# Please share your experience with Wellness Core and/or Orijen



## gmros (Jul 24, 2012)

I'm looking to switch from Health Extension to grain-free. I'm looking to improve my dog's coat and digestion - less and harder poop. I have narrowed it down to Wellness Core and Orijen. I want to hear about your experiences with either these brands. TIA!


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

I haven't tried either of them yet, but they are both very high quality and comparable to many brands I have tried and had good results with. I'll probably end up adding them to my rotation eventually.


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## Losech (Apr 5, 2011)

Ehh, my experience with both was not so great.
Orijen Puppy is what I tried, some time ago. My Shiba could not digest it consistently, he itched like mad, and was generally not in as good of health as I thought he would be. 
Wellness CORE was pretty similar. Bad digestion, bad coat, bad teeth, bad energy, bad overall health. 
But my Shiba has problems.


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

Losech said:


> Ehh, my experience with both was not so great.
> Orijen Puppy is what I tried, some time ago. My Shiba could not digest it consistently, he itched like mad, and was generally not in as good of health as I thought he would be.
> Wellness CORE was pretty similar. Bad digestion, bad coat, bad teeth, bad energy, bad overall health.
> But my Shiba has problems.


What foods does he do well on (excluding raw)?


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## boxerlover876 (Dec 31, 2011)

I'd definitely go with Orijen. I'm not a fan of Wellness and their 95% cans give Duke some nasty gas that smells like chicken gone wrong.


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## domika (Jul 1, 2012)

Seeing as you are switching from a food that is grain inclusive and moderate in protein, I think it might be easier to switch to something a little lower in protein first. Perhaps Acana? Most dogs I know who switch from grain inclusive to either CORE or Orijen are turned off because they are very different foods. Just a suggestion, I know many people on these boards have made the switch successfully/easily but it's just something to keep in mind if you're finding the transition hard after some time. If I had to choose I would pick Orijen, it just seems like Wellness CORE does not bring amazing results.


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## Losech (Apr 5, 2011)

kafkabeetle said:


> What foods does he do well on (excluding raw)?


Fromm Surf & Turf, Before Grain Pork (haven't tried the new stuff yet), Nature's Variety Instinct Salmon, and I'm trying out EVO Red Meat and like it so far. I generally liked Innova Red Meat but he had less muscle and more flub on it, something I can't have due to his knee issues. Any extra weight on this guy has to be muscle, not fat.
That's it out of the kibbles I've tried that worked for him. I've got a good number of them to still test out, including other formulas of the same brands I have tried. He had similar results with Fromm Duck & Sweet Potato as Innova Red Meat, but the Salmon A La Veg caused some, distressing, digestive disturbances in a matter of days, even with a gradual switch. So I try them formula by formula and treat them as completely separate foods.

It's oh so much fun having a dog with a more than sensitive digestive system :/


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## Full Throttle (Sep 10, 2012)

Those are both pretty high protein, if your dog fairly active? Its important to ensure they get proper water intake when on high protein percentages. I don't feed Wellness only because it has fish and 2 of mine are allergic. I do have many client dogs on it though that look great! If your dog doesn't have an overly sensitive stomach, any of those foods would be fine. Mine are on Merrick and AvoDerm


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## Hitchington (Jun 11, 2012)

When I first learned about grain free dog food I started with Wellness Core. Hitch seemed to get really bored fast with it. He wouldn't eat it much. I had to start topping it with wellness can food, which he got bord of fast. He would barely eat it, and he was already too thin (this was right after I got him).

After that I changed him to Orijen Regional Red. He loved it at first, then just liked it, sometimes not eating full meals. I started to top it with small amounts of plain cooked very lean ground meats. He eats it all up now. He looks great and has no issues.


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## Mheath0429 (Sep 4, 2011)

Try champions other food. Acana is great andthey have a variety of version. Grain inclusive and grain free. Its a great kibble


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## gmros (Jul 24, 2012)

Thank you for all your responses!

Acana... I tried looking at it, but for some reason I couldn't find their puppy formula in any of the online stores I check. The Classics Chicken & Burbank Potato I can find, but what other formulas are available for puppies?


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## domika (Jul 1, 2012)

Acana makes the grain free regionals which are all life stages, so puppy appropriate. Unless you have a large breed puppy, you can feed any of the acana regionals. Acana makes a puppy formula with grains but is only available in Canada, as far as I know anyways. 

The four regionals are wild prairie, grasslands, Pacifica and ranchlands.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

I had one dog on Wellness Core's reduced fat and she did great on it. I've had numerous dogs on Orijen and they did fine on it. Remember that all dogs are different, your dogs may not do well on what my dogs do fine on, and vice versa. As long as the food is a good quality food and your dog does well on it, that's what's important.


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## gmros (Jul 24, 2012)

domika, thank you for letting me know! The Acana website says Adult for 3 of the 4 regionals, but one of their reps said it was in error and gave me the feeding guidelines for puppies.
InkedMarie, thank you for the advice.


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## intent2smile (Sep 6, 2012)

I used to have Jaxx on Wellness Core but honestly I couldn't stand the smell of it. It seemed to smell worse to me than other dog foods and Jaxx got really bad breath on it even with brushing his teeth. I have him on Acana Grasslands now and his coat looks so much better and is softer than when he was on Wellness Core. He didn't have any problems with either food digesting it although he poos less with the Acana and it is more solid.
I liked the ability to get Wellness Core locally but in the end I think Jaxx does better on Acana.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

I've been feeding all of my dogs Candidea forever. However, I was having a hard time getting my whippet to eat. She was skipping meals and dropping weight. I put her on Wellness Core and suddenly she was willing to eat more. Worked really well for us. We will be sticking with it.


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