[cafepithecus]

I recently rescued a one year-old Husky/GSD mix and in the past week have become kind of obsessed with finding the right dog food. I just switched her from Science Diet (came highly recommended but turned out to be TRASH when I started researching dog food) to Canidae All Life Stages, but now I am reading that feeding a dog multiple protein sources can actually cause allergies and that you should get a food with just one meat source.

This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, simply because I doubt that dogs in the wild stick to one protein source. If my dog had her way, she'd probably be eating chicken, squirrel, and rabbit every day.

Also... the grain-free issue. Canidae is a great food, but people on Yahoo Answers made me feel like crap over this choice because it has rice -- brown AND white rice, at that. If a dog doesn't have allergies, is rice really that bad?
Someone else I was talking to made a big deal over the fact that rice is a filler, and even trashed Solid Gold Barking @ the Moon (which I am also looking at) because it has potatoes in it and potatoes are fillers also. Are potatoes worse than rice? They both have minerals even though dog's can't actually digest them, right?

I'm just so confused and want the best for my dog. Unfortunately I don't have the time to deal with raw/homemade and cost IS an issue. Not a huge issue, but I have to consider it. I wish I didn't...

[TheChinClique]

Potatoes aren't grains...they are high quality veggies that are good for your dog I feed a high-protein food called Orijen. It's out of Canada and it's the best I could find. It's $60.00 for 30lbs with free shipping...I don't know if that is in your price range or not, but here is the link anyway: http://www.k9cuisine.com/p-49-orijen-adult.aspx

Barking At the Moon, Timberwolf Organics, Innova EVO and Innova Red Meat are also some formulas you could consider. Good luck!

[Renoman]

Originally Posted by TheChinClique

Potatoes aren't grains...they are high quality veggies that are good for your dog I feed a high-protein food called Orijen. It's out of Canada and it's the best I could find. It's $60.00 for 30lbs with free shipping...I don't know if that is in your price range or not, but here is the link anyway: http://www.k9cuisine.com/p-49-orijen-adult.aspx

Barking At the Moon, Timberwolf Organics, Innova EVO and Innova Red Meat are also some formulas you could consider. Good luck!

I agree. Also, Canidae is not a bad choice. It is a high quality, affordable food. The multiple protein sources can be a problem if your dog develops allergies. With multiple proteins, it's harder to find the cause of the allergy. Try Canidae, if you dog doesn't have any issues than you're ok. The other foods mentioned like Timberwolf Organics, Evo, Orijen etc are also great foods. It depends on what works for your dog and what your budget will allow.

[BoxMeIn21]

but now I am reading that feeding a dog multiple protein sources can actually cause allergies and that you should get a food with just one meat source.

Actually this is why it's recommended to switch food every couple of months or so.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/changing_foods.htm

Have you looked at Timberwolf Organics? They have a grain free formula - Ocean Blue.