**DOG FOOD - The Owners Tell All**

Dry Foods:
 
Beneful Healthy Growth:
What my pup was being fed when I got him. He just LOVED this food so much. His stools were decent. His coat was soft and shiney. Starting to itch. []
 
Science Diet Large Breed Puppy:
Would not touch this food to keep him alive! Also, the kibble was so big...I would be surprised if he could even chew it. Not a good size kibble for a puppy, even a large breed one.
 
Nutro Natural Choice Controlled Growth Puppy:
Definitely an improvement over the Beneful. Itching less, but still itching. His coat got shinier and his stools were very firm. Did not like the taste from the start, though. My pup would vomit bile or undigested food on this food every now and then, so I was going to switch no matter what!!

California Natural Chicken/Rice Puppy:
He liked the CA Natural much better over the Nutro. Stools were good. Coat was the same, but he was still itchy.
 
California Natural Lamb/Rice Puppy:
Only tried this for a few weeks. His stools were the absolute best on this food...small, dark, firm, odorless. He did not like the taste...ate it but hated it! Coat was getting worse and worse...itching like crazy! Vet said it was time to do an elimination diet to rule out a food allergy.
 
Natural Balance Duck and Potato:
He liked the taste of this food the best out of all of them (except Beneful). He ate very well on it. His stools were good, not the best, but still good. He was on medication during this time...so I suspect that is what accounted for the looser stools. His coat was the absolute BEST on this food! Soft, silky, shiney, gorgeous! I was always getting compliments on how soft and shiney he was. Noticed an improvement in his coat within 2 weeks. Also, his skin was clearing up and he was itching less and less. After 2 full months on this diet he was done itching!! YES! This food cleared up his food allergy and made his skin the most beautiful I had ever seen it.
 
Canidae All Life Stages:
Wanted to test my elimination diet and also change protein sources. Had excellent stools on this food. Coat went downhill and he was shedding like crazy! Within a week of being on this food he got eye boogers and a tad itchy. Suspect he may be sensitive to rice. Either way, not impressed with this food for my pup. He also hated the way it tasted from the start.
 
Timberwolf Organics Wilderness Elk:
In the transitioning phase to this food from Canidae. Already I see an improvement. His eyes are clear and he is less itchy. Hopefully his coat will get as good as it was on the Natural Balance. Stools are doing well on this food while in the transition.
 
Canned Foods:
 
Natural Balance Duck and Potato:
Loved the taste of this food in the beginning, but then started to tire of it. But he was eating only duck and potato for 2 months, so I would get sick of it too!
 
Canidae Chicken, Lamb, and Herring:
Liked this food when I first started feeding it to him. His stools stayed great. Stopped eating it after awhile.
 
Canidae Lamb and Rice:
Liked this better than the chicken one...but still stopped eating it after awhile. Stools were great, though.
 
Innova EVO 95% (All Varieties: Beef, Duck, Rabbit, Venison, Chicken/Turkey)
He absolutely goes NUTS for these canned foods! A winner in this household. His stools are always great when he gets it mixed in with his kibble. He scarfs his food down every single time and always looks for more. No bad reactions to it so far. Hasn't gotten sick of them yet. The different flavors make it great to rotate between them.

This is a great idea.

I didn't pay much attention to what I was feeding Penny until she moved out with me and I started buying it for her. At that stage, she was on Supercoat kibble, which has the least additives and preservatives and no artificial colours or flavours. She seemed to be doing well on it. Or so I thought. Sometimes she didn't eat it all and most of the time it took her a good 10-20 minutes to pick her way through her meal, but I didn't think to question any of that.

Then she started to get these strange episodes. She would get stiff and sore in the joints, and then like clockwork a couple of days later she'd be throwing up and unable to keep anything down, not even water. Her old vet back home wasn't able to help me. She had an x-ray, which showed up some bad arthritis in her hips. He put her on Metacam and told me it could be pancreatitis.

