[Kathleen C]

Great, thank you so much. I feed him the Weruva kibble, venison, and was just in the pet store this A.M. but didn’t know about the Weruva treats. I will pick up the kibble order Wed. and see if she has the treats too. She’s very high on the brand so hopefully she does. She may also carry some of the others.

[Kathleen C]

From what I hear, Nylabones are made out of nylon? I used to give them to my dogs and did know this, but now I stay away from them. No problems but have had two dogs die young with very unusual diseases for dogs. I have no idea why one got Cushings and another a blood cancer, but food can be the reasons for many diseases dogs get.

[Kathleen C]

I give my 19 pound Boston Terrier Himalayan Dog Chews from a local pet store that seems to be very hands on when it comes to the dog foods and treats she carries. It’s made from Yak and cow milk, salt and lime juice. He loves them and they are expensive ($10 for the under 35 pound size), but if they are natural and safe I will pay the price. I was giving him Zukes, but just found out they also sold to Purina and that scares me.

[Kathleen C]

My favorites have been Zukes, but I now find out they too have been sold out to Purina. So I am looking for something small and crunchy I can safely give my dog. Any help appreciated.

[Kathleen C]

Chewy.com carries the Weruva kibble. It is more expensive though than the Merrick. This pet store where I found it keeps her prices down so her customers can afford good quality food her their pets. However, I was paying over $19 with Amazon for 4 lbs of the Merrick and the Weruva 4 lbs is $21. I think it’s worth the difference.

[Kathleen C]

Well great, Weruva is on the list and I’ve just ordered a bag of the kibble, as I wrote in the Merrick forum. This is very encouraging since I’ve been looking for a good low cal food for my Boston Terrier for quite some time and Weruva is also low cal. It comes in several types and I’m getting the Venison & Salmon with Pumpkin. Also comes in Chicken and Turkey flavors so it will be easy to rotate without leaving the brand. As for Wellness, I read somewhere online, can’t remember when or where, that Wellness got mixed up with Diamond some how and one recall list has them on their “brands to watch list”. I also fed Wellness for a long time with no problem.

[Kathleen C]

I’m finally going to switch dog food from Merrick even though we’ve had no problem. I’m just too worried about what might happen. So, I’ve found what I think is a very good food that has canned listed as 5 stars here and just came out with kibble. Weruva is sold in a small boutique pet store in town and the owner is very high on it. She says she knows the owners and they keep very close eye on how it’s produced in Thailand. They use a human quality processing plant and packers and there have been no recalls at all with this product…yet. You never can tell though, every company can have problems. I’ve done quite a bit of background checking on it and feel good about it. The protein, fat and quality seems excellent. Fingers crossed, again.

[Kathleen C]

I’m still using Merrick too and I’m trying to keep checking here to see if anyone sees things changing. It’s hard for me to get online to this site for some reason so hopefully that won’t continue. Everything working right now though. My dog loves the Salmon and Sweet Potato.

[Kathleen C]

I was thinking about going back to the Natures Variety too, also looked at Wellness Ocean again but they are owned by Berwind which bought Well Pet out (Wellness) years ago. Berwind was or is a coal mining corp. So many questions so few answers. Dog food is more confusing than what I eat.

[Kathleen C]

I had my dog on Wellness but switched to Merrick salmon for the same reason. Now we find out Merrick is going to Purina so I’m looking for another grain free salmon based food too.

[Kathleen C]

I have no idea, but now I find out Purina is suing Blue because Blue says they don’t use by-products in their things and they do. Wow! What else in this world of dog food do we not know? Probably everything. I was going to try Blue Wilderness to take the place of Merrick. I think I’ll go ahead and order another bag of Merrick and maybe Purina hasn’t had a chance to corrupt it yet.

[Kathleen C]

Thank you DogFoodie. I’m also worried about calories and Merrick was so good there too. Will check out your recommendations.

[Kathleen C]

I recently bought the 3rd bag of Merrick salmon and sweet potato and now must try to find another food that is as good. It took months to find Merrick, now I’m lost again. Any suggestions would be helpful. I used to feed my dogs Eukanuba before Proctor and Gambol bought them out. Now would not touch any IAMS food.

