# What food do you feed your golden(s)?



## LucyD (Nov 20, 2008)

So I'm trying to find a grain free, holistic food for my Lucy due to her horrible skin allergies. As I mentioned in another post yesterday the vet wants me to put her on hill but its 90$ for a 30lb bag, that's crazy and not possible for my budget right now or probably ever... So I just wanted to know what food you guys are feeding your goldens just so I can research and have some options! Thank you!!!


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Our guys are on a 50-50 kibble/raw diet. They eat kibble in the morning - Orijen (Regional Red) and are raw fed for supper.


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## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

Joey eats Fromm Lg Breed Pup. I pay $46 for a 15lb bag and i believe $64 for a 30lb bag. They have a bunch of different flavours and they DO have a holistic for dogs and cats called Surf n Turf. My cat is eating the cats version.


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## LucyD (Nov 20, 2008)

Thank you guys... keep em coming!


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Do you know that Lucy has a grain allergy? Most allergenic foods are single proteins as this is the most likely culprit. If you still want a grain free, I'd look for a single protein. Personally, our girls rotate between Wellness Core, canine caviar and several others. Cody and Syd use the Fromm 4 star line and their back up food is Precise. You also might want to look at the Pure Vita line. I believe they now have grain free also.


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## MILLIESMOM (Aug 13, 2006)

Millie was on Hills Science Diet HA until her skin cleared up. I know what you mean about being expensive! When she cleared up I my vet suggested California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato. She did great on it, I also feed it to my lab Pearl and now Cricket is eating it too. I also give Pearl a flax seed omega three gel cap in her dinner. I cannot believe the condition of her coat. Labs are mega shedders. Especially yellow labs. Her coat looks like a wet seal it is soooooo smooth and shiny. Shedding is almost nil. She has been on the flax seed since November 2009.


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## Tuckers Mom (Nov 12, 2010)

I am in the midst of Transitioning Tucker to Taste Of The wild, Salmon and Sweet Potato ( Pacific Stream) as he tends to not do well on chicken based proteins. It's around $40.00 a 30lb bag, but well worth it. I also supplement him with Dogzymes probitoics and digestive enhancer to help with his sensitive tumm. I am guessing his former home did not feed him well, as his coat was really dry and in poor condition when I resuced him, now it's gleaming, and soft. Good food helps alot, but make sure you follow through with Good Treats as well, or it's not going to benefit much. Treats are Wellness Fish and Potato, or Sams Yams. I wil also give a scoop of plain n/f yogurt on occassion, or baby carrotts.


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## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

We just went back to Wellness Core, Ocean formula. So far, so good!
If I'm not mistaken, the largest bag (which is a little less than 30#) is $68-something, here.


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## sharlin (Feb 26, 2007)

Fromm Four Star
Can change flavors without transitioning and vary their dining experience!!!


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

If you truly want to isolate a food allergy, you need to try a limited ingredient diet. AND you will need to do allergy testing as your vet recommended. Are you going to try to do the diet change first to see if you can circumvent paying for allergy testing? If so, that's ok... but you need to be wise with your food choice. I'd suggest finding a food with 1 protein source only.

Two of the only ones that I would recommend are..

Natural Balance Limited Ingredient diet varieties
California Natural

That being said, I feed my dog grain free, Taste of the Wild (lamb or salmon) and he does fantastic on it and is really thriving.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Mine eat California Natural Herring & Sweet Potato, 30Lb bag for about $52


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## sifuyono (May 8, 2008)

as Pointgold advice, i feed pro plan performance to my non showdog


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## BJSalz (Mar 24, 2009)

sharlin said:


> Fromm Four Star
> Can change flavors without transitioning and vary their dining experience!!!


This is what I give my guy too. I love the different flavors without transitioning, though his favorite seems to be the Beef Frittata.


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## TonyRay (Feb 5, 2008)

Our girls have been on Taste of the wild for few years now..

Grain-free and also very important, under 400 calories per cup..


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## Blondie (Oct 10, 2009)

We are a Fromm family also. You have to be a detective to figure out what your dog is allergic too. My friend(assistant manager)at the specialty pet food shop I frequet was telling me about a customer who discovered their dog has an allergy to pea protein. Do you realize how many foods use pea protein? I learn something new every day!


