[NewLabDoodle]

For whatever reason, let's just say you HAD to pick a kibble to feed your otherwise happy raw-eating dog.

Do you pick something like EVO, TOTW or Blue Buf Wilderness... or something entirely different? Highest protein? 5-star rating? Lowest Carbs? No grain?

What to you is the most important criteria, aside from the fact that raw food is incomparable to dry kibble for so many ways, for a dry kibble with the fact remaining that you Had No Choice but to buy kibble with no other option available. What would it be?

We want to do the raw diet; we want what is the absolute healthiest option for our puppy; and we want him to be free of the types of food his body isn't fit to digest, but logistically it will be at least a few months before it is possible to start the raw diet. Until then, I want the best for our 11 month old pup, while I continue to thoroughly research RAW diet in the meantime.


So, the hypothetical question is, simply put: what kibble would you choose if you had no choice but to feed kibble.

Thanks in advance

 

[Gally]

I'm moving towards feeding raw but haven't started yet. On another forum I read most of the raw feeders said in a poll they would feed something like Ziwi Peak which is dehydrated raw or a high protein food like Orijen if they had to quit raw.

 

[Loki Love]

I would put Loki back to Orijen if we could no longer feed raw.

 

[katielou]

Purely on ingredients probably Orijen but Abe liked Fromm.

It would have to be high protein and grain free and preferably not full of potato.

I would choose canned food way before I chose kibble though.

 

[Sibe]

I fed Taste of the Wild, the High Prairie formula, before going to prey model raw. Right before switching I fed Orijen for about a month. She did great on both.

 

[Miss Bugs]

rotate high end kibbles lol, the puppies since I cant afford to feed 6 dogs full raw, mostly Orijen and some raw. my allergic dog eats Natural Balance LID Fish and sweet potato, and I get her fresh whole salmon occasionally so that she gets SOMETHING raw and fresh and she wont react too. the rest eat raw at home, but I logistcally I cant feed then raw at work, so I rotate between various kibbles, they have had everything from Fromm, to Halo, to Innova, to Evo, to Addictions etc.. ATM they have Addictions Kangaroo and Apple.

 

[wolfsnaps]

I am a fan of grain free. But to be honest, I just rotated high quality kibble that I could afford. A favorite was Taste of the Wild (all flavors except fish).

 

[NewLabDoodle]

Thanks all for the responses, this is great info. How often do you typically rotate? One bag then on to the next? Or something else?

 

[wolfsnaps]

I would rotate by bag.

 

[Fuzzy Pants]

Does it have to be kibble? There are lots of good to great quality freeze dried/dehydrated/air dried foods out there like Sojos, Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy's Artisan, ZiwiPeak, etc. ZiwiPeak is like meat jerky torn into small pieces that you feed as is. The others you rehydrate with water. They're sort of like the last step in commercially prepared foods before going raw.

 

[NewLabDoodle]

Does it have to be kibble? There are lots of good to great quality freeze dried/dehydrated/air dried foods out there like Sojos, Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy's Artisan, ZiwiPeak, etc. ZiwiPeak is like meat jerky torn into small pieces that you feed as is. The others you rehydrate with water. They're sort of like the last step in commercially prepared foods before going raw.

That's a good point. I figured kibble was a good starting point for my question, but these other options sound great too.

I will look into these brands as well, much appreciated.

I'm really excited having found this wealth of information about Raw feeding, and just high-quality food in general. Thanks again and really glad to be getting this feedback for the optimum well-being of our dog.

 

[kathylcsw]

I would likely rotate between Wellness Core, Nature's Variety Instinct, and TOTW. I would also use high quality canned as a topper. Hopefully I will never have to stop feeding raw though.

 

[Little Wise Owl]

I've had to switch to kibble before and when I did, it was usually a rotation of (preferably) grain free foods. When I was really low on funds, I'd feed a high quality grain inclusive food. My dogs would still regularly get fresh food with their kibble meals though (eggs, chicken backs, sardines, salmon, any meat on sale, any high quality canned food on sale, etc)

 

[MagicRe]

if i were limited to kibble, i'd have to start researching all over again. a lot can happen in two years....before that, my dogs were getting home cooked and before that, wellness.

but...having fed a barf diet to them....i would be looking at darwin's pet, and ziwipeak and k9...

and then i'd be up a creek for a while or i would home cook again.

on second thought. i will never go back to kibble. i'd find another way...and probably home cook.

 

[chubby]

I would go with Acana, which is responsibly sourced and human grade Butters really likes the taste, and I use it for training treats! and there's variety in flavours

 

[InkedMarie]

I don't feed raw, I feed The Honest Kitchen but if I had to go back to kibble, it'd be Nature's Variety Instinct LID, Orijen or Acana. If I could find Annamaet, I'd try that too but I would add canned with the kibble.

 

[PackMomma]

I do feed my dogs kibble SOMETIMES, when raw isn't convenient, like some weekday mornings when I'm running late trying to get out of the house and get to work on time, and if i'm travelling and storing raw food is not convenient, etc. so the brands I would feed if I absolutely could not feed raw would be th ones I do occasionally feed now, and I usually mix 3 brands/proteins together and alternate flavors/brands each time I buy kibble, which is rarely.. but the brands I have no problems feeding my dogs are the grain-free varieties from Orijen, Acana, Nature's Variety, Fromm's, Timberwolf, and NOW!. I've tried others like TOTW, Blue Wilderness, but my dogs didn't do quite as well on them as the others.

 

[NewLabDoodle]

Thanks again to all for contributing, I've learned so much about dog food in the last few weeks on this forum and the links everyone provides. Based on the responses, looks like Orijen a strong first place, with Acana, TOTW and Fromm also great choices, and more.

I'm also interested in the dry/dehydrated options, although perhaps out of my budget right now. Unfortunately all the top choices everyone listed are not at my usual pet store, so I'll probably go online to one of those 'free shipping' sites.

In the meantime, we got the Blue Buf Wilderness Salmon... and so far so good. I mixed 25% of that with 75% of his usual Blue Buff Puppy food. Funny thing, he liked it for sure because the second meal I did the same 25/75 mix, and he picked out just the new Wilderness stuff and left most of the ol' usual puppy food, and he usually cleans his bowl!

I'm leaning to Acana Pacifica or the Orijen Six Fish for the next bag... he's had non-stop chicken his whole first year of life, and the ingredients for those two seem top-notch. Based on his like of the Salmon formula, fish should be a great new protein to expose him to. I'm hoping it helps his already healthy coat, he definitely enjoyed eating some new protein!

"Thanks everyone!!"