Need Input on Food for the Best Output

[Julie B.]

I know this has been discussed previously but I need opinions. My puppy is 5 1/2 months and we still can't get her food right. Started on TOTW Venison- smelly gas and hit-and-miss with firm stools (also has crystals in urine.) Went to Chix Soup Puppy and have had pudding poops for 1+ months (not fun to clean up!) Thinking of switching to Canidae All Stages.

What has worked for you all??

Okay, after further research now I think I'm going to go with Nature's Variety, Prairie- Puppy Formula. Canidae sounds good but, based on the reviews I've read, it seems like people have either had good luck with it or terrible.

Comments are welcome!!

[browndog]

If you haven't already tried it, you may want to try:

Natural Balance - Limited Ingredient Sweet potato and venison (Dick van Patten)

or

Royal Canin Medi-Cal Hypoallergenic (duck) - this one has worked best for us!

[RodneyPierce]

We started on Wellness (gave her the trots bad and very very bad gas), and just now switched to solid gold. But Bailey got into some plants she shouldnt have outside, so she is on burger and rice for the next 3 days. Then have to introduce her back to her regular good. Darn neighbors should really learn to take care of there so called "flower beds" along our fence. No problem though, it will all be dead in less then a week, thanks to my friend roundup!

[jodysh]

Malcolm didn't do well on Orijen or Wellness (trots). Nutro Natural Choice I think he just got tired of (still had softish stool with it anyway). We're now on to Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy and he's doing really well so far. It's been about a week, but his poops have never been this solid. So I have high hopes it will stay this way.

He's also about 5 months (give or take a week)

[jesstat]

We use Natural Balance Limited Ingredient and have luck with that as well. Diego likes both the chicken and duck, but was not a fan of the venison. We had a lot of the same problems with the same foods, but this one seemed to help and now he only gets the trots when he's picked up giardia from the goose poo at the park....

[becka]

Sadie does very well with Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy formula. She was originally on Royal Canin large breed puppy (at our vet's recommendation) but it gave her diarrhea.

[Julie B.]

Thanks for all the great recommendations! I'm still on the fence about what food to get. Also, they are all so expensive. We are Costco members so I was also considering Kirkland, rated and average to high average food and very inexpensive. I looked at the ingredients list and it looks pretty good- not too many grain fillers.

[subguy812]

Originally Posted by Julie B.

Thanks for all the great recommendations! I'm still on the fence about what food to get. Also, they are all so expensive. We are Costco members so I was also considering Kirkland, rated and average to high average food and very inexpensive. I looked at the ingredients list and it looks pretty good- not too many grain fillers.

I have wished to have a Costco membership for a long time so I could buy this food. I really have never heard anything bad about it and the price is great. Cody is eating Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete and I have had good results. No loose poops, little gas. Many folks will talk negative about Diamond but I have fed it to another dog in the past. I think paid around 40.00 for a 44 lb. bag.

[RodneyPierce]

Yes, good food is expensive. But there is great reason for that. The ingredients speaks for itself within the first 5 items.....

[Nikkiey]

Originally Posted by Julie B.

We are Costco members so I was also considering Kirkland, rated and average to high average food and very inexpensive. I looked at the ingredients list and it looks pretty good- not too many grain fillers.

We are also Costco member and used to feed Juneau the Kirkland brand dog food - he didn't do well at all. He turned into a free feeder because he wouldn't eat. He also puked it up quite consistently. BUT, based on the above posts, every dog is different and reacts differently to foods so it's always good to try it out and see how it works for you. Costco also recently got a new dog food which has less fillers than the Kirkland (but for the life of me I can't remember what it was called). I'll be totally jealous if Kirkland works for you!

We now feed Juneau Acana Grassland (after quite a bit of switching) and he's been doing really well on it (knock on wood)

[Julie B.]

I totally agree that the more expensive foods have better ingredients but dog food advisor did give Kirkland 4/5 stars. I'm not advocating for or against it- just trying to find a quality, affordable food that my dog will thrive on- here's the list for the chix and rice:

Ingredients: Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, cracked pearled barley, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and vitamin E), egg product, beet pulp, potatoes, fish meal, flaxseed, natural flavor, brewers dried yeast, millet, dried chicory root, carrots, peas, kelp, apples, cranberry powder, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, rosemary extract, parsley flake, taurine, yucca schidigera extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, L-carnitine, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid

[RodneyPierce]

Julie, here is a little test you can do. But those ingredients look OK to me. (looks like kirkland scored very high on this test, so no worries there!!) Below the test is also a listing of a bunch of dog food brands and there scores:

Here is a way to rate your dog food. Follow the steps below and see how your dog food rates. (Original article is located here)

How to grade your dog's food:
Start with a grade of 100:

1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points
2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points
3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points
5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewerâs rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points
6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points
9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points
11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isnât allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isnât allergic to beef), subtract 1 point
15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:

1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points
3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points
8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points
9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source, but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point
13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point

Dog Food Scores:
94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
<70 = F


Alpo Prime Cuts / Score 81 C
Artemis Large/Medium Breed Puppy / Score 114 A+
Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
Authority Harvest Baked Less Active / Score 93 B
Back to Basics(Beowulfs) / Score 101 A+
Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
Blackwood 3000 Lamb and Rice / Score 83 C
Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice / Score 106 A+
Burns Chicken and Brown Rice / Score 107 A+
Canidae / Score 112 A+
Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+
Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F
Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A
Diamond Performance / Score 85 C
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
Dick Van Patten?s Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice / Score 106 A+
Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
EaglePack Holistic / Score 102 A+
Eukanuba Adult / Score 81 C
Eukanuba Puppy / Score 79 C
Flint River Senior / Score 101 A+
Foundations / Score 106 A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
Innova Evo / Score 114 A+
Innova Large Breed Puppy / Score 122 A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+
Member?s Mark Chicken and Rice / Score 84 C
Merrick Wilderness Blend / Score 127 A+
Merrick HomeStyle Blends / Average Score 125 A+
Merrick Beef N More / Score 125 A+
Nature?s Recipe / Score 100 A
Nature?s Recipe Healthy Skin Venison and Rice / Score 116 A+
Nature?s Variety Raw Instinct / Score 122 A+
Nutra Nuggets Super Premium Lamb Meal and Rice / Score 81 C
Nutrience Junior Medium Breed Puppy / Score 101 A+
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
Nutro Max Adult / Score 93 B
Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice / Score 98 A
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Wheat Free / Score 86 B
Nutro Natural Choice Senior / Score 95 A
Nutro Ultra Adult / Score 104 A+
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F
Premium Edge Chicken, Rice and Vegetables Adult Dry / Score 109 A+
Pro Nature Puppy / Score 80 C
Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach / Score 94 A
Purina Benful / Score 17 F
Purina Dog / Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
Purina One Large Breed Puppy / Score 62 F
Royal Canin Boxer / Score 103 A+
Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
Solid Gold / Score 99 A
Summit / Score 99 A
Timberwolf Organics Wild & Natural Dry / Score 120 A+
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison)

So how did your dog food rate?

[Julie B.]

Thanks Rodney- yes, it looks pretty good. We may start there and, if she has problems, move up to a more premium food.

[RodneyPierce]

Julie, no problem! Its all what your dog will tolerate also, and how his or her digestive system takes it. I might try kirklands myself if we can find it around here, if the solid gold that we have her on right now doesnt agree with her. Notice the purina and science diet foods..... that makes a person sick. Even iams and Eukanuba

[Julie B.]

Agreed- never knew that such popular, mainstream foods had so much yuck in them!