[Kathleen C]

I’ve given Jack the Merrick Salmon last night and again this morning and he threw up a couple of hours later when we were coming home from our morning walk. I can’t believe it was the food since when changing food he gets very little of the new stuff. Could it happen that quickly with such a small amount of the salmon? I fed him the same tonight and am hoping I don’t have to give up trying to switch him away from chicken.

[Kathleen C]

I’ve started the Merrick salmon today and this dog food smells very strong. The dog is crazy for the smell alone. Not sure I’m going to stick with it if it runs us out of the house.

[Kathleen C]

I’ve never heard of Dr Tim’s, but it took me a year to get my dog to lose a pound on Wellness Core Reduced Fat. Once they gain it’s very hard to get it off. I’m now going with Merrick Grain Free Salmon and Sweet Potato. The calories, carbs and fat look lower or about the same as Wellness and there’s no chicken.

[Kathleen C]

I went into Merrick after having it recommended and found their grain free salmon/sweet potato. The fat, protein, carbs, and calorie per cup sound really good so I ordered a 4 lb bag which we will get Friday and see how he likes it. He’s still shaking his head and scratching at his ears after being on some meds from the vet so hopefully the change away from chicken will be our salvation.

[Kathleen C]

Thank you DogFoodie, but every time I try to get back to that topic the site tells me to sign in. I’ve signed in 3 times with no change. That’s the only topic I can’t get into that I’ve sent an answer to. It must be an internet glitch of some kind. I’m not going to worry about it.

[Kathleen C]

I can’t seem to get back to the conversation I was involved in before about best non chicken dog food. So, I went into Merrick after having it recommended and found their grain free salmon/sweet potato. The fat, protein, carbs, and calorie per cup sound really good so I ordered a 4 lb bag which we will get Friday and see how he likes it. He’s still shaking his head and scratching at his ears after being on some meds from the vet so hopefully the change away from chicken will be our salvation.

[Kathleen C]

Thank you. I’ll check them all. Surely there’s something I can trust in there. It took me over a year to get him to start going down in weight with Wellness Reduced Fat.

[Kathleen C]

I’m interested in this conversation too. I’ve been trying to get my dog to lose weight and finally have some results. Now I want to get him off chicken and turkey because of possible allergies but have to watch calories or we’ll be right back where we started with weight. I’d like something with no fowl but low calories and low carbs. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Kathleen C]

I just went ahead and ordered a 5.5 lb of the Annamaet from Chewy. Don’t know yet when it will be here so I hope I have enough of the Wellness to switch Jack. I wish Amazon carried it because I have Prime and the shipping would be free and 2 days.

[Kathleen C]

Well, I may try the dehydrated or at least look into it. Olson’s Grain where I get his dog food carries it and may be able to help me decide. I agree about raw.

[Kathleen C]

Also I meant to ask, do people have good luck buying from Chewy? I’ve heard of it before so it’s seems to have been around for awhile.

[Kathleen C]

Chuckles, I think this is the same one sent before. Also, thanks for the other information. Still not sure I would try raw even though it sounds ideal. Have to think about that. Has anyone tried Wysong Epigen Original Chicken Formula for a very high protein and very low carbs? High fat but seems a bit “out there” otherwise. Not sure what kind of weight lose it would cause.

[Kathleen C]

What is the difference between freeze dried and dehydrated food? I’m leery of raw food since my vet is against it, but does that include the dried and dehydrated? I would be willing to try something else than kibble.

[Kathleen C]

This calculation above was for both the Fromm’s food. However, I might be tempted to try it just because it doesn’t have chicken.

[Kathleen C]

With the Advisor’s carb checker this shows 47% carbs. Way too high.

[Kathleen C]

The Advisor has a list of less expensive dog foods that are considered good quality. I’ve looked at that, but like you I’m really thinking of changing food before I have to buy another bad of this. He’s been on it long enough to show better results. Even the vets Purina junk didn’t do anything.

