[Mareike]

Great, I hope you’ll have fun with the mat. Just supervise him the first few times, he’s likely going to be focused on finding the food.
Acana Heritage Poultry seems like a good choice. I’d be interested to hear how you think Earl is doing on it compared to the Pro Plan and Fromm that you tried.

[Mareike]

My lab also tends to wolf everything down without chewing, and for dry food I found a snuffle mat (for example Wooly Snuffle Mat on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N1FV55I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to be most effective in slowing her down. Works better for her than a slow feeder bowl.

[Mareike]

Hi Kenneth,

How much of a picky eater is Earl? I have a 5-6 year old, female Lab, American type, who like a stereotypical Lab eats more or less anything. So it’s very easy to feed her a rotational diet consisting of different brands of commercial dog food (mostly kibble and raw) and some home-cooked food. You seem concerned about making a wrong change and I think a rotational diet (/frequently-asked-questions/diet-rotation-for-dogs/) would have the advantage of balancing things out.

With Natures Valley, do you mean Nature’s Variety? That is one of the brands I’ve been feeding my dog on and off and feel I can trust. Other brands I like to feed her are Honest Kitchen, Ziwi Peak, Spot Farms, Canidae, Primal, Stella & Chewy, Petkind, Wellness, Fromm, Solid Gold. Canidae ranks well for both nutrition and purity (http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/pet-food/). Have not tried Acana or Orijen yet, but probably will.

Another factor to consider for you in your choice might be Earl’s surgeries in combination with his weight. In case you/your vet think(s) he could/should lose some weight, then you might want to find a brand or multiple brands of a high-quality “weight loss” food.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Mareike.

[Mareike]

Hi John, “Instinct LID Small Breed with Real Turkey” is rated 5 stars, but likely not “enthusiastically recommended” for large dogs like your German Shepherds. “Instinct LID with Real Duck”, “Instinct LID with Real Turkey”, and “Instinct LID with Real Salmon” are all 4.5 star foods, as is “Natural Balance LID High Protein Turkey Formula”. I agree with TaylorC that LID formulas are usually rated lower (because of lower protein content?).

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