What dog food for you recommend?

Question

After reading horrible things about Science Diet, I have decided to switch my two dogs to a better quality food. Out of Canidae, Wellness, and Innova- which one would you recommend to be the best? Please only answer if you have tried these brands on your dogs.
Thanks for your help.

I meant *would* you recommend.

Also, I need a low or grain-free dog food because my 4 year old chow mix has allergic reactions to dog food with too much grain. I figured I would use Canidae All Stages since I also have a 9 month old puppy and I heard it is grain-free. I just wanted to see other's opinions.

Answer 1

All three are good foods. Out of those, I would rank them in this order:
1) Innova EVO (yeah, I added this one in, the EVO line is grain-free but still part of the Innova brand. It can be too rich for some dogs to handle though.)
2) Innova
3) Canidae
4) Wellness

Keep in mind, there isn't one single dog food that is the overall "best" on the market for all dogs. For example, some dogs do best on grain-free diets, for others, grain-free is too rich and they need a little lower protein diet.

What you want to find out is what HIGH-QUALITY dog food is the best food for *your* dog. I do recommend using dry dog food, it's better on the teeth than wet dog food.

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On choosing a good dog food:

Read the ingredients on the food you buy. Go with a high quality dog food. A grain should not be in the first couple ingredients ingredient (corn and such are mainly fillers, dogs don't digest it well). Avoid foods that have a lot of "by products" listed.

Here is an article about byproducts:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=ingrd

And an article on what ingredients to avoid:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

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Some GOOD foods are :
* Merrick - http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
* Solid Gold - http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/
* Canidae - http://www.canidae.com/
* Timberwolf - http://timberwolforganics.com/
* Orijen - http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/orijen/
* Wellness - http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/
* Chicken Soup brand - http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
* Blue Buffalo - http://www.bluebuff.com/
* Innova - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp
* Innova EVO - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp

Or check this website for good foods: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
(I recommend only feeding foods rated 4, 5, or 6 stars. Anything 3 stars or less, I would stay away from.)

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Stay away from grocery stores brands. They are low-quality foods chalk full of fillers, preservatives, dyes, etc.. (Grocery store foods are those like Beneful, Old Roy, Alpo, Pedigree, Purina, etc.)

Beware "premium" foods. "Premium" does not mean good nutritionally, and is not a nutritionally high quality food. It has the same types of ingredients as grocery store foods, just a bit better quality of those not-so-good ingredients. (Premium foods are those like Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, etc..)

Another thing to be wary of: A lot of vets will recommend what they sell in their office. They get profit from the brands they keep on their shelves, that's why they push it. Truth is, vet schools don't focus a lot on nutrition. It's not saying that a vet is a bad vet because he recommends those foods, a lot of vets just are told "this is good food", so they pass the message along without proper nutrition knowledge. Also, some dog food brands (like Hills) support vet schools, so vets have heard of it from the time they start college, which makes them think it's good as well.

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Higher quality food may seem more expensive at first, but it evens out. The higher quality the food, the less fillers eaten (and therefore the less poop comes out the other end). Your dog eats more to try to get the nutrition it needs, and most of the food just passes right on through. Also, it will make your animals healthier, so you save money on vet bills in the long run.

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"Big box" petstores like Petco and Petsmart rarely have quality foods. Also, grocery stores and Walmart aren't good places to buy food either.

Your best bets for getting quality dog food are:
- small, locally owned petstores
- dog boutiques
- farm supply stores

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When switching foods, do it gradually. I do this over about a two week timespan:
25% food A, 75% food B
50% food A, 50% food B
75% food A, 25% food B
100% food A
.

Answer 2

Thankfully you got away from that awful food it is one of hte absolute worst. But Ihave tried all the foods you listed and I have stayed with Wellness Core which is 100% Grain Free, No Preservatives, and uses 5 USDA grade meats. My dogs have allergies as well especially my Lab and the Wellness Core he has by far done the best. Even with the Innova grain free he did just okay but not great the Canidae really really aggravated my dogs allergies and they hated it. But with the Wellness Core my Lab itches like a normal dog has had no allergy problems and is doing great and he loves the food. From actually experience with all 3 foods my dogs by far did the best with Wellness Core.He is like awhole new dog. But all dogs are different but the next choice is Innova, i just did not have good experiences with my dogs on Canidae. The Dog Food Project is an excellent website for learning about dog foods,

Answer 3

I just switched my critters over to Canidae and Felidae from a life of Iams. They all love it except one crabby kitty. My dog will eat anything, but came to dislike Iams so the Canidae has been a boon. My oldest ragdoll is 14 and had become a skeleton, but I can tell he is putting on weight already on the new food after just 3 days. Canidae doesn't have wheat, corn, or soybeans. The dry stuff is very small, and the canned stuff actually smells pretty good.

Answer 4

All those foods you listed are the best. Your making the right decision about Science diet. Its horrible. Both Wellness and Innova makes a high protein, grain free food. And they make both in a combination for puppies and adults. The Wellness is called Wellness Core. Innova makes one called Innova Evo. Just make sure that your dogs don't have any previos health problems as feeding a high protein diet is hard on a dogs kidney's. I feed my dogs the Wellness Fish and sweet potato. My one dog has a food allergy and is doing well on it.

Answer 5

I've tried Innova and my dogs did good on it but I like the grain free foods and Innova EVO was too rich for my small dogs and gave them loose stools, my labX however did great on it. I haven't tried Canidae nor Wellness (though Wellness now has a grain free food as well).

Answer 6

Very simple way to test quality of dog food: read ingredients. If "meat by-products" and things you cannot pronounce are on the lable, your food is cheap crap. Dogs life spans have been drastically reduced by the crappy food we feed them. Try Pet Promise. Health food stores with pet sections carry this. Pathmark now carries it too. The petty extra change it costs is well worth the money in vet bills you will save later. And know this: Your vet may be PAID by a pet-food company to recommend a certain brand REGARDLESS of it's suitability to your dog! Anything that is not made from HUMAN GRADE meat is worthless. And please supplement your dog's diet with a variety of medium-rare cooked meat and vegetables, as in nature your dog would eat a mixture of these things. Raisins and grapes can be toxic, so avoid like the plague. Science Diet is garbage. Your dog does not need a scientific diet, just "Simple Fresh Natural Ingredients!"

Answer 7

i would try canidae or innova. they r really good quality foods. a little better than wellness. but at least u realized that science diet is crap and made the decision to switch

Answer 8

Innova
or
kibbles
or
puppy chow if for a puppy