# Wellness vs blue buffalo



## pomergranate (Jun 20, 2011)

yesterday i went to the pet shop to get my dog some more food. she has eaten wellness before but holy cow has the price raised! talkin like $31.99 for 12pounds. so i went lookin around at the diffrent brands. eukanuba and nutro make her poop 3-5 times a day so there is a lot of fillers in there. blue buffalo has only chicken meal but lots of fruits and veggies, and is $29.99 for 15 pounds; and wellness has chicken meal and turkey meal...

which is better?


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

I'd call them pretty comparable foods, but both pretty overpriced in my opinion. Do you have any farm supply stores in your area, such as Tractor Supply Co.? They tend to carry high quality foods for a much more affordable price than in pet stores. I buy Taste of the Wild from Tractor Supply-- $25 for 15 pounds, and this is a grain-free food. Way cheaper than the grain-free lines Blue and Wellness make.

Also, this site has detailed reviews of different foods. I think it's a really useful source of information when choosing a food.


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

I feed Blue Buffalo - it's not the *best* food out there, but for someone on a budget who can't afford to feed a raw diet, it's one of the better ones. I believe it has glucosamine in it as well as some of the Omegas to help with skin/coat health. 

My dogs are picky eaters and didn't like Wellness or Nutro, so Blue was my other option. Their coats are shiny, they poo regularly and they eat the food without me pouring chicken gravy on it, so I'm happy with it. They especially like the Fish flavored kind, though I'll warn you, it does have a strong odor. 

I would recommend staying away from Eukanuba and Science Diet. They are "veterinarian recommended" because they supply funding to various people and associations, therefore they basically purchase that vet recommendation. Go for something that has real meat as a first ingredient and stay away from the term "by product" at all costs. Chicken meal isn't bad as long as it's not the first ingredient listed 

ETA: If you're buying from a Petsmart or Petco, most have a dog food guarantee when you purchase a new brand. If your dog doesn't like the food after a few meals, you can get a refund (as long as half the bag isn't gone). Make sure to ask about that so you don't waste money if your dog doesn't like the food you buy!


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

dmickle1 said:


> Chicken meal isn't bad as long as it's not the first ingredient listed


Chicken meal is actually a very good first ingredient, better even than fresh chicken. This is because chicken meal is a concentrate whereas "chicken" still contains all of its water weight, which ends up being cooked off. A food with chicken meal has more meat in it than a food with regular chicken in it.


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

I simply have the preference of "deboned fish" being the first ingredient in my dog's food


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

dmickle1 said:


> I simply have the preference of "deboned fish" being the first ingredient in my dog's food


May I ask why?


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

kafkabeetle said:


> May I ask why?


Because "meal" isn't human grade and is produced in facilities that aren't licensed or certified by the FDA. This low level of standard monitoring concerns me, especially after the dog food scandals of several years ago, in which many people's animals died due to improperly manufactured food. There are different qualities of meal, but pet food manufacturers aren't required to tell us where they get their meal by law, therefore there is no way of telling the quality of meal in the dog food. 

I prefer my dog food to have mostly human grade main ingredients, like deboned chicken or fish, as those are the ingredients that are monitored by the FDA.

ETA: Eh, like I said, it's just a personal preference. Many a dog has lived a long and happy life being fed some sort of grocery brand kibble, just like any of our dogs on higher quality brand names could easily die of any number of diseases. Sometimes I think that the dog food industry has evolved into a monster, telling us that our dogs will live long and happy lives as long as we buy the best and most expensive. I think that genetics and luck have quite a bit to do with how healthy and long-lived our dogs are


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## pomergranate (Jun 20, 2011)

i live in alaska lol there is snow on the ground 9-10 months of the year so we dont have tractor stores. we do have a mill and feed store but oh my lanta! they over price thier food beyond the point of overpricing. and everything is already overpriced in alaska cuz theres rarely trucking for things. even fruit is up to $6 a pound in the winter. 

i try to stick to something she is used to when switchiing food. since she has eaten chicken/ chicken meal since we picked her up from the breeder i try to buy something with chicken to help her tummy adjust better.

i really appreciate all this feed back. im deff not goin back to eukanuba i dont have the money for all the poop bags i would need! i gave her a kibble of blue buffalo today for a treat and she ate it so hopefully she likes it while i can search for better food. i did look on doggiefood.com today but the flat rate shipping doenst apply to alaska so it would cost about the same either way (blue buffalo 15 pound bag was $25 adn thier shipping is $4.99 flat rate to lower 48) sadly having to drive through canada to deliver makes things cost alot more. 

i like how she actually has to chew the blue buffalo kibble. itll help her teeth stay clean right? the wellness has tiny kibble she just swallows whole.

i think i will switch to raw menu once i graduate and can get a decent job (going to school for medical assisting now and returning for nursing after graduation). iv been doing some research on it. i still want to do alot more before i commite to making a whole nother meal other people dinner.


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

Yup, feeding a kibble your dog will chew is definitely a good thing. 

Also, if you buy a bag of Blue, you'll notice large brown kibbles and smaller darker ones. The smaller ones are vitamins and some dogs don't like them because they don't taste as good as the brown kibble. If that's the case with your pup, simply water the food down slightly before feeding, which will spread the brown kibble "meat" taste to the vitamin kibbles, too 



pomergranate said:


> i think i will switch to raw menu once i graduate and can get a decent job (going to school for medical assisting now and returning for nursing after graduation). iv been doing some research on it. i still want to do alot more before i commite to making a whole nother meal other people dinner.


Me too  I just finished graduate school, so am looking for a good job that allows me to afford a raw diet. However, with two 120 lb. GSD mixes, raw dieting can become incredibly expensive! Make sure to let us know how your pup likes her new food, whatever kind you choose!