Back with me, she kept having these weird episodes of sore joints and upset tummy. I didn't like the severity of it, or the episodic nature of it. I was very worried about her. I talked to my vet (bless his soul) during one of these episodes and we decided to do more x-rays and some blood work. All we found out from that was that she had sluggish digestion. The vet suggested I put her on a homecooked diet. I didn't cook for myself, so it seemed outrageous to cook for my dog, but I thought, what kind of owner am I if I don't at least give it a try? I figured, if it solved her problems, it would be worth the extra effort.

As it turned out, not only did it solve her gastric problems, but her arthritis pretty much vanished as well. Within days she was leaping around like a puppy. Lots more energy, astonishingly enthusiastic about her meals, stools were small and pretty hard. She lost weight and went from 10kg to a very lean 8kg. Those with corgis probably know that they can get overweight pretty easily, so it's always nice when they look trim. Penny is a particularly small corgi, and at 10 kilos she looked fine, but at 8 she looked fantastic.

She now gets a mixture of homecooked and raw. Her homecooked meals are made of: pet mince (kangaroo and beef), mashed vegies, a small amount of brown rice, and a little kelp powder. Sometimes I put liver or kidneys in it. She eats it in about 20 seconds, which is satisfying to watch considering it took her so long to get through the same amount of kibble.

I started researching bloat because I want my next dog to be a large breed, and from what I could surmise, kibble was the main culprit. I did heaps of internet research to try to get to the bottom of what was good for dogs and what wasn't. I was pretty shocked at what went into kibble and couldn't believe I ever fed it to my dog. I talked to my mother about it and she was shocked as well. She had been feeding her two dogs on Advance kibble, which is very expensive. She figured it was best to get them something expensive. We thought it through and found a way to feed 3 dogs without kibble. As well as the homecooked meal, they get raw mince frozen with yoghurt or cottage cheese, flaxseed oil, processed fruit and a handful of dried fruit, and they get raw chicken wings and frames and lamb bones.

It doesn't take a lot of effort to make food for them, and it's totally worth it when you see how much happier they are. They adore being fed like they never have and look a lot healthier. You'd never believe Penny was almost 11 looking at the way she races around like a dog in her prime. Just a year ago when she was still on kibble, she looked like she didn't have more than another couple of years in her. Now I think she'll make 15 at least. We're also going corn free in an attempt to improve my mother's vallhund's itchy skin and constantly clogged up ears. We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

I'll never go back to kibble. I look at the ingredients these days and shudder. Penny's a different dog, now, and I was so amazed at the turnaround that I'm well and truly converted.

Lets see when I first was given Tigger I use to feed grocery store food thinking it didn't matter . Then I started with Eukanuba thinking I was feeding my dogs a great food. Over the years i've fed Eagle Pack ,I liked it . It was hard for me to readily get.Then I found a local pet store by me who sells premium foods.I've fed Chicken Soup ,it was ok. Then I heard about Canidae ,my dogs have done well on it. I wanted to go even better and tried Merrick. Both of my dogs never seemed full on this food. So I went back to Canidae , and they like Nuro Natural .They do very well on it.

This should be fun.

Pre-move with my huge rescue crew (Indy, Wings, Summer + 4 fosters), I was feeding a store-brand food. Not great, not horrible- more or less equivilant to Diamond only a local brand. I liked that I could get it with dates on the bags and know when and where it came from exactly.

Poops: Great
Palatability: excellent, everyon eloevd it
Health/coat: Mediocre. Summer had a gorgeous coat, Wings and Indy had okay coats. The rescue kids all had been shaved down at various times after coming in so it was hard to say.

Nutro Natural Choice Active Adult Formula (Indy/Wings)
Poops: Normal
Palatability: Pretty good. Indy's a slow eater at the best of times.
Health/coat: Indy's energy level is the same but his coat is MUCh shinier.

