Has Anyone Tried ...

 I got a sample of it, but my dogs are sensitive, so I couldn't feed it to them. I opened it up, and smelled it. It's *not* nearly as exciting as I thought it would be. I fed it to the dogs I was babysitting (who are on Dog Chow, right now), to see what they thought. They liked it, a lot, but none of them are picky.

I was happy that they didn't add a bunch of dye and sugar. A lot of people feed Purina, because they have, for decades, and I'd hate for their dogs' conditions to go to crap because of some marketing gimmick. 

I haven't tried it but I do know that negative consumer response was so overwhelming that they are bringing back the original chicken and rice formula. No mention about the lamb formula yet.

looks disgusting to me. Mostly rice and wheat; corn gluten added to pretend it has some protein in it. Costs as much per pound as reputable foods like Eaglepack.

Those ingredients still looks pretty crappy. Brewer's rice, corn gluten meal, wheat just to name a few. I've calculated PP to be around 1.17 a pound, Wellness Supermix at 1.56 and 1.92 for the Core. Keeping in mind that you would feed quite a bit of the Wellness and the Core seems to be a better value and the ingredients are of better quality.

Man talk about a healthy profit selling PP at 44 bucks for 37.5lbs. with these contents. Brewers rice, corn gluten meal, wheat, soy flour, soybean meal, dried egg product and some tasty animal digest to top it off! Here's Core's, Deboned Turkey, Deboned Chicken, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Tomato Pomace, Chicken Liver, Salmon Oil, Flaxseed, Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Kale, Broccoli, Spinach, Parsley, Apples and Blueberries. Actually sounds edible.

they must make an enormous profit off these garbage foods, feeding off the public's ignorance. They aren't cheaper to buy than good foods, just WAY cheaper to make. And think of the vet bills when the poor ingredients finally catch up with your poor dog...

Ingredients aside, do consider that adding any soy greatly decreases the amount of protein that is actually coming from meat.  And there's already corn gluten meal very high up in the list (third, I think - I can't see it now), also.  Again, any gluten increases the protein and therefore reduces the amount of protein that's actually sourced from the meat in the product.  This would be the reason I'd be uninterested in this diet. 

really houndmusic why would you even consider feeding things like regular dog chow and this proplan stuff? If you want a grain-heavy diet that is affordable but actually has decent ingredients where the protein % listed on the bag is actually close to the protein % that goes into the dog there are many far better options.

brookcove

Ingredients aside, do consider that adding any soy greatly decreases the amount of protein that is actually coming from meat

And, soy can be very hard on the stomach...tough to digest.

brookcove

Ingredients aside, do consider that adding any soy greatly decreases the amount of protein that is actually coming from meat.  And there's already corn gluten meal very high up in the list (third, I think - I can't see it now), also.  Again, any gluten increases the protein and therefore reduces the amount of protein that's actually sourced from the meat in the product.  This would be the reason I'd be uninterested in this diet. 

Brookcove - thanks for your input, as always This is pretty much the main reason I'm still on the fence about this feed ... that and the glycerin. It's no where near as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it's definitely been cheapened down, unfortunately. It used to be a meat/animal fat based feed and was one of the best feeds I've ever used. That decreased animal protein is certainly a problem becuase the only reason I'm switching feeds is basically to up the protein levels ... Sooooo aggrivated they messed around with such a good food!!!

mudpuppy

really houndmusic why would you even consider feeding things like regular dog chow and this proplan stuff? If you want a grain-heavy diet that is affordable but actually has decent ingredients where the protein % listed on the bag is actually close to the protein % that goes into the dog there are many far better options.

