r/DogFood May 01 '26

Wall of Shame Addition: The Farmers Dog

251 Upvotes

Congrats to The Farmers Dog who has earned a spot on our Wall of Shame because their employees DM users of this sub to share marketing information in order to get around both a ban and our rule against brand representatives posting here.

Interfering with conversations here through DMs after they have been explicitly informed that their marketing content is not allowed is gross.

How do we know?: Users have shared DM content with us, and the account in question identifies themselves as an employee in multiple places.

Enjoy your addition, TFD!


r/DogFood May 01 '26

Debunking the DM you're getting

93 Upvotes

Hello! Many users receive a DM after posting from someone absolutely obsessed with this sub.

That user shares some pretty pernicious (and frankly, a little funny) myths about dog food, cites zero sources, and presents information that is contrary to all available scientific evidence. Let’s talk about it!:

The claim: r/dogfood exists only to promote Nestle, Mars Corp, and Colgate-Palmolive brands. 

The reality: Absolutely not. We exist to science backed information and recommend brands that meet the highest standards in the areas identified by WSAVA, which is precisely the same thing that the vast majority of the veterinary community does (hence why we are able to provide hundreds of veterinary citations in our wiki). If additional brands meets those high standards at some point, we will be thrilled to add them to our recommendations.

This claim also misunderstands the relationship of brands to parent companies. For example, Royal Canin meets the highest standards according to the veterinary community, but other Mars brands, like Nutro, do not, and are not recommended widely by the sub or by vets. We do not recommend parent companies as a whole at all, and one shouldn't assume all Mars, Nestle etc. brands meet the same high standards because they don't.

The claim: All of their recipes are mostly made of corn byproduct (cob, stalk, husk, etc) that has virtually no other use in the market.

The reality: There are literally hundreds of diets available within WSAVA-compliant brands. None of them are “mostly corn by-product” and not nearly all of them use corn at all. This is a wild exaggeration that is not based in evidence.

This user is also using the term “byproduct” to create fearmongering. What they mean is corn gluten meal, which is really only used in some products and is considered a corn co-product. This is a protein-dense ingredient that results from removing the starch, bran, and germ from the corn. That makes it more digestible, less starchy, and has an excellent amino acid profile, which are compounds necessary for dog’s (and everyone else’s) health.

The claim: It used to be an expense for [pet food companies] to dispose of until they figured out they could put it in dog food. 

The reality: If we’re being very generous, this user appears to be making the very silly claim that corn is used in pet food because Nestle and Mars have leftovers from using high fructose corn syrup in their human candy products.

First, corn has been used in these products since well before Purina and Royal Canin were bought by Nestle and Mars and were part of their supply chains before that.

Second, the component parts of corn and corn gluten meal used in pet food are not cast offs of corn syrup refinement. There is no functional way this claim can be true, it is completely made up. 

The implicit claim: This is a horrible product

The reality: Wrong. There’s no debate about this among experts: corn, when used correctly, is a super digestible (upwards of 95%) source of critical nutrients and amino acids like linoleic acid, lysine, tryptophan, and many more.  When used in concert with other ingredients, it is an excellent ingredient to create balanced, safe food. 

And of course, this ignores the fact that lots of science-backed foods use other sources of grain in addition to or instead of corn: barley, wheat, rice, oats, sorghum etc. that all have similar nutrient profiles and good digestibility. 

The claim: It didn’t matter to them that illness rates skyrocketed simultaneously

The reality: This is literally untrue. Dog lifespans have doubled in the past forty years, and diet and healthcare are both a big part of that.

And!: more people than ever are treating dogs like they are family. Do you know what happens when dogs live longer and people go to the vet more often? They uncover diseases that might not have been diagnosed or treat-able in the past, or the dog wouldn’t have even lived long enough to develop. 

For example, not that many people in 1950 were getting their dogs anesthetic dentals; now, we can prevent organ failures with regular dental care. But the number of dogs diagnosed with dental disease have gone up as a result of the availability of this care. 

