Now He Won't Eat Any Other Food!
Written: Jun 15 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: apparently very tasty for the dog, healthy, not a part of recall, price
Cons: may be hard to find locally
The Bottom Line: Canidae is an excellent choice of the best quality dog foods, and is good cost among these foods. I highly recommend this or a similar food.
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| adrienne10's Full Review: Canidae All Life Stage Dog Food 40lb |
For the 21 months we have had our Boxer, Dargo, he has eaten high quality (called human quality) dry dog food. I am a zealot about letting my dog eat table scraps and non-dog food. I do the dog duties around here, and I know that the people food make his tummy yucky.
For 21 months, Dargo ate a specific brand of dry dog food that ranks on the Whole Dog Journal's list of preferred dog foods. It is one that costs about $0.86 per pound, which is the cheapest I have seen any of the foods on that particular list. However, due to experiences with cats and my own family raising Golden Retriever's, I have no problems spending that amount on dog food. I know some people do consider that to be expensive, but I also want my pets to be healthy and I do not think that the ingredients in the substandard dog foods (ie non-human grade) can possibly promote health.
Dargo, though, has the gastro-intestinal problems many Boxers have. He tends to be rather gassy, and his stools tend to be soft. We sort-of ignored the problem, believing it was a breed issue. But another owner of a Boxer at the dog park was telling me about how he put his Boxer on a raw foods diet (a specific brand) and now she is super healthy. This, by the way, was unsolicited advice from the other pet-owner. I, in no way, mentioned my dog's eating or other habits.
However, that conversation got me thinking about changing dog food brands. My husband was resistant. As it is, we spend $0.86/pound on dogfood, and it appeared we would only spend more money on dog food.
I made a document with all the dog foods on the Whole Dog Journal's site, checked online prices, and local availability. Then, I went to the 3 local stores that carried the ones I was most interested in.
At The Natural Dog, we found Canidae. It was on my list. And it costs $0.93/pound. The amount of food is approximately the same, so, while it is a slight cost increase from the current food, it is within reason. (It costs about $2.00 more for the same amount of food.)
I brought home a single serving sample. I was giving Dargo single kibbles as treats, just to see if he liked it. He DROOLED! It was gross! The floor was covered in dog drool and he had bubbles hanging out of his mouth. He LOVED this dog food. So, for lunch, I gave him the entire sample. He ate it with relish!
And then he would not eat his dinner of his old food. So, I got another food we were considering, which is actually cheaper than his regular food. However, I had to purchase a small bag, so there is more of it. We gave him that. He did not want it.
For a week, he has been eating his meals hours later than they are set out, and often only 2 of the 3 for the day. Why? Because we haven't bought any more Canidae. We had one more single sample serving. After a recent day and a half hunger strike by Dargo, my husband gave him the single serving of Canidae. It was like Thanksgiving in June for Dargo! Then, for his next meal, we fed him our still high quality dog food. Dargo, who previously would eat anything you gave him, turned up his nose and walked away.
Canidae has spoiled him. Unfortunately, we have 30# of already purchased dog food for him to get through before we can start on the Canidae. Believe me, it will be a struggle, but we will get there. And he will have his Canidae.
I've mentioned this is human-grade dog food. What does that mean? It means that the ingredients are a quality that humans could eat for meat and vegetables. Generally, I also notice that the ingredients list for high quality dog foods include fruits and vegetables, which are not on lower quality dog food ingredients list.
Canidae has 3 dry dog food choices: Original Formula, Lamb & Rice, and Chicken & Rice.
The Original formula has these ingredients: Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Herring Meal, Flax Seed, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Chicken, Lecithin, Monocalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Linoleic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Dried Enterococcus Faecium, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Inulin (from Chicory root), Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (source of B2), Beta Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, D-Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Papaya, Vitamin B12 Supplement.
I highly suggest putting your dog on a human grade, high quality dog food. Canidae is our current choice, but there are many on Whole Dog Journal's list to choose from, and you need to find the one that seems best for your dog.
As a note, Dargo is less gassy with the Canidae and his stools seem firmer. Every dog does differently with different foods, so you have to figure out which ones are good for your dog.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
adrienne10
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Location: Omaha
Reviews written: 209
Trusted by: 28 members
About Me:
Graduate Student
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