What food to buy?

[Marilyn Norberg]

We are due to pick up our doodle in 2 weeks. Our breeder is currently feeding our doodle Nutro Ultra Holistic Big Breed Puppy food. I went on line and ordered a 30 lb bag. Now I just stumbled across an article on this site discouraging purchase of this brand. What would you recommend I feed our pup now and what other brands are good in your opinion once she graduates out of the puppy stage?

[Loreta Janca]

Congrats on your new Doodle. How exciting. I remember picking ours up! What a great time!
Our breeder was feeding him Canidae-very good food, Rusty loved it. They happened to change formulas a little. Nothing big, but we tried some other foods to give him some variety. We ended up sticking with Fromm. Fromm is also a 5 star rated food with great ingredients. They have a lot of interesting flavors and Rusty loves them all! It is an all stages food so you can feed it from puppy to adulthood, just like Canidae. I highly recommend it. You can check out this website: dogfoodanalysis.com. It has every dog food you could imaging and the ingredients and pros and cons about each. I found it very helpful. Right now Rusty is eating the Fromm duck and sweet potato flavor. Yummy.
Hope this helps.

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Just wanted to add that while the dogfoodanalysis site is a great tool, it is just one of many. Many online evaluation sites are outdated, some even date to pre '07 recalls, some have had ingredient changes, some have changed manufacturing locations (some will not reveal where they are manufactured - HUGE red flag), some have been part of conglomerate buys recently and some have skirted on the brink of issues for years without realizing media attention.

We are so incredibly fortunate to have this resource with posts from real people we bump into here everyday that bring to the table experience in many forms. No worries about whether the post is really from a sales rep for a food or a disgruntled competitor. By all means use all the resources you can, but so much of that has already been sifted through right on these very pages. Above all, avoid complacency and keep learning ~ you never know when suddenly a pups tastes will change, heaven forbid a new issue is revealed and you have to change or when the next person comes along that you will share your experiences & knowledge with.

BTW, in our opinion ACANA & Orijen rock!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

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

Marilyn, please read through the above comprehensive discussion on commercial dog foods. Many of us have spent months researching, questioning, and presenting our information in this discussion, and I daresay it is the most comprehensive collection of dog food recommendations and information on the web. We did this precisely because so many people came into the forum and asked the same question you are asking. All of the information is here in one place...all you have to do is read through it. You will be amazed at how much you learn.
No one food is right for every dog or every owner. This is where you can get all the info you need to make an informed choice.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We always used Nutro until finding the formula had been changed etc. We tried several different brands in our quest for a better quality food that the dogs liked and digested well. We have found that Dick Van Pattens' brand and Kirkland (Costco brand) seem to work for us. I don't know if there are some similarities to Nutro in some way that works for them or not.

[Kyoko]

My puppy is now 4 months old. We tried and studies few different dog food, but I like "HALO" and "FROMM".
I think I am going to use both of these brand to make the meal time interesting... Mine seem to get bored with same food sometimes.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is a great point, Kyoko! We have found that when you are feeding a quality food, you can switch around between brands and add variety to meal time...there is no "adjustment" period needed. It's also a good way to keep from becoming dependent on one particular food...this way, if there is formula change, or the food is unavailable, you have something else to feed.

[Kyoko]

Thanks to the food group, I read that they do not need "adjustment " period, and decided to go with the both brand :) I have great teachers here in this group!! :)

[fergie11]

I just did a pretty in depth study on this too. Thanks to Karen and Jack and Lynne I have narrowed my food choices down to Fromm and Taste of the Wild. I probably would be interested in Nature's Variety too but not convenient for me to purchase that around my house. My dogs eat anything so their taste is not the point - it's their nutrition. For those of us who are doing a lot of training and giving a lot of treats, consider making your own treats. The high quality treats from these companies are very expensive. Treats are simple - simple to make and cost you pennies. The liver ones in the cookbook - GREAT. I've tasted some of these myself and they aren't bad. What I was really pleased with is that The cost of this 5 star kibble is not more than what I was feeding - maybe $5 a month or something but what's that. When you do the study, check out the reviews and research that has been done on Nutro. It's probably not your best choice and it's not any cheaper. Good Luck. This Food Group will make your search so much easier.