# taste of the wild vs orijen?



## Pudden

Mama is looking for a new good doggie food for her Pudden and crewman Hiccup. They get fresh meat and salmon, too, in addition to kibble. We used to get Evo, but after all those recalls, we say to hell with them..

now we can order taste of the Wild or Orijen from the big city; Orijen however is twice as expensive - anyone know why? 

Any opinions on which is better?


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## turtle66

Orijen is very dense. I feed Lilly (between 65 and 68 pounds), active dog, 3/4 of a cup Orijen a DAY.
She is been on Orijen since more than 3 1/2 years and doing really well with it. She LOVES it, she has small firm poops, her fur is soft and nice looking...no complaints with Orijen so far. We did a SLOOW transition (=months) from Eukanuba to Orijen (since she was still a puppy and since both food are quite different).

Never tried taste of the Wild...


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## Melfice

turtle66 said:


> Orijen is very dense. I feed Lilly (between 65 and 68 pounds), active dog, 3/4 of a cup Orijen a DAY.
> She is been on Orijen since more than 3 1/2 years and doing really well with it. She LOVES it, she has small firm poops, her fur is soft and nice looking...no complaints with Orijen so far. We did a SLOOW transition (=months) from Eukanuba to Orijen (since she was still a puppy and since both food are quite different).
> 
> Never tried taste of the Wild...


Wow only 3/4 of a cup a day? I have Rusty on Acana, and he is active as well. I feed him 3 cups a day and he is thin/fit.

I'm going to be adding Orijen to his rotation, but I'm surprised how little you feed Lilly haha. 

Back to the topic of food. Rusty is doing awesome on Acana, which is made by the same company as Orjien. His poops are small, and his coat looks amazing. Tons of good energy and I have a fit dog.

I never have used Taste of the Wild to compare. If I were to choose between the two, I would take Orijen because of my exp with Acana.


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## turtle66

> Wow only 3/4 of a cup a day?


Yap - a day! Well, one need to add some treats throughout the day (but not tons and mostly healthy treats like tomatoes, broccoli, blueberries, a little piece banana etc.)

We rotate with Acana once in a while (I give her 1 cup of Acana per day, since it has a little less calories) but she REALLY loves her Orijen... so it be then...



Heike


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## turtle66

and she is not too skinny


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## turtle66

Melfice - of course you were right. I woke up this morning and thought - weight a minute. I give 3/4 of a '2 cup' a day....so it is 1 and 1/2 cup per day, so 3/4 per feeding. I am embarrassed and sorry about the confusion I caused.

Well, I guess, it is still calorie dense food 

Sorry!!!!

Heike


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## dogloverforlife

Taste of the wild is made by Diamond. They had a big recall last May that expanded through the summer. I've been considering feeding acana duck and Bartlett pear to my Lab, but have not took the plunge.

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## Penny & Maggie's Mom

turtle66 said:


> Orijen is very dense. I feed Lilly (between 65 and 68 pounds), active dog, 3/4 of a cup Orijen a DAY.
> She is been on Orijen since more than 3 1/2 years and doing really well with it. She LOVES it, she has small firm poops, her fur is soft and nice looking...no complaints with Orijen so far. We did a SLOOW transition (=months) from Eukanuba to Orijen (since she was still a puppy and since both food are quite different).
> 
> Never tried taste of the Wild...


 
Most all the Orijen foods I looked at are between 400-500 calories/cup (from their website), so your dog is living on less than 375 calories/day???? I would be most concerned she is not getting enough nutrients. The rule of thumb is that they require 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight. See the first chart here from Ohio State. Diet Manual | College of Veterinary Medicine I would talk with your vet or a nutritionist to make sure she is getting enough of all the nutrients for long term health.

Even our seniors are getting around 1000 cals/day of a nutrient dense food..... just as a comparison.


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## turtle66

Corrected it - she is getting 1 1/2 cup a day, so about 600 calories + treats...

Sorry for the confusion I caused...

Heike


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## Reese9

We had Reese on TOTW for about 3 months as a pup. Though I believe it is good food, Orijen is a way better pick. When she was on TOTW she had loose stools and pooped 3-4 times a day, and they were stinky. When I switched her to Orijen I saw an immediate change in stools. She went only 2-3 times a day, & had small firm stools that weren't very stinky at all. Of course all dogs are different and some foods work better than others. Orijen worked well for Reese.

Feeding guidelines between the two are a bit of a difference as well. Reese is 64 pounds. According to Orijen feeding guidelines, a 66 pound adult dog who is active should get 2 & 3/4 cups of food a day. When I had Reese on only dry kibble I would feed her 2 cups and she would get a raw marrow bones and fruits & veggies regularly. Orijen adult food is 460 calories per cup. So if you feed two cups a day you would be feeding 920 calories, but this excludes treats.

Link here: http://www.orijen.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Orijen-Feeding-Guides.pdf

TOTW has different guidelines. Depending on which formula you are feeding, a 60-80 pound dog should get approximately 3 to 3 & 3/4 cups of food daily. If I was feeding TOTW only I would feed 3 cups and then give bones, veggies, and fruits daily as well. TOTW is 370 calories per cup. So if you feed 3 cups you are feeding you feed 1110 calories a day, excluding treats.

Link here: Taste of the Wild Feeding Guidelines for Dogs

If you look at it, you are feeding 3 cups a day of TOTW compared to 2 cups a day of Orijen. You may be spending more on Orijen, but you feed less & they poop less. For a large breed dog you will be spending around the same amount of money for either food because you will go through a bag of TOTW a lot quicker than a bag of Orijen. And as others have stated, TOTW is manufactured from Diamond Pet Foods and they had a big recall last year. Orijen & Acana are manufactured from Champion Pet Foods and they have been awarded best dog food for the past 4 years. All in all, I think Orijen will be a much better pick for your pup. Good luck!


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## murphy1

As someone here mentioned Taste of the Wild is by a large manuracturer. Orijen and Acana, both are from one company. Murphy ate Orijen lg breed and I switched him to Acana for the lower calorie county. My guy is very active and gets three cups of Acana per day. He was on Pacifica but the smell got to me and I switched him to Ranchland. He loves both and is doing great!! I highly recommend either.


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