InkerMarie made a grain free, potato free list. It is a stickie in the dog food ingredients category. You can compare it to HDM’s list to find a good food.
i think earthborn holistic meadowfeast doesnt have potatoes
My dog absolutely devours and loves loves his natures variety rabbit meal. Great bag of food. I will always buy a 30 pound bag when it’s on sale. My dookie’s coat is gorgeous. Even when he’s the dirtiest and we are about to clean him he still has a shiny ad soft coat. I’m not too sure if he rabbit doesn’t have any potatoes but I know it is grain free.
hi Duncan2012. since your puppy is over 8 months, I believe you don’t really have to worry about calcium levels anymore. I don’t know many foods that don’t have potatoes, but on HDM’s list she does have Nature’s Variety Instinct. they are grain, potato and sweet potato free and they use tapioca as their starch source. I believe the least expensive formula is the chicken meal formula. so if your puppy doesn’t have sensitivities to chicken that could be your best bet. I absolutely love Nature’s Variety
Our 9-month-old Bernese mix has been doing well on Zignature, but we’d like to rotate his food. He seems to have a sensitivity to potatoes. Any suggestions for good potato-free, grain-free dry dog foods from HDM’s list? The top 5 she suggested earlier in this thread all seem to include potatoes. I know Canine Caviar is grain-free and potato-free, but it’s out of our budget.
Hi-Tek Naturals isn’t made in China – Hi-Tek owns their own manufacturing facility in Georgia. If you’re looking for a new budget friendly option I would suggest Earthborn or Dr. Tim’s – both are around the same price as TOTW but made by reputable companies. You may also want to try supplementing with digestive enzymes and probiotics to help with the gas.
I don’t know if you consider weimaraners large breeds, but I now feed them hi-tec naturals. This dog food is make in China which bothers me, but no bad recalls. The problem is my dogs has gas all the time. Was thinking of going to taste of the wild, but so many recalls. I am also on disability so every dollar counts and still want the best I can afford for these beautiful dogs. PS my corgi even has gas
Maggy6577
Many standard poodles are not large breeds, but some are, so if I were you I would ere on the side of caution. There are no negatives to feeding a food for large breeds except that you have a little less variety to choose from. Once your puppy is grown, you no longer have to worry about calcium levels again and you can feed any food you want.
Is my Standard poodle considered a large breed? Should I be giving her a specific food? She is getting TOTW puppy right now which is a 4.5 star food but I am not sure if it is for large breeds.
jewels
as per your post about bag size. i only get small bags of a food to test the dogs.
once they are transitioned i dont think it matters what bag size the dog requires. to me it just makes more sense to buy the largest size i can get. some of the price models are just nuts with the higher price per pound scaling the less you get. i assume we are talking large breed so i wouldnt even bother worrying about opened bags depleting nutrients through the air
but, just in case, the larger earthborn bags have a ziplock system even though i cut the upc off and mail into earthborn for the upc for trees program. my base dog food comes in zip lock 7 pound increments in a 7×7 pound shipment so i have probably 21 spare empty heavy duty zip locked foil lined bags to fill up with what ever large bags of food i have come
Thanks for all the info guys! I’ll try to find some good deals online. I guess that is a better option after all than paying $80 a bag or not even trying some of the great options out there. I appreciate all the help!
Yea am starting to lean that way as well. My biggest problem is having these 11 puppies, they are all going to family and close friends , I do not mind paying a little more for food but I am sure other people do and will not stick to a grain free diet. So I don’t know if it is better to start with Dr. Tim’s and maybe wean mine onto his grain-free formula or earthborn after a few months.
Brown rice, dried tomato pomace, brewers yeast. I’m thinking maybe that’s why its only a 4 star food. I’ve also been researching this site for weeks and days. Its so overwhelming! I have a doberman puppy and wanted the best food for the best value for her. I chose Earthborn Hollistic coastal catch to start with. I was going to go with fromm 4 star grain free but I felt it was to pricey for the quality of food.
A major part of the rating is the amount of animal protein. Having red ingredients lowers the rating and having plant protein boosters lowers the rating.
How would you all feel about starting them on the Earthborn Holistic stuff right off the bat. From weaning on?
What would those be? Thank you all again for the info!
Maybe because it has 3 questionable ingredients?
I am in Los Angeles too. Well actually La Verne/Claremont area. That is good to know. I am just trying to figure it out why it is only a 4 star food? The first few ingredients seem great. I have been starting to lean towards Dr. Tim’s because of the information I have been getting here. When reading the ingredients it seems almost better than the others but I may just be reading something wrong or not really know how to read the ingredient statements.
sippmanjr:
I feed my GSD puppy Fromm Gold Large Breed Puppy. he does very well on it. I don’t know where you live, but here in Los Angeles I go to a store that has the 33 lb bag for $49.99
Fromm is a really good food, top quality ingredients, but the protein levels are a bit low and the price is a bit high.
