Aspen has been on Taste of the Wild since he came from the breeder. I think it is what is causing his extreme plaque. It doesn't stop, and even with teeth brushing it just keeps building up. I want to switch him to a new type of food to see if it helps with the plaque at all. I just don't know where to start with "good kibble", so I was wondering what you all feed your dogs.
It might be helpful to know where in the world you live since not all foods are available in all places. I live in the USA and sometimes I see foods here from the UK or Australia that I could never get. In the USA, there is a website which rates the dog foods on a 5 point scale. But I don't know if this place allows posting things like that.
I was giving my puppie the same corn free food that I gave my old lab for 7 years, and he lived to be 14.5 years old before succumbing to a combination of dementia/kidney disease/inability to stand up and walk without help. That was 4.0(out of 5) rated kibble from Walmart called Pure Balance. Its rated as being for all ages. But I noticed that the pup seem to be getting dandruff and I wondered if maybe a real puppy food was better. Since I have a Town and Home nearby, I started feeding him a 4.5 rated puppy food only called 4Health. I immediately noted changes in his temperament, and after 2 weeks the dandruff has gone away. He went from being able to sleep 5 hours at night to within 2 days of being able to sleep 7 hours. I feed it with about 3/4 cup of water so its pretty soft and he gets lots of water with it. And I am still hand feeding, and he loves that personal attention. But if you don't have a Town and Home store nearby, then you won't be able to buy it since its their own version of a high price dog food for 1/3 less price. Its made for them at specs by Blue Diamond, and has no corn or soy.
It's worth having a look on www.dogfoodadvisor.com to research choices in foods available to you. You can choose between foods rated up to 5 star and read their assessments on different foods.
Xena's currently on Orijen (Canadian), which is highly rated/grain free/high protein etc, and she's thrived on it, but I'm switching at the end of my free bag because it costs a small fortune and when the company reduced the size of their bags in 2017 they didn't lower the price accordingly so BYE. It's probably much cheaper for you in the US so that could be a place to start. Lots of manufacturers offer palatability guarantees, so if you buy from a shop (not online) and it doesn't suit your dog you can take it back and try something else. Pet shops also usually have sample packs to give away.
Finn was as pup on Royal Canin. He didn’t digest it wel. As our other lab was on Proplan we changed it in that. Proplan changed the contents and lesser meat and more rice/grains was put into this. We then changed it in wolf of wilderness. Nothing wrong with this I thought, until I saw that there was st John’s Wort in it. I couldn’t understand why they would put this in kibble for a dog....There was also not mentioned in what quantity it was in. We then went to search the kibble and we had to choose from Orijen or Acana. Acana was second best, cheaper and for us more affordable. Also the contents was to our liking. Grain Free! So we changed it in Acana, Finn is thriving on it. His coat has never been so shiny and soft. His poo okay and less shedding compared to other years!
We fed Fromm Large Breed Puppy and transitioned to GO! (a Canadian brand and grain free) for adult food. Very happy with both - healthy, shiny coat, small non smelly poop, no teeth issues (but I also brush 2x a week and buy dental chews from the vet).
Thank you everyone! I think we will try the Fromm. @QuinnM15 do you find that the brushing 2x and dental chews work well for you? How often do you give dental chews and what type?
Her teeth are very white but we haven’t had a vet check in awhile and will find out next month if she’s still good in terms of tartar! The brushing is a work in progress...still working on getting the back teeth. The chews are called CET chews and look like rawhide and are supposed the digest quicker than rawhide so there is no risk of swallowing a chunk. They are prob not great diet wise but she loves them and hopefully it helps a bit.
