# Have a migraine from all the dog food choices....



## motherofboys (Dec 3, 2009)

Hi everybody! I'm new here and trying to find a better food for my 2 goldens than Iams. I would prefer something I could buy locally but having a hard time with options. We have a Petco and am curious about a couple brands they carry....Wellness?? Any thoughts/opinions? What about Blue Buffalo, Halo, Science Diet Natural, Avoderm???? I'm so confused!!! Duke is 4 and Ella is 8 months. Any help/advice appreciated!!!


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## msdogs1976 (Dec 21, 2007)

Here is a similar thread right here. Just curious, are your dogs not doing well on Iams?

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=65706&highlight=puppy+food


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I was really happy with Solid Gold's Barking at the Moon. You can get it at Petco


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## motherofboys (Dec 3, 2009)

msdogs1976 said:


> Here is a similar thread right here. Just curious, are your dogs not doing well on Iams?
> 
> http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=65706&highlight=puppy+food


 
Well, I'm not sure. Duke's coat doesn't seem as fluffy and shiny as I think it should be, and as others I've seen pics of. Duke has a lot of gas. Our veteran said this past spring that he has allergies because he had some ear problem, but he didn't say to what, just gave us ear drops. I was just thinking something else might be better and started looking online and am totally overwhelmed!! I have used Iams since we got him at 8 weeks. Ella is 8 months and eats Iams and is fine. Hard to tell with her coat I guess. I mainly started with Iams because my hubby works for P&G (makes Charmin) and I wanted to stay company loyal, but I just want the best that I can afford for them healthwise.


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

Blue Buffalo is a fabulous food. Mine eat the grain-free and it works miracles on my rescue Goldens.


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## MyBentley (May 5, 2009)

Between the coat issues and the gas, it might be a good time to try another food. It doesn't seem like your puppy is thriving on his current food. Out of the ones you mentioned in your first post, my recommendation would be with the Blue Buffalo Chicken and Brown Rice - either the puppy or adult would be fine for both your dogs, IMO. Puppy formulas are really "all life stages" formulas for the most part and I like the little bit of higher protein in many of them. I appreciate the fact that the first two ingredients in the Blue Buffalo are named meat sources.

You won't know how your dogs do on a new formula until you try it for a couple of months


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## msdogs1976 (Dec 21, 2007)

motherofboys said:


> Well, I'm not sure. Duke's coat doesn't seem as fluffy and shiny as I think it should be, and as others I've seen pics of. Duke has a lot of gas. Our veteran said this past spring that he has allergies because he had some ear problem, but he didn't say to what, just gave us ear drops. I was just thinking something else might be better and started looking online and am totally overwhelmed!! I have used Iams since we got him at 8 weeks. Ella is 8 months and eats Iams and is fine. Hard to tell with her coat I guess. I mainly started with Iams because my hubby works for P&G (makes Charmin) and I wanted to stay company loyal, but I just want the best that I can afford for them healthwise.


Sometimes allergies can be environment related. My old golden went through that from time to time. Hard to know without having test done. And I didn't go to the expense of testing. I probably should have. But one food I tried with her was Pro Plan Sensitive stomach and skin formula. She seemed to do fine on it. Might be worth looking at.

http://www.proplan.com/products/SensitiveSkinStomach_DryDog.html


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## Stircrazy (Nov 30, 2009)

here is a good dogfood rating/info site

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog-food-index-k.html

Steve


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## jenlaur (Jun 24, 2009)

motherofboys said:


> Hi everybody! I'm new here and trying to find a better food for my 2 goldens than Iams. I would prefer something I could buy locally but having a hard time with options. We have a Petco and am curious about a couple brands they carry....Wellness?? Any thoughts/opinions? What about Blue Buffalo, Halo, Science Diet Natural, Avoderm???? I'm so confused!!! Duke is 4 and Ella is 8 months. Any help/advice appreciated!!!


You are bound to gets lots of advice and opinions as it seems many people feel very strongly about dog food types and brands. Try a search on here there is lots of info.

My personal experience: Riley came home on Eukanuba. I switched her to Wellness which she tolerated well for several weeks. Then I decided to try something cheaper, Chicken Soup. Her poops were never solid on it and remained mushy even when I switched back to the Wellness. So I now have her on Acana. Her poops firmed up after the first feeding. She has done so well on it I switched my 13 year old over to it as well.


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## Kevin21 (Mar 11, 2009)

We switched Harley from Iams to blue buffalo salmon sweet potato when he developed some allergy issues and it's made a huge difference. His allergy symptoms lessened drastically and this season he had barely any trouble with them. It really is a great food with protein always the #1 ingredient, whole grains and nothing artificial - we have been very happy with it.


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## knog (Jan 12, 2008)

Yorvit was on Canadae All Life Stages when we brought Z home who was eating garbage, literally - he was a street rescue. Needless to say he had some issues with food. We tried Canadae All Life Stages, Purina Pro Plan, Blue Buffalo Fish and Sweet Potato, Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream, Royal Canine and one other that I cannot recall. We ended up with Canadae Lamb and Rice and finally, after five months of diarrhea and squishy poops, we have solid, beautifully shaped, not so smelly poops. Now this may be because his digestive system has matured or it may be because we found a food that agrees with him. 

My point is that I wish you all the luck in the world - it's a tough go IMO. My DH still thinks cheap Purina (not pro plan) would be fine if I didn't inspect his poop.


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## MyCodyBoy (Sep 27, 2008)

Wellness is an exceptional food, probably one of the best out there.

But I am partial to Acana or Orijen for cost reasons. 
Wellness Core is fantastic, but Orijen and Acana are just as good and cost much less.
Where I live a 27lbs bag of Wellness Core is $90 oposed to Acana Grasslands 30lbs for $60, HUGE diffrence when you have 2 dogs to feed.
I go through 2 bags a month of the Acana Grasslands since my lab/chwo is still young and eats just as much as Cody right now.

Both Wellness and Acana have grain foods and grain free foods, orjien is completley grain free and they all get carbs from fruit and veggie sources.

Keep in mind that grain free usualy means you can also feed less.
Cody was on the Wellness Super5mix(with grains) and he had to eat 5 cups just to stay a healthy thin. He now eats 3.5 cups of the Acana and could possible stand to lose a few pounds now.


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

What you can do is research and do a 'short list' of 6-8 types of food you'd like to try, and then rotate each time what you get. Providing your dog is doing well on the foods it's not a bad idea, a friend of mine does that with her dog. She printed out the list and her hubby has a copy of it and depending on where he is, he gets something off the list if he needs to pick up food (she included where to get which one according to price). There have been times where their boy is on one food at home then goes with 'dad' to work for a few days and eats another brand that he has at the worksite, then home to the other food and he does fine.

Also helpful if one food isn't in stock, which can always happen...

Lana


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

We used to feed Eukanuba (same company as IAMS) and we ended up changing Tucker to California Natural Herring & Sweet Potato once we found out that it was a corn allergy that was causing his ear infections. I'm very impressed with the changes in his coat since making the switch and his ears are now perfectly clean and healthy with no more yeast. The key is to find one food that your dog does well on and stick with it. We have been very happy with California Natural.


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## GR_Princess (May 12, 2009)

You can get a sample pack here of a bunch of different foods, might make things easier

http://www.lukesallnatural.com/premium-dry-dog-food-sampler-pack-p-2514.html


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## Traz (Jan 19, 2009)

I'm a Fromm believer here but there are other good choices. There are several other threads discussing this same topic, I have written longer answers in them as to why I personally chose Fromm.
I also have some information I will gladly share from when I was choosing a food. I am actually updating the info and here very soon because it is time to switch my oldest puppy off puppy food. I am staying with Fromm, but deciding which one.


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## maquignon (Dec 23, 2009)

I and my dogs are very happy with Blue Buffalo.


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