Merrick Wilderness Blend- your thoughts?

Aside from a very low (imho) kcal, its made by Merrick.  Merrick has a history of sick and dead dogs due to extremely poor quality control.  Great PR, but I wouldn't touch it with a ten, no, make that a TWENTY foot pole.

Ingredients:
Buffalo, Oatmeal, Barley, Salmon Meal, Venison, Whole Brown Rice, Canola Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols – a source of Natural Vitamin E and Ascorbic Acid, a source of Vitamin C), Flaxseed, Freeze Dried Potatoes, Freeze Dried Carrots, Freeze Dried Peas, Freeze Dried Apples, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Lysine, Guar Gum, Sea Salt, Choline Chloride, Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Whole Blueberries, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Venison Broth, Whole Garlic, Chondroitin Sulfate, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Natural Venison Flavor, Chicory Root, Marigold Extract, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Natural Celery Flavor, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Vitamin E Supplement, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Natural Caramel Color, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Copper Amino Acid Complex, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin D3, Niacin, Lecithin, Ribofl avin Supplement, Biotin, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Cobalt Amino Acid Complex, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite.

Wilderness Blend is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food nutrient profiles for all life stages.

Look at the ingredients again.  The only MEAL is salmon meal.  To me, in looking at this, I'm seeing that oatmeal and barley are the primary ingredients.  Buffalo is what?  70% water?  Same with Venison, so....wheres the meat?  I'm thinkin that the price doesn't justify the ingredients.

What do you think about the review it got on dogfoodanalysis.com? It got 5 out of 6 stars.

This is why I get so confused when it comes to dog food!

Steph, I don't know how they've been more recently.  But, a few years ago, I found a metal shipping staple in a can of Grammy's Pot Pie. 

I think it's a better food than Canidae. Merrick did have quality control issues a few years ago, but I feel comfortable feeding their food now. I recently started feeding both of my guys Before Grain Buffalo and I'm pleased with it.

Edited to add that I like their Before Grain food better because of the higher meat content and protein %.

I'm not a big fan of that site.  Not sure what their standards are, but this is NOT a food I'd give 5 stars too.

Lori, didn't you also find PLASTIC in Merrick?  Before the shipping staples?  And lets see, there was the little matter of leaving METAL on the chicken wing dings when they were put in the can?  At least on one occassion, they had contaminated treats and heaven only knows what else.  Plus, they own their own rendering plant and I'm always suspious when a dog food company owns a rendering plant...this is where road kill, 3 d animals and euthed pets are taken for "disposal".

It's a shame, because some of their foods look REALLY good, but there is just too much history there for me to ever use their foods.

glenmar

Lori, didn't you also find PLASTIC in Merrick?  Before the shipping staples?  And lets see, there was the little matter of leaving METAL on the chicken wing dings when they were put in the can?  At least on one occassion, they had contaminated treats and heaven only knows what else.  Plus, they own their own rendering plant and I'm always suspious when a dog food company owns a rendering plant...this is where road kill, 3 d animals and euthed pets are taken for "disposal".

Is there any foods anyone would like to recommend? I'm looking into common brands (more coupons, more sales).

Jewlieee

Well you could go with wellness.

Petco has Wellness now and I'm always getting coupons from them. But, is Wellness worth the price? I feel like I could be buying Orijen or Evo for the price of Wellness.  

I really like Blue Buffalo.  If there is a PetsMart in your area, no other box store will carry it, but Tractor Supply has a limited line. Very similar to Innova without the high price.  The Wilderness is what I feed my cats...ALMOST grain free, 32% protein for the dog, a bit higher for the cat, and the only grain is oatmeal.  Thunder gets the Wilderness to keep his winter weight on since he tends to look anorexic in the colder months.  The downside, coupons are not readily available.  But, PetsMart often has the pet perks sales and you can save $5 on a large bag.

No first hand experience with Wellness, but I've heard that folks have trouble keeping their dogs teeth clean on the kibble.  And something as well about crystals in their urine?  This is just what I've heard, so have never tried it.

Dogfoodanalysis goes off ingredients, period, plain and simple.  They have arbitrarily decided that, say, lamb is better than chicken, or corn will drop like 20 points, or oatmeal is better than barley.  For what dogs?

It also doesn't take things into account like the quality of the company itself.  And Merrick's a really good example.  It's useful information to some people, to know about the rather casual attitude Merrick takes towards contamination of the food.  I'd be willing to accept the risk if it were the only food my dog could tolerate, because I suspect every commercial food source pretty much equally.  But for many people the devil you can see is scarier than the one that's invisible - and that's okay, it's all about working within your own comfort level.

Dog Food Project is an excellent source of this kind of company-specific information. 

But, is Wellness worth the price?

wellness core is one of the most expensive per kcal foods out there, and regular wellness, since their formula change, doesn't have a good rep.

glenmar

I really like Blue Buffalo. 

We tried Blue Buffalo for about 2 months and it gave him very flaky skin. So, back to Canidae we went. I'd like to switch off Canidae because he poops like a horse on it!