Pro Pac Dog Food (Dry)

okay cool thank you

Is there a place u get it from online or do u buy it in the store.

Hi Annie-
I have used(and still do use with the fosters/rescues) this food. I have had good luck with it as part of a rotation. I don’t think however it would be my first choice for weight gain unless you want to feed high amount(depending on the dog) I would try the Abadt granular as a mix in for that. It has worked wonderfully for our high energy, stomach issue unthrifty dobergal. She now eats Victor Ultra Pro and maintains weight. She is 65lbs and gets 4 c of that per daym.

I figured it was better than iams and I already give coconut oil, but thanks patty I was hoping u or someone who knows their stuff could tell me for sure. The pet store not too far from me is going to be getting it in for a reasonable price that’s another reason why I was asking because it’ll be easier to get. I’ve been looking at protein, fats etc on dog foods. I’m starting to figure out which ones to stay away from.

I was going to suggest adding in some of that granular stuff from Dr Tim’s or Abady??? It has a rediculous amount of calories per cup doesn’t it?

Wondering if this food would be better than Iams mini chunks that i’m currently feeding. 1 of them is a 1 yr old male that cannot keep weight on due to a high metabolism and is also a picky eater. I’m currently paying $28 for 33lbs of iams and they go through it within 2-3 weeks. They are doing good on it but would like to find something that’s good for a rotation type thing.

lol true! When you’re talking the pet food industry, it’s hard to say what’s really going into the food..

If they just list the meat and not meal. i.e.) “chicken” = fresh meat. “chicken meal” = meal.

Wow, gorgeous dog!

NICE post HDM!!!

Pro Pac Peformance is actually pretty high in protein (for kibble) – 30% protein/20% fat. It’s not a horrible food considering it’s under $30 for a 33 lb. bag.

Hi eddie –

I was referencing the formula reviewed when I stated that it has 40% of calories from carbohydrates. While Pro Pac is by no means a bad food, it’s just not of the same quality as a food such as Orijen – there’s a reason Orijen costs twice as much. Pro Pac contains only meat meal and no fresh meat – I personally prefer to see a food utilize both fresh meat and meat meal (as Orijen does). Meat meal is highly processed which undoubtedly results in amino acid damage and a chicken meal is likely to be predominantly frames and low in quality muscle meat. The second ingredient is corn – corn is a poor quality ingredient for a variety of reasons. First off corn is high in phytic acid which is an anti-nutrient that impairs the body’s ability to absorb certain nutrients. The lectins (another anti-nutrient) present in corn can cause fat cells to hypertrohy (think grain fed beef versus grass fed beef – grain fed beef has more marbeling or fat deposits in the muscle) and also damage the villi in the intestines. Corn is labeled as a highly inflammatory food – it contains about 30 times more omega 6′s than omega 3′s.The majority of corn in the US is genetically modified, I’m not sure if the corn used in Pro Pac is but I’d assume so. GMO’s have been shown to contribute to organ failure and GMO corn is lower in many vital nutrients than non-GMO corn and also has been found to be dangerously high in toxic substances such as glyphosate and formaldehyde. Corn is also highly prone to mycotoxin contamination. Pro Pac contains beet pulp – beets are another food item that are commonly genetically engineered. The food also contains natural flavoring and yeast culture – two ingredients that often contain MSG. Often times, when it comes to dog food, you get what you pay for.

I assume you’ve stopped the food?

Never mind. Just realized you were talking about the Sportmix. Seems have have an overabundance of rice type components to me?!

Hi Melissaandcrew, I came back to search for the review on new wholesomes line and did add my experience with pro pac. I find the chicken/rice to be best with the exception of my girl who has issues with brewers yeast. I feed her the performance and she does fine. Pups have done awesome on lamb/rice puppy.

I have developed a relationship with the sales rep for my area who let me know about the new wholesomes line. Also bummed to find out they discontinued the lamb/rice puppy

Wholesomes was just released to store shelves last week so I picked up some. Dogs love it!! So far so good. I like the limited ingredients myself and the fact everything is locally sourced. I am rural so unless I want to shop online for food my selection is pretty much limited to what I can buy on shelves of TSC or what the local mill can special order for me.