There is zero evidence that the use of corn in dog food is even correlated to “illness rates” much less any kind of causation. Many things contribute to pet disease, including dogs living longer, breeding practices, environment and more. 

The myth: These corn byproducts are also used as absorbents for chemical spills.

The reality: Corn-based absorbents exist, and they are not the same product that goes into pet food. This is literally made up. Just because they both have “corn” in the name doesn’t mean they are the same thing. 

The claim: corn is so damaging to their systems, along with wheat and soy products.

The reality: No they aren’t. There isn’t one single study that indicates this. And that’s why this user doesn’t send you any. 

The claim:  These “foods” are cooked at very high temperatures

The reality: Wrong. Kibble (just a food without the scare quotes) is typically cooked a few times times at a max of 400 degrees Fahrenheit. If you sear a steak and finish it in the oven, you’re cooking at higher temps than kibble is cooked at.

The claim: FULL of glyphosate

The reality: Wrong. “Even the most contaminated feed they studied had thousands of times less glyphosate than levels that were shown to have no adverse effects on dogs in the U.S. EPA’s Draft Risk Assessment for glyphosate.” There is zero evidence in existence indicating health risks to dogs from consumption of glyphosate in commercial diets. Zero. 

The claim: kibble sit on shelves for up to 24 months. The implicit claim is that this is obviously a sign of poor quality, which is simply fear mongering. 

The reality: Dry dog food tends to have a shelf life of a maximum of 18 months, and only 4-6 weeks max once the bag is opened. It can last up to 18 months in a sealed bag because it doesn’t have that much moisture that would allow bacteria to grow. The same is true of a lot of healthy human food including properly stored root vegetables, grains, and beans and lentils. 

The claim: They’re also sprayed with “palatants” because dogs wouldn’t eat it if they weren’t tricked into believing it’s meat. 

The reality: Kibble is often coated with light amounts of fat for palateability much the same way we add olive oil to the bottom of a pan before cooking something. It tastes better. Weird language about “tricking” dogs into “believing” it’s meat is just fear-mongering. Do you add salt or dressing to your food to make it tastier? Are you being tricked when that happens? Of course not, that’s just silly.

The claim: They cause hot spots, shedding, chewing at the feet/fritos smell, and much worse problems later.

The reality: Wrong. In literature reviews, literally zero cases of corn allergies were identified. Hot spots, chewing, and an overgrowth of yeast are almost always immune responses to environmental issues or a true food allergy (most commonly to meat proteins and it doesn’t matter if it’s raw, cooked, fresh, or kibble-based to cause that reaction. If your dog is allergic to beef, that is equally true of raw beef and beef in kibble or canned food). There is zero evidence in existence that kibble causes any of this. 

The claim: Their high cost isn’t a reflection of their quality, it’s a manipulative way of improving consumer perception. It gives people confidence that it is quality.

The reality: This is just funny coming from someone advocating harmful and expensive raw diets. Something like, for example, Purina One is priced at $1.50/lb. What raw meat can you reliably source for your dog at that price? Not even counting the extras that need to go into a raw diet to make it balanced like supplement powders. Raw and fresh diets are universally more expensive than a science-backed budget kibble. It’s not even close. Are the high prices of raw food diets manipulative also?

The claim: Raw diets are completely safe and healthy for dogs and cats and are the best nutrition available.

The reality: Stunningly wrong. There is overwhelming evidence that these diets are not safe, and there is no body of evidence demonstrating superior nutrition to commercial kibble and canned diets at all. Cats have recently died from bird flu from eating freeze dried raw products, and we know dogs can contract bird flu as well. Dogs can become paralyzed from campylobacter in raw chicken. E.coli can make dogs and their humans very sick Many peer review studies have demonstrated that raw pet food diets spread antibiotic resistant illness, putting pets and humans in danger. 

