[Jannie]

Our year and a half old labradoodle ate Nutro natural choice puppy food as a puppy and loved it. When she was well over a year old we switched to the Natural Choice large breed dog food, and she does not like that as much. She will eat it, but not as enthusiastically as the puppy food. Apparently that is because the puppy food has more fat, therefore more appealing taste.
After reading the forums here with the discussions over the pet food recalls, etc, I decided to try switching her over to Canidae. The problem is that it's not availabe in our local pet store. They carry Wellness, which they say is equivalent in quality to Canidae. Does anyone have any experience with Wellness? I would appreciate your opinions.
Thanks.

 

[Guest]

We had a poodle, Tyler, who had severe food allergies and we fed him Wellness fish and sweet potato. Tyler always loved the food and he had the most gorgeous coat. We currently feed our doodle, Murphy, Canidae, because it's less expensive at our pet store (and of course, b/c of all the great reviews it gets on this forum!).

 

[Jac]

One of the foods we switched to, after the recall, was Wellness...then I read the label and saw that they used fillers and since I don't trust the dog food companies, we tossed all of the Wellness out...I don't know if they are on the recall list or not, but the list changes daily so, I'd check.

We feed Canadie and it is not as expensive as Wellness...also California Natural and Innova (made by the same company) are good...so far! *sheesh* I hate to recommend anything any more.

For convenience, we feed Canadie...canned twice a day and free feed the kibble...but if I had the time/energy (or just one or two dogs) I'd cook for them! But cooking for my huge pack is nearly impossible to keep up with.

 

[Guest]

I fed Bella Wellness as a puppy and she did great on it. I switched to Canidae when the recalls began because I called Wellness to see if they used Menu Foods to make their dog food. The rep hemmed and hawed, asked what food I was SPECIFICALLY using and answered, "Well the dry food is not made by Menu Foods, so it's ok." So I asked if their canned foods were made by Menu Foods and she reluctantly answered, "Yes, but they are not affected by the recall." It was like pulling teeth.
So I switched.
But it looks like a good food, it scores well in the dog food rating scale, so if that is what is available in your area, I would use it.

 

[movistar]

Any reason why you didn't switch to another Nutro? I have the best luck transitioning from puppy to adult natural choice rice and oatmeal
My vet doesnt advise large breed, and depending on your doodles size he may not even be a "large breed!!"

 

[Jannie]

I did switch to the adult Nutro Natural Choice, but Sadie doesn't seem to care for it much. She gets all excited about being fed, but then when we put it in her dish, she sniffs and walks away. Later, she will come back and eat it. So I thought it might be time to try another type of food. She is 55 pounds, so considered a large breed.

 

[MaxandMe]

wer tried 6 different foods for max....CANIDAE is the one that works for us. peanut is on it too.

 

[Jannie]

I bought some Canidae and Sadie seems to like it - so far so good. It is interesting that the Life Stages is for every age of dog from puppy to senior. Other dog foods have so many different kinds - puppy, adult, active, sedentary, senior etc. Is this a marketing tool? Or should they have different formulas according to their "life stage"?

 

[MarshMS]

Our 7 month old Amanda loves Wellness. We haven't had any problem with it; I didn't know they used fillers though...that is concerning, but for now she is on the Super 5 puppy mix and is thriving (except for current malady on another thread, but not food related).

 

[Guest]

Wellness scored a 105 on the dog food scale and I am not seeing any fillers in the ingredients?:
Ingredients
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Oatmeal, Ground Barley, Ground Brown Rice, Tomato Pomace, Rye Flour, Canola Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a natural source of vitamin E), Tomatoes (natural source of Lycopene), Rice Bran (from brown rice), Whitefish, Natural Chicken Flavor, Carrots, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Blueberries, Flaxseed, Ground Millet, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride

 

[Jannie]

Sadie has been on Canidae for a few weeks now and really likes it.

 

[Jac]

Well, if I recall, there was poison in ground brown rice...although it was never made into a big deal.
I had purchased Wellness when this news broke, searching for good food, safely made...but when I read the brown rice...we tossed it all out.
(Could have taken it back, but hubby left it on the deck until the rains opened the seal...so into the garbage it went...nearly $35 worth!)
So, even though many people are using Wellness and other good brands, I look to see if there is any wheat, brown rice in any form...and also for fillers.
I don't trust the company to put things on the label that we need...so I also look for companies that only use US grown/manufactured ingredients...not that it is a fool-proof method.
Wish I had the time/energy just to cook for them...but with my huge group I'd be cooking constantly!
We currently use Canidae. (Adn it is cheaper!)