[LoDoVilla]

I’m absolutely terrified of anything sourced from China. I know that we are allowing them free reign to corner the markets on certain foods and ingredients and that I have little choice in that matter, but I have read so many things about so many different foods…I lost a beloved Shar-Pei to cancer at only age 5 in 2005. She was mostly fed Eukanuba. My Frenchie was diagnosed with cancer at age 6, given two months, and miraculously made it another 2 and a half years on low-dose prednisone and Royal Canin Gastrointestinal. Now, we are adopting a 3-month-old mixed breed from a shelter. We think he’s hound/terrier. My issue is good food, and I do not care how much it costs. I prefer dry. Been looking hard at grain free, although our new pup does not appear to have any food issues or allergies. I will find out what he’s being fed when we pick him up this coming week. Any and all recommendations are welcomed. Thank you.

[mountainhound]

It’s hard to recommend “best” food since every dog does differently on different food. One dog might do great on a 5 star food which another one not. I don’t feed kibble anymore, but if I did I would go with either Champion (Orijen/Acana, I prefer Acana regional due to slightly lower protein), Petcurean (the grain free Go formulas) or Fromm.

[Shasta220]

I don’t have a whole lot of experiences with different foods, or where they’re sourced from. First off, I’m SO sorry for your loss! I’ve lost my favorite dog ever prematurely (I know you shouldn’t pick fave furbabies…but Otto always had a special spot), he was only two when he got killed..

Anyway, back to food. I trust this site quite a bit, and would say you could /probably/ get any 5 star food on here and be happy. Orijen is one of the favorites on here, and my friend has her dogs on NutriSource Grain Free. The 13y.o, lab/collie is happy, energetic, an super healthy. I also have heard good reviews on Victor.

But it really may take some trial and error. Some dogs have insanely great health on a brand, while other dogs don’t do so well, but like I say – check into the 5 star foods on this website to get started, 😉

Best wishes, and thank you for trying to get your dogs the best you have the resources for.

[LoDoVilla]

Orijen and Victor have come up quite a lot here…looks like I can get Orijen at Pet Supplies Plus, but Victor is available in Ft. Lauderdale only. Strange, since I live close to Wellington, and that is big horse country. There must be a feed store that carries it.

[Shasta220]

I think you can find Victors website, and they have a dealer-locator. Victor is relatively rare, since (to my knowledge, I haven’t looked it up) they only have one plant and that’s in TX. You can find it online though, but I’m sure there are plenty of quality foods near you, so that shouldn’t be needed. 😉

[Shasta220]

But I do have a friend who lives in Louisiana and found it at her local feed store (she managed to get a 40lb bag for 30$ what a steal!)

[Mom2Cavs]

The foods I’m comfortable with are (in no particular order):

Fromm
Victor’s (haven’t tried them, yet, but would be happy to)
Dr. Tim’s (haven’t tried them, yet, but would be happy to)
Annamaet
Mulligan Stew
Nutrisource
Nature’s Logic

I feel comfortable with these foods due to many things. I either like/trust their company, no ingredients are sourced from China or they worked for my dogs (and I have one with allergy/intolerances).

[pitbullmomma]

First off, so sorry for the loss of your loved one, that’s never an easy thing to go through.

In regards to dog food, a lot of it is going to be trail and error as to what works for your dog! I highly recommend a grain free, but some dogs just can’t handle a grain free (my senior girl gets all constipated)… Champion Pet Foods is one of the best, I love that you can look at their website and find the specific ranches and lakes that their product is sourced from! Another great thing is that the meat is always fresh, never frozen. The fish come straight from the lake to their plant and into the dog food. Can’t get much better than that! But Orijen and Acana can be too rich for some dogs. Merrick has a really great GF food that is still high in meat content, but doesn’t seem to be as rich to the sensitive tummies, and they have a great range of flavors to choose from, which my guys always appreciate. Hope that helps! 🙂

[Dori]

I too am sorry for your losses. It’s always a difficult thing to go through. I feed my three dogs grain, white potato, white rice free foods.
As someone else mentioned, if you check out the 4 and 5 star foods and read their ingredient lists you can go from there. Many of us on this site find a food that our dogs do well on and then continue the search so that we can have a few different brands and proteins to rotate through. Some rotate from bag to bag others rotate more often. I don’t really feed kibble any more (I feed commercial raw, also The Honest Kitchen which is a dehydrated food that you just add water to) and am just starting to delve into doing homemade raw meals. When I did feed kibble, some of the brands I really liked were Brothers Complete (you can only buy it on their website but they have very very quick delivery and great customer service, it’s a family run business), Zignature, Victors (you can also order Victors on Amazon, Natures Logic, Acana just to name a few.

Keep in mind that, and it’s only my way, when I first bring a puppy home (or any dog for that matter) I usually keep them on the same food they were eating for the first two weeks. My feeling is that they are going through enough stress with moving to a new home, new people, etc. that I think it’s just a little easier on them that at least something in their lives is familiar to them. Then I start the slow transition to a food I’m comfortable feeding and also comfortable with the companies website and where they source their ingredients and what plants are used to produce their food. I try to make sure I then research what other dog foods that plant may be producing and, of course, have there being any recalls on any of them.

On the top left hand section of this page is a wonder list of Dog Food Recalls and you can also sign up to be put on their email list for dog food recalls as they happen.

Hope any of this has helped. Good luck with the new puppy. Let us know how you make out. Oh, and ask all the questions you want.

[LoDoVilla]

Well, I visited my local Pet Supplies Plus, and was happy to discover they carry about 3/4 of the Dog Food Advisor’s 4- and 5-star foods 🙂 Plus, they have a really good rewards program and helpful staff. HIGHLY recommend them. I picked up a bag of Orijen Puppy; we pick up the little big guy Wednesday, so we’ll see 🙂

[Shasta220]

I’m so happy for you!!! What breed(s) is your little guy gonna be? Do keep us posted on how he does! 😀

[Author]

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