Pet Lovers

[NickNack]

Ava hasn't been eating well for a while.  She has been on prescription diet Z/D (hydrolyzed diet) for a couple of years.  She was throwing up every day when I switched to Z/D, so I had no choice but to try the prescription food.  An internal Veterinary specialist started her on it.  She told me I could switch her to a different protein diet after a while when she was. better.  

I decided to try a fresh food and see how she did and started researching them.  I switched her to The Farmer's Dog a couple of weeks ago.  She loves it and is doing well on it.  It is very expensive but worth it to me.  It's such a joy to see her enjoying her food.  I rarely cook for myself and am not going to cook for her, so this is a great option for me.

I am curious if anyone else has tried this for their dogs.  I am very happy to see her doing so well on this.

[godi]

So happy your dog loves her new food. My Gracie was on a chicken and rice diet before she passed. She was always a picky picky eater so I was glad to see her eat this. 

[phoenixbrd]

I am really happy your Ava is doing better.  If it agrees with her, I'd stay with it.  My little guy eats raw...Primal Pronto.  We have attempted to wean him off of it...but he refuses so we keep him in his comfort zone as long as he is healthy.  I do pay attention to the dog food recall and recommendation list. Best wishes for great health for Ava!  

[NickNack]

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@phoenixbrd wrote:

I am really happy your Ava is doing better.  If it agrees with her, I'd stay with it.  My little guy eats raw...Primal Pronto.  We have attempted to wean him off of it...but he refuses so we keep him in his comfort zone as long as he is healthy.  I do pay attention to the dog food recall and recommendation list. Best wishes for great health for Ava!  

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Thank you @phoenixbrd  and @godi .  Dog Food Adviser gives The Farmer's Dog a great review.  I definitely intend to keep Ava on it.  I love seeing her enjoy her food so much.  

[Flyer98]

@NickNack  We had our Frenchie on Farmer's Dog for over a year.  We were very pleased with her maintaining her weight and their customer service was top notch.  They did make a change to the food and it is more watery than it originally was.  We switched to Ollie for a while.  Ollie was more like food and less watery.  I did not think their customer service was as efficient as Farmer's Dog.  Daisy is allergic to anything with feathers, so we have to be careful.  Another Frenchie owner suggested we try the Fresh Pet Beef and Bison.  You purchase it at a pet store.  We have to get the Beef an Bison, as the Beef flavor has chicken in it.  SMH It can be challenging to find the Fresh Pet but it is about half the cost of the delivery fresh food.

I'm happy you are pleased with Farmer's Dog.  I wouldn't hesitate to go back to it if the need arrises.  I just wanted to share my experience with fresh foods in case it might help you.

[NickNack]

@Flyer98   Thank you for your input.  Your Frenchie is just beautiful (assuming it is yours in your avatar).  Ava is a Frenchie, too.  So far Ava has tried the turkey and the beef.   She loves them both.  She hasn't tried the pork yet, and I didn't order the chicken, because she's had problems with chicken in the past.

When I first got her she was eating Fresh Pet chicken on top of her dry food.  I bought it at Target.  I fed this because that's what her breeder was feeding her.  I eventually started feeding her dry food only.  

She's been through several food changes since then.  So far I'm extremely happy with The Farmer's Dog.  I agree that their customer service is excellent.  I've emailed with them a couple of times, and they've gotten back with me quickly with detailed helpful information.

[Wahoogaz]

So happy Ava is doing well on it. I agree with you ... as long as they do well on it and like it, the price doesn't matter so much ... especially if it keeps them from having to go to the vet.

I haven't tried The Farmer's Dog, but recently started giving my dogs Freshpet on top of their kibble. I had always figured Freshpet must not be very good since Walmart and grocery stores sell it ... but Dog Food Advisor gave it high marks, so I decided to try it.

My mastiff has been on prescription Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein kibble and canned food since I adopted him last year. I've tried many different commercial kibble and canned foods ... grain/no grain and different proteins ... his system couldn't handle any of it. I wanted to try something new for my American Hairless Terriers since they seemed to be getting bored with their canned food, so I decided to try Freshpet sprinkled over their kibble. They (and my GSD, Boston and Bloodhound) loved it. After a week or so, the mastiff started whining at meal time because he wanted some, so I finally gave in and let him try a little. He loved it and he didn't have any bad side-affects from it, so now he gets it, too. Now I'm really confused ... he's doing fine on the chicken Freshpet, but couldn't handle any of the commercial chicken kibble/canned foods I gave him. I'm just happy he can eat something that's not a prescription food that I can get in a local store ... especially with all of the current supply/shipping issues. Now ... if I could just find a commercial kibble he could eat that doesn't bother his system.

[NickNack]

@Wahoogaz   That's interesting that your Mastiff can eat the chicken FreshPet.  I tried many different kibbles for Ava, too, with different proteins.  She either wouldn't eat them, or they made her sick.

I am so happy to see her truly enjoy her food now.  I'm sure you feel the same way about your dog.

[gloriajean]

I started out buying The Farmer's Dog, but it is too expensive for me, so I make my own dog foods, and have been for a couple years now.  Ollie, my daugher's dog, is allergic to the dry dog foods, so I cook them for both Ollie and my Bobby.  It's really easy. I cook brown rice, use browned ground turkey, veggies steamed in bag, usually two of them, and swish in food processor and add it to the mixture, sometimes I add eggs, sometimes quinoa, and some spinach.  That's all Ollie eats is what I cook for him.  I don't mind making the dog food at all, then I package them in sandwich baggies and freeze. She gets 10 bags at a time when needed.