Champion Foods will be selling at Petco...thoughts

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Champion posted what is happening on their FB page this morning. The comments were pretty angry accusing Champion of "selling out". Do you think this will change the quality. I feed my dogs the Fit and Trim. Thoughts?....

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/petco-and-champion-petfood...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

CORRECTION: CHEWY WAS SOLD TO PETSMART, NOT PETCO. 

[Kathy and Ruby Skye]

Here we go again. Seems us die hards have been hanging on to this sinking ship for some time. Just bought my last bag of Origen Original and it’s all broken up in quart bags in the freezer to be portioned out.

I have some time to consider a replacement, but suggestions are appreciated. I remember from past posts that Fromm is right up there. I was buying Six Fish for the added fish and just switched to Original with this last bag. Ruby, who is now two, has several allergies and has been doing well on her immunotherapy treatments, EPO and fish oil supplement. She weighs 15 pounds.
We are not as active with all this rain and cold weather, but do try to get out for our walks and exercise when it is clear. I have only fed her grain free so would like to continue with that, but am wary of too much of that pea filler. Thanks for any advise.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd look at Wellness CORE Ocean; it's similar to Six Fish nutritionally and I trust the brand...at least for now, lol. 
https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/natural-dog-food/product-catalog/co...

I'm feeding Fromm; it's an excellent brand, but you aren't going to find a formula with the protein and Omega 3 content of Orijen in the Fromm line.

Let me look at the brands list and see what other choices I can find for you. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Look at Nature's Variety Instinct, too. They have several different kinds of formulas: straight kibble, (the salmon formula matches up well to Orijen: https://www.instinctpetfood.com/dogs/original/instinct-original-gra...) and then they have several different Instinct formulas that include raw coatings that you may want to look at. I haven't really explored all of them myself and I'm going to do that. 

[Kathy and Ruby Skye]

Karen, thank you for your suggestions. In checking out the Nature’s Valley Instinct with salmon, they say: 

Along with dry food, we recommend feeding raw or wet food to help increase the amount of water in your dog’s diet. So, this isn’t a stand alone dry kibble? Won’t little Queenie like that? Lol! I really like their ingredient list best (except for the canola oil that I don’t even buy), but wonder about having to supplement the kibble with a canned food too. By the way, they sell it at Petco. Uh oh. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

They sell Wellness at Petco too. It isn't that a food being sold at Petco makes it a bad brand. It's that Champion has always refused to sell through the chain stores, or through any other store that carries lesser quality foods (Purina, etc). The fact that they have now decided to do so, coupled with the rumors that they are in negotiations to sell the company to Nestle-Purina, makes some of us think that a sale of the comapny may in fact be happening soon. And that will mean changes in the sourcing and quality of the food. 

The Nature's Variety kibbles are all complete diets. You do not need to supplement with any other type of food. Many people feel that all dogs should be getting some fresh or wet food in their diets and not living solely on dry kibble, so the statement is just a recommendation. You don't have to follow it. 

[Kathy and Ruby Skye]

Thank you for the clarification. Good, because I like Petco. I will go with the Nature’s Variety Salmon when I run out. It sounds great and I won’t be supplementing it with anything. 

On another subject, since I started Ruby on such a high protein food, will I always need to keep her on a similar high protein food? I went with Origen because I felt it was the best and it did have a high protein percentage. Is that good? Are we now stuck with that high amount of protein, or could I gradually lower it? How much does it matter in the sense of her age and exercise? I just realized I haven’t researched what she really needs as opposed to what I’ve been giving her. Bad mom? Maybe this will help someone else too. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There are only three macronutrients: protein, carbohydrate(sugars), and fat. All foods are made up of some combination of one to all three of these, plus water and indigestible fiber. 30-40% protein in a diet is not really "high"; it means that 60-70% of the diet is made up of sugar and fat. If you lowered the protein, you'd have a larger percentage of the diet made up of sugar and fat, lol. I personally would never want to be feeding any dog of any age a diet that contained less than 30% protein. 

There is no downside to protein. It contains that exact same calories per gram as carbohydrates, and less than half the calories per gram of fat. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

But if you wanted to go to a lower protein food at some point in the future, you could. Usually, when a dog is doing well on a particular formula, and wants to switch to another brand for some reason, as in this case, you try to match up the nutritional profile to minimize digestive upsets. A dog who is eating a formula with 38% protein would most likely get loose stools if they were switched to a food with say, 25% protein. It would need to be done gradually.

[Kathy and Ruby Skye]

Great explanation Karen, thank you. Makes total sense the way you spell it out. Especially if I lower the protein I’d be replacing it with fat and sugar. Uh, no, I’m good. ;)

[Stacy]

I've been feeding Maggie the Nature's Variety Instinct Raw Boost for almost a year and it's expensive, but I've been happy with it. Auto ship from Chewy saves a few dollars and sometimes Petco sends me really good coupons. 

[Janet & Jaxson]

Jaxson has been eating Orijen food forever and doing great. He’s 4 years old. He eats Six Fish and Regional Red. If I change, what would you suggest?

Also, I am in Hawaii so should be something I can get here.

Thanks for the help!