[Liz B]

I have my 8 y/0 Shepard Akita mix on a very expensive dry food -Orijen- plus a homemade liver supplement added in. He’s been on this for over a year. He still has a dry, flaky coat and his tail looks more like a palm frond. It used to be a very thick-plumed tail. I don’t know what else to do. He is otherwise pretty healthy and fit. Does coconut oil help?

[Pitlove]

Hi Mariet-

Orijen Large Puppy is formulated to be safe for a large breed puppy, however you will not know how she does on it until you feed it. Make sure and tranisition her from her old food to Orijen.

[anonymously]

My small breeds do well on Nutrisca Salmon and Chickpea. https://www.chewy.com/dogswell-nutrisca-grain-free-salmon/dp/35033

I am tempted to try Orijen 6 fish…..but I can’t get beyond the price tag.

Kibble by itself no matter how good the quality is boring by itself. I add a splash of water, a bit of scrambled egg, cooked chicken, lean meat…something to make it interesting.
The kibble is just a base (imo)

[Kitty W]

I would like to nominate Nulo, at least the puppy salmon and peas formula. The company is locally based (Austin), so I might be biased, but the ingredients are right up there with other premium brands. I rotate it with Orijen puppy formula, but Nico (15-week-old Sheltie mix) loves the Nulo, paws down!

[Yolanda C]

Thanks! My puppy didn’t like the taste of Wellness (thankfully) so I switched to Orijen. Couldn’t be happier. I add a little warm water to the kibble and the smell is amazing. She loves it.

[Marionne H]

Hi texasniteowl,

I am no expert, but here’s what I know so far. The manufacturing of Acana for US markets is transitioning/has transitioned to Kentucky. The primary reason stated by the company for this move is increasing shipping costs and the expansion of the popularity of the foods in the US market. Champion is being very open about the move to Kentucky, and is proud of their new facility which has been constructed. Lots of data on the new kitchens is available on the acana.com website. The manufacturing of Orijen for US markets will also be moving to Kentucky.

They have changed their formulas. Given the new location and their focus on local sourcing of ingredients, some of the changes will be driven by the fact that they will be sourcing from Kentucky farms and surrounding areas. For some formulas (like the regional formulas), they are increasing the amount of meat in comparison with the old formulas, with more fresh and raw inclusions. This will explain changes in the ingredient list like deboned lamb now being the first ingredient instead of lamb meal in the formula you mentioned. In order to keep protein levels high with more fresh meat ingredients, we may see a higher level and different mix of legumes, so this may explain some of the other changes in the ingredient list. Not sure about the other ingredient changes like more produce, seeds, botanicals, etc…but it seems to be following the current trend to include a broader spectrum of ingredients.
It does seem that Champion is committed to making a good line of foods in Kentucky, using local sourcing and addressing the US market. After much pondering myself, I decided that it sounds like Acana is continuing to head in the right direction, and that time will tell as with any change (we’ll just have to watch vigilantly). So, I bought a bag, deciding that Acana will be in my dog’s rotation.
She didn’t like it. The kibbles were too big and she didn’t seem to care for the taste. So much for all that research!

[texasniteowl]

Hmm…we will see how things go with this new bag of Acana Singles: Lamb. I better not find any plastic pieces in it! I suppose if Orijen is still produced in Canada I might have to relook into which Orijen formula to try if the new Kentucky plant Acana doesn’t go well.

I don’t think I have a bag of the old Lamb left to compare with (since we alternate and are on a bag of duck right now). I am going to go look for sure right now though.

[Pitlove]

Hi-

I work at a store that sells both Orijen and Acana. As of right now Orijen has not changed because it is still being solely manufactured out of Canada. There is talk (and this most likely will happen) of Orijen being moved over to the DogStar plant in the future. Orijen is however about to down size their large bags to a 25lb and slightly decrease the price (which they just recently increased). What I have heard from a few reps is that a lot of loyal Champion customers are not happy with the foods coming out of the new plant. In fact a few people on the review side have mentioned finding pieces of plastic in the new Acana Hertiage line. Guess time will tell as they are probably trying to get into the swing of things.

As for Acana…If you compare the old bag to the new bag you will see not a whole lot has changed except for rearranging a few items and adding several most likely unnecessary items at the end of the ingredient list like rose hips and juniper berries.

[texasniteowl]

My Wilson has been on alternating bags of Acana Singles – Lamb and Acana Singles – Duck for over a year, maybe 2 yrs? now. We are finishing up a bag of duck so I stopped by my local dog food store for a bag of lamb. And she let me know that it is out of the Kentucky plant now. She implied the lamb and duck formulas had no change as far as ingredients but warned that the fish based ones like Orijen Six Fish did change because of different types fish in Kentucky vs. Canada.