     Mudpuppy - it's not as if I haven't tried dozens of other feeds in the past. I feed my dogs what works best and gives me results. Even though feeds like Timberwolf are supposed to be meat based, high calorie, I found it gave us nothing but mushy poops, and dangerously skinny dogs. I think when one is paying $70 a bag it's not unreasonable to expect the dogs to eat less food and efficiently utilize what they do eat. Instead I was increasing feed, it went straight through them. Merrick failed me in a major way, I had sickly, diarrhea ridden pups and a dam with very sticky stools & almost no milk. Purina was the food that firmed up her stools, got weight on my babies, and the bitch's milk suppy literally doubled within HOURS of adding in Purina. I have 15" 28lb dogs, very active, I keep them all in condition year round, eating 1 cup of Dog CHow daily! And a 65lb mutt with immune system problems eating 2 cups of it per day and thriving. That's why I consider Purina. I cannot argue with the results it's given my dogs in the past. I won't stick with it if they alter the formulas and compromise the quality of the feed, and I have never fed anything w/o giving ample consideration and research - but that does have to go beyond ingredients sometimes. 
(P.S. the pup in my siggy was on Purina Puppy Chow when the pic was taken. Had been weaned onto it & was approx 10 weeks in that pic)

I'm gonna suggest this and then duck and run - but have you tried any of the wide variety of Diamond non-corn based feeds?  My LGDs have done really well on Diamond Extreme Performance.  No corn, soy, wheat, etc - but what a power formula!  Very easy to digest too for most dogs that are hard working.

The other brand I like is any Eagle Pack formula.  I have a dog that for some strange reason does BEST with corn in his diet.  His homecooked diet uses cornmeal, but he does just as well, honestly, on Eagle Pack Premium Senior (because he is retired and an easy keeper).  Again, super easy to digest, ridiculously low cleanup, and a tendency to get UTIs hasn't been evident in nearly a year, since I switched him.

And then there's Bil-Jac Selects dry kibble.  People don't like it because of the BHA, but it's a human grade preservative and I found it preferable to the alternative - reducing the amount of whole meat in the product.   You can't argue with the simplicty of the product - I think I still remember, chicken, chicken by products (declared to be organ meat), possibly chicken meal, corn, molasses, beet pulp I think, and vitamins and minerals and that BHA.

I just wonder what on earth Purina is trying to pull.  It's ridiculous.  Don't forget that when they add "moist" ingredients, the product will weigh more (or the same) but you'll get less actual value out of the product you buy.  Glycerine and soy are of low nutritive value, but high in weight and as with the soy, protein per gram.

I don't fling the term "cheap fillers" around lightly - actually almost never - but in this case it seems to me that this is what's going on.  I wouldn't waste my money and risk my dogs' health. 

Having been a product demonstrator for Purina Pro Plan for eight years I can say that if I were to pick a Pro Plan product it would be Selects hands down.  Have you tried that one?  The Salmon and Brown Rice is a nice product.  My pup had the Selects Turkey Barley his first year of life and then I switched him to the Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach because he does have a strange stomach and loves fish.  It has no corn or wheat which is what I need for him also.  He does so well on it and stays nice and slim with a gorgeous coat.  If I had a dollar for every person who commented on his gorgeous glistening coat and thinness I would be rich!!  Having had overweight dogs in the past with no luck in reducing them, having people constantly say "gosh he is so skinny" makes my heart sing!  He eats tons of food he is just naturally thin and that is fine by me.  Healthier for him also.  Feed what works for your dog. 

brookcove

I'm gonna suggest this and then duck and run - but have you tried any of the wide variety of Diamond non-corn based feeds?  My LGDs have done really well on Diamond Extreme Performance.  No corn, soy, wheat, etc - but what a power formula!  Very easy to digest too for most dogs that are hard working.

The other brand I like is any Eagle Pack formula.  I have a dog that for some strange reason does BEST with corn in his diet.  His homecooked diet uses cornmeal, but he does just as well, honestly, on Eagle Pack Premium Senior (because he is retired and an easy keeper).  Again, super easy to digest, ridiculously low cleanup, and a tendency to get UTIs hasn't been evident in nearly a year, since I switched him.

     I'd forgotten about the Diamond, but have heard some great things in the past about the Naturals formula! That's definitely something to consider!!! And I think there is a store in the area that still carries all the Diamond feeds ...
     Do the EP foods all have pork meal in them or just the original (not the holistic)? I was looking at their kennel pack feed once, but had to pass it by due to the pork. My epileptic cannot have anything with any pork product, no matter how far down on the list, it will trigger a seizure :(  I can't remember if the holistic feeds have the pork though ... will have to check that out. That sounds like a great feed since Beagles are so prone to UTIs.