# Which dog food have you found to be the best for your dog?



## aagee (Sep 22, 2008)

My golden retriever had been on Wellness for a year, when he suddenly started getting colitis from it. Different batch or formula change, presumably. Now I am looking for another good brand. Seems like Canidae used to be considered good, but people have been complaining about their formula change as well.

Suggestions, opinions?


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## Lolas_Dad (Apr 28, 2008)

I know some will disagree with this but The one that she has been on now and since I adopted her Nutro Natural choice lamb and rice formula.


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## rosemaryninja (Sep 28, 2007)

I really like Taste of the Wild. I know many other DFers have had good experiences with it too.


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## HersheyPup (May 22, 2008)

I've always had good results from Royal Canin...several of their formulas and cat food, too. Taste of the Wild has been good as well as Merrick's.


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## MafiaPrincess (Jul 1, 2009)

My guys looked good on Orijen, they look noticeably better yet on raw.


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## Puppy_love_122 (Jul 20, 2007)

I like Taste of the Wild, its reasonably priced and my dogs do great on it.


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## Ludo the Monster (Jul 1, 2009)

I have tried:

Orijen
Taste of the Wild
Canidae
B.G.
By Nature
Blue Buffalo
Purina One
Iams

The only foods Ludo will consistantly eat that doesn't correlate with other issues are Iams (odd, I know!) and B.G. Right now he is on Iams for the weight control but I want to switch him back to B.G. Buffalo.


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## CorgiKarma (Feb 10, 2009)

Some brands that have worked well for Bailey have been Blue Buffalo, Wellness and Natural Balance.

Taste of the Wild is a good food, too, but Bailey really needs a weight control formula.


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## Sonn84 (Mar 29, 2008)

Taste of the wild and Orijen work best for my bunch


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

Basil started out on Iams when we adopted him, which he did horrible on. Thin fur, itchy skin, runny poo. We switched him to Blue Buffalo Wilderness, which he did a lot better on. He had a lot more energy, his coat got thicker and he stopped itching, but the runny poo was still a problem. Canned pumpkin helped a lot, but when we would forget to give it to him, he'd go back to having runny poo. After moving to Dallas, we discovered a whole new world of non-Petsmart/Petco type pet supply stores, so we had a LOT more options to choose from as far as dog food goes. Today we picked up a bag of Taste of the Wild, Prairie style or whatever, and were going to start switching him over from Blue Wilderness. I know he likes it, but I hope he does well!!


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## JSporty1 (Jun 28, 2009)

My one year old pit bull mix has been on the following:

1. Purina One Puppy: Awful food. She had constant diarrhea. 
2. Dog whisperer organic chicken puppy food: nothing bad to say about this food. It's kind of pricey, but she did better on it than on Purina one. 
3. Innova EVO red meat large bites: her adult food. AMAZING!!!! It has completely transformed her physique, skin, and fur. She is so soft and silky now. She also put on quite a bit of muscle.


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## 3212 (Feb 4, 2007)

I've had Bridgette on Natural Balance for a long time now and we love it! 

If I don't have any other treats she'll take kibbles as treats. We get either the sweet potato and fish or the duck and potato as she has food allergies. She's much, much less itchy from the NB and has a very shiny coat!


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Sassy has been fed Iams, Science Diet, Natural Balance, Wellness, Pinnacle, EVO and Canidae at least and she is doing better on home cooked food. She is still itchy but she doesn't stink any more, her anal sacs don't fill up monthly and her ears are cleaner although they never were infected. I just thought she was a stinky hound dog, guess something in all those kibbles disagreed with her.

Max came here when I was feeding the Natural Balance and went through the progression from there. He never had the anal sac thing, never smelled bad but he is amazing on raw food. Even cleaner, fur quality improved and he became calmer within a month or so.

I never could get Max stablized on EVO feeding through 2 large bags. Now I think I was overfeeding. Oh well. All the other foods were fine poop wise, gas wise, dogs liking it and all that. Science Diet made the biggest poops as I recall.

Guess my dogs are easy keepers but even easy keepers do better on some foods than others.


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## dakotajo (Jan 29, 2009)

I switched Dakota to Eagle Pack Holistic and it's amazing how soft and shiny her coat is and she looks so healthy


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## wolfsnaps (Apr 27, 2007)

My dogs have impressively good tolerance to changes in food, which is good because I change their food a lot. I am not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing, I just give them different foods. 

My dogs have been on raw, but with different issues, I do a high quality kibble and raw treats (beef ribs, pork necks, etc) and they seem to do very well on this. PLus, they have a lot of doggy fun with the raw stuff they get. 

