# what are your thoughts on eukanuba dog foods?



## Lucky1990 (Aug 30, 2012)

Hey,I'm getting a pup this coming up monday and I want to give the best there is to her, I heard eukanuba dog foods are one of the best one out there, I see they use natural source of vitamin E as preservatives, but what are your thoughts on them? thanks in advance


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## samralf (Aug 11, 2012)

I wouldn't use them. They have a lot of ingredients that I find to be unsafe for dogs. The only kibble I would trust is orijen.


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## samralf (Aug 11, 2012)

A good website to get all kinds of info for dog foods is karensk9s.com


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## Lucky1990 (Aug 30, 2012)

samralf said:


> I wouldn't use them. They have a lot of ingredients that I find to be unsafe for dogs. The only kibble I would trust is orijen.


o ok, because I did see a few posts on regarding dog food and a few mentioned they are good, anymore thoughts?(im looking at orijen right now)

edit: it looks like I cant open their website, is it because where I live?(virginia)?


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

You can do so much better than Eukanuba. If I'm not mistaken they still use by-product meal in their foods. Yuck.


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## samralf (Aug 11, 2012)

www.karensk9s.com Orijen 

those should work...


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## My Big Kahuna (Dec 14, 2011)

I feed Blue Buffalo


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## SeaGreen528 (Sep 4, 2012)

I had my dog on Eukanuba a long time ago. He was on it for 8 years and then suddenly started getting colitis and other digestive issues. I switched his food and he immediately had more energy and had normal poop and wasn't vomiting anymore. I also don't recommend this food because of the high content of brewer's rice and corn. Look at this sight for complete information: Eukanuba Natural Dog Food | Review and Rating 

This sight has lots of info and will let you know what's in the food. Hope this helps! Btw, I have my dogs on Acana Lamb right now, and this has seemed very good so far : ) It doesn't have any controversial ingredients and the dogs seem to love it!


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

There are a lot of good foods out there. Orijen is certainly a good food but I think it is a bit high in protein for a puppy...we feed Acana which is the lower protein version but still grain free. However, many people feed different foods and there are certainly other options besides Orijen and Acana.


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## samralf (Aug 11, 2012)

I personally feed my dog, a sheltie with pancreatitis, Preference by the Honest Kitchen. I'm not really a fan of kibble. There were several companies I would have recommended but they all sold out to major corporations and have since lowered the quality of their food. Orijen has been the only company that has not sold out. So that's why I would recommend them.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

I really like Champion Pet Foods also, that's why we feed Acana. I just know there are other foods out there that are good that I would consider


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## Lucky1990 (Aug 30, 2012)

samralf said:


> www.karensk9s.com Orijen
> 
> those should work...


umm still can't open the website, I believe I cant get them in just any pet co or petsmart store,

edit: I found the problem, firefox can't open it then i switched browser to chrome, and it worked!!

I guess orijen it is!


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

We fed Max Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy food until he was about 15 months old. He did very well on it. We tried Purina Puppy Chow and Science Diet Puppy food. After doing some research, we felt that the Eukanuba was a good choice.

When we switched him to adult we tried the Eukanuba Retriever formula, but it did not agree with him. He has been eating Acana Wild Prairie adult food for about 6 months.


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## Lucky1990 (Aug 30, 2012)

Ok, I have found a retailer that sells orijen and its fairly close to my house, I guess im gonna give it a try.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

I stay away from anything that has by-product on it. Two different pet stores advised me to stay away from Eukanuba, Iams. Here we have Natural Balance and Blue Buffalo in our area. My puppy loves the Blue Buffalo Large Breed puppy formula (the Large breed puppy kibble has less fat which you don't want for a golden retriever). She has done excellent on it so far. We just introduced her to the Wilderness Canned Salmon and Chicken - very little (1 1/2 Tablespoons mixed in with her dry food and she goes crazy everytime she sees the can. I had to reinforce the sit, whoa (for wait/stay) and easy-OK (so she doesn't jump on the food once released).


