# Orijen or Acana



## minerva_deluthe

I have an 11 week old pup, have her on Canidae all stages right now but I'm reading there are far better quality foods?

Orijen sounds really amazing, but I'm not sure if the protein content needs to be that high? The price is a little more than I anticipated spending on dog food. I'm wondering how it compares to Acana which I know is made by the same company. I know the protein content in Acana is lower, but I'm not really sure of other differences between the two foods and though I searched I didn't see any comparison threads here.

So, what would you feed? For the quality/budget balance? Is there anything I should know about either of the foods to help sway a decision?

Also open to other foods, I am really out of my league here but I really like what I have read about Orijen and the company.


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## lzver

We feed our 19 week old GSD Acana Pacifica. Like you I feel Orijen is too high in protein and our boy has a sensitive tummy. But he's doing amazing on Acana ... He's growing like a bad weed and his coat is gorgeous and shiny!


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## gsdheeler

I just ordered a lg bag of Acana Pacifica, looks like great quality food. With the recall of TOTW, I've had to decide on changing dog food. Got the Acanc for my young female and ordered Fromm for my older male, (thought the high protein too much for him).


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## Wolfgeist

Orijen and Acana are the same in terms of ingredients and food quality. Your difference lies in the formulas and protein amount. Orijen is higher protein. Orijen is entirely grain free.

Acana has formulas with grains, a few without grains (Pacifica, Grasslands, Ranchlands, Wild Prairie). Acana is lower protein, Acana has some limited ingredient diets for potential food sensitivities, lots of different formulas.


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## NancyJ

The only concern I would have with Acana is they only publish their minimum calcium and phosphorus while they publish the range on orijen. I know meat meals can be less expenisive and that Ca should be limited....so were I going to feed Acana to a puppy I would want to know the upper limits as well as the upper limit on ash.


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## ladylaw203

Been feeding orijen and a Acana now for some time. Puppy formula orijen to all pups,gsds,labs and Goldens with no problem


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## minerva_deluthe

I went to our neighbourhood pet food store and ended up with Horizon Pulsar chicken. Looked at Orijen and Acana, but the price point for Orijen was much higher and she pointed out that Orijen and Acana are cooked at high temperatures and that Orijen contains potatoes for the starch, vs Pulsar which contains legumes.

Legumes sounded better to me than potatoes, so I went with Pulsar. I have no idea if that is correct or not. I liked the price point better than Orijen for sure, though I know the protein contents are much different. Workers at two separate pet stores have mentioned that the protein content in Orijen is very high, and that a non-working puppy, large breed dog doesn't need such high protein. I am not sure if there is anything to that or not.

The world of dog food seems a lot like the world of human food - many different competing logics! I can believe each one when they are told to me, I have no idea what the truth is.


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## LaneyB

_I went to our neighbourhood pet food store and ended up with Horizon Pulsar chicken._

Pulsar Dog Food | Review and Rating

It got a really good review.


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## 3ToesTonyismydog

I mix Acana Chicken and Burbank with Orijen 6 fish and Regional Red. Tony does and looks great. Hard to argue with pictures.


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## 3ToesTonyismydog

minerva_deluthe said:


> I went to our neighbourhood pet food store and ended up with Horizon Pulsar chicken. Looked at Orijen and Acana, but the price point for Orijen was much higher and she pointed out that Orijen and Acana are cooked at high temperatures and that Orijen contains potatoes for the starch, vs Pulsar which contains legumes.
> 
> Legumes sounded better to me than potatoes, so I went with Pulsar. I have no idea if that is correct or not. I liked the price point better than Orijen for sure, though I know the protein contents are much different. Workers at two separate pet stores have mentioned that the protein content in Orijen is very high, and that a non-working puppy, large breed dog doesn't need such high protein. I am not sure if there is anything to that or not.
> 
> The world of dog food seems a lot like the world of human food - many different competing logics! I can believe each one when they are told to me, I have no idea what the truth is.


Pulsar is a good dog food made by a very good manufacture and is made in-house. The makers of Pulsar make the most under rated dog food made today, Horizon Legacy, fantastic dog food. But Orijen is a huge step up compared to Pulsar and Acana is a super good dog food. Now with that said I am sure your dog would do just fine on any of these brands.


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## 4TheDawgies

The price may be higher for the outright buying cost, BUT you will find that you feed a lot less of that food and your bag of Acana will last double the time other bag of dog foods last. 

I would highly recommend the food. I LOVE the food and what it's done for my dogs, their health, coat, eye and nose boogers, energy, stool consistency etc. 

I love the food!


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## NancyJ

minerva_deluthe said:


> I went to our neighbourhood pet food store and ended up with Horizon Pulsar chicken. Looked at Orijen and Acana, but the price point for Orijen was much higher and she pointed out that Orijen and Acana are cooked at high temperatures and that Orijen contains potatoes for the starch, vs Pulsar which contains legumes.
> .


True on the starch but interesting on the cooking temperature ... from the research I did, Orijen and Acana are processed at 95C which is less than the temperature of boiling water and well below the temperature noted for breakdown of lysine and unsaturated fats. I would like to know if that is not the case.

Now legumes DO contain starch and they actually add pea starch to the horizon fomulas. They are higher in soluble fiber which lowers the glycemic response in humans (these are experimentally determined and dogs digest carbs differently than humans) but glycemic indeces have not been determined for dogs so I am not sure what that actually means. 

Given the protein percent I would think the only fair price comparison would be with the Acana line.

Acana also contains peas [One of my question for Champion Petfoods pending an answer is what contribution to the total protein comes from animal sources as peas add protein, but it is deficient in some amino acids--honestly I would rather see Quinoa which is a complete protein -- peas are as likely to cause an allergic response as grains however they are gluten free....but so is Quinoa)

Tough decisions. Many questions. WOuld love to see a review of the Horizon after about two months on the food.


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## NancyJ

Oh, if I were looking into the pulse based fods I would really look at the Nutrisca because they earned the low Glycemic Label from the Glycemic Resarch Institute (as did Orijen) and are at a very competitive price. Also has selenium yeast instead of sodium selenite, and a bit higher in fat slightly lower in protein.


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## Bear GSD

3ToesTonyismydog said:


> I mix Acana Chicken and Burbank with Orijen 6 fish and Regional Red. Tony does and looks great. Hard to argue with pictures.


Wow, Tony has some great markings! 
I was just curious as I just recently switched fron Orijen and then to Acana. Unfortunately for my pup, he doesn't tolerate either. I was feeding Natural Balance LID Sweet Potato and Bison (which he did fine on before the switch) I really wanted to feed Origen or Acana but am resigned that it won't work. I really want to make sure that I'm giving my pup the best option (other than RAW) out there. I do supplement his food with Bravo.
What are your thoughts on Natural Balance LID?


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