[Suburban Gal]

Blue Buffalo is actually a really good food.

If you’re going to go with Blue Buffalo, then I highly recommend their Wilderness line. I’ve fed that for many years to my last dog, a white German Shepherd named Lexi, and never had any problems with their Wilderness line. We’ve tried several foods with her (Wellness, Natural Balance, Holistic Select to name a few) and found Blue Buffalo’s Wilderness to be a very top notch food. I wouldn’t suggest anything else in their line (Life Protection, Freedom, Basics, etc…) other than their Wilderness line. It’s the absolute best of what they carry.

[David F]

I just went through this with Blue Buffalo Freedom Beef for Adults… My beagle who had been on the Freedom Puppy for months and did well with it, was switched about 2 months ago. I slowly introduced the new food by mixing it with her puppy food, then she fully transitioned in about a week. For a month everything was fine, then she began to not really want to eat it. I had to really coax her to eat. This coincided with the purchase of a new bag of food. Soon she began vomiting (or more accurately regurgitating her barely digested food). She lost weight, finally when she was a the point where she would throw up almost immediately after eating, I switch food. Zero Problems, but I had only bought a trial size (about 2 days worth) so before I could get back to the store to get more I put one more bowl of the BB out for her, she took 3 bites, went in the dining room and threw up. I should mention that when I picked her up after her vomiting, her stomach was turning and gurgling like you do when you have bad gi issues. She is back on the other brand now and again, zero issues. I can say since the only thing that changed was her food, it is the BB.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 9 months ago by David F.

[DogFoodie]

So, Blue Buffalo denied that they sourced any vitamin / mineral premix from China?

[Tina]

I called Blue Buffalo and spoke with a representative. They reassured me that all ingreadients found in Blue Buffalo are from the United States only. Only their lamb and venison are from New Zealand, thats all. They source nothing from China, in fact they stay away from China altogether. They reassured me that what they were saying was a 100% guarantee. Their life source bits are all explained on this page http://www.bluebuffalo.com/lifesource-bits Each bag is created with an equal amount of both types of kibble so that dogs will have a well balanced meal. If your dog is a picky eater then maybe Blue Buffalo isn’t the food for you or maybe you should think about adding canned food. Most dogs become picky eaters because their owners give them just dry kibble or they switch the type of kibble way to fast. Dogs won’t starve themselves, they eventually have to eat.

[Naturella]

I fed Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy, 15lbs of it, over about 4 months or so to my Rat Terrier mix with no problems. I switched him to it from Nutro Natural Choice Small Breed Puppy, and it made a great difference for him as far as his coat becoming nice and shiny (which MAY also be due to the fish skins he was being stuffed with at the time as well), but I attribute part of the effect to the higher-quality that BB Wilderness is. Bruno had no issues with the food – no vomiting or stool problems that were food-related (he used to get carsick as a puppy, and he would vomit, but that was in the car only). Now I feed other foods, but I would feed Blue Buffalo Wilderness again one day, and keep it in our rotation, because he had no issues with it. And that’s just our personal experience with this food.

[lee S]

I have a 70 pound Labradoodle. From the day we took her home from the shelter, she has had stomach issues. She spent a day at the vet getting testing done, and they said she just has a weak stomach. We have her on Blue Buffalo Large Breed. We started with chicken, and now beef. She has frequent bouts of stomach gurgling, refusal to eat, terribly smelly gas, and occasionally vomiting. She also scratches a lot. I am looking for advice on large breed foods for sensitive stomachs. I am hopeful that I can stay around the same price range. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Tina]

Have you had a personal experience with Blue Buffalo dog food? Was the experience bad or good? Please tell me your personal experience with Blue Buffalo dog food.

[theBCnut]

Blue Buffalo has their Life Source Bits, which are their heat sensitive vitamins and such, seperate from the regular kibble, which makes it very easy for picky dogs to sort and not get proper nutrition. They also settle in the bag so the amount of LSB at the top of the bag is different than at the bottom of the bag.

There have been a lot of complaints about BB lately, and when people contact them, they always say they haven’t received any complaints. I won’t buy from them.

[DogFoodie]

Most vitamin / mineral pre-mixes are sourced from China. Where did Blue Buffalo say they source their vitamin / mineral pre-mix from?