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

We recently switched to Taste of the Wild grain-free food, after doing a bit of research. We looked at the Wellness Core and Orijen, among others. Taste of the Wild won out because it was more affordable and seems to offer the same quality of ingredients as more expensive brands.

Charlie, whose health issues motivated the research and change of diet, is most enthusiastic about the canned Pacific Stream flavor. He gobbles it down and looks around for more. Joker loves the Pacific Stream kibble, especially with a few spoonfuls of the canned food mixed in. His coat is much softer and more shiny since we made the change. 

The more I learn, the more I think paying for high-quality dog food is an investment that pays off in a healthier dog with fewer vet bills.

It is worth shopping around for the food you choose. We have seen significant price differences, with the best prices in local specialty stores (not chain stores), which surprised me. It's also worth checking online, since many vendors offer free shipping.


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## MSEB0814 (Feb 4, 2011)

Our whole pack is on Blue Buffalo. We like to switch it up on them, and no they do not get upset stomachs or anything like that. They really seem to like the Fish and Sweet Potato recipe. We also give them the treats they make. They seem to be very happy with all there products and our vet says that all six (bare in mind that 2 of them are new puppies that we have had for a week) are VERY healthy all around, including coat, teeth, and everything in between. The 30 lbs bags run us ~$50.00.


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## Charlie06 (Feb 10, 2007)

My guys switch between Fromms grain free Beef Frittata and Surf & Turf. They also get The Honest Kitchen Embark & canned Merrick & Nature's Variety. I think a 26 lb bag of Fromm is about $55 - 60.


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## Belle's Mom (Jan 24, 2007)

We are on Wellness Core - Reduced Fat and Wellness Super 5 Healthy Weight.


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## Launi (Nov 27, 2010)

I'm rotating every two 30 lb bags with my new Golden. I switched from Purina Pro Plan Shredded Beef & Rice to Acana Wild Prairie. Now he's on Acana Pacifica, and is doing great. I'm also adding some Weruva canned food (most are grain-free). Are you sure your dog has a grain allergy, though? Did you get an allergy test done?


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## booklady (Mar 3, 2009)

Mine are on Wellness Complete - white fish & sweet potato. It's the only food I've found that works for my highly allergic dog. The other two dogs are quite elderly and they do extremely well on it also.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Ranger was on Orijen 6 fish for suspected allergies (since it's a different protein source and grain-free), the EVO red meat once I figured out it wasn't allergies, but rather a grain intolerance. Now he's raw fed and thriving!


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

BJSalz said:


> This is what I give my guy too. I love the different flavors without transitioning, though his favorite seems to be the Beef Frittata.


Enzo is also loving the Beef Frittata!

I believe Blue Buffalo is another one that offers a limited ingredient food. I think it's called Blue Basics or something along those lines.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

I put Cruiser on the Blue buffalo Duck to see if it would help with his ears and the others loved it so now there all on it


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## Goldandpearls (Dec 15, 2010)

I actually feed my goldens royal canin and they couldnt look better. If your DVM prescribed a hypoallergenic diet, perhaps you can do a novelty protein diet like Venison or Rabbit, I know Royal Canin has a limited ingredient diet that is considered hypoallergenic with no nasties (like corn gluten, etc) and may cost less. The thing you need to keep in mind with other diets that claim to be hypoallergenic or one starch one protein is that there facilities are not sterile, the rx diets do charge a lot of money for that very reason because there is zero contamination (ie allergen) getting into your pets food. Someone who worked for a major pet food manufacture once told me that this company would use the same dirty equipment from the grocery line to produce their "hypoallergenic" line. That being said I have seen many vets recommend Purina Pro Plan formulas (really!) for things like sensitive stomach in place of Hills I/D.


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## msdogs1976 (Dec 21, 2007)

Tuckers Mom said:


> I am in the midst of Transitioning Tucker to Taste Of The wild, Salmon and Sweet Potato ( Pacific Stream) as he tends to not do well on chicken based proteins. It's around $40.00 a 30lb bag, but well worth it. I also supplement him with Dogzymes probitoics and digestive enhancer to help with his sensitive tumm. I am guessing his former home did not feed him well, as his coat was really dry and in poor condition when I resuced him, now it's gleaming, and soft. Good food helps alot, but make sure you follow through with Good Treats as well, or it's not going to benefit much. Treats are Wellness Fish and Potato, or Sams Yams. I wil also give a scoop of plain n/f yogurt on occassion, or baby carrotts.


Pretty pic in your signature!


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## Adriennelane (Feb 13, 2008)

My girls go between Blue Wilderness Duck and Blue Wilderness Salmon and do great on it, Dory especially does best on it. They have a lot less gas and nice, firm poos. We stay away from the chicken flavor because of Dory.


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## jweisman54 (May 22, 2010)

After many attempts with different high quality foods, Izzy is not eating Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain (Lamb) Grain free which is an All Life Stages food. She seemed to have an allergy to chicken as well as grain and is doing fine on this food.


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## tatonka3a2 (May 25, 2009)

Another vote for Taste of the Wild! We had Grissom on the Salmon (blue bag) and then decided to mix it up with the Venison one. So now it is a 50/50 mix of 2 different Taste of the Wild flavors.


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## 2goldens2love (Feb 8, 2011)

We give Evo large bites (chicken) we've recently been considering going to a raw diet but I really need to educate myself on it a little more before jumping into it.


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## HudsensMama9 (Dec 17, 2009)

Hudsen eats the Fromm four-star line. Opened our first bag of Beef Frittata today and he is also loving it. His fav up until this point has been the whitefish and potato.


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

i have my lab on taste of the wild. shes 3yrs old. can i put my puppy on it once i get her?i believe it is an all life stages?


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

oakleysmommy said:


> i have my lab on taste of the wild. shes 3yrs old. can i put my puppy on it once i get her?i believe it is an all life stages?


Yes, I'd buy a small bag of whatever your breeder feeds then SLOWLY begin to transition her onto the TOTW. I'd stick to the blue (salmon) or the purple (lamb) flavors because they have a better protein % for puppies.


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## TonyRay (Feb 5, 2008)

Here Here for TOTW...

low in calories 375 and grain free......


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## harrym (Nov 13, 2010)

Lucy gets Taste of the Wild Pacific Salmon on alternate days with TOTW High Prairie [bison and venison]. She loves both of them. I would also use TOTW duck and sweet potato if it were available locally, but it isn't. Our new 10-week old puppy came with a bag of mostly grain puppy food, which I have been mixing 1:3 with the TOTW blends and she really stays with it till every morsel is gone. Lucy's coat is fine. Both blends also contain acidolphalis for good stomach health. I believe TOTW products sell for $44 for a 30-pound bag, but they are sometimes on sale for $39. They also are available in 15-pound bags if you want to try them before investing in the larger bags.


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## gmchugh9978 (Sep 12, 2010)

My SIdney girl is also having picky eater issues. We had her on Nutro but my research said this was not such a great food so I started switching her to Chicken Soup for the Dog lovers food? She doesn't seem to care for that either..She will just skip meals all together. She is a very active 1 year old golden that gets regularly exercised. We feed her 1 3/4 cup in the morning and the same at dinner...too much?


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## maggies (Feb 28, 2011)

We feed our baby Solid Gold Wolf King. She is doing great and we get lots of comments about how nice her coat is.


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## rhondas (Sep 10, 2010)

I feed half home cooked grain free and half Orijins. The home cooked is a mixture of 2 proteins (can be chicken, turkey, salmon, egg, lamb, buffalo) and several vegetables (string beans, brussel sprouts, carrots etc.) with supplements, yogurt and pumpkin. I rotate Orijins so it can be adult, red or 6 fish.


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## LittleLouie (Feb 21, 2011)

gmchugh9978 said:


> My SIdney girl is also having picky eater issues. We had her on Nutro but my research said this was not such a great food so I started switching her to Chicken Soup for the Dog lovers food? She doesn't seem to care for that either..


sounds like she's not a fan of chicken possibly. we first started feeding our little guy on Nutro chicken and rice, and he got tired of it after one bag. he seemed to anticipate food, but not that kind. luckily we got our hands on sample bags of food and he liked lamb mixtures and salmon most. he wouldn't even touch the chicken samples. now we're feeding him blue buffalo lamb and rice and he seems to like it just fine.


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

isnt TOTW too high in calcium for a puppy?? its 1.6%


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