Canidae
Mal's breeder feeds this and that's what I have him on currently.
Poops: Normal/good
Palatability: Indy LOVES it (Indy loves any food until I begin feeding it to HIM isntead of other dogs.) Mal eats enough but picks at it more than I'd like and i wish I had food that he was EXCITED about. (Although he's excited if i hand feed it to him. )

Considering switching in a few weeks- probably to Solid Gold? My freezer's tiny so I don't think I'd go back to full-raw (I did raw before I moved from Dallas in 2003) but I might up the amount of chicken backs the boys get every week. I also might look into home-cooked diets that might be a little cheaper than raw. Expense is an issues, although less of one than when I was feeding 6 dogs, 4 of them large.     

We got Shadow from friends and I forget what they were feeding him before. Whatever it was, it was in too small a bowl.
 
The first thing I did was get him an adult size bowl. At first, he would eat just a little bit, the amount that could fit in the small bowl. It took a while for him to realize that it was okay to eat more than half a cup.
 
Anyway, the best advice to me at the time from a friend who worked at the local Petco was to feed him Nutro. So, I switched him to Nutro Puppy. My vet said I could feed him puppy formula until 2 years, which I did. At 2 years, I switched to Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Adult Lamb and Rice. I found Sled Dog Central but I didn't really fit in there. I would get emails from dog.com. One mentioned this forum. So I came here. Then I got an education.
 
Long story short, I tried him on Innova Large Breed. He ate it as well as anything else. And started having sneezing fits. 12 to 15 sneezes in a row more than once a day. After 2 weeks of that, I went back to Nutro, which he had been doing fine on before, and the symptom disappeared. Stools are fully formed and average firmness.
 
Along with that, he's gotten a couple of mice that I know of and may have had a few in the yard when we're gone to work.
 
If I could find a homecooked recipe that I felt comfortable preparing and it had the proper balance, I would consider that.
 
I had wondered why he does best on a food that is considered, at best, mediocre. One of the facts about his dominant breed is that he has a special metabolism that squeezes the maximum amount of benefit out of a small amount of food. So, the simpler the food, the better, for him. Near as I can tell, the nutrient profile and ingredients of the formula I feed him are similar to what his ancestors ate. That may be a weak theory, but there it is.
 
I would not be totally against feeding him raw but under extremely careful (as in anal-retentive) circumstances with as strict attention to nutrient balance as I could achieve with homecooked.
 
No bones. The only thing that worried me about him chomping on mice is if those little bones get caught. Of the x-rays I've seen of dogs with bone impactions, it was not from purposeful raw feeding, mostly, it was from dogs getting loose in a field and munching on a mouse or squirrel.
 

Let's see:

Science Diet: This is what the shelter was feeding her. She stopped eating this the moment she got in our car to go home with us.

Nature Balance All Life Stages: Did ok on it but pooped a lot. She didn't really go CRAZY over it, but I didn't expect her to since we JUST brought her home.

Timberwolf Organics Ocean Blue: Did GREAT on it but didn't seem overly ethusiastic about it eating it. She was on an antibiotic at the time though. Ate it when mixed with raw hamburger.

Nature's Variety Raw Instincts: Ate it decently enough but got real runny poops on it but she was still on her antibiotic.

Nature's Variety Beef Meal and Barley Medley: Ate this a LOT better but she was off her antibiotic and I was also giving her plain yogurt.

Timberwolf Organics Wild and Natural: LOVES IT. Eats it enthusiatically, especially when I add a little bit of tepid water. She LOVES food now.



WET FOODS-

Natural Balance different varieties. Three different varieties. She ate some of them but didn't care for the venison and rice or whatever it is. She vomitted a few times on this but she was getting her antibiotic at the time.

Evo 95% beef: LOVES LOVES LOVES. She has stinky poo on it though and her stool are formed but soft.


RAW AND/OR PEOPLE FOOD-

Chicken Leg Quarter: Won't touch it
Pig necks: Won't touch it
Ground burger: LOVES LOVES LOVES it.
Alaskan Salmon: LOVES LOVES LOVES it.

