We are in the process of getting a puppy. Anyone have any thoughts/opinions on Orijen, Blue Buffalo Wilderness, or Wellness Core dog foods? I am leaning toward Orijen. I have read that it's best to feed a food that's grain free. Our last dog had some health issues, so he was on a prescription food. I haven't had to deal with this in a couple years, so there's probably a lot of new info out there. TIA

We have a small 14 year old dog who has had stomach issues since he was a puppy. We tried all kinds of food, including one raw diet that was delivered on dry ice (expensive? yes!). He has done SO WELL on Wellness for the past several years. Even my parents (at the time, we lived in another state and just saw them a few times a year) commented on how much perkier he was after we switched to Wellness.

Wellness sounds like a good one. It was also recommended on another post of mine.

My 16 year old dog has done just fine on Purina Lamb and Rice Healthy Morsels.

We got him when he was 6 weeks old, and he's had a variety of foods over the years.

Anyway, the vet I work for is a Science Diet promoter, however, I have one dog out of 3 that cannot tolerate the Science Diet, he does best on the Purina L/R.

I have heard good things about the Buffalo Blue. Never tried it. Not going to change Maxx's diet as he has pooping issues, and the Purina works for him.

The best advice I would give after working for a veterinarian for 9 years, is to pick on a good, stable, established brand and stick with it.

Without getting to pricey, Purina is a good stable brand. Science Diet and Iams are also not to bad. Stay away from Ole Roy! Benifull, (spelling?) stay away from that! We see seizures in Benny dogs on a regular basis.

Never even heard of Orijen!

However, there are lots of pet foods out there, some are regional and not national, so it is hard to determine and sort out all the info.

Dogs by nature are not total meat eaters! My corgi can devour fresh sweet corn, like it was a military mission! She digs up and eats my radishes in the garden!

So anyway, pick a decent, stable, proven food that provides a puppy formula, for small and or large dogs, and provides, a good adult formula and a senior formula.l

Puppies of large breeds do need a good large breed puppy food for the first year at the very least, maybe 2 years if it's a very large dog, like Great Danes. And may also need vitamin supplements along the way as they grow so fast!

Hope that helps! Just my 2 cents worth after owning dogs and working in a vet setting.

Diana - I have two cats and I feed them Wellness(wet) and often Orijen dry food. It's quality food. My cats get bored of the same food so I have to cycle between comparable brands.

My two cats are sixteen years old an in very good health. They never got fat even though food was available at all times. Today, my cat was standing on the ledge of a six foot tall window. Not bad for a grandpa!

My advice is to feed Cody well. It's a good investment.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. We got Cody a week ago last night. I have been working the new food into his original food and he seems to be doing well. I decided on Acana. It does not have grain but the protein is not quite as high as the Orijen. I heard the high protein can be hard on a puppy. It seems the Acana is a good happy medium. Tomorrow is his Vet visit for his second round of shots. I will take the Acana bag in so the Vet can look at it.

Another question, are there any chew toys that you think are "safer" than others? I know you must supervise at all times. TIA

And another question, does everyone brush their dogs teeth? Do you use any particular products? TIA

NO RAWHIDE!!!!!

My favorite chews for dogs are bully sticks. They can be quite pricey but if you buy them in bulk from somewhere like bestbullysticks.com you can get a good price.

My dogs are extremely aggressive chews and a bully stick lasts them a long while!

Jen

Read the ingredients, the same as you would do for yourself. Pet food is a bit different from human food, though. There are "code words" in the labeling. Words like "meat by product" and "meat meal" and "mechanically separated" all basically mean variations on the same thing, and to be honest, it's the stuff scraped/boiled off carcasses after anything of any real value has been cut away.

Next, glutens. NO CARNIVOROUS ANIMAL NEEDS/SHOULD BE FED GLUTENS. No carnivorous animal should be fed corn, wheat or cellulose (indigestible fiber, could be wood pulp, could be ground up corn cobs) in any form. Carnivores do not need fiber like humans, and if they do they graze on their own. They have shorter intestinal tracts than we do and they have higher stomach acid. To illustrate this difference, a common "paleolithic" type diet fed to pets is called the BARF diet (it can stand for Bones and Raw Food). A typical BARF diet is made up of 60-80% of raw meaty bones (RMB), that is bones with about 50% meat, (e.g. chicken neck, back and wings) and 20-40% of fruit and vegetables, offal, meat, eggs, or dairy foods. The human digestive teeth/tract simply cannot break down raw bones.

Rice is okay, oatmeal is okay, potatoes are okay, but you really don't want these too high in ingredient list, and if they're in the #2 or #3 spot you really should pass.

To meet their nutritional requirements from processed foods dogs should be fed a diet that has a balance of whole foods (in nature they get micronutrients, vitamins and minerals from the stomach contents of their prey).

I wish you all the best with your new puppy. I can assure you good nutrition is the single most important key to an animal's health and longevity. Feed your pet right from the start and (barring any congenital health issues) it will never be fat.

Jen Someone else recommended bully sticks, too. I haven't bought anything yet. I have also heard horror stories about rawhide. Definitely staying away from that

ReNew Me Thank you very much for your post. I am hoping to do the best and to try to avoid health issues. Our previous dog had some health issues. I think it was cogenital or we just got unlucky.

Unfortunately, unless you really know the owner of the pups mom and dad, and their health history, congenital health problems are simply a crap shoot. This is especially true in purebred animals.

Acana is a great choice. We feed Acana as well. We tried Orijen but one of my dogs got the trots on it, as it was just a little too rich for her guts. Acana is a really quality food, and Champion pet foods (the maker) doesn't use Chinese ingredients. It's all locally sourced so you have that safety net there.

As for tooth brushing, any DOG toothpaste will be fine. (Never use human toothpaste it's harmful to dogs because of the fluoride.) Mine prefers peanut of liver flavored pastes.

Have you ever checked out dog food advisor dot com? They are an independent resource that has evaluated the most common foods on the market and give it a star rating based on it's quality. I always check there when thinking about a new food for my dogs.

What breed is he?

Boykin Spaniel

Yes! That is one of the reasons I decided on Acana. I think the company that makes Acana is the same company that makes Orijen.