Sorry for the confusion. I meant the Fromms Large breed puppy. And yes Grain inclusive. The Dr. Tim’s is also grain inclusive. Or one at least the one in the top 5 list a couple back is.
I believe the fromms gold is grain inclusive and its not all life stages.
Anyone have any opinions on Fromm’s Large Breed Gold. Everyone has given me some great ideas but I just ran across this yesterday. My indecisiveness is getting the best of me for these 11 pups! What makes this a 4 star food compared to something like Dr. Tims or Earthborn. To me the ingredients look better?
Yeah it’s just strange. I would give him a Swanson digestive enzyme with every meal and no luck in firming the stools. Also was giving him the Swanson probiotic but since then the vet gave me an iams probiotic with a really high bacteria count. I will though consider baking the pumpkin next time. Thank you patty
One thing with boiling pumpkin, it has already absorbed as much water as it can, so baking it may be a better strategy. Also if protein cause a loose stool, it is because the body has not adjusted enough yet and probiotics and digestive enzymes are the way to go.
Hmm.. the other thing that worked for Dom was putting him on a good quality probiotic as well. (Thanks to wonderful suggestions from the dog lovers here, actually! :] )
I tried giving him some natural pumpkin which I boiled for a little to soften it up for him. Unfortunately it didn’t help much till I switched him to a lower protein food.
Might be too much protein or his tummy might be disagreeing with something in the food. Try mixing in a little bit of plain canned pumpkin would be my suggestion, as it’s worked for me before.
-
This reply was modified 12 years, 7 months ago by
EHubbman.
My boy is not doing so well on nv. Everything is amazing and I definitely will be buying this food again cuz his coat is amazing and has no rashes anywhere but at this current time I think the formula has too much protein and is causing quite loose stools. Since then I’ve been mixing half nv and half of this natural balance and his stools has improved greatly. I’m thinking of trying dr Tim’s kinase grain inclusive next rotation. What do you guys think? Can a food with too much protein cause loose stools in a dog? I haven’t been over feeding him as I’m feeding under the recommended dosage and still wen I try and go back to more nv than the natural balance the stools go back to very soft.
As far as bag size and rotation goes, that is a personal choice. I always buy the big bag to save money and I have 3 dogs so I go throught it quickly. After you have transitioned a few times you will find that your dog no longer needs transitions so you don’t have to worry about having enough food for a transition. I know several people buy the small bags so they can switch more frequently. Once your dog is used to switching it really doesn’t matter, you can even do like I did last winter and have four bags open at once and feed something different every meal. And yes, you can feed a cheaper food one time knowing you are going to feed a more expensive food next. You can feed chicken one bag and lamb the next.
Oh! that makes alot of sense now. I’ll definitely keep an eye out fortthose sales
If you go now on wag.com you can use the code wagmobile and get 15% off. It takes down the price of nv to 62$
And yeah pet flow usually had the cheapest.
Sorry for the confusion. I had a discount code for the 1st order on wag.com of 15% off and also at the time they were doing a sale on NV. I just went back on the website and it’s back to regular price. I did find that wag.com wasn’t the cheapest but they most frequently had discounts and sales. Also super amazing customer service. They answered at 11 O’clock at night my time cuz I ordered the wrong formula and they were more than happy to help me.
Duke:
where on earth did you find the NV Rabbit for $53? the cheapest place I found was petflow.com. for $64.99
jewels i ordered the biggest NV Rabbit Meal online and i had it shipped to my door for $53. Shipping was free. I would really really strongly advise everyone to purchase online. Very cheap and very fast shipping and turnarounds.
To add to my previous question. What makes this a 4 star food compared to something like Dr. Tims or Earthborn. To me the ingredients look better?
Anyone have any opinions on Fromm’s Large Breed Gold. Everyone has given me some great ideas but I just ran across this yesterday. My indecisiveness is getting the best of me for these 11 pups!
