Taste of the Wild Dog Food

[lindapalm]

Is anyone familiar with this dog food? We are trying to come up with a better dog food for our 11 yr old border collie mix, she was on Purina Beneful. She is a very active dog who is always running. The bag states it is grain free, which I assume is good, but I don't know if the rest of it is good quality. Thanks for any input.

[luckypenny]

It's much better than the Purina imo. If I was going to be picky, I'd say a bit too much potato but I'd have no problems choosing it over what your pup is getting now. We've fed it as treats to our guys and all of them loved it. Just remember, make a very gradual switch over to avoid tummy troubles from a richer food.

[lindapalm]

Luckypenny, the Purina Beneful is all gone, do you think I should get more and gradually add it to the new dog food, or just put her on the new stuff and see what happens?

[luckypenny]

Have you fed her any of the TOTW yet? If so, how many meals? How are her stools? I've switched over puppies and younger dogs cold turkey (only because they came in as rescues/fosters and I had no choice) with very little problems. I don't think it would be dangerous for your girl but I'd want to avoid stomach upset if possible.

If she has diarrhea, is very gassy, or her belly looks swollen, then yes, get another bag of Purina (especially if she's been eating it for some time) and only replace not more than a 1/4 of it for the first week. Move up to a 1/2 the second week, 3/4 the third, and a full switch over by the fourth or fifth week. You can tweek the amounts by judging the texture of her stools. Too soft, then make the switch a little slower.

Also keep in mind that you'd be feeding her less of TOTW because of the lack of fillers compared to the the Beneful.

[lindapalm]

She was fed TOTW for supper, so it too soon to tell if she'll handle it okay. We were planning to give her the same amount as Purina brand, should we cut back ? The bag gives you a minimum and maximum to give, hard to tell which to pick. What food do you give your dogs?

[luckypenny]

I'd start with the minimum considering your girl's age and increase slowly from there if you notice her slimming down. If her stools are very loose and she's maintaining/gaining weight, cut back a wee bit at a time from the minimum. The suggestions on the bag are just a guideline. All dogs are different (you know, like how some skinny people can eat a ton and never put on weight and others struggle to keep it off ) so you just have to keep a close eye on your girl.

We've been feeding raw exclusively for the past 2 1/2 years but have recently started with Orijen several days a week now (days I work). We do use other grain-free formulas such as TOTW occasionally for training treats and for certain interactive toys as well.

[TeriM]

I rotate between Horizon Legacy, Orijen and the Summit Grain Free with Riley. He is fed kibble once a day and raw for the other meal. Taste of the Wild is a pretty good food, I just am not that confident with the manufacturer (Diamond Foods) and prefer to support Cdn Manufacturing.

If you have any probiotics around then often that can help with a changeover in food. When switching to a grain free food lots of dogs actually do better with cold turkey then a slow switch. Probably because the two foods digest differently .

Good luck .

[lindapalm]

Thanks for the input, she was on two cups a day, I'll cut her down to one and a half, see how that goes. I'll start keeping track of her stools to see if theres any change. We lost a sheltie two months ago and are down to one dog, and I'd like to get a lot more years out of this girl if I can. If she doesn't continue to like TOTW I'll try Orijen.

[rainbow]

Originally Posted by TeriM

Taste of the Wild is a pretty good food, I just am not that confident with the manufacturer (Diamond Foods) and prefer to support Cdn Manufacturing.

I agree with Teri.

If you find that Orijen is too expensive for you check out Acana Provincial. It is also made by Champion Pet Foods but is a little lower in protein.

[lindapalm]

She ate the first bowl of TOTW really good, and now she ignores it for a few hours. I don't know if she doesn't care for it, or her stomach is screwed up, or my guess is she was getting Chef Michaels wet food(we had free samples) till we got her the dry food and shes waiting for more of that. I don't know.

[cassiek]

lindapalm,

I had the same problems in the past with my one gal. Quite often she would snub it, hoping for something better to eat.

Now that she's on raw, there is no way she is leaving that bowl empty but with that being said, I normally feed them kibble in the P.M. and my rule is I put it down for a few minutes, if its not touched, I put it away for the next evening. Of course you don't want your dog to starve, but certainly missing one meal will not harm your pup and it may teach her a little tough love

[kandy]

I'm glad someone brought up the fact that TOTW is made by Diamond. While it's ingredients look decent, IMO Diamond has way too many recalls under their belts for me to trust any product that they produce. Be sure to keep the UPC Label and the product code/best by label if you dump the food into some other container.

[rainbow]

I also forgot to mention that the fish meal in TOTW is preserved with ethoxyquin which is believed to cause cancer.

[lindapalm]

Cassiek, I think I'm going to try putting it down for a couple of minutes and them take it up and put it away, shes not the sharpest crayon in the box, but hopefully she'll learn to eat it. Had her to the vet today and shes a couple pounds overweight, so it won't hurt her . Also, after hearing about recalls, when the bags gone I'll try something else. Does Wellness make dog food without grain, I only saw it with it at our pet store, but I didn't look real good either.

[kandy]

Wellness does have a grain free formula, but they were bought out recently and depending on where you live, their food is also made by Diamond. "WellPet" uses different manufacturing plants depending on where the food will be distributed.