Blue Buffalo refuses to disclose who ask of their co-packers are. Wellness is a quality product manufactured in-house at Wellpet.

Use Blue Buffalo if you want. Make sure to read others experiences with it and the quality control issues from using multiple co-packers so you know what you’re getting into first.

I’d never feed Blue Buffalo.

[Tina]

How do we know that Blue Buffalo is outsourcing to multiple factories? Wellness gets their vitamins from china, I know this because called and asked.

[Tina]

What is the difference between the two bands? Wellness seems to have the same ingredients as Blue Buffalo. Wellness compares Blue Buffalo on its’ web site has only one difference. http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/dog_WCT_compare.html Blue Buffalo has more fruits and vegetables in their food and the company helps out with pet cancer. Please tell me what is different between the two of them.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Rudy –

I wouldn’t recommend Blue Buffalo products for a large breed puppy. Proper calcium levels are crucial during the first 8 months or so in order to minimize the chances of developmental orthopedic disease and Blue won’t disclose their calcium levels.

There’s a large breed puppy forum here. There’s a list of appropriate 4 and 5 star foods somewhere in that forum, I’m sure there’s something you could find at Petsmart.

I wouldn’t recommend adding vitamins to an already balanced food unless done so at the recommendation of a veterinarian. However, there some nutraceuticals that can be beneficial – such as probiotics, enzymes, omega 3’s, wholefood/superfoods (i.e. kelp, spirulina, bee pollen, etc.), coconut oil, glandular supplements, garlic, etc. I like to keep several of these types of supplements on hand and rotate around.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 9 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 9 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[cindy q]

I started my standard poodle puppy out on Blue Buffalo wilderness she loved the food but it gave her very loose stools and horrible gas. I switched her over to Merrick buffalo and sweet potato, I did it slowly. It seemed like her stools were firming up a little (still very bad gas) but now we are on the 3rd bag and she never has firm stools, sometimes even runny. She dosen’t seem as crazy about the food as she first was she used to eat it and lick the bowl clean, now she leaves a few pieces in her bowl. She is not sick, she plays and seems fine. Is there another food I should try? She will be 7 mos in a few days.

• This topic was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by Mike Sagman. Reason: Fix Duplicate Topic Title

[Naturella]

I haven’t seen a stray kibble in Bru’s kibbles yet, but this one looks like a Blue Buffalo kibble – not sure if that’s even possible, but yeah… Also, apparently some brands sometimes switch the shape of the kibble of the same formula – I have a friend who only feeds Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast and he said he’s had it round, rectangular, and hexagonal. Go figure.

[Suburban Gal]

Out of all the foods I recommended, I’ve had the best luck with Blue Buffalo’s wilderness line, Holistic Select, and ByNature.

Blue Buffalo is probably the most readily available. Heck, PetSmart has a whole isle devoted to Blue Buffalo.

[Suburban Gal]

I’m NOT against 4, 4½ and 5 star foods, but I’m going to have to agree here with the OP. Many of these foods are very expensive. Then again, they’re expensive because they’re really good foods.

That said, I agree with Naturella. I’d look into Earthborn Holistic. I’m in the process of switching Gizmo, my 7-year-old papillon, from Blue Buffalo to Earthborn Holistic and I just paid less than $40 for a 28 LB bag of food at Pet Supplies Plus. It’s normally $34.98, but I ended up paying $32.98 with my PSP Preferred Pet Club card. Their canned/moist food runs a little over $2 a can/tub.

NutriSource and Taste of the Wild, which crazy4cats recommended, are also worth looking into.

You may also want to look into Chicken Soup, Holistic Select, ByNature, and Blue Buffalo’s wilderness line.

[sharyorkie]

Maybe I have changed too much…I am always on here reading and trying to educate myself on ALL the different dog foods!! Does anyone on here have Yorkies? I need to find a good kibble that they will eat!!! I have found can,freeze dried but no kibble. I probably have 20 different bags of food in my basement ( if my husband only knew the money I have spent )
I have tried Fromm,Natures Balance, Blue Buffalo, Wellness too many to name. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated !!

