# any experience with rachael ray food?



## jlbjab08 (Aug 1, 2012)

roman is 11 weeks old. i've been dealing with bouts of loose stool since the day after we got him. we originally started feeding him with the breeder was with the intention of switching eventually. however, after having loose stools/puking, we took a trip to the vet. he got a couple shots and we got the fiber in a can. the vet said we could just go ahead and start him on the new food since hes on the fiber and had those shots (blue buffalo). he had formed stools for a bout a day. then they were inconsistently formed. so we went back to the vet and later brought in a stool sample. everything chekced out fine. so i decided to add pumpkin to his food. it seemed to firm up his stool a LITTLE, but it was still soft-ish. he's on the chicken and rice formula. i'm thinking its just the diet. so i figure now is as good a time as any to wean him. i just hate to throw out the giant bag of BB, meh

anyway...we would like to go with the racheal ray dog food. any personal experience with it? we already introduced him to the "just 6" treats from the BB trail treats. he likes them.


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## vickip9 (Mar 28, 2012)

I personally would not feed the Rachel Ray line simply because of the ingredients. It seems to have quite a bit of corn meal, soybean meal, corn gluten, etc. Those are "filler" ingredients and not recommended as being a part of a "quality" kibble.


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## jae (Jul 17, 2012)

vickip9 said:


> I personally would not feed the Rachel Ray line simply because of the ingredients. It seems to have quite a bit of corn meal, soybean meal, corn gluten, etc. Those are "filler" ingredients and not recommended as being a part of a "quality" kibble.


Agreed. But my vet would also recommend PurinaOne, Eukanuba, and Iams, and those have the same filler ingredients. In my opinion, many individual-name-branded products - not just dog food - are all garbage, and just another way for that person to make an easy buck. What BB protein is it? My dog has an adverse reaction to chicken kibbles, especially ones with grains. I would stick with BB, have you considered a different protein source, LID, or grain free?


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## jlbjab08 (Aug 1, 2012)

jae said:


> Agreed. But my vet would also recommend PurinaOne, Eukanuba, and Iams, and those have the same filler ingredients. In my opinion, many individual-name-branded products - not just dog food - are all garbage, and just another way for that person to make an easy buck. What BB protein is it? My dog has an adverse reaction to chicken kibbles, especially ones with grains. I would stick with BB, have you considered a different protein source, LID, or grain free?


i meantioned chicken in my original post. someone has mentioned to me that maybe he just doesnt handle the chicken well. 

when i told the vet he was on BB he didn't act like it was the worst food ever but just that i shouldn't buy into the hype of "holistic" foods yadda yadda. which is not why i bought it at all. i just heard A LOT of good things about it. he recommended purina pro plan. the next vet visit was with a different vet and he couldn't say enough good things about BB. arrrgg, makes me want to pull my hair out, lol

what about the treats? i kinda like the 6 ingredient deal. and i was told that treats are not a significant source of their diet so the treats don't have to match the food and treats can even be changed with little to no problem. true?


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## Girth (Jan 27, 2011)

My daughter fed her dog Rachel Ray's food. Her dog didn't care much for it. I feed 4 Health which I get from Tractor Supply. It's a good quality food that doesn't break the bank, and I know they have a puppy kibble as well. All my dogs do well on it and I supplement it with a canned food called Trippett. Smells to high heaven but the dogs start drooling as soon as I open the can.


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## jae (Jul 17, 2012)

jlbjab08 said:


> i meantioned chicken in my original post. someone has mentioned to me that maybe he just doesnt handle the chicken well.
> 
> *when i told the vet he was on BB he didn't act like it was the worst food ever but just that i shouldn't buy into the hype of "holistic" foods yadda yadda*. which is not why i bought it at all. i just heard A LOT of good things about it. he *recommended purina pro plan*. the next vet visit was with a different vet and he couldn't say enough good things about BB. arrrgg, makes me want to pull my hair out, lol
> 
> what about the treats? i kinda like the 6 ingredient deal. and i was told that treats are not a significant source of their diet so the treats don't have to match the food and treats can even be changed with little to no problem. true?


