# proplan ????



## Buckhunter

we have been feeding purina proplan , but today I was comparing the label between proplan and purina one . The nutritional values are nearly identical and purina one is $5 a bag less $

Any opinions or a reason NOT to switch to purina one ?????


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## Elaine

I wouldn't feed either one as they are both pretty close to bottom of the barrel for dog food. There are much better options out there and a good general rule of thumb is that if you can buy it at the grocery store, you shouldn't feed it to your dog.


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## selzer

I am not sure about the source, but I was told that Purina is actually manufacturing pro-plan, purina one and a lot of the lower quality purina products are being farmed out to other manufacturing plants now. Something to look into before switching. 

Pro-plan is the dog food that one of my trainers says she always comes back to. She has tried many of the higher quality foods, but gets good consistent results with pro-plan.


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## Rerun

I would hardly consider pro plan to be "close to the bottom of the barrel."

Really now, things have gotten just a little bit ridiculous about dog food when pro plan, although certainly not "top of the line" is being referred to as bottom of the barrel. There are national leading organizations dedicated to dogs that raise dogs on pro plan, an example being leader dogs for the blind.

Bottom of the barrel - try brands such as dads, old roy, etc. Pro plan? No.


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## krystyne73

My trainer swears by Proplan and he has been showing GSD for decades. He gets mad at me because I won't switch lol


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## Andaka

I have been feeding Pro Plan since it came out in 1986. I have raised 4 generations of cchampion show dogs on it and I like the results.


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## RebelGSD

I was not a fan of Purina. Our rescue got ProPlan donated and we tried it. I was impressed, the dogs did better on it than on some "upscale' foods, one of them being Blue. We have a dog with history of perianal fistulas who went into remission on Proplan. I have tried many upscale foods - the dogs do well on PropPlan, better than on some holistic foods.


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## kleinenHain

My husband feeds it to his Labs and they do great on it. I feed it to a couple of my GSD's and they too are doing good.


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## DharmasMom

I feed ProPlan and I admit I like it. The dogs do well on it and it is not as expensive as Wellness on Blue- both of which I have tried. I fed Welllness or Blue when it was just Dharma whe I took in Tessa I could not afford to do so. I checked the ingredients and there is no corn or meat by product. Even one of the trainers (when I was shopping for obedience classes) I spoke with was impressed when I read them to her, she was prepared to poo-poo it and instead remarked that it wasn't all that bad. Is it the top of the line? NO. But I know that. But it is the best that I can afford for to large dogs with a healthy appetite. Even my current trainer admits that it isn't that bad of a food. 

And no, you can't buy it at a grocery store.


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## Mika140

I also know a number of people who feed pro plan and get very good results on it. Personally, I don't like the ingredient list at all and because of that wouldn't feed it to my dogs, but I can't argue that it works very well for some people. It seems very heavy w/ corn & brewer's rice. Nothing against corn, but just very heavy with it. And the by-products and un-named "meat" digest concern me. 

Large Breed Formula: 

Chicken, brewers rice, whole grain wheat, corn gluten meal, whole grain corn, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), pearled barley, corn germ meal, fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), animal digest, fish oil, wheat bran, salt, dried egg product, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, potassium citrate, Vitamin E supplement, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.


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## robinhuerta

Several years ago.....we fed Pro Plan.
I have no real complaints about it.....actually, our puppies did great on the regular puppy food. (I personally don't use LB puppy or dog foods).
We decided to up-grade when we moved, and the feed stores charge $38+ per bag.
I'd rather spend a few dollars more for a "higher quality" food...especially when all things considered.
Also..FYI...Cosco's brand Kirkland, is actually "better" on the ingredient list....and is less $$ per bag.
If Pro Plan is easily accessible, and your dog is doing well?.....then I say feed the product.
Like I said....I did not have a negative experience when feeding the product.


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## NancyJ

I had a dog with allergies and fed him ONE salmon for years. Basically I comopared it with the proplan Salmon and thought it was better. I think the oP is onto something comparing the ingredients as I saw the same thing........and felt the ONE had a slight edge.

An awful lot of folks who actually work their dogs feed pro plan. (And I know some who feed Nutro). And the dogs are just fine ....... Dog food is such an emotional issue ........LOL but someone posts about GMO foods (and I saw some govt folks want to cut FDA food oversight even more)......I am more worried about my food than my dog's.