[Ray M]

I’m not concerned about the elimination portion of the conversation, but we have two Australian Shepherds, 17 months old, very active. Over the winter, the male has gained to a whopping 83 pounds. He is very fast, very agile, but you see no ribs, no indentation, and the vet says he has to lose 15 pounds. Put him on Hill’s RD Science Diet, and after reading about it, wish to change. The female is 58 pounds, and doesn’t need to lose weight, so we were sneaking in 1/2 cup Blue Buffalo food with her morning and evening cup. Since Bubba doesn’t act like he is starving, I have to swoop in after 15 minutes, and pick up the bowls because she will eat hers and then his, also. We are now putting one teaspoon of canned food spread around to tempt him, as he doesn’t like the Hill’s. We need to go weigh him, it’s been 3 weeks, we’ll be interested to see if he has lost an ounce. We have been giving them some canned green beans, then realized we needed to get the salt free. This morning, they had a few frozen green beans, and both liked them. I am thinking of changing to Wellness Core but needed guidance. We are in Montana, not a lot of choices in the Bitterroot. I see that you have Evanger on the list – have you READ why it was recalled, and about the owner being sued for stealing electricity and water, and threatening a witness in his case? I was sort of taken aback. We’ve been members for about 15 minutes now………

[Akari_32]

Back nails are not going as well as the front LOL Now we have to tag team him to get them on. When he’s not walking, he’s got his back toes all spread out like “WHAT THE CRAP IS THIS??” After some bribing with his favorite treats (Blue Buffalo), he’s warming up to them, but he still chews at them every few minutes. I tell him no and he gives this really ticked off look and lays down, trying to pretend I’m not there LOL Three paws down, one to go!

[kikigirleva]

My senior has been eating Blue Wilderness Senior for years, now we think too high in protein. Blue Buffalo said to switch to Freedom Senior, but it’s not available. PLEASE, PLEASE someone tell me a 4 or 5 star grain free, low protein senior food.

Thank you!!!!!!

[Codex]

She’s got super clean, non smelly ears. They aren’t red or inflamed. Nothing lodged inside ear.

The vet tech was praising both Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin’s feather food.

Vet doesn’t know what’s up. He wasn’t concerned at all. Might be an allergy which I why I asked about using benadryl. I’m really hoping it’s not a food allergy.

[Akari_32]

Guysguysguysguys! I found something this cat won’t eat! (Besides raw chicken, but I’ll work him on that lol) Whitefish. Yep! I made up his food yesterday and since it was small cans I had to mix them to get the right amount ( I mix canned and dry together so that he doesn’t get picky on me). He’s never cared about what I mixed together and some of his wellness cans are tuna, but I had a can of Blue Buffalo weight management whatever and it was whitefish. In the morning he ate it, but he was like “what the crap is this?” And then after I got home from work (around 6:30), I was immediately shoved off to my grandparents for dinner and we didn’t get home until like 9 or so, so I couldn’t feed him his 3 meals, and had to give him a big meal before bed.

Usually he just munches all night, but this morning over half of it is still there LOL The BB did have a strong fish smell. I don’t think he liked that to begin with. Fine by me, but don’t waste the food, you brat! You could at least pick at it Lol I woke up entirely too early this morning, and he came up and bothered me and tried to eat my fingers, then decided he’d go back down and eat the food anyways, but I took it up since I want him to actually eat his food today and it’s been sitting out all night.

So there we have it! A food he actually won’t eat. I’m so proud LOL

[SHERILYN S]

I have 2 cockapoo 7 month old puppies. I was feeding them a grain free food and their poop was loose and smelled terrible. I switched to another food that my vet highly recommended (blue buffalo). Smell is better but poop is still loose (can’t pick it up off grass). Someone suggested it was too rich for them. Any suggestions on which food to try? Thanks!

[Naturella]

I agree, it is probably the sugar in the Beneful that he likes. If you can, get him off of it ASAP. I would also go with the Wellness Core Puppy and see how he likes it. If he likes it softer, you can always top it with some canned, or add lukewarm water, let it sit for a few minutes, then mush it up and serve.

