[aquariangt]

Acana Regionals
Simply Nourish Source
Blue Buffalo Wilderness

Acana is great if you wanna spring for it, the other two are available at PetSmart and well priced for 5 stars

[andrew b]

So I have a Staffy who is almost 18 months. She has already been allergy tested, and on a scale of 0-4 scored a 2 on numerous things, different types of grasses/weeds, dust and so on, with yeast also registering. We have also done a food trial prior to intradermal testing with Royal Canin HP and her itching really never got better on it. The main issue is she scratches herself bloody. Her neck, under her arms, her face. It’s a sin. We use Temaril-P when needed and it does help, have tried Atopica which didn’t work at all, have tried a new medication called Apoquel that didn’t work at all. Usually when she’s extremely bad(she was at the vet Tuesday, she sees a dermatologist at UPenn), she comes back positive for a yeast infection on her skin. She also started immunotherapy 5 months ago.

The worst of foods(on a relative scale) she has eaten would be Taste of the Wild as a puppy, and when the itching started around 4 months, we have tried, all for nearly 2 month periods, Earthborn, Acana, Nature’s Variety LID and now back to Earthborn since it doesn’t seem to matter.

Where am I going with all of this? Before I fully delve into trying a raw or cooked diet and seeing if it helps, should I just try the lowest carbohydrate food I can find to try and cut down on the yeast issues? If this doesn’t work, I am going either raw, freeze dried or cooked at the end of May. I was going to try Brothers Complete Allergy Formula but I’ve read it’s fairly high in carbs. Would I be better going with something that is 25% or so carbohydrates based on this site’s calorie weighted analysis, perhaps Orijen or Nature’s Variety Raw Boost, or something else?

We’ve tried so much…supplements, oils, she gets Phytovet CK baths 2-3x a week, and it doesn’t improve unless she’s on Temaril and we obviously don’t want that, but when she’s bleeding and will scratch herself for minutes straight unless you stop her, you have no choice.

Any ideas welcome, especially food related. Thanks all, love the site, been lurkin forever.

[aquariangt]

I would try Blue Buffalo (Wilderness is my favorite of their blends, but its also pricey), Fromms, Precise, or Simply Nourish (Source is my favorite of those, still under 50$ a bag)

If you want to spend more, of course you have Acana, Orijen, Wellness…all things that are solid and not made by diamond

[LoDoVilla]

Aah, that would explain why Pet Supplies Plus had all the Acana Regionals and not Large Breed. There are a lot of great pet stores in my area, I’ve come to find, and they all recommended Fromm. I just started adding pumpkin to the Orijen I have now to help.

I am an absolute NUT when it comes to dog food 🙂 The Chinese takeover of human ingredients is bad enough, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow my dog to eat it.

[Mom2Cavs]

Yes, their regular line is not available in the USA. Don’t know why, really. Merrick would be a fine substitution if your dog tolerates it. I personally like Annamaet or Dr. Tim’s, or Victors. Wellness Core is good, too. Lots of people love Fromm. I do, too, except I use their grain inclusive foods. We can get the Acana LIDs, or Singles, here in the States so if they’re suitable for a large breed pup then maybe you could try one of those. We can also get the Regionals, but I’m not sure about large breed pups. Remember, too, that the Singles do contain oatmeal.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 9 months ago by Mom2Cavs.

[LoDoVilla]

Well, while Charlie adores his Orijen, his stools do not. My vet has recommended a much lower protein content, so we decided on Acana Large Breed Puppy…which I can’t find. Anywhere. Any other suggestions? Merrick?

Thanks!

[Mom2Cavs]

Okay, here is what I do for my one Tortoise Shell stinker of a cat lol:

Dry: It is left out in a small bowl for her to nibble on periodically, which she likes to do. I dump it every other day, if it’s still there. I put 1/4-1/3 c. in the bowl. The kibbles she likes are Instinct, Fromm (Gamebird only), Orijen/Acana (she will eat it, but not like some others, so I’ve stopped buying it), Annamaet (actually the grain inclusive is her favorite and it has made her fur even softer!). She will be trying some Dr. Tim’s soon.

Wet: She gets a 3 oz. can every day split between am and pm. She loves Wellness cubes and Wellness Chicken grainfree. She also likes Fromm and Mulligan Stew. Very picky with wet food and the only Instinct she’ll eat is Healthy Weight. Btw, sometimes cat and dog canned ingredients are identical, as in M. Stew and Instinct Healthy Weight. So I use those for both the cat and dogs. Fromm is, too, I believe. I’ve used many brands for her in the past and they were fine, but I’ve just narrowed the list down now as to what I’m buying. She’s eaten BB, Weruva, Tiki Cat and Earthborn.

