# Puppy food from PETSMART



## JG23 (Apr 29, 2012)

Hi guys, I took a walk at my local pet smart and noticed there were several food choices. The few that stuck out where Blue Buffalo (read some post that said their pups got diarrhea from this brand), Nutro, Science Diet, and Wellness. Given the above choices which would you pick?

Any recommendations?


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

From the choices above, I'd pick Wellness Large Breed puppy.


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## DanielleOttoMom (May 11, 2010)

If I had to choose... I choose Wellness LB puppy.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Wellness adult. It's fine for puppies.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Lucy Dog said:


> Wellness adult. It's fine for puppies.


I like the fact that Wellness Large Breed puppy has more protein than their adult formula. The 22% protein in the adult formula indicates a fairly low meat content. I like the 26% in the LBP.


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## JG23 (Apr 29, 2012)

Thanks I will give wellness a try  also any suggestion on treats?


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

I love the wellness grainfree treats. They are really soft and easy to break apart into tiny pieces, I use them for training.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Wellness LBP

By the way:
Diamond Pet Foods Expands Voluntary Recall to Include Diamond Puppy Formula due to Possible Salmonella Contamination


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

JG23 said:


> Thanks I will give wellness a try  also any suggestion on treats?


I cut turkey hot dogs and cheese sticks up into tiny pieces for training treats. WAAAAAY cheaper than actually buying treats. I also use leftover meat from whatever we had for dinner the night before.


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

JG23 said:


> Hi guys, I took a walk at my local pet smart and noticed there were several food choices. The few that stuck out where Blue Buffalo (read some post that said their pups got diarrhea from this brand), Nutro, Science Diet, and Wellness. Given the above choices which would you pick?
> 
> Any recommendations?


None. A lot of it is personal choice though. I like Acana, Orijen, Taste of the Wild, and if I could go partial raw I would.

Although I love holistic food and will only feed that to my dogs.... Blue Buffalo has had a LOT of recalls over the years, and the more I looked into them... I noticed they just have really good advertising that's not equaled to the quality of their food. When I first got Zira, I was going to feed that (I even had a friend who worked for them).... but, after everything I learned and saw with their recalls... I knew I couldn't research every bag of food before I fed it to the dog to make sure it wasn't recalled and stress out after, looking for signs of issues. I'm sure it's not horrible food... I just don't trust them now.

Science Diet.... again, I stick with holistic and grain free. Which, SD doesn't fall under. However, I will admit... when I was younger and we had our goldens, that's what they were raised on their entire life. That's what my female had through her pregnancy, whelping, and raising the pups... and a few weeks later, that's what the pups ate and were sent to their new homes with. My female was almost 14 when she passed (cancer), one of our males passed away this past Feb. at 13 (had to be put down due to problems that come with age), and our other male is still up and going strong at 13. All dogs were VERY healthy through their life. No issues. Because of that.... I can't get myself to say it's horrible food.... if you absolutely can not get holistic and HAVE to be on a grain food... I would say SD is one of the better options.

I have friends who feed Nutro and love it. I don't have too much knowledge/opinion on it. When I was searching for a more gentle holistic food to switch Zira to (during the SIBO days), I did look at Nutro and didn't dislike what I read.... not a bad food. Seems to be a very stable company too.. I don't really hear of recalls from them.

Wellness is one that I've heard a lot of good things about. I know a lot of people who feed this as well... and love it. Again, not much knowledge on it, but when I read the ingredients (another one I looked at for Z last year), it seemed like a pretty good food for the price.


With that said, both of my dogs are on Taste of the Wild Pacific formula (salmon).... I love it. It's not Acana or Orijen (my favorites), but it's not too far from them. Zira's stomach can't handle Orijen and I like to keep both my dogs on the same food.... so, TOTW is a good compromise for me. 


Good luck with your food search! Having a dog with SIBO, I've learned a LOT of the last year or so..... it's a long and tedious search going through each and every brand, but it's nice to find those ones you can feel comfortable feeding.


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## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

_Seems to be a very stable company too_

Google "Nutro Reviews" just to see how "stable" their company is. They're a mess and their food is toxic. When your dog gets sick from eating it, they wont care either. The amount of dogs and cats who end up with kidney/liver problems after eating this food is ridiculous. If someone cares about their pet, they wouldn't feed this food if they knew the truth about Nutro. They nearly killed my girl and the company didn't care. It only took a Google search to realize I wasn't alone and yet the food that was causing a lot of animals to be sick, wasn't being pulled. By sick, I mean completely lethargic, bloody diarrhea, vomiting blood, chow hounds not eating, ect. Not to mention the kidney/liver issues again. I'd rather feed a recalled food where the company can admit that there is a problem than one that isn't being pulled and is hiding behind problems.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/04/nutro_foia.html

I'd go for Wellness or they also have a food called Simply Nourish which is good as well as Innova and Castor & Pollux. I'd pick one out of those 4 choices that you can afford and try it on your pet and go from there.


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

ChancetheGSD said:


> _Seems to be a very stable company too_
> 
> Google "Nutro Reviews" just to see how "stable" their company is. They're a mess and their food is toxic. When your dog gets sick from eating it, they wont care either. The amount of dogs and cats who end up with kidney/liver problems after eating this food is ridiculous. If someone cares about their pet, they wouldn't feed this food if they knew the truth about Nutro. They nearly killed my girl and the company didn't care. It only took a Google search to realize I wasn't alone and yet the food that was causing a lot of animals to be sick, wasn't being pulled. By sick, I mean completely lethargic, bloody diarrhea, vomiting blood, chow hounds not eating, ect. Not to mention the kidney/liver issues again. I'd rather feed a recalled food where the company can admit that there is a problem than one that isn't being pulled and is hiding behind problems.
> 
> ...