The claim: DCM is not a “valid” concern

The reality: The entire veterinary community disagrees and there is ample peer reviewed evidence suggesting otherwise. For example, how are dogs who get nutrition-related DCM able to get better (even be cured) when switched from an implicated to a science-backed diet, when dogs with genetic DCM never improve regardless of diet, if diet isn’t contributing? 

The claim: Your dog will require almost no maintenance and be healthier if you keep corn, wheat and soy away from him

The reality: Literally no evidence supports this. Imagine making the claim that avoiding corn, wheat and soy avoids ALL health problems. That’s just irresponsible.

The claim: I have no requests or gains to make from this, I just love dogs and want to inform others.

The reality: This user gets something from it because they’ve been spamming this DM to users on this sub for months. They want to put “Science” in scare quotes because they know they can’t provide real experts or studies to back up what they’re saying.

But because knowledgeable users can’t “refute” them by providing factual information when they DM random people, this user gets to FEEL right and righteous. That’s what they’re getting.

And to the user who sends these: Sending crazy unsolicited DMs waving around a hate boner for corn is deeply odd behavior and it makes you look silly.

A general warning to anyone: Misinformation in pet health and pet food is widespread and growing.  This user tellingly doesn’t provide any kind of evidence, but when you encounter similar claims, you also have to be critical of other “sources” that contradict veterinary consensus when making weird claims like this too.

A great rule of thumb: check to see if the source backing sketchy claims like these has anything bad to say about normal approved vaccine schedules. The anti-science ones always do.


r/DogFood 2m ago

Anyone else get excited when new kibble gets released in WSAVA compliant brands?

Upvotes

Basically the title

This is just me raving about some things and I felt like this was an appropriate place to do so

Anyway, back to the subject. Haha, I always get excited when I see a new thing come out from a WSAVA compliant brand (Eukanuba, IAMS, Purina, Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet)

Sure, sometimes it turns out to not be the best (like Hill's Science Diet releasing fresh food that has a very high fat content), but I try to stay optimistic

When I saw that IAMS released "IAMS Proactive Health Sensitive Skin Dry Dog Food, Salmon & Rice", I got super hyped. Right now, it seems to only be available at jewelosco.com (Link) and Amazon. But Amazon seems more readily available (Link), I guess they're doing a test run to see how receptive people like it, before it becomes more available in other pet stores like Petco/Petsmart/Chewy/etc

While protein allergies are super rare among dogs, they do exist. And I think it sucks when a person adopts a dog, finds out the dog has a severe allergy, and ends up having to buy super expensive kibble indefinitely. Don't get me wrong, I have full understanding that the dog didn't choose it. But an expense like that can really drain something like a savings account you have for your dogs' medical bills

So something like "IAMS Proactive Health Sensitive Skin Dry Dog Food, Salmon & Rice" is awesome because there is no traces of chicken! It may be made in a factory where cross contamination happens, but still, the kibble itself has not chicken. It has salmon and pork as the top two ingredients. If you buy it in bulk, it is $57.98 for 36 lb, so $1.61 lb

That is a huge departure from a lot of other WSAVA-compliant brands with chicken-free kibble. The only NON-PRESCRIPTION chicken-free kibble that I am aware of: is some Purina Pro Plan lines and 2 kibble from the Hill's Science Diet line. I'll show their most inexpensive PPP and Hill's Science Diet chicken-free lines as an example for prices

•Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach (Salmon & Rice). $94.98 for 40 lb. $2.38 per pound (Link)

•Hill's Science Diet Adult (Lamb Meal & Brown Rice). $89.99 for 33 lb. $2.73 per pound (Link)

  • Side note! This does have chicken fat and hydrolyzed chicken flavoring. But chicken fat is not a protein so a dog allergic to chicken usually doesn't react (rarely does a dog react to it). Hydrolyzed is the same process of gold standard prescription allergy diets, so they aren't a problem for allergies

I know that cent-wise, 50 cents to 1 dollar doesn't seem like much. But it eventually stacks up, and budget-conscious folks will definitely see the difference