Her poops have been best on TO and raw. Probably best on raw.

Buck had always been on Purina Dog Chow until he got a kidney infection (his first, at age 11 1/2) and was put on Science Diet for 3 months.  Kidneys checked out fine, vet said i could take him off the nasty tasting (vet's words) SD k/d and put him on purina One Senior.  He LOVES it, plain for breakfast, with meats and veggies for supper.
 
KayCee was on Purian Puppy, then Purina Dog Chow.  Due to bad knees, surgery, recovery, etc she put on a lot of weight and it just woudn't come off.  Vet put her on Science Diet r/d and the weight came off and she went on Purina Fit and Trim.  When I put Buck on the Purina One Senior, I put KayCee on the Purina One weight control.  She loves it.
 
Honey ws adopted at age one, so do not know what she had before then.  She was put on the Purina Dog Chow, and because she put on to much weight (she is a chow hound) I put her on the Purina Fit and Trim with KayCee.  Now she is also on the Purina One wegith control.
 
In addition to the Purina, they get cooked every night.  Four nights a week they get fish, either fresh caught and cooked in microwave or a can of salmon or mackeral.  With this they get canned, unsalted green beans and carrot slices.  The other 3 nights they get boiled meat (beef or chicken livers, chicken hearts, gizzards, ground turkey, sometimes ground beef.)  I boil different combinations  fresh squash (yellow or green) frozen peas & carrots, sweet potatos, white potatoes, canned unsalted spinach.
 
All are golden retrievers.  Buck is 11 1/2 and outside of this kidney infection has never been to the vet for an actual illness.  Low thryroid was found at age 10 thru a complete blood panel and he is on meds for that.  He has very little gray for his age, trots instead of walks.  he does have some arthritis in his hips and spine, but it has hardly slowed him down.  Ourside of this one  kidney infection  and his low thyroid, his blood work is always perfect.  my vet says he is in great condition.
 
KayCee is 7, she has had one ear infection, an inner ear infection.  She does have allergies to certain grass, fleas, but none to food.  Honey in the 4 years we have had her, has never been sick
 
All get perfect blood work and physicals, the vet says they are all doing great.  Coats are beautiful, skin beautiful, ears and eyes clean.  I have no reason to change the way i feed as it works great for my 3.  Oh, I did try Buck on a better food once for 4 days and he threw up every time he ate, so I tossed it and went back to the dog chow and his throwing up ended.  Purina has worked for the dogs of my family for over 50 years.

My dogs haven't been jostled around too much in the food department, but we've tried just a couple different ones. 
 
Kirkland Signature: They did all right...no problems really.  This is what we've always fed them ever since they were puppies until I joined this forum and read up on the better options.
 
Natures Variety Raw Instinct: Definitely improved their coats but Cairo especially had a hard time handling it stomach wise.  He had pretty runny, gross poops the whole time he was on it. 
 
Innova EVO: Coats are great, stools are fabulous.  I'm happy with this and will probably keep them on it as they're both doing very well.
 
Raw: I give them raw a few times a week to keep up their teeth and because they like it.  They were a little sketched out by the texture of it at first but they've grown to love it and get very excited when I lug some legs out of the freezer.

I have no idea what Max was eating before I got him.  I put him on the Kirkland Lamb & Rice from Costco.  He seemed fine on it - healthy, energetic and he shed like a hair machine.  After being on this forum for awhile, I switched him to EP Holistic Lamb & Rice.  He's been on it for 2-1/2 - 3 months.  He's still healthy & energetic, he still sheds like crazy, but his poops are smaller and firmer. Next time I might try one of the chicken formulas.

Joyce

amelia:

when we got her we werent sure what she was being fed, so we made a cold turkey switch to...

blackwood 2000. she did well on it, but after a few months started having diarhea. we switched her cold turkey again to...

nutro natural choice chicken meal, rice, and oatmeal (for sensitive stomach dogs). she did ok on it. fur was a little dull and dry. when we adopted sydney, we decided to try her on blackwood again. this time...

blackwood 3000. she has done very well on it. her fur is soft, poops are acceptable (no runnyness, and fairly small).

sydney:

again we werent sure what he was getting from the shelter so he went cold turkey on....

nutro natural choice large breed puppy. he wasnt on it long enough to really tell how he would do. we just got a small bag, and when it was gone switched him to....

blackwood 2000. he has done well on it. his fur is soft and his poops are fairly small and firm. he has been on this since february.

both dogs seem to be getting tired of the blackwood though. i think we are going to switch them pretty soon, but not exactly sure what we are going to try.

 We adopted Jessie, who is seven and a half to eight, from the shelter when she was 8 months to a year old (Gotcha Day is coming soon!) ; no idea what she was fed before but she was underweight and had a dull coat. When the shelter worker was giving us advice on caring for Jessie she said to feed a dog food with meat as the first ingredient so we had good advice from the start.

1. Eukanuba; good energy level, coat improved but her stools were frequently loose and she started chewing her feet after eating it for one to two years.
2. Nature's Recipe Venison and Rice; very loose stools.
3.. Nutro Natural Choice but not the lamb (had chicken); we thought she may have been chewing her feet because she was allergic to corn so we changed to Nutro. Still chewed her feet and had soft stools.

Jessie's allergy problems worsened, with frequent foot infections and skin infections on her belly; her eyes watered constantly and her ears bothered her. In October of 2004 we had to take her to the emergency vet on Sunday when the left side of her head suddenly swelled and the skin on her nose and eyelids turned red and developed pustules. The emergency vet and our regular vet did not know what caused this and, of course, I was really worried. I started searching online and also reading books by holistic vets about boosting her immune system. I ended up looking at foods on the WDJ's list and chose Eagle Pack because of the high meat meal content ( 40%) and being available locally. I also started supplementing her food with pureed vegetables and lightly cooked meat and still do.

4. EP Holistic Chicken; my vet wasn't thrilled when I told her I was changing Jessie to a food with more meat meal and natural preservatives; her only comment was that food with natural preservatives spoils easily. Jessie's stools were consistently firm for the first time in years and she had even more energy but her allergies continued to worsen.
5. EP Holistic Lamb; after talking with John Marsman on the phone ( EP nutritionist),  I decided to follow his suggestion and try a different protein source. Jessie improved about 50%.

I took her to a veterinary dermatologist and through an elimination diet learned that Jessie is allergic to chicken in addition to being allergic to many types of pollens and having indoor allergens.

I rotate the three EP Holistic formulas without chicken and occasionally Nature's Variety Beef and Venison. She gets canned mixed with her kibble and sometimes as a meal;
           1. EP lamb and beef( did feed the canned duck but they've added chicken to it recently)
            2.Nature's Variety; all canned meats except chicken
            3. Tripet

 After being on EP for a few months she grew hair in areas where she didn't have any such as her stomach and the lower part of her sides. She has more energy than she had on any other food ; some of this is due to her food allergy though.
She gets lightly cooked meat and a small amount of pureed vegetables daily. I'm sorry for the long post but it was necessary to explain about her food allergy.

This is a great idea Rachel!  []  Will save folks some time and will be easy to answer the continual question of “what food should I feed?” I have not really noticed an energy change when feeding any of the foods, so I am not commenting on that.  I have tried a bunch in the less than 5 months I have owned JJ and Prudence. . .here they are (just remember. . you asked)!! []
 
DRY KIBBLE  
 
Kirkland Lamb and Rice- JJ was on this at the rescue and for the first couple weeks I had him. His poop was fine, he liked it OK but his coat was really lacking and he was overweight from eating too much at the rescue the previous 7 months!
 