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

dmickle1 said:


> Eh, like I said, it's just a personal preference. Many a dog has lived a long and happy life being fed some sort of grocery brand kibble, just like any of our dogs on higher quality brand names could easily die of any number of diseases. Sometimes I think that the dog food industry has evolved into a monster, telling us that our dogs will live long and happy lives as long as we buy the best and most expensive. I think that genetics and luck have quite a bit to do with how healthy and long-lived our dogs are


I wasn't trying to tear you down for your preference, I just wondered. Also, I don't believe that you have to buy the best and most expensive food. If I thought that I would only ever recommend things like Orijen. Nor do I believe good food makes a dog immune to disease. I feed what I consider a very good value for the money. My does does well on it so I'm happy. I really only come on here to inform people about their options, since I was really confused when I first started looking into better foods and I didn't think I could afford a good food until I started researching and found that some of the best foods are not much more expensive than store brand foods.

I don't really know much about how "meals" are processed, but I figure if my dog is happy to eat roadkill and raw meat, then some less than human-quality meat is preferable to a diet overly high in carbohydrates.



pomergranate said:


> i like how she actually has to chew the blue buffalo kibble. itll help her teeth stay clean right? the wellness has tiny kibble she just swallows whole.
> 
> i think i will switch to raw menu once i graduate and can get a decent job (going to school for medical assisting now and returning for nursing after graduation). iv been doing some research on it. i still want to do alot more before i commite to making a whole nother meal other people dinner.


No kibble will clean your dog's teeth. I like to compare that myth to a parent being told that the crunchier their child's breakfast cereal is, the better it is for their teeth. But anyway, a raw diet IS really good for your dog's teeth, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Raw bones are nature's toothbrush.  If you're interested you could actually feed some raw meaty bones now, exclusively for the purpose of dental cleaning.


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

kafkabeetle said:


> I wasn't trying to tear you down for your preference, I just wondered. Also, I don't believe that you have to buy the best and most expensive food. If I thought that I would only ever recommend things like Orijen. Nor do I believe good food makes a dog immune to disease. I feed what I consider a very good value for the money. My does does well on it so I'm happy. I really only come on here to inform people about their options, since I was really confused when I first started looking into better foods and I didn't think I could afford a good food until I started researching and found that some of the best foods are not much more expensive than store brand foods.
> 
> I don't really know much about how "meals" are processed, but I figure if my dog is happy to eat roadkill and raw meat, then some less than human-quality meat is preferable to a diet overly high in carbohydrates.
> 
> No kibble will clean your dog's teeth. I like to compare that myth to a parent being told that the crunchier their child's breakfast cereal is, the better it is for their teeth. But anyway, a raw diet IS really good for your dog's teeth, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Raw bones are nature's toothbrush.  If you're interested you could actually feed some raw meaty bones now, exclusively for the purpose of dental cleaning.


 It took me a long time to do research and I felt completely overwhelmed, too, when I started figuring out what I should feed my dogs. Plus, workers in pet stores are so often not educated about dog nutrition, plus they are paid to promote certain brands, I felt like I didn't know where to turn to get the facts about dog food. I finally found some pretty good websites, which is where I learned about chicken meal production and such. 

I give my dogs raw bones frequently, and their teeth seem to be pretty healthy. The one thing about a dog not chewing kibble, at least from my experience, is that if they don't chew and wolf it all down, it may just come right back up.


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## Sendiulino (Jun 20, 2011)

We brought Sam home with the "recommended" food she was on already, which wasn't terrible but after doing the calculations on it I wasn't entirely impressed with it for the price of continuing with it, so I immediately did a shift to Blue Buffalo (small breed puppy) food. She was hesitant of it at first but is now eating her whole meal, where as prior to this she was barely touching the old food (I actually had a calorie supplement gel for her because of that). She even eats the little dark bits that are cold-formed vitamin bits essentially, which I was afraid she might skip over. 

And like your dog, she also didn't even chew the first food she had with the smaller kibble, where as this stuff she really sinks her teeth into. It's nice to hear her chew her food for a change


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## Wag_More (Jun 7, 2011)

> Chicken meal is actually a very good first ingredient, better even than fresh chicken. This is because chicken meal is a concentrate whereas "chicken" still contains all of its water weight, which ends up being cooked off. A food with chicken meal has more meat in it than a food with regular chicken in it.


This is true. One of the reasons I fed my dog Blue Buffalo from the beginning - no water where meat should be. It seems like a good dog food.. pricey though.



> Also, if you buy a bag of Blue, you'll notice large brown kibbles and smaller darker ones. The smaller ones are vitamins and some dogs don't like them because they don't taste as good as the brown kibble. If that's the case with your pup, simply water the food down slightly before feeding, which will spread the brown kibble "meat" taste to the vitamin kibbles, too


Oh my gosh its not just my dog then! I noticed that when she's done eating there are the little black kibbles all over the floor.. she spits the darned things out. I'll try some warm water, thanks


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

Wag_More said:


> Oh my gosh its not just my dog then! I noticed that when she's done eating there are the little black kibbles all over the floor.. she spits the darned things out. I'll try some warm water, thanks


I hope the warm water works for you! If it doesn't, chicken broth is *really* cheap and if you water that down and pour it over the food, it may help


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## abi88 (Jul 2, 2008)

I googled it and there are 2 places in Anchorage that sells TOTW, Paw Prince and Alaska Mill & Feed Company. 

But I know when I was feeding my 2 dogs and 1 cat(pug/x, pup BC, and kitten) TOTW it cost the same as feeding my now 3 dogs and 1 cat(pug/x, adult BC, pup BC, and kitten) on RAW!!:wink: Just as an FYI!


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