One of the things that’s been most interesting to me since Diggs joined our family is how seriously people take the type of food their dog eats. For a lot of people, it’s like a line in the sand – either you agree with their feeding philosophy or you can just hit the curb.
I’ll be honest, when Diggs came home from the shelter, we put him on Purina. That was a brand I was familiar with, that I thought was good for him. We quickly learned that Diggs’ super sensitive stomach just wasn’t working with his Purina, so the vet recommended Science Diet Sensitive Stomach (which I’ll shorten to SDSS for the rest of this post).
The SDSS seemed to work pretty well for him, in all honesty. There were some days when he wasn’t interested in eating, but everyone assured me that was ok, that he didn’t have to eat every single meal to be healthy. Part of the reason we stuck with the SDSS was that every two months or so, Diggs would have another round of digestive trouble. We didn’t want to add more stress to his stomach by transitioning his food too. After we found vomit in his crate one morning and then later in the middle of the carpet, Diggs went on antacids. It seemed that his stomach was making too much acid and it was just making him sick.
Luckily, these problems have lessened over time, which I attribute in part to a summer with the calming collar (when all of my neighbors were outside and making noise), a shift in our training methods (emphasizing his confidence and our bonding together instead of just his obedience) and him learning to trust us as family. The rest of it, well who knows?
Recently we started looking at alternatives to the SDSS, in large part due to the horrified looks we got at our local specialty pet store when we told them what he was eating. My biggest concern were a giant increase in cost, availability once we move out of Colorado, and that it was reasonably “normal” for lack of a better word. I know it seems strange, but if I want to move away from unpronounceable ingredients, I wanted to make sure the new “natural” food was composed of foods I recognized as well.
After a lot of research, we’ve finally chosen a new foods. I introduce you to… Acana!
We’ve started him on the chicken and burbank potato version, but I’m really interested in exploring their other options. So far, Diggs seems to be in love with his new food. You would thing I was giving him pieces of filet mignon the way he reacts when I open the bag. Even better, he doesn’t seem to have any problems with it as we’re transitioning. It seems like he’ll only need to eat half as much Acana as he did SDSS, which makes the price roughly $10 more per 30 lbs. The food is available across the country, and has pronounceable ingredients. I’d say that’s a pretty good start as we explore the world of high quality dog food.
What type of food do you feed your dog and why? How have your conversations with other pet owners regarding dog food gone so far?
Our Four Legged Family 
We have tried all sorts of things with Bella from the ‘finest’ brands to home-cooking. We are finally settled into a prescription kibble (she has colitis) and a variety of add-ins. Right now she’s on a Stella and Chewy kick. Prior to that it was MilkOpet and before that, green tripe.
I try not to let the enthusiasts at either end of the spectrum to get to me. As long as he’s doing okay, you are the best person to determine his food.
We’ve been a strictly “grain-free” house for both the dogs & cats for years. Acana and Orijen have become two of my go-to brands of food.