Expensive versus cheap dog food.

this is the second warning in this thread - enough with the personal attacks and off topic posts.

That's interesting about the flaxseed.  I've never heard this one before!  I'm in the process myself of choosing a new food for my group and am finding this thread interesting! 

kpwlee

this is the second warning in this thread - enough with the personal attacks and off topic posts.

Here is an article about flaxseed and the allergy dog.

I do not recommend flaxseed oil as a fatty acid supplement for pets with atopic dermatitis. Instead, look for fish oil, which provides EPA and DHA. Flaxseed oil is often added to diets because fish oil produces a "fishy" smell that may be offensive to owners.

you can read the whole thing here http://www.preciouspets.org/newsletters/articles/fish-oil-pets.htm.

Now, for Spirit dogs. I looked at EVO and INNOVA, but they are so expensive it is not even funny. I cannot justify spending $80 a bag for dog food. If you can, you go right ahead. By the way Anne, what do you feed your little crew?

Johnny, if you think THIS is bad, check out training!  Or breeding!

Yes, Innova basically priced themselves right out of my budget.  EVO is even worse.

Dawn?  I haven't checked and it probably does, but what about the Blue fish and sweet tater or their newer salmon.

I know a LOT of the better foods use flaxseed and it's a darned shame.

flax is also a no-no for seizure dogs

I am always checking foods. I really really wanted to try the Wellness Simple I heard about, problem is that even though I can get a coupon and it's listed as being in town, I can find no one with it.

Since I will admit to being unpredictable and mad at the moment I took it out on Wellness and Evo. I am currently waiting on both coupons and DM call backs. Please don't advertise a product and then not be able to deliever it. So now im torn, try it if I can find it or not because basically if I can't find it now what happens in a few months?

For Evo and Innova.....folks, it's dog food, not caviar. Did you know their largest bag with tax is 3 times more expensive as what im now feeding? I can easily go a little higher on food, but im sorry, im not going that high.

I just took a phone call from Wellness, they are going to send me some sample bags to try. In the mean time they are going to find out why some locations are showing as having it and others are not. I have a couple of numbers for locations to call and have it ordered. Such nice customer service.

 Dawn have you checked out Feeder Supply? I know the one near me has the Wellness Simple.

Yes, I happen to know the manager of one here in town and she said that for this area, they have to order it special.

But thanks Kim for thinking of me.

I'm going to go back a WHOLE lot of years to when I first came to the forum.  The folks who gently encouraged me to look for a better food are the ones that I listened to.  The ones who screamed at me for using Purina Large Breed puppy, as recommended by my VET, I just dug in my heels and ignored.

Those who calmly tried to help me learn what comprised a good food and a not so good food, those folks were godsends to me.  Those are the people who guided me to feeding my dogs a better diet.

I'm just saying.....

Dawn, that's good news about Wellness.

 Guess not enough people need to use the Wellness Simple in your area to keep it in stock? Considering you have a petsmart to shop at also. We only have a Feeders and a Tractor Supply to get dog food besides Walmart.

Like everyone else said you feed what works for your dog! Im still learning that.

I know Lillie did good on Purina Proplan Performance before I got her switched to TOTW. I tried Orijen 6 Fish and Canidae Salmon with Joker but he seemed to do better on the TOTW Pacific Stream.

I have wanted to try the wellness simple line, but worried that I will mess with the dogs' itchies and tummmies.  They are doing great on petguard with toppers and so I should just leave well enough alone, especially Gobie, whose stomach just seems to have a random evacuate button.

As far as the original q, if I could find a food that is similar to the makeup of PG w/out barley, flaxseed, yeast, digests, menadione, etc AND my dogs did not itchy, vomit, dire-rear, gas, ear/feet yeast infection.... sure, I would feeed that along with a topper, no problem. 

But I have yet to find anything that does that.  So I have to stick with what works.

ETA:  Just looked at the wellness SS, and could not, no way, ever feed it to my girls.  They wouldn't stop scratching.

Shamrockmommy, that is my point. You do what is necessary for your dog and your situation.

And the Wellness, that too is part of the point, some dogs will do great, others not so great. If it works, don't change it!

The only reason I still look is because while his current food is good and he does great on it, he still does itch, and I need a back up besides TOTW. Each and every food I have is limited to 1 or 2 sources. I am not comfortable with that.

 Dawn, have you had a chance to try Acana?  It's made by the same company as Orijen, but it's protein is lower and it's less expensive.  I checked the ingredient lists, and I didn't see flaxseed: http://www.championpetfoods.com/acana/products.php.  I'm not sure how much you pay for SS&S, but I usually spend around $50 for the 30 lb. bag of Acana. 

I hope the Wellness Simple works for Kord!

It can be so hard to find the right food for dogs with sensitivities or allergies, you have to choose the food that's right for your dog.  Heck knows, I've tried other super premium foods on my non-allergy dogs that were NOT good for them at all.  Allergies are a whole other ballgame, I have an aunt with allergy Shih Tzus, and she had the worst time finding a good food for them.  She ended out having good success with California Natural Lamb (which, I just realized doesn't have flaxseed! some of the other formulas do). 

On the original topic, for me, my dogs just do better on certain high-end foods (Orijen, Acana, Fromm, NV Instinct).  I did start Honor on BilJac, then Innova, then moved to Eagle Pack, and then found Orijen.  And the difference for her was obvious between each food.  I am lucky that all members of my four-pack operate very well on the four foods I mentioned in the parentheses, and they just look amazing.  It's just all about what food works best for your dog.

Lisa, thanks for the information. I cannot get Orijen products here in town. They are in the state put scattered.

Dawn, if its an option for you, you can order Champion products online from k9cuisine.com.  They do free shipping for all orders over $50, and they almost always ship same day.  It never took me more than 2 days to receive an order when I bought from them, before a store opened up near me that carries Orijen, where I buy it now.

PS, when I bought those treats for the swap, I made sure they didn't have flaxseed in them...I remembered you had said before that he couldn't have that.