Remember that rotation is always good, so you can try other puppy foods or all-life-stages foods from the link on the right on the homepage, Best Dry Foods (it has sub-links I believe, called “5-star dry puppy foods” and “4-Star Dry Puppy Foods”) and browse around. Some better kibbles that have been tried by forumers are Earthborn Holistic Grain Free (but the puppy grain-inclusive one is good too), Dr. Tim’s, Victor, Vets Choice Holistic Health Extension, and then the slightly more questionable Blue Buffalo Wilderness, TOTW, Canidae Pure.

Good luck!

[Akari_32]

Some other goodies I’ve pulled from my other threads/responses to threads 🙂

~3x 6 pound bags of Blue walnut litter for $8

~15x 3oz and 3x 5.5oz cans of Wellness Grain Free (Purple cans) for $0.70

~34x 5.5oz cans of Wellness Grain Free for $17

~52 5.5oz cans of Friskies Special Diet for $16

~9x 3oz cans of Wellness Grain Free for $0.35

~4x 4lb bags of Wellness CORE dog food for $10

~6x 5lb bags of Pet Botanics, 1 20 pound Tidy Cats tub, 1 3oz can Blue Buffalo cat food, 1 pouch Blue Buffalo cat treats, 4 small (3.5oz??) cans of Purina Pro Plan cat food for $30

Some coupon sites I use. The Target Coupons I use at Publix.

http://printablecouponsanddeals.com/Category/pet-products
http://coupons.target.com/pets-coupons
http://www.couponnetwork.com/
http://www.projectpetslimdown.com/Home/Offers
http://www.coupons.com/coupons/Pet-Care-Coupons-102/
http://www.petco.com/petco_Page_PC_petco-coupons.aspx

[Tina]

I would like to put my dogs on Wellness but it is very expensive so I’m choosing between these two companies instead. Nutro is the lowest price but Blue Buffalo is the better brand with a larger variety to choose from. Which company is better and why? Which company should I choose?

[Naturella]

Also, looking at the Blue Buffalo Wilderness profile, I would consider it moderate protein, as I always try to feed 30%+ protein diets, and the fat level and phosphorus level fit your needs. Like I said in the Blue Buffalo thread, it is more so the company that mishandled the recall, not that the food is horrible. My dog, and 2 other dogs that I know personally have done great on it, so I would feed it again. You can definitely try it and make sure you do a good slow transition, but if your dogs seem to have an issue with it, it may just not be their cup of tea. Added glucosamine and chondroitin, which is great for joint health. 410 kcal/cup.

As for the Holistic Select Senior, it also looks pretty good – decent grains, and I like the added glucosamine for joint health – a little more than in BB Wilderness, but no chondroitin. 368 kcal/cup. Fat and protein are both less than BB Wilderness Senior, phosphorus is the same. Looks like a good food to me.

So it is up to you, you can try both if you want. I would definitely suggest using the calculator tool posted above to know how much approximately to feed inactive dogs.

[Sarah Y]

What do you think of Holistic Select (in particiular the senior or duck)? It has grains and I’m considering it over the blue buffalo wildnerness senior. I like that it’s lower in phosphorus, moderate protein and fat. It might just work for my two seniors and it seems a bit cheaper too!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 10 months ago by Sarah Y.

[Sarah Y]

So, maybe it doesn’t have to be senior food. I’m getting a bit overwhelmed and quite honestly, I’m sure i’m overthinking things too much. I’m a dog mom who loves her furbabies.

I have two seniors eating wellness complete health senior dry food (rated 3.5). I started feeding them that because one of my beagles had a couple of blood tests showing elevated BUN levels and she has a history of low specific gravity results. Now does my dog have renal issues? The vet isn’t sure because the last two or three tests have been normal. So, she has sort of said she may have some renal insufficiencies. That is sort where we are.

So I was looking for foods .7, .8, or no higher than .9 phosphorus, that was moderate in protein, low in fat based on the fact that both aren’t as active as they used to be. Both seniors are not as active as they used to be. They do go on walks every morning and evening and keeping their weights in check is always something I have to close monitor, but they don’t play like they used to.

