[VaBeachFamily]

So Gizmo has severe allergies to everything so now that she is a senior and the Calcium levels aren't such a worry, she is on Taste Of The Wild ( we can switch up flavors, and she did well on it before).

The GSDs on the other hand... they would cost a fortune to feed like that, considering at their ages I prefer not to use TOTW, so we were going between Canidae ( which we got off of now), Nutri Source ( which the grain free variety was only sold at ONE store with odd hours), and BB Wilderness.... So we decided we would do a trial run on something else, so after researching and going to a few stores to spend hours scouting out prices, ingredients, availability... We decided to bring home.... Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lovers Soul... and they LOVE IT. Been about a week, nice solid poop, shiny coats, no changes... EXCEPT Ms Picky LOVES IT unlike anything else ( she only really likes Wilderness).

So... What do YOU guys think of the Chicken Soup foods ( honestly). Doesn't have wheat or corn, still lots of meat/meat products before the mention of the brown rice, white rice lower on the list with oats and barley, seems to keep weight on them and they both love the food... and we have less scarfing iddues with the puppy tiny bites!!!! Just want to see what others have to say about this food our of curiousity!!!!

** Besides the whole .. being made by Diamond thing... that always worries me**

 

[Emoore]

** Besides the whole .. being made by Diamond thing... that always worries me**

That's the only thing that bothers me too. I fed Diamond for a long time, until my dogs started getting diarrhea every time I got a new bag. . . the batch consistency was just too far off from batch to batch. Of course TOTW is made by Diamond too. The only other thing you might want to check-- I think Chicken soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul may not be a large breed puppy food? Double check your max calcium levels. The main thing is if your dogs are doing well on it and it fits your budget, you're good to go!

If you can get it where you live, you might want to look into Precise as well. They're a small company that manufactures their own food and they've never been involved in a recall. I can pick up a 44lb bag of precise for $39.99.

 

[sable123]

Obviously, if the dog likes it and does well on it that is fine, but I wouldn't buy a thing made or branded by that company for a whole host of reasons.

For what you actually get in that food it is way over priced, it is no better than Pro Pac, SportMix, Loyall, Prism or Blue Seal.

 

[IloveGSDs]

I also feed Precise and my dogs love it! I can find it at my local pet store as well. I switched from Merrick because of allergies and fungal skin issues. (The dogs also loved Merrick.) I do not have finicky eaters!
:wild::wub:

 

[sable123]

I also feed Precise and my dogs love it! I can find it at my local pet store as well. I switched from Merrick because of allergies and fungal skin issues. (The dogs also loved Merrick.) I do not have finicky eaters!
:wild::wub:

Precise is a great food especially the Endurance formula. Great value.

 

[Emoore]

Precise is a great food especially the Endurance formula. Great value.

Yes, I plan to switch to Endurance when Kopper's a little older. I'm not comfortable with the calcium percentage at this point, so he's eating their Foundation formula, which is lower in max calcium. But in a few months we'll be switching over to the Endurance.

 

[Emoore]

I don't think it's weird at all that they like the grained food or do well on it. For dogs that aren't allergic or intolerant to grains, I just am not convinced that potatoes are better than rice.

 

[Draugr]

Grain-inclusive is not necessarily bad. I do prefer grain-free (or PMR which I feed now), but the food you're on now is definitely of good quality. The catch is, you want to buy a food where the grains are used as a binder, not as a main ingredient or a primary protein source.

 

[lovethebreed]

Potato vs Rice is half dozen one, six of the other but
Precise scares me because it has synthic K in it which the FDA has banned due to its toxicity. I stay away from foods that still contain it.

There are numerous articles on it, this is just one.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=menadione

 

[rjvamp]

Mine like foods with grains in them....they do fine to, so I wouldn't worry. If it is working for them then let them enjoy

 

[rjvamp]

I don't think it's weird at all that they like the grained food or do well on it. For dogs that aren't allergic or intolerant to grains, I just am not convinced that potatoes are better than rice.

agreed....to me it is the whole formula and whether they are doing well on the diet...not just one ingredient over another. to me, that logic is like picking out beef saying that is better than another ingredient but if beef was all they ate, then they would be missing out on other nutrients too. Beef combined with a whole formula makes the meal.

 

[Emoore]

Precise scares me because it has synthic K in it which the FDA has banned due to its toxicity. I stay away from foods that still contain it.

No it does not. You are referring to a review on dogfoodanalysis.com which was written in 2008. The current formulation of Precise does not include the synthetic vitamin K. As a side note, people basing their kibble decisions on 3-year old reviews is just one of the issues I have with that website.