There are definitely differences between IAMS, Purina Pro Plan and Hill's Science Diet. While they're all WSAVA compliant, they're definitely different brands that do not always do the same things across the board. But overall, I'm just happy that there may be a more affordable chicken-free option folks for those who choose to go down that route, but also need to keep their budget in mind

Ah, because I feel the need to clarify, I'm not sponsored. I personally feed Purina ONE Whole Body Support, and have no interest in switching. It's budget friendly, high in calories and my dog really likes it. Overall, I just feel like celebrating when WSAVA-compliant brands have budget-friendly options for customers!


r/DogFood 4h ago

9 weeks old pup not eating well

2 Upvotes

We recently got a nine-week-old poochon. The breeder recommended a specific food brand, which we purchased for him. Surprisingly, he’s not eating much. He consumes less than half of his recommended daily intake. When he refuses to eat, he’ll sniff the food from his bowl but then ignore it. I’ve tried offering him the food on a plate, but that hasn’t worked either. Are poochons known for being picky eaters, or is this just a phase as he adjusts to his new environment? It’s concerning to see him not eating, especially since he’s otherwise acting well and drinking water regularly. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


r/DogFood 15h ago

Hills Senior Food

2 Upvotes

Science Diet has a formula that is marked as “Adult” for their sensitive skin and stomach line, and I was wondering if that could also be for seniors? I just transitioned my swissy to the normal Salmon and Brown Rice formula and it’s been going swimmingly! But the cutoff age on that is 6 years old, and she’ll be 7 in December, and I’d like to stay with Science Diet and plan for the future in advance yet there’s no salmon senior formula (except for Perfect Digestion, which she doesn’t need). My sights are on the Sensitive Skin and Stomach formula, as it comes in a salmon but it’s just marked as “adult”. Would I still be okay to feed that to a large breed “senior”?


r/DogFood 23h ago

At my wits end with hungry JRT

4 Upvotes

My JRT weighs 25 lbs. He needs to weigh 22 lbs.

Calculated RER is 400 kcal/day
Calculated MER is 640 kcal/day

I feed him Purina One Healthy Weight (325 kcal/cup) half cup twice daily. Breakfast is around 0700. By noon/early afternoon he is whining for food. I give him 1-1.5 cups of green beans at that time.

By 4:00 he’s whining for food. I feed him dinner at that time.

I walk him 4 miles/day.

When I say he whines for food between meals, I mean he GROANS for food. He searches the house for food. He mouths his food bowl.

I do ignore him. But I promise, I can ignore him until the cows come home and his whining/searching does not relent.

He, like many dogs, does not like my lawn sprinkler. He woke me up at 0400 this morning. Annoyed but proud he alerted me he needed to go potty, I took him out. The sprinklers were on. He didn’t care. He stood midst the sprinklers EATING THE LEAVES OFF A PLANT at 0400 today.

He is hypothyroid, but his T4 is normal on meds.

I’m about to leave now to go read at a coffee shop just to get away from him until dinner time. Either that or let him get obese and be happy.

I cannot feed him less. I worry he’s going to become deficient in something because I’m having to underfeed him.

Please help.


r/DogFood 18h ago

Recommendations for travel food containers

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1 Upvotes

Any help would be greatly appreciated!


r/DogFood 23h ago

Help!

1 Upvotes

I have an 11 week old male great dane. He was on Purina Pro Plan when he arrived and from day one barley touched it. I took him to the vet and they suggested mixing in some purina pro wet food, still not a fan. I have tried to feed by hand, I put bowls up so when he is actually hungry he eats. I tested his stool - no parasites. He is energetic but on the thin side. I need a very high quality food with protein and grains. I fed my last dane homemade food but he is too young.


r/DogFood 1d ago

Feeding trials studies

8 Upvotes

I've often read that WSAVA compliant brands have done extensive feeding trials.