I put water in the feed and let it sit for about a half hour to soften it up and i always add either raw hamburger , mackeral or canned alpo select they eat it up like crazy .

Pro Pac adult chunk exp 12/DEC/13 M2 7044 16:52:02 44lbs bags this is the 3rd bag that my 4 outside dogs ages 2 1/2yrs to 8 yrs old have refused to eat they do not run free…my small inside dogs will eat it only because have I have been adding frozen peas to it…..Please what is going on…anyone else having this problem..I live in Washington State…

Anyone know why there is a statement or warning of sorts to “Not feed to ruminants” on the bags of ProPac?

Pro Pac is good dog food and is less expensive than most (44lbs cost around $31.00). I am glad to see it rated so high and will continue to use Pro Pac. I have 4 outside large dogs and two small house dogs and they all are healthy. Thanks for this service…Dan

Dave,

Your mention of specific products and topics along with your unique behavior and posting style fits the same pattern exhibited by a previous visitor known for using fictitious identities to deceptively mislead and provoke others.

According to our commenting policy:

“…the use of multiple identities or other deceptive tactics designed to mislead readers are strictly forbidden.

So, if we suspect you’re posting fraudulently, be prepared to verify your email address or to confirm your real name by providing your Facebook, Twitter or other established social media identity.”

Since you failed to respond to my previous email request on September 30, 2012 requesting proof of your real identity, please reply to the letter I again just sent you.

Until I’m completely satisfied you are a legitimate individual working with credible objectives, your recent comments here have been temporarily deleted.

Your tone implies that no matter what is said or how much proof is provided, you have no intention of learning anything or even listening.  I don’t know why anyone would bother with you, except to make sure other people reading this know that there are differing views.

The Orijen analysis is not wrong the formula Dr. Mike is analyzing is 18% fat, clearly stated on Orijen’s website.

Because Earthborn is largely factory-made Pea Protein. Pro Pac is a superior food, one of the best actually especially when you consider it costs less than $1lb.

Daves –

Calories from carbohydrates are listed on each review. Orijen has 25% of calories from carbohydrates while Pro Pac has 40% of calories from carbohydrates. If your rude posts are going to continue, I think you shoud at least focus on posting on subject matter you are familiar with – this obviously doesn’t include calculating calories from carbohydrates or telling me which products I have and have not used. FYI – I have used Pro Pac in the past on one or two occasions and I can tell you my dog did much better on Orijen. I don’t think Pro Pac is a horrible food but it’s silly to compare it to high quality products like Orijen – it’s like comparing apples to oranges.

I will  say my crew does fine on the Pro Pac when I use it in rotation(h ave not in quite a while  though) but the Earthborn gives them stomach issues. Go figure!

And pro pac is loaded with corn. Don’t think that’s better than a gf food with peas.

Pro Pac is a better food than Earthborn (same company) and costs half as much. All but one of the Earthborn GF foods are loaded with manufactured Pea Protein. Junk.

Melissaandcrew
I was talking about this formula –
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=233&cat=5

Did Pro pac stop manufacturing the pro pac earthborn holistic formula? I saw no mention of it on their website.

Hi Guest-

I have fed propac in my rotation before and had no issues I do not however, feed it long term, but rather as ‘something different’ from time to time. Last time I used it was at least a year ago.

I have been feeding my Border Collies Pro Pac dog food for years. I just changed my oldest dog’s food to Pro Pac Adult Senior w/ Glucosamine & Chondroitin (sp?).

I feed her one (heaping) measuring cup of food once a day. She’s not as active, anymore, and this helps her to maintain a healthy weight. Due to the heat in AZ, I also only feed her at “dinner time”. I figure that it’s best to feed her when it’s cooler outside. This way she’s not spending her energy trying to stay cool, and will be able to digest her food easier.

I like Pro Pac for my dogs. Of course, sometimes they’d rather have “junk food”, and treats! (Like many of us would!) But, I try my best to give good quality food to them. I want them to live a happy and healthy life!

I’m just here to post my thoughts about Pro Pac dog food. The dogs like it, and I think it’s a good choice!

