Comparing dog food! - Page 8

I feed various proteins (chicken, lamb, pork, beef, venison).    I think dogs that are fed only one protein  may  lead to a sensitivity to that source over time.   I think it would be too difficult to do this with kibble - another advantage of RAW.

For those of you who are looking at the Orijen dog food.  I have found the large bag on heartypet.com for only $48.99 and it is only about $13.00 to ship it to Northwest Indiana.  They have a shipping estimater on the checkout page so you can see how much it will cost for shipping.  They sell it locally here for me but I thought that some of you might want to check that out.   

kmm I got a little excited for a minute...guess you live closer to the store than I do...

Sub Total:	$48.99
	Product Totals:	$48.99
	Shipping Estimate(30 lbs):	$27.20
	Grand Total:	$76.19

Thats better than $85 but still doesn't beat the k9cuisine.

Blitzen I just took a quick look at TWO. If the ingredients are good then it is probably a OK food. The thing I noticed was the % of protein. Orijen is 70% meat and 30% fruits/vegies giving it a 40% protein over TWO 26%. I think for a few dollars more the Orijen is the better food. You might be able to find an online store closer to you and shipping wouldn't be as bad as it is for me.

Sueincc--I'm in agreement with your opinion on various protein sources as a good thing. I feed everything and watch.  Some meats do better than others.....depending on the dog. Mine can eat almost anything and not react.....their bodies are accustomed to the different foods. 

Blitzen--My youngest male is on Timberwolf for almost a year now and I'm very happy.  I prefer the Wild and Natural to the Lamb....but use both.  AM--W&N, PM--1/2 W&N, 1/2 Lamb (combined to lower protein level).  I do add semi-raw fresh meat and veggies + supplements...but have always followed this practice with any brand.  Larrydee is obviously a great fan of Orijen, as are others.  It sounds like a great product, but I haven't tried it myself and can't comment. Would try it if readily available.......but not because I'm displeased with TW. I believe it was vomlandholz  who once remarked her dogs lost weight on TW.  Probably so.  The W&N is higher protein, and we all know it's carbs that put the lbs on. My boy is lean, too energetic even with excessive exercise, and (in my eyes) beautiful. Solid stools and despite all the extras fed, his coat is richly thick. (Afraid I'm one of those 'one-for-me-cookie, one-for-you' people.)

I can confirm Larrydee's comment about TW changing their formula---at least with the W&N.  When I first started feeding this variety, the kibble was darker and stools almost black.  Within 2 weeks of having his first bowlful, his coat was incredible.  He always had a good coat, but I was astounded.  Then I bought a new bag and the color of food was lighter.  Of course, thinking another variety was mistakenly packaged in the W&N bag, drove back to the store for an exchange.  Checked the packaging dates on the merchandise and, low and behold, someone else had the same idea.  That customer had opened a few bags.......don't know what she could have been thinking. (LOL)) Anyway....they all contained the same, lighter color......with no similar dates.  I decided to keep my bag and try the food.  Before exiting the store, I apprised the manager about the opened bags and concluded that the culprit wasn't really wrong in her criminal action seeing as how the company had changed the formula with no warning.  They deserved to eat the loss. (LOL) As to the new formula.....stools were still solid, but lighter colored.  He ate both versions with no hesitency.....but did seem to take a keener interest when I opened the original bags.  Both formulas managed to allieve my concerns that I had another Viokase junkie in the making.  It's months later, and I'm still pleased with Joe's appearance and health.  I also still wonder why TW changed that formula.........it was fine with me. (Oh, BTW---kibble size for W&N is small....smaller than Lamb.  I like the small size.) 

Larrydee--Be careful.  You praise Orijen too much and some monstrous manufacturer will buy them out....and as per usual.....screw up the produt. (LOL)  Just kidding. 

There are good foods out there.  Years ago, I was one of those pests who complained and complained to get Solid Gold on the shelves.  Hund-n-Flocken's still a staple in my home.  My young male is doing well on TW.  Tried other brands.  Some I liked.......but the dogs didn't agree.  If they're not happy with the taste, get another.  Why force a dog to eat something he doesn't like.......especially with so many brands to choose from.  Ultimately, it comes down to what food works best with the dog's constitution.  It's trial and error.  

I'm having pretty good results with Canidae Chicken & Rice... better than the original ALS formula for some reasons: solid stools, better coat condition, no extraordinary weight gain or loss, or energy issues. Not sure it would stand-alone for top show conditioning, seems the dogs shed more often than usual, but I have to bathe the seasonal mud away before I can make a judgement on the new hair coming in. Some of the nearly naked dogs seem to have rather dry skin right now, shedding daed skin cells with the hair, (might be the weather? something in the mud?)  I am adding flaxseed oil in hopes the new growth will be satisfactory.

SS

Oh, the heck with all this worrying about dog food. I'm going to WalMart for some Old Roy .

Blitzen

           Hate to say this here we are picking all these dog foods apart trying to find the best one for our dogs and I found this 16 year old female GSD down the street pretty much the picture of health a little arthritas and has always been fed nothing but Purina Dog Chow.     You try and figure it out!!

A 16 years old GSD? I've had the same exact experience with my dogs, Larry. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Now I'm on this guilt trip where I am convinced that if I don't spend enough on a bag of dog food to feed a third world country for a week, I'm a bad dog owner . Damn those Orien people!!!

LOL! We all must live with "the guilts" ! My friends male turned 14 in November and I think ate Canidae most of his life. He is showing his age but still here at least with no major health problems that I know of his whole life.

Hey I just found another online store thats ships for anything over $40.00. The price was about $57.00 with shipping. http://www.doggiezbest.com/SearchResults.asp?mfg=Orijen

My friend with the pet store can't find one of her distributors that carry it.... at least yet.