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## Lucky1990 (Aug 30, 2012)

Claudia M said:


> I stay away from anything that has by-product on it. Two different pet stores advised me to stay away from Eukanuba, Iams. Here we have Natural Balance and Blue Buffalo in our area. My puppy loves the Blue Buffalo Large Breed puppy formula (the Large breed puppy kibble has less fat which you don't want for a golden retriever). She has done excellent on it so far. We just introduced her to the Wilderness Canned Salmon and Chicken - very little (1 1/2 Tablespoons mixed in with her dry food and she goes crazy everytime she sees the can. I had to reinforce the sit, whoa (for wait/stay) and easy-OK (so she doesn't jump on the food once released).


lolol, I will definitely try those out, thanks for the information!


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

Lucky1990 said:


> Ok, I have found a retailer that sells orijen and its fairly close to my house, I guess im gonna give it a try.


I would really re-think this. The protein levels in orijen are very high for a puppy. I would consider Acana if you are looking for a grain free option from the same company,


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## Lucky1990 (Aug 30, 2012)

goldenjackpuppy said:


> I would really re-think this. The protein levels in orijen are very high for a puppy. I would consider Acana if you are looking for a grain free option from the same company,


so you think I should try to do Acana for the puppy and Orijen when they grow up right?

why cant I open their website arggg both firefox and chrome cant open it. its just me?


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

Lucky1990 said:


> so you think I should try to do Acana for the puppy and Orijen when they grow up right?


Personally I think Orijen is too high protein overall, which is why I feed Acana to my adult dogs as well.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Flora's breeder, who is very reputable and has been breeding for decades, feeds his dogs Eukanuba. When I got Flora I was convinced by things I read on here that Eukanuba was a "crap" food so I switched her to Solid Gold - diarrhea city. I switched to Orijen - diarrhea city. I switched to Blue Buffalo - diarrhea city. FINALLY I wised up and switched her to Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach (I also considered a similar formula by Eukanuba) and kept her on it. She does wonderfully on the food, gets compliments frequently on her coat, etc. I can't tell you how I wish I had just stuck with the Eukanuba.

I don't want to discount what other people have said here, but to make a blanket statement like "Eukanuba is crap." or "You can do better than Eukanuba" is kind of, well, dumb. At the very least it's misleading. Eukanuba is a perfectly good food that has great results in millions of dogs.

What does your puppy's breeder feed?


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## Lucky1990 (Aug 30, 2012)

Florabora said:


> Flora's breeder, who is very reputable and has been breeding for decades, feeds his dogs Eukanuba. When I got Flora I was convinced by things I read on here that Eukanuba was a "crap" food so I switched her to Solid Gold - diarrhea city. I switched to Orijen - diarrhea city. I switched to Blue Buffalo - diarrhea city. FINALLY I wised up and switched her to Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach (I also considered a similar formula by Eukanuba) and kept her on it. She does wonderfully on the food, gets compliments frequently on her coat, etc. I can't tell you how I wish I had just stuck with the Eukanuba.
> 
> I don't want to discount what other people have said here, but to make a blanket statement like "Eukanuba is crap." or "You can do better than Eukanuba" is kind of, well, dumb. At the very least it's misleading. Eukanuba is a perfectly good food that has great results in millions of dogs.
> 
> What does your puppy's breeder feed?


well, thats one thing im going to ask her when she gives me the full lecture on how to raise the puppy on monday, I just wanted to know what everybody else feed their pup, for some reason I cant open Acana's website, so frustrating..


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## vcm5 (Apr 20, 2011)

My dog eats Fromm and he loves it! Not knocking any other food but I would give it lots of thumbs up!


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

I unapologetically feed Eukanuba Premium Performance 30/20 to my two dogs. It's because I think it's the best for them, not because I can't afford other foods or can't get a hold of them.