So first…anyone else started a bag out of Kentucky yet? Did you notice any differences?

I will probably cold turkey switch it since that is what we do between bags anyway. So hopefully all goes well.

Worst case scenario…anyone have suggestions for different foods I should keep in mind? With similar protein levels, etc.? To be honest, I would be OK with a few less legumes in it. We really liked the old formula that even had some oats in it. Though Wilson has done well enough on this newer formula even with the legumes.

[Allie S]

That dog food sounds promising, I’ll put it on my list of future dog foods to try!. I do agree with you, changing dog foods is always hesitant especially if your dogs have done good on it for so long.
I love Chewy! Thats where we get all our dog food from, my other dog Molley does really well on Blue Buffalo Wilderness Toy so I’m not changing it (1 good solid poop in the morning everyday- couldn’t ask for anything better). Orijen for 3 dogs is a lot of money to be spending, not going to lie – I probably couldn’t do it either. But since Blue is the only one on it (a 5lbs of dog food lasts 1 month and 1.5 weeks), it lasts longer and isn’t so much a price tag issue because its only 3-4$ more than Blue Buffalo & we get free shipping on orders over 49$ 😀

[anonymously]

My dogs do well on Nutrisca Salmon and Chickpea and Chicken dry as a base, over 4 years. One is a small breed with environmental allergies and has about 3 small bms a day, it is what it is.
The other two go about 2X per day. The old guy was a feces eater in his youth, but he doesn’t bother any more…my other feces eater got cancer and passed away at 9+ years.

Check Chewy . com for prices, I am thinking of trying Orijen but I can’t get beyond the price tag.
All 3 of my dogs went to the vet for annuals recently, lab work etc, all tested within normal limits. So, I am hesitant to try anything new, for now.

[Allie S]

So I feed Acana twice a day morning and night 1/4 cup – sometimes he doesn’t even eat, he’ll just skip a meal or will grab the 1-2 kibbles and barry it all around the house (its great when you sit down somewhere and kibble just comes popping out or Blue will nudge me to move because I’m sitting on his “dog food pantry”. I’ve even locked him up in his crate so he couldn’t go and pretend he was a squirrel and barry distribute his food around the house, but instead of eating – he just goes to sleep LOL.
I just ordered a 5lb bag of Orijen Adult dog food, looks like theres about 4-6% less carbohydrates than Acana and multiple websites I’ve came across stated to switch them on a high protein low carbohydrate. Looked at Fromm, made me nervous & I bailed out of that because carbohydrates are around 40%! Big things that I think of is Will my dog get a hot spot or some sort of skin or yeast infection due to different kinds of dog foods, because that is something messy I would love to avoid all in all because he has loads of hair.. I would spend the money on premium dog food just to avoid that mess, but every things a gamble. Next I looked at Evo, but ASH content was about 11%, seemed a little high.. Then it was Dr. Tim Kinesis, we used to have a lab and she was on it, she did great, but then I read about beet pulp and how it can be used as an artificial stool firmer and if they get gastrointestinal problems you’d never know because of that ingredient. Finally, my last choice was Solid Gold Barking at the moon high in protein and low in carbohydrates, but I saw on another discussion that orijen has way less grains than Solid gold soo I chose Orijen for now… (blue was on solid gold lil boss & had borderline diarrhea and pooped about 5 times a day)… Would anyone like to give input on the dog food choices? I also saw Natures Logic, but carbohydrates are about 35%.. (all percentages are from the food analysis on this website)

Crushed pineapple? hmm, canned or fresh? Sounds like a good idea!
I guess I could walk him more, he has great stamina, like amazing, he can out-walk me – after 2 miles I call it a day lol (momma gets tired)

[Strict] Scooping the poop looks like its the go – to plan for me at this moment, even if the pineapple and new dog food doesn’t work… It seems to me that my dog blue is like a baby lol (always need changing the diaper aka picking up the poop)

[Jenn H]

Wow your story & life is so parallel to mine. My husband is a firefighter. And my pup is also an inutero rescue. Seems desperate animals & people always find their way to fire stations.
My friend adopted a very young GSD and was told she wasn’t pregnant. We ended up basically hand raising the pups as mom had no interest in anything other than playing. She had absolutely zero maternal instinct. And was very jealous of the babies getting so much attention.
Anyway, Crazy4cats advice is exactly what I would suggest. First make sure there is nothing wrong health wise. Then try a probiotics. Either what she suggested or Wysong Pet Innoculant.
It has been my experience that dogs weaned too soon tend to have very sensitive bellies. Transitioning to new foods (and even situations) can cause upset easily. When trying a new food go even slower than the usual 2 wks. Sometimes it can take a month or more for them to adjust.
While doing so try adding:
*pure pumpkin (not pie filling)
*white rice, including the water it’s boiled in
*letting kibble soak in warmish water for a few minutes
*adding digestive enzymes-preferably animal sourced w/ pancreatin otherwise plant based w/ protase, amylase, lipase, cellulose
If possible feed 1-2 hrs after meals.
A limited ingredient food may also help him.
I haven’t looked up the protein amts for all the foods you’ve tried but I can tell you I recently tried switching my pup to a food with higher protein (Orijen from Solid Gold) and it did not go well. I chose another (Acana) with less and it’s much easier on him. Eventually we’ll try Orijen again. It was just too much if a leap at the time.
As you can see there is much you can do to help your guy. Most importantly be very patient and take things very slowly with him.