Litter: I’m a diehard World’s Best fan. I did have some great coupons for Blue’s new walnut litter and have integrated that into her litter at times with no problems.

Sometimes she also gets Dinovite for cats or the Well Blend/or Cat version of Missing Link added in. She has some minor health issues, but she is a beauty. Princess Di will be 9 yrs. old this year. A few years ago, we lost our other cat, a runt black cat named Smokey Jo who died at age 21 yrs

[SpanielMom]

I have a super hardy aussie/lab named Abby who lived on the street until she was about a year old, and she has always been able to eat anything, strongest stomach of any dog I’ve ever had. I rotated proteins regularly and she has never had any issues before. Fast forward, I got a bag of evanger’s gf chicken and sweet potato free from a rep and after I got through about 2/3 of the bag, Abby and my two cockers started getting scabs and bumps and were always chewing at themselves and scratching constantly. I immediately switched them off the food and went to Acana duck and pear, which they had done well on before. My two cockers got better almost immediately, but Abby seems to have gotten worse. I then tried Acana lamb and apple, and switched her raw food (she gets half kibble and half raw) to primal lamb. She has been getting that for about 5 days and I still don’t notice a change. I just don’t know what to do. This is so out of the blue and unlike her. Could it be something besides the food? Please help.

Only other info I can imagine would possibly have to do with this is:
-she recently moved with me from Missouri to Arizona (about a year ago), and it is springtime but I can’t imagine it’s seasonal allergies.
-she also gets pure salmon oil & plaqueoff daily.

[ticman]

I too would like to see more discussion on the above topic.

I have a 14 year old 9 lb poodle whose bloodwork is good for her age but she does have a slight reduction in kidney function along with slight heart murmur. I have been feeding her Orijen Regional Red, Acana grain free, Merrick grain free and Evo small red bite grain free. All of these foods are high quality but also very high in protein.

My vet was concerned about protein levels in lieu of kidney function. She gave me two cans of Hill’s g/d early cardiac healthy aging. In reading the ingredients, I literally gagged.

Long story short I’d like some advice on a grain free food that might reduce the strain on the kidneys as well as being heart friendly. I am assuming reduced protein might be appropriate.

Thoughts and comments are most appreciated.

Mike

[Garlandaire]

I’m on the search for a limited ingredient kibble (prefer grain free) made with out flax seed/oil or rosemary extract/oil. I have learned that they are contraindicated for reproductive females and males. So far I have found some Acana and some Evangers formulas are free, but would like to find out what my other options are. Thanks for any input.

[Lablubber]

Rick Rankin

So can somebody make it simple for me and please tell me on the kibble end of it. If you were just starting out with a lab puppy and wanted to feed him the best kibble… What is the best overall choice. Orijen, Acana, Annamaet, Earthborn Holistic, Go! Fit & Free, Wellness or Dr Something or whatever for a 13 week old Lab puppy. I have read to oblivion on what is best. I have read every persons articles about what is recommended and I am even more confused now and becoming quite desperate watching my grow and hopefully do well.

As I said I tried to switch over to a good food and switched to Blue Lg. Breed Puppy and then only to find out that it too was too high in calcium after all the 20 days of transitioning to another food.

I do plan to slowly work over to some raw diet when I feel knowledgeable enough to do so…Mainly on his evening meals and I have tried some of the stuff PattyVaughn recommend for him as well as adding it to his kibble as toppers to his food to see how he reacted to it and so far so good. But for me and my lack of knowledge, I am just afraid that to jump off completely in the Raw scene because you also need to know that I take this dog with me 24/7. He goes everywhere I go and I also take him to work with me as well. Plus he is already training hard every day with all of his retriever work and obedience training. So then with the very limited knowledge that I have on this subject and the conditions that I am involved in, a totally raw diet would almost be impossible for me to do right now….Plus I am afraid I would not have enough knowledge to give him and provided everything that he needs as far as supplementations that go along with it for a lg. breed growing puppy. Especially when I want to be extra careful on the calcium end of it and then again saying that… I also don’t want to under nourish him in anyway whatsoever either.

So could I just plead for someone’s mercy and wisdom in this situation and please recommend the best kibble for a 13 week old lab puppy and then if you don’t mind, share with me where the best place is to order it…. Because as most all of you warned me….My local pet stores carry very little healthy lg. breed puppy food and all the local vets carry is Science Diet and Royal Canin or something like that and when you read their ingredients, none of them meet the requirements…

So then…Could someone please come to my rescue and help someone in a pinch here, because I am down to about the last 8 # of the food that I have and so now would be the time to transition to another one. I have learned tons from all of you guys but for me time is of the essence because I want this pup to have the best I can get for him with the limited amount of knowledge that I do have on board.

Thanks Lablubber

[Dori]

I too am sorry for your losses. It’s always a difficult thing to go through. I feed my three dogs grain, white potato, white rice free foods.
As someone else mentioned, if you check out the 4 and 5 star foods and read their ingredient lists you can go from there. Many of us on this site find a food that our dogs do well on and then continue the search so that we can have a few different brands and proteins to rotate through. Some rotate from bag to bag others rotate more often. I don’t really feed kibble any more (I feed commercial raw, also The Honest Kitchen which is a dehydrated food that you just add water to) and am just starting to delve into doing homemade raw meals. When I did feed kibble, some of the brands I really liked were Brothers Complete (you can only buy it on their website but they have very very quick delivery and great customer service, it’s a family run business), Zignature, Victors (you can also order Victors on Amazon, Natures Logic, Acana just to name a few.

Keep in mind that, and it’s only my way, when I first bring a puppy home (or any dog for that matter) I usually keep them on the same food they were eating for the first two weeks. My feeling is that they are going through enough stress with moving to a new home, new people, etc. that I think it’s just a little easier on them that at least something in their lives is familiar to them. Then I start the slow transition to a food I’m comfortable feeding and also comfortable with the companies website and where they source their ingredients and what plants are used to produce their food. I try to make sure I then research what other dog foods that plant may be producing and, of course, have there being any recalls on any of them.

On the top left hand section of this page is a wonder list of Dog Food Recalls and you can also sign up to be put on their email list for dog food recalls as they happen.

Hope any of this has helped. Good luck with the new puppy. Let us know how you make out. Oh, and ask all the questions you want.

[pitbullmomma]

First off, so sorry for the loss of your loved one, that’s never an easy thing to go through.

In regards to dog food, a lot of it is going to be trail and error as to what works for your dog! I highly recommend a grain free, but some dogs just can’t handle a grain free (my senior girl gets all constipated)… Champion Pet Foods is one of the best, I love that you can look at their website and find the specific ranches and lakes that their product is sourced from! Another great thing is that the meat is always fresh, never frozen. The fish come straight from the lake to their plant and into the dog food. Can’t get much better than that! But Orijen and Acana can be too rich for some dogs. Merrick has a really great GF food that is still high in meat content, but doesn’t seem to be as rich to the sensitive tummies, and they have a great range of flavors to choose from, which my guys always appreciate. Hope that helps! 🙂

[mountainhound]

It’s hard to recommend “best” food since every dog does differently on different food. One dog might do great on a 5 star food which another one not. I don’t feed kibble anymore, but if I did I would go with either Champion (Orijen/Acana, I prefer Acana regional due to slightly lower protein), Petcurean (the grain free Go formulas) or Fromm.

[raylene5]

Took our 12 week old Miniature Schnauzer puppy to the vet for his first check up yesterday and, like with most vets I’ve ever met, I sure didn’t like her. I had called ahead of time and asked if the vets at this office are supportive of raw feeding and was assured that they are. Well, as soon as I told her I was feeding raw (Primal Pronto and ZiwiPeak) she gave me the spiel about contaminating the kids with his kisses and salmonella.

So Kamper has been eating grass since he got to our place. He was born in Arizona and had not seen grass at all before so at first I thought it was just curiousity. When I told the vet I was concerned about his eating the grass, she said it was probably because he was on a raw diet and that dogs can’t digest raw foods. That, like our bodies, they can better digest processed foods (she brought up how when we were cavemen we ate a lot of uncooked food and just sat around digesting it all day). Now, the good thing was that she did suggest very high quality kibble (Orijen, Acana, etc…) and not the typical vet-endorsed Science Diet or anything like that.

Anyway, it was a frustrating visit. I just wanted to know if anyone else’s vet had said these things about processed foods being easier to digest for their dogs.

[Mom2Cavs]

I would think that any high quality food that agrees with the dog would be good. If you are doing agility you might want to also consider supplementing with glucosamine and chondroitin for joint support. You could look at Acana Regionals, or other foods that are for sporting dogs like Annamaet, Dr. Tim’s. Earthborn has good food, as well as Nutrisource. In fact, if it were me, I’d look at this list of 4 and 5* rated foods, find those that meet my criteria, that I could easily get, and pick a few to try. Good luck to you! I know others will respond soon with their suggestions. 🙂

[Mom2Cavs]

If you’re in the USA, and I’m assuming you are, Acana regular foods are not available in the states, yet. We can only get the Regional and Singles varieties.

[aquariangt]

I am looking at switching to this when the puppy gets past a year(10 mos now) but my store I’m getting her current blend doesn’t have this one. I haven’t been able to find it on wag, chewy, or petfooddirect either.

Also-anyone used this one?

Thanks all!