Right now I am feeding Natural Balance in a Rotation and really liking it, but it has citric acid so I watch water availability relative to eating. But that is simply personal preference.


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## sable123

Elaine said:


> I wouldn't feed either one as they are both pretty close to bottom of the barrel for dog food. There are much better options out there and a good general rule of thumb is that if you can buy it at the grocery store, you shouldn't feed it to your dog.


Really? Tell me who wrote that rule.


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## WVGSD

*purina pro plan*

Purina Pro Plan's Selects line has no corn, wheat and/or soy. The Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach kibble also has no corn, wheat or soy. 

Pro Plan is marketed towards the breeder/trainer population and, Purina ONE, is generally marketed to the pet owner. Purina ONE's Sensitive Systems formula is virtually the same as the Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach. I have used both for my dogs (Selects line and Sensitive Skin and Stomach formula) for fifteen years for both champions and rescues with very good results.

Shannon


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## sable123

Rerun said:


> I would hardly consider pro plan to be "close to the bottom of the barrel."
> 
> Really now, things have gotten just a little bit ridiculous about dog food when pro plan, although certainly not "top of the line" is being referred to as bottom of the barrel. There are national leading organizations dedicated to dogs that raise dogs on pro plan, an example being leader dogs for the blind.
> 
> Bottom of the barrel - try brands such as dads, old roy, etc. Pro plan? No.


It is crazy. The GSD I have been taking care of, Babbu, is going back home in a week or two and when my friend sees him he won't believe that he has been eating a feed store grade food for the last 18 months. Teeth clean, coat great, ears dry, stools firm, nose & paw leather black and shiny, anal sacs normal....all for $27.99 a bag. 

I think I will keep all the Pro Pac coupons for myself...

All the herbs & berries did nothing for this dog but made the company rich.


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## XTOL

Abby was on Purina Pro Plan when she came from the breeder.
So I kept her on that for a few weeks until she settled in. She actually
did quite well on it. I eventually switched her to 4Health from TSC
since its easier to get (TSC is close by) and reasonably priced.
She is doing fine on the 4Health.

My old GSD Mikey was on Purina One Lamb and Rice and it suited him
just fine for 13 years.

I think many brands of dog food are marketed more for the benefit
of the dog owner rather than for the dog...


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## krystyne73

WVGSD said:


> Purina Pro Plan's Selects line has no corn, wheat and/or soy. The Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach kibble also has no corn, wheat or soy.
> 
> Pro Plan is marketed towards the breeder/trainer population and, Purina ONE, is generally marketed to the pet owner. Purina ONE's Sensitive Systems formula is virtually the same as the Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach. I have used both for my dogs (Selects line and Sensitive Skin and Stomach formula) for fifteen years for both champions and rescues with very good results.
> 
> Shannon


I just switched to TOTW a few months ago because my mixed breed misfit dog has trouble with her intestines. I wonder if that would help her?
How much is ProPlan? I pay $30-$43 for TOTW 30# bags


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## Buckhunter

if you read the guaranteed analysis on the label both proplan and purina one are nearly identical on nutritional values delivered which is why I ask the question that no one has addressed .................. would you switch to purina one to save $5 a bag on feed costs ????


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## lisgje

Chance eats the purina one sensitive systems dry and pro-plan canned. Due to his IBD, this was the only food I found that he can tolerate and he looks amazing now. Have used Purina One and Pro-Plan for all my pets and they did great.


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## Rerun

Buckhunter said:


> if you read the guaranteed analysis on the label both proplan and purina one are nearly identical on nutritional values delivered which is why I ask the question that no one has addressed .................. would you switch to purina one to save $5 a bag on feed costs ????


that would depend to me on what "nearly identical" means.

But if all was basically the same with no major differences, then I would at least give it a shot and see if they did well.


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## selzer

Buckhunter said:


> if you read the guaranteed analysis on the label both proplan and purina one are nearly identical on nutritional values delivered which is why I ask the question that no one has addressed .................. would you switch to purina one to save $5 a bag on feed costs ????


I actually did address this. If they are both manufactured at the same place, than go ahead and save the money, ingredients the same and guaranteed analysis the same. 

