Dog Food

Review by Lynrie:

My doggie really likes Newman’s Organic better than some other dog foods pet and big-box stores sell. My budget doesn’t like Newman’s Organic as much as Harmony Farms. It’s the compromise that keeps the doggie AND my budget happy. Because he eats it heartily, I don’t worry that he’s getting enough high quality food. Otherwise he won’t eat his food and he’ll graze in the trash seeking egg shells and bones to fill the void.

There’s no barfing, digestion problems or accidents. High Quality food means good digestion, a shiny coat, high energy, bright eyes and a good attitude WITHOUT tons of additional elixers, treats or vet bills. A definite cost effective WIN:WIN for doggie AND me.

I’ve had great results with Newman’s Dog Food that I orderd through Amazon BUT there’s 5 pounds LESS for about the same price.

Psst I’m not an organic fanatic, it’s the nutritional value that counts for my fur baby and human kids!

Review by Bill Hamilton:

A few years back, prompted by the death of one of our dogs due to an inoperable brain tumor, I switched my dogs to foods without corn. I was convinced, right or wrong, that my animal died needlessly because of an over usage of steriods prescribed to cure her constant ear infections. I believe, again right or wrong, that the recurring ear infections were caused by an allergy to corn…which turned out to be the main ingredient in her food! Sorry, I’ll get off my soapbox and address the issue at hand…I found this food by accident. The only type the store had was the weight loss formula. Turns out my dogs love it! I haven’t seen them so spunky and full of energy. I’ve got a coon hound and two jack russells (mine are not the “bounce off the wall kind”, mine are mellow, laid back kinda dudes!) They gobble this stuff up and seem to stay full…no more begging in the kitchen than normal! Everyone’s skin seems smoother, eyes are brighter, heck, I think I’ll go have a bowl! All I can say, is if you are looking for a good quality dog food, this is the one for you. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!

Review by Sister Carrie:

After switching my cats from Iams to Castor & Pollux, we decided that it was the dog’s turn. Our three medium sized dogs (all around 45lbs) had been eating Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula for about 3 years. Even though Iams is considered a premium food, our concerns were:

(1) the third ingredient is corn meal and one of the proteins is chicken by-product meal (Chicken by-product meal consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice).

(2) Our dogs were putting on weight despite the fact that they are active dogs, and

(3) An olfactory-related concern – when resting, the dogs passed gas – a lot of gas!

The gas got us. Even though Castor & Pollux is a more expensive dog food, we decided that it was worth a try. Forty-five pounds of dog food later, I’m happy that we switched because the dogs love the food, their coats are healthy, they are slimming down with no loss of energy, and, best of all, the gas issue is no longer an issue.

Since this information isn’t listed on the Amazon product page, and since ingredients are a main consideration when purchasing pet food, Castor& Pollux Canine Weight Management ingredients are (from the back of the bag):

Chicken, Chicken Meal, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Oat Groats, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Brewers Rice, Turkey Meal, Rice Protein Concentrate, Dried Beet Pulp, Dried Potatoes, Chicken Fat Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Salmon Meal, Cultured Whey, Dried Carrots, Dried Bananas, Dried Apples, Chicken Cartilage (natural source of Glucosamine & Chondroitin), Ground Flaxseed, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Dried Blueberries, Dried Papaya, Choline Chloride, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, L-Carnitine, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Niacin, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin K1 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Cobalt Carbonate, Yeast Culture (Saccharomyces Cerevisiae), Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract, Dried Trichoderma Longibrachiatum Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract and Fermentation Solubles.

Each bag has a Best if Used by Date, and comes with an Unconditional Guarantee from the manufacturer.

Our final decision is to stick with this food. Our dogs love it & we love the results. Highly Recommended.

Review by E. Yang:

I have a dog who is a very picky eater. I’d been giving her homecooked meals for about three weeks, but the vet said that I should get her something more nutritionally balanced and more geared towards canines. I got this one because it looked like it had good ingredients (i.e. the first ingredient isn’t corn meal) and it was a reasonable price. Normally, my dog won’t eat dry food for nearly two days (no joke) after she’s had homecooked and/or wet food. To my pleasant surprise, she started eating the food within 24 hours. She’s been on it for a couple of weeks now and she doesn’t seem tired of it.

Review by ConsumersUnite!:

I fed this to my dogs for about 4 years. At the time I believed this to be the best food on the market. I didn’t however know that it was so high in grains. The first ingredient is chicken, but it is weighed prior to being cooked. After processing, it only maintains 20-25% of its original weight. Were it to be weighed after dehydration, it would be much further down the ingredient hierarchy. My vet told me my dog’s dry skin and lack of fur sheen was likely due to the high grain content of his food and insufficent Omega-3′s in his diet. After calling C&P I was suprised to learn that the Omega-3 levels are only 0.28%, which is significantly lower than many other premium foods.

I have since switched to Orijen brand 6-Fish dog food. The Omega-3′s are 4 times higher and the Glucosamine/Chondroitin levels approximately 10 times higher. All the fish are wild-caught in Canadian waters, never frozen, delivered daily, and are from species that retain little or no Mercury or PCB’s in their tissue. My dog has since stopped scratching and has developed a vibrant, glossy coat. He is also much more energetic, which really alarmed me at first.

