Dog Community

BARK diet - Biologically Appropriate Real-food Kibble

Posted : 8/20/2006 11:11:04 PM

"ORIJEN ADULT is formulated with a biologically correct ingredient ratio (70/30/0) of 70% meat, 30% fruit and vegetables (and 0% grain) - all low temperature cooked at 90c to retain their natural nutrients."http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/products/adultingredients.aspx

Any Canadians here that have tried it? It actually sounds better than EVO and like products.

Luvntzus

Posted : 8/21/2006 12:40:47 AM

That sounds really interesting!!

Twin

Posted : 8/21/2006 1:28:15 AM

Yes, this food looks excellent...although it is once again chicken/turkey as the 1st two meat meals. I was extremely excited when EVO Red Meat came out because the meat was finally NOT chicken/turkey...even fish!

Beef/Lamb was nice to see...at least for me!

My only concerns...if we are supposed to wait until 18+ months (maybe more for larger breeds), then why is the protein exceptionally high for their puppy food (40%) and even more for their large breed puppy food (42%)?? We are supposed to wait, or so I thought, until 18+ months to even feed the Adult food. Am I missing something? Won't that high of protein seem extremely detrimental to pups, especially the large breeds?! This seems to contradict everything I have learned about these high protein foods.

Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated!

toby dude

Posted : 8/21/2006 2:08:13 AM

I think I saw this food at one of the local dog food supply stores.... but we haven't tried it yet. Here is some info regarding the food:

Pros:
High named meat product content, grainless, uses high quality ingredients throughout.

Cons:
High protein may not be suitable for puppies.

The first three ingredients of this food are all named meat products, two of which are in meal form. There are further meat ingredients fourth and seventh on the ingredient list. We can thus have a high level of confidence in the meat content of this food, which the manufacturer states to be 70% of the total.

This is an entirely grainless dog food. The major carbohydrate source is potatoes, which are also a good source of B vitamins and other minerals. There is a good range of fruits/vegetables in the food, whole eggs and a good range of probiotics.

This food is outstanding in that it contains no grains whatsoever. Grains are not a natural part of a canine diet and it is pleasing to see dog foods on the market that exclude grains completely from the diet. This is a far more natural food concept and combined with a complete lack of any low quality or controversial ingredients is the reason this food is placed in a class above the more conventional form dry dog foods.

The only caution we would make on this food is that the high protein content makes it suitable for adult dogs only, particularly in the case of large breeds.

Note: Our review is based on information about the ingredients in the food only, not manufacturing processes. We are unable to locate any guarantee on the manufacturer website of the use of solely Ethoxyquin-free ingredients. Ethoxyquin is a chemical preservative commonly added to fish ingredients and that is believed to be carcinogenic. Potential users of the food would be advised to contact the manufacturer for information before buying this product.

tina robinson

Posted : 8/21/2006 2:40:03 AM

Yep I have the dogs really like it, it is a dark kibble, and doesnt smell that bad. It is the only seinor diet I have found that is grain free, and that includes the vet diets, as well. I have been feeding it for a little over a month now and have had no reactions to it, but I cant comment on coat just yet. Tonkas coat looks the same no matter what he eats, and Ruffian has just come out of heat so is in the typical bald look of the double coated dog, LOL. But she has not had any reactions, and both are very healthy on it.

[linkhttp://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=102225]http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=102225[/link]

Luvntzus

Posted : 8/21/2006 3:50:58 AM

I just noticed that herbs are added in the food- marshmallow root, stinging nettle, milk thistle, etc. Looks like quite possibly the most healthy dog food ever.

[linkhttp://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/products/adultanalysis.aspx]http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/products/adultanalysis.aspx[/link]

I like that even though the protein level is high at 40%, there's only 16% fat (as opposed to 22% fat in Innova EVO). I do worry about pancreatitis, so that lower percentage makes me very happy. [

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Now, only 2 problems- is it available in the U.S. and are they going to make a non poultry version so Gingerbread could actually eat it? [

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Edited to add: I e-mailed them and I'll report back what I find out.

Benedict

Posted : 8/21/2006 4:45:53 AM

This definitely looks interesting. I'm moving to Canada in a year so I will have to decide what to feed Ben when we get there, and now this may be on the list. The only thing is that I prefer to have Ben on a fish formula, but it's possible that they will bring out new formulas before we get there, so I will make a choice then. Feeding him a chicken formula would be worth it for such a great food.

Kate

chewbecca

Posted : 8/21/2006 6:57:32 AM

It wasn't allowing me to go to their "contact" page or "store" page.

I wonder if they'll ship to the U.S.

mudpuppy

Posted : 8/21/2006 8:17:28 AM

We are supposed to wait, or so I thought, until 18+ months to even feed the Adult food. Am I missing something? Won't that high of protein seem extremely detrimental to pups, especially the large breeds?! This seems to contradict everything I have learned about these high protein foods.

it's not the protein that is bad for puppies-- it is the calcium level. That high protein is bad for large breed puppies is a myth that was debunked some time ago. However, for some reason most of these high-meat/potatoe formulas seem to end up with double the amount of calcium that is safe for growing puppies.

papillon806

Posted : 8/21/2006 8:32:30 AM

it's not the protein that is bad for puppies-- it is the calcium level

I was just getting ready to say the same thing [

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Christine Langley

Posted : 8/21/2006 8:59:14 AM

Why is calcium bad for puppies? I can hardly get Eli to eat any kibble at all and the canned foods he prefers are high protein.

glenmar

Posted : 8/21/2006 9:01:58 AM

Too much CALCIUM is not always present in higher protein foods. Too much calcium encourages too rapid growth and then you run into all kinds of bone problems. I think that its MORE of a problem with larger breeds.

Jessie Adams

Posted : 8/21/2006 10:00:57 AM

That sounds very interesting... although I have read that if a kibble contains more than 60% meat, it will not stay together...

mudpuppy

Posted : 8/21/2006 10:10:33 AM

I think that its MORE of a problem with larger breeds.

I disagree. Just because smaller breeds don't exhibit overt bone diseases like larger breeds doesn't mean they are healthy.
Anyway, IMHO, puppies, regardless of breed, should get between 1.4% and 1.8% calcium dry weight. They should get at least 27% protein dry weight, preferably more, and not from corn gluten. They should get fresh omega-3 supplements. They should not be overfed- they should be kept skinny. I think feeding grain-laden high carb puppy foods to growing puppies creates plump puppies that are prone to fatness as adults.

jennie_c_d

Posted : 8/21/2006 11:59:35 AM

Ohh, that looks good! I hope they sell it in the US. I'd like to get some, for when I travel, with Teenie. I'd feed it, if I had a dog that I needed to supplement with kibble. Looks wonderful.