I think the prejudice against byproducts is ridiculous. Chicken meal is defined as mostly muscle meat, dehydrated and ground. Chicken byproduct meal is meat, organs, bones, and skin, dehydrated and ground. They're different, but one isn't superior to the other; they just offer different nutrient profiles. Any raw feeder will tell you that bones and organs can make good nutrition.

Same goes for corn or rice. There's no reason to believe oatmeal or potatoes or peas offer a better source for starch and nutrients, but for some reason, corn is pooh-poohed up and down on dog food websites with zero hard evidence while potatoes are seen as so wonderful that they can make up the bulk of a "grain free" food. I've done my homework and as far as I can tell, while different grains and vegetables have different nutrients, none is necessarily any better than another. 

I'm really happy when dogs do well on a food. Some of the corn-free foods are clearly awesome, and I'm glad to see dogs thrive. I just don't think that most dogs need to avoid corn or byproducts like the plague. There's no evidence that it's nutritionally superior to put potato or oatmeal or whatever in a food instead of corn.

So we'll keep feeding the Eukanuba until a dog doesn't thrive on it or I see some real science that proves one of its ingredients is inferior to those in another dog food. I have happy, shiny, bright-eyed, lean-as-heck dogs. I can't imagine what would improve on a different food, so I'm not going to play around with what's working so well.


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## samralf (Aug 11, 2012)

I have tried just about every type of kibble out there for my sheltie:

Wellness
Iams
Innova low-fat
Hills Prescription Diet
Iams prescription Diet

Everything gave him diarrhea. He could barely run one lap around the yard and his coat was awful. Luckily I got help with his diet and I switched him to the Honest Kitchen and I give him a pancreatin enzyme with each meal and he is like a new dog. He has energy, beautiful coat, and solid poo's. Obviously everyone has an opinion on dog foods. Pick a dog food and if you feel comfortable with the ingredients and your dog is healthy then great. I have been researching dog food for about six years now and I know what I prefer. When people ask me what type of food, I usually respond with the Honest Kitchen but if you have to go with kibble, then I would go with Orijen or Acana.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

I personally feed Acana. Orijen is to high in protein for my dogs gut to like. 

ACANA Pet Foods | Acana


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

goldenjackpuppy said:


> Personally I think Orijen is too high protein overall, which is why I feed Acana to my adult dogs as well.


I agree. When we switched to Wild Prairie, I had considered Orijen, but was advised that it was too high in protein. The owner of the pet shop had us try Acana. Max loves it. His coat looks great and he has had no digestive issues. However, I have no experience with their puppy food.

By the way, when we made the switch to WP, we did a taste test, and WP was the clear winner.


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## Wagners Mom2 (Mar 20, 2012)

IMO, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Eukanuba. I fed it to my dogs exclusively for years and they did fantastic on it. However, my golden developed an intolerance to something in it and I chose to move away from it because I like to feed all 3 the same thing (because they will clean up each others bowls sometimes). 

I highly recommend you find out what your breeder feeds and stick with it for a good several months, if not longer. 

The food roller coaster can be horrible, so be careful about jumping on it.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

Lucky1990 said:


> Hey,I'm getting a pup this coming up monday and I want to give the best there is to her, I heard eukanuba dog foods are one of the best one out there, I see they use natural source of vitamin E as preservatives, but what are your thoughts on them? thanks in advance


 
Good Choice! 

Eukanuba is a very good food. It's widely available throughout North America and reasonably priced.

We've been feeding Eukanuba for several decades with great success. We feed the Premium Performance formula to the adult dogs and the Large Breed Puppy formula to the little squirts. We feed it for one simple reason, IT WORKS. 

Stay away from grain free diets when searching for foods to feed a growing puppy. (If you got puppy from us and fed it a grain free diet you would void the warranty in the Purchase Agreement.)


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

Mine eat FROMM's Chicken a la Veg.

Do you research and feed what works best for you and you dog.