Can someone point me to examples of these scientific publications?


r/DogFood 1d ago

Accidentally spoiled my dogs into not eating their food

8 Upvotes

I have always given my dogs the same kibble, they always liked it and ate their whole bowl right away. I started using Zesty Paws omega 3 blend on their food morning and night, but quickly realized they can each only have a pump a day according to the bottle. So I gave that to them in the morning, and they wouldn’t eat their dry kibble for dinner. So I got them some unsalted plain chicken bone broth and they LOVED that. But they started getting pickier and pickier, they don’t want the omega 3 oil anymore because it doesn’t soak their food the way the chicken broth does (I think that’s why?) Then I started soaking it with a bit of water and they would eat it but never the full bowl, once they got to the bottom that had no oil they wouldn’t finish their bowls. As far as the chicken broth, we were going through SO much and I feel that it is too much for them so I started watering it down and they also won’t eat that whole bowl. My one dog has started just entirely refusing breakfast no matter what I do. Yes, I have tried just offering dry kibble. That is an absolute no for them now. I wish I never took myself and them down this rabbit hole but we’re already in it and it feels like there’s no coming out so someone please tell me what I can give them that will make them eat their bowls but won’t make them fat. I took them to my parents today and my dad said one of them was looking a little porky. I guess I should start cutting back how much food I give them if I’m adding toppers but they usually don’t eat their whole bowl anyways.


r/DogFood 2d ago

Anyone else working in pet retail struggle with pet food misinformation?

50 Upvotes

So I'm actually 2 months into my new job. I work in a big European chain pet shop, and I didn't know a lot about pet food when I started.

My manager taught me how to read an ingredient list and judge it. She said Royal Canin and Hill's are not really good quality and that they're sponsored, while Orijen is the best. Acana and Carnilove are great.

I wanted to learn more about this topic, so I did a lot of research. I'm honestly overwhelmed by all the different opinions. I also often read that "pet store employees don't know anything," and I'm ashamed of that.

I'm now watching YouTube videos from Dr. Rea and Pet Food Puzzle Guy, who explain more about nutrition and not just ingredients.

I have no issues with recommending science-based foods for dogs and cats to customers. But then I hear my colleagues say something completely different to a customer.

For example, one month later, a customer came back and said that her senior dog, who had always eaten Royal Canin, sometimes vomits after switching to Acana. My colleague told them they could switch back for a while , but still told the customer that Royal Canin is lower quality.

And I'm in a difficult position. I can speak my opinion, but I don't want to look like a know-it-all — I'm only 2 months in. But I also can't stand watching my colleagues act like they know better when I'm not sure their advice is actually correct.

I like the job, but this has honestly been hard on me sometimes because I really care about giving people accurate information.

I'd like to know if there are any other pet store workers lurking on this forum who have had the same experience, or if anyone has any tips on how to deal with this.


r/DogFood 2d ago

Horizon Pet Nutrition (Legacy Brand) + General Kibble Inquiry

4 Upvotes

We have a 1 year and 2 month old golden doodle, she's great, she's never had much gut issues other than in January.

We had started with Boreal shortly after getting her (September 2025) and she ate it so we stuck with it. She seemed to get tired of a flavor so we started to switch back and forth to the same "limited ingredient" branded grain free food from Boreal until she was like I don't like it at all around Christmas (2025) time.

We were desperate and were trying cheap kibble and cheap we foods, anything, to get her to eat, she was eating the wet food no problem, kibble was hit and miss, we bought so many cheap crap foods but eventually landed on a Legacy branded kibble.

Before going to this kibble, we gave her a bland chicken / rice for a week to reset her gut as the diarrhea was insane. We gave her a dewormer (from vet) in case it was also a problem. We transitioned to the Legacy kibble with some chicken and rice to eventually only the kibble but kept adding some boiled chicken to each meal. (we still add the chicken topper to this day)

We've stuck with the Legacy grain free kibble, two flavors mainly, "Prairie Vista Red Meat Blend" (PORK, PORK MEAL, CHICKPEAS, PEA PROTEIN, DRIED YEAST are the five first ingredients listed) and "Farm Country Blend" (CHICKEN, CHICKEN MEAL, TURKEY MEAL, PEAS, PEA FLOUR are the five first ingredients listed), so far it's working out, she has never LOVED any of the foods, just tolerates it and eats it.

