Wellness CORE for dogs

I was doing some comparisons of Core to Timberwolf's grain free. TO does have lower ahs and PH, and lower calcium. Now this making me think should I stick with TO?

ORIGINAL: pugs2

The last two bags of kibble I bought were Ocean Blue and Wild & Natural (current bag).  Prior to the OB it was Canine Caviar Venison & Split Pea (protein level in the 30s from meat sources).  There was a noticable difference in shedding and coat feel when switching to the OB.  My whole family noticed it.  Surprisingly Wild & Natural has thrown her coat quality in reverse (and also caused increased itching).
 
It surprised me since the omega levels (and I'd think most ingreadients) are virtually identical between OB and W&N and W&N has a considerably higher protein level.  It looks like I won't be able to finish this bag of W&N (which I was hoping would last until Orijen's fish kibble was available) before getting another bag of OB.  With anything other than OB we can "Furminate" weekly and get more than a softball of fur.  There is also more shine with OB.  It even looks like we put something on her coat.
 
I do wish I got consistently firm poop with OB but I feed her enough other stuff that it could be cutting the firmness.

The last two bags of kibble I bought were Ocean Blue and Wild & Natural (current bag). Prior to the OB it was Canine Caviar Venison & Split Pea (protein level in the 30s from meat sources). There was a noticable difference in shedding and coat feel when switching to the OB. My whole family noticed it. Surprisingly Wild & Natural has thrown her coat quality in reverse (and also caused increased itching).

 
That is interesting. Two of my Pugs lost weight on W/N, and lost a ton of coat. They have great coats and good weight on the Dakota Bison, interesting to read how yours did on the W/N. My one show boy also lost weight the times he was on Evo, but had better coat, so I am thinking grain free is not for him. I don't know why we got skimpy coats on the W/N, actually, none of my Pugs had thick coats while on the W/N. I have only tried the Ocean Blue on my one older Pug, and her fur is glossy like the others are on the Bison.

ORIGINAL: weldog

ORIGINAL: Luvntzus

Okey dokey, I just called Wellness customer service. I found out that ash is 8%, ph is 7.1-7.2 and that it's find to feed puppies other than large breed puppies. []

The ph sounds a little high so I hope that won't be a problem. [] If all else fails I guess I could add cranberry.

Hi All,

Nicole from Wellness here. Looks like there was a miscommunication about CORE Dry Dog.  We would conservatively say that puppies in general should not feed higher protein diets that exceed 1.5% Calcium. This is why we feature a maintenance claim and promote the diet for dogs over 1 year in age.  Again, CORE should not be fed to pups.

I am sorry about the confusion.  If you have any question feel free to ask!

Nicole
Wellness & Old Mother Hubbard

Thanks for clearing that up. Doesn't make me too happy though that I called your company and the customer service rep gave me the wrong answer. [&o] If I didn't belong to a message board to see this post, I could have been feeding CORE to my puppy. [:-]

When I asked why it was labeled as not for puppies she said it wouldn't have the right "nutrients", but that it should be fine for puppies other than large breed ones. It would probably be a good idea to better train people who are going to answer questions!

I have to say costumer service seems to be great! I wrote in this post that my Bag did not have a coupon? Nicole wrote to me, and they will be sending my coupon out tomorrow. With so many company's in every industry lacking so much in costumer service, always a plus when they go out of their way for the consumres.

ORIGINAL: jettasmomma

 I definately like the protein level---It seems to me that EVO, BATM, Raw Instinct, etc have way too much protein for the average dog.

I've always felt that way too.  I feed high protien with Nature's Logic at 30% to 36% depending on the formula, but I'm scared to try the 42% in Evo.

I also like Timberwolf's grain free formulas, like Wild and Naturalhttp://timberwolforganics.com/s.nl/it.A/id.98/.f?sc=2&category=-102 and Ocean Bluehttp://timberwolforganics.com/pet-foods/Ocean-Blueu2122-Canid-Formula-9-4lb-9-1-8kg. I don't feed it, but I like how the protien isn't extremely high and the Wild and Natural formula only has 1.4% calcium in it - low enough for large breed pups.

ORIGINAL: pugs2

I have to say costumer service seems to be great! I wrote in this post that my Bag did not have a coupon? Nicole wrote to me, and they will be sending my coupon out tomorrow. With so many company's in every industry lacking so much in costumer service, always a plus when they go out of their way for the consumres.

Sounds like I need to go through Nicole for any questions or concerns, because at least one person answering the customer service line isn't that knowledgeable.

The Wellness Core is going well for my older Pug so far. I have been adding a little more to her Ocean Blue each day, and she is having no problem eating the larger bites. Poops have been perfect, but she is about the same on any food I put her on. Something about this food must be appealing, one of my cats jumps up on the counter each morning while I prepare the dogs food bowls. He loves to steal food from the bowls, he never takes too much, a piece here and there. His favorite are the Nature's Variety Raw patties, and Bil Jac frozen, but this morning he started picking out and eating all the Wellennes Core out of my Pug girls bowl, I kept taking him off the counter, he kept coming back for more, I have never seen him go after the plain kibble like this before! You would think he would have gone for the Ocean Blue fishy kibble. I might have to buy Core for my cats now!

Thanks for this thread, guys.  I left Wellness when they changed their formula about a year and a half ago and finally settled on TO about 6-7 months ago.  G's coat has never looked as good as it did on Wellness - the Ocean Blue actually gave her coat a brown tinge.  Her coat looks much much better on the TO Wilderness Elk, but she's having inflamed anal glands- something she's never had in her life - only came around w/the TO,but who knows if it's related(?).
 
So, based on this thread, I found Wellness CORE at my local store and G absolutely GOBBLED it up.  None of the diarrhea she had w/the regular Wellness.  I'll be watching and switching slowly, but so far...finger crossed!

I'm glad to hear that you're both having good results so far! I'm jealous because I had to order it online and I'm STILL waiting for my order to show up. []

You might have a $$-advantage over me, though - Even though this store always has good prices, it will still be $48.99 for a 26lb bag of food.[]  (We're still on the small 4lb bag while we tried it out.)  I can get TO Wilderness Elk for $44 for the 33lb bag. Roughly 50cents more/pound.  In the long run, if she eats it and does well, it's money well spent!
 
 

Great thread!!!
Ive done wellness since my boy was a pup (he is now 7) I love the ingredients etc and his coat is beautiful...not to mention that even though it is more expensive then a store food, he is satisfied with less and he is SOOOO much less gassy!!!!!