# Question about dog food! Ziwipeak



## Enhasa (Feb 6, 2010)

Hi,

I am currently feeding my puppy Orijen Puppy, and sometimes I'd add in a bit of canned food from time to time just because he loves the flavor and taste of it.

Recently I've been given a 2lb bag of Ziwipeak by a pet store whom I frequent a lot. I was told that this is a good food blah blah blah, and its a raw diet.

This food is EXTREMELY expensive, as a 2lb bag costs $20. I have a small dog (3lb currently), so thats not really an issue, though I definitely would want to save money if it doesnt make significant differences.

Should I continue with Orijen or change to Ziwipeak? What other dehydrated raw food are good?

As for Ziwipeak, I do not have to add water to soak it like I have to with The Honest Kitchen or Sogos or Only Natural Pet foods. I've been told I should feed way less when feeding ziwipeak because the food is very dense and nutrients rich, and thus preventing them from having a diarrhea as well. However, will my dog still be feeling hungry if it eats so little? 

What other dehydated/air dried dog food do you guys recommend?

Does Ziwipeak or other raw foods like these make a BIG difference compared to high end kibbles like Orijen, Wellness etc? I was told the dog's coat will be alot better on Ziwipeak, but I wanna verify if that is true.

Lastly, are potatoes good or bad in dog food? i read all kinds of mixed reviews and I'm pretty confused. I'm mainly referring to the potatoes in Orijen.

between Orijen, Solid Gold, Wellness, Canidae, Evo, natural balance, blue buffalo, which brand do u guys recommend the most in your own personal opinion?

Thanks


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## StellaLucyDesi (Jun 19, 2008)

Why don't you just use Ziwipeak along with the Orijen? Feed a meal of Orijen and feed a meal of Ziwipeak...it could save you a litte money, too. Ziwipeak is a raw food. And raw foods are less processed than kibble. If your dog handles ZP well, then he should show some wonderful signs of shiny coat, better breath, etc., that come along with raw, or less processed, diets. As far as the potatoes go...they won't hurt your dog at all (unless he has an allergy or intolerance to them). Foods like Orijen, Wellness CORE, use potato as the carb source or "binder" that holds the kibble together instead of grains. Lastly, I would rate the foods you mentioned in this order IMHO...and I'm going by their grain-free formulas:

Orijen
EVO
Wellness (CORE version only)
Blue Buffalo (Wilderness)
Solid Gold (Barking at the Moon)
Natural Balance LID - grain free diets
Canidae grain free diets

For freeze dried, dehydrated or premade raw, I like the following companies:

Primal Foods (premade raw - I'm using this right now)
Nature's Variety (premade raw - I have some in the freezer, and freeze dried - I haven't used yet)
The Honest Kitchen (dehydrated raw - I've used this before and have some on hand now)


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## sagira (Nov 5, 2009)

Taking notes..


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## wolfsnaps (Apr 27, 2007)

No offense to anyone here please. But $20 for two pounds of food? Does anyone else think maybe thats INSANE? The only way I could afford that was if I had a tiny dog like a yorkie or a chihuahua, something that didn't eat much. And only one dog. 

I have THREE dogs and two of them weigh over 100 pounds. That price for dog food would be RIDICULOUS. If you can afford, than great. But for that price, I could do raw and still save money after feeding all the mouths that I have for days. 

This is a good place for me to say this too. I tried the honest Kitchen on my two dogs (before I got my third) because it piqued my interest. They wouldn't touch it! I was hoping they would dig it and they snubbed it. I added water to it and it turned into this green glop that, from looks alone, did not look appealing. Do any of your dogs like it? My mastiff would probably eat it. He eats ANYTHING...except science diet (LOL...true).


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

I've heard wonderful wonderful things about Ziwipeak. Some people say they feed it with similar results to raw.

I've fed raw a while and I didnt' really notice any difference compared with Orijen other than tiny hard stools. Coat and energy were about the same.

I'm actually kind of interested in Ziwipeak as well. Apparently you don't have to add water but most people to do make the food a bit more in the dog's stomach. 

The problem I have is that my dog eats whenever she wants to, she absolutely refuses to eat on a schedule and I don't want to add water to a food and leave it sitting there growing bacteria, especially in the summer.

If you do try it, let us know how it goes! 

