# Royal Canin Golden Retriever 25?



## Jason.Grosso (Mar 9, 2010)

Anyone try this food for their Golden? Thoughts? Experience?
http://products.royalcanin.us/products/dog-food/golden-retriever-25.aspx

Thinking of switching Harley as her skin is horribly dry on Wellness (despite Omega 3 supplements).


----------



## damita (Jun 4, 2009)

Have you read the ingredients? Do you understand them?


----------



## 2golddogs (Oct 19, 2009)

I've not tried this food or know of anyone who has. I just looked at the ingredients and I think I would look at another food. This food has corn gluten, which is a filler and many dogs are allergic to corn, and I'm not sure why they have added salt.


----------



## 58loosy (Apr 18, 2010)

My sprnger has been on wellness for his bad seborrhea and his fur is beautiful now, he is on simple solution salmon/ rice. Royal canin don't know about.


----------



## Duke's Mommy (Jan 14, 2010)

I've been using the prescription Royal Canin (high fiber) for the last 5 years with our 12.5 year old Duke. My daughter, a vet tech, put him on it and he is very healthy for a 12.5 year old doggie. He was 103 pounds and now is 90 pounds. I've been very happy with it, except for the price.


----------



## Sadiesdream (Jul 11, 2008)

cheap food... I'd look else where. I'd recommend Eagle Pack or Chicken Soup for the Dog soul which is decently priced for a 35lb bag.


----------



## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Ranger had really dry skin when I got him last year. Partly diet, partly environmental and I think partly food sensitivity (he was on Iams :yuck: before). I switched him to Orijen 6 fish, and his coat/dry flaky skin got way better but it's definitely something to watch for up here. The climate I'm in is as dry as one can get without becoming a desert so there's low humidity. Seeing as how you're in AZ...that could definitely be part of the problem. Dry climates can really wreak havoc on a dog (and human's) skin.

You also might need to look into a humidifier, if you don't already have one. I had to get one over the winter since it's so dry up here that Ranger's coat problems were starting to get bad again. Plus the fireplace/heaters were on constantly...even my skin was starting to dry out.

Also, use human-grade fish oil (not cod oil) supplements and see if that makes a difference. I noticed Ranger's coat got way shinier when I started using better fish oil capsules.


----------



## OriJames (Jan 23, 2009)

Ori is on Royal Canin, however not the Golden Retriever style, it's a veterinary exclusive. We were recommeded it by his vet because it has joint support after he pulled a ligament in Janurary. Thankfully, he's not allergic to anything in it and he loves it to bits. I'd recomended the veterniary one rather than the one that caters to Goldens specifically. However, I'd still look around a bit first before settling.


----------



## MyBentley (May 5, 2009)

I haven't tried the Royal Canin Golden Retriever, because I don't believe glutens of any type should be eaten on a daily basis.

For a more reasonable price and what IMO are healthier ingredients, I suggest looking at Avoderm Natural Chicken and Brown Rice:

Chicken Meal, Ground Whole Brown Rice, Ground Whole Rice, Oatmeal, Rice Bran, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Ascorbic Acid), Avocado Meal, Flax Seed, Dried Alfalfa Meal, Avocado Oil, Herring Meal, Lecithin, Natural Flavor, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Bromelain, Papain, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Product, Monosodium Phosphate, Choline Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, DL-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate (Source of Vitamin E), Zinc Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Manganous Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B Complex), Copper Sulfate, Zinc Methionine, Iron Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Cobalt Proteinate, Niacin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement.


----------



## bla89 (Jun 3, 2010)

I had my golden on the royal canin for goldens, he liked it but he was getting ear infections constantly. I switch off of it and he hasn't gotten one in awhile, so I am staying hopeful.


----------



## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Honestly, I think that all of the "breed specific" foods are nothing more than a marketing technique. I would pass on this food. We're Fromm users and have had amazing results with it.


----------



## Goldandpearls (Dec 15, 2010)

I use RC Golden Retriever and I have had nothing but positive results. There is a lot of research that has gone into the formulations of these diets. The truth with holisitic diets are that many are not what they claim to be. It is all a HUGE marketing ploy that is churning in millions for them because people fall for it. At a recent veterinary symposium the question of what constitutes too little vs too much protein was raised and the answer was that the high protein low carb diets contained too much protein and would ultimatetly cause detrimental effects to the liver and kidneys over time. Since most of these diets havent been out on the market for very long, long term effects have not been recorded. Interesting fact here, the people who started Wellness were actually long time employees of RC and they went to startup the company because they took a lot of the science aquired by RC but wanted to *market* it in a more appealing way. Personally, I wouldnt trust too much on mom and pop type foods. It was once put to me in an interesting way by someone in the know, concerning what many popular startup dog food companys are doing in terms of formulations . They said it was like buying a bag of Mrs Fields cookies, buying all the ingredients listed in the ingredients section and then going home and trying to bake them. Your products is going to be subpar and nothing like the original. Many of the boutique pet foods are doing just this as the heads of the companys are business people in suits trying to make big bucks (sorry, no noble 6th generation family ranchers here). Having said that I have seen vets reccomend Wellness to clients, but they do admit that many of the new diets are just too extreme. First, your dog is not a carnivore. They have been domesticated over thousands of years and they are now omnivores. And anyways, how long do wolves and wild dogs live in the wild? Its not twelve to twenty years like many pets today are living, and the diet they eat is reflective of this. Im sorry for the mini rant but Im tired of hearing so much misinformation out there being preached as if it were the gospel. Truth is many of these people advocating for extreme meat only, raw, insane diets that goes against common sense have for the most part never even stepped into a college level biology class and dont understand science, much less physiology. It will be interesting to see what results high protein diets will yield over time.