I don’t believe C&P to be a bad food, but I believe that there are much better foods out there. Dog Food Analysis, a non-bias food review site, only rates the C&P(Ultramix and Organix) at 4 out of 6 stars. The only food brands to earn their 6 star rating were Orijen, Evo, Instinct, and Taste of the Wild. I made my final decision by comparing the ingredients.

If price is not a concern for you, then I’d encourage you to try the Orijen.

Review by R. B. Briggs:

My dog is very picky to the extent that she will not eat anything if she doesn’t like the food. Then, of course. her hunger drives her to scrounge for food. We lost a Thanksgiving turkey once…but that is another story.

Anyway, she took to this food immediately and cleaned her bowl. She is in good, trim shape, too.

If your dog likes it, the food has awesome ingredients and is affordable, AND Amazon delivers it to your door, what more can a good owner need?

Review by Mary K. Griggs:

Okay, let me be one to say my “kids” love this food. I have three longcoat Chihuahuas who are very finicky. One would eat something I got and the others wouldn’t and, this has been going on for a couple of years now. My oldest, a male was the worst and even he eats it. This is the first food I’ve gotten that they all like and eat regularly which, cuts back on my preparing wet foods for them. I am so happy with the product and will continue to buy this brand of foods. I’ve done lots of research and this has most of what I’m looking for, no by-products, grains, and chemicals I’ve never heard of or would want to eat myself, much less feed to my loved ones. The cost in comparison to the store brands is a bit more BUT, I save in not having to make larger qty meals from fresh, organic foods myself and…they are worth it. I can already see a change in their coats and stamina over about 4-6weeks. Happy Customer.

Review by J. Rudolph:

I know this is a gross title for a review, but it’s true. You can tell a lot about the quality of dog food and its ingredients by the consistency and quantity of dog poop. I’ve tried a lot of high-end dog foods before finally settling on Innova EVO. The ingredients and the nutritional composition were exactly what I was looking for, and my Bichon Frise and Havanese absolutely love this food. And I can tell they’re absorbing the nutrients from this food because their poops are smaller, firm (but not hard), and regular.

Review by M. Gayevsky:

My pug had stomach problems and I have tried every food out there. The only thing that worked was Science diet until I found this one. Its more natural and my dog does enjoy eating it more and have not had any problems since I switched a couple of years ago. Love this brand.

Review by R. Owens:

Due to allergies on the part of one dog, and pickiness on the part of the other, I’ve switched to natural dog food over the past year. Of them all, my dogs love this stuff the best. It has a nice smell and texture, and is more easily chewed by the elderly dog. Relatives who hadn’t seen the dogs for a few months immediately commented on the healthier appearance and renewed vigor of the dogs.

Review by N. Ferguson:

My two goldens approve of this product. Blue Buffalo uses top of the line ingredients, human food grade– there’s a chicken version and a fish version. No yucky meat “by-products”, meat and meat meals are the top ingredients, no indigestible corn or wheat, a wide variety of wholesome and varied vegetable ingredients and several probiotics to promote healthy digestion and absorption of nutrients. On top of that, this is a very palatable food.

Blue Buffalo also uses a unique process to manufacture “lifebits” which are added to the basic “kibble” food. These smaller, darker pieces are cold formed in order to better maintain nutrients. I don’t believe any other company incorporates this kind of element into dog food.

I respect what they are doing, and I’ve changed to Blue Buffalo food for my cat, too.

Here’s the nutritional information:

-One cup contains 462.8 calories

-NO animal by-products

-NO artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors

-NO corn, wheat, or soy AND gluten-free (great to know after last years’ pet food scandals and deaths with other brands, in which added glutens were contaminated with melamine)

-Crude protein 25% minimum

-Crude fat 14% minimum

-Omega 3 fatty acids 0.25% min

-Omega 6 fatty acides 3.5% min

-Glucosamine 400 mg/kg max

-Major ngredients, in order:

Deboned chicken, chicken meal, whole ground brown rice (very digestible grain source vs. the usual corn), whole ground barley, oatmeal, rye, whole potatoes, tomato pomace (natural source of lycopene), chicken fat (preserved wtih natural mixed tocopherols), natural chicken flavor, whole carrots, whole sweet potatoes, blueberries, cranberries, flaxseed, barley grass, dried parsley, alfalfa meal, kelp meal, taurine, l-carnitine, l-lysine, glucosamine hydrochloride, yucca schidigera extract, green tea extract, turmeric, garllic, sunflower oil (natural source of Omega 6 fatty acids), oil of rosemary, the whole bunch of expected vitamins and minerals, and several probiotics (lactobacillus acidolphilus, bacillus subtilis, bifidobacgterium longum, enterococcus faecium).

I hope this helps you evaluate whether or not this food would be a good match for your best pal.

Review by La Piccola:

I’ve been feeding Blue Buffalo and we like it OK. I mix it with a 1/3 raw, grounded meaty bones because the grain content is a little too high for my taste.

I was feeding Orijen for awhile but my finicky eaters decided they liked this combination better. So 4 stars from my pack.