Thanks everyone. I went with the large breed formula for my German Shepherd. I heard/read somewhere that the large breed formula was manipulated so that growth would be slower and easier on the joints.

Orijen is very expensive and I have been feeding it to my 2 year old for a while. I have a new puppy and I'd like to find her a good kibble as well. I'm trying to find her a good one also.

I do mix in fresh ingredients with the food and add K-9 Kraving meat...

Another thought...Melissa mentioned adding "fresh ingredients" to kibble when possible. Am I doing a "bad" thing when I mix raw meat patties (K-9 Kraving) with kibble? I recall reading somewhere that they break down at different rates...although I will honestly say I've been giving my 2 year old 2 meat patties and 1 cup dry for at least a year with no issues.

I've been all over the map with feeding and I am not in a position to create a raw food myself for my dogs so I went with the K-9 Kraving patties (ingredients listed at end of post) and then mixed in kibble.

I just want to do the best for the dogs...

Here's what's in K-9 Kraving:

Beef, Beef Hearts, Beef Liver, Ground Beef Bone, Sweet Potato, Broccoli, Linseed Meal, Sunflower Meal, Tomato Pomace (Dry), Carrots (Dry), Kelp (Dry), Choline Chloride, d-a-Tocopheryl Acetate (Source of Natural Vitamin E), Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin, d Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Riboflavin, Selenium Yeast (An Organic Source of Selenium), Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine HCL, Thiamine Mononitrate, Cobalt Carbonate, Folic Acid, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide (An Organic Source of Iodine).

Hi Vanessa, yes, kibble and raw do digest at different rates and therefor it is not recommended to feed at the same time.

Some like to feed them at separate times, morning and evening meals. However, I do not recommend this, unless you can separate the meals by 12 hours or so.
Kibble remains in the gut for a lot longer than does the raw.
A canine's digestive tract is equipt with a short tract, although when you mix the two, the kibble slows down the digestion, allowing possible pathogens to grow.
The end result is often diarrhea.

I would continue to feed the kibble and just read up as much as you can about raw feeding.
You can however add cooked meat to your dogs diet, along with things like no salt green beans, high quality yogurt, salmon oil, or canned salmon ( with the salt rinsed off), frozen blueberries to name a few.

Fresh additions are really a great way to add in extra nutrients and most dogs love the extras.

Also, when you learn more about raw, you can do things like feed some raw meals exclusively on the weekends, or feed the K9 Kraving patties then. Just separate the feeding 12 hours from the last kibble meal.

I hope this was helpful to you. Best wishes with your new puppy!

 Quote: Betty Landercasp

The frank manipulation in the ingredient list is irritating.
If the bag said that the contents were USDA cleared for human consumption that would be meaningful.
It could be great food--just cranky about how the ingredients are described in such a way that you have to believe it's wonderful -- e.g. "fresh" chicken, etc.

I agree! I know that the Orijen website does address these thing because I feed and love their food. I pulled some info from their site.

WHAT ‘FRESH’ REALLY MEANS

Frequently misused in the pet food industry, ‘fresh’ means an ingredient is never frozen and never exposed to heat or chemicals. Refrigeration is the only allowable means of preservation for ingredients that are truly fresh.

To ensure a Biologically Appropriate protein and amino acid variety, ORIJEN features a broad selection of proteins and fats in fresh, natural form including free-run chicken and turkey, whole eggs, a diversity of free-range red meats and freshwater and saltwater fish — each is passed ‘fit for human consumption’ by the Government of Canada before arriving at our door FRESH EACH DAY.

It sounds like Vanessa made her chose I just wanted to add this information. I also feed solid gold to my rescue dogs. Orijen is expensive ( I feed it to 4 dogs and 3 cats ) and some adopters cant afford it. The Solid Gold is more affordable and easy to get In my area I have to drive 30mins to get Orijen. For Solid Gold I feed Sun Dancer and Barking at the moon because they are grain and gluten free.

My dog had belly issues when I was feeding him raw food mixed with kibble. Luckily, the Leerburg forum set me straight and he hasn't had any trouble since!

When I feed kibble, I make sure there's plenty of time to digest before his raw meal. Honest Kitchen seems to be a nice "bridge" too, either served with the kibble, or in a rotation of the 3 "food types"... for example, kibble for breakfast, honest kitchen for dinner, then raw for breakfast, honest kitchen for dinner, kibble for breakfast, etc (or some pattern like that).

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FWIW, when I feed kibble, I usually try to feed some combination Orijen regional red, Evo red meat, Wellness core, and Nature's Variety Instinct rabbit. And I almost always add either some warm water or some low salt chicken broth so that I know the dogs are getting enough fluid content.