How do you feel about Orijen?
 

so i've been looking at potential new foods for Princess and stumbled upon "Orijen" and just loooove what i have read!
it's now way past business hours so i thought i'd try to get a head start by posting some questions here. i'll take fact or opinion, i just want to know what you think/know, thanks!

i do not see a small breed formula, is it still safe/suitable for a yorkie?
does anyone know how much a bag is on average?
have you ever heard anything bad about it or had any bad experiences?
does your baby seem to like it?

thanks!:)

HI! Darwin has been on Orijen Puppy (small and large) since the 2nd week we've had him. (One year now) The puppy small and puppy large is the same because they believe that the nutrition they need is the same. That's what I've been told except the size of the kibble is smaller for puppy small. We moisten it with a few drops of water and microwave it for 8 seconds.

I tried Great Life which to me is up to par with Orijen. Darwin loved that too but had awful smelly and runny stools. It went on for days and never went away. Luckily they let me exchange the opened package for the new Orijen. We also tried the Orijen Fish formula but Darwin had wet and very smelly stools again, for days.
He just loves the Orijen puppy!! And on the plus side, his stools are virtually odor free..sometimes we don't even notice that he pooped on the puppy pad.
It's great and I'll never switch.

Darwin is not picky but his stomach is. He cannot even eat treats without getting the runs or throwing it up. So far we have spent so much on different holistic, natural human grade treats and he either won't touch it or he barfs or gets diarrhea. I even tried store bought treats and that was even worse. So far he can eat denta-bones and Denta-chews..Any rawhide will also give him the runs. I have a cupboard full of opened treats that he only tried once. So we use the same Orijen he eats as a treat! I just take a few pieces in my hand and for some reason he likes that!

I researched food as carefully as I researched what type of dog I was going to love. I'm talking 24/7 glued to my pc for at least weeks. I know exactly what companies had however many recalls and what companies bought each other out.. quality, reviews..I even knew exactly what the sales associate at the pet store knew (which btw she was amazing!) What I came up with was Great Life and Orijen. Hope this helps! :)

Hi there, I am in the process of researching dog food as well due to my babies scratching. I also settled on Orijen. After researching further I read on their website that Orijen is not recommended for small breeds BUT allot of people on here swear by it. I just didnt want to chance it and I settled on Blue Buffalo Wilderness chicken which scores a 5* just like Orijen and is 100% grain free as well yet not as expensive.

hm where did you see on the website that it's not recommended for small breed dogs?. I just searched the whole site including the FAQ and never saw that anywhere.
All i found pertaining to breed was this:
"Protein rich and bursting with fresh local meats and fish, ORIJEN is formulated to mirror the foods mother nature intended dogs of all breeds to eat. "
"ORIJEN benefits dogs of every breed and size. Like people, your dog is a unique individual and his feeding requirements will vary with his breed, environment, age and activity."

it says that for every food except of course the "Large Breed Puppy" formula.

I feed Lexie the Regional Red formula, i used to feed her the puppy but she likes the taste of this more and gobbles it up as soon as i set it down. Her eye boogers have cleared up, her poops are good and she's doing great on it:D

Nothing is wrong with feeding it to small dogs. I've never seen on their website about not recommending for small dogs? But if you're more comfortable, Champion Pet Foods also offers Acana which is a lower protein but still grain-free line. They have 4 different formulas out now. I really love Champion Foods in general and really trust them as a company.

I think Orijen is a GREAT food. And just like everything else out there, it works for some dogs and it doesn't work for others. Jackson always did amazing on Orijen Regional Red formula but recently, they upped the price so I was disappointed. A 5.5lb used to cost me $17.99 and now it's $21.99. He also was having softer poo on the recent bag for the first 2 weeks and I think they MAY have changed their formula. So right now the Orijen is his snacking kibble (I leave it in his bowl 24/7) and I am feeding Go! Endurance mixed with wet for his dinner. Orijen RR is by far his favorite kibble in terms of liking the flavor, he adores that food, lol.

I am waiting for our local store to start selling Acana Ranchlands-which is their new red meat formula for Acana... I think Jackson will LOVE it and it will be cheaper. So I'm gonna finish up our bag of Go! and hopefully it will be out by then. I'm so wish washy with his food though anyways, I like to rotate and give him different kibbles, etc, keep him guessing and never get bored.

What I have fed over the past year in a half has been Acana (Grasslands and Prairie), Orijen (Regional Red) and Go! Endurance. Oh and he gets Stella & Chewy's pre-made raw a few times a week. Overall he has done amazing on all of these foods, his coat is very soft and shiny, he has amazing endurance and is very active, he is in great shape, never had any kind of infections or sickness, etc.