----------



## sharlin (Feb 26, 2007)

Would somebody PLEASE give me the definition of "boutique" food?? Or a "mom & pop" food. Does gross volume sales indicate whether or not a food is good? Is grain free boutique? Is 60/40 protein ratio insane? This is EXACTLY why I wish CNBC had not pulled the show tomorrow night that's being talked about in the other thread. And my dogs are carnivores - omnivores make the decision to eat both plant and animal ie..bears, and if they had to decide I know which way my pack would choose.


----------



## 2Retrievers222 (Sep 5, 2007)

I put them on it for 2weeks in summer when I didnt have time to make raw. They started licking paws, gave quarter of the bag away.


----------



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

sharlin said:


> Would somebody PLEASE give me the definition of "boutique" food?? Or a "mom & pop" food. Does gross volume sales indicate whether or not a food is good? Is grain free boutique? Is 60/40 protein ratio insane? This is EXACTLY why I wish CNBC had not pulled the show tomorrow night that's being talked about in the other thread. And my dogs are carnivores - omnivores make the decision to eat both plant and animal ie..bears, and if they had to decide I know which way my pack would choose.


 
Well Steve, a food we both feed that is a family owned operation has been in business since 1904. And in fact introduced the first distemper vax and the first "premium" food in 1949..... hardly a new concept. And, as you know, their foods would be considered very moderate in protein, fat, carbs. However, they don't use glutens, GMO anything, artificial preservatives, peanut shells, cellulose, and cast off ingredients. Everyone has to feed what they feel comfortable with, but personally I want my crew eating food, not a list of chemicals. It's interesting to note that the whole concept of kibble is not that old, starting after WWII. Before that all dogs were fed table scraps or what the family was eating. How shocking!


----------



## T&T (Feb 28, 2008)

sharlin said:


> Would somebody PLEASE give me the definition of "boutique" food?? Or a "mom & pop" food. Does gross volume sales indicate whether or not a food is good? Is grain free boutique? Is 60/40 protein ratio insane? This is EXACTLY why I wish CNBC had not pulled the show tomorrow night that's being talked about in the other thread. And my dogs are carnivores - omnivores make the decision to eat both plant and animal ie..bears, and if they had to decide I know which way my pack would choose.


Hi sharlin :wave:
Miss T is a carnivore too  ... and so was ~ Mr T ~ 
She shares over 99% of her DNA with the gray wolf. 
Despite her domestication, her anatomy (sharp teeth, jaw moving vertically, short/simple & acidic digestive tract, no amylase in saliva ) remained unchanged, down to the molecular level.
There's a lot more to protein than what was mentioned above ...
Protein source (animal vs plant), protein quality, amino acid composition, digestibility, is what makes the whole difference.


----------



## Launi (Nov 27, 2010)

Personally, I think breed specific foods are just a marketing gimmick. The formula seems to be a bit low in meat, too (corn gluten blows up the protein count). Some people may have dogs that have done well on it, but Royal Canin is extremely overpriced for what it is. 



Goldandpearls said:


> I use RC Golden Retriever and I have had nothing but positive results. There is a lot of research that has gone into the formulations of these diets. The truth with holisitic diets are that many are not what they claim to be. It is all a HUGE marketing ploy that is churning in millions for them because people fall for it. At a recent veterinary symposium the question of what constitutes too little vs too much protein was raised and the answer was that the high protein low carb diets contained too much protein and would ultimatetly cause detrimental effects to the liver and kidneys over time. Since most of these diets havent been out on the market for very long, long term effects have not been recorded. Interesting fact here, the people who started Wellness were actually long time employees of RC and they went to startup the company because they took a lot of the science aquired by RC but wanted to *market* it in a more appealing way. Personally, I wouldnt trust too much on mom and pop type foods. It was once put to me in an interesting way by someone in the know, concerning what many popular startup dog food companys are doing in terms of formulations . They said it was like buying a bag of Mrs Fields cookies, buying all the ingredients listed in the ingredients section and then going home and trying to bake them. Your products is going to be subpar and nothing like the original. Many of the boutique pet foods are doing just this as the heads of the companys are business people in suits trying to make big bucks (sorry, no noble 6th generation family ranchers here). Having said that I have seen vets reccomend Wellness to clients, but they do admit that many of the new diets are just too extreme. First, your dog is not a carnivore. They have been domesticated over thousands of years and they are now omnivores. And anyways, how long do wolves and wild dogs live in the wild? Its not twelve to twenty years like many pets today are living, and the diet they eat is reflective of this. Im sorry for the mini rant but Im tired of hearing so much misinformation out there being preached as if it were the gospel. Truth is many of these people advocating for extreme meat only, raw, insane diets that goes against common sense have for the most part never even stepped into a college level biology class and dont understand science, much less physiology. It will be interesting to see what results high protein diets will yield over time.


