Acana

We feed Acana, either Wild Prairie or Grasslands. Layla isn't too fