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Wellness Large Breed Dog Food Reviews

Posted in Uncategorized | August 27th, 2011

OMG! Dog Food Doom!?

Why is it so hard to choose the right food for your dog? I have been feeding mine Natural Balance for about a year and a half. She has no problems with it, I just thought she might need a better 6 star rated food or something. The only thing that needs improvement is her shedding, but food probably wont help that. So I have been reading reviews all morning for Innova EVO, Orijen Adult, Wellness Core, Canidae All Life Stages and so on. Some reviews are good… some are very bad. Mostly because the food is too rich and causes loose stools or excess gas or the dog just doesn’t eat it. She love NB. I wouldn’t want to buy one of these and she hate it or it cause problems for her. Anyone have real experience with it? Mainly in a working class dog? I have a husky. She is 2.5 years old.

Thanks for your time.

P.S. What do you feed your working class dog or large breed dog?

I have all rescue dogs, large breeds – northern mixes, husky, malamute, pyrenees – and here’s our list and the whys …

Taste of the Wild High Prairie ($45/30lb bag) – it’s a grain free food – we feed it to our animals 1) because as northern breeds they require a higher protein and 2) it’s healthier for them as there are no grains, no by-products, no soy … less likely to cause allergies … and the meats in it aren’t the average meats, they have bison and venison as the main meats.
Our dogs digest more so there’s less waste to clean up.

Nature’s Recipe Sensitive Skin (Venison recipe) formula ($36/40lb bag) – one of our dogs has skin problems and this helped clear up her skin within 2 weeks. It’s a whole grain food (oats & barley)and is still pretty high in protein. We mix this with the Taste of the Wild for her and she’s doing very well on it.

We also use raw turkey necks and raw whole ground chicken as a supplement to the kibble every other day.

We have used Innova-EVO and Nature’s Variety Instinct … they are an excellent kibble and in my opinion just about the best there is if you can’t feed a raw diet; however they are quite expensive, a good $10+ more than the Taste of the Wild and in smaller bags.

With any dog, some will have upset stomachs as you do the change over, no matter how gradual you do it. With others, they simply cannot handle the protein as it’s just too rich for their systems. All our dogs are rescues and they have done extremely well on what we feed them … as rescues, because we didn’t know what they had been eating before we took them in, their stools were loose or even watery for the first 2 weeks or so as they didn’t get the gradual change, they went right from “whatever” to a high protein diet.

I haven’t tried Natural Balance – and after that huge recall that happened just within the past 2 years, I’d be nervous to as it was involved – so I have no knowledge of how good it is or isn’t.

If she’s doing fine, don’t change her food. (the old saying, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it … unless the food you are feeding her now contains corn, then I suggest changing to one that doesn’t)
If she has skin problems, you need to find out what’s causing them. If it’s fleas, once she’s flea free, no problem. If it’s grass or something similar, she’ll need to be kept “away” as best as possible and possibly given allergy meds for dogs (see your vet). If it’s an allergy to something in the food, I suggest trying the Nature’s Recipe for Sensitive Skin and give it a good 2 weeks or even a month as every dog is different to see how she does. Keep in mind that I do mean 2 weeks to a month of just being on that food … if you are doing a gradual change, she’ll still be getting her current food until you’ve completed the change. Once she’s solely on the NR, give it 2 weeks or so and see how she does.
Our girl came to use with bad skin – rash, welts, (hot and angry) and missing fur. Once she was totally on the NR, she cleared up within 2 weeks.

Hope this helps

PS – Forgot to add … my dogs shed minimally all year, but twice a year they “blow” really bad as they shed their undercoats. We brush our dogs at least 3 times a week, so it helps, but when you have a breed that’s known for shedding, not much you can do.