[Pat W]

I just wanted to post an update on my issues with TOTW. After feeding this product for 2 years I started having issues with refusal to eat and vomiting. It began when I started switching my adult dogs from TOTW High Prairie puppy to TOTW High Prairie adult formula. (I feed everyone the puppy formula during breeding cycles so I don’t have to worry about who is supposed to get what food.) As I switched our adult dogs over to the adult formula they started having issues. It started with one dog, then 2, and by the second or third day I had 3 vomiting immediately after eating and several others refusing their food. I immediately switched all of them back to the puppy formula and the issues resolved. But as soon as I started a new bag of TOTW puppy everyone was getting sick again. Desperate, after getting recommendations from other breeders, I did an abrupt switch to Merrick. Gastric issues in most of my dogs immediately resolved, however, we had one older dog who continued to have problems, refusing to eat and experiencing gastric discomfort. I treated her with charcoal, turmeric/curcumin, and symethicone. She appeared to be improving and I fed her some boiled chicken and organic grown rice in chicken broth. She appeared to rally for a day or so- even took her for a walk, and then she stopped eating and went rapidly downhill. One of my other dogs had taken a little over two days to begin eating again after I switched her to Merrick, so I figured she would come around after a couple of days. Today, the third day of her not eating, I was planning on bringing her to the vet to see if there was something else they could do for her, but before we could get ready to go she passed away.
I don’t know what is going on with TOTW, but something must have happened. I was very happy with them for 2 years, now I have 3 large bags of TOTW I will not feed and a dead dog.

[Pat W]

I have been feeding TOTW High Prairie for a couple of years now. We raise Scottish Terriers and I switched to TOTW from Diamond Naturals at the advice of another Scottie breeder. I noticed an immediate improvement in appetite, skin, coat, vitality, etc. At one point I tried switching back to Diamond and immediately had dogs vomiting and refusing to eat, including 2 pregnant females. I don’t usually make an abrupt change in my dogs’ diet, but considering the prospect of losing 2 litters I did an abrupt switch back to TOTW and saw an immediate improvement. I complained to Diamond about my experience and shared the product info with them in the hopes of preventing others from poisoning their dogs. They said there was nothing wrong with that batch. Funny, the extreme vomiting stopped as soon as I changed them back.
More recently I have been having issues with TOTW High Prairie adult formula. I had been feeding the TOTW High Prairie puppy formula during a breeding cycle (I feed everyone puppy formula because it’s just too much for me to mix up separate batches for the pregnant/nursing bitches), and as we finished up our litters I began switching adult dogs back over to the adult formula. It’s only been 2 days and I am once again having issues- refusing to eat, vomiting, loose stools. I am very concerned, since I recently saw that there has been a class action lawsuit filed against the makers of TOTW for deceptive advertising. Here’s a link to a pdf of the Complaint which was filed in California: https://www.locklaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2018-08-28-Taste-of-the-Wild-Complaint-Grossman-v-Schell-Lampeter-In….pdf
Page 14 of the Complaint has a chart showing the results of independent testing of TOTW products for heavy metals, pesticides, etc. I’m no nutritionist so I don’t know if these levels are in fact significant, but thought I would share this info with the group.
I am switching all of my dogs back to TOTW puppy formula for now while I look into changing brands. I have had recommendations from other Scottie people – Fromm and also Royal Canin. If anyone here has had any experience with either of these brands I would love to hear about your experience.

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