EVO no more

Hello,

There are two dogs in my family, one is my sisters and the other is mine. When my dog (a small poodle mix) was a puppy I had a lot of trouble finding a dog food that would not make her sick. I switched her to EVO since she was about 3 months old, and she is doing great (she is 4 years old now). My sisters dog is a medium size dog (beagle/lab mix) who had an allergic reaction to chicken soup (the dog food), so we had to put her on the same food as my dog. I do not want to change their diet, but I have to. Right now, we can barely afford to buy EVO for our two dogs. I am getting a standard poodle in about a month to train to be a Service Dog. (I recently retired my small poodle form Service Dog work). This means that we have to buy more food, and I do not think we will be able to afford EVO.

I have been reading labels and comparing foods, but I find it quite overwhelming.

My small poodle has not had any reaction to chicken soup (the dog food). I am not as worried about her as much as I am about my sisters dog. Also, I want my puppy to be healthy


Does anyone have any suggestions? opinions? experience? I would appreciate your help.

If you still want to stick with Grain Free, I'd highly recommend Taste of the Wild (TOTW as it's usually called around here). It's a quality food, and it's relatively inexpensive - especially compared to EVO - and most people who feed it have very good results. I fed it for about six months and loved it. I currently feed EVO, but if something happened and I had to go with a cheaper food, I'd probably go back to TOTW.

www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com

healthwise

I am considering healthwise because it is also cheaper than TOTW. I was paying about 60 for EVO the 28.6pound bag. The healthwise is about 30 here. Has anyone tried that food?

Healthwise is about the same as TOTW, last time I checked. Maybe it's changed?

Another decent one might be Diamand Naturals. I've just heard of it, and it sounds pretty good for how cheap it is.

I buy Diamond Naturals at Tractor Supply. It's $26 for 40 lbs.

have you considered cutting the food? As in mixing them? I mix evo and TOTW... it brings the price down a little bit.

too risky?

Where I live TOTW is about 20 less than EVO, but healthwise is 30 less. I am considering TOTW because it is grain free, and I can feed it to my puppy as well. If I get Healthwise I would have to buy the adult kind as well as the puppy. One of our dogs gets bad allergies from grains, so switching to healthwise could be a big risk. I get the puppy in 20 days, and I have to figure out what I am going to do about the food issue. The puppy will be a standard poodle, which means that it will eat probably more than my two smaller dogs put together. This is why I need to get something that is less expensive. I am now leaning more towards TOTW because of those reasons.

What about Wellness Core? It is a decent grain free food and not too expensive.

You might want to talk to your breeder before feeding grain free to your new puppy. I remember reading something somewhere about it not being a good idea. I think it's because of the protein content of grainfree, but I could be wrong. What I do remember is that it was recommended not to feed grain free to a pup.

Luckily with TOTW, the protein isn't as high as it is in most grain free foods - which is why it's the only grain free food I *would* feel comfortable feeding a puppy.

I feed Kirkland... which from my understanding is Diamond Naturals.... basically.... River does really well on it. Shye however does better if I put a bit of TOTW in. I'd feed TOTW straight but... with my zoo, that'd reduce me to subsisting fully on top ramen myself. I mix... for both my cats and dogs... they all do well.

Both are good foods.

grain-free

I have decided to feed TOTW to the puppy, and my two other dogs. Thanks to everyone who posted a reply.

It is about 10 more than healtwise, but it is still 20 less than EVO. I would much rather play it safe, and stay with a grain free kibble

Sounds like a good compromise! Let us know how it goes!

I'm also on TOTW. It's been working well for my dog. Their protein levels vary for each formula. Pacific Stream has the lower protein level at 25%, but the other two formulas are about 32% which is a little higher than most foods I've seen.

update

Hello,

Here is the update:

I wrote to TOTW, and this is what they said:

"We recommend that large breed puppies be fed the Pacific Stream formula,
because it has the lower protein and fat levels. Rapid growth streaks
should be prevented in large breed puppies, for future bone/joint
health."


They also sent me some samples. I have tried it with my two other dogs, and they have done well on it.

The puppy is currently on EVO (she has sort of loose stool), but I plan on switching her as soon as we only have a small amount of EVO left. I am getting TOTW today to have it ready.

I will post later on how my puppy does on TOTW.

Thanks everyone!