Best of luck with the new addition


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

Swampcollie said:


> Stay away from grain free diets when searching for foods to feed a growing puppy. (If you got puppy from us and fed it a grain free diet you would void the warranty in the Purchase Agreement.)


I'm curious why that is? (This is a legitimate question, not intended to be snarky at all). I tend to agree when it comes to puppies and have fed our dogs Pro Plan LBP (which is what they were on at their breeder's house) until about 4-5 months old and then switch them to what the adult dogs eat, which happens to be grain free.


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## vleffingwell (Jan 12, 2011)

I found dogfoodanalysis.com but it is not updated? I use taste of the wild and watch the ingredients just in case they change them.


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

samralf said:


> I have tried just about every type of kibble out there for my sheltie:
> 
> Wellness
> Iams
> ...


I too fed Honest Kitchen, but if you ever want a great alternative try Grandma Lucy's. Their 10# bag actually makes more than THK. I like the look and smell of it much better. You can actually see the veggies and has chunks of meat. I switched because Tayla does better on non-chicken/turkey so they have pork.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I don't have a specific problem with any one food item. What I won't use are foods that use the general term "meat" or "meat byproducts.". If they can't tell me specifically what kind of meat, then I won't touch it.


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## desi.n.nutro (Mar 18, 2011)

*Ahhhh Food*

Ahhhh Food. Always an interesting topic. As a “pet foodie” in my book, there are different categories of food. Grocery – Science – Prescription – Natural/Holistic – Home-prepared/Raw. Most Holistic are Natural or made with organic ingredients. Most GRF folks feed Natural/Holistic including me. Briefly and not entirely all the information you would need, I would like to give the upsides and downsides of each IMO.


Grocery Brands – The plus is usually the price. The minuses are too numerous but usually grocery foods are full of dyes, fillers, by-products, synthetic additives, and chemical preservatives. 

Science Brands – The pluses are usually a long history in the industry. Eukenuba, for one, falls into this category. Good foods but usually contain chemical preservatives and often contain fillers and by-products which a lot of folks want to stay away from for themselves and their pets. These foods also contain chemically synthesized vitamins and are more ‘processed’ than the next 3 categories. 

Prescription - Pluses are that they are Vet recommended and are medicinal. Minuses are that they are usually as expensive as other prescriptions and are medicinal (again because I prefer the natural route).

Natural/Holistic Brands – Hard to define and there is a lot of debate just over the definitions but IMO again… The pluses are they are usually less processed and use chemical free and often hormone free meats. They seldom use meat by-products so often use muscle meat only. They usually use whole grains and whole food ingredients and the nutritional value comes from more whole foods vs. synthetic additives. To be a natural brand you only have to be in the 90% natural per AAFCO and your micro-nutrients or trace-nutrients can be chemically synthesized vitamins. This is often what offends raw feeders but you can find 100% natural foods (Natural Choice for one). These foods are usually more nutrient dense and “Limited Ingredient” so are sold as the foods that your pets will eat less on and poop less on. This is the category you find your grain free kibbles in as well as novel proteins. The minuses can be they are cost prohibitive. Often they are smaller companies that use co-packers and the safety is often questioned. 

Home-prepared/Raw – Just like it sounds. The pluses are certain knowledge that you know exactly what you are giving to your pet because you are the regulatory agency that defines the ingredients and the benefits and you’re the shopper, the preparer, the packager, and the shipper. This brings me to the first minus IMO, it is time consuming. This is an excellent choice for the pet that is truly allergic to common pet food ingredients. It is also an excellent choice for an animal that is recovering from illness and would be the way I would go over a lot of the Prescription brands if my Vet o.k.’s it. More minuses are that you often have to supplement with synthetic supplements which are what you are trying to stay away from. This adds cost too and most raw feeders are spending more on the ingredients in the first place. The biggest downside (IMO) is when food is not cooked at certain temps for certain lengths of time then there often can be bacteria and parasites in and associated with the food. Sure wild dogs eat raw but our breeding of dogs has evolved them to a different animal and may have made them less able to consume and process and tolerate parasites. I for one would like my dog to live longer than wild dogs too and when purchasing my pet food, safety for them is my first consideration. I don’t find this a safe alternative for them or the family whose dinner I prepare on the same counter.