[zcRiley]

Stop everything asap and go back to that puppy food. Don’t add water, can cause bloat. Puppy food can be given slightly pass the 1st year, it won’t kill her. If she stops eating that then it’s time for a full exam and blood work. Check for worms. Dogs may not like a certain ingredient in a kibble, especially if it upsets their stomachs. You can start rotating foods after you do an allergy panel to learn more about her food intolerances. Order food from Chewy.com, great selection of higher quality dry and wet formulas. Free fast shipping of $49 and over. I feed Zignature Zssentials now after my pups became allergic to Orijen Adult kibble.

[Tom H]

My one year old Clumber Spaniel went from being an excellent eater to a limited eater in the past 7 days. Up until 8 months of age, I fed her Orijen Large Puppy. At 8 months switched her to Orijen Adult dog. Feed twice a day, approx. 1.5 cups per meal. I add a little water to the kibble; originally started this practice to slow her eating down. Everything was great until a week ago (i.e., weight, appetite, poop, etc.). About a week ago she started sniffing her food and walking away. I’d leave it down for 15 minutes, then take it up until the next feeding time. After 2 to 3 days of this, I gave her Acana Duck and Pear (limited formula we feed our two Westies). She ate that fine for about 2 days and then started walking away from it. Tonight, I added a little Merrick classic canned food to her meal and she turned away. Again, I left it down for 15 to 30 minutes. No interest. I’ve owned dogs all my life. I’ve never had a dog walk away from quality food. I’m lost on what to do next. In my area we have big box stores (Walmart, Petco, Petsmart), but no place with higher-end food. (I mail order all my food which is fine until you need to conduct a trial/sample. I’m new to the forum world and would appreciate some suggestions on how to stimulate her appetite or what food to consider.

[zcRiley]

Esbilac puppy milk powder and Orijen puppy food. Small amounts, 4 times a day. One of those times will be in the middle of the night, 2 or 3am. Lots of fresh water & something safe & soft to chew. So glad you rescued him from the consequences of a $20 fee.

[Pitlove]

Hi Nikkie-

Welcome to the forums. Firstly, it sounds like your boy is not going to be inheriting the large size of the bloodhound and is probably just about done growing if he is at 35lbs and almost a year old. In another month he’s probably good to go on an adult maintenance or all life stages formula.

It is definitely strange that sometimes the stool quality is really good and sometimes really poor. It does not really make sense (to me at least) that sometimes his body is absorbing the nutrients better than other times, but perhaps it has to do with his strange eating habits. I definitely agree with anonymously’s suggestion of the Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach. It’s formulated without corn, wheat and soy and has excellent digestability and for a fish based food seems to have good palatability. Orijen is probably going to be way out of your price range.

Saying a “good food = good urine and bowels” is a bit too general because “good” can mean a lot of things. The best dog food is the one your dog does the best on and part of that is having high bioavialibility and high digestibility. Some of the “top rated” foods on here have poor digestibility or they don’t agree with the dogs stomach for a variety of reasons or they have poor palatability and the dog won’t touch it which renders the food useless. The 2.5-3 star or 4 star foods are probably a good place to start, but just remember, if your dog does well on the food that is what matters, not the star rating. BTW there are actually a couple of 5 star foods that are reasonably priced (Dr. Tim’s for example). Just depends on how much you want to pay per lb.

[anonymously]

Unless your dog has a medical condition and a veterinarian has recommended a low-sodium diet….. Healthy dogs usually do not need a special dog food that is low in sodium. Most brands have a minimum amount of sodium, .3%, for maintenance of body functions that require it.

That being said, I read that Orijen has less sodium than other brands. However, the price might be a deterrent. With the better brands you will find you need to feed less kibble, it is dense and less like sawdust as with the cheap brands.

My dogs do well on Nutrisca dry as a base, with a topper such as a spoonful of scrambled egg (made with water) cooked chopped lean meat or chicken, tuna, a spoonful of homemade chicken broth (nothing added) just boil a chicken for 3+ hours, debone, defat, freeze 2-3 day servings, it makes about a quart.
Check chewy.com for prices. If you get a large bag you can freeze 1/2 of it and store the rest in an airtight container, in the fridg if you have room, or at least in a cool dry room.

