# Earthborn Primitive Natural



## Great Big Puppy (Dec 16, 2008)

Has anyone tried the Earthborn Primitative Natural grain free dog food? I am still researching Raw diet, but am going to switch to this for now. I see it is a 5 star food on the dog food analysis site. It is about $45.00 for a 28 lb bag at my local feed store. It's the only grain free I can currently get here in town.

Has anyone tried it?

Here's some label info on it...Earthborn Holistic® Primitive Natural™ Dog Food: Ingredients
INGREDIENTS: Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Whitefish Meal, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin E), Dried Egg Product, Tomato Pomace, Apples, Blueberries, Carrots, Peas, Spinach, Garlic, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Taurine, Cottage Cheese, L-Lysine, DL-Methionine, Beta-Carotene, Calcium Carbonate, Zinc Oxide, Magnesium Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Niacin, D-Calcium Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, L-Carnitine, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Ferrous Sulfate, Biotin, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Calcium Iodate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Manganese Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Dried Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Products. 


Earthborn Holistic® Primitive Natural™ Dog Food: Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein, not less than 38.00% 
Crude Fat, not less than 20.00% 
Crude Fiber, not more than 2.50% 
Moisture, not more than 10.00% 
Vitamin E, not less than 200 IU/kg 
Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA), not less than 0.10%* 
Omega-6 Fatty Acids, not less than 3.30%* 
Omega-3 Fatty Acids, not less than 0.55%* 
L-Carnitine, not less than 15 mg/kg* 

*Not recognized as an essential ingredient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles.

5184 kilo-calories per kg | 717 kilo-calories per cup


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Looks great! I never knew this brand of high protein grainless dog food existed. It seems like there are lots of good ingredients and lots of meat.

I've never seen a food with so much calories per cup though! I'll bet you only need to feed VERY tiny amounts of this food to a dog to keep him/her at the same weight.


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## Lonewolfblue (Oct 28, 2007)

I got the sample packs of the Ocean Fusion, the Adult Vantage, and the Primitive Natural to see which they like the best. Nell seems to really like the Ocean Fusion. I think they all look pretty good for the ingredients. But looking to see what others say about it, I also have a thread on this as well. Didn't see yours, so we have 2 threads on Earthborn. Thinking of doing the Primitive myself as well, but just want to see what the girls like best.


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## Great Big Puppy (Dec 16, 2008)

My dogs went crazy over the Primitative Natural. I picked up the puppy too, for my 5 month old standard poodle. He devoured it! Keep me updated on your results with it!

Thanks


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## Pai (Apr 23, 2008)

Michiyo-Fir said:


> I've never seen a food with so much calories per cup though! I'll bet you only need to feed VERY tiny amounts of this food to a dog to keep him/her at the same weight.


Wow, you aren't kidding. That's a TON of calories. The ingredients look great, though!


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## Lonewolfblue (Oct 28, 2007)

I sent an email asking about Earthborn and here was their response. I used Nell as the reference dog, a Border Collie.



> Thank you for your interest in Earthborn Holistic Natural Food for Dogs. Since your dog is high energy we would suggest either the Small Breed at 28% fat and 17% protein or the Primitive Natural which is 38% protein and 20% fat. If your dog is older, then the PRimitive Natural is probably too rich and would have too many calories for him. If you do choose the Primitive Natural which is a grain-free diet, follow feeding instructions on the packaging. It is extremely palatable and free feeding is not recommended.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Actually out of all the Earthborn formulas, Primitive natural has the most meat and least grains(no grains) and fillers. Some of the other formulas like ocean fusion aren't great and the company doesn't seem to guarantee ethoxyquin free. Ocean fusion has rye flour which is a filler.


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## Lonewolfblue (Oct 28, 2007)

Yes, rye is a filler, but from what I've read, items like oatmeal, rye, and items like sweet potatoes are easier on a dog than corn and wheat. Also, the meats take up the first items in the ingredient list, not the grains.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

That's true. These are all more easily digestible grains however oatmeal isn't a filler but rye is. I'm not too sure why. I know wheat and corn are the hardest to digest and sweet potato or potatoes are the easiest.


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## dieterherzog (Sep 28, 2009)

I think I replied to this in the other thread - my dog did not do well on this food, made his anal glands work up again after our numerous attempts to fix it. We succeeded at cutting down his trips to the vet for expression from monthly to every 3 or 4 months when we started on the grain-free diet using Acana and EVO. 

But when we tried the Earthborn stuff out, he was gassy and constantly dropped seriously disgusting fart bombs. His anal glands started working up again and hasn't gotten better ever since  Also, tomato pomace is a filler (masquerading as fiber) and it's pretty high up there. I've not seen another high-end grain-free food that uses tomato pomace, so I'm kind of wary. And also dried egg product... 

I didn't look up the ingredients properly before feeding this to my dog - so it's my bad. But if your dog seems to be doing fine on it, then great! Every dog is different, some dogs work best on IAMs, some dogs just need to drain a big hole in your wallet in order to stop stinking up the house.


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