I had pretty much decided on the Blue Buffalo wildnerness senior formula, and possibly the new red meat formula. I’m on the fence now because it seems that opinions are the food is overpriced for what’s in it (marketing) and it may not be as good a food as I thought. I wanted to go grain free because I am noticing a little bit of digestion issues over the last few months. From some of your wonderful feedback, I’m beginning to learn that grain free isn’t always best either. I’m willing to go with grains, but I’m still not educated enough to know what are good grains. From what I have learned, its looking for foods rich in meat? That sort of balances out some grains? I hope I am getting that right. Someone at our local pet store (pet valu) suggested holistic select senior as it’s moderate in protein and fat and low in phosphorus. Is this a good food even though it has grains?

So anyway, I would love some thoughts or feedback….

• This topic was modified 11 years, 10 months ago by Sarah Y.
• This topic was modified 11 years, 10 months ago by Sarah Y.

[Jackie T]

I tried Blue in my boarding kennel for the dogs that don’t bring their own food, all dogs loved it and switched to it without digestive upset, I also bought a couple of bags of wilderness puppy and adult for my own dogs, prior to joining this forum – 2 days ago. After reading that Blue Buffalo Foods are produced by a variety of manufacturers (5), I decided to return to Orijen and or Acana for my house pups and my boarders. I want to know that I am feeding a quality of food that delivers what the label states and not hidden ingredients or additives, color or flavor.

[Tina]

Thats interesting, my dog Shadow as a puppy he was on Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy but after second bag of the exact same food he wouldn’t eat it at all not even to switch it to a new food.

[Naturella]

I would agree with theBCnut. I have used Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy for about 3-4 months and it worked great for my Bruno. But, all products do have chicken which was a disappointment to me – they also have the unique proteins, such as buffalo, rabbit, trout, etc., but next up is always chicken meal. I would still use BB Wilderness in my rotation as Bruno did well on it, as well as some other dogs that I know have done well and continue to do fine, but a lot of people report that their pets have experienced stomach/stool problems on the food. So, it is sort of up to the individual dog. As for the price, watch if it goes on sale or something, because you do pay a lot to their marketing team and for the pretty bags (with Wilderness at least).

[theBCnut]

Blue Buffalo certainly knows how to market their food. They have had recalls, but not too many or anything like that. They just aren’t that great a food and a lot of people have been reporting problems lately, but BB is still saying that there is nothing wrong and they haven’t received any complaints. All of the foods in their 5 star line have chicken in them, but the company wants you to think that they are based on different unique proteins. Don’t get me wrong. They are a decent food, if they really don’t have anything wrong with them, but they aren’t worth what they charge for a bag. You are paying for a lot of marketing.

[Tina]

Blue Buffalo

What is the story with Blue Buffalo? For years pet stores, commercials and even online computer ads give Blue Buffalo the best rating there is. In return, costumers almost pick the shelves clean. Why is it not on any of these lists? Is Blue Buffalo a good dog food? With no recalls that I know of, I thought for sure it would be on the top of the list.

• This topic was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by Mike Sagman. Reason: Fix Duplicate Topic Title

[Tammy M]

My Pompoo has lost her hair since eating Blue Buffalo dog food & treats. Has anyone else had this problem?

[cindy q]

I never tried Wellness but my 6mos old standard poodle and my 8 year old toy poodle are on merrick & they love it. I just switched from Blue Buffalo Wilderness. Merrick does give the puppy gas, but so did Blue Buffalo.

[Akari_32]

Yeah, maybe I will… This Blue Buffalo stuff smells so bad…! Wet coffee grounds mixed with cat pee just smells so yummy *rolls eyes*

Bentley already eats the cat food if we don’t watch him LOL The cat has learned that if he doesn’t eat it (and no one is paying attention to the dog), he doesn’t get it! He’s adamant about not eating the food with the broth in it, though. I guess I’ll strain it out over Haley and Dweezle’s food, and just give him water in it. At least he likes the water lol

I’ll call the vet in the morning and see what they have to say. I don’t have to leave for work until 1:15 tomorrow, so if I call first thing in the morning they may be able to see me before then. If not, it’ll have to wait for friday or next tuesday or thursday :/ Oh, or saturday! I actually have days to do things this week 😀 Omg, I don’t know how to handle this o.o Anyways… lol

[crazy4cats]

I thought it was sort of a spoof of the blue buffalo commercials. But, I’m sure they were making fun of all of the above. LOL!

[Tina]

Blue Buffalo Wilderness?