[RescueDaneMom]

I agree with what Ana said. I have a Great Dane as well so I understand the challenge that feeding a giant breed can be sometimes. I would avoid the hot dogs too. I only use hot dogs (good quality, all meat, all natural) for very special rewards. It’s not something you want to feed all the time.

My Dane was always slightly overweight on kibble no matter what brand I fed or how much I reduced his portion. The best thing I ever did for his health was switch him to The Honest Kitchen and raw. THK is a dehydrated food. You add water and let it rehydrate before serving it. It would be great for traveling in your motorhome with. You can incorporate some raw food instead of hot dogs if the concept of raw doesn’t bother you. There are a number of high quality raw frozen foods out there. I like Primal and Stella & Chewy’s the best. I started making my own homemade raw food because it was cheaper for me.

If you want to feed kibble, definitely check out the 4 and 5 star rated kibbles on this site. Everybody has their preferences. A few I like and have fed my Dane are: Earthborn Holistic, Annamaet Grain Free, Go! Fit & Free, Acana Regionals (Grain Free), and Orijen. Others I like are Horizon Legacy, Dr. Tim’s, and Victor. I would feed the 7 month old a food from Hound Dog Mom’s list of foods that are appropriate for a large breed puppy: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwApI_dhlbnFTXhUdi1KazFzSUk/edit All of these foods are 4 or 5 stars and have the appropriate amount of calcium for a growing large breed puppy.

Good luck and have fun with your newly adopted pups!

[Momof6]

I have had a few friends switch to orijen and it was simply too much. It’s extremely rich food and high protein. I always recommend giving dogs a little time to adjust, you can help with pumpkin and some sort of digestive aid. If no better, look into acana. same company, great food as well. Some times Orijen, beings so rich, just doesn’t sit well. Personally, it gave my dogs horrific gas and I couldn’t handle it lol.

[Sharon Buchanan]

Jazz ~
Sorry I didn’t get back to you yesterday. It’s been a madhouse around here with my oldest daughter moving out yesterday, me trying to finish some reading on raw diets so I can order some food before tomorrow and trying to find the right adoptable Golden for my husband.

I appreciate that RescueDaneMom jumped in to give you some very good advice. Pattyvaughn is another great resource as are any number of people more qualified than I.

Although some of the papers from the Great Dane study indicate that a 6 month old LBP could effectively absorb calcium, I have to agree with GDM that waiting at least until 10 months to switch to a higher calcium diet is better. I would however, still feed LBP kibble until full grown, up to 2 years old – you’ll know when your pup has reached that point.

I did switch Mystery to Orijen, Large Breed Puppy a month or so ago and if I hadn’t gone raw I’d have fed it until he was at least 16 months old. I wouldn’t have moved to Acana LBP because their MINIMUM calcium is 1.6%, Orijen is 1.2/1.5 min/max. Some of the Acana Regionals recipes have a similar low minimum calcium of 1.2% but they don’t say what their max is. Additionally, the protein content is lower than Orijen LBP. For comparison’s sake – Orijen LBP and both adult formulas contain 14 proteins and then starches follow. Acana Wild Prairie 2 proteins then a starch while their Grasslands is a bit better at 4. 80% of Orijen’s ingredients are protein, Acana is 60%. Of the other foods that RDM listed, I have opinions on all of them, but you can do further comparisons.

IF I were going to continue into adult kibble, I would absolutely have stayed with any variety of adult Orijen and would have felt very good about my decision. All five cats are eating Orijen with the youngest, a five month old Maine Coon stealing a few ounces of Mystery’s raw. I spent a lot of time researching pedigrees and genetics and food so that we could avoid, to every extent possible, a repeat of the $10,000 it cost us to have double-hip surgery on Sunset before she was two and three months of 24/7 in-clinic therapy to teach her how to walk again. I’m by no means an expert, but I can read and the more I do, the better I feel about my food choices, and why I switched to Orijen at 9 months and then raw so soon after at 10 months.

I wholly agree with RDM on turmeric. Mystery is enrolled in the Morris Foundation’s lifetime study on the relationship between cancer and Golden Retrievers and since we just lost Sunset to cancer, I feel a duty to do everything I can keep Mystery from getting cancer. I do purchase some supplements from Swanson and I’ve had Mystery on Springtime’s Longevity but I’m not certain I will continue that. I do agree with your decision to limit supplements since most kibble already contain a variety of supplements – I recently read an article on supplement overkill. If I can dig that article up I’ll let you know.

I also give Mystery raw eggs on occasion. It’s my understanding that the shell of the egg has a perfect balance of calcium to phosphorus. So if you’re still feeding a low calcium kibble and you want to add a bit more without switching to a higher calcium food, break an egg! I usually break it over a bowl, break up the shell a bit with my hands and pour it over his food. He gets the same eggs I eat – Born Free, Vegetarian without the added omegas or any other organic, free-range brown egg when Born Free is unavailable.