Haaaahahaha! I could’ve just posted the last paragraph, and you’d have the Reader’s Digest version! But, noooOOOOooooo! Oh well!

my dog lost a lot of weight and she eats it like their is no tomrow

Agilityace,
Three words “ground yellow corn” ! might as well just add white glue to the mix…….yeah thats healthy!

Sure you can, Melissa you go by results. I don’t care what people say about Champion. The food is garbage. Just Google “problems with Orijen” and you will get page after page of the same complaint.

Objectively, dogs do better on Pro Pac. So if you wanna read the label and think marigold petals are good for dogs well you can do that if you want.

This food is an amazing value and the results are wonderful. Much better than some of the rip-offs like Orijen.

Been feeding Pro Pac High Performance to my hunting dogs for about 3 months now.  My little Setter is holding his weight and building some nice muscle; with tons of energy in the tank.  I can see a big improvement in the dogs with this feed.  They were eating Loyall before the switch, and I am so glad I switched.  Less food, less stool, and better performing dogs.  What more could anyone ask for?

Yes Sportmix and Pro Pac are both very good foods and the problem, ironically, that their lower price actually puts people off. In the pet food world it’s the heavy marketing that often seems to win at the expense of the quality of the food. That is until people see the results they get. That’s why a website such as this is so valuable.

Sandi-

I have fed the Pro Pac adult mini chunks in my rotation and all the dogs seemed to love it-to the point that I fed it longer than normal as part of the regime. I would have no problem rotating back at some point in time. The adult mini chunks is something like 535 kcals per cup, so you do have to monitor the amounts.

Sapphire – Just another input if I may. First, your feeding regime is similar to mine. I currently feed raw every 2nd morning (Although I’m about to increase that) and good grade kibble (Albeit with fat content become rancid I suspect, but that’s another story), and another great topper for kibble (especially if you’re wanting to save money on not having to buy extra dog food by way of canned, is to use a rich in probiotics yoghurt with low fat (The kind that’s even better than Nestle and Yoplait) in bigger tubs so you can have some and also use some for topping your dog’s kibble from time to time. It works a treat and adds palatability and adds extra health to good kibble. My dogs absolutely love it.

The Mini Chunk are very small kibble-Its actually flat and square, not round, but small nonetheless and “thin” so even a toothless dog could manage to chew it. I feed one Diamond Small breed puppy(for extra calories) and those nuggets are some of the tiniest I have seen, but are round and therefore a bit “harder”-however, again, even the smallest dog should be able to chew it.

If your poodle has difficulty chewing these, I would suggest having its teeth/mouth examined for issues.

Mini chunk and Small Breed are different shapes but they are both small. The puppy formula is 30/20 protein/fat content, so her liking it may be due to the increased meat taste. Either way, it’s a decent food.

Cathy, the “chemical” part was wrong because I thought they were using propylene glycol. My bad there. Otherwise, I stand by my statement. That food is 44% carbs, and who knows how much of the protein in it comes from the corn gluten meal. That’s no different for the “shredded bits”, either. Their advertising is obviously misleading when well-meaning people think that it’s actually made with shredded bits of chicken. I assure you there is precious little chicken meat in the food. There is far more poultry by-product meal and corn gluten meal.

Also, my original post was meant to be funny. Guess you missed that. When I make statements like that, there is truth to them (apart from, in this case, one error, so I give you that), but I word them as such because it’s fun. Ya buzz kill.

Um, Cathy, you are quoting Purina’s site? really? lol.

I know they contain meat, but not in any greater volume than the rest of the kibbles in the bag. Those “other ingredient”… what do you suppose they are? The “shredded bits” are the same thing as the rest of the kibble, they just have glycerin added to keep them “moist”. (so, yeah, I retract the part about “chemicals”) There is precious little chicken in this food. Here is the current ingredients list (Mike, this food may need an update, as they have changed the formula)

Chicken, brewers rice, whole grain wheat, poultry by-product meal, corn gluten meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols, whole grain corn, soy flakes, soybean meal, fish meal, animal digest, glycerin, dried egg product, wheat bran, vitamins, minerals, synthetic k, etc.