Canidae- He really liked this food, had decent poop on it and his coat vastly improved on this 1 meal a day and EVO 1 meal a day so I can#%92t say which one made the biggest difference in his coat. He also lost weight by feeding strictly to the feeding guidelines and increased exercise. Looked like a new dog in less than a month!
 
Innova EVO (chicken and turkey formula)- He really liked this food as well, had decent to good poop on it and his coat vastly improved on this 1 meal a day and Canidae 1 meal a day so I can#%92t say which one made the biggest difference in his coat. He also lost weight by feeding strictly to the feeding guidelines and increased exercise. Looked like a new dog in less than a month!
 
Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice- We switched him to this food after suspecting food related allergies and we “guessed” that it was the chicken in the evo and canidae that was causing problems, but we were dead wrong!! Turns out he is allergic to rice so he did absolutely horrible on this food (and had horrendous gas) so we had to stop feeding after only 3 days. NB has excellent quality food and is a great solution for allergy prone dogs, we just picked the wrong formula!
 
Pinnacle (duck formula and chicken formula)- This food was an absolute god send! Uses Quinoa and oats instead of rice so JJ did far better on this food and it drastically cleared up his feet. His coat improved greatly even from how it looked on EVO and Canidae. I would still be feeding this food if it weren#%92t for the pups having very soft (pudding like) poops. I have heard of some other dogs having the same problem, and also heard some that have no problem.  I truly believe in the Breeder#%92s Choice company and if you have an allergy dog and can find this food locally I think it is worth a try.  They also have a trout and sweet potato variety and they have canned food to accompany all 3 formulas. We tried 2 formulas and gave it 14 weeks and saw no poop improvement so had to make a change.
 
Timberwolf Organics (TWO) (Elk and Bison formulas)   Switched from Pinnacle to Timberwolk Dakota Bison, and just started the Elk formula. TWO is my dogs absolute favorite food paws down!! I have good eaters, but they are absolutely in love with this food. Will watch me prepare it, stand and drool while waiting and eat without a pause! There poops are drastically improved, are lower in odor and firmer. It has only been a little over 2 weeks but I am noticing that both their coats are getting even softer than they were. If you don#%92t mind paying the very high price for this food. . . give it a try!  I started ordering off the TWO website because it is much cheaper than buying it at the only store in town that carries this brand. They also have free shipping so I save $15 a bag by ordering online through the company.
 
 
CANNED FOOD  None of my dogs have very firm poop if I add in canned food and have much more gas  so I won#%92t comment on the poop quality with these foods! I also don#%92t add in more than a tablespoon or two with dry kibble so I don#%92t think this greatly changes their coat quality.
 
Natures Variety- Probably their favorite of all the canned I have tried. I love the selection and the quality of the ingredients if you don#%92t mind the price!
 
Canidae- JJ did really liked this food, but had to stop feeding it due to the rice allergy.
 
Innova EVO- JJ also really likes this food an it has no grains!
 
Natural Balance- JJ#%92s least favorite of all the canned foods I would try. He usually would not eat all the food in his dish. Again, if you have an allergy dog- give this one a try!
 
Pinnacle- Another great allergy formula and all 3 formulas are rice free. JJ liked this food, but not as much as EVO and Canidae.
 
Evangers- They pups LOVE this food and I only feed the 100% canned meat. I really like the “hunk of beef” but it is very pricey to feed this one all the time. I keep these in the cupboard for when I don#%92t have time to crockpot some meat to add to their kibble.
 
 
FROZEN RAW
 
Nature#%92s Variety- Excellent choice for a raw diet, JJ loved this food and his poop was pretty good. A little on the pricey side to feed a large dog for every meal though.
 
Natural Balance- Excellent choice for a raw diet, JJ loved this food and his poop was pretty good. A little on the pricey side to feed a large dog for every meal though.
 