[Inge F]

Our little Scotty will be 5 months old by the 19th of this month. We purchased Wilderness Puppy food, which she loved, then my husband felt that BLUE buffalo would be a better choice, therefore we mixed it half & half. When we got her (Maddie) she did nothing but scratch. The Vet treated her for a skin infection. The 2nd time she was treated with possible food allergy. Now she may have a urinal infection. We have no idea what kind of dog food we should purchase. Do you have any suggestions?
This Tuesday we are getting a 2nd opinion about her scratching. She has no fleas!

hank you, Inge F

[Akari_32]

Jakes mom, I bought 5 chicken wings tonight, one for him to eat, and maybe one for Bentley to eat, then whatever’s left will be cooked for meat-water (omnomnomnomnom!).

I did look at Pet Supermarket tonight on the way home, and the cheapest one was $20! Yikes! I can whip something up cheaper than that! I just might, too lol I’m gunna check other places and see what I can find.

Stay away from that litter! I hate that stuff! LOL

Bobby dog, it’s ok, I think it’s funny :p His license says Gary but I’m think about teaching to respond to Haru. We all call him Kitty anyways, so I might as well give him a name I’ll call him. He loves those Blue Buffalo treats so much, so I don’t think it’ll be hard. :p

• This reply was modified 11 years, 10 months ago by Akari_32.

[Akari_32]

Cool, thanks!

I’m watching the Food Channel, and got an idea. Could I simmer meat in some water and make his meat-water that way? Would it work that way with just meat and water and no seasonings? I guess that’s basically just boiling it lol

Also, what can I do about cleaning his teeth? This canned food has got his teeth all dull and brown looking. I bought him some Blue Buffalo treats (they’re moist and have a chewy texture) but I don’t want to give them in any amount that’ll get his teeth clean because they’re full of grains and I’m worried about UTIs (though j doubt it’s enough to case a problem lol). What about a chicken wing or something every now and then? Or some stew cut beef or whatever?

[Akari_32]

I have a question for you guys…

I changed the litter to the Blue Buffalo walnut stuff, and at first he didn’t really want to use it, but gave in a few hours later and then hasn’t seemed to mind since (this was two nights ago). I’m noticing that since switching to this litter, he pees in really small amounts, like when he had his UTI.

He did get locked in the roommates room all day one day, but he peed in her cloths, so I don’t really think he had to hold it long, if at all that day. He’s also been out side a few time and got hot to the point where he was panting (he really likes it out side….), but I made sure to extra water (on top of the water I already add) to his food after wards.

So, I mean, there have been a *few* instances were he could have gotten a UTI, but I don’t really think it was enough to cause one (two play times outside with lots of water afterwards, and a day locked in a room where he found a place to pee anyways). My thought is its the new litter, and he’s sort of unsure about it. I just noticed last night that he was peeing in small amounts, and thats the night after I started using this litter. Since then, I’ve been adding lots of water to his food. Like, he’ll lap all the water up, eat some of the food, then leave, and I’ll sneak in and add some more water before he comes back. And I’ve started back feeding him smaller meals (so that he has more chances to get water in while eating). How long is it ok to let this go on before going to the vet? I know cats don’t like drastic changes in their litter, and some are just spoiled rotten when it comes to adjusting, but if it is a UTI again, I want to get it taken care of as soon as possible.

And I know some people said fish water to get him to drink. I don’t really want to do anything with fish, so can I do, like, chicken broth, or beef broth, or something? Its the same idea, and less smelly, right? lol I’m also still looking for a fountain waterer, but he didn’t seem to thrilled about the running sink water, so I don’t really think he’d go for a fountain…

*side note: I hate this litter and once this stuff is gone, I’m not going back! My room smells like coffee and cat pee!!*

[Akari_32]

It’s here!!! I have about 60 pounds of food to go through yet before I can try the dogs on this (provided the expiration date is that far off. I should check that…. lol), but I’m super excited 😀 The bag isn’t as big as I thought it would be, though LOL I was imagining like one of those beastly bags of like Ol’ Roy or something. Nope! It’s not any bigger than a 30 pound bag of food (but it sure does weigh more!!) lol

