Question about Wellness
 

I am glad that Petco is now selling Wellness. I give my furbaby Wellness wet food and was thinking of starting him on the Wellness dry food. I saw that they have a Healthy Weight dog food. My Yorkie is 10 pounds and the vet said he shouldn't get any heavier. So I was wondering will this food keep him at that weight? Has anyone used this before? Here is a link to the food on Petco.com:
Wellness Super5Mix Adult Healthy Weight Dog Food at PETCO

from wat i understand, people are saying not to buy "good brand" foods from chain stores. Something about their quality not being the best. I feed mine Wellness as well, but only from quality pet stores, not chains.

When the "good" brands start to appear in places like Petco the concern is that production will have to increase to meet the demand and the quality could go downhill. That said, we don't know if that will happen with Wellness and wherever you buy it, it is the same food...

Wellness if fine, but it has Tomatoes in it as noted below, not good for toy breeds, changes their pee factors...
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Oatmeal, Ground Barley, Salmon Meal (a natural source of DHA - Docosahexaenoic Acid), Canola Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a natural source of Vitamin E), Ground Brown Rice, Tomato Pomace, Rice Bran, Tomatoes, Natural Chicken Flavor, Rye Flour, Carrots, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Blueberries, Ground Millet, Ground Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Minerals [Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], Vitamins [Beta-Carotene, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B-12 Supplement], Choline Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Taurine, Mixed Tocopherols (a natural preservative), Chicory Root Extract, Garlic, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation products

We feed Wellness and love it! I think if you just feed your dog the proper amount coupled with regular exercise, he won't gain any unnecessary weight. I think the "heavy weight" food is for dogs who are already overweight, not to prevent dogs from being overweight. Does that make sense? Good luck!

Some people have no choice. Only pet stores around here are Petco and Petsmart. I would imagine the "good brand" pet foods purchased from Petco and Petsmart are still a lot better then the ones purchased from Walmart etc.

I have used this line of Wellness for one of mine who recently gained some extra 'flab.' I added some home cooked meats to it though, didn't feed it strait. It seemed to work pretty well for her. I made sure that she was a little more active though too--a few extra games of fetch and extra time outside chasing bubbles.

A food designed for weight control is find to continue feeding--normally they are just higher in protien levels. But exercise for lazy pooches is equally as important for helping them stay healthy.

As far as buying Wellness or any other brand from a chain store, I see no problem with it. I don't think Wellness in a bag sitting on a shelf at PetSmart would be any lesser or better "quality" than a bag of the same product obtained elsewhere. I'm doubtful there is any place that carries "freshly manufactured this morning" bags of food. :p I have noticed that those brands are not usually carried in as high a quantity as the others in the store--not sure if that makes a difference or not.

I agree... well said

Wellness
 

There couldn't possibly be any difference in a bag of Wellness purchased at a chain store or one purchased anywhere else. The only difference you might find is if you buy from a store that doesn't sell much of that food and it has been on the shelf for a long time. I have recently switched my allergic Bichon boy to Wellness Ocean. He hasn't been on it long enough yet to know if it will make a difference, but he likes it.

I will try and get it at Petco because I pay way too much shipping charges when I get it from petfooddirect.com. I think it is the same food so it should be fine.

What about Pedigree??? I feed my 3 Yorkies the one for small dogs with the small crunchy bites. It seems to be the only one that does not give my kids diarrhea...
One of my girls, Fannie, goes through the whole bowl looking for the little square pieces. Must be her favorite.
Thank you for any information

The main reason I don't buy Pedigree primarily becuase they sponsor Kyle Bush and I don't like him! :p

In all seriousness, aside from that, Pedigree is not a very good food. (Unless you've tried all other options and this is the only one your furkids can eat--in that case it's a great food! ;)) I would suggest finding something better for them, if you can.

What all have you tried with them that wouldn't work for them? I sympathize with you completely--I have a dog that has limited choices when it comes to food--and they ones that do work for her (very low end lines) are NOT my preference of what to feed her....but what can ya do?:confuse2:

I would suggest you start by researching various food types. Here is a great site to try:
Dog Food Review Ratings
It will link you to several sites with details information about commercial foods, home cooked and raw diets. Also, there is a sticky at the top of the thread with some lists of the commercial manufacturers for some of the foods preferred by some of the members on YT. Some of the companies will send you samples to try or coupons.

You'll have to do trial and error to see what works best for YOUR dogs, which isn't neccessarily the same as what the next person may have had success with.

Good luck and when it doubt, ask and everyone here will "help" by confusing you even more!

I can only hope that maybe this is the beginning of Petsmart/Petco type stores starting to carry the premium dog foods!:)

Thanks Bama
I am not a Kyle fan either.....
In fact I've been a fan of Yates Racing for a long time and just haven't found a driver I like after Davey and Ernie.
I keep trying.
I'm also a Ford fan. My husband Drag Raced for quite a few years.
I'll do some searching on the food, but they do get a vitamin supplement from the Vet also.

Ah...you are after my own heart! The Allisons are from my home town. I grew up watching them and after Davey didn't watch racing for a looooooong time. :( I'm partial to the Hendrick guys now. (And for the record, I also don't buy M&Ms, don't eat at Subway and don't shop at Home Depot.;))

Good luck with your food search!:)