Thursday, March 23, 2017

Owen's Food

Owen had been on Blue Wilderness (different flavors occasionally but USUALLY the chicken one) for a while (I switched him off Taste of the Wild after he was no longer a puppy because his digestion was inconsistent while on it) and did well on it for the most part. However, over the past few months, he has not really wanted to eat it consistently and we've been having to add either water to the kibble or "toppers" to entice him to eat it (and even then, sometimes he wouldn't). Owen is not usually a super picky dog so I feel like some ingredient is simply not agreeing with him in the Blue Wilderness (on some days while on that food, he would not eat for so long that he threw up from not eating and there were times he would throw up food as well). So, about a month ago I requested samples from several companies for him to try. The companies I requested samples from were: Canidae, Wild Calling, and Zignature. After letting him try all those foods, these are the results...

Canidae Grain-Free Pure Elements: Owen LOVED this food and would choose it over everything else offered. I like the simple ingredient list (only 10 ingredients plus vitamins and minerals).
Canidae All Life Stages: Owen liked this food pretty well and chose it over the Blue Wilderness.
Wild Calling Rocky Mountain Medley foods: I tried him on each variety but I didn't notice a difference in what he preferred. He liked these foods quite a lot but not as well as the Canidae.
Zignature Zssentials: I was hoping he would like this food but he did not like it at all and would leave it behind every time. The ingredients are good and some dogs may love it, but Owen did not.

I didn't immediately order a food (none of these foods are available locally for me) after letting him try the different types but about a week ago, I decided (after another morning/early afternoon of him refusing to eat his Blue Wilderness and getting sick from not eating) to order the Canidae Grain-Free Pure Elements. I'm so glad I did because now he eats his food happily (he never wagged his tail when eating his previous food but now he does) and it seems to agree with his system as well.

So, while all these foods that he has tried are good quality foods, not all foods will agree with all dogs and what works for you may not work for me. My cats have been on Blue Wilderness for several years now and are healthy and love their food so I still like the food brand (just not for Owen).