Any Opinions on this Top 5 Dog Foods List?

I've been feeding TOTW to my dogs since last September, and to my cats for the past few months.  I've had very good experiences with it, for sure.

My dogs are sleek and shiny and full of energy.  They gobble up the fish formula and the lamb formula, but one of them doesn't really like the bison formula so I don't get that one anymore.  They both get less than the recommended amount for their weight (and, honestly, could each stand to lose at least another pound or two). 

Their previous owner used to feed Kibbles and Bits :/  And she free fed them.  As a result, one of the dogs has gone from 22 lbs to 17 lbs (and should probably be in the 14-15 lb range), and the other dog has gone from 17 lbs to 14 lbs (and she looks awesome).

My cats have allergies and I used to feed them Purina One, but switched to TOTW a few months ago.  They honestly look so much better and don't throw up (they used to throw up at least a few times a week with the Purina food).  I don't free feed them, they get 3/4 of a cup each per day (split into two feedings) and they're at a great weight as well.

I usually recommend this food to anyone I can get to talking to about it.  Is it the absolute best?  No, probably not.  However, it is the most economical grain-free out there (for the most part) and has done very well with my dogs. 

I will admit that sometimes, if I can find another grain-free food on sale at the petstore, I'll mix in some of that with the TOTW.  The dogs seem to enjoy a little bit of variety and I haven't had any tummy issues with doing that, but I only do that when stuff is on sale.  My base food is always TOTW.

 TOTW is a good food choice IMO.  I've been feeding it to my cats for a few years now.  I fed it to my dogs, as bichons are prone to food allergies but TOTW is known to work for them.  And I like grain free. 

 Lacey had a problem w/ TOTW, though I suspect it would be w/ any grain free food.  I feed the dogs at noon.  Sometime around 3 AM she'd have a low blood sugar.  I've solved that by ensuring I give her a treat or 2 at bedtime.  She is not my smallest, nor does she have any health issues.  It's just unique to her.

 I also like Halo, the grains used are barley and oatmeal.  They did well on that too, except Willy must be on grain free, and feeding 2 different foods was awkward.

 The only issue I am aware of with TOTW is that they do not guarantee that their fish sources are free of  ethoxyquin, a chemical used as a preservative, particularly in fish and fish meal.  TOTW does not add it, but their suppliers DO.  It is known to cause cancer.  That is the main reason I switched to Halo.  At the moment I am back to TOTW.

I have used TOTW in the past but found my dogs do better with other foods.The small stools produced with that food did not allow them to express their anal glands naturally so I switched back to a higher volume food and the problem went away.As many here will tell you there is no one perfect food and you may need to try a few quallity foods to get the results you are looking for.I don't see where the other four foods in this list are or who devised the list.Those would be interesting to know.Currently my three are on Premium Edge and all doing well.I have also used Canidae ALS,Fromm Gold,and American Natural Premium.I rotate Seasonally using Premium edge in spring as it seems to help the Aussies when they blow their coats.

                                                                                                   Tena

Honestly it entirely depends on how your dog does on a food to decide which food is 'best.' 

TOTW is highly loved from what I can tell. I sincerely wanted it to work for my dogs (it looks good, it's a good price!) but I end up with Darby with severe yeasty skin infections, and all 3 had brown, smelly gunky ears on it.

I, too, did not see the other 4 foods listed. but my favorite foods which ahve worked well for my dogs so far are Acana, California natural, Tuscan Natural and The Honest Kitchen (which is a dehdrated food).

Basically, find a food that looks high quality and give it a try.  :)

Layla eats TOTW and does great!  Shiney coat, healthy, lots of energy, good weight; I'm very glad some friends recommended it to me when we got her as a puppy.

 I rotate the flavor every time we have to buy a new bag.  I have fed her the canned also, when she had a sore throat and a few other times for various reasons.  She does well on that also.  The vet comments on her great muscles and lean body.  Doesn't hurt that she loves fetch and agility either.

shamrockmommy

 I sincerely wanted it to work for my dogs (it looks good, it's a good price!) but I end up with Darby with severe yeasty skin infections, and all 3 had brown, smelly gunky ears on it.

 Now this is interesting!  This is exactly why I have Willy ON it, to prevent that!  Yeast feeds on carbohydrates, I wonder where they found "food" in this grain free diet???

 Willy came to me as a rescue after 7 years of nothing but severe yeasty skin infections, and smelly gunky ears, not to mentioned eye infections.  I immediately put him on TOTW and that with meds cleared things up.  He has been infection free since then, almost 2 years now.

So here again, we see that part of it is individual to the dog!

Freedom

This is exactly why I have Willy ON it, to prevent that!  Yeast feeds on carbohydrates, I wonder where they found "food" in this grain free diet???

  Potatoes have carbs too, so a grain free food will not prevent yeast infections. Willy probably has an allergy to one of the grains in his old food. Jessie is allergic to white and sweet potatoes so grain free food does not work for her. She is allergic to barley, but not other grains.

  To the OP; I agree with Shamrock mommy about feeding what your dog does best on, and that TOTW is a good food to try.

4HAND

.I don't see where the other four foods in this list are or who devised the list.Those would be interesting to know.

Sorry I had to remove the active link as it was to an article on a site that the poster either owns or runs - which makes it advertising, especially since it was one of those sites with tons of links to things to buy.

Unfortunately I think the thread was created to get people to go to her site 

As for TOTW I have used the fish formula for Bugsy - he's does fine on it but needs to eat an awful lot of it to maintain

I think it is the potatoes- higher carbs feed the yeasties.

Darby is doing better than she has in years on California Natural grain free line.  It is made with peas and lentils, and is low glycemic- it completely cleared up her yeasties, even teh stubborn lip folds.

And this after trying all sorts of other holistic foods.  this one works the best for her.

It's entirely an individual thing.

  It's great that you found a food that Darby does well on; I know how frustrating that can be, and how hard it is to watch them suffer with yeast infections.

shamrockmommy

California Natural grain free line.  It is made with peas and lentils, and is low glycemic- it completely cleared up her yeasties, even teh stubborn lip folds.

  The kangaroo and lentils has as much carbohydrates as the other California Natural products. If you look at the nutritional analysis, it is 42.96% carbs. I'm not familiar with low glycemic products, but I guess you're saying that the type of carbs matter when it comes to yeast? Anyway, this article explains what causes yeast infections in dogs;

Systemic Yeast In Dogs