[Donald R]

Is this grain free dog food any good? What would be a good grainfree dog food to feed my 3 yr. old Lab?

[theBCnut]

Earthborn Holistic Grain Free, NutriSource Grain Free, Victors

[Mom2Cavs]

I actually used to feed TOTW Pacific Stream, when I was trying to get Laverne’s gut straightened out. I still like the food, BUT…and it’s a big but (lol…) it’s a Diamond food and I will not feed Diamond foods. I know that any company is at risk for recalls but Diamond has a bad history where recalls are concerned and so their foods are no goes for me. I agree with theBCnut and her suggestions.

[Nancy C]

BCNut, thank you. Here’s my issue: CARBS. Ive contacted Earthborn for carb info on the foods and Dry Matter numbers as well. They give crude. On one of the formulas the first ingredient is meal (can’t remem which animal protein) and the NEXT FOUR ingredients are flour, barley, sweet potato and 1 other one -pea something perhaps. Seems to me that will raise the carbs, and if so, Is this a good thing? Watching Dr. Becker’s videos has led me into “carbs- aware ville” so I am interested in your perspective. Also at NutriSource GF I noticed the 28%Protein, 17%Fat and a whopping 48% carb! Is this healthy? I’m confused and welcome your illumination.
Thank you for your help.

[DogFoodie]

Hi Donald,

A couple of foods that are similarly priced to TOTW (as are those BCnut mentioned) are Horizon Legacy and Dr. Tim’s GF Kinesis. Wellness Core is also excellent, but probably just abit higher in price than the others. In my opinion, all are excellent quality from trustworthy manufacturers. As others have mentioned, I do not feed Diamond products either.

[theBCnut]

Hi Nancy

I wouldn’t give you the same advice at all. When someone is looking at TOTW, I automatically assume one of their considerations is price, so I listed decent quality foods that are also economical, which almost automatically means they are not really high in protein, which means they will be higher in carbs. There are really only a couple kibbles that I would consider low carb, the one Victor and Wysong. After that, you are looking at kibble and canned mix, or just canned, or kibble and raw, or canned and raw, or just raw, to get the carb level you want. I personally do kibble and raw.

[Nancy C]

Thank you, BC. When I started feeding TOW last fall I was totally ignorant. Some how I slowly began to wake up and since then I have been HORRIFIED at what I have learned about kibble. (Had been busy working on a phd) Fortunately I have tended for 10 years to feed my sweet Golden “top” foods, relying on the owner of a Pet Food place here to guide me. I fed what he fed his golden. So you have helped. I keep going back to ZiwiPeak and am getting closer about feeding it, but now skeptical about the high carbs. DMB: protein is 40%, Fat is 31% and carbs are 21%. I would appreciate your input. Even the fat at 31 is feeling high to me. I have this GSD who had all that diarrhea in the spring, all which started with ORIGEN and ACANA! He is now doing well on Dr Tim’s PERSUIT but I think the 30% carbs is too high, so need to find something to replace that. The testimonials both at ZIWI site and AMAZON (Lots of reviews there), are excellent, usually 5 stars. The main complaint is the price, although most posters agree it is expensive but worth it. With all your knowledge I am interested in your perspective. Thank you!

[Nancy C]

Oops I realize I am veering away from TOW…. but I AM actually moving toward RAW as well, just got Dr. Becker’s book and have watched her videos, been on field trip to local pet stores to SEE the foods. Here I can get NV Instinct, PRIMAL if necessary but they are out of sight $$. I have located a few drug free livestock suppliers here where I could get my meat, so I think I’m moving along in my education. We go back and forth to the coast a good bit. (I’m in NC) and we take our dogs — pack up all our food (have a little cottage on a quiet little island ) — so it will be difficult doing raw, driving 4 hours to then get on a ferry. NOPE. I need to find something EASY (more portable) that I can rotate on and off of as necessary. Had thought about The Honest Kitchen also but then read those reviews on DFA at Honest Kitchen Review, with the pictures of the large veggies in the food. There was a strange poster there. The discussion veered AWAY from THK to the identity of the multiple “poser” – Poster….. Consequently my search continues for a few easy but highly healthy, high quality (protein, fat, carbs all within a healthy range) food. I REALLY appreciate your comments as well as the more advanced people at DFA. Thank you!!

[Donald R]

Thank you All for the help. I started feeding my Lab Diamond and she threw up every now and then. I looked up dog foods and found the vast number of recalls for Diamond, so I switched to TOTW, to only find out it was a Diamond food. Altho no more throwing up I wanted to find something better. So again thank you all for your help. I am now looking into your suggestions and will go from there.

[crazy4cats]

Donald-
I really like Grain Free Victor. Give that a try!

[Author]

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