 
OTHER
 

Natural Balance rolls- I think this is great to feed as a “treat” and also to shred a little and mix in with their dry kibble or to stuff a pill in it. I would feed on rare occasion though because they use sugar in the roll. They also have rice in them so I had to stop using them all together.
 

great idea!  []  instead of having 100000000 threads about food... now there will be one.

I fed Lucky science diet for the 1st month b/c the breeder was feeding him that and I did not know any better until I read through this forum.  He always had stinky eye boogies.  His poop was consistent, 3x a day, and it was small and hard.  He was scratching occassionally on this.

Then after reading the forum I tried canidae kibbles.  He put it in his mouth and spit it out.  I'm guessing because the kibbles are too big.  So I took him off that immediately.

Now I have him on wellness puppy mix kibbles and canned.  I mix a teaspoon of the wet food into his kibbles to add some taste b/c he didnt eat the kibbles alone until he was really hungry.  He's been on it for almost 2 weeks now.  He does not poop as much and it is medium but stinky. [:'(] He farted yesterday I had to leave the room.  lol.  Lucky still scratches but not as much.  If he continues to still scratch after the bag is finished I may switch to another brand w/o chicken... to try to eliminate what he is allergic too.

I've tried all sorts of foods on all sorts of dogs. Most fell into the "ok" category.
I'll just give the most memorable highlights:
 
worst kibble ever: anything from Eaglepack-- tried three different "flavors". None of the dogs would eat it even if it was mixed with smelly canned foods and they hadn't been offered anything else for days. Anything they did choke down usually ended up coming back up as puke a few hours later. 
 
Second worst kibble ever: Innova regular. Caused ever-worsening diarrhea.
 
Third worst kibble ever: Purina dog chow. Both dogs fed exclusively on this puked a lot, stank, farted, made huge smelly poops, had filthy teeth and coarse fur (at the time we thought they were "normal, healthy" dogs and were doing just fine-- now I know much better); one died very young of cancer, one started acting old at age 7 and died at age 10 from kidney problems.
 
Best kibble ever: Timberwolf Organics wild n natural.
Second best kibble: Nature's variety, any flavor
Third best kibble: EVO red meat formula
 
Excellent canned foods: Evangers. EVO 95% meat. Wysong meat au jus. Nature's variety. Trippett.
Worst canned food ever: Mighty Dog.
 
I feed a diet that is 1/3 kibble, 1/3 canned or homecooked, and 1/3 raw. The raw meaty bones keep the teeth sparkingly clean and I cannot recommend them enough.
 
 
 
 

Purina one large breed puppy-    Kaiser was one itchy pup! He constantly scratched, his eyes were always red, and he had severe dandruff. I can't prove that it was the purina, but it seems when i switched him to nutro, he improved.
 
Nutro natural choice large breed puppy- Kaiser did well on this...no complaints, but then i discovered a pet store that carried different brands. He sort of pooped a lot, but he was also very young.
 
Innova large breed adult and puppy- Wyatt and Kaiser both did outstanding on innova. I fed it for about 9 months, until recently when both of them started pooping about 5 times a day, and it was rancid! Otherwise, their coats were nice and their eyes were sparkling.
 
Eagle pack holistic duck- I just finished up my 4th bag, and honestly i wasn't too impressed. Again, the poops were stinky and Wyatt's eyes started to get runny. Kaiser did fairly well on the EP...he had solid poops about twice a day.
 
Canidae- we're back on canidae now. I was pleased with canidae, poops were fine, coats looked nice.
 
canned--
 
Merrick- Loved it! They only get about 2 tablespoons a day, so i think that the amount is too insignificant to show a difference
 
EVO 95% - they go nuts for it. But again, only 2 tablespoons per day.
 
they also love the nutro natural choice desserts.
 
PS...Wyatt has loved the taste of every food listed. Kaiser wont eat anything unless it's mixed with canned food. I've given Kaiser samples of EVO, and i've never seen a dog eat so fast...i will probably start feeding EVO when the boys are about 2 years old.