For a while we’ve been wanting to try Orijen & Acana by Champion Pet Food.While I’ve heard nothing but positive feedback from many dog owners it was one that was not yet on our island to try so we couldn’t try it.Lucky for us when we went today to pick up more can food for Lacey I looked around Naturally Pet like always to see what’s new.One thing I found was there was no more samples to try and pick up but I also found Orijen & Acana.There were big bags not sure of the size in weight going for close to $20 and small bag less than a pound going for $2.90.With the excitement I felt I just had to pick up a bag of Orijen.There was one for Acana too but we didn’t get it this time.Still I looked online at every single flavor of Orijen & Acana and both brands are very promising for Lacey.There is about average of 2 grains in majority of the formulas,1 grain in some and grain free for the rest.Some are “quite” fishy which means Lacey would take an average of 1/8 cup at a time vs 1/4 cup if she’s eating chicken,bison etc.We’ll have an update later on how she does on Orijen and her current ranking of foods.Check back for an update.
Update October 23 2010:There is no doubt in my mind or Lacey’s mind that she prefers Orijen to Halo’s!I placed one piece of Orijen & 1 piece of Halo’s side by side.She took a sniff at Orijen then a sniff at Halo’s.Another sniff at Orijen,quick sniff at Halo’s.A few more sniffs back and forth and she ate it(Orijen)without hesitation.There is no doubt that Orijen/Acana will be one of our main brands.
Updated brands for Lacey
Orijen/Acana(Both are fairly grain free 2,1 and none in all formulas from both brands)
Taste of the Wild
Wellness Simple Solutions
If there are ever issues with these above we’d go in this order
Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural
Earthborn Holistic Ocean Fusion
Solid Gold Barking At The Moon
Merricks Before Grain
Blue Buffalo Wilderness/Blue Buffalo Basics
Nature’s Variety Instinct
Natural Balance LID
NOW! from Pet Curean Pets is finally available at Natually Pet..Not that Lacey needs to try it anytime soon but it’s on our list to try if we ever need to
Lacey is eating Orijen as I type.
Tag Archives: Taste of the Wild
Taste of The Wild Ingredients for Dry/Can Food as of October 2010
High Prairie Dry
Protein: 32% Fat: 18%
370 kcal per cup
Bison, lamb meal, chicken meal, egg product, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, canola oil, roasted bison, roasted venison, natural flavor, tomato pomace, ocean fish meal, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
Can
Protein 6.5%, Fat 3.5%
482.25 per 13.2 oz can
Bison, venison broth, lamb broth, lamb liver, egg, peas, potato starch, sweet potatoes, potatoes, roasted venison, roasted bison, ocean fish, guar gum, natural flavor, tomatoes, sodium tripolyphosphate, canola oil, salt, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, chicory root, iron proteinate (a source of chelated iron), zinc proteinate (a source of chelated zinc), yucca schidigera extract, vitamin E supplement, cobalt proteinate (a source of chelated cobalt), blueberries, raspberries, copper proteinate (a source of chelated copper), manganese proteinate (a source of chelated manganese), riboflavin supplement, sodium selenite, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, potassium iodide, biotin, vitamin D3 supplement
Pacific Stream Dry
Protein: 25% Fat: 15%
360 kcal per cup
Salmon, ocean fish meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, canola oil, salmon meal, smoked salmon, potato fiber, natural flavor, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
Can
Protein 7.5% Fat 3.0%
365 kcal per 13.2 oz can
Salmon, fish broth, water, egg, peas, potato starch, sweet potatoes, potatoes, ocean fish, smoked salmon, guar gum, tomatoes, sodium tripolyphosphate, natural flavor, salt, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, chicory root, iron proteinate (source of chelated iron), zinc proteinate (source of chelated zinc), yucca schidigera extract, vitamin E supplement, cobalt proteinate (source of chelated cobalt), blueberries, raspberries,
copper proteinate (source of chelated copper), manganese proteinate (source of chelated manganese), riboflavin supplement, sodium selenite, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, potassium iodide, biotin, vitamin D3 supplement
Wetlands Dry
Protein: 32% Fat: 18%
375 kcal per cup