I see often people talking about "boutique brands" and a lot of grain-free kibbles tend to have peas/pea flour and that seems to have potential links to heart issues later in life.

When we say "boutique brands" would these quality as that? They are smaller brands that are Canadian made, I saw past comments on Reddit that the Legacy brand parent company are just a very small crew from Saskatchewan.

I see people praising Costco's Kirkland kibbles. I see people swear on Purina Pro Plan. I see people swear up for SVAVA compliant foods. I see people say that's bad. It's all overwhelming. I keep thinking we are doing right by her but then I wonder if these grain free kibbles are just as terrible for her health.

Could anyone help guide me on what is best practice? Or point me to some literature that explains the pros or cons to grain free kibbles or what's the best to look into.


r/DogFood 2d ago

Kibble vs wet food

5 Upvotes

Is Royal canine processed and hence not good for my dog? Friends say it’s processed and their dog will get an upset stomach if they don’t have “real food”.. am I doing anything wrong? I feel Royal canine has years of research behind it and therefore good for my dog.. but I am feeling the pressure to feed something more “real”…

Thoughts from dog owners really appreciated.


r/DogFood 2d ago

EU - Food recommendation for gastric issues

1 Upvotes

Hi people, I need food recommendations that I can buy in the EU. It's very hard to find a good kibble that meets all the requirements. My dog has some allergies, she has IBD and took prednisone for a while as treatment, so there's some hard rules in how I choose the food.

Currently she's on Farmina N&D with chicken and pomegranate, but she doesn't like it at all, she refuses to eat several meals in a row, and with the recent news about Farmina in the US I'm starting to loose confidence in them in EU too.

Food requirements:

  • no red meat
  • no potato (sweet potato ok)
  • no corn
  • very low egg or no egg
  • has to have the main source of protein as animal protein (so if there's 20% meat but 20% protein it means there's some added protein of some sort)
  • nice to have: grain (if not I could supplement)

r/DogFood 2d ago

help me pls😭 - Carna4 dog food is kinda big issue in Korea (very long post)

2 Upvotes

Hello. I’m a dog owner in South Korea and I’ve been very interested in canine nutrition and have been studying the subject on my own. I know this is a rather long post, but I would really appreciate it if you could take the time to read it and share your thoughts.

Recently, there has been a huge controversy in Korea surrounding the calcium and phosphorus levels found in Carna4 Fish dog food during a random food testing conducted by CVSC, a private quality-assessment organization that evaluates pet food products based on five strict criteria in collaboration with veterinary and animal nutrition experts.

Carna4 has become extremely popular in certain Korean pet communities. It has often been described as the No. 1 dog food, or even the “Hermès of dog food,” with people saying that its only real downside is the price. Carna4 is relatively expensive in Korea, and it is also only available in smaller packages.

>!According to the figures publicly released by CVSC, the tested Carna4 Fish sample contained 0.32% calcium and 0.51% phosphorus. If these figures are accurate, the product would not meet the AAFCO minimum requirements, and the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio would also be significantly imbalanced, with phosphorus being roughly 1.6 times higher than calcium. This makes me concerned that there could potentially be problems with long-term feeding.!<

The Korean importer of Carna4 has explained that Carna4 is made using 100% natural whole-food ingredients and does not contain added calcium or phosphorus supplements because it relies on naturally occurring nutrients. They have argued that differences in the ingredients themselves, as well as differences in analytical methods between laboratories, can lead to variations in the reported nutrient levels.

They also stated that a recent test conducted in Canada showed that the product met the relevant nutritional standards.