Crude Protein (Min) 26.0 %
Crude Fat (Min) 16.0 %
Crude Fiber (Max) 3.0 %
Moisture (Max) 12.0 %

There is far more “bad” then there is “good” in the ingredient list. Out of even the first TEN ingredients, there is 8 red-flags. And comparing it to Pro Pac is no contest. If I can get someone to feed their dog Pro Pac instead of Pro Plan, then I’m a happy guy. It’s like the difference between eating a Big Mac and fries or having a grilled chicken salad from Wendy’s with light dressing. One is obviously better than the other.

Shawn, those “shredded chunks” are nothing but carb-nuggets kept “moist” with chemicals. It’s not meat. And it’s nothing you want your dog eating. So, no, Pro Pac does not contain that. But it is a very good food for the money.

Beasto-

I have no problem recc the Pro Pac- I am feeding the mini chunk which is all life stages-the youngest eating it is a cocker spaniel puppy and the oldest is a 15 yr old poodle.

I have a 3 month old APBT, I got him 4KG Royal Canin maxi junior and he finished it in less than a month, not to mention that i cooked for him in-between and its too expensive too, i got him another pack of Royal Canin 17KG, BUT i was wondering weather to switch to ProPac Puppy food in the future, I NEED YOUR HELP GUYS ?

Melissa, your right about Sportsmix, it’s not a 5-star food for sure, I tried it before I actually tried Pro Pac, and discovered I was having to feed wayyy too much of it just to keep maintenance weight, therefore it caused the dog to drop stools too often, I was seeing upwards of 4-5 stools per day in the yard. The sportsmix would be a decent comparison to something say like Dog Chow, Science Diet type foods. But I would suggest sticking w/ the Pro Pac if it’s readily available in your area.

Antonio-

We will have to agree to disagree on the Sportmix. Mike has it as a 2 star food, its full of by products, unnamed meat meal sources and who really knows just how “quality” any by products are. No probiotics and non chelated vitamins/minerals doesn’t equal a quality product : )

Ed-

It would seem all their foods use by products and I honestly don’t see anything that screams out good food.Can you explain why you think these are good foods, other than the low price?

http://www.sportmix.com/dog/premiumHighEnergyAdultChunk.tpl
http://www.sportmix.com/dog/premiumHighEnergyAdultMiniChunk.tpl

These three are very good values and good foods. The By-Product meal used is good quality, low ash. The Black Bag is also good, being beef & pork.

The better Sportmix blends are about $25 -$27 for 50lbs.

Melissa- Yep I honestly did not know of allot of these good brands on here, because they are not advertised. Only one I can think of that is a great brand and they have advertising for is Blue Buffalo. The rest I see are the one two star junk.

Meagan-

I agree with you. I think consumers look at 2 things-1 the price, and 2, brand recognition. All too frequently, I find people saying to themselves, I’ve never heard of that, how good can it be?” Whereas the companies with huge budgets for advertising “get their name” out there, and people seem to feel brand recognition=quality or safety.

Folks tend to buy their dog foods at farm supply stores, and big box stores, grocery stores are right up there too for convenience. Since they do not tend to carry the smaller lines( and usually higher quality) folks just do not know about the products. Take Pro Pac for example-very few stores carry it in my area, and it was not a brand I was familiar with until it was discussed here, causing me to take a look, and add it to our rotation of foods(and the dogs are all doing great on it, btw)

Jonathan-

We don’t even have the sportmix that I know of in this part of NY. Tractor Supply offers some sort of generic dog food called(ready for this?) Doggy bag..I think its a 50 lb SACK for like $14? Maybe even less-

I thought wellness core only comes in a 26 lb bag ?? 49 $ here in illinois

I am also looking into Nutrisource canned food. 4* I found 13 oz cans on amazon, but it does not say how many in a case. $32.00 with free shipping on $25 or more. I can’t seem to figure out how to contact the seller either. ?

Melissa I have been searching for canned food as well. I top it on their evening food. i ordered Diamond on amazon 24 cans for like 24 dollars and some change. I have not seen a pro pac wet food. Chicken soup is only .99

Wow Melissa guess i shouldn’t complain. I have it good compared to you. Move to Iowa LOL

Well said Mike!