Kibble wise, they have run the gamant: When we first got the big dog my husband insisted on *gasp* Kibbles 'n' Bits. That only lasted for one small bag and a few cans because I did not allow that food to be fed to MY dogs. They have progressed from Purina Dog chow, Pedigree, and Iams; to much better foods like Natural Balance, Wellness, BLue Buffalo, and Taste of the Wild. I think I might keep them on TOTW for a while. I like that it is grainless and the price isn't as bad as some other grainless foods.

I usually add yogurt and an occassional raw egg to their kibble.

Hope this helps!


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## LuvMyAngels (May 24, 2009)

Buster, almost 5 month old Saint Bernard has been on
Alpo-nasty, canned stuff. He didnt like it either.
Iams- temp. switch, couldnt get to the feed store the night we brought him home & needed something since he hated the Alpo (he left the canned food in the bowl, eating only the dry Iams)
Exclusive- constant diarrhea, gas, dry, itchy skin.

The thing all these foods had in common...corn.

We're now in the process of switching him to Taste of the Wild. He loves the taste, he's actually excited at meal times now. He finally has solid poop, the itchy skin is easing and he's not stinking me out of the house anymore. We're only 1/2 way through the transition. I think its safe to say his body does not like corn...


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## skim7x (Mar 22, 2009)

As soon as I got my puppy, I switched him from the Science Diet crap they were giving him at the shelter to Blue Buffalo. However, his stools were pretty darn hard, so I switched him to Innova large breed puppy food, which he is doing great on. A couple times he has had soft/runny stools, but once was probably due to a raw-hide he ate, and the other might have been caused by some cat food he stole at my friend's apartment.

Another good one is the Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul. I have a friend who gives that to his dog and its working very well.


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## Bellasmom (Aug 14, 2008)

When I got Bella she was on Nutro Max Puppy Food and had very soft poops on it and was throwing up at least every other day. I gradually switched her over to TOTW. She liked it very much. However she had liquid diareah on it that never cleared up.

So I tried her on Chicken Soup For The Puppy Lovers Soul. She liked this one too. However she had soft poos and runny poos and it never got better than that.

So next I tried CN. She couldnt keep it down. Finally I was so tired of running back and forth to the city (120 miles round trip, gas $4+ gallon) that I went to Wal-Mart ( I only have to travel 10 miles there) and bought Puppy Chow. She never let me switch her over gradually. She was picking all the Puppy Chow out of the bowl and eating only it. By the third day she had solid poop for the first time since I had got her. I was elated. She did great on it. Looked great and was healthy.

Now that she is an adult I have her on Purina One and she is thriving on it. She has a shiney, full coat, clear beautiful eyes and a great disposition. She has never had to see a vet except for a well visit.


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## shets114 (Sep 10, 2008)

I've tried many from the low end to Orijen. The one that keeps my dog at a good weight and performance is VF Complete Performance formula.

You don't have to break the bank to buy a good food. All most companies are selling you is marketing anyway.


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

When I got Trent, he was on Nutro Large Breed Puppy. I bought a bag to keep feeding him for a while and to make a transition. I didn't like the shape or size of his stool, but his breeder has all of his dogs on Nutro, and they seem to do fantastic on it. While I think there are definitely food brands to avoid, I also think that the best food out there is the food that's best for the dog. 

However, Trent is on Orijen Large Breed Puppy and his poop has firmed up and is no longer a sickly orange color.


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## Lil Red Express (Jan 18, 2009)

My dog has ( still is ) on Orijen Puppy. We did try Acana Lamb and Apple for a month, no issues with that one either. Maybe your dog likes the Iams because the kibble is sprayed on the line with animal fats. It's suppose to tasty-up the lower quality pet foods. 




Ludo the Monster said:


> I have tried:
> 
> Orijen
> Taste of the Wild
> ...


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## chames (Jul 9, 2009)

We've been feeding our 3 Miniature Schnauzers Orijen for the past year and have had really good luck with it. We were switching back and forth between the Adult and the 6 Fish. Orijen released their all new red meat flavour today called Regional Red. We picked up a couple of big bags and will try it tonight. I sure they will love it. The all natural ingredients look really good.


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## jboboxer (Jul 9, 2009)

My puppy started out on purina, since I wanted to continue what the breeder was feeding her. After doing some research found out that purina and science diet are horrible and researching here dogfoodanalysis.com
I ended up using wellness, which my puppy likes even more. I'm currently mixing purina and wellness to make sure she doesn't have the runs... but eventually I'm just going to use wellness.
Ever one I know who feed their does wellness are happy.


