[briielzebub]

My new trainer at Petsmart got me off of beneful after a day of me using it...thank god considering what I've been hearing about it. She pointed me towards "Natures Recipe- Easily Digestible Nutrition- breed specific- Terriers". I only bought a very small bag, since thats the only size the terrier one is sold in. It looks pretty reasonable...but I guess I shouldn't judge a book by its cover. It says thst it has no beef, corn, or wheat , no by-products/fillers, and no artificial preservatives. Honestly when its in the bowl it looks cheap, but I guess all the colors and shapes in beneful didn't mean it was good, haha. I'm pleased to say the first ingredient is, in fact, chicken. All of the animal products in it appear to be "chicken" products. I even almost knew what all the ingredients actually were.

Anyone else have experience with this food? Not just the terrier kind, but in general? Is it as good as it seems?

Thanks so much!

[Cheetah]

So is it "Natural Choice" or is it "Nature's Recipe"? Because those are two different brands. Whichever one it is, both are better than Beneful. I think Natural Choice is better than Nature's Recipe, but I also think Natural Choice is very grain heavy. I used to feed it and my dog got fat, even after reducing her intake. Honestly, I think the best food that most Petsmarts sell is Blue Buffalo. I actually work at Petsmart, and wouldn't really recommend anything else from there, unless they happen to sell By Nature for dogs, which is rare. I guess the Harvest Baked Authority (NOT the regular) is okay as well.

If the food looks plain instead of all colorful, that's a good thing. Artificial dyes have been known to cause reactions in some dogs.

[Fergie07]

My dog was on Purina Pro Plan for the first 2 weeks, but my vet suggested several others to try. So I went with Nutro, Natures Choice puppy food for small dogs. Fergie goes crazy for it. When she was on the Pro Plan, I just thought she wasn't a big eater. I was wrong, she just didn't like it!

[TheChinClique]

When I got Henry he was being fed Nutro Natural Choice Puppy. He HATED it. I don't even know how he survived off of it to begin with seeing as how he wouldn't touch the stuff. I switched him to Orijen and he gobbles up all the kibble and licks the bowl clean. I don't trust Nutro due to the recent recall. Really, I don't trust MOST brands of dog food. Only companies that are for the most part independent can be trusted...though sometimes, even that doesn't make a difference. I know Merrick has been known for accidentally leaving plastic and metal in the pet food...and they're known as a good brand of food.

Anyway, Nature's Recipe looks alright...not the worst of the worst but definitely not premium. Here are the first ten ingredients of the terrier formula:

Chicken
Pearled Barley
Ground Rice
Chicken Meal
Oatmeal
Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols)
Dried Brewers Yeast
Tomato Pomace
Flax Seed
Calcium Carbonate

Now, the problem I have with it is that in the first ten ingredients there are only two named meat sources. There are also some questionable preservatives. Regardless, it's better than Beneful and IMO better than Nutro...so if those are your choices, I'd stick with Nature's Recipe.

IMO anything in the four-star category and up on this site is acceptable.

Since you have a smaller dog you can probably afford to feed a premium food. I pay $60 for 30lbs of Orijen but keep in mind that with my Japanese Chin (under 10lbs) one bag will last about five months. Really, it's not that expensive when you figure that factor in.

Good luck!

[skelaki]

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/ Here's a good site to check out food quality.