Food Brand?

[Lindsay n Archie]

Hi All! I know there are plenty of boards with food suggestion- but there are SO many mixed reviews, I do not know where to begin.  We got suckerd into buying the Nutro Lamb and Rice Large Breed Puppy dry food- he gets about 2 cups a day (really he gets fed twice a day and eats as much as he wants, comes to about 2 cups a day hes 9 weeks old).  Anyways. I have now heard mixed reviews on the Nutro. I knwo they had recalls years ago (as almost every other dog food company has). Has anyone had any positive experience with this Lamb and Rice formula?

Thanks!

[Lindsay n Archie]

The full name is Nutro Natural Choice Limited Ingredient Large Breed Puppy Lamb Meal and Rice Formula 

[Star and Goldie]

Hi Lindsay, you really should go to the Food Group and check out the recommended brands list. This list saved me! I learned that I really didn't know much about the food category and it's a great learning experience to start there.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/recomme...

Nutro is not a recommended brand. I know it's a lot to take in but your puppy will thank you for doing your research. You have certainly come to the right place. I just got completely schooled in this area! Just this past weekend I switched my pup to Blue Buffalo and couldn't be happier. Had I not reached out on this site and did the leg work as well, my puppy would still be eating 'junk'

[Lindsay n Archie]

Thanks Ill look into that.  It does say its a natural and limited ingredient though. Online its got great reviews. I wonder if this Nutro lamb and rice is acutally good though?

[Lindsay n Archie]

I just googled the Blue Buffalo and read tons of bad reviews. UGH This is soooooo frustrating!!!!!!!!! =(

[Star and Goldie]

As with anything you are going to find both good and bad reviews. The biggest thing you want to look into are the actual ingredients.  Most of the negative reviews with Blue Buffalo are that when switching foods puppies had gas, diarrhea and that it caused bad breath.  All of which were worth the risk to me over having a bunch of grains and fillers in a food that could jeopardize my puppys health. I had no problem in switching my puppy over as I took the advice from another DK member and gave her a tablespoon of fat free plain yogurt 2 times a day during the transition.

Researching anything is frustrating when you are digging through reviews. It's hard to know which review to trust. You just have to do as much digging as you can and trust your gut.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

But who is doing the reviewing? What are their credentials? All opinions are not created equally. There are reviews on-line that say Purina Dog Chow and Ol' Roy are good foods. What are these reviews based on, what criteria is being used? Whether their dog liked it or not? Whether it agreed with their dog or not? That's not the info you need to make a good choice. There is no dog food formula in the world that is going to agree with every dog. And Blue Buffalo makes dozens of formulas. Did you read reviews for all of them?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Lindsay, Star gave you good advice. In the Food Group, we have several years worth of fact-based, well-researched information about which foods are "good" and why. It isn't just the ingredients, it's the source of the ingredients. Most on-line reviews dont take that into account. Nutro is not one of our recommended brands because they outsource their ingredents from China. The company was purchased by Mars Corporation in 2007; prior to that, it was a good brand. In fact, I fed it for 19 years.

We do not recommend any foods made by major multinational corporations because of the problem of outsourcing ingredients and lack of control of the supply chain, among other reasons.

[Star and Goldie]

I learned from the best :)

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

I would join the food group, and like Star said, read through the recommended food brands list...there are many great choices, but you should not switch your puppies food for at least the first few months of having him (I think about 2 months?).  You do not want to stress out his stomach by introducing a new food too soon.  I know alot of DK members have great reviews on Orijen, acana, blue, etc.  Take a look at the list, and see what works for you!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

At least two weeks, not two months. :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Lindsay, I live in the same town you do. Wanna go dog food shopping?

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

oh Karen you are so sweet!!!  I wish I could go dog food shopping with you!!!!