Even for a small 7 lb dog that food is still REALLY expensive! If there aren't dramatic benefits or results, I'd probably stick to Orijen since I love Orijen and Nia does awesome on it.


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## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

Enhasa said:


> This food is EXTREMELY expensive, as a 2lb bag costs $20. I have a small dog (3lb currently), so thats not really an issue, though I definitely would want to save money if it doesnt make significant differences.
> 
> Should I continue with Orijen or change to Ziwipeak? What other dehydrated raw food are good?


It's made in New Zealand, so shipping costs are what make it so expensive. Honestly I don't see the point, if you're willing to spend that much on a dehydrated raw food, why not just go actually raw? It's a hell of a lot cheaper.

If you don't want to go to real raw, I would stick with Orijen.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

RaeganW said:


> It's made in New Zealand, so shipping costs are what make it so expensive. Honestly I don't see the point, if you're willing to spend that much on a dehydrated raw food, why not just go actually raw? It's a hell of a lot cheaper.
> 
> If you don't want to go to real raw, I would stick with Orijen.


Actually that's not it. I have a friend in New Zealand and it's almost the same price there. After conversion it's 19 dollars per 2 lb bag.

I would like to try this because you can leave it like kibble without it spoiling as quickly as raw.


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## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

Michiyo-Fir said:


> Actually that's not it. I have a friend in New Zealand and it's almost the same price there. After conversion it's 19 dollars per 2 lb bag.
> 
> I would like to try this because you can leave it like kibble without it spoiling as quickly as raw.


Really?! I always assumed... Pound for pound the food would cost more than my dog. 

I didn't think of that, Gatz has finished his meal before I can put the scoop back.  I still think there are more cost-effective measures though.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

RaeganW said:


> I didn't think of that, Gatz has finished his meal before I can put the scoop back.  I still think there are more cost-effective measures though.


Yeah the problem with Nia is that she won't eat it when I first put it down. I would absolutely love to feed only raw but I can't get her to eat it in time and I definitely am not going to leave raw meat lying about in the summer. It's bound to make either her or I sick one day or another from the bacteria.

I think Orijen is great though or most other grain free foods for that matter and they're a LOT cheaper!

If I win the lottery, I'll start Nia on ZiwiPeak permanently LOL.


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## Enhasa (Feb 6, 2010)

I do agree it is REALLY EXPENSIVE. No joke.
the only reason why i can afford it is because my dog is a small toy breed (pomeranian) and expected adult weight is about 4 pounds, so it eats really little.

what my main concern is that will it still feel hungryafter eating that? I was told I am not supposed to feed alot, but im worried the dog will still be hungry. when its hungry it starts chewing on the pee pad or start eating its own poo, which is really irritating.

whats worse is the fact that its a picky eater.
it doesnt touch alot of foods for some reason, such as solid gold, wellness. i guess theres something it doesnt like. it seems to chew down orijen fine though


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## zee (Mar 1, 2010)

Yes, it is pricey however it's LESS expensive than the raw diet. I think ppl compare how much it is per pound rather than how long it lasts (you feed a lot less than with the raw food diet). 
To compare: 
1 lb of the Rawfood diet comes out to $5.42. 
The ZP is about $110 (amazon w/free shipping) for 23 days (for my 50lbs dog) which comes out to $4.78 a day. 

Not to mention how much LESS work it is since you can just scoop it into the bowl. No unthawing, etc.


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## curled_out (Mar 1, 2010)

Well, I'll give my 2 cents on this one. I was feeding my 5 dogs commercial food, but they were experiencing digestive problems.

My vet, who is more naturalistic, suggested that I feed them stuff that is more fresh than bagged or canned stuff. He recommended rice-based home cooked food (and rice is quite cheap). So, you can try home cooked food. 

It does not have to be necessarily raw. Dogs have been habituated with the human diet since their domestication and their nature of scavenging around human left-overs.

You could boil some rice, along with vegetables (carrots, potatoes, etc) and some meat (poultry, the cheaper parts, to make it more appealing). But you have to add a lot of water so it would look soupy, and not to hard (otherwise they would get constipated). 

You can even boil some bones and make a paste with them (if they are the very brittle type). That's how they do it for commercial dog food anyway.

Hope this helps.


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