I add a splash of water to the food, my senior gets his kibble presoaked with water.

Dogs that are prone to weight gain do well with a one hour walk per day, even at a leisurely pace.
Offer meals twice a day, if he doesn’t eat pick it up store in the fridg and offer at the next meal time. He will eat when he is hungry, if he doesn’t eat times 3 days consult a veterinarian. Make sure he is drinking adequate water. Oh, and he is old enough for adult food.
Also, if his bowel habits don’t stabilize soon, I would take him to the vet.

[Dog Pack Mom]

Hi theBCnut

It sounds like you feed pretty much the way I would like to feed. Could you go into more detail of how often you feed each food form? What supplements you add? Are the supplements also rotated or only given when feeding certain meals, etc? I currently rotate a couple of different lower carb kibbles from each Orijen, Nature’s Variety, Merrick, EVO, and Dogswell. I tried raw full time and it became too much for me timewise. I can’t afford premade raw full time so I’m looking at how to incorporate more fresh foods or other food forms into my kibble rotation and trying to find a method that keeps it on the simple side.

[Stephanie B]

Hi Teresa B- I totally understand not wanting to return to diarrhea issues!! And it sounds like she’s getting lots of exercise, that’s great! We adopted ours as a senior and she weighed 94lbs…she’s gotten down to 84 with about 6 more pounds to go. Do you feed treats between meals? I know those can add up so if you do you should factor them in to her daily calories (there’s a calculator on this site that helps you figure out the recommended daily calories for a dog’s ideal weight and activity level.)

I’ve never used Natural Balance foods so all I can go off of is the label and lower ratings here due to the high carbohydrate content and low protein (Potato is listed as the first ingredient…ideally I’d try to find something with the protein(s) listed first.) That being said if your pup really does well on it and you can’t find an alternative that isn’t causing diarrhea, it’s only 375/cup which is not excessively high. The very high quality protein rich foods (Acana, Orijen, Wysong, etc.) are in the 450-500cal/cup range. So, you could cut back just a little on the serving size per meal of her current food (either mixing in wet food or not) and see if it aids in weight loss. As far as suggestions see below:

Ones that I’ve tried and like (or I should say Heidie liked 🙂 ) are:
Wellness Core Reduced Fat 360cal/cup
Dr. Tim’s Metabolite 268.6cal/cup
Weruva Caloric Harmony Venison & Salmon w/ Pumpkin 348cal/cup
Orijen Senior 445cal/cup (this one is higher calorie so I tend to mix 50/50 with either Wellness Core RF or Dr. Tims Metabolite to cut down the cals per meal)

Some I’ve researched (but haven’t fed yet) that could be viable options to try are:
Annamaet Grain Free Lean Low Fat 350 cal/cup
Nature’s Variety Instinct Grain Free Healthy Weight 347cal/cup
Premium Edge Healthy Weight I 347cal/cup
Nulo Freestyle Cod and Lentils 368cal/cup
Dr. Tim’s RPM Salmon & Pork Grain Free 389cal/cup

If it seems like your dog is having a lot of digestive issues with new foods it might be worth getting an allergy test done to narrow down what foods you can try based on their ingredients.

Hope this helps…all the best!

[Dog Pack Mom]

This is the beginning of the ingredient list for Orijen Regional Red: Boneless angus beef*, boneless wild boar*, boneless lamb*, beef liver*, boneless pork*, pork liver*, whole herring*, lamb liver*, beef meal, lamb meal, herring meal, salmon meal, pollock meal, beef tripe*, bison*, lamb fat, whole egg*. Since the first several ingredients are fresh meats and would contain a high percentage of water they would actually fall further down the list. If you go down the list to the meals, there are two sources of red meat meals but 3 different sources of fish meals. Does any one know if the end product actually contains more protein from red meat sources or fish sources?

[InkedMarie]

Take a look at Annamaet Lean or Wellness Core reduced fat. I honestly don’t know what the calorie count is; both are “diet” foods. Oh, Orijen Senior too.

[Dog Pack Mom]

This is the beginning of the ingredient list for Orijen Regional Red: Boneless angus beef*, boneless wild boar*, boneless lamb*, beef liver*, boneless pork*, pork liver*, whole herring*, lamb liver*, beef meal, lamb meal, herring meal, salmon meal, pollock meal, beef tripe*, bison*, lamb fat, whole egg*. Since the first several ingredients are fresh meats and would contain a high percentage of water they would actually fall further down the list. If you go down the list to the meals, there are two sources of red meat meals but 3 different sources of fish meals. Does any one know if the end product actually contains more protein from red meat sources or fish sources?

