Sorry, guys, I was a little late on the uptake, but I did manage to move this thread

--Kelly

The biggest thing that I don't like about solid gold is that it is available in major chain pet stores (like super pets). There are foods out there that have better ratings and cost about the same, that are made in smaller batches (better quality control) so I always recommend those to everyone that asks me about kibble recommendations. IMHO whenever a food is massively produced to market towards major chain pet stores, the quality has gone down, and you no longer get what you are paying for. There is a short list of kibble foods that are a good food (for kibble), but it seems to get shorter every year. Yet another reason to switch to raw :-) Leerburg has a list if you need to find a good one.

Just checked out the DFA site - Jeez!

I haven't heard of ANY of the 6 or 5 star foods here in the UK. (At least we're using a 4 star).

The sooner we emigrate the better!

I very likely sell about a ton of dogfood a day at work. I welcome anyone to start solid gold if it's a move in a better direction away from grocery store brands, vet office brands, etc. It breaks my heart to see how many people say they "love the dog" but load up with Nutro Max, Kibble N Bits, Purina One, and Pedigree.

Yes their names are stupid Katz N Flocken, Hunde N Flocken... etc but it's still a 4 star which is a little better than the 2 star to one star norms I see.

 Quote: Melissa Thom

I very likely sell about a ton of dogfood a day at work. I welcome anyone to start solid gold if it's a move in a better direction away from grocery store brands, vet office brands, etc.

I guess I would agree it is better than those brands, but I don't understand why someone would shell out that much money when they could spend the same amount and get a food that is better (like california natural or Innova)

Rob
You can buy Orijen in England
You can buy it online from http://www.zooplus.com
That is where i buy Freds food from and i use Orijen for him 6 star rating and i live in Belgium and its sent to me from England Carriage free but i guess that is in the price, its good stuff and that along with Vit E and Salmon Oil, Fred looks great
Pup Goran cannot have a meat based kibble as explained elsewhere some time ago
i have to feed him on Royal Canin Hypo allengnic Kibble otherwise he will get water diahreea and go back in health with this food he looks and stays well, not my choice but thats the way things are

Better is often in the eye of the beholder. I don't always agree with dog food analysis scoring, I also don't always agree that blue buffalo, innnova, canidae, chicken soup, and cal natural are a better food for everyone's situation. I have nothing against a food brand that's sold at the megachains because for the most part it's the same food that's sold at the food co op down the street.

I often fiddle around with kibble to see which my dogs like and try to balance it with what I feel is the best diet I can afford to offer. Right now I have four open bags of dogfood at my house for five perfectly healthy dogs between 7 months and 10 years. I have yet to find the golden brand that makes everything perfect for everyone so the rotation goes on.

Nice one Steve!

I'll have look and compare the prices. Still having 'issues' in finding out how to ship dairy products across the water

Rob

 Quote: melissa thom

Better is often in the eye of the beholder. I don't always agree with dog food analysis scoring, I also don't always agree that blue buffalo, innnova, canidae, chicken soup, and cal natural are a better food for everyone's situation.

My opinions on solid gold are not based on analysis scoring, they are based on actual events like this:
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/ANS00064.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-9246902.html
this is mostly a blog site, but still with some good info on it as well:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pets/msg0407220412683.html
While I agree that there situations that require different things, I still don't endorse any food to my clients that is sold to a megachain. The companies that refuse to deal with megachains do so at a financial loss, and are, IMHO doing everything in their power to produce a better quality food. Just because a co-op carries science diet (some around here do) or solid gold does not make that a good food company. Most co-ops carry Nutro, one of the bigger re-called brands a few years ago. The reason they carry it is because of supply and demand, "The customer is always right" mentality. There are also times when the buyer is unaware of issues with a certain food brand.
As for one food that works for everyone, you are only going to find that by feeding raw. Kibble has so many ingredients that one type will probably cause problems for one dog in a many dog household.

Cameron
In part you are correct what you say about feeding Raw and i would love to.
But you have remember a small percent of Dogs like Goran cannot eat it otherwise they are in trouble
Also living over here in Belgium it would cost me in meat and offal to feed one Dog a week, more than two people living in the House.
Its not everywhere in the world that we can we buy what you folk do in the USA
two 1.30 wide salmon fillets costs $11 usa and they weigh only a couple of ozs
and i have already mentioned Chicken and other meats some time back
Unless you are wealthy over here Raw feeding is off the Menu for Dogs
The Orijen Food costs $122 usa for a 14kg bag which i feed Fred on, as does Gorans Hypo food in fact $130 so its not cheap to feed Dogs over here