I prepared this for a class I am teaching to Vet Tech’s in training but thought it might be helpful here. IT IS ONLY Pet Food 101 and a lot more can be said, debated, philosophized, etc. but I hope it helps in your choice. I would also like to add that I think kibble is safer in general and I understand that they get satisfaction from crunching as well as the potential to keep their teeth cleaner. A lot of research goes into food and I for one would like to take advantage of that but what is real and what is myth or just opinion is so hard to sort out. Good luck and if you really want to be confused and scared, get into the politics of it all. :banghead:


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

I feed Fromm because that is what my dog happens to thrive on. Also like that they never had a recall.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Loisiana said:


> I don't have a specific problem with any one food item. What I won't use are foods that use the general term "meat" or "meat byproducts.". If they can't tell me specifically what kind of meat, then I won't touch it.


Me too. I have no problem with "chicken byproduct meal," but I do have a problem with "meat" and "meat byproduct." I don't really want to feed a food whatever protein source is cheapest that week on the commodities market.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

goldenjackpuppy said:


> I'm curious why that is? (This is a legitimate question, not intended to be snarky at all). I tend to agree when it comes to puppies and have fed our dogs Pro Plan LBP (which is what they were on at their breeder's house) until about 4-5 months old and then switch them to what the adult dogs eat, which happens to be grain free.


Generally Grain Free diets are not suitable for rapidly growing puppies. They (Grain Free Diets) are created to fill a marketing niche and have very little if any long term testing behind them to substantiate that they actually deliver proper nutrition.


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## samralf (Aug 11, 2012)

Tayla's Mom said:


> I too fed Honest Kitchen, but if you ever want a great alternative try Grandma Lucy's. Their 10# bag actually makes more than THK. I like the look and smell of it much better. You can actually see the veggies and has chunks of meat. I switched because Tayla does better on non-chicken/turkey so they have pork.


Charlie gets the Preference variety. That's the one where you add your own meat to the mix. He has pancreatitis so it's crucial that he gets meat with very little fat. I will look into Grandma Lucy's for my next pooch. Thanks for the tip.


Sent from my iPad using PG Free


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## MercyMom (Dec 19, 2011)

My breeder prescribed Eukanuba. Lately, Mercy has been scratching. She is also having diarrhea. I am thinking that despite this being the breeder's recommendation, that I might have to switch. She has scratched on and off since I brought her home. She has had diarrhea for a week now after never having it before, so something else might be causing the diarrhea.


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## MercyMom (Dec 19, 2011)

tippykayak said:


> I unapologetically feed Eukanuba Premium Performance 30/20 to my two dogs. It's because I think it's the best for them, not because I can't afford other foods or can't get a hold of them.
> 
> I think the prejudice against byproducts is ridiculous. Chicken meal is defined as mostly muscle meat, dehydrated and ground. Chicken byproduct meal is meat, organs, bones, and skin, dehydrated and ground. They're different, but one isn't superior to the other; they just offer different nutrient profiles. Any raw feeder will tell you that bones and organs can make good nutrition.
> 
> ...


 That's what I feed Mercy. I hope it continues to work well for her.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

MercyMom said:


> My breeder prescribed Eukanuba. Lately, Mercy has been scratching. She is also having diarrhea. I am thinking that despite this being the breeder's recommendation, that I might have to switch. She has scratched on and off since I brought her home. She has had diarrhea for a week now after never having it before, so something else might be causing the diarrhea.


It seems unlikely to have been caused by the food if she was fine for a long time and then started having diarrhea.


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