Thanks guys! And no need to apologize, apriliamille. I appreciated your comments. If I am rotating at the end of each bag, then it will make it easier to try some brands I can’t find locally. I’ll just order a bag when I buy something at Petco and it will be waiting for me to use when needed. I could possibly rotate in one of those $80 NV Instinct Rabbit formulas… just as long as I’m not buying that every bag! (Wow, that’s steep.) When rotating, I assume I should buy the biggest bag of food so my pup has a decent period of time on it, right? Or does that matter? Also, do I need to rotate chicken to chicken formulas or can I switch chicken to lamb or chicken to rabbit (fish etc)? Is there a limit of how many different proteins (and possibly carbs) you should have in your rotation? Thanks!
jewels
sorry i wasnt trying to do a shameless plug for earthborn. i actually rotate between 2 differant food companies and have been testing a third
i only shared websites that I have seen and used their retail finder and an example of order ship times from chewy.com on a product i actually ordered
Rotate at the end of each bag and to different brands. Within a brand, they usually use the same vitamin/mineral premix so whatever it is high in will be high among all their foods and same with whatever it is low in.
Thanks! I was leaning towards the NV Prairie so that makes me feel more confident in my choice. 🙂 I will look in to where I can find Earthborn. I think I will start with NV Prairie however because it is easily available. Any thoughts on whether to use Large Breed Puppy or Puppy? Or a mixture of both? They are both on the list. Also, how often is it recommended to rotate food? When I rotate, is it best to stay within a brand, or does that not matter as long as the new food is introduced properly? If I start with NV Prairie can I rotate to Earthborn? Thanks!
jewels:
in my own personal opinion, I would completely avoid Innova. it used to be a very good brand. excellent even. but this past year it was recalled numerous times. it was bought out by Proctor and Gamble. I also think the same way as you do: is it worth driving further for a certain food? depending on how much further. if what I’m saving on the kibble, I’ll be spending in gas, I don’t think it is. but that’s just me. gas here in Los Angeles isn’t so cheap anymore. my choices would be NV Prairie, Wellness Core, Pinnacle, then Halo. I prefer my food to have some kind of meal in it. some people don’t, but to each his own. I don’t really know much about Avoderm. never really caught my attention enough to make me want to research or try it. I personally feed my GSD puppy Fromm Large Breed Puppy, but will be rotating to Earthborn once it’s time to get a new bag. Luckily I can get Earthborn pretty much anywhere here, and I think it’s an excellent brand.
-
This reply was modified 12 years, 7 months ago by
gsdmommy89.
Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the help! I am an hour away from Idaho Falls, and further from Rigby and Hailey. Idaho Falls is doable. My question now, I guess, is… since I can get Nature’s Variety Prairie, Halo Spot’s Stew, Pinnacle, Innova, Avoderm, and possibly Wellness Core (if the local Petco will order the puppy formula in)… is Earthborn Holistic really that much better that it’s worth the two hour round trip drive to get it? And if I decide to go with one of the brands I can get in my own town, what would the top two be out of the ones I just listed? Thanks everyone, this is really helpful!
jewels
are you any where near idaho falls?
there are a few victor pet foods on the list and their website says ameripet in idaho falls and pet center in rigby and 58 paws in hailey
i also did a zip code for idaho falls and set for 200 miles and got a decent list on the earthborn holistic website. try there for local retail stores?
http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/us/where_to_buy/retail_stores.php
some of the online stores have rotational automatic send out options so you dont have to worry. and you can get good foods for alot less then the amount you posted in your comment that i cant remember (80 a bag?) that i cant scroll up to see
blah lots of edits. i had a large bag of earthborn holistic come to me in central utah from petflow.com they shipped from las vegas. 2 days ship to american fork utah
-
This reply was modified 12 years, 7 months ago by
apriliamille.
-
This reply was modified 12 years, 7 months ago by apriliamille.
hi jewels. I asked HDM about Merrick and the company said that their calcium levels are over 2.0
The foods that didn’t make the list come in 2 categories. 1) They didn’t answer HDM’s request for info. 2) They were too high in calcium for large breed dogs.
She emailed every 4 and 5 star food to ask for the calcium info. Many didn’t bother to reply at all and many had too much calcium.
Also, any ideas why Merrick isn’t on the recommended list? My older standard poodle loves their food.
Thanks! I just got back from Petco (the only pet store around… I live in small town Idaho). I’m not able to find the majority of the recommended foods on the google document in my area. I know I could order online, but I’d really like to find something local that works. I tend to be scatter brained with all the kids and pets running around my house and I’d hate to run out of food and have to wait on shipping! Our Petco carries the Nature’s Variety Instinct line, which would be my first choice, but I’m pretty sure my hubby would croak if I bought an $80 plus bag of dog food. I looked around at what else they might have and they do have Wellness Core but not for puppies. The options I was able to find are Nature’s Variety Prairie options, the Halo Spot’s Stew options, Pinnacle options.. they might have the Avoderm options, and I think I can find Innova around here as well. Of these options, do you have any recommendations?
Nvm didn’t see the tab on, top,
4 months ago
