The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Hello all!

I am thinking in changing my Luka's (6 months old) food to the Blue Buffalo brand... he is currently eating the Kirkland food. But I would like to get a better quality food for him.

Does anyone have good reviews or suggestions about Blue Buffalo? I was told that I should get a Grain Free food, how true is that?

I would appreciate a lot your response.

Thanks!

Hello and welcome. Your pup is a cutie for sure
Both foods are good and used by many members of the forum but with the recent recall of both of these foods, I would go talk to the place where you purchase your food and ask them for a good quality food that is grain free. You might have to try different brands to find one that works for your pup.
I have one that itches when he eats food with grains and two who can eat anything so it's different for every dog. Like Debbie said some dogs can eat grains and do just fine.

Grain free is not a necessity for many dogs. To be honest I think my Abby's poos are better with grain.

I make sure that my boys food has no Wheat,corn or soy,,,And they do great with that and unless they start having issues that is how I will stay,,,,,I do use Blue Buffalo Life protection and I am very happy with how they do with it,,,,If you want to use Blue,,,and go grain free I would like into the freedom line,,,that is grain free and not as high in protien as Wilderness. I did have mine on Wilderness and they loved it,,,but they also got fat lol.

While I have no objections to Blue as a food with ingredients, I don't trust their company. I've emailed them several times and gotten limited to no helpful responses so their transparency is an issue for me. I've never fed Kirkland but after the recent Diamond food issues I trust nothing that comes from that company. I've heard good things about red paw as a moderately priced mid-range food on par with those two but never tried it. I'd talk to your local independent pet food store and get their thoughts. They often have the info from the manufacturers and you can contact the companies to make sure you're getting what your dog needs without a lot of junk.

I don't believe the grain is a problem either, the only way to tell is cook your own food for awhile and add halve a slice of wholemeal bread (diced). Every time I turn my back my dog is eating guinea pig food he would choose this over anything else, go figure, needless to say it doesn't cause him any problems. Okay would probably steer clear of soy in fact I would steer clear of food that adds grain cause you don't know what else gets thrown in, I always make my dogs food and happy to add some grain myself.

Sadie loves Acana Red. She also has been on Taste of the Wild. I like her better on TOTW, but she likes Acana Red much better. She went on a little hunger strike, so I ran right to the store and got her what she desired. Life's just easier that way.

Thank you all for your answers! I finally decided to get him, the:

"Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites with Chicken, Rice, and Oatmeal"

I saw that had great reviews, and my Luka loved it from the first day, I don't have to beg him to eat... he eats the whole thing fast I also loved the fact that are small bites.

Maybe it's too early to say that the food did not work quite right... Luka has been having loose stools like for almost 2 weeks, and also I've noticed that he is shedding more hair.

He likes the food, and he doesn't look sick at all. Not sure if I should change the food immediately or wait until he finish the bag.

Thank you all for your response.

Did you add the new food gradually to the old food? If not, that may be the cause of the loose stools. Some dogs cannot tolerate a total switch and you have to add it in gradually. If you did add it gradually, maybe it's just not the right food for YOUR dog. If you decide to change it again, mix what you have with the new food. If it was me, I think I might give him boiled chicken (no skin!) and white rice for a few days to settle his tummy, then gradually start adding in the kibble you are NOW feeding a little at a time and see how that goes before switching to something brand new.

Breakfast for Oliver is a cooked egg cut up with two teaspoons of milled flax seed (organic) not a GMO grain with a cod liver oil and finish off with a mix of Paul Newman and Natural balance Reduced Calorie Formula. We eat lots of chicken, green beans and snap peas, we share a thigh with the same dog food but he gets some ground bison raw as I cut up, it's pretty thick stuff into smaller bites. Never seen a dogs coat so handsome in my life, it glows! Repels the tears from the eyes, so there's no stains. Any licking of the paws shows there is a reaction to some kind of problem with the diet.

Most grains in USA are GMO not good.

I have change food with Holly so many times that I cannot tell. The only thing I can say is no corn, wheat or soy keep that rule. No grains is also good but there are dogsmthatbdo good on some grains. Holy has been on Wellness for senior for almost 3years. Since I switch to this rule she is doing great with the itching. Another issue regarding loose stools is that When she gets them I give her chicken, yogurt, and Sweet potatoes. I add a probiotic pill which you can use the ones sold at the pharmacy. As a puppy she used to have a lot of diarrhea and I could not find why. Well it happens that she can't tolerate rice which was the component of some food and is kind of the rule of thumb to give when there is diarrhea. Good luck and be patient.

Maybe it has to much protein for your dog, thats when grain or potato comes in handy.

Our Basset Hound needs special food, we feed him Taste of the Wild. He has bad allergies to wheat, corn, soy and barley. He can also eat Wellness and Natural Balance, he can NOT eat Blue or 4health. Blue gave him and my Pomeraninan (now otrb) horrible diarrhea just like your baby :( and 4health has barley in it and the Basset lost the fur from his chest and had inflamed skin. … Our Cocker, German/Husky and DachsiPom can eat just about any dog food without any issues. I switched them to Diamond Puppy Food. I know about the recall, but I am not concerned about it because the bag I bought was made after the fiasco.

I have just gotten into the practice of label reading.
I really like Natural Balance because most mixes contain potato/sweet potato … so does Taste of the Wild.

Some dogs are sensitive
Some dogs aren't sensitive