I actually don’t go there for that reason. LOL They are the only store near here that carry Pro-Pac and I was just calling for prices. Its a small pet store like with fish, puppies, kittens and birds. But I agree they are overpriced! I thought that the pro-pac is expensive and I have been wondering why allot of you guys have said its a well priced food if you are on a budget. HA HA now I know why. How can they charge so much more than the bigger stores?

The adult lamb meal and rice at that store is $39 for a 33 pound bag.

That is odd about the price Jonathan by you. ALL the propacs that our store carries come pre priced on the bags-Senior, adult, puppy, chunk, mini chunk are all pre priced on the bags at $28.99 for 33 lbs, or $28.99 for the 44 lb bonus bags when they have them. Inside all the 33# bags is a frequent buyer card and a $2 coupon for the next bag. Keep the UPC’s from 10, the 11th is free(the card becomes an instant coupon when the proper # of UPC’s are attatched.

Brewers rice represents the small grain fragments left over after milling whole rice.

This is an inexpensive cereal grain by-product and not considered a quality ingredient.

Even if your dog did have an allergy, it would be to an animal protein and not any grain.

Jonathan-Thanks for clearing that for me! I am still trying to distinguish different ingredients. They are closed now but I will find out tomorrow. Thats cool that they are cheaper too.

Do they have the Chunk and Mini Chunk t this store? those are actually a little better than the chicken and rice formula, anyways. They have a little more meat… only down-side is the corn. But the Chicken and Rice one has brewer’s rice, which really isn’t much better than corn, anyways! In fact, despite corn already being low on the nutrients chart, I’d bet Brewer’s Rice would come waaaay after ground corn. Here is their Chicken and Rice up to the fat…

“Chicken Meal, Brewers Rice, Rice Bran, Rice Flour, Chicken Fat”
21% protein 12% fat

and here is Chunk…

“Chicken meal, ground yellow corn, chicken fat”
26% protein 15% fat

So, yeah, I’d say the Chunk is the way to go with Pro Pac, unless your dog specifically has a corn allergy. I gave this to Sadie in her last rotation and she enjoyed it with no issues.

Meagan, my store can not order the Chicken and Rice, but not because it is discontinued… rather, my company does not have it in OUR system to order. That’s my 2 cents, anyways. If enough places don’t order it, they could discontinue the line, but who knows? it may sell great some where else.

Jonathan, rice protein has about the same BV, 83, as fish protein and has all the amino acids a dog needs in the proper balance.

There are other reasons a nutritionist might want to use, namely it regulates fermentation, just one example.

I wouldn’t be overly concerned about the rice gluten. It is not a major ingredient and it is a human grade product like you would find in baked goods and baby foods.

How come you avoid fat? 20% is not really that high when you consider the ancestral diet of dogs. If you haven’t read it yet, here is Mike’s article about fat in dog food…

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/canine-nutrition/low-fat-dog-food/

The Lamb and Rice Puppy formula is the only Pro Pac Lamb and Rice I would recommend because their adult formula contains rice gluten meal which has an impact on the amount of protein supplied by the actual meat, and the overall protein and fat are on the low side to begin with… 21% protein and 12% fat (not adjusted for dry matter). I give their adult L&R 2 1/2 stars, personally, and their Puppy L&R 3 1/2 stars.

Laurie M, you say you wouldn’t want to feed them puppy food… why not? The puppy formula just contains more protein and fat (meat) therefore, it’s actually a little better. And besides, even their regular “chunk” and “mini chunk” are “all life stage” foods. There is no such thing under AAFCO as a food ONLY for puppies. There are foods only appropriate for adults, but that doesn’t work the other way.

Hi,
I switched to Pro Pac for my two senior dogs a year or so ago after a feed store employee recommended it. The more expensive food with glucosamine I was feeding them actually made my larger dog’s arthritis worse, and caused them both to gain weight. On the Pro Pac, the larger dog’s arthritis doesn’t bother him as much and he has lost a few pounds. The smaller dog still hasn’t lost weight but seems to otherwise be doing well on the Pro Pac. The $2.00 off coupons in every bag are very nice, too!

Good call with the Puppy Lamb and Rice formula, Antonio. That’s one of Pro-Pac’s best formulas. With the ingredients showing…

“Lamb Meal, Brewers Rice, Chicken Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Rice, Rice Gluten, Flaxseed, Yeast, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine Hydroxy Analogue, L-Lysine, Vitamins, Minerals.”