[Jenn H]

I have a LBP and fed him this until 6 months. By that age he was so big he need a lot. It was getting too expensive and causing loose stool. Plus he just wasn’t satisfied after eating.
The reason I chose it was because the calcium amount was right. If you search for Hounddogmom she has a list posted that has 4-5 star brands that are safe for LBP.
My guy is 9 months now and I’m in the process of transitioning him to Orijen from Solid Gold Wolf Cub. I didn’t want to have get something so expensive, but after doing the math I think it’ll end up being about the same price per cup if not a little less.
The reason for switching was because he hasn’t been gaining weigt. In order to get him to where he should be I have to feed him 6-7 cups. That’s just too much kibble.
With that comes a lot of cleaning up.
With Orijen he won’t need more than 3 cups and I expect he won’t poop out as much given it’s nutrient rich. It’s just a more dense food.

There’s quite a few good choices for LBPs. Just do your research and be prepared to pay more up front for the quality stuff. It doesn’t end up being more expensive when they aren’t getting rid of the extras and you have to feed less.
I also contact the foods before switching to ask what the max calcium is in their food. They’re always just putting min. It makes me crazy. (Orijen does list min & max. Practically like it for that reason alone.)

[anonymously]

I have 3 small breed dogs, two are seniors, one has allergies. They all do well on Nutrisca Salmon and Chickpea dry as a base, I add a topper (1/3rd of the meal) such as cooked chopped chicken or scrambled egg, meat…canned food when I’m desperate.
All 3 (annual checkups) have had lab work within normal limits recently, so I hesitate to try anything new. Although, Orijen and Fromm look good. I may try them at some point.

PS: Add a splash of water, a lot of dogs don’t drink enough water, for seniors soak the kibble in water overnight before serving. Check Chewy.com for prices.
Also, if you pour a tablespoon of homemade chicken broth (no chemicals) over the kibble (any kibble)….they will eat it, unless they are sick.
Kibble all by itself is boring. You have to add at least a spoonful of something. Just my opinion.

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by anonymously.

[Analicia H]

Hello,
I have a 4 month old Dane who was on Iams Smart puppy food plus Eukanuba Large Breed (half and half). Breeder has his Danes on this diet for years, and never had a problem. My puppy is constantly having soft stools and problems with anal glands. The vet recommends the Royal Canin Food because of probiotics and omegas added to it (he sells it at his office). From what I see this website has low ratings for that food. He cannot be on grain free or large breed (giant breed is recommended since they have different needs). I would love to be on Orijen but I can’t afford that… Any recommendations? Thank you 🙂

[Jenn H]

Well my other thought is to feed him Orijen and something else. I don’t mind combo feeding 2 different brands. I’ll look at chewy and see if that’s the way to go.
Thanks again.

[Pitlove]

No problem! Hope Orijen works for him! I agree with the foods like Dr. Tim’s, but I do think its worth it to get off chewy.com. Really good price for a good food. And big bags!

[Jenn H]

Thanks Pitlove.
I had to get him something today since he was all out of the Wolf Cub I figured if I get a small bag of that and small bag of something else I can begin transitioning right away.
I ended up settling on Orijen Puppy. They didn’t have the 5# bag of Orijen Puppy Large though. But Orijen being so good they have the min AND max calcium listed!
It is 1.6% max which is still in the safe margin. Not as low as I would like, but at least we can start getting used to the richer, denser food and see how it goes.
I will certainly keep your suggestions handy. Just in case this doesn’t work out or as additions to his rotation. I keep my pups on puppy food until about 18 months.
It’s a pain because so many of the really good foods I’d have to order online. Like Dr Tim’s.
We’ll see how this goes…

[Pitlove]

Hi Carol-

I agree both Orijen’s bags and website are cluttered with information which makes it difficult to find more important information. I was able to find the calories on the website under the Feeding Guidelines

Here it is: ME (calculated metabolizable energy) is 3980 kcal/kg (478 kcal per 250ml/120g cup).

Hope this helps!

[Carol H]

I’ve been noticing that the calorie count of dog food is not always on the package. It isn’t always listed on the mfg site either. It would be helpful if it was posted where you evaluate dog food.

I just bought a bag of Orijen Adult Dog and can’t find the calories anywhere.

Thanks
Carol

[Dog Pack Mom]

I have tried multiple times to feed raw. My toy dogs do well on it but I just run out of steam on grinding or preparing it. Ordering premade raw foods seems very expensive even compared to higher priced kibbles like Orijen. I would be interested in an easy recipe as well.