The dogs are both eating lamb right now, so they’ll be getting a good rotation going lol Well, technically Haley is still on chicken (Wellness CORE), but she’s got just enough left that I can add in the Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Lamb and Rice under it, and then she’ll be on lamb. They’re basically just going back and forth between chicken and lamb right now, though I did nab 15 pounds of salmon Pet Botanics last weekend. I do have plans to try them on either the bison Pure Balance, or the bison (or maybe fish??) Nutrisource next. I guess it just depends on how much money I have in the dog food fund when their food gets low. I just spent it all ($30) on 30 pounds of Pet Botanics dog food, 50 pounds of cat liter, and a few cans of cat food and a bag of cat treats (let me just say, the Blue Buffalo cat treats: kitty crack! LOL). Not bad, though! Woulda cost me close to $150 other wise, so I’d say I did good lol Wasn’t expecting to spend my dog food fund so soon (just replaced it after all that cat food I bought!), but the dogs gotta eat and I got a SUPER awesome deal on that Pet Botanics, and I hate having less than two months worth of food put away.

[Sarah Y]

Thanks for your insight…I definitely appreciate it. I was considering blue buffalo wilderness which is 5 stars and grain free. You are right that those of us who don’t have a lot of information are told grain free is the best way. I have heard some grains are good for your dog. I think your perspective about the higher amounts of meat makee sense. Thanks again….

[InkedMarie]

I look at the food (except for ny allergy boy, grainfree for him always) because not all grainfrees are alike. I just went to the review side, chose a few popular grainfrees:

Earthborn Holistic: 4.5 stars, plant based, moderate amount of meat
TOTW: 4.5 stars, plant based, moderate amount of meat
Blue Buffalo Freedom: 4 stars, plant based, moderate amount of meat
Nutro: 3 stars, plant based, modest amount of meat.

There are grainfrees that are five stars and meat based with significant amounts of meat and 3 stars with modest meat.

Now, a few grain inclusives:

Acana : 5 stars, plant based, significant amount of meat
Dr Tim’s: 5 stars, meat based, significant meat
Natures Logic: plant based, notable amount of meat

There are grain inclusives that are 1 star up to 5 stars, lotsa meat to is there any meat.

This is why I go by the food. A lot of people think, grainfree is the best and pick up any grainfree. People think grain inclusive is bad & buy cheaper (pricewise) grainfree.

Me, I’d take any quality grain inclusives, including the three I mentioned above, over any of the grainfrees I mentioned above. It depends on your dog. No problems with grains & no problem with gf but buy a high quality food with a high amount of meat”

[maggieful]

Hello all, I have two adult, male Chihuahuas that are both right around 5lbs each. I fed them Innova since we brought them home at 8 wks – first the puppy small bites and then the adult small bites and they were perfect on that. I used to order it online and then got it at PetSmart until PetSmart stopped selling it a few months ago due to all of the recalls. My dogs never got sick on the Innova and their coats were always shiny and healthy and they always had plenty of energy. I’ve been feeding them Blue Buffalo Small Breed Wilderness formula since February and they’ve been shedding a lot and their coats aren’t as soft. I want to switch them to a diet that’s more beneficial to them. I’ve been thinking about switching them to Taste of the Wild Southwest Canyon formula. Does anybody have any experience with this dog food or have any suggestions as to what would be better for them? Thanks so much!

[cindy q]

Another question, my puppy (6 mos old standard poodle) is now at the point where she is on 1/2 blue buffalo wilderness and have merrick, her stools are firmer now. Can I keep her on this mixture or should I continue weaning her off the blue?

[Chris D]

Hello, I am new to the forum and need some help. About 4 months ago we switched our two dogs from Purina Pro Plan to Blue Buffalo Wilderness. We followed the guidelines for switching their food. Our dogs were gassy before the switch and we though switching to a better brand might help. Unfortunately it has made the problem MUCH worse. They are large dogs and it is making our house stink something awful. Do y’all have any suggestions on a different brand or a different line in Blue Buffalo? We are at a loss. We have tried adding digestive enzymes as well without much luck.

[cindy q]

What about rotating with in the same brand? I just started using Merrick for my puppy I am slowly switching her off Blue Buffalo wilderness because her stools were always very, very loose on it. I noticed Merrick has different varietys like buffalo, chicken. Lamb, pork would it be ok to switch between the different varietys.