…and the GA of 28/17, I’d say it’s a fairly meaty food for the money. I gave that one to my Sadie in one of her rotations and she LOVED it, too.

Thank you, Melissa. (lovely name, by the way, my daughter is also named Melissa!) I have Labs and Goldens, breeds that are prone to allergies mainly from corn, wheat, and soy products, so those are the ingredients I tend to avoid. At any rate I do appreciate feedback.

Ed, Yes I was feeding Pro Pac with REALLY good results, nothing but positive feedback from me on their food. Jonathan is current the place I was getting the feed from is a 80 mile round trip population sign to population sign, from my house to the store was closer to 90 miles round trip. With gas prices increases that didn’t work out to great for dog food but the switch has absolutely nothing to do with the food. I checked w/ the TSC here and was informed that possibly in Jan of next year 2012 they will start carrying Pro Pac in the store. They already carry the Pro pac treats. I’ll tell anyone that Pro Pac dog food is as good as advertised. I’m currently feeding a feed named Victors it’s comparable to Pro Pac and so far it’s been going well.

I had read that somewhere Ed(maybe here?) and was surprised when my mini chunk bags did not have anything in them. I contacted the company via email and they said for some reason they do not put them in the 44lb bags, BUT the cards/coupons are valid for that size-they immediately mailed me 4 coupons and cards for the 4 bags I had already bought. Very impressed so far with the company and its response time to emails!

Since we tend to alternate/rotate between brands, we do not tend to feed any one food “long term” but its nice to know that a food is available that they appear to be doing so well on is available at a reasonable price.

Not sure about Antonio, but my dogs are doing great on Pro Pac(thanks for talking about the food Jonathan and Antonio!) I cut them from 6c Native to 4 cups(pro Pac) per day,so if there was going to be a dramatic weight loss, I would have expected it to have happened even though it has only been about two weeks. I guess time will tell. I actually got angry with the feed store I bought the Native at, and switched all of them over, and rather abruptly-No diarrhea which really surprised me. I was told the Native would go up about $1 per bag, called the store to check at the beginning of this month, and was told “no price increase, you can still buy it for X per bag”..Well, the “x” per bag quoted was $4 MORE per bag than I was paying-when questioned, the manager said “Oh, well this is the ONLY food that the increase came through on” . When I did not jump for joy, he graciously said he would only raise it $2 per bag. Lmao. When I look at the dogs eating 6c per day to look their best, I have to now think they were not doing as well as they could have on the Native. Buying the Pro Pac at “shelf price” is still $7-9 per bag cheaper and they are eating much less-with less “waste” which is firmer. I guess for my “possee” the Native was 2-3 star and the Pro Pac the 4 star
Melissa

Antonio, weren’t you happy with Pro Pac?

Antonio , I looked hard at diamond as it’s sold at tractor supply right across the street where i work. 40lb bag for 34 bucks! I just feel that it would take my boxer to long to finish the bag . That’s why i go with the 26lb BG . If we add the new boxer I’m trying to talk my wife into lol , then diamond is what I would go to . It’s amazing how many good food companies give free coupons on the canned food . I got 24 cans of free canned food for just the sales tax . All 4 and 5 star rated. Money is tight for everyone and all it takes is a phone call or email. I’m also donating cans to the local shelter.

Thanks Antonio .I settled on rotating the 3 diff merrick BG , then every 4th bag fromm surf and turf or wellness core . Not sure yet if I go WC or Fromms with the 4th bag. Topping with many diff flavors of canned ( 1/4 can ) non grain free . toppers mainly to make it interesting . I figured min grain can’t be a bad thing …

Jonathan, if I understand your rotation correctly,you mix 3 diff brands of food at the same time? From reading some of Mikes comments , I understood you may not get all the nutrients from the food if you mix diff foods together ?? Ughh confused again !! Jump in Melissa if you have any thoughts on this ..Thanks guys

I have to say that I have been feeding my dogs Pro Pac for several years now and I am very pleased. I have tried Royal Canin and didn’t like that, than I tried Hill’s and wasn’t happy… my dogs thrive very well on Pro Pac and I will continue to buy this product for years to come!

