Commercial Foods-The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Tell us what commercial foods have worked for you and which have caused problems; information, questions, warnings and advice on dog food companies, ingredients, brands, and switching foods.
(Recall information now in it's own discussion here in The Food Group)

[Leslie and Halas]

Damn! I have Halas on Innova Evo. I should have done more checking before I switched, but I didn't even think of the pet-store-selling-puppies connection. What about Orijen? Do you ever see that in the pet stores?

I don't know for sure if I'll switch him again, but I'll at least consider it. He does fine on the Innova Evo, and I think the quality is good, but he doesn't gobble it down. So I think he likes it, but he doesn't love it. And his coat could be a little shinier, so I would be open to trying something else. He doesn't seem to have a sensitive tummy, so I'm not too worried about that if I do switch.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Lynne uses Innova Evo, too, and she's not switching because of this; it's too hard to find one that works for you, and one you trust. I was hoping to be able to protest the marketing with the companies, but got absolutely nowhere. I had made a list when I went, but I lost it since then, and I'm not sure about the Orijen. They had the ones mentioned above plus Merrick & California Naturals. The only ones I know for sure they didn't have were the SG and the Canidae. I'm trying to switch Jack to NV Prairie, in spite of it, because it's really hard to find one he can tolerate. So don't switch just for this reason...but maybe send those SOB's a letter. LOL

[Janell]

You replied to me earlier mentioning that many people use Innova and California Natural. But when I read your post about Innova being sold in puppy mill pet stores I was wondering if you recommend these products or not. I checked their website to see where each of these products are sold in my area and the only pet store I found that they sell these products to is PetSmart which I have never seen sell puppies or kittens. In fact they only seem to sell fish, rodents, and reptiles, however they do have a cat adoption center.

Solid Gold is not sold in my area and Canidae does not have a puppy food and it seems to have much more grain than Innova and California Natural. Please let me know your thoughts. Since I am making a decision to start a new food, I want to make the right choice for my puppy without supporting puppy mill pet stores.
Janell

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Janell, this is one of my issues, and unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much we can do about it. In the end, the well-being of our own dogs has to come first. I wish that most of the premium pet food companies would not sell to stores that sell puppies, but they do, and I use a brand that does because it works best for Jackdoodle. (needless to say, I don't buy it in the stores that sell dogs.)
Petsmart is a good friend to rescue groups and does a lot for dogs, but I am not aware of Innova being sold there, nor any of the premium brands. Innova Evo is a very good food, used by many of us. All we can do is keep trying to educate people not to buy ANYTHING from puppy mill stores.

[Ali]

Hi Janell,

I am a little late catching up on everything here. But if you don't have a local pet store that gives you a variety of premium dog foods you can try Petco. They have just updated their store with new brands and products and now have some premium and holistic dog foods available, they have Solid Gold, Eagle Pack, Wellness, etc. I am not sure what it is like where you live, but to me where there is a Petsmart there is usually a Petco within a 15 minute drive.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is good news to me too Janell...I was not aware that petco was stocking premium brands. Maybe Petsmart is, too. I had made some calls in that regard, maybe enough others have been requesting it, too!

[Ali]

I don't think Petsmart has changed yet.

[Lynne B]

I live in Reno and we have a very expensive 'boutique' type dog food store, but I found that our local food & grain store carries most of the premium dog foods at about 40% off what the expensive pet store charges- so check in your town if you have a feed and grain store, they sell more than chicken feed lol

[Adina P]

Canidae's food is "All Stages" so it is appropriate for puppies as well as adults.

[Lucy's Mom~ Liz]

I think I found this link elsewhere on DK. It may be useful.
http://www.sgsservicesinc.net/aikenvet/News/DogFoodGradingScaleOcto...
It's a little hard to find if link does not work. It's from Aiken Veterinary Clinic under "News" link on left side. Looks like a lot of Doodles are eating A+ food according to the list.

[Ali]

It is now under recommended links.

[Karen & Lucy]

When I picked Lucy up at 10 weeks old she was being fed Pro Plan Plus for large breed puppies. I have kept her on Pro Plan and she has done very well. Always gets an A+ at the vets. She does get a little picky at times so I change flavors now every other bag and she does not have a problem with it. I work full time and would love to cook for her, but absolutely do not have the time. Kudos to you all that totally feed raw!!!