[Mallary P]

Hi all:

My beloved (spayed) Shih Tzu will be 9 years old this year and I’ve recently [this month] switched her to the Fromm Surf and Turf Grain Free food, which she seems to enjoy. My dog has LOTS of food allergies and we spent about two years plus lots of trial/error to find her a good food. In the beginning the vet had her on Science Diet and steroids for about a week, but that was not a long term solution. She gets whelps (almost like acne) all over her and it’s very itchy. Poor baby. For a long time, she was on Nature’s Recipe limited Ingredient Chicken and Sweet Potato Food. She did well on it [no breakouts], but it wasn’t as great when I read the report on her. Given that she is moving into her senior years, I want to make sure she has the best quality everything because I love her and I want her around for a long time. She gets a decent amount of exercise for a Shih Tzu and is a good weight–according to the vet.

I see some of the forums on here suggesting that they given their dogs different high quality foods in rotation. She’s really enjoying Fromm, but I would like to give her another high quality food to give her some variety. Any recommendations? Acana, Orijen, etc?

She generally does better with Chicken, Salmon, and duck. Beef, Pork, and too much diary has proven to be no-nos in our house. She loves raw carrots as a treat and antler bones to chew. Sometimes I give her high quality canned food, so if I could get both kibble/ canned food recommendations that would be great!

[zcRiley]

Orijen started building its new facilities 2 years, stating it couldn’t meet the demands for the US and shipping costs were rising, etc. After 3 years of rotating high quality dog foods, I’ve learned that the smallest change can wreak havoc on a great dog food. The look and smell or a bad reaction from my pups (gas, diarrhea). Kentucky is not Canada no matter how you slice n dice it. See if your pet does well on Acana now, if yes, you’ll eventually get a bag made here in the states. My babies were thriving on Orijen Adult until they made a tweak in the ingredients resulting in tons of vet visits. We are now extremely happy on Zignature Zssentials and Halo Vigor and ZiwiPeak.

[Marionne H]

Hi Deb B,

Yes, the change is majorly featured on the Acana website. The fact that they are being open about it and are promoting the change is a good sign, but it still makes me nervous. We’ve seen too many changes in the dog food industry that are not for the better. You can find the info here:
http://acana.com/dogstar-kitchens/?lang=usa

Acana intended for the US markets will be manufactured in the new Kentucky kitchens. I believe that Orijen intended for the US market will also be manufactured in Kentucky over time. There is a mention of Orijen being produced in Kentucky on this site, and I am still researching that.

[Marionne H]

I’ve been debating on switching my dog to Acana. I like that it is made by Champion (same manufacturer as Orijen) and that it is manufactured in Canada. However, Champion is moving the manufacturing for Acana to Kentucky. I am concerned that the quality could begin to slide. Any thoughts on this?

[Pitlove]

As far as I’m aware, legally the company has to comply only with AAFCO. I don’t know that they have to with the NRC, though it is recommended and I believe AAFCO has used the NRC’s guidelines in the past when revising their own. Personally, I’d like to see them comply with both, but thats just my opinion. And yes I do believe some effort is being made for NRC and AAFCO to come to a concensus on nutrient profile guidelines.

Great! Let me know how the call goes. For right now, I’m only interested in who manufactures them. We do carry the brand at work as of recent, but we carry enough brands similar to it that I can’t see myself recommending it. Perhaps only to an Orijen customer looking for something with higher meat content for a lower price.

[Thomas Carroll]

I recently putchased a petsafe automatic dog feeder and it seems to be designed to work with smaller food as it is dispensing less than half of what it should. I feed my 90lb labrador Orijen Adult.

Can someone recommend an automatic feeder that will work with larger bites? I am looking for one with a very large capacity and can be programmed to feed at least 3 meals/day.

[anonymously]

I would call the vet, they must have a 24/7 emergency veterinary clinic near you. They have payment plans and they take credit cards.
A veterinarian that has examined your dog should be the one to advise you.

Stop the raw and all bones. Bland diet for a few days, is probably what they will say.
Make sure he is drinking water, maybe add a little to his soft cooked food.

PS: When he recovers, look into a high quality kibble, my dogs like Nutrisca, but I hear good things about Fromm and Orijen.

[Pitlove]

I still find the food to be misleading in certain ways. The 80/20 ratio is also misleading as it is before the meats are cooked. In fact, brands like Nulo actually have a higher percent of meat than Orijen does.

Canidae’s brand Under the Sun did what you were talking about with Merrick. Every one of their products had Pork Meal as the first ingredient, yet said “Chicken and Rice”, “Lamb and Rice” etc on the front of the bag.

[C4D]

Sorry about my earlier post with the misspelling of food. Darn cell phones! 🙁

I don’t know if I agree with you on the Orijen, Pitlove. It is certainly better and less misleading than many others. It lists most of the proteins used right on the front of the bags along with the percentages of meat/vegetables, etc. and most people are conditioned to feeding kibble.

I do hate the foods, like Alpo that have captions like “T-Bone Steak & Ribeye Flavor” when the actual ingredients are chicken, unnamed liver and unnamed meat byproducts along with soy flour and rice flour as the actual ingredients. Even though it says “flavor”, most people don’t understand that. It’s a marketing scam, IMHO.

