of food. If you currently feed Annamaet, what other brands have you tried? Pros & Cons of Annamaet versus the others? Which formula would you recommend for a high energy border collie pup?

Open to other opinions/suggestions as well. Just looking for the best kibble option to start out my puppy. Thanks in advance 

-JJ


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

I started my BC pup on diamond naturals, then switched to Blue Buffalo, and now we're feeding EarthBorn Holistics. Orijen & Acana would be my go-tos if I could afford it, personally.


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## Mozzie (Mar 19, 2013)

DJEtzel said:


> Orijen & Acana would be my go-tos if I could afford it, personally.


I also worry about known supply issues with Champion. They are supposedly back to 100% production after their facility fire last year, but local stores as well as online retailers often seem to be out of stock. 

Also protein content of some of the foods seems excessive. I don't necessarily consider it harmful, just not entirely usable by most dogs. Also with high protein levels comes higher ash values. Orijen is within the acceptable ash value range just on the higher end of acceptable. Orijen and Acana will definitely be in my rotation later on (adult stages), just not sure I want to start a pup on it.

I really appreciate your input! Absolutely love your photo of Recon (other pups too!)


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

I like Annamaet, Earthborn, Fromm and Dr Tim's for dry foods. No recalls, as far as I know. All different foods, depends on the dog.


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## Mozzie (Mar 19, 2013)

Thanks! I have researched Annamaet and Dr. Tim's extensively today. Will look into Earthborn!


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## DanWendy (Mar 20, 2013)

Mozzie said:


> Thanks! I have researched Annamaet and Dr. Tim's extensively today. Will look into Earthborn!


Annamaet, Dr. Tim's and Red Paw are the leaders for highly active and competitive dogs. These foods have countless competitive wins. 

From mushing to agility, you will find the top teams using them. 

Foods like Earthborn are just price-point GF's that use cheap ingredients. They are not used by professionals.

There are no cons for Annamaet other than availablity. If I were to pick a formula for Border Collie pups I would use Ultra. Dr. Tim's I would use Pursuit. Both of these foods are perfect for that breed.

Stick with one of these and don't get romanced by Champion's product, they are not very good and not extensively used or tested. Orijen has had three extensive formula changes and they get worse each time. Champion also has a terrible track record in terms of quality, multiple recalls and serious ones, from using BSE positive animals, to dead cats, to sharp bones and an actual importation ban by the FDA. The foods also tested positive for BHA/BHT as confirmed by Michigan State University. There were also reports of an FDA investigation for mold contamination in Orijen Regional Red.

These forums have many Champion supporters that I believe have ties to the company. I could tell you more but I have to jump in the shower and get to the office.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Mozzie said:


> I also worry about known supply issues with Champion. They are supposedly back to 100% production after their facility fire last year, but local stores as well as online retailers often seem to be out of stock.
> 
> Also protein content of some of the foods seems excessive. I don't necessarily consider it harmful, just not entirely usable by most dogs. Also with high protein levels comes higher ash values. Orijen is within the acceptable ash value range just on the higher end of acceptable. Orijen and Acana will definitely be in my rotation later on (adult stages), just not sure I want to start a pup on it.
> 
> I really appreciate your input! Absolutely love your photo of Recon (other pups too!)


They had production problems because one of their ovens caught fire. Then they also decided to change their packaging and also their formula (so that it's higher quality), so that's why a lot of retailers have been getting an irregular supply from them. If you are putting them on the puppy formula or the adult formula, it should be fine though. It seems that the senior and the 6 fish are the hardest to find at the moment.

I love Orijen and Acana.


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## melaka (Mar 31, 2010)

DanWendy said:


> These forums have many Champion supporters that I believe have ties to the company. I could tell you more but I have to jump in the shower and get to the office.


I haven't found that at all here. Most people who answer seem to be real people who suggest a variety of foods.

That said, I'm a big fan of Annamaet. I did a lot of research into the company and even met the owner and heard him speak about his background in nutrition, the importance of where they source their products from and their manufacturing process. I also like that they have a variety of "regular" formulas or grain-free. I feed my dog Option, which has grains, but is chicken-, soy- and wheat-free. I believe it's 24% protein. She was also on a grain-free formula for one bag (Manitok), which she really liked, but I switched since she has no problems with grains.