Duck, duck meal, chicken meal, egg product, sweet potatoes, peas, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), potatoes, roasted quail, roasted duck, smoked turkey, natural flavor, tomato pomace, ocean fish meal, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
Can
Protein 7.5%, Fat 3.5%
385.6 per 13.2 oz can
Duck, duck broth, chicken broth, chicken liver, chicken, egg, peas, potato starch, sweet potatoes, potatoes, ocean fish, roast duck, roasted quail, smoked turkey, guar gum, tomatoes, sodium tripolyphosphate, natural flavor, salt, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, chicory root, iron proteinate (a source of chelated iron), zinc proteinate (a source of chelated zinc), yucca schidigera extract, vitamin E supplement, cobalt proteinate (a source of chelated cobalt), blueberries, raspberries, copper proteinate (a source of chelated copper), manganese proteinate (a source of chelated manganese), riboflavin supplement, sodium selenite, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, potassium iodide, biotin, vitamin D3 supplement
Sierra Mountain
Protein: 25% Fat: 15%
338 kcal per cup
Lamb, lamb meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas, canola oil, potato protein, roasted lamb, tomato pomace, natural flavor, salt, choline chloride, mixed tocopherols (a natural preservative and source of vitamin E) dried chicory root, taurine, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
We probably will not purchase Halo’s again
Lately there have been so many disturbing comments about Halo’s such as they are sending customers expired products(ie treats),have switched up the recipe without notifying buyers,dogs and cats not being able to digest can/dry food and having diarrhea,smells different, makes me really wonder if we can continue to buy it…Right now I am having Lacey finish up the last 6-8 cups of Halo’s.One brand we are looking to transition to is Taste of the Wild as one of her main brands then Blue Buffalo Wilderness & Earthborn for long term use.
Out of all the foods she’s been on as an adult she’s been on Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural the longest since December 2009.I am always looking for new foods for her to try to add in her rotation over the years.
Types of Dry Food and Lacey’s reactions
So so far we know Lace can’t have 3 grains or higher,can’t have a lot of duck/lamb and fish though some fish based food(dry) is okay as long as it’s not heavily based ex are Wellness Simple Solutions Rice & Salmon,Halo’s Wild Salmon..Earthborn Ocean Fusion…
Meat based food seems more appealing and she does best on.Grain Free is also good but we have to watch the fish/lamb/duck based foods.She likes chicken,beef,bison,vension,turkey the best.We will be selling the Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish and TOTW Pacific Stream.Next time we buy Halo’s we are defiantly keeping the receipt in case the change of ingredients DOES affect her otherwise we NEED to hunt down another dry food that’s high quality which she will eat fairly regularly.
Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream
Lace recently started eating TOTW Pacific Stream.I can tell it’s far from her favorite.In the beginning she’d nip at it.Her bowels at first was soft and liquidy but as time went on it got better.On the Wetlands it was always soft.From the way her body reacts to all of the TOTW dry food she can handle High Prairie the best,Pacific Stream then the Wetlands.Remember each dog is an individual.What works for Lacey may not always work for another maltese/toy poodle or any other dog breeds.
Update august 23 2010:Lace is having difficulty digesting pacific stream but seems to do good on about 1/16-1/8c.1/4c seems to be too much for her.We’ll try it for a few more days and see how she does.Now,we’re mixing 1/8c pacific stream + 1/8c high prairie to see if it makes a difference.if not we’ll give it away for free….
Switching to Blue Buffalo
So I have been doing a little thinking on Lacey’s dry food.And I came across the thought that Lacey could not have fishy food so I searched back on her site & found that it was on of one of the WellnessSuper5Mix Dry Food I had given her that caused soft stools.I checked the ingredients in it and did seems to have a “good” amount of fish but I didn’t try her on any other brand for fish.On the Wellness Dry Food she’d always gets soft stools so I am not even going to try her on the Wellness Core or the Simple Solutions.I might try her on another fishy food with a different brand such as TOTW Pacific or something similar to that.
On Blue Buffalo,doing some research I have found that a lot of poodles do good on the Small Breed which most of the Blue Buffalo dog food that does have grains,usually have 3,being which MOST poodles are doing good on.I am going to slowly transition her over to Blue Buffalo and see how she is medically in the upcoming months.Otherwise it’s going to be mostly grain free for her.So far for her diet,we will be using Blue Buffalo as the primary diet(even if it’s only grain free),TOTW & possibly Earthborn.Can Food:Merricks,Party Animal.Raw:Stella & Chewy Freeze Dried Chicken or Duck(alternating)When the NOW!dog food comes to Hawaii we’ll probably stop the Earthborn if not before that and try the NOW! dog food by PetCurean.So far I am pleased with their customer service on facebook & looking forward to try their products for Lacey..Still looking at other options but that’s where we are for now…
Update May 11 2010:It seems that Lacey can’t handle Stella & Chewy’s freeze dried raw food.She can handle the chicken & beef with good bowels but can not handle the lamb,duck/goose both resulting in soft stools.The beef she doesn’t care for it too much so we will discontinue that…If sometime later a new brand comes out for freeze dried or she will accept ACV in treats if it’s ever used in treats we may get her to eat Primal Frozen but right now it will be the raw treats from Stella & Chewy & Primal for raw treats…
As far as dry food goes Lacey is obviously giving us a very difficult time on transitioning to new food whether it be Blue Buffalo,Earthborn,Taste of the Wild,Nature’s Variety or whatever she’s just not eating…In turn I have cut out most of her treats & table food until she does eat something.I have been giving her an 1/8 cup of Merricks or Party Animal daily(can food) so she’s got something in her tummy.I doubt 1/8 cup of can food will fill her up though.I am waiting for her to eat a few kibble before she gets treats/table food and see what she responds to first..At this point as much as I’d LOVE to feed her high quality dry food I am just trying to get her to eat something whether it’s high quality or cheap.Yes,cheap will cut her years earlier but at least she will be eating.If we try most brands and she won’t respond after sometime I guess we MAY be forced to go back to Halo’s….We will try different brands for the time being ranging from high quality to medium quality to the absolute worst of dry food brands.If she responds to none….back to Halo’s we’ll go..IF ALL ELSE FAILS!
Balancing grains & grain free feedings
Most people know that Lacey has started recently on Blue Buffalo & in the past we’ve had issues with grain heavy food.We’ve looked at Blue Buffalo for certain choices of food that she may be able to eat but when we got to PetCo we didn’t see what we were looking for so we picked up the Blue Buffalo Small Breed.Although I knew it did have some grains I picked one up because we drove all the way to Pearl City so we should pick up something so it’s not a “waste of time/gas”.I was going to do this several different ways with her dry food not to mention we’re trying to get her on mostly very low grains to grain free can food too.
The first way I was going to do this was switch out the brands/flavors every time she ate but I thought if I did it this way we couldn’t focus on the new brands…Later I was going to do exclusively BB & TOTW…But..I was talking to my mom and it seemed she was concerned about the amount of grains in the BB,however energy & bowels are also very good on it…One thing I remembered with grain free is as long as she doesn’t regurgitate the food we’re good with grain free so really it doesn’t matter when or what brand of grain free I introduce we’re good.She started grain free(Earthborn back in December 2009 & we’ve had no issues).The way I decided to go with my mom’s concern in mind was to do the usual amount(1/8-3/8 daily)and make 80-85% of her dry food very low grains & grain free with about 15% being moderate grains.Not to mention she will have can food available at lunch/dinner,also low grains-grain free.Out of 21 meals of dry food times 4 weeks=84 meals/month..more on another post.. a week only 3 would be BB.The other 18 meals would be Halo’s,TOTW,Earthborn…If we do good on this rotation with very little(3 meals per week of BB Small Breed) and no health issues we can choose from many types of BB..Her food would go something like this BB,Halo’s Wild Salmon,Halo’s Wholesome Chicken,TOTW,S&C Freeze Dried Chicken,Earthborn,Merricks then
Halo’s Wild Salmon,Halo’s Wholesome Chicken,TOTW,S&C Freeze Dried Chicken,Earthborn,Blue Buffalo.
AND I couldn’t give the BB Small Breed to the neighbor’s dog because on the BB small breed bag it says for dogs up to 30 pounds so Lacey would have to finish the bag
Lacey accepts Blue Buffalo……
We got Lace Blue Buffalo on Sunday.We were looking for certain ones of the Blue Buffalo but couldn’t find it so we picked up the Blue Buffalo Small Breed.The ingredient list was very similiar to Wellness so I am wondering what her reaction will be on it…She didn’t take it by hand but within two days she took it from the floor & in her bottle.She hasn’t had any can or dry food since Monday night so when she took it from her bottle I took up her other bottles so she can get used to Blue Buffalo…I was very surprised to see her eat it & I gave her tremendous praise for taking just a bite was a big start for her!Later she took some from the floor after I cleared up her Taste of the wild dry food which I replaced with Blue Buffalo..She even ate the Life Source Bits…the ones that are vital to her health!!Now instead of giving her different bottles w/different brands/flavors I am going to measure it out(3/8 cup of one brand/flavor for one bottle)and once she finishes that I will give her another brand/flavor.She doesn’t have to finish it in one day but whenever she’s done she gets another 3/8 cup of another dry food.She will always get treats,can food attempts at lunch & dinner & of course limited amounts of table food.When she’s hungry she’ll eat her dry food.
In her rotation of 3/8 cups of dry food per bottle it will be consisting of these brands(one brand/flavor at a time not all in one 3/8 cup serving mixed together) Blue Buffalo Small Breed Adult,Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wild Salmon,Taste of the Wild High Prairie,Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural, & Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wholesome Chicken
We’ll see how her body reacts to it.Hoping for no regurgitation or soft bowels.Hoping medically will be no problems too but wel’ll see when her annual comes around in July.By then she’ll be on TOTW & Blue Buffalo for 3 months.Providing she does good on BB medically we’ll try another choice of BB when we go to Petco whenever another bag is needed for rotation.
Canidae ALS
We got Lace some samples from naturally pet but she didn’t eat it.like w/natural balance dry/can food & any dry/can food w/limited ingredients.i’d switch her over to 100% grain free if she ate it as well as her Halo’s!Her stool is excellent on TOTW even w/can food.Halo’s is low in grains…eats it close to a daily basis..medically it helps a lot…both Halo/s & TOTW has good variety ingredients which she’s faithful to…So far we tried Science Diet,IAMS,Beneful,Chicken Soup for the pet lover’s soul,prarie,instinct,stella & chewy,solid gold just a wee bit,wellness,canidae,halo’s(current),earthborn(current),totw(current),nature’s best(refused after once),natural balance(refuses can/dry),merricks(will eat sometimes,loves the can food),primal raw,thk ..when we are in pearl city i plan on trying a few different flavors from blue buffalo to see if she’ll eat it..
A Lacey update on TOTW dry food
We are going to add TOTW to our rotation but not the Wetlands formula.It gives her soft bowels & possibly even gas.Even though it was just once that told me it all on that one.The High Prairie(Bison) she does great on it so far.She loves both flavors but can’t handle the duck.Now she gets Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wholesome Chicken,Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wild Salmon,Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural(for time being unless she can handle Blue Buffalo better & likes the flavor better) and TOTW High Prairie.Hopefully in the long run her health continues to be good even on TOTW.We’ll see in a few months how she is medically.Halo’s is great.Earthborn is good(She doesn’t show “energy” after she eats it but she does eat it though),TOTW energy is there but medically we’ll have to wait it out…