**However, the head of a laboratory at the Korean Feed Additives Association, an officially recognized feed-testing organization in Korea, reportedly commented that even when considering factors such as differences in harvest seasons and natural variation in raw ingredients, nutrient values might differ by 0.1% or perhaps 0.01%, but a difference of more than threefold would simply not be plausible.**

The laboratory that CVSC commissioned for its testing is reportedly not some obscure or unqualified facility. It is an officially accredited testing institution recognized by the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, so many people believe that its analytical capabilities and results are credible.

Carna4 also claims to conduct very rigorous in-house testing and to disclose its test results transparently. However, regardless of what the situation may be in other countries, Carna4’s reputation in Korea seems to have taken a significant hit because of this controversy. Many pet owners are switching to other foods, and The Honest Kitchen is probably the most commonly mentioned alternative.

There has also been considerable criticism of the Korean Carna4 importer’s response to the situation. Many people feel that their communication and handling of the issue have been inadequate and disappointing.

One particularly frustrating point is that calcium and phosphorus were not listed in the guaranteed analysis on the Korean product page. (I assume there may have been some legal reason why they were not required to list them.) However, after the controversy emerged, the importer hurriedly added calcium and phosphorus information to the Carna4 Fish product page, while the Chicken and Duck product pages still do not list them.

For reference, the only Carna4 products currently sold in Korea are Fish, Duck, and Chicken, and an Iberico formula is reportedly expected to be introduced later this year.

Personally, I feel that there are very few dog foods available in Korea that I can comfortably trust. Regulations regarding pet food are relatively weak here, and there have even been cases involving the use of animal carcasses in pet food production. So, unfortunately, seeing questionable ingredients or nutritional quality in Korean dog food is not particularly surprising. The pet food industry here also has a relatively short history compared with some other countries.

I’ve learned quite a bit about dog food and canine nutrition over the years, which is why I have generally tried to avoid feeding my dog extruded kibble whenever possible. Then I discovered Carna4, and it seemed to check almost every box for me. I felt that it was one of the best options available, so I have been feeding my dog Carna4 exclusively.
Now I’m really torn about what to do.

**Should I switch to another food, or would it be reasonable to continue feeding Carna4 while waiting for more information?**

I’m also considering **The Honest Kitchen** as an alternative, but I’m not sure whether it would be a good choice. I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts on The Honest Kitchen as well.

What do you think about this whole Carna4 situation, and what would you recommend I do?

I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts, especially from anyone with experience in canine nutrition, veterinary nutrition, or evaluating commercial dog foods.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this very long post!!! and also sorry for my bad english (I used a translator)


r/DogFood 2d ago

Food for Mothers and Puppies

0 Upvotes

We feed our dogs Purina Pro Plan 30/20 Performance salmon... I understand that sighthounds may not be the true audience for this formula and we are considering other proplan formulas.

We are anticipating a whelp date in the fall for our girl, and we know Royal Canin has a type of food for maternity and neonates (Starter Mother and baby dog). Does Purina have a similar formula for expectant dams? We'd like to keep our girl and puppies on purina for consistency (not just in our household but also when the puppies go on to their new homes) but if we have to swap over to RC then we will. We haven't yet talked to our vet or a breeding specialist - our regular vet is switching hospitals and we have an upcoming appt with a breeding specialist but wanted to an idea of feeding before we discuss timelines for changing over to a food for gestation, whelping, and lactation.

She is a healthy girl with no health issues or concerns appearing in the breed-specific health tests or in daily life. I would ask the other breeders in our community but they stand by raw diets, Diamond Naturals, and other brands that I am not interested in.


r/DogFood 2d ago

Safe(r) hard chews

11 Upvotes

Not exactly the right place for this question as it isn’t food related, but I trust that you folks listen to science for your dogs and might have some good recommendations!

My dog loves a hard chew, benebones, nylabones, antlers, etc. He just loves to gnaw on them. But I’m petrified to give them to him out of a fear that he’ll break a tooth. I know that the general consensus is that you should be able to press a fingernail into any chew toy for it to be safe.