You are going to hear a million opinions from everyone - qualified or not (I am *not *qualified btw) - and they will be conflicting and hard to decide between. There is plenty of resources here and on the web that you should absolutely look at. I suggest making your own decisions based on research, it's not very simple some times, do what works for your dog. BB is a high quality food that is highly recommended by mostly everyone I have spoken to, read about on here, and by my vets.

As for mine, for some reason, it is just chicken kibble that gives him loose stools. Raw chicken he does just fine with, I'm still trying to come to terms with that. Treats could cause an upset tummy, but it depends how often you treat. myself, I treat a lot for him since he is so food driven, I need to use real single-origin, limited ingredient treats, following his diet and protein source.


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## vickip9 (Mar 28, 2012)

It amazes me how vets are animal "doctors" but they know SO LITTLE about what we should be feeding our dogs.. Ugh. I never, EVER take my vet's advice when he suggests what brands I should be feeding my dog. Because he always tries to cram down my throat the crap brands that are just LOADED with fillers, meat by-products, etc. I mean, come one.. How can we take that advice seriously??? lol

Spend enough time reading about different kibble ingredients, where they're sourced, what's good vs. not good, if they've had recalls and why, where most of the Protein content comes from, etc. and you'll quickly learn that the vet's suggestions are RARELY the best. Honestly, I would pick Blue Buffalo any day of the week over the foods the vet recommends. 

There are TONS of good foods out there.. Some better than others. Champion makes 2 kinds that are very highly regarded (Orijen and Acana). There are other premium lines that are less expensive than Orijen but still have excellent ingredients.. Those would be Fromm, Earthborn Holistic (seems to have similar ingredients to Blue Buffalo, but at an even more reasonable cost), Merrick, Nature's Variety, Taste of the Wild, California Naturals, EVO, Pinnacle, etc etc etc.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

I know this is completely a fringe case, but here's how well my dog digested Rachel Ray beef flavor food:










...In other words, she couldn't digest it and bloated.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

One thing I will ask for sure. Is your puppy getting 3 small meals a day? Also overfeeding can cause loose stools. It could be that simple.


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## jlbjab08 (Aug 1, 2012)

All good advice. Thanks so much. I will consider all of it. 

I think perhaps I will try adding some barley to the current food instead of pumpkin. If I don't see a significant improvement I will switch proteins with BB 

Thanks again!


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

barley?


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## jlbjab08 (Aug 1, 2012)

jocoyn said:


> One thing I will ask for sure. Is your puppy getting 3 small meals a day? Also overfeeding can cause loose stools. It could be that simple.


I give him a cup for each meal (3) based on the bag guidelines. 1-3 months says 2-3 3/4. He only eats about half in the morning. He finishes lunch a dinner. And treats are very in frequent. He probably gets one a day but broken into several pieces through out the day.


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## jlbjab08 (Aug 1, 2012)

jocoyn said:


> barley?


Yes. Mixed in with his food to firm up stools. Suggested by the vet 

Suppose to function much like pumpkin


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

My old GSD has problems with a lot of food, one food I found recently that works for my old guy is natures recipe easy to digest. It works ok and doesn't break the bank. It's not the best food out there but it is for all life stages and so far everyone is doing great and my old guys coat looks a lot better.

Here is there chicken, rice and barley ingredients. 

Chicken meal, ground rice, pearled barley, poultry fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), natural flavor, tomato pomace, salt, potassium chloride, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), inositol, niacin supplement, vitamin A supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, beta carotene, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), minerals (zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), yeast culture, choline chloride, yucca schidigera extract, rosemary extract, citric acid (used as a preservative).


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## sandybee (Sep 16, 2012)

my 4 month pup seems to really like Nutrish 6 by Rachael Ray and the soft smelly poopy has gone!! I am very aware of bloat and will keep close eye on her for that. My vet told me [a few weeks ag] "whatever she'll eat' is what to feed her. He went on to say GSD are usually picky eaters from time to time and be careful about table [human] food. but chicken baby food has perked her appetite up--for now.


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