My Sadie dog is eating the mini-chunks version of this food mixed with Nutro Herring and Royal Canin Bulldog 24. She loves it. Her stool is always firm and well formed, even when I rotate in a different food. So, I can’t tell you how she does on JUST Pro Pac, but she definitely likes it. When the RC is gone, which should be in a few weeks, I’m going to rotate in Earthborn Primitive Natural as the third food. She’s had that one in the mix before and really liked it. When the Pro Pac runs out I’m thinking of trying Perfectly Natural. It’s not bad price-wise, for a 4 star food. My store has it in 30lb bags for $37.99. Oh, and we sell Pro Pac Mini Chunk in 30lb bags for 25.99. We don’t currently carry the high performance variety because it didn’t sell well.

Melissa,

Just wanted to let you know that the complete line of Native dog food is available for sale on-line at the Hungry Puppy web site. The Hungry Puppy is in New Jersey. Here is the link.

http://www.thehungrypuppy.com/native-dog-food.html

Antonio-

Try finding it again-Better yet, contact Kent. They just recently expanded their distribution area. For a long time, it was not available in my area-Ny_(hence the hit or miss food experiences), but now, it should be available through any of Kent Nutritions affliates-called different things depending on the area which you live-Blue Seal, Kent or(I believe the third one is) Evergreen. They should be able to direct you to a distributor/supplier. One of mine eats the Level 2 w/out weight holding issues, the other requires the Level 3. I too fed PP for a short time and the dogs did well on it, but it really bothered me that I was feeding them so much crappy contents and paying a premium price to do it.

Antonio-

Have you tried the Diamond Naturals extreme athlete or the Native Performance foods with your dobes? I own 2(they do not compete. however live on a farm with non stop running/excercise) and I completely understand what you are saying in terms of foods not “working” for them. I found that my guys do great on both these foods, its not “expensive”-and a whole lot better ingrediants than the Purina.

Hi
I have a six month old pitbull, he is real picky about what he eats and I have a hard time keeping weight on him, I started with solid gold but he wouldn’t eat it the bil jac which he did good on for a while then just picked at it, I’m putting him on pro pac now but he doesn’t like it. Should I just try a higher protein food like diamond to help his growth.

My dog, Sadie, Is a lab/golden mutt. She doesn’t compete in anything, except for attention against our daughter. She is, however, very active. I am currently mixing Royal Canin Bulldog 24, Pro Pac mini chunk, Earthborn Primitive Natural and Nutro Natural Choice Herring. There isn’t a “reason” I use those specifically. They are all simply 3 star or better foods that I either got free or heavily discounted. But the purpose for the mixing itself is that, hopefully, Sadie won’t ever develop an allergy or intolerance to a particular ingredient, I’ll avoid magnifying any deficiency one has over another, and she won’t every get “digestive-stubborn” to one brand. I don’t think it is natural at all for any animal to eat the same exact thing every day for their entire life. Sadie has a soft, shiny coat, bright and happy eyes, solid stool, and energy to spare. And when one of those foods in the mixture runs out, it will be replaced with a different 3 star or more food. Oh, and Sadie really looks forward to her meals. She seems to change, sometimes from day to day, which kibble she picks out of the mixture first. but often times, it’s the RC Bulldog food because they are big “treat sized” pieces. Also, I top her food every once in a while with canned food, or leftover meat or meat dripping from dinner. She’s also a big fan of pizza crust.

Antonio, while I agree with you that testing is good, look at most of the brands that “prove” their food is good with the shockingly low standards of the AAFCO feeding trial. Hill’s. Purina. These are foods made from trash. So what if they feed it to some dogs for a couple of months and most of them lived. That doesn’t mean the food is any good. It means they went the “extra mile” to trick trusting consumers into thinking their food is superior, despite their prolific use of low quality cereal grains, generic animal fat, and animal by-products.

Oh, and I assume you posted this under Pro Pac review because Pro Pac is a “tested” food. I like Pro Pac. It is currently in my dog’s rotation mix of food. But even still, just looking at the ingredients, I know Blue Buffalo is a better food. Testing or no testing. Ingredients are what they are.