 

[rjvamp]

From the FDA on Vitamin K

Vitamin K Substances and Animal Feed

"Substances with vitamin K activity are often added to animal diets to ensure that animals do not develop vitamin K deficiencies. Even though vegetable sources contain fairly high amounts of vitamin K, very little is known about the actual bioavailability of the vitamin from these sources. According to NRC’s publication, Vitamin Tolerances of Animals (1987), based on the limited amount of available information, vitamin K did not result in toxicity when high amounts of phylloquinone, the natural form of vitamin K, are consumed. It is also noted that menadione, the synthetic vitamin K usually used in animal feed, can be added up to levels as high as 1,000 times the dietary requirement without seeing any adverse effects in animals, except in horses. Administration of these compounds by injection has produced adverse effects in horses, and it is not clear if these effects would also occur when vitamin K active substances are added to the diet. Vitamin K and the vitamin K active substances serve important roles in providing an essential nutrient in animal diets."

 

[Emoore]

To clarify, synthetic vitamin K was banned by the FDA in supplement form-- you can't go down to the GNC and buy synthetic vitamin K capsules. It can still be added to human food in small doses. Potassium is also banned in supplement form because it is dangerous in high doses; that hardly means potassium is a dangerous substance that should be avoided.

That information is neither here nor there, though; as the ingredient is no longer included in Precise dog foods.

 

[rjvamp]

too much of anything is too much I tell people that about Tylenol (as an example) all the time - the right dose is fine but too much and you are doing your body harm. Even Tylenol came out with a TV ad telling me people to follow dosing recommendations.

 

[sable123]

Potato vs Rice is half dozen one, six of the other but
Precise scares me because it has synthic K in it which the FDA has banned due to its toxicity. I stay away from foods that still contain it.

There are numerous articles on it, this is just one.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=menadione

Oh come on stop spreading this nonsense. K3 was banned in the US, and all forms even the natural forms in Canada, because stupid athletes and weightlifters were abusing not. It is not a threat to dogs in the way it is used in dog foods.

This is total internet BS.

PLUS IT IS NOT IN PRECISE TO BEGIN WITH!!!!!!

 

[lovethebreed]

This is total internet BS.

PLUS IT IS NOT IN PRECISE TO BEGIN WITH!!!!!!

I see what I read about you is true. What you post from the internet is the truth. What anyone else posts from the internet is BS.

I've been reading on this forum long enough to know who knows what they are talking about and who doesn't. To know who not to listen to is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

What I do know is any food recommended by you is a food I ensure will never be in any of my dogs bowls. So you do provide good information in that regard.

Your predictability is quite humorous.

 

[lovethebreed]

Rhetorical question. If there is nothing wrong with it, why was it removed from their forumla (provided it actually was removed)???

 

[VaBeachFamily]

Just to break up the heated debate I am, using the Large Breed Puppy version of the Chicken Soup. I will look into Precise, but I have never seen it that I am aware of, maybe I can contact them directly to find out. I spent hours in stores reading labels ( I didn't want ANY corn or wheat, I didn't want rice or any other " grain" in the top 3 ingredients at the least), We are pleased so far... Shall see how it goes! We payed $35 for 35 pounds, not too bad, considering we were paying $50+ for under 30!!!!

 

[Emoore]

Rhetorical question. If there is nothing wrong with it, why was it removed from their forumla (provided it actually was removed)???

I honestly don't know enough about K3 to make a judgement about whether it is ok or not. I do know it was removed from Precise around the same time it was being removed from a lot of high-end and super-premium foods. The fact that it was removed doesn't prove there was something wrong with it; it could have been that the super-premium food customer was reading negative things about and didn't want to purchase foods that contained it; thus market forces dictated its removal. Stuff like that happens all the time-- like the fact that cars 30 years ago had 1 cup holder and 5 ash trays, and now you buy a 5 seater car with 10 cup holders and zero ash trays.

And in Sable's defense, the notion that Precise has synthetic vitamin K in it is BS-- it's simply not true. I encourage everyone to make the decision about what to feed their dog based on research and critical thinking-- not a single review on a single website. Too many people read something positive or negative on dogfoodanalysis and make their decision based on that. Dogfoodanalysis ranks foods simply on the order of ingredients at the time they did the review-- and in some cases that can be quite old. But there is far more to a quality kibble than the order of ingredients. Where do the ingredients come from? What quality are they? What company makes the food? What does that company's record for quality look like? Is the kibble made by a huge conglomerate like Menu Foods? Or is it make by a single company that makes nothing but that brand of food?