Ok... as I said... It's not a food or company I spent a lot of time looking into. I also said I haven't heard of any recalls... doesn't mean they are not there. I'm not exactly looking into their food all the time. I don't feed it, I like what I am on, and if I was to go to something else, it would be back to Orijen or Acana..... so that's not one I spent much effort looking into it. Just gave an opinion from my experience. I know a few people who feed it and have never had any issues... lucky? maybe. If your link is accurate.... then I would say that's the case... they are very lucky to have not had issues.

Thank you for the information, I hope that helps whoever is reading here that's looking for a brand to go with. However, I hope no one goes off just a few people's posts/opinions on an online forum... I would recommend they go and do their own research and just use comments on here for some guidance or supplements from what they've already learned.


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## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

It wasn't anything against you, just something I feel needs to be said any time Nutro comes up. Hopefully it'll save even one dog from their food. Maybe even be something to pass on to your friends.

I do recommend people do their own research but it seems the person was asking specifically about Petsmart foods given the title of the post so things like Orijen and Acana aren't an option. That's why I gave the 4 recommendations I did. Some weren't listed in the OP so I figured I'd point out the other brands besides Wellness.


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

ChancetheGSD said:


> It wasn't anything against you, just something I feel needs to be said any time Nutro comes up. Hopefully it'll save even one dog from their food. Maybe even be something to pass on to your friends.
> 
> I do recommend people do their own research but it seems the person was asking specifically about Petsmart foods given the title of the post so things like Orijen and Acana aren't an option. That's why I gave the 4 recommendations I did. Some weren't listed in the OP so I figured I'd point out the other brands besides Wellness.


Yep, I understand... which is why I listed them off with what I know about them and what I've experienced (personally and through word of mouth & friends). I also mention others so people don't think petsmart is the only place to buy dog food and that the food there is not the only ones around. I thought that way a long time ago with my goldens. Didn't think there was anywhere else, or any other food. I did some research years ago and found other brands that I never knew existed. I also talked to some breeders... which is how I found out about Orijen and Acana. I'm glad I did that.... and I recommend people look outside of their local large pet stores and take some time to look at some of the other stores with the "specialty" food...... never hurts to expand the knowledge and go a bit further with some extra research. In the end... I'm actually not paying THAT much more for TOTW then I was paying for ProPlan when Z was really sick with SIBO flair ups. ProPlan was $43.99 for 33lbs at PetSmart, TOTW costs me $49.99 for 30lbs at our local little family owned pet food store. Acana and Orijen are a bit more (around $80 for 28lbs), but in my opinion VERY worth it if the funds are available.

It's worth the research. There are MANY great brands of kibble out there that are not crazy expensive.


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## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

If Nutro has a large breed puppy formula, I'd go with them. I'd also check into RC GSD puppy food. And you might consider going to The Honest Kitchen website, my dog's stomach has only become normalized on their dehydrated foods. With kibble alone we don't have perfect poops. Blue Buffalo is good, my dog just isn't into the taste, same with Wellness. Not a fan of Science Diet.


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## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

JG23 said:


> Thanks I will give wellness a try  also any suggestion on treats?


If you are only shopping at Petsmart - then Wellness for treats. Otherwise I prefer Solid Gold (not sold at my petsmart). Solid Gold has good large breed puppy dry formula too.


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## JG23 (Apr 29, 2012)

I never thought choosing the right food for my puppy would be so draining. The reason I asked particularly in petsmart is because there arent any local pet food stores in my neighborhood except for petsmart/petco, and walmart. I really just want to start the puppy on the right diet he wont be home till a couple more weeks so hopefully I can make a decision by then.

There are just so many opinions on food brands that contradict each other. In summary what should I be looking at when reading the ingredient list (maybe this will help me)

I've hear no corn as the first ingredients but not sure what else to look for? Sorry if I sound clueless im a newby.


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

JG23 said:


> I never thought choosing the right food for my puppy would be so draining. The reason I asked particularly in petsmart is because there arent any local pet food stores in my neighborhood except for petsmart/petco, and walmart. I really just want to start the puppy on the right diet he wont be home till a couple more weeks so hopefully I can make a decision by then.
> 
> There are just so many opinions on food brands that contradict each other. In summary what should I be looking at when reading the ingredient list (maybe this will help me)
> 
> I've hear no corn as the first ingredients but not sure what else to look for? Sorry if I sound clueless im a newby.


Not sure about where you are from. But, I know in my area we have places that deliver food... there are also some websites I've seen with delivery. Not sure too much about it, since I've never gone that direction. But, may be a possibility if you can't find what you want at the stores?

If you can only go to Petsmart, Wellness is probably the best choice in the Holistic section.

It is a difficult and tedious search, but worth it.

Good luck!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

stay with the premium brands. you may have to switch brands
a few times before you find one that works for your dog
and a brand your dog likes. i've never fed puppy food to my dogs.


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## JeepHound (Mar 14, 2012)

My vet informed me that about 50% of dogs will have loose stools with Blue Buffalo. However, if you search around, some dogs have loose stools on all sorts of name brand products so I wouldn't necessarily hold it against them. We were "lucky" and Achilles did fine on the BB Wilderness. However, with the calcium/potassium controversy, I opted to switch to a brand that is open and honest about their numbers.

With all the crap going on with Diamond I opted to stay away from all their products.

He is now on Acana, which I can get locally or online.

If looking online, check out petco.com and petflow.com - they both have recurring scheduled delivery options


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