If they are farming out one of them to a different plant, like say, diamond, then I would stick with the one still manufactured by purina as I do not trust anything manufactured by diamond. 

This will take some research to find out though.


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## DharmasMom

I can't answer that question. I would have to research Purina One and I guess if it really was as good as ProPlan and my dogs did as well on it then I would probably use it. 

On another note, I checked out that website in that other thread. The one where everyone was saving money on TOTW and wellness. I got a great deal on ProPlan with the savings code that someone posted and free shipping. YAY!!


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## Lucy Dog

Made by purina, the main ingredient is brewers rice, and there's by-products. Seems like junk to me.

This would be a last resort food for any of my dogs. If nothing else worked, but pro plan, yeah, i'd use it. Otherwise, there are plenty of better options out there that i'd try first.


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## roxy84

Mika140 said:


> I also know a number of people who feed pro plan and get very good results on it. Personally, I don't like the ingredient list at all and because of that wouldn't feed it to my dogs, but I can't argue that it works very well for some people. It seems very heavy w/ corn & brewer's rice. Nothing against corn, but just very heavy with it. And the by-products and un-named "meat" digest concern me.
> 
> Large Breed Formula:
> 
> Chicken, brewers rice, whole grain wheat, corn gluten meal, whole grain corn, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), pearled barley, corn germ meal, fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), animal digest, fish oil, wheat bran, salt, dried egg product, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, potassium citrate, Vitamin E supplement, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.


if this is the actual food being discussed, i have no problem calling it, at least, close to a bottom of the barrel food. 

brewers rice, whole grain wheat, corn gluten meal, whole grain corn as the likely first 4 true ingredients. even the kumpi crowd recognizes the need for meat in their food.


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## sable123

roxy84 said:


> if this is the actual food being discussed, i have no problem calling it, at least, close to a bottom of the barrel food.
> 
> brewers rice, whole grain wheat, corn gluten meal, whole grain corn as the likely first 4 true ingredients. even the kumpi crowd recognizes the need for meat in their food.



It reads bad but it works. Personally, for the money Pro Pac is a superior food.


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## Stosh

My mom has tried everything with her gsd and finally settled on Pro Plan


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## heatherr

My cats get Purina One/Proplan.

They do fine on it. 

I need to switch my dog's food, he has been on the Petsmart Authority brand, and it getting picky about it now.


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## Toffifay

Buckhunter said:


> if you read the guaranteed analysis on the label both proplan and purina one are nearly identical on nutritional values delivered which is why I ask the question that no one has addressed .................. would you switch to purina one to save $5 a bag on feed costs ????


I remember someone posted, a while ago, that they were friends with someone who worked at the Purina plant. They were discussing Pro Plan and Purina ONE. The man who worked for Purina, basically said that they were the same food. He did say that ONE was marketed for pet owners and Pro Plan for Professionals. supposedly he chuckled about it!


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## myshepharley

I have tried Harley on TOTW, Nutro, Nature's Recipe and every one of them is too rich for him. It runs right thru him. I now have him on Purina Pro Plan, the salmon for sensitive skin and stomach. He loves it. And so far so good. Guess it depends on the dog. My friend has her Labs on TOTW and they are doing great.


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## kiya

I used ProPlan for over 10 years, my dogs did great on it as far as I could tell. After learning more about the ingredients in dog foods, I felt that it wasn't worth the price. I wouldn't use the Purina ONE because I don't feel Purina uses good quality ingredients.
Over the summer I ended up switching to Kirkland brand dog food, better quality and about half the price. These days it's all about reading the ingredients. I have friends that I have been trying to convince that Beneful is not a good food, all they have to do is read.
If your satisfied with what you are seeing, use it. Things are tuff all around you have to do what you have to do.


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## wildflowerink

I am so glad to see this posted. I am feeding Jaxon (10 wks old) ProPlan and he is doing great on it! Great stools, and he just loves it as well. I was wondering if I should switch to on of the more expensive brands, but after reading this I feel comfortable keeping him on it, as long as he is a puppy, at least.

Laura


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## ZebsMommy

I've tried everything and Proplan is what I always come back too. I get great results with Zebs coat, stool, etc. He's much more consistent and eats it better. When I swtiched to Wellness or Nutro, he would lose weight cause he barely ate it. At 70# he can't afford to lose  He loves it!