Among the better foods, I personally dislike when foods call it a particular meat in the label when, in fact, the majority is not. A good example of this is Merrick Grain Free Bison & Sweet Potato. Granted, there is Bison, but it’s followed by chicken, turkey and salmon meal, which by weight would be the actual main ingredients. I and many other posters here, have dogs with sensitivities to certain protein sources and this makes it seem deceptive.

[Pitlove]

If Blue Wilderness would count, I suppose I would nominate Orijen since the raw feeders would never use the term “Biologically Appropriate Dog Food” for kibble.

Kibbles N’ Bits would get a nomination as well.

[Naturella]

Kim M., welcome to the forum, you will find tons of useful information here! 🙂

And you are welcome, anytime! Happy to help if I can. Actually, my list has expanded as I have done more research, but just know, these are MOSTLY poultry-free (if not, it is notated), but I was not looking for potato-free options necessarily. Some do happen to be potato-free, but you would have to look into it separately. Here is my updated list:

Orijen
Six Fish
Regional Red
Tundra (duck – MAYBE)

Acana
Wild Atlantic
Appalachian Ranch
Grasslands (duck, eggs – MAYBE)
Freshwater Fish
Heritage Meats
Wild Mackerel
Lamb and Apple
Pork and Squash

EVO
Herring and Salmon Formula
Red Meat Small Bites

Nature’s Variety Instinct
Salmon
Rabbit
Raw Boost Lamb

Castor and Pollux
Ultramix Salmon
Ultramix Red Meat with Raw Bites

Merrick
Backcountry Raw Infused Pacific Catch Recipe
Backcountry Raw Infused Great Plains Red Meat
Grain Free Salmon and Sweet Potato
Grain Free Real Texas Beef and Sweet Potato
Grain Free Lamb and Sweet Potato

ZiwiPeak (air-dried, not kibble)
Venison and Fish
Venison
Beef
Lamb

Annamaet
Aqualuk
Manitok

TimberWolf Organics
Ocean Blue
Wilderness Elk and Salmon
Black Forest Venison and Lamb
Lamb with Potatoes and Apples

Wellness Core
Ocean

Victor
Yukon Salmon and Sweet Potato

Horizon Legacy
Adult Fish

Fromm Gold
Salmon Tunalini
Beef Frittata Veg
Lamb and Lentil

I and Love and You
Simply Sea
Red Meat Medley

Holistic Select
Grain Free Salmon, Anchovy, and Sardine Meal

Only Natural Pet
Just Fish Feast
Red Meat Feast
Lamb and Cod Air Dried
Beef Air Dried
Lamb and Sweet Potato Easy Raw
Beef and Sweet Potato Easy Raw

Wysong
Epigen Fish
Epigen Venison
Anergen 2 – Rabbit

Canine Caviar
Wild Ocean
Wilderness
Open Range
Open Meadow

Earthborn Holistic
Coastal Catch
Great Plains Feast

Zignature
Whitefish
Trout and Salmon
Kangaroo
Lamb
Zssential (turkey, duck – MAYBE)

Canidae Pure
Sea
Land

AvoDerm
Trout and Pea
Lamb and Sweet Potato

NutriSource
Seafood Select

Pure Vita
Salmon and Peas
Bison and Pea
Venison and Red Lentils (fat product – MAYBE)

Farmina (eggs – MAYBE)
N&D Grain Free Fish and Orange
N&D Grain Free Lamb and Blueberry

Weruva (eggs – MAYBE)
Venison and Salmon Meal Dinner with Pumpkin
Lamb Dinner with Lentils

Taste of the Wild
Pacific Stream Puppy
Appalachian Valley (egg, duck – MAYBE)
Pine Forest (egg – MAYBE)
Southwest Canyon (egg – MAYBE)
Sierra Mountain (egg – MAYBE)

Dogswell LiveFree (egg – MAYBE)
Salmon
Lamb

Nutrisca (egg – MAYBE)
Salmon and Chickpea

[InkedMarie]

The only way to really stop poop eating is to pick it up as soon as they go.
Neither food you’ve fed is very good. I assume your dogs are seniors and/or need to lose weight. Senior dogs don’t need a senior food; most of them are too low in protein for senior dogs, the exception being Orijen senior.

If they need to lose weight, look at Annamaet Lean or Wellness Core reduced fat. Both may help with the gas; you can try a probiotic as well.

[InkedMarie]

You dont need a senior food. Most of them are too low in protein. Senior dogs need higher protein. Orijen senior is the exception; very good food. Any high quality, higher protein food is what you want. Head over to the review side & choose a 4 or 5 star food.

