Food Suggestions

OK so I'm trying to find a food that Pen and Bubby do well on. They actually do really well on Pro Plan Performance (or I think they renamed it Sport or something), but I was trying to find something a bit "better." We've been through Fromm, TOTW, and Nature's Variety Instinct. They get watery eyes, dry skin, not the best coats... Honestly the NV Instinct Raw Boost is awesome and Kimma and Jari do SO well on it, but it's just so expensive that I would rather have Pen and Bubby (and eventually switch Jari maybe) on something else.

I actually don't mind grains (at this point I'm wondering if they will even do better on a grain inclusive), no known food issues with any of those three (Kimma is my only one with food sensitivities), and the only thing Pen doesn't seem to be fond of in terms of taste with some of the foods is duck. I would prefer a brand with different protein formulas so that I can rotate, but that's not necessary (Kimma's been on a venison-based food for years and doesn't seem to care LOL).

It's not a big deal to me if I have to buy online versus in store.

I think a lot depends on the dog and what they do well on. I am finding that for my two grain in or grain free seems to make no difference at all.

If the Pro Plan Sport works then that might be the best choice. I've used Purina One Beyond with good results a bit recently. Typically I tend to feed Acana but I'm not sure if that would be any cheaper for you. We tried Petcurean Go, which my trainer feeds her dogs very well and has for years, but my two didn't like it for some reason.

Oh yes, I forgot they were on the Petcurean Now Fresh for a while, too, which is also grain free. And I tried Pen on Blue Wilderness before I got Bubby. These trials were for months and months, so that I made sure to give everything a good try before deciding it wasn't for them. I mean, if the only thing they did well on ever was super expensive, then I would by all means make it happen. I'm just thinking that there has got to be something a bit cheaper to put them on. Almost $4 per pound (for the NV Raw Boost Venison) is just a bit much.

Maybe we will just try the Pro Plan again. I didn't like their stool on it, but their coats/eyes/skin were just great. Though I have also considered trying the NV Prairie, or maybe Merrick Classic....

My boys are on Earthborn right now and I really like it. I don't see much difference for Rowan compared to other foods (they were on Go! before, and before that TotW) but Riff looks GREAT now on the Earthborn. His coat is much shinier and he seems to be shedding at least a bit less. It seems to be one of the cheapest high quality foods in my area which is part of the reason I chose it - budget is tight and although dog food is one of my only splurges, I still have limits on it.

Laur mentioned Purina One Beyond. Rowan was on that a few years ago and honestly he did pretty well on that, too. The only reason we switched was because he was eating the chicken formula, before I found out he can't really handle chicken, and stopped eating it so I put him on something else.

If the Pro Plan works well for them, I might just stick with that. But I also like trying all kinds of different foods for them.

edit: Rowan did really well on the Merrick Pork formula, too.

Merlin eats Acana right now and I really like it!
The proplan senstive skin and stomach seems to really do the trick a lot!

My dogs did horribly on Earthborn. My friend'a super sensitive collie does well on Merrick's pork formula, my dogs are doing well on taste of the wild pacific stream, all of my dogs excelled on Wellness core.

NutriSource gf chicken and lamb are reasonably priced, popular foods here (it's made here in MN).

Earthborn is also popular for being a non-diamond product that's comparably priced to taste of the wild.

Merrick is slowly gaining popularity here now that they've reformulated.

My stand by is Canine Caviar for sensitivities but at $90+with tax for a 27# bag here, not many people can afford it.

Thanks for all of the recommendations, everyone! I hadn't considered Earthborn, and I hadn't ever given a look at Nutri Source. I think I am going to try Merrick, and see how they go with that. I'm interested in how they will do with a grain inclusive food. That will impact my next trial (if I need one!).

I tried Earthborn but mine got more skin allergies from it. I've discovered that I can't feed a food that has lots of pea, pea protein, etc... in it.

Mine do well on TOTW.

My friend feeds Natural Balance limited ingredient diet.

I like Nutrisource, but their GF's are chock full of peas. I think they've got peas, pea protein, pea flour, etc. Their grain inclusives are much better. My dads dogs have been eating Nutrisource Chicken & Rice and doing well enough. It's hard to tell with them because they don't "do" much lol.

I've just always had the best luck with Acana with Jackson. It's not the cheapest, for sure, but right now I'm feeding Acana Duck & Pear and have been for a while. I didn't like the way he looked on Fromm. He gained some weight, and lost some muscle, and his stool was never great. He ate the GF Acana for 2 years, but then they changed their formula and I read of a few dogs having itchy probs, but I just got some sample bags and he hasn't taken issue with them yet.

Honestly though? It's not the end of the world to feed PP. I've heard of a LOT of dogs doing great on the Sensitive Skin one.

Also, check out Dr. Tim's and Annamaet, both highly respected foods, comes from a great plant, good quality control, etc, and won't break the bank (well the Annamaet GF's are comparably priced to other GF's out there).

Earthborn is just so-so IMO. Their GF foods also are full of peas and the only one that's not (I think it's Primitive?) is SUPER high in ash so I would never touch it. Something around 12%. Most of Nature's Variety foods are too.