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## sable123

Hahahaha I am loving this thread. Good for you guys on Pro Plan!!!


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## 3ToesTonyismydog

Purnia does not produce one good quality dog food. I don't know if you realize that purnia has been busted a couple of times for adding plastic to their dog food formulas. It just blows my mind that anyone would trust feeding purnia to their dog. There is nothing good about purnia.

Purina Dog Food

Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach Dog Food - Review & Analysis


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## lisgje

Just be careful if you use any of the canned with a dog with IBD. The Purina One Sensitive Systems has Chicken in it and the Pro-Plan Sensitive Systems does not.


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## sable123

3ToesTonyismydog said:


> Purnia does not produce one good quality dog food. I don't know if you realize that purnia has been busted a couple of times for adding plastic to their dog food formulas. It just blows my mind that anyone would trust feeding purnia to their dog. There is nothing good about purnia.
> 
> Purina Dog Food
> 
> Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach Dog Food - Review & Analysis



Hey 3 Toes, I am going to Westminster tomorrow. I will tell all the Champion breeders and handlers that feed Purina, Eukanuba, Royal Canin, Pro Pac and all the Huskies on Annamaet that you don't approve. I am sure they will ask for your email so you can educate them. If they ask what you charge for a consultation what shall I say?


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## Emoore

sable123 said:


> Hey 3 Toes, I am going to Westminster tomorrow. I will tell all the Champion breeders and handlers that feed Purina, Eukanuba, Royal Canin, Pro Pac and all the Huskies on Annamaet that you don't approve


I'm willing to bet that champion breeders feed those foods for the exact same reason that champion bodybuilders take Hydroxycut and champion NASCAR drivers drink Pepsi-- because they get paid to.



To Buckhunter-- you said the guaranteed analysis was the same, but is the ingredient list? If they are, I don't see any reason not to switch and save money.


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## sable123

Emoore said:


> I'm willing to bet that champion breeders feed those foods for the exact same reason that champion bodybuilders take Hydroxycut and champion NASCAR drivers drink Pepsi-- because they get paid to.
> 
> 
> 
> To Buckhunter-- you said the guaranteed analysis was the same, but is the ingredient list? If they are, I don't see any reason not to switch and save money.



Some do but the vast majority do not. Trust me, the cost of dog food is not enough to buy anyone off. In the world of showing a dog, food is pocket change and only a fool would spend $3,000 per dog just for Westminster and feed a crappy food just because it was free.


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## Rerun

Not only that, but if the food were truely crappy their dogs wouldn't look as great as they do and thus wouldn't make it as far as they do in the show ring....

The logic of "they feed it because it's free" doesn't make any sense for the above reason alone....


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## Emoore

sable123 said:


> Some do but the vast majority do not. Trust me, the cost of dog food is not enough to buy anyone off. In the world of showing a dog, food is pocket change and only a fool would spend $3,000 per dog just for Westminster and feed a crappy food just because it was free.


They've got Purina banners and Eukanuba flags draped all over their booths. I'm sure they get more out of the deal than just free kibble.  And I'll bet they supplement their diets, just like the bodybuilder who takes his Hydroxycut and then injects his steroids, or the NASCAR driver that drinks Pepsi while the camera is rolling and then quickly switches to water. Those winners at Westminster are getting more than just Dog Chow.


ETA: I'm not saying they're bad foods. I'm just saying you always follow the money and don't naively believe what they tell you.


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## selzer

What I don't get is that people feeding the five star premium foods, foods with the blessings of Whole Dog Journal. THEY, give their dogs supplements too! 

It is amazing what all people are doing to condition their dogs, and some of them do not look any better than dogs eating Pro-plan or Purina One or Bill-Jac. What's up with that?

It is really amazing all the crap that dogs have nowadays. Stuff that may or may not be food related. But it is the people feeding the great foods, often as not it seems like that need to do all this supplementing and having all these problems. And the people dragging home bags of food from PetsMart or even the grocery store seem to have dogs that are doing just fine.

I think we most of us are guilty of trying to improve our dogs health by improving their diet, nothing wrong with that. But when we judge foods by cost first, then by ingredient lists. I dunno, sometimes, I think it is all a racket.

Cost is often a reflection of the quality of the marketing.