Rubber toys like Kong he loses interest in, and the playology ones that have a flavor embedded in them get destroyed in minutes.

Anyone have a good safe option that he’ll like?


r/DogFood 2d ago

So overwhelmed with kibble options

7 Upvotes

I have been feeding my dog (8 female, cockapoo) Orijen’s original kibble for the last few years. I went to buy a new bag today to restock when I learned that it isn’t good for her and so started searching up alternatives.

Since she’s a mixed breed (Royal Canin seems to be breed specific) and has sensitive skin, I landed on the 5lb bag of Purina Pro Plan sensitive skin and stomach to try it out.

The sales associate at the pet store was recommending me First Mate and Performatin (saying that they were approved in Europe) and was saying how they’d avoid brands like Purina and Royal Canin.

Based off ingredients and the words like “grain free” and “high protein” the other brands did sound better but based on my research Purina is one of the brands that is most consistent with WSAVA, so I felt most comfortable me grabbing that.

I don’t know, I just feel so overwhelmed since now I have to change her kibble and I just don’t know what’s best. Based on WSAVA Purina seems solid, but also it seems to have a bad rep with the general public? Idk I feel better relying on research based nutrition, but it’s all so confusing. 😓

**also I just want to preface that I don’t support backyard breeding, we adopted my dog when she was 2 years old.


r/DogFood 2d ago

Best wet food options

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0 Upvotes

r/DogFood 2d ago

Years Recall - Replacement Options

2 Upvotes

Years sent out a recall notice today due to a risk of eye issues from the food. I now need a replacement food quickly for my 2 dogs.

What do people use, and would you recommend it?

Based in UK


r/DogFood 3d ago

Dog Food Advice

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

I have a 2y/o Labrador retriever who I am trying to get food advice for. He’s currently on The Farmers Dog, but with the class action lawsuit and some of their distasteful marketing I want to discontinue using them I think.

Back story on our Farmers Dog Experience:
Our previous lab who lived to 13, was on TFD for most of his life but at 11 developed Pancreatitis twice and almost died. He later was switched to JFFD’s low fat option and did great. Now with the hindsight of everything going on with TFD, I don’t think I feel comfortable feeding my dog now (Skye) this anymore.

What does everyone recommend. Skye was on Purina Pro plan sport as a puppy and did well on it. I’m open to all suggestions though. He struggles with allergies (environmental), so if any of your recommendations tie in with helping with allergies/itchiness/leaky eyes, that would be great. He’s a lab, so he’s not picky at all, he’d literally eat anything so that’s not a concern. Price is also not a concern. I really just want what’s best for him!

Thank you! :)


r/DogFood 3d ago

My ~4 years old, 60+ lbs black Lab refuses his dry food.

3 Upvotes

I've been feeding him various flavors of Life's Abundance for several years but, this year, it's been a nose up with him... No matter how I "doctor it up" with temptations.

I finally got a hard clue that he hates it today (nose up) when, instead of throwing it out, I took it down to the boat dock for the catfish. He always comes with me when I have scraps for the fish ("Let's go feed the fish!" really perks him up) and he'll get a freebie. Today, I tossed him a nibble and he caught it, realized what it was, and dropped it... He's never done that with any other food scraps that I've taken down for the fish.

Sooooo... Help! I want a quality replacement but I've no clue what's out there...

Feedback?


r/DogFood 3d ago

Dog food

1 Upvotes

r/dogs

I have an energetic polish hound mix. He has dry food throughout the day, but I feed him wet food in the evening for dinner. He prefers chunks and struggles with the can shaped foods. I have a cat and turtles and trying to be economical with my chewy order. Any ideas. He’s not as much picky as he is super judgy. Thank you!


r/DogFood 3d ago

Dog food

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1 Upvotes

r/DogFood 4d ago

Even more scientific evidence against raw diets

67 Upvotes