One more note – Susan Thixton had her site truthaboutpetfood.com hacked a couple years ago and so opened another site adding a “2” to the end. The problem finally resolved, she’s moved everything back over to truthaboutpetfood.com but is in the process of cleaning things up – hopefully that will be finished soon. Keep checking back, sign up for her newsletter or “Like” her on Facebook. She’s worth following.

Whew! 😉

[RescueDaneMom]

Jazz lover,

The general concensus is that it is safe to switch over to a food with higher calcium level at 10 months old. Orijen is a really good food. You could try the Orijen Adult when your pup is 10 months old. I also like Acana Regionals (Grain-free), Annamaet Grain-free, and Petcurean Go! Fit & Free Adult.

I give tumeric and omega 3s (fish or krill oil) daily. I buy my tumeric from Swanson’s Vitamins. You can get organic bulk tumeric by Starwest Naturals on their website. See my previous post to Lablubber for the article on Tumeric and dosage. You can give toppers with every meal. I would limit the fish to twice a week. You can also give eggs (cooked or raw) as a topper. You want to exchange the toppers with his food based on calories. Figure out how many calories the topper has and give him that much less food. Say the topper is 100 cal. Figure out how much food you need to remove based on the kcal/cup provided on the bag or website for your kibble. Ex- you would give 1/4 cup less food if your kibble is 400 kcal/cup. I hope I explained that well enough.

As far as what to look for in a food for your dog at 10 months and after is really up to you. I prefer to feed a high protein (30% or higher), grain-free (though not opposed to grain-inclusive if not fed all the time and high quality grains or pseudo-grains like oats, quinoa, or millet), and china-free ingredients (need to contact the manufacturer). I have fed my Great Dane Orijen, Acana, Annamaet, Earthborn Holistic, and Go! Fit & Free with no problems. Others that I would try if I still fed kibble (I feed raw and dehydrated now) are: Dr. Tim’s Kinesis grain-free, Victor GF Ultra Pro, and Timberwolf.

I hope that helps. 🙂

[Sharon Buchanan]

BernerdAd ~
Just wanted to ditto Patty’s recommendation on pumpkin. It isn’t something I care to eat, but I keep a single can in my pantry just in case. When I have to open it up, another can goes on the grocery list.

Lablubber ~
I can’t remember if I read anywhere the age of your Lab. There’s a number of articles that HDM posted at the very beginning of this topic that address the correct percentage of calcium for large breed puppies. The figures vary somewhat, I chose to take the advice of Dr. Baker and keep Mystery’s calcium nearer to .80 percent. (My Mystery is an English Creme Golden Retriever – healthy adult weight will be about 85 pounds.)

I hadn’t found this forum when I was researching food so I ended up creating my own chart. I looked at calcium percentage as well as ingredients. I wasn’t going to feed junk (by-products, un-named meat meals, synthetic supplements, controversial ingredients – canola oil for one), no matter what the calcium percentage was. But I also wasn’t going to feed what I thought was the best kibble (no preservatives, no grains), if the calcium was higher than I believed it should be. I would have like to have been feeding Mystery Orijen or Acana but their calcium max for LBP is 1.5%. Though they say they try to keep it to the minimum 1%, they’d be okay feeding my dog nearly twice what he should’ve gotten. In the end, I chose Innova LBP kibble.

A simple explanation of the problem with too much calcium is, that a LBP less than six months old does not have the ability to process excess calcium properly. Too much calcium gets deposited on the outside of the bones which then causes bone disease. Again, this is the simple explanation – try reading all the articles HDM posted, some of them are a little more technical, but you’ll learn a lot from them. And don’t expect your vet to be familiar with the LBP study or any of the reports from that study. My vet said he wasn’t sure if he’d read any of them when I first mentioned diet concerns – and tried to make me feel like I couldn’t possibly know what I was talking about.

Back to the age of your Lab. Once a puppy has reached six months of age, he is able to process calcium better but even afterward, calcium still needs to be lower than what a small or medium size puppy can handle. I moved Mystery to Orijen LBP kibble just last month when he was 9 months old. To address your concern regarding transitioning foods, when Mystery’s Innova got down to the last pound, I added a pound of Orjen to it. When that was gone a few days later, it was all Orijen.

As far as expense goes, I considered Innova to be an average priced kibble – compared to Purina, Iams, Science Diet, or any other junk food. Orijen, on the other hand is going to cost more but is worth it – as far as kibble goes. Innova did have a recall last year at the time that I was feeding it to Mystery. I was forced to switch him over to Wellness – the next lowest calcium percentage, but I cringed at every meal because chicken meal is their third ingredient rather than first, and they use Sodium Selenite instead of Selenium Yeast. It looks like Innova has changed their LBP recipe – I don’t know what I’d do now if my only option to feed was kibble to a LBP.