[Kathleen C]

When I use the Dog Food Advisors food calculator there is no difference in how much he should eat to lose weight of the two kibbles we’re discussing here, 346 k/cal or 0.96 of a cup of kibble. He’s only getting 0.50 of a cup each day and is still not showing any real weight lose after all this time. I’ve been trying to get him to lose the same 1 1/2 lbs since last summer. I realize he’s getting food besides the kibble and that has something to do with this, but the treats are 2-3 cal apiece and the green beans are very low fat. I’ve had him down to as low as 19.4 and that’s a real plus. I weigh his kibble so I’m pretty sure he’s getting the right amount. Maybe I’m just trying to do something that’s not really necessary. If I can keep him at or around 20 lbs maybe I should be happy. But I wanted that extra leeway of 18.5 so I could raise his kibble amount a little bit and that’s what he weighed when I got him 14 months ago.

[Kathleen C]

The Annamaet has 350 cal. per cup and the Wellness has 360 per cup. Not that much difference if that’s what you mean. I just know that Jack is getting 1/4 cup twice a day and that’s way below what the bag says he should be able to lose weight on. He walks every day and goes to the dog park for a little running and some playing, but not all that much. He’s just not a play boy. His treats are low cal like Zukes and green beans with a few pieces of kibble as a cookie (usually 5-6 pieces). I have to watch closely when he poops because he’s started eating it if I can’t find it and pick it up. That tells me he’s hungry and that bothers me.

[Kathleen C]

aimee, from your answer above: “When fewer calories were fed as fat and more as carbohydrate the dogs lost more weight and a greater percentage of fat (Borne).” This is what I find hard to comprehend. I always think of carbs as the reason for dogs getting fat to begin with, for some reason. And no, I’ve not thought about canned, raw or dehydrated food. I would like to get him away from the chicken though. Since hearing dogs can have a problem with chicken allergies I’ve looked at regular kibble but nothing out there is low calorie. His first owner fed a low quality salmon food from Costco and she said he never seemed to have any ear allergies like he does now.

[Kathleen C]

Chuckles, that’s exactly what I was wondering. Would the Annamaet be a better choice even though it has less protein and more carbs. The fat and calorie amounts as I said are smaller.

[Kathleen C]

InkedMarie, it’s fantastic that you mentioned Annamaet because yesterday I did get in touch with them about their carb amounts in the Lean and here’s what they sent back:
Lean contains 30% Protein, 8 % fat and 41% carbohydrate, 10% moisture, 3.5% fiber and 6.8% ash with 350 kcals/cup.
As you can see their carbs are high and the protein is lower than the Wellness Core he’s on now. The fat is great as are the calories. However, with the carbs so high and the protein lower I don’t feel this would work for Jack.

[Kathleen C]

Several months ago when I joined the Advisor group we were told the carb amounts for all Wellness dog foods straight from Wellness itself. The carbs they listed for the Core Reduced Fat was As Fed: 34.19%, Dry Matter: 37.16%. So the 42% is not correct as least as far as Wellness says. I’ve had Jack on this for months without very much lose at all and have been looking to change. So far I’ve not found anything with higher protein, lower fat and low carbs. More exercise would be good, but he’s just not that active a dog even at the dog park. Like cdubau I would like some other choices as well.

[Kathleen C]

Thank you Bobby dog. I already remove some kibble from his food and also use the kibble as treats, along with green beans, carrots and a salmon Zuke’s soft treat he loves. I need a more substantial type like the Zuke’s…it’s very small and I know they have something that looks more like a bar that’s also low fat, I just can’t find it right now. I wanted a much lower fat Milk Bone type treat…goes further since it’s easy to break up. Thank you for the two suggestions. I will look into both.

[Kathleen C]

No one came forward with some really low cal low fat treats. The Zukes salmon is the only one I can find with fewer than 3 cal per treat, but they are very small. I need a biscuit size one with very low calories. Any suggestions? He already gets veggies, but they too can put weight on.