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## Dogluvr (Feb 14, 2008)

Mine will eat anything, but right now I feed EVO & Instinct.


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## chames (Jul 9, 2009)

We had allergy problems with our female Miniature Schnauzer. The vet recommended some Science Diet Ultra for her. A large bag was really expensive... over $80. But we noticed her losing a lot of weight, and becoming lethargic. I did a bunch of investigating on the internet for dog food and found the dog food rating site rated the expensive Science Diet Ultra a 1 out of 6 (with 1 being the lowest rating, and 6 being the highest). Its main reason for the low rating was the food used a lot of fillers including "Powered Cellulose" (otherwise known as sawdust). We switched all 3 of our Miniature Schanuzers to Orijen, and have had good luck since then and have never looked back. They all have great energy and nice shiny coats. Today we switched them to the new Orijen product called Regional Red, which is Orijen's first red meat product. They love it... and inhale the stuff like there's no tomorrow.


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## jboboxer (Jul 9, 2009)

chames said:


> We had allergy problems with our female Miniature Schnauzer. The vet recommended some Science Diet Ultra for her. A large bag was really expensive... over $80. But we noticed her losing a lot of weight, and becoming lethargic. I did a bunch of investigating on the internet for dog food and found the dog food rating site rated the expensive Science Diet Ultra a 1 out of 6 (with 1 being the lowest rating, and 6 being the highest). Its main reason for the low rating was the food used a lot of fillers including "Powered Cellulose" (otherwise known as sawdust). We switched all 3 of our Miniature Schanuzers to Orijen, and have had good luck since then and have never looked back. They all have great energy and nice shiny coats. Today we switched them to the new Orijen product called Regional Red, which is Orijen's first red meat product. They love it... and inhale the stuff like there's no tomorrow.


My sister had a dog with weight problem that she told me that the vet told her that she had to get science diet that required a prescription. The dogs weren't doing good at all and she was upset when she found out about all the ingredients that were in science diet and surprised the told her to use it


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

My dogs are on evo red meat right now. They get switched between several different brands, all grain free as Lloyd seems to have an allergy to some kind of graing. He gets horrid ear infections and is super itchy on foods with grain in them.


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## belgianluver (Jul 11, 2009)

We have been through soooo many differant foods over the years, with the majority of our dogs being dobermans. They are a breed that tends to have sensitive digestives, and so far for us the Diamond Naturals formulas have done really well for them. Their stools are nice and small and firm, and all of the dogs have gained some weight now since they are digesting better.

Jen


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## txcollies (Oct 23, 2007)

mine do well on Diamond and Exceed. Currently we are testrunning Diamond Performance.

One of ours is on Diamond Naturals and is doing very nicely.


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

We've tried:
Wellness
Solid Gold
Natural Balance
Precise
Orijen
Iams
TOTW
Innova

Hallie did best on Wellness and loved it! She did great on Natural Balance but she wasn't crazy about it. She really loved TOTW but she had a shinier coat with Wellness but less tear stains with TOTW. Overall my favorite is Wellness, it's not hard to get either of mine to eat it and they look fantastic on it.


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## jboboxer (Jul 9, 2009)

Hallie said:


> We've tried:
> Wellness
> Solid Gold
> Natural Balance
> ...


I'm surpised your dog did better on wellness than on Innova, because I always hear great things about Innova. I have my puppy on wellness and I'm really happy with it, but the website dogfoodanlyasis gives wellness a 5 star and Innova a 6 star. I was reading though that anything over 4 stars really doesn't make a big difference, but you want to stay away from anything lower than a 4 star.


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## tefobuch (Jun 7, 2009)

All the following seem to have worked equally well for my poochie:

Merrick (Puppy and Turkey)
Orijen
Solid Gold (Barking at Moon) 
Acana (Pacifica)

I just wish I was ever in the position where I could also say "Wow, his coat has improved so much". I never see any difference at all, and he doesn't have a good coat due to his allergies (of unknown origin?!) and constant scratching.



jboboxer said:


> My sister had a dog with weight problem that she told me that the vet told her that she had to get science diet that required a prescription. The dogs weren't doing good at all and she was upset when she found out about all the ingredients that were in science diet and surprised the told her to use it


I just say SHAME on the vets and SHAME on the dog food companies! To make a garbage food for healthy dogs is one thing ... but then to make the same garbage, label it as "prescription only", charge through the roof and claim it will "help" SICK animals! That's beyond immoral!!!


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