BTW, when Innova had their recall, I had no choice but to switch Mystery to Wellness – without any transition. And my cats have never needed transitioning as I’ve upgraded their food. Obviously, common sense must rule if you see a problem cropping up because of the change.

I have to agree with Patty on Blue. In addition to their minimum calcium percentage being too high, they have three grains in their top five ingredients, they add chicken FLAVOR (why do they need flavoring?), sodium selenite and caramel which is used to make you, the purchaser feel good about the color of their garbage, as if your dog thinks caramel colored food tastes better than beige food. I also don’t like seeing oil of rosemary so high on their ingredient list since we had a Golden that had seizures (if your dog doesn’t have seizures rosemary oil/extract might not be a problem).

In retrospect, I should have started feeding Mystery raw when we first brought him home at 10 weeks instead of waiting until now when he is 10 months old. You will absolutely learn much here at dogfoodadvisor and especially in the forums. I would also suggest, if you have to continue feeding kibble, go to truthaboutpetfood.com and sign up for her free newsletter. She’s also on Facebook if you prefer. I will say though, that I credit Susan Thixton (truthaboutpetfood), with my decision to pursue a raw diet. Of course, it was here at the forums that I received the most encouragement to switch.

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

[RescueDaneMom]

It looks pretty good to me. Nothing in it I would red flag. I wouldn’t want to feed it all the time because of the rice. I think it would be a good food to have in a rotation. You could switch back and forth with the Acana.

[Polemos]

I was able to find Acana Puppy and Junior in only 1 store in my whole area. I was looking at Barking Heads Puppy Days dog food which is made in the U.K. that seems pretty good. Here are the ingredients according to their site:

Ingredients
Composition* Freshly Prepared Deboned Chicken 22%, Dried Chicken 18%, Brown Rice, Sweet Potato, White Rice, Freshly Prepared Deboned Salmon 8%, Freshly Prepared Deboned Trout 5%, Dried Egg, Chicken Fat 3%, Chicken Stock 2.5%, Lucerne, Salmon Oil 1.5%, Seaweed, Dried Tomato, Dried Carrot, Prebiotic MOS, Prebiotic FOS *Ingredients
Analytical Constituents Crude Protein 27%, Fat Content 17%, Inorganic Matter 6.75%, Crude Fibre 2.2%, Moisture 8%, Calcium 1.2%, Phosphorous 1%, Omega-6 (2.2%), Omega-3 (1.3%), DHA 0.3%
Nutritional Additives (Per kg) Vitamin A 25,000 IU, Vitamin D3 2,222 IU, Vitamin E 694 IU
Trace Elements as Compounds Ferrous sulphate monohydrate 956mg, zinc sulphate monohydrate 772mg, manganous sulphate monohydrate 152mg, cupric sulphate pentahydrate 56mg, calcium iodate anhydrous 6.80mg, sodium selenite 0.77mg

Is there anything on that list that you would red flag as an ingredient? Or is this an actual good puppy dog food? Thanks

[Shasta220]

Acana is definitely a good one. Agreed – avoid Hills… My vet once told me Hills was the only thing he recommended because of the science/research behind the company. I thought “oh, the vet says it’s best, so it’s the best!” And bought a bag without reading the ingredients. Wow was that a waste of money! I think next time I will try Dog Chow and get better luck with my dogs!

Just as long as the food as wholesome good quality proteins and a low amount of fillers, your pup should do good 🙂

[RescueDaneMom]

I would second GizmoMom. Acana and Orijen are the best. They are made by the same company. If you can’t afford Orijen, Acana is the way to go. You could also try the Fromm. Some dogs do really well on it and others have been reporting that their dogs are getting sick on it. I had a dog on the Fromm Gold Reduced Calorie for months with no problems. Keep in mind it is good to rotate foods for your pup so s/he is not eating the same thing all the time.

[GizmoMom]

Acana and Orijen are good.
/?s=acana
/?s=Orijen

Don’t use Hill’s

Not sure about Barking Heads, never heard of them.

Some people are having some issues with Fromm.
/forums/topic/fromm-dog-food-dangers/

[Polemos]

Thanks everyone for the replies! These are the other brands that I could find only from ordering online that seemed ok:

Acana Puppy and Junior
Hill’s Science Diet Puppy Healthy Development
Barking Heads Puppy Days (British Brand)
FROMM Puppy Gold Large Breed

There is also Orijen Puppy but it’s a little outside of our budget at the moment.

Thanks again everyone!

