Switching from Acana to ???

[IroningMaiden]

I have to buy Jake's food online because there are no local stores that carry good quality food.

Unfortunately, the online store I've been buying Acana from is having issues with keeping it in stock. I checked and they're also out of stock of Orijen, except for the puppy (Jake will be 12 months in three weeks so that's out) and Regional Red. Regional Red just happens to be 50% more expensive than the regular Orijen so I'd rather not switch to THAT!


What else could I switch him to?

Here is the site for what I have to choose from:
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food

[IroningMaiden]

Actually, what about Markus Mühle? I've never heard of it before but it looks nice and healthy. Good alternative to Acana/Orijen do you think?

[Woofie]

There's no harm in feeding him the puppy version just cause he's nearing a year old....the Orijen foods, puppy or adult, are all life stages foods and can be fed to a dog of any age. To me, I'd rather feed a puppy food of the same brand til more stock comes in then a sudden immediate switch to another company.

Is it the LB puppy or regular puppy?...if it's regular puppy, just feed slightly less of it, cause it's a bit richer and a bit higher in calcium, but at 12mnths, he should be fine eating one bag of it.

Personally I have a 9yr old dog that still eats puppy food cause he does so well on it, and it's an all life stages food too.

[Mom2FiveBIGDogs]

If they are stocking the Orijen Puppy versions, I'd feed my adult that. It's good for all life stages.

[LuckyLuna]

I've fed both Orijen Large Breed Puppy and Orijen Adult and Acana formulas. With Orijen there are very few differences between the puppy versions and adult compared to some other brands. Personally, I'd have no problem feeding any of the Orijen Puppy formulas to an adult dog of any age. The Orijen has a little more protein than the Acana so you may need to feed a little less. Check for the calorie difference. If you have enough Acana to mix for several days with any new Orijen you buy, it will help in transition. Adding a spoonful of plain canned pumpkin can also help when changing foods.

[labby]

Why not try something local and start feeding ProPlan?

[Squeaksmom]

pro plan is local to Ireland??

[Scottishlabs]

I have no advice, but am watching this post also for tips. We too use Zooplus to get our Acana, and over christmas and new year, we couldn't get it and had to buy from our local pet store, but I was less than happy with what I was feeding my dogs.

We were lucky and last week had two 13.5kg bags of Acana Wild Prairie (which seems to be the new name for prairie harvest, I guess) delivered.

But like you, I'm looking at alternatives in zooplus, but am not good at understanding the labels etc.

[IroningMaiden]

In the end I decided on James Wellbeloved.

It seemed to have the best ingredients out of the ones I took a look at, and had an ok review on dogfoodanalysis.com (which is a site I take with a grain, nay a dash, of salt)

The Orijen Adult food is actually back in stock, but they've increased the price by 50% so it's the same now as the Regional Red. Acana Grasslands et all is still out of stock. Very frustrating!

Ah well. Looking forward to getting the dog food via courier later this week!

[LuckyLuna]

Originally Posted by IroningMaiden

In the end I decided on James Wellbeloved.

It seemed to have the best ingredients out of the ones I took a look at, and had an ok review on dogfoodanalysis.com (which is a site I take with a grain, nay a dash, of salt)

The Orijen Adult food is actually back in stock, but they've increased the price by 50% so it's the same now as the Regional Red. Acana Grasslands et all is still out of stock. Very frustrating!

Ah well. Looking forward to getting the dog food via courier later this week!

I'm sure your dog will do fine with the James Wellbeloved also. You can always add a scrambled egg or a few pieces of meat occasionally to the kibble if you want the protein a little higher. I'm surprised that you would have to order that brand also. I thought it would be readily available in Ireland as it is in England.

[IroningMaiden]

This is slightly off topic but I think the differences between England and Ireland in terms of attitudes towards companion animals can not be understated. You need only look at the statistics on the number of cats and dogs the ISPCA (who are a bit of a joke) euthenize year on year. If the RSPCA were to euthenize even 5% of the animals that the ISPCA do, the UK would erupt in mass riots. Bearing in mind, as well, that our human population is so much smaller... it really is shocking.

So - on that note, it is not particularly surprising to me that the local pet stores only carry such brands as Purina, Red Mills, etc.

[Woofie]

We have something similar to Red Mills here, think it's called redbarn or something like that.

ETA: You know what bothers me about Orijen/Acana, seems like they're constantly having situations of either being short, having delivery issues, or being hung-up at the border.

I understand that they supposedly use total fresh, never frozen ingredients and perhaps may run into shortages from time to time; but the odd thing is, seems like each time that's occured, there's either been a change in price, slight change in formula, etc.....

When I fed Orijen for a few months, I ran into this the first time where I couldn't get food for more then a 2-3 wk period; upon asking about it; I was told it had something to do with the regulations of crossing the border.

Right about that same time is when I had read an article stating how a lot of cats died from eating Orijen in Australia, IIRC and that it was linked to how Australia irradiates (sp?) the food when it comes into their country....just kind of gave me the creeps about the entire Orijen theory compounded by the fact I couldn't be guaranteed a bag of food anytime I needed it.

That said, I love everything Orijen/Acana stand for, however, my gang didn't do all that wonderful on their formulas and they got to be extremely pricey to the point I could feed my gang fresh foods twice over in a weeks span versus the cost of the Orijen.

Your other choice of food looks to be one with good ingredients, don't know anything about them....keep us posted on how the transition goes.

[mags]

I also rely on zooplus for food (I'm in France and ProPlan and Royal Canin appear to be the only choices). That price hike on Orijen really bothers me. I still have 1.5 big bags of LBP to get through but while my puppy loves the kibble, his system isn't doing too well on it so far.

I'm also curious as to how you fare with James Wellbeloved so please post an update in a few weeks.

[uplander]

Once you have fed such a great diet...I am afraid you are not going to be happy with the results of lesser foods.

Stay away from Purina...it has gone to bargain basement rendered no name ingredients with little or no meat in it after cooking. Your dog will get sick from it....Not enough animal protein to keep the immune system functioning....

Order two bags next time it is in stock or find another on line retailer.

EVO is a better food than Arcana but is not listed on your site..perhaps call them and ask them to stock it.and Orijen is better than Acana ..

It becomes all about the amount of meat in a food that makes it better than the next. The dog utilizes meat better than grain protein.

[Doppler]

Originally Posted by uplander

Once you have fed such a great diet...I am afraid you are not going to be happy with the results of lesser foods.

Stay away from Purina...it has gone to bargain basement rendered no name ingredients with little or no meat in it after cooking. Your dog will get sick from it....Not enough animal protein to keep the immune system functioning....

Order two bags next time it is in stock or find another on line retailer.

EVO is a better food than Arcana but is not listed on your site..perhaps call them and ask them to stock it.and Orijen is better than Acana ..

It becomes all about the amount of meat in a food that makes it better than the next. The dog utilizes meat better than grain protein.

Your in prime form today. How about adding this is only your opinion.