Food - way too many choices!

[Amanda]

Okay, I've had my senior dog on a homemade mixture of rice, beef, chicken and peas for a couple years now due to repeated bladder stones and three surgeries. When we got Lincoln Doodle I went to blue buffalo since I knew I didn't want to make food for a 60lb dog. I've been reading horror stories online. Any long time Blue Buffalo users? Lincoln is eating the wilderness duck formula.

Undecided and thinking maybe raw or homemade is the only way to go? Any advice doodle lovers?

[Tracey & Spike]

I too am curious about this. The breeder started Spike off on royal canin but I'm not fond of that brand. I originally wanted to go with Orijen but can't due to the high fish content. I'm highly allergic and can't handle the kibble. I've been eyeing Blue Buffalo and I know I can at least handle it.

[Amanda]

I will say this about the Blue Buffalo - my doodlebug LOVES it. It's priced about the same as some of the other higher quality dog foods. I saw a recommendation for Orijen but I have never heard of it before.

[Stephanie and Ragley]

Are you saying there is a problem with BB? Personally I would explore my options between BB and raw/homemade...There is quite the giant gap between those two options that you seemed to have skipped over lol 

[Amanda]

Stephanie - you're correct. I omitted an important detail. I have had zero problems with the BB. Just came across an article and one link led to another and to another, etc... Just curious to see what other people experienced from a controlled setting vs random people online.

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I think that is smart! What I meant by skipped over a gap is that there are lots of higher quality kibble options in between BB and going all the way to homecooking. The food group has a long list including brands such as canidae, earthborn, acana, and orijen to name a few. If you felt like you needed to switch, you could maybe try one of those before feeling the need to tackle "cook-to-order" feeding a 60 lb dog! That does sound like quite the task!

[Yvette & Emma]

Emma loves her Orijen. She was on puppy kibble and I just switched her to Adult.

[Abby Christos]

I had Bob on BB but decided to switch for a few reasons. One, I saw a few articles about recalls on bb. Second, bob gets tired of food fast so I wanted something that I could switch flavors without having to transition (75-25, 50-50, 25-75). Fromm has never had a recall that I can find and they offer many different flavors that are meant to be changed. They are a family owned company in Wisconsin and they manufacture and package all their food there. My vet recently raved about Fromm when I brought him in for his most recent visit. Bonus, chewy.com auto ships!

[Kelly & Zoe]

The Food Group on this site is excellent, and there's a comprehensive list of recommended dog food brands: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/recomme...

I thought about going the raw food route, but if you prepare your own, have to be very careful about making sure it's nutritionally sound.  Personally, for 2 full time workers, it just wasn't convenient for us to go that route.  We currently feed Zoe Orijen grain-free 'red' adult formula (after feeding her Merrick as a pup until 7 months) - it's high quality for the dry foods.  Chewy.com is an excellent online source for food - in addition to free shipping if sign up for auto ship, you also get a big bag of treats with every delivery.

[Kelly & Zoe]

BTW, I just checked and it looks like your BB formula is on the recommended list -

[Ashley, Sadie and Coal]

Hi, Amanda.  We have two puppies who are on BB Puppy Wilderness Formula.  We started it because it was the only one on the DK list that we could easily get in our very rural area.  Since we discovered Chewy.com, we know we can easily get any of the recommended brands, and we are ready to transition if the need arises.  For now, both puppies love their food, seem very healthy and have normal poop.  They have been eating it for about 6 weeks.  We use it for training as well.  

[Carol Hanr]

My two big girls were on BB for quite a while and I switched to Earthborn Holistic.  They started getting sick, (throwing up and very loose poops).  Since switching they are doing great.  Their coats even look better. The vet asked what I was feeding them because of how good they looked, etc.  My almost 13 yr old shih tzu was on BB and the same thing with him.  He eats Earthborn too.  My other little one refused to eat BB from the very beginning; guess she sensed something was up.