Ingredient lists can get you only so far. Ok, corn gluten meal -- poor filler that artificially boosts protein levels to give you the illusion of having meat in the food; molassis -- sweetener used to mask the fact that there is not much meat or the fat is rancid in the food; animal digest -- sounds pretty nasty; any generic animal product -- animal fat, meat and bone meal, poultry fat, etc -- why not call out chicken fat, chicken meal, etc.

So you can have a list in your head that you do or do not want to see on your bag of food. But it can only get you so far. It does not tell you anything about the quality of the ingredients used, it does not tell you the composition -- just the volume in order of weight, but three meats followed by seven carbs what does that mean, is there really more meat than carbs, meat vs. meat meal, and when the water is sucked out of the meat, does it still stand above the cereal food fines? 

it is a racket. 

Find what works for your dog, and don't listen to the people who are trying to convert you to grain free, raw, or some other type of food. 

What was it twenty years ago give or take half a decade, everyone was going with protein, look at how much protein. More protein was better, meant it had more meat. Now, we find that higher protein can actually cause problems in dogs. Whatever.


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## Andaka

A very few of the people with dogs at Westminster are paid by the dog food companies. Most are not -- I know that I wasn't. And my 2005 Westminster Award of Merit dog was fed Pro Plan Performance from puppyhood.










American and Canadian Champion Andaka-Zederland's U R It CD RAE2 OFA HECT Cerf (aka Tag)


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## Kayos and Havoc

I fed Pro PLAn for a long time and never had a problem with it. Unfortunately we have allergies to the grains so cannot feed it. I would not consider it premiumn food but it is not bottom of the barrel either.


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## DnP

I fed Dakota Pro Plan Lamb and Rice all of his life until he was diagnosed with DM at age 10...we then went on Dr. Clemmons protocol. 

Dakota did well on Pro Plan and it was what his breeder fed all of his dogs and puppies. 

Can't feed Phoenix it b/c of his allergies.


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## Buckhunter

I know this may not be the right place to ask this question but is anyone else having problems getting error messages or getting bumped off of this forum ?


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## Good_Karma

Buckhunter ask that question in the suggestions forum. And no, at least for me I'm not having any trouble.


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## Stosh

I read that the last 5 best in show winners use Pro Plan


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## Girth

Kiya states it as well as any of these comments I've read. I don't feed proplan but if your happy and the dog is happy, I wouldn't care much about what anyone else thought.


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## sable123

Girth said:


> Kiya states it as well as any of these comments I've read. I don't feed proplan but if your happy and the dog is happy, I wouldn't care much about what anyone else thought.


Well said. And now the commercial dog food police can go away.


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## Myamom

I stay away from foods with menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity),



The Dog Food Project - Menadione (Vitamin K3)


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## AbbyK9

I am not a fan of Pro Plan or other Purina products. What I have the biggest problem with is the ratio of ingredient quality to product price. Considering the ingredients in Pro Plan, I don't think the price is justified. I will say the same thing about Science Diet. Considering the ingredients, there is no justification for the price.

If you were comparing ingredients/price of different foods, as the OP did, you can probably find plenty of foods with the same ingredients but a cheaper price. Or with better ingredients and a price that is either cheaper or about the same.

I feed Taste of the Wild and have been very happy with it. It's one of the cheapest grain free foods on the market - TSC recently had it on sale for $37/bag, but it is normally about $42/bag where I live. Much nicer ingredients list than Pro Plan and I have never had a dog who, once switched over properly to this food, had a hard time with it. (I have had issues with others, however - either from the dog's end or the food being out of stock whenever I needed to buy more.)

If you don't mind grains and want to feed something decent and spend less, Kirkland's food is not at all bad.

FWIW I think Purina One is just too expensive for what it's made from.


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## Lin

AbbyK9 said:


> I am not a fan of Pro Plan or other Purina products. What I have the biggest problem with is the ratio of ingredient quality to product price. Considering the ingredients in Pro Plan, I don't think the price is justified. I will say the same thing about Science Diet. Considering the ingredients, there is no justification for the price.


I have a personal theory on why Science Diet is so overpriced... They have to do it to make up for the deals they give to vets. At Purdue veterinary school science diet offers their food to the students at the price of 25 cents a lb. (or at least, that was the price they were offering it in 2006)


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