There are some good grain free options out there like Orijen, EVO, and Acana just to name a few.

[rainbow]

Originally Posted by kandy

Wellness does have a grain free formula, but they were bought out recently and depending on where you live, their food is also made by Diamond. "WellPet" uses different manufacturing plants depending on where the food will be distributed.

There are some good grain free options out there like Orijen, EVO, and Acana just to name a few.

I agree, I would much rather feed a brand that is made by a company that only makes pet food especially one that has their own manufacturing plant where they would have the best quality control over their food.

Wellness used to be owned by Old Mother Hubbard but it was purchased along with Eagle Pack by the Berwind Corporation and formed the WellPet company ....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WellPet

Berwind Corp owns companies that serve a number of different industries ....

http://www.berwind.com/companies.htm

[lindapalm]

Shes not that crazy about TOTW, and your reports aren't that keen on it, so when its gone I'll check out the EVO<Oirjen, or Acana. Don't know if my pet store sells all or any of them, they've got alot so I think they must. Thanks for giving me some good options , and opinions on TOTW

[lindapalm]

Went to the pet store today, Evo was the only one they carried, didn't have Orijen or Acana, are they oly sold in Canada? Will try Evo next.

[rainbow]

Here is the store locator for Orijen, Acana Provincial (both grain free) and Acana ....

http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/storeLocator/

The manufacturer, Champion Pet Foods, has their own plant in Morinville, Alberta. Their products are available internationally though.

[lindapalm]

I checked on the Orijen, and its not sold in N.Y. I think I'll try the EVO cause I don't feel like ordering Orijen online,and shes just not that crazy for TOTW

[dartfrog]

Originally Posted by lindapalm

I checked on the Orijen, and its not sold in N.Y. I think I'll try the EVO cause I don't feel like ordering Orijen online,and shes just not that crazy for TOTW

N.Y. New York right? because i just looked and there are a ton of stores that sell it in the city and state..... maybe you didnt scroll down far enough??
here are just the first few on the list for N.Y city

New York
Animal Fare
153 Prospect Park South West
Brooklyn, NY 11218
Phone: (718) 853-5664
Beasty Feast
630 Hudson Street
New York, NY 11014
Phone: (212) 620-7099
http://www.beastyfeast.com
Beasty Feast
680 Washington Street
New York, NY 10014
Phone: (212) 620-4055
Calling All Pets
1590 York Avenue
New York, NY
Phone: (212) 249-7387
Calling All Pets
301 East 76th Street
New York, NY
Phone: (212) 734-7051
Canis Minor Gramercy
238 3rd Avenue
New York, NY 10003
Phone: (212) 228-4848

[lindapalm]

Dartfrog, your right I didn't scroll down far enough. They're tons of stores that sell Orijen in New York, the closest one to me (I live outside of Buffalo) would be about an hour and a half drive, which I could do, but since I have the option of the Evo brand I'll try that next and see what happens. Thanks everybody for all the advice.

[dartfrog]

ahh yes an hour and a half would be a little much to go buy dog food for sure but at least you have the full list now
We rotate between the different origen foods that dont have chicken and so far we love the stuff. I havent tried EVO but it also looks like a pretty good food its one i have thought about adding to the rotation.

[lindapalm]

I thought she'd really like TOTW, but will only eat it when she comes back to it later. Its almost gone, I'm curious to see how the EVO goes over.

[lindapalm]

Tried the EVO today for Lexie, she ate it immediately, not like TOTW. Hopefully she'll continue to like it, I had to get the small bites, its all they had, but since she just had two teeth pulled, it might be better for her to chew.

[coppperbelle]

I have been feeding my dogs TOTW for a few months. I tried Evo and it didn't work out. Their fur was awful. One thing I did notice is that neither dog was fussy about the fish TOTW but when I switched them to the fowl one they loved it.

[Jazz&Cricket]

I just switched to TOTW (fowl) recently. I would prefer to get Orijen but it isn't available (yet) in the town where I work. Once it is, I'll be switching to it since I'd MUCH prefer to have a Canadian company supplying my dog food.
That being said, so far my dogs enjoy TOTW.

[3GirlsDad]

I have fed my 4 Dogue de Bordeaux Taste of the Wild food now for quite a while. I had them on the Bison flavor for over months and then switched to Dog Lovers Gold for about 6-8 months. I am now back on Taste of the Wild as I like to cycle their food so they dont get bored. The Taste of the Wild food is manufactured at a seperate facility than other Diamond foods and my thinking is that they are watched so closely now that they are probably more careful than most as the last thing they want is another recall. In my opinion its a great food and my dogues have done well on it.

[serenamlambe]

I've been feeding TOTW for a little over a year now and my dog does really well on it. He is finally starting to gain some weight! Before this food, he was quite thin and had a lot of problems with acid reflux. Now he's doing great. Though I am not a dog food expert, I have read that this is a great food and that Diamond has been doing a lot to prevent another recall. I would recommend this food, just because Connor has been eating much better on this.

[lindapalm]

I was giving our dog TOTW and she didn't seem too crazy about it, so I switched to EVO. She loved it for a couple of weeks, now she ignores that brand and eats it only as a last resort. I hate to keep switching brands, but I might try EVO fish next, or Orijen.