# If raw wasn't an option........



## Denali Girl (Nov 20, 2010)

I was just wondering because of all the chat lately on different foods and ingredients.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

ewwww...I don't know. I have one with cancer so it has to be low carbs and another with mild HD so once again...low carbs, high O3.


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

I don't know enough about any kibbles to make an informed decision, but I would probably do Origen because I hear so many good things about it.


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## vicky2200 (Oct 29, 2010)

I don't feed raw so this is an easy one for me. However, my brand wasn't listed. I feed Professional: The girls get Active chicken and rice formula. Dakota gets the low fat chicken and rice formula. Weegee gets the small and medium breed chicken and rice puppy formula. We love it! 

Of these brands I would choose blue buffalo. ( I dont know a lot about some of these other brands so I didn't vote in your poll. I just know I read the ingredients in B.B and liked what I saw. However it is more expensive than we can afford for 4 dogs and the brand we use is high quality but a bit cheaper.)


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## Kaiser2012 (Mar 12, 2012)

This USED to be an easy one for me:

I had Dakota on raw and she did absolutely ah-may-zing!!! Unfortunately when gas prices went up, so did the price of everything else, and being that I live in a tourist area, food went up even more. So...I had to stop feeding raw 

The ONLY food I found that worked with both Dakota's pallet AND sensitive stomach was Timberwolf Organics. Her poops were very small, which is saying something for a 75lb animal, and she had the best coat she's ever had on any kibble. 

UNFORTUNATELY, a few years ago Timberwolf changed the makeup of their foods to include cheaper ingredients to save money. The bags used to read like something I would eat myself. All fresh meats/named meals and nothing questionable. Now, even though technically they are still considered a top rated food, they are not AS good by any way, shape or form. I choose to switch Dakota to a different kibble (which has been he** in the process) because THEY DID NOT INFORM THEIR CONSUMERS about the ingredient changes. They actually added some ingredients, like chicken fat, that many dogs are allergic to, and when I contacted them they said they had an allowed time frame between when they made the formula changes and when they actually had to change the bags and inform consumers. I was furious. 

So fast forward to today...I have yet to find a kibble Dakota has done well on. She either itches, doesn't want to eat, or poops mountains. Right now we are on Fromm. We will see how she does on it.

Oh, how I wish I could afford raw again.

ETA: We've tried every one of those kibbles on that list, plus others. Its been a frustrating time. I'm just glad my girl is healthy!


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## Rua (Jan 2, 2012)

I actually would have chosen Acana grain free if it had been on the list. I would love to try TOTW but it isn't available in my area. 

As it stands though, I feed Juno raw in the mornings and Acana in the evenings with a bit of raw mince. It's worked very well for us thus far.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Kaiser2012 have you tried the California Natural "limited ingredient" formulas?


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## Kaiser2012 (Mar 12, 2012)

Sure have!  Dakota is a very picky eater. She will go 4 days without eating if she doesn't like the food. I give her a few months on it, then will switch if she isn't maintaining her weight (assuming she didn't have any other negative responses). 

In some cases, we've tried just samples (instead of a full bag for a few months). Heck, I've seen Dakota spit out cookies she didn't want. She is far from a food motivated dog, thats for sure lol. 

We've tried all of the 6-star foods, most of the 5-star, and a few of the 4. I've tried putting her back on Timberwolf (just a year ago) but it just wasn't the same. I could tell she wasn't enthusiastic about it like she was years ago.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

I feed raw but always have a small bag of kibble on hand. I feed Acana Grainfree and rotate between the different flavors.


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## LARHAGE (Jul 24, 2006)

It's funny cause my dogs just don't like Orijen, lucky me, they love Fromm Gold and all the Tasts of The Wild varieties, I like to mix the kibbles around anyway so my dogs pretty much have eaten all the brands in the poll, I add EVO or Merrick canned to the kibble and they love it, I feed raw bones weekly, but I can't do a full raw diet for all my dogs, not only does it make me want to hurl, but I just don't have the time or space for 6 dogs, I'd have to start shooting livestock in the backyard to accommodate them all every day.


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

This is a great post. Thanks for thought/creativity! Will read it now/soon.