Foods I like are Annamaet, Dr Tim’s, Farmina, Natures Logic, Acaca, Orijen

[Lorelee H]

Hi guys!
I’m new here — just found this forum. Thank goodness for you all!

I have a 13 month old labrador retriever, large, stocky English lines, currently weighing around 87 lbs. He was neutered 3 weeks ago.

His breeder had him on Purina Pro Plan puppy and I kept him on that until he was diagnosed with acid reflux. He is on a daily Pepcid and per vet he has been on Royal Canin prescription high energy food for several months. No more problems with reflux.

SO, my first question (if you made it this far!): I’d like to transition him to another food. Vet (of course) suggests that he stay on Royal Canin prescription or Hill’s or an over the counter Royal Canin.

I’ve checked out Fromm, Acana, Wellness, Orijen. Also the food sold at Costco (my last lab was on their lamb and rice and did great).

Second question: Should he be on the puppy version OR the adult version?

Thank you SO much for your advice!

Lora (and Truman!)

[Lisa O]

It simply means you are going to have a big dog lol! Nutritional requirements are based somewhat on the breed,,but more so on what the average optimal weight of that breed should be. Larger breeds usually reach their height around the 1 year mark and then may fill out a bit more throught second year. Stick to a good brand that does not have more calcium than is needed and optimum protein levels. If your dog is growing at fast rate, as mine did, feed three meals a day so that she gets a steady flow of nutrition and not overload her body, as I am sure she is pretty active and has high energy needs.
I now only feed Acana or Orijen to my dogs along with some homemade fresh food. The actual,best way to tell if you are over or underfeeding is by the body shape. They should not be rotund and you should be able to feel a bit of the ribs. Obviously, weighing her every few weeks is a tell tale sign. Hope this helps!

[Michelle B]

Okay, so the cases above are examples of ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE. Evidence of that sort does not give you a strong case when you are trying to prove a point.

Let’s keep in mind that most dogs that eat meat are being fed crap foods such as Beneful, Science Diet, Pedigree, or Purina which contain lovely ingredients such as animal byproducts, mystery meat, ingredients from China, and loads of corn. And which are notorious for having frequent recalls.

And perhaps people that feed their dogs vegan diets are more health-conscious than the average dog guardian (who feeds their dog the above brands). So maybe this means that their dogs often eat fresh veggies such as kale, broccoli, bell peppers, etc, which are shown to reduce a dog’s chance of cancer. Cancer is a common cause of death for dogs over 10 years of age, so the inclusion of fresh fruits & veggies would skew any outcome.

What you need is a long-term (10 years or longer) study that follows three groups of dogs (you need a large enough sample, 100,000 dogs per group would be best). One group will eat a meat-heavy quality kibble such as Orijen. The vegan group will eat a comparable quality kibble such as…? The third group, which is your control group, will eat the most commonly fed kibble, which will probably be something like Pedigree. Then follow those dogs for their entire lifespan. But don’t just look at how many years they live (their date of birth must be DOCUMENTED), also look at their health, well-being, and overall quality of life. You also have to look at factors such as breed of dog (or whether they are mutts), whether they were neutered or spayed (and how old they were when it happened), how much and what types of physical exercise do they get, etc. All of these factors need to be controlled so that you can determine the effect of the diet without making conclusions based on correlations. And the study must be unbiased (not conducted or financed by a group that has a political or financial interest in pushing meat or a vegan diet). If there was some way to make the study double-blind (such as reformulating the kibble so that the owner or the scientist could not recognize which kibble the dog was eating), then that would increase the validity of the study.

Completing a study of this magnitude would give us the clearest idea of which diet is the healthiest for DOGS. I put dogs in caps, because you can’t apply nutrition studies done on HUMANS to dogs. Canines are primarily carnivores, while our closest living relatives, chimpanzees, are primarily herbivores; although they eat small amounts (5% of their diet) of animal protein like monkeys and termites. The average human diet is so far from what is biologically appropriate for us.

This is what I like to call SCIENCE!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Michelle B.

[Taunia A]

Have you looking into Satori Dog Food..its a grain free Canadian kibble but lower in protein than Orijen. My dogs love it! May be worth looking at!

[Karen D]

Hi, I started feeding my soon to be 14 yr. old the Orijen Senior on recommendation from this site last Nov., she loved it for the first 15# bag, the next 28# bag not so much, to the point of spitting it out… she has been diagnosed with a heart murmur recently & put on Vetmedin & Vet says the Orijen Sr. has too much protein at 38% & she would like to see it around 26-27%. I don’t know if not feeling well contributed to her not liking it or what, so I ordered Acana Duck & Bartlett Pear with 27% protein. I gave the neighbor dog a sniff of the Orijen instead of her usual Fruitable treat & she walked away. maybe I got a bad batch?