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As a lot of you already know, a while back we switched Brooklyn from Iams to Natural Balance, and then to Canidae. We have not switched Brooklyn again, he has done very well on Canidae and we have been very happy with it. However, we have always been interested in feeding raw simply because Brooklyn will have a grain free diet that way. Now, we may end up switching him to a raw diet sometime down the road, but I think for now we are just going to switch him to the Canidae Grain Free All Life Stages Dry Dog Food. To me, it looks like a very good food.
It's rated 5 stars, which is great. Grainless foods are some of the best out there. I would definitely consider this food for our dog. Other grainless foods you might want to check out are Taste of the Wild (there are 3 different formulas), Orijen, Innova EVO, Solid Gold Barking at the Moon, Wellness Core, Acana and Before Grain. The way we narrowed down our choices were to see what our local stores carried so that we didn't have to order the food online, then we got samples to try. He did horribly on some, and very well on his current one (Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream).
I think if its what you want to do you can give it a try. I feed raw but I also feed kibble to some. I use foods with and without grain. Grain free foods are fine, but they still have potato and other types of carb/filler and something to help the kibble thicken and bake up. So you are not getting a meat only based diet like with raw.
Both Natural Balance and Canidae are top quality kibble. I feed my dogs Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, and I would put all three in the excellent kibble category.
Canadae recentlly changed their formula and a lot of people who loved it before for their puppers are very disappointed with the new version. Some puppers have not been able to tolerate this new formula very well. They should have left well enough alone, but like everything else cost cutting is making the quality go down.
Canadae recentlly changed their formula and a lot of people who loved it before for their puppers are very disappointed with the new version. Some puppers have not been able to tolerate this new formula very well. They should have left well enough alone, but like everything else cost cutting is making the quality go down.
They diversified the grain. Has nothing to do with their grainless food.
I think if its what you want to do you can give it a try. I feed raw but I also feed kibble to some. I use foods with and without grain. Grain free foods are fine, but they still have potato and other types of carb/filler and something to help the kibble thicken and bake up. So you are not getting a meat only based diet like with raw.
Yeah, I buy Nature's Variety Raw products and their grain-free kibble for my cats, and the kibble has tapioca (cassava) as a starch instead of grain.
I think any grain-free kibble is better than those with grain. Grains are difficult to digest for many humans and pets alike, and it's not something that a dog would get in the wild.
I switched after Canidae changed their processing. I now use Taste of the Wild (grain free) mixed w/ Honest Kitchen's Holistic Embark, Wysong and some Nature's Raw Variety a few times a wk. Obviously it took time to introduce this diet. My dogs never looked better.
Here's some pics of my Newfie and Lab. Check out their coats.
Yeah, I buy Nature's Variety Raw products and their grain-free kibble for my cats, and the kibble has tapioca (cassava) as a starch instead of grain.
I think any grain-free kibble is better than those with grain. Grains are difficult to digest for many humans and pets alike, and it's not something that a dog would get in the wild.
They wouldn't eat potatos in the wild either, potato is the most common in grain free kibble. White potato actually causes some problems for certain dogs, some minor problems and other that are a bit more concerning. So its up to the pet owner to buy what works best for their dog. I do realize it isn't used in every grain free kibble, but potatos (also sweet potato not just white) are the most common and usually pea starch too.
Rice is a grain and 90% digestible. Other cereals like oatmeal are fairly easy on a dogs system. I feed grain free and food with grain both. I prefer feeding a raw diet anyway, I don't use the premade raw as most also has some form of starch/carbs. It is cheaper to feed "home made" raw and won't have any starchy foods. So that is why I like it. Although Nature's Variety has some of the best products on the market overall IMO.
I stopped feeding my male Pit Bull kibble because he would break out with terrible yeast infection all over his body, and his ears would become a yeasty liquid mess. I tried raw, but he'd just sit a stare at his bowl. He didn't like eating raw cold meat, and I wasn't going to serve it to him a room temp and risk introducing food borne bacteria. So now, I just saute`it up. A little time consuming, but that's ok! I'm beginning to add a little bit of good quality brown rice. For variety, I also feed my Pit a tall 15oz can of salmon or mackerel once or twice a week. The kind cooked with the skin and soft bones still intact. It's a great source of protein and calcium. I don't understand why dog owners insist on feeding "raw". Our pets are domesticated. There are so many diseases wild animals contract from eating a raw diet. The typical life span of a animal in the wild is greatly diminished as a result. My Pit's skin and ear condition has not yet cleared 100%, but it has improved enormously since taking him off kibble, and both he and my house no longer smell like cheese Doritos.
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