[jenmac]

Hi, my 9 year old neutered male Maltese Bosco recently lost his vision. He was diagnosed with Sudden Acquired Retinal Degenerative Syndrome a couple of days ago. In September he went from 9 lbs to 12 lbs and since that time he has gone to 14 lbs. His blood work, done in October was all normal, including a thyroid panel. Before the weight gain he was on Acana and then I switched him to Acana Light in October but this made little difference. My vet switched him to Science Diet Metabolic food for the last 5 weeks or so and he has gained about 0.5 lbs. One symptom of SARDS is Cushing’s disease and this is what is probably going on with him. Some of his Cushing’s symptoms such as the excessive thirst and urination have abated so I am hopeful that the Cushing’s aspect of his disease is passing (which can happen with SARDS). Does anyone have any advice to offer for dogs with this disease? What food should little Bosco be eating? I’ve read articles that suggest some vision can be regained by switching to a raw diet. My vet has little experience with this disease. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!Hi, my 9 year old neutered male Maltese Bosco recently lost his vision. He was diagnosed with Sudden Acquired Retinal Degenerative Syndrome a couple of days ago. In September he went from 9 lbs to 12 lbs and since that time he has gone to 14 lbs and has stayed there despite being on Science Diet Metabolic food for the last 5 weeks or so. His blood work, done in October was all normal, including a thyroid panel. Before the weight gain he was on Acana and then I switched him to Acana Light in October but this made little difference. One symptom of SARDS is Cushing’s.

[dogmom]

Just a note on the Acana – I did move my 8-month old GSD from Origin Large Breed Puppy to Acana when he was 6 months old, because he was growing too fast, and the vet suggested that he be put on adult food to slow him down some. That’s worked great for us – again, sloooow switch between the foods – took a couple of weeks.

[dogmom]

I know that a number of you have said you don’t like the Acana and Origin brands because they have a touch too much calcium, but my large dogs have done really well on it. My youngest German Shepherd is at 85 lbs at 8 months old, and he’s looking and acting pretty perfect. My older Shepherds (range from 110 to 130 lbs) are doing great on it too. No upset stomachs, good stools, good health, and they LOVE this food. No Pano problems at all, and no Hip Displasia in the breeding lines at all, so I don’t expect that. We moved them from the breeder food to Acana very gradually, and it was smooth as it can be.

[Melissaandcrew]

My older rottie boy ate acana as well. We lost him to arthritis/dysplasia a few mths ago at the age of 15. He seemed to do really well on the grasslands.

[RescueDaneMom]

My rottie just passed last month from lymphoma. When he was eating kibble he did really well on Acana Regionals. There are 4 grain-free varieties. Orijen is another great food made by the same company that makes Acana. Other grain-free foods we tried and liked were: Annamaet grain-free, Horizon Legacy, Go! Fit & Free Adult, and Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural. Others I like but haven’t tried personally are Dr. Tim’s Kinesis grain-free and Victor grain-free.

Sometimes dogs eating kibble (and especially older dogs) can benefit from probiotics and digestive enzymes. I buy mine from swansonvitamins.com. They’re made for humans and pretty cheap. I get the regular Swanson brand digestive enzymes and Dr. Langer’s 15 strain probiotic (they’re buy 1 get 1 free right now). I crush the enzyme tablet and open the probioic capsule and mix it up in the food. You can add a little canned food, yogurt, canned pumpkin or something else so it is not just powder mixed with dry food. My almost 8 year old Great Dane is super regular and not very gassy at all. He doesn’t eat kibble but he gets probiotics and enzymes. A lot of people also like the Mercola pet enzymes and probiotics. They are more expensive but they are already in a convenient powder form.

Hope this is helpful to you.

[Suziemorgs]

Thank you for replies, she was on Origen until I found out she had allergies at the moment I’m feeding her grasslands Acana but since being on the grasslands has developed tear staining 🙁

[Susan]

When we are pregnant some of us feel sick, she may be feeling sick after eating the Acana Pacifica, try changing the flavour instead of the fish, Is there Duck, something not fishy maybe after she gives birth try the fish again..Make her a meal boil chicken breast & boiled rice or potatoes or some sweet potatoes, Dont add the Acana kibble as if this is making her sick then mixing it will still make her feel sick still.

[Mitdeleon]

My bulldog is 5weeks pregnant currently on a acana pacifica dog food. She won’t eat that much what king of food can I add to encourage her to eat her ki bless pls help eggs? Potatoes? Pls help

[RescueDaneMom]

Thanks for the update on Duke! I may try B2B for our pit next. He was eating the Timberwolf Elk for about 2 weeks. He was doing well on it and seemed to be losing weight (which is good because he’s a little chunky). However, getting him to eat it was a nightmare. It seems he didn’t care for the smell/taste of it and we had to add all kinds of toppers to get him to eat. He is eating Acana Wild Prairie right now with no coaxing needed. I would still recommend trying the Timberwolf if you’re interested. Our pit is too picky for his own good.