I also have fed Nature's Variety Instinct with great results and it was actually the 1st food I found back when Jackson was like 8 months old that he REALLY loved! I may begin feeding that again. I'm not sure I'll be doing the Orijen anymore simply due to price and location of buying it.

thanks for the input so far everyone! :)

after looking at the dog food ratings page i think i have def. made up my mind. i just hope princess likes it! it is very expensive, but she eats so little, only 3/4 cup to a cup a day, so it's not like it will break me to spend that amount every couple of months or so. if it will make her healthier & happier longer i can't put a price on that!:)

Company seems fine. Yorkies can eat it (most important thing is that it is AAFCO approved for the lifestage of your pup).

Opinion:
No dog needs that much protein and it is not what I would choose to feed. The experts in the field (veterinary nutritionists) tend to believe foods so high in protein aren't worth the money.

As long as there are no underlying liver or kidney issues, your pup will almost certainly do okay with this food (not taking into account the small differecne between what works GI-wise for some dogs and not others). Definitely not my choice though.

This basically sums up how I feel too.

We switched over to Orijen 6 fish formula and my pups LOVE it. They can't get enough of it. Our pet store sells it for about $42 for a 15 lb bag. The food is supposed to be an all life stages dog food, so it's safe. Since we switched to Orijen, both of my 4 year old dogs have regained their puppy like energy and have become more playful, which is great to watch them have more fun than sleep. They poop less too and it's smaller amounts too, which is also great. Try getting a small bag at first to see if she likes it and decide from there. Our local store sells sample sized bags.

I tried the Chicken Soup brand because I'd heard it recommended so often (even for hedgehogs, amazingly enough!) but it gave my puppy loose stools pretty much constantly. He's only been on Orijen for about a week but his stools are normal again and his terrible eye boogers are almost completely gone. He isn't very interested in eating it, but he's never been very interested in food so I guess it's the best I can do for him. It costs $16.50 for a 5.5 lb bag at my vet's office. I might switch to Taste of the Wild when he's on adult food, because that seems a lot cheaper and I can get different flavors that he may like better.

Its a good food, I agree with Ellie May too. Max couldn't tolerate the high amount of protein. We even tried the Acana as Britster mentioned, be he couldn't tolerate that either. We are on Wellness Simple Solutions now.

I switched Piper to Orijen puppy after a few months on crap food. I love it! It's got THE BEST ingredients. The only thing you need to be careful about, is how much you feed. Because it is so high in protein, it will give your dog massive amounts of diarreah if you overfeed. I was feeding Piper about a 3/4 cup - ish and I couldn't understand why she was getting such loose stools. I did some research online and found she really should have only been eating 1/8 of a cup! That still seems a little low to me, but I feed her 1/2 cup and she has been just fine.

I had Riley on Orijen Puppy and he I think it was a little to much for him. I switched him over to Acana and he has been doing great with that. I have recently been feeding him Primal RAW in the mornings and the Acana Kibble, at night and he has been thriving.

Orijen Regional Red Dog Food is Orijen’s “top of the line” dog food for those dog owners who are looking for a high quality, grain-free food. This is a high quality product that contains premium ingredients, and because of this you will be paying a premium.
Benefits of Orijen Regional Red Dog Food:
70% meat
Grain-freehttp://dogfoodchat.com/wp-content/up...0/01/rrbag.jpg
Uses high quality “free range” meat ingredients
This is the right food for you if:
You own an active, medium to large breed dog
You are looking for a high quality food with no fillers
Price & convenience are not a consideration
Your dog is allergic to Chicken or Turkey
This is not the right food for you if:
Your dog is small and/or inactive
You are looking for a food that contains grains
You are on a budget

Does his come from Orijen's website or another blogger type forum like YT? I also noticed that it says "Regional Red" formula, so it might not apply for all of Orijen's formulas. Personally, I love it because Kaji loves it and I don't struggle at feeding time with him anymore. I don't feed regional red, because Kaji simply doesn't like the taste. He likes the new adult formula which is fish and poultry. I also noticed he has less "dirty dog" smell at the end of the week. he still gets a bath on Sunday regardless. As long as there are no I'll effects from Orijen, I'm sticking with it. Kaji loves it, and I've seen positive changes on his food.

My vet said no to Origin for my 6 lb. Biewer, Dori...too much protein. We settled on Wellness Super5mix. It has small kibble and, most importantly, Dori loves it. But, only 1/4 cup x twice daily.

Yes they did change their formula, it has more meat in it now.

