Hi, Dawn, and welcome to DFA! I commend you for the decision to switch your babies from Beneful – it is really one of the worst foods out there, along with other popular brands.
What I would recommend is switching your dogs gradually over 1-2 weeks to a mid-grade dog food at first, because switching directly to a 4-5-star food may really upset their tummies. I have a couple of recommendations. You can use Rachael Ray from Walmart, Nutro Natural Choice, or Authority (a PetSmart brand) as your mid-grade food. Look on this website for foods that are around 3 stars to begin with. Once you have transitioned to such a food and your dogs’ stool is good, and they are ok on it (keep them on it for about a month), I recommend Pure Balance (a Walmart store brand dog food, but it’s actually pretty decent) grain-inclusive and grain-free, Rachael Ray Zero Grain, Nulo (a Petsmart brand), Earthborn Holistic, Dr. Tim’s, Annamaet, and Victor are all pretty good, reliable foods in the 4-5-star range. I have fed many of these foods to my dog and have some lined up to feed for the future as well. Many of these you won’t find in big box stores like Petsmart and Petco so shopping online would be the way to go. Websites like petflow.com , chewy.com , wag.com often have deals on many of these good foods. Victor you can get from sportdogfood.com The kibbles are nice and small so even the chiweenie can eat it, and such is the case with most of these foods except Dr. Tim’s – the kibble is a tad bigger, but not huge at all.
Also, feel free to try all of the above brands – rotation of foods is essential for the dog’s health and you can learn more about that here: /frequently-asked-questions/diet-rotation-for-dogs/
Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes!