[GizmoMom]

Acana is a 5 star food.
/dog-food-reviews/acana-dog-food-grain-free/

I’m not sure about pregnant dogs though.

[Shasta220]

I will agree with Betsy a bit: breeding a dog is a lot of responsibility, and there are way too many pups out there who need homes already…I respect and understand breeding to improve a certain breed, or if there’s a possible accident (three of the four dogs I had came from “accidental” breedings)….

Anyways, the breeding happened, nothing anybody can do to change it…

I found some pages with info on care for a prenant dog. One says to use Alpo or Pedigree canned if she starts losing weight – if you’d need to add canned food, make sure it’s a quality brand, for sure.

http://www.2ndchance.info/pregnantdog.htm

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/breedingpregnancyguide.htm

My biggest advice is to keep doing your research on proper care. Acana sounds like a great food to be on, it’s full of lots of quality proteins and fats. Maybe even trying to add some raw meat to get her extra proteins/fats?

[Shasta220]

Joet, I know you find your dogs to do well on BB, but there are many many other foods out there that are just as good, if not better, for dogs. Every dog will have certain intolerances and needs. I’ve honestly found BB to be quite a bit overpriced for its quality. I can usually find something of equal quality for much less.

As for Acana, I’d definitely say it’s a good food for your girl! I’ve never owned a pregnant dog, so I honestly don’t know what extra nutrients are needed. You could probably do a little research to see if you could supplement her diet through pregnancy, I’m guessing a pregnant dog will need plenty of quality protein and even some extra fat?

I looked at the link you posted – the food seems to be pretty good 🙂 the site is a little odd though, I’d agree…

Best wishes! I hope all goes well with you and your bulldog gal! May she have a littler of wonderful, super healthy pups! 🙂

[DogFoodie]

Sorry to be rude, but shouldn’t you know this kind of thing before you take on the responsibility of breeding a dog?

[Mitdeleon]

+ I’m giving her iberet with 400 mcg folic acid pls help I’m
Afraid to have anasarca walrus water babies pls help panic mode here

[Mitdeleon]

Hello need help first time breeding my English bulldog she is 4weeks pregnant I’m feeding her 4 cups a day of acana pacifica it has .02 sodium is this ok for my English bulldog 1.6yr old 1st time mommy pls help is acana pacifica ok for my preg bulldog. Pls give me advice

[Mitdeleon]

I switched to acana pacifica is this ok for
My English bulldog pregnant?

[InkedMarie]

GRamoin: it’s fine to switch, I would just go very slowly, over a week. I would also use a probiotic. As far as foods, it’s been said that grains aggravate joints so I’d suggest a grainfree food. Some easier on the wallet ones are dr Tim’s, Earthborn, hi Tek…..more expensive are Acana, Orijen, Natures Variety Instinct.

Good luck!

[Mom2Cavs]

Like you and Patty said, if you can trust a dog food company and the food is rated a good one, then their cat food should be pretty good, too. Most people feel that cats should never eat a dry food. They are also obligate carnivores and need high protein, i.e. meat. Now…I will say I do leave dry out all the time for my cat to nibble on and she does like to do that occasionally. She gets fed a wet/canned food morning and evening. I add in missing link well blend to her food. She has some allergy responses and this seems to help. She loves Instinct kibble (not all flavors/kinds, though) but hates their canned food. She also likes Orijen/Acana. Currently, she’s eating Fromm Gamebird kibble and loves it. It also is doing well with her allergies. She eats Mulligan Stew canned, Fromm Gold canned, Wellness canned and pouches. She likes Weruva ok. I’ve tried premade raw with her a few times but she eventually won’t eat it. I keep trying, though, lol. She’s in perfect weight, as well.

[DogFoodie]

Hi Scooter,

I do hate to be a downer!

I wouldn’t have chosen a food with chicken. Acana is a great choice, but I believe I would’ve chosen a different protein other than chicken as that’s what you’ve been feeding and it could be wherein lies your problem. If you can, considering exchanging the Wild Prairie for one of the other three Regional selections.

[scooter]

Just got back from a small, locally owned pet store with good local reviews. I explained scooters problems (The login name is his name and I can bet you can all guess how he got it) And she recommended Acana wild prairie regional formula for him. I purchased a small bag and will see how he does with that she told me to continue to give him the pumpkin as well.

Wish him luck!

[Josee]

I had try Orijen and satin ball 🙁
Orijen make very loose stool…
Satin ball make no difference except time 🙂

I don’t know if I can find Victor or Abady here as I had never saw those brands 🙁

At this moment they are on Acana Puppy & Junior but I found that they make big stole .

Melissa, why you told to be careful with schnauzer and fat ? I have Standard schnauzer not miniature.