Hi
Thanks for the info……much appreciated!!
Liesl

Hi
Thanks for the info, much appreciated. I was wondering how this kcal/cup relates to the protein and fat of the foods as all 3 has the same amount? The brand with the most kcal//cup only got 3 stars and the 4 star 368 kcal/cup. Does this mean that the extra kcal/cup comes from “bad” or “unwanted” ingredients? Thanks
(food brands being Pro Pac and Diamond Naturals)

Hi I am looking at 3 brands of food at the moment. I have 2 active dogs and have a hard time keeping weight on them, even feeding more than recommended. I was wondering with these 3 foods if you could tell me if the kcal/cup is a useful tool to indicate if they will put on weight from the food? All the brands have protein 26% and fat 15/16% but the kcal/cup is different with one being 535 kcal/cup, one 368 kcal/cup and 391 kcal/cup. One food has been rated 3 stars and one 4 stars by you and the other is unrated by you but got a 3 out of 6 stars from another review.
Thanks

Doc,

I understand but that would overstate digestible carbohydrates. I don’t think it really tells the story. Fiber by definition is something that cannot be digested so whether it is chemically a carbohydrate is not the point.

Cathy,

You cannot tell how much chicken meal is in the product simple based on the listing of ingredients because you don’t know the relative weights. Corn could be only 10% of the weight of the total product and still be the #2 ingredient.

People always assume the #2 ingredient is a large portion of the total but it isn’t always the case. Chicken Meal is much lighter than ground corn by volume and still Chicken Meal is #1. Also, ground corn is maximum 8% protein, so you can do some basic math and see that a 30% protein formula like High Performance just can’t have as much corn as you think, even if it is the #2 ingredient by weight. The rest of the ingredients are quite light so it appears to be a lot.

Lets do some math on High Performance, 30% protein, 20% fat, 10% moisture, 4.5% fiber, 6 – 8% ash (estimate). That totals approximately 72%. There isn’t that much room for carbohydrates in High Performance.

Just today I heard about ProPac so decided to look at the review here. After reading Jim & Mike’s dialogue, I agree wth you Mike – if an ingredient, like corn, is non-GMO, the company should label it that way. Why should we the consumer play the guessing game. We should not all have to be rocket science analysts!
Anyhoo…. I’m dismayed by this statement in the review: “…we’d have been compelled to overlook the corn and award this product a higher rating”
Doesn’t make sense to me that the huge amount of corn in this recipe (2nd ingredient) should be *overlooked* and the product could possibly be considered 4 star instead of 3 star.
A quick scan of your 4 star category and I don’t find any with a huge amount of corn.
What’s the rationale?

I use High Performance. This is a very solid product made by a very respectable company. Never have any issues with it. It is not cheap by any means at $1/lb but it does the job.

High Performance is a 4 Star product in my opinion.

I would still argue, however, that even a lower quality version of rice is better than ground yellow corn in both digestibility and in not being such a high potential allergen. I have fed my dog the Puppy Lamb and Rice, and it’s the only product in the pro pac line I would personaly feed my dog. When it comes to corn, I say, why bother risking it? If it is the number 2 dog food allergen, and it’s one of the least digestible grains (for humans, too!) let’s just avoid it!

I have been trying to find my dog the perfect dog food for several months now. I have a 2+ year old female Bichon Frise who is currently 9.2 lbs, however her ideal weight should be around 8.5 lbs (she’s only recently begun to gain weight).

Initially she was on Eukanuba’s Lamb & Rice formula. I then switched her to an Avoderm formula, and most recently we’ve been rotating through all 5 flavors in the Prairie line from Nature’s Variety. I’m still not entirely satisfied with this food, especially after hearing about the Procter & Gamble buy-out of Natura Pet Foods.

Ideally I’d like to move to a brand that would still allow me to rotate and/or find 2 or so brands that I can rotate between. I’ve read so many great things about Orijen, but I know that entirely grain-free foods have higher levels of protein, which worries me. How much protein is too much/enough protein for a non-working, small dog of average energy level?

Also, should I be worried about garlic in dog food formulas? I know that many of the Wellness formulas as well as their treats have garlic.

Thank you very much!