http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/

Keith, have you tried Taste of the Wild?

I have looked at Taste of the Wild before. I have very specific guidelines in the food I feed my dogs and have done a lot of research researching foods. My girlfriend says I know way too much about dog foods and nutrition, more than anyone should know lol. One problem I have with Taste of the Wild is that it is manufactured by Diamond at Diamond's facilities. Another is that their ingredients are inferior to Natura's and Champion (Orijen and Acana). For example in the High Prarie formula they use egg product, canola oil not a fish oil, they include tomato pomace...All things which show they do not include the best choices in ingredients. They also import ingredients from China, which is a definite no-no in my book. I have heard people having good experiences with it, so I may look into it further, but am disappointed that I found a rotational food (Evo Herring & Salmon) that met not only my ingredient requirements, but also percentages of fat and protein. Orijen and Acana are the only other ones I have found to meet these as well.

Thanks for the suggestions. I began researching foods when Ted got extremely sick after eating Timberwolf Organics. It was at that point I learned they not only were sold to what some have called a "shady" business man, but also the formulas were changed without notifying the consumer. From there I tried different brands and have found certain formulas percentages worked better. My dogs cannot handle the high fat concentration of Evo Chicken and Turkey or Red Meat, but they can handle the lower levels in the Herring and Salmon.

Anyway, I will keep looking out for what works best and thanks for the suggestions.

Thanks, Keith, for the info on Taste of the Wild. Looks like I may be dropping that one from my rotation, also. The China imports are a red flag for me...

You can't go wrong with Orijen, it is a great food.
I am glad to know more details about the Diamond facilities, in light of recent continual problems from China, I would stay away from that too.

I wish that Orijen made a canned meat. I like to sometimes feed that with RMB's when I get in between my bulk order of raw.
EVO was always one I knew I could trust. Man I am bummed!

Anyhow, I haven't used the Keen yet from Honest Kitchen, I think I will rotate that in for a change. I like rotating different foods to keep it interesting for them.
I seem to have dogs that get easily bored with any food unless it gets rotated.
P.S. Keith, you can never know too much about anything! Tell your girlfriend, that's just what a good dog lover does!

 Quote: Lynne Barrows

Thanks, Keith, for the info on Taste of the Wild. Looks like I may be dropping that one from my rotation, also. The China imports are a red flag for me...

Me, too. No more TOTW for Ripley.

I worry that Orijen is getting too big, too fast. Will they be able to maintain their superior quality with the growing demand?

Meredith, I worry about that as well. Hopefully they will continue with their high quality ingredients and maintain their suppliers. I was so excited when it came to the US and I was able to get a store in my area to get it, one of the first in the US. I love it in my rotation. I know Canada's quality control on animal feed is more stringent than the US's so hopefully their product remains the same. I was disappointed when they recently changed their formula. Most people only thought they were removing the Zea Mays, but I also realized they added citric acid as a preservative for chicken fat in their chicken formulas. I try to stay away from citric acid as there have been studies showing it can cause bloat. However, it is so far down in the ingredients list and it is used minimally as a preservative that I am not concerned. To note, the Acana formulas don't use it nor does the Orijen fish. I still trust Orijen and Acana and may just start rotating between their formulas. While it is good to get different ingredients from different brands in addition to different proteins, I may do this to give them different protein sources for now.

I think the only issue is how sometimes it can take a week or two to get it in stock at stores here. If they run out it can take awhile. But, this is something minor.

Thanks.

 Quote: Keith Kaplan

One problem I have with Taste of the Wild is that it is manufactured by Diamond at Diamond's facilities.

What issue do you have with Diamond?

The problem I have with companies, including Diamond, that produce multiple different brands of dog food, is they can leave by regulation up to 10 percent of the food from the last manufacturing of a different product in the machine, not clean it and include it in a different brands food. Some companies are better than others about this, but I know this is something the larger manufacturers do. An owner of a pet food store was discussing this with me and informed me of this. They carry some of those foods because their customers wanted them, and after all they do need to run a business, but he said he would not feed his dogs the food. He knew what I went through with Timberwolf Organics...

Second and most importantly, they were part of the dog food recalls in 2006. I personally do not like them. While Taste of the Wild is owned separately, they still use a Diamond plant for manufacture. These are my opinions and I do not care to feed my dogs food made by them.

What do you think about Nature's Variety?
They have some good variety, and it looks good.

 Quote: Joyce Salazar

What do you think about Nature's Variety?
They have some good variety, and it looks good.

Do you mean the raw frozen? I think they make kibble, canned, freeze-dried, and frozen.