So if dogs are omnivores, where are their carb grinding molars? Why doesn't their amylase digest starches? Where are their digestive tracts so short? Why are dogs classified in the carnivora order?

Wolves in the wild do not live as long, because they are exposed to disease, and meals are not consistent, or always guaranteed to be a certain quality. 

I do not believe dogs are obligate carnivores, and I do believe they will scavenge if necessary, but as carnivores, they will do best on a diet high in meat. These "mom and pop" brands may have not been so popular in earlier years, but they've been around for quite awhile. 

Examples: Bench & Field since 1926, Evangers since 1935, Champion Pet Foods (Orijen & Acana) since 1985 (or the 70's; I don't remember)

And what did people feed before commercial pet food? Bones and meat scraps! 

There are no studies that have shown that high protein has negative effects on dogs (kidneys, joints, etc.). "Myths of High Protein" by the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine is a an interesting read.


----------



## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Launi said:


> There are no studies that have shown that high protein has negative effects on dogs (kidneys, joints, etc.). "Myths of High Protein" by the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine is a an interesting read.


Can you give me the specific reference for that article or whatever it is? Thanks!


----------



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

jackie_hubert said:


> Can you give me the specific reference for that article or whatever it is? Thanks!


 
Hope this comes through. http://www.dogfoodscoop.com/support-files/bovee_protein_renal.pdf


----------



## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:


> Hope this comes through. http://www.dogfoodscoop.com/support-files/bovee_protein_renal.pdf


Thank you.


----------



## jv.xoxo (Mar 6, 2011)

When we adopted Calliope she was being feed Royal Canin (their Large Breed Puppy line) and she didn't do very well on it. Very gassy and her stools were never solid (and stank to high heaven!). We've switched her over to Blue Buffalo and she loves it so far. But yeah, when you look at the ingredient list it isn't very high on the protein, which is the main ingredient that dogs need.


----------



## rhondas (Sep 10, 2010)

To get an independent assessment of Royal Canin go to the following website:


Dog Food Reviews by Brand

Out of 5 starts this is a 3 star food - middle of the pack.
I have a friend who feeds it to her golden and I believe he is overweight because of it.
She feeds half of what it says to and he could lose a good 10 lbs and he's an active dog.

I would look at the 5 star foods. I feed my Golden half home cooked and half Orijins. I also give Balance-IT, Nordic Natural's Omega-3, Dasaquin, Fortiflora, Pumpkin Puree and Yogurt with his meals. I feed twice a day. He is very active (even swims one or two times a week) and fit. He has never had any allergies, ear infections, skin or coat issues. I am always asked what I feed him.


----------



## GoldenOwner12 (Jun 18, 2008)

i've just started Shelley on prey model raw feeding, So far she is doing pretty good. I've already noticed smaller poos and she is only doing 1 or 2 poos a day instand of like 4-5 poos a day.


----------



## tp1999 (Nov 9, 2010)

We just switched our dog from RC large puppy breed to RC Golden Retriever mix. He's always been a very fussy eater and for the first 2 weeks, he LOVED IT. Wolfed it down immediately which was comforting to see. Now he won't even look at it, he backs away and leaves the room. The Vet says he's healthy but could stand to use a couple pounds. I don't know if this is related but last week he broke out around his face in hotspots. We took him to the Vet and he's now on prescription and special shampoo - it's almost cleared up thankfully. 

Questions: is it possible that part of the Golden RC food went bad? any idea if his hot spots could be food allergy related? Do you have any suggestions on a healthy alternative or supplement to this food? 

RC came highly recommended, and we are in Australia so the selection options are a bit different - we previously had him on Science Diet but he hated that more. I just want to see my little man happy and healthy. My husband thinks he's just being fussy about the new food since it's probably not as tasty as the puppy version but I'm not so sure. I don't want to force him to eat something he hates. 

thanks in advance for any guidance.


----------



## vbud88 (Mar 8, 2011)

I have my puppy on royal canin thats what the breeder feeds her dogs and she shows them at crufts


----------



## chris428 (Jan 14, 2008)

My Dudu is on royal canin golden retriever 25 and he is doing well on it. 

Originally we had him on Canidae, but canidae had problems here in Thailand, made dogs sick or something : ( so the importer stopped importing. It was such a shame cos Dudu really liked it. 

I searched for products such as innova, blue wilderness ... etc, but non of theses are available here too!!! We tried pro plan (he did stay on it for a while, but one day he decided he wanted nothing to do with it), chicken soup for dog lover's soul, pinnacle peak protein formula .... but no luck, and royal canin golden retriever is the only thing so far he is happy with. 

I think I will stick with for now, but I am still hoping one day canidae will be brought back here again :crossfing


----------