As for other foods I've fed - I started her on Natural Balance Ultra for small dogs when she was a puppy. That worked OK but she didn't really seem to like it. Once she hit 1 year old, I looked into feeding her Wellness CORE or some Blue Buffalo formula, but once I did research, they didn't seem that great for the price. Acana seemed ideal to me, but it's very expensive here (like $60 for 15 lbs.). I then tried Merrick's Whole Earth Farms. I really liked the price but it didn't agree with her. We then finally moved to Taste of the Wild, salmon or lamb formulas. She liked them well enough, and did really well on them for about a year, but I wasn't comfortable buying a Diamond product. That's when I looked into Annamaet (just before the last round of Diamond recalls) and really liked what I learned about the company, and I liked the price much better than Orijen/Acana. Even if they were priced the same, I would still stick with Annamaet just because of what I learned, and also that they are somewhat local to me, as opposed to Champion being in Canada.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

> Champion also has a terrible track record in terms of quality, multiple recalls and serious ones, from using BSE positive animals, to dead cats, to sharp bones and an actual importation ban by the FDA. The foods also tested positive for BHA/BHT as confirmed by Michigan State University. There were also reports of an FDA investigation for mold contamination in Orijen Regional Red.


sources? there has never been a real reason for the importation problems, always stupid things, the most major one is Australia and ONLY because Australia requires the food to be irrigated before entering the country, Champion had nothing to do with the irrigating, Australia did that themselves and the process rendered the cat food toxic. other cases of certain Champion products being banned or held up have been for ridiculous things like the border people not knowing what "Saskatoon's" are and the inclusion of the supplement Milk Thistle in one of the formula's. hardly sinister lol


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## DanWendy (Mar 20, 2013)

Miss Bugs said:


> sources? there has never been a real reason for the importation problems, always stupid things, the most major one is Australia and ONLY because Australia requires the food to be irrigated before entering the country, Champion had nothing to do with the irrigating, Australia did that themselves and the process rendered the cat food toxic. other cases of certain Champion products being banned or held up have been for ridiculous things like the border people not knowing what "Saskatoon's" are and the inclusion of the supplement Milk Thistle in one of the formula's. hardly sinister lol


You are totally incorrect. The situation in Australia was much more complex than you believe and if you read the facts you will see there is much more to it. As for the other recalls, they are all public, including the FDA importation ban due to Salmonella. 

http://www.wherearethepetfoodchampions.com/web/Orijen_Recall.html
http://www.freshwaterfish.com/system/files/L2PNewsletter Winter 2011.pdf

There are other issues as well, including the fact that much of the protein has/had come from generic US sources (documented as Griffin Industries in Alabama) and fish by-products that were once thrown away. That was made public by the supplier, it is no secret.

So when people say that company has a perfect record, well it is simply not true. I suggest you read the facts provided.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

a couple links with statments backed up by someones post on some forum is not an official source. im not saying champion is perfect, but I have done plenty of unbiased research. .I am aware of various issues they have had and frankly it doesn't bother me. nor am I somehow backing orijen. ..I feed raw! I just wanted real fda sources for your claims if your gonna spout off about how we must be linked to champion somehow lol


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

I have found that most people that post here are real. 

*I like:*
Orijen
Acana
Earthborn Grain Free
Annamaet
Taste of the Wild
Wellness

Most of my dogs are on a rotation diet of TOTW, Wellness, 4 health, and Earthborn right now.
Jasper my problem child is on Professional. Its a 4 star food and he does okay on it (Better than anything else so far).


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## georgiapeach (Mar 17, 2012)

Trust me, I'm real. If I worked for one of the dog food companies, I'm sure I'd be making more money than I do as a teacher...

*I like *(my dogs do best on grain free):

*TOTW (I love it when countless people say their dogs did *great* on it, but then stopped b/c of previous problems)
*California Natural (has been a Godsend for my allergy dog; higher protein than Natural Balance)
*Acana 
*Fromm


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