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We give our large breed dog Limited Ingredient (by Blue Buffalo) specifically because it doesn't contain grains and other irritants. Maybe I'm being overly cyni

We give our large breed dog Limited Ingredient (by Blue Buffalo) specifically because it doesn't contain grains and other irritants. Maybe I'm being overly cynical, but I'm concerned that General Mills ownership will decrease the quality of the ingredients, and we'll have to find another brand, which has always proved to be a tricky, extended process of trial and error, where the "error" leads to your dog losing weight and having diarrhea.

thephyber 9y ago
(1) I had a similar long trial-and-error process with my dog (2) Blue Buffalo has been growing extremely quickly over the past decade. The company went IPO in 2015 IIRC. I highly suspect the cost cutting on ingredients has already begun. (3) Blue Buffalo already sells lines which contain "grains and other irritants". I tried giving my dog "Wilderness" (the highest protein content with the least grain/filler) but it was too rich for him. For a while, I settled on a Blue Buffalo Life Protection which was cut with oatmeal, a grain.
Erik816 9y ago
Try Taste of the Wild, may be what you are looking for.
- leesalminen 9y ago
  I’ve been feeding both of my dogs this for years. They love it! We rotate between the yellow, purple and red bags (forget the names). The dogs favorite seem to be yellow. We get it from Chewy.com. It’s the same price as my local dog kennel that carries it.
- Shivetya 9y ago
  Victor is another very good brand. The site https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/ https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/ does provide a good breakdown of what it is in many dog foods
  - kprybol 9y ago
    Not sure how easy it is to find outside of boutique pets stores (just happen to live near a fantastic one that delivers for free) but I highly recommend the Orijen brand. Have tried numerous other “premium” brands with my dogs over the years but no matter which brand I was using, I always managed to run into at least one vet than had less than stellar things to say about brand x, y, or z. Maybe it’s just coincidence but in the 7+ years I’ve been feeding my dogs Orijen I’ve yet to encounter a vet that anything other than positive things to say about the brand.
caw 9y ago
We switched our large breed from Blue to Fromm’s after the chicken byproduct reports and subsequent lawsuit. From research it seemed similar quality to what I thought Blue was, and is commonly stocked online (Jet.com, Chewy.com) and available at local boutique pet shops if I need to run and pick up a bag.
dfee 9y ago
Why do you think they’ll change the ingredients? They own a number of organic brands already.
calvano915 9y ago
I've had zero issues with Kirkland Grain Free dog food from Costco. It costs about $1/pound give or take depending on the protein source (they offer Salmon, Turkey, and Beef). The carbohydrate source is from sweet potato. I've used this site and their deep analyses to understand what is optimal (according to them): https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/natures-domain-dog-food/ https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/natures-doma.... They also have a newsletter that emails whenever a recall of dog food/snacks is initiated. Both of my dogs (smallish breeds) have been able to switch between with minimal effort to transition all that slowly, and their weight has been stable/healthy despite not nearly enough physical activity.

thephyber 9y ago

(1) I had a similar long trial-and-error process with my dog (2) Blue Buffalo has been growing extremely quickly over the past decade. The company went IPO in 2015 IIRC. I highly suspect the cost cutting on ingredients has already begun. (3) Blue Buffalo already sells lines which contain "grains and other irritants". I tried giving my dog "Wilderness" (the highest protein content with the least grain/filler) but it was too rich for him. For a while, I settled on a Blue Buffalo Life Protection which was cut with oatmeal, a grain.

Erik816 9y ago

Try Taste of the Wild, may be what you are looking for.

leesalminen 9y ago
I’ve been feeding both of my dogs this for years. They love it! We rotate between the yellow, purple and red bags (forget the names). The dogs favorite seem to be yellow. We get it from Chewy.com. It’s the same price as my local dog kennel that carries it.
Shivetya 9y ago
Victor is another very good brand. The site https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/ https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/ does provide a good breakdown of what it is in many dog foods
- kprybol 9y ago
  Not sure how easy it is to find outside of boutique pets stores (just happen to live near a fantastic one that delivers for free) but I highly recommend the Orijen brand. Have tried numerous other “premium” brands with my dogs over the years but no matter which brand I was using, I always managed to run into at least one vet than had less than stellar things to say about brand x, y, or z. Maybe it’s just coincidence but in the 7+ years I’ve been feeding my dogs Orijen I’ve yet to encounter a vet that anything other than positive things to say about the brand.

caw 9y ago

We switched our large breed from Blue to Fromm’s after the chicken byproduct reports and subsequent lawsuit. From research it seemed similar quality to what I thought Blue was, and is commonly stocked online (Jet.com, Chewy.com) and available at local boutique pet shops if I need to run and pick up a bag.

dfee 9y ago

Why do you think they’ll change the ingredients? They own a number of organic brands already.

calvano915 9y ago

I've had zero issues with Kirkland Grain Free dog food from Costco. It costs about $1/pound give or take depending on the protein source (they offer Salmon, Turkey, and Beef). The carbohydrate source is from sweet potato. I've used this site and their deep analyses to understand what is optimal (according to them): https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/natures-domain-dog-food/ https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/natures-doma.... They also have a newsletter that emails whenever a recall of dog food/snacks is initiated. Both of my dogs (smallish breeds) have been able to switch between with minimal effort to transition all that slowly, and their weight has been stable/healthy despite not nearly enough physical activity.