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## Tiffseagles (May 12, 2010)

We feed a brand called Canine Caviar to our GSD because he has a very sensitive stomach. It was the first food he did well on after doing poorly on Wellness and a couple of others.

Now our Cattle Dog without issues gets TOTW. We switch up the varieties and she has done well on all of them. She originally came to us on Eukanuba Puppy and we are so happy we made the switch! She's more enthusiastic and her poops seem smaller.


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## sagelfn (Aug 13, 2009)

I feed Orijen and the grainfree ACANA (same company as Orijen) and rotate flavors until I make the switch to raw


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## LJsMom (Jan 6, 2008)

Just ordered some Mulligan Stew kibble for Mila. Mulligan Stew Pet Food : All Natural Pet Nutrition


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## technodog (Dec 31, 2010)

Probably the Honest Kitchen, since it's the closest thing to raw, if not, I'll most likely feed EVO or TOTW.


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## OriginalWacky (Dec 21, 2011)

I actually won't vote in this poll, because all of those are decent foods (what I do use for kibble isn't listed, but we're mostly raw here anyway). What works great for one dog may be horrible for another, so it really depends on what works best for the dog. Because I like to keep my options kinda open, I'm mainly feeding raw, and supplementing with one meal a day of kibble (Fromm) for Koshka. It seems to be working well, he looks great, is in nice shape, and has good poops. Krissie gets a few kibbles as training treats as well, but pretty much eats all raw. Both also get table scraps as long as they are decent ones, not too much if they are junk food. Heheh.


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Need a choice of "Other" Nature's Logic


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

So i have fed raw, but am sticking with kibble because I want more variety than i can provide in a raw diet and think the common grocery store chicken which was my source to not be adequate........So........while one dog is eating TOTW, the other is eating a food containing some grains that is not on the list.

I have fed Evo but I think the protein source is too concentrated and it made my dogs' blood numbers wonky [even compared to when I rawfed]...


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Kaiser2012 said:


> Sure have!  Dakota is a very picky eater. She will go 4 days without eating if she doesn't like the food. I give her a few months on it, then will switch if she isn't maintaining her weight (assuming she didn't have any other negative responses).
> 
> In some cases, we've tried just samples (instead of a full bag for a few months). Heck, I've seen Dakota spit out cookies she didn't want. She is far from a food motivated dog, thats for sure lol.
> 
> We've tried all of the 6-star foods, most of the 5-star, and a few of the 4. *I've tried putting her back on Timberwolf (just a year ago) but it just wasn't the same. I could tell she wasn't enthusiastic about it like she was years ago.*


It sounds like she isn't enthusiastic about anything. Was she feeling better and itching and pooping less when back on Timberwolf? Curious because I was thinking of trying it.


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## 3ToesTonyismydog (Dec 27, 2009)

A very over looked kibble is Horizon Legacy. Made in house puts this dog food in a very special group. I have a very hard time trusting any company that has to have someone else manufacture their food. They then become a investment company in it for profit only and not because they love dogs.

http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/petfoods_pg1.htm


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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

I feed Blue Wilderness and Flint River Ranch right now in addition to raw a few times a week.


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## Angela (Mar 22, 2011)

I honestly can't think of a real reason I wouldn't be able to feed the dogs raw, since I'm doing it now much much cheaper than feeding commercial pet food. But I suppose if I had to pick one I'd say either Merrick 96% real meat, or Evo 95% canned. I've fed the cat versions of both, but the cats also eat raw. The canned food is 4x the price of prey model raw though and much higher in fat and lower in protein.


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## marshies (May 18, 2011)

Can't due raw since I don't have to time to dedicate to feeding her a balanced, varied diet. We tried it for a month and, though she loved eating it, I can see she wasn't doing as well as when she was on Orijen because I couldn't provide the same varied diet. So we are back on all varieties of Orijen. I might try Arcana, honest kitchen, or the new Orijen freeze-dried food just for more variety. 

She is now sick of LBP and regular adult, but still loves 6 fish.


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## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

Aiden didn't do too well with raw. He used to be super picky too, but has gotten much better within the last year. He does really well with Fromm, Orijen, Acana, and Instinct, and we just started a small bag of Cal Nat grain free which he seems to like a lot.


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