This comes from the dog food reviews done by vets. etc. I am by no means saying NOT to feed Orijen but that after research with them saying Orijen IS the BEST dog food on the market which is awesome but that its not recommended (not saying u can't) for small breeds. I choose not to use it BUT I am so glad that it works for others.

I was going back n forth between Wellness Super%Mix n Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken n went w the BB due to it being 100 % grain free due to their constant itching. I am going to see how they do on it n may go to Wellness next. I heard it was good to switch every 3 months? Not sure about that...

Well i figured the makers of Orijen wouldn't put such conflicting info on their site, i guess you misspoke when you said they themselves said their food was not recommended for small breed dogs. Not every vet would agree with that opinion you posted and it's a known fact that many vets might not be as well informed about food brands than people here on YT; they often push foods like science diet and my vet never even heard of Orijen. Anyway its everyones individual choice what they want to feed their dog and what they base that decision on. I only felt a need to speak up when you mentioned that the makers of Orijen themselves had it on their site that "it should not be fed to small breed dogs" and we who feed it chose to feed it anyway, which was completely false.

I never said Orijen them selves said this. We r all on here trying to get info so no need to be so defensive. I said that it was the best dog food on the market n that I read that and was wanting opinions n was worried on what to do. I have no idea if this is true and only posted what i read. We r suppose to be here to help...Wow, so much for a friendly site.

I just went back and saw where i did say i read on their website n that was a typo, so sorry... I meant I READ...

Here is the site. It rates dog food just like all the other dog food rating sites so how r we to know what sites to believe?

Orijen Regional Red Dog Food - Review

I think you need to speak with your vet, listen to what leading experts in nutrition are saying, and most importantly do what works best for your dog. I have spoken to my vet & spoken with specialists- none of whom recommend a food over the mid- to high 20's as far as protein goes. Listening to them I have chosen various foods between 21 and 26 percent protein and have found that right around 24 works best for my dogs. So that is what I feed my dogs. Don't feel bad if other people get defensive about the food they feed. Once you find a food that truly works for your dogs, that they thrive on- you will find that you no longer care what other people say because you know you are doing what is best for your dogs. Also, its very important to have bloodwork run on your pets periodically to insure that kidney & liver values are withing normal range- this can give you an early indication if the food is causing any trouble, along with any other health concerns that could come up.

Let me just say i was not trying to come across unfriendly or "defensive" i simply got concerned when you said it was on their site that its not to be fed to small breed dogs. Lexie is my first pup so i quickly went to the site and looked over everything to make sure i wasn't misinformed and feeding her something that i should not be feeding and as a result may be harming her. Like i said before it's your choice what you want to feed your dog and what you base your decision on , i never once said Orijen is the best food for every dog, i actually never expressed any views at all on the food you chose to feed. I never posted to make anyone feel bad about what they want to feed i just wanted to clear up some confusion.
You said it was a typo and that's fine, mistakes happen no biggie:).
The best food for your dog is the food your dog does best on, opinions will differ from site to site and people to people.
I checked the comments under the review you posted and someone asked "Why is Orijen Regional Red or other Orijen Grain Free dog foods not recommended for small and/or inactive dogs?"
i agree with this reply someone posted below, "I think the reason that the administrator said that is because this food is so nutrient dense that the rations for every dog are reduced compared to most other dog foods.So basically what he is saying is that it would be very easy for a small inactive dog to become overweight on this food.But this is true for ANY breed-size of dog.So you have to be careful on the AMOUNT of Orijen that you feed to ANY dog.Use the chart on the bag for reference but keep in mind that every dog is an individual so any given dog may need a little more or less than is stated on the package,due to metabolism or exercise-energy levels.Also Champion pet foods-the maker of Orijen recommends their products for all breeds from tiny to extra large." hope that helps

Do you mind my asking which kibble have you found within that 21-26 % of protein that is grain fee? I'm feeding Orijin and my fur-kids are having upset stomachs again :( My boy gained some weight on it and I was so happy. My girl, for the first time was eating the kibble alone, voluntarily. :aimeeyork

Taste of the Wild's Pacific Stream formula is 25% protein. NOW! by Petcurean is 24% protein.

Well- the food I settled on is not grain free- I am feeding Go! and it is 24% protein.

However, many of the LID by Natural Balance are in that range AND grain free and I have fed those with great success as wel.

Thanks everyone for all the tips and links. I decided on Acana Wild Prairie. She's had it out for a few days & has ate some, but not much. I only bought a trial size so if she doesn't increase her eating by the time that's gone I will try something else or maybe get a canned food to go with it. She's just such a picky eater, though she's not losing any weight.
Thanks again!
:)