I’ll comment on the first part of your question since I don’t cook for my dog and can’t really give you the best possible advice on that.
DFA really should be looked at not so much as rules for what to feed your dog, but a jumping off point. You don’t automatically have to feel guilty because you aren’t feeding a 5 star food. DFA rates their food mainly for meat content and quality of ingredients in the normal review section and then goes deeper with their feelings about the companies and the companies practices for those foods selected to be on the EC list. If your dog is a doing well on a food that is not on the EC list, there is no reason to feel bad about not feeding something from the EC list.
Food is going to be trial and error with dogs like it is for humans sometimes. Sometimes you will see a food that you’re interested in for your dog and you’ll buy it and try it out with him and he’ll hate it. Then on to the next food until you find something he likes. I had to go through this with my boy. He was so picky and now I’ve gone back to Fromm and we are 3 bags in and he’s still eating it happily and doing great on it.