[Kathleen C]

I didn’t know that about potatoes. That’s exactly what he does too. I just checked both bags of food and you’re right, Wellness is full of potatoes. Thank you so much. I actually did start him on the Nature’s Variety tonight. It will take several days to complete, but hopefully it will cure the problem. Looks like the vet would have said something. I’ve had him in to see her several times about his ears and she says there’s nothing she can see that would cause the problem. They’re perfectly clean.

[Kathleen C]

This probably doesn’t help the Schnauzer, but my Boston, Jack, is on Wellness Core Reduced Fat, but not losing weight. So, I checked with Nature’s Variety about their Instinct Healthy Weight Salmon meal, which I’ve used for him before and was recommended to me by my dogs holistic vet, with the idea of putting Jack back on it. They say “The carbohydrates are 25% in our Instinct Healthy Weight Salmon Meal Kibble and 27% in our Healthy Weight Chicken Kibble”, which is what I was asking them about. So, I may go back to that since it’s listed at 34% protein and 12% (min)/16% (max) fat. I’m a little worried about the fat since the Wellness is listed at 13%, but the carbs are 34%, so the carbs will be fewer. My other worry is the turkey in the Nature’s Variety. Jack may be allergic to the chicken in the Wellness. He scratches at his ears a lot, but the vets can find nothing wrong there.

[Kathleen C]

Thanks, Blue. Jack has again started clearing the room so I’m going to look into these ideas of yours. Something has to work eventually.

[Kathleen C]

I didn’t really think the chicken was keeping him from losing weight. You must feed your dogs enough food to make them feel full. Jack only gets 1/4 c twice a day (and that’s only 4 tablespoons) so to not give him any more would of course leave him hungry. Humans snack throughout the day because 3 meals a day doesn’t always fill us up, so why shouldn’t dogs have the same need. The only difference between the Core Reduced Fat and the Small Breed is 3% more fat and 10% fewer carbs. Should that make a difference in anything? I’ve been taking some of the small breed food away each time and giving it to him later. The only plus in the small breed food is it’s smaller and therefore looks like more, though I doubt Jack or any dog can tell that, that’s just for my personal awareness.

[Kathleen C]

The Farmina looks like low carbs, but it’s high fat.

[Kathleen C]

The Adviser’s method of figuring at 43% for the Annamaet isn’t that much off then.

[Kathleen C]

I think getting Sojo’s online is probably my best bet since I live in a small rural town and we have nothing! I’ll check Amazon. Also, Jack doesn’t have a problem with chicken that I know of. He just can’t lose weight on it. I do remove some of the 1/4 cup when I feed him and I add water to the kibble like someone suggested. Do you think even with higher carbs but with lower fat the Annamaet might do the trick? Or I may just go back to the Core Reduced Fat since it has lower carbs and only 13% fat, though the bag says 10-12%. The 9% really isn’t that much lower.

[Kathleen C]

Well, I couldn’t resist checking the Annamaet tonight and it’s chicken meal first igred. and going by the Adviser’s way of figuring the carbs, there were 43% carbs. Sigh. That’s high if it’s true with 30% protein and 9% fat.

[Kathleen C]

OK. Just as snacks and incentives to do better in his obedience class too. He’s very stubborn. I’ll check Amazon and PetsMart for SoJo’s. Also Olson’s Grain might have something like that too. Thank you all. I’m not sure about changing him to Annamaet, but if it’s not chicken or turkey it might be a good idea. Get him onto something different. I’m going to check that tomorrow when I sign on again.

[Kathleen C]

A few single bites or mixed in his kibble at regular dinner time? I used to feed my other dogs a mix of kibble with a few bites of canned, but started Jack with just kibble since that was what he was used to. I don’t want to add too much since I’m trying to get him to lose
1 1/2 pounds. Sojo. Found anywhere?

[Kathleen C]

Thanks Dale. The FortiFlora seems to have helped, now it’s just his regular Boston stink. I’ll look into the Mega 8 too.

[Kathleen C]

InkedMarie, you say Solo’s? Is that a brand?

[Kathleen C]

Pieces of chicken maybe? I always have roasted chicken around. I get it already cooked at the super market deli. They say it’s just a roasted chicken the way I’d do my own.

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