Dog Food Suggestions..
 

Juicy will be three in May and for the last year I have been having trouble finding the "perfect" food for her.

Here is her food history...

Innova-Started when she was a puppy, she ate it but didn't really like it too much. Stopped about a year and half later when P&G bought it.

Blue- She ate it, but it made her coat dull and rough.

Acana- She was in love with it!!! But it made her gain way too much weight.

Taste of the Wild- (Current)She doesn't care for it at all, but will obviously eat it since there is no other choice.

Some information about her..
- Thick cottony coat hair.
- Not very active.

Would love any suggestions...

I LOVE Natural Balance Small Breed Bites. I feed Rylie the LID version for various reasons, but they have an ultra premium formula as well. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this food. It is high quality and ranks well on dog food rating scales.

It might be a better option for her. If you get a bag from Petco and she doesn't like it, they will let you return the back. NB has great customer service too, so you could get a sample from them as well via their website!

I know they are coming out with a new higher protein formula if you want a higher protein content. I personally prefer the lower protein content of the LID.

Good luck in your food search! I hope you find something that works for her!

My guys eat the Natural Balance LID Sweet Potato and Venison. If you contact them an they will send you samples. Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Pet Foods :1

I was also going to suggest trying NB. I've heard their protein levels are very high which I think would be ok for a less active dog. Sasha ate it once a long time ago but wasn't crazy about it, but that was also back in her picky stage. Good luck in your food search!

Currently, their protein levels are, in fact, not very high. They are lower than foods like Acana, Orijen, and Blue Buffalo. The lower protein levels in NB is one reason why I selected the food.

However, NB is coming out with a new Alpha Dog Formula, which has a higher protein content. However, it is still not as high as other foods.

Note: Not all the NB foods come in the Small Breed Bites size. Only the ultra premium and LID duck and potato do as far as I know. A lot of dogs have no problem eating a larger kibble size though.

Ah yes my bad, I meant to say their protein levels are NOT that high. I was watching tv while I was YT surfing so I was distracted. My bad!

:D No problem! It happens. I am always multitasking!

So I have a question re: NB...I had switched to NB L.I.D. because I was looking for a lower protein food because of my Calvin who had a liver shunt. Anyway, his 6 month bloodwork still showed elevated levels so he has to stay on prescription food. My question is do you think it is ok to stay on the L.I.D. for my Bella since she doesnt suffer from any allergies or anything? She seems to be doing good on it and I really like the food and the fact that it is grain free. Any advice would be great.

NB LID is still a really great food even for pets without allergies. My baby Rylie is on the LID and does not have any food allergies as far as I know. She does great on the food! :thumbup: It still ranks high on dog food rating scales in general. If she is doing well on it and likes it, I see no problem with keeping her on it.:)

Ok great! Thanks!

I like this scale:

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...od-rating.html

As you can see, NB LID Duck & Potato still scores very well!

Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+

Note: You could use the scale and rate the other LID if you are using another formula.

If you wanted to feed her the higher scoring ultra premium formula, it comes in small breed bites too! However, it is not grain free.

Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+

I still say though, if she likes the NB LID then you can safely continue feeding it to her no problem. It really is a great food! :thumbup: Like I said, Rylie has no food allergies and I keep her on the LID. There are various reasons for that, but she has no problems being on the LID.

Thank you. Do you switch between any of the other LID formulas? Right now I do have her on the potatoe and duck and she seems to like it.

I do not currently switch between the other formulas because they do not come in the Small Breed Bites size. I'm pretty sure my YT for Dummies book mentioned something about being careful with kibble size. However, I know a lot of members feed the larger kibble and their pups do fine.

Rylie is also on the Potato and Duck Small Breed Bites. I think it would be fun to try some of the other flavors though. Maybe I could get some and crack them up a little? :p lol.

I try to give her variety of flavors in her treats! NB makes LIT too!!! I try to switch those flavors around since there are more options for the small breed size! Despite the smaller size, they are still pretty big imo for a treat so I break them down even further.

Anyway, if you wanted to try other flavors I don't think it would be a problem. They just don't come in the small breed bites size.

My cat Suki switched over to the NB LID salmon and green pea from the duck and green pea (she likes the salmon more). So I have no problem with switching between the NB formulas. However, I waited to switch Suki because they didn't carry the larger bags at Petco right away, so I waited until they sold the bigger size.

Ummm... I hope that helped despite the rambling? The main point was I wouldn't hesitate to switch formulas around if you don't mind the larger kibble size. :)

Thank you for your help. Right now I do have her on the regular kibble because I picked up the wrong bag and she seems to be doing fine on it. I think I might try the ones with the sweet potatoe in it. I was really hoping to be able to put Calvin on it because its so hard feeding two different foods and making sure they dont eat each other's food. I might try the NB for my cat as well. I'm going to look into it when i go this weekend to pick up more food for Bella. Thanks again for all your help. I'm so anal when it comes to food for them.

Good to hear about the kibble size! Maybe I'll try the venison next then! I feed Rylie treats with sweet potato and she LOVES them. If your baby likes the current kibble, she'll probably like the kibble with the sweet potato.:)

Yeah I can imagine how hard that is :( I am sorry the NB didn't work out for Calvin.

Love the NB cat food. Suki has never been better. She actually has food allergies though and needs to be on it. :D

Thing is, Suki HATED the duck and green pea when I first started giving it to her and LOVED the salmon when I switched her over, but get this... she now steals some of Rylie's food! :eek: Rylie eats the duck, which Suki refused to eat when it was her own :rolleyes: Gotta love cats.

Suki possibly getting into Rylie's food is one of the reasons Rylie has to be on the LID diet though. I don't want Suki to get sick and I free feed Rylie and there is no place I can put Rylie's food that Suki wouldn't have access to being a cat and all. :p

Glad I could help! :thumbup:

P.S. Don't worry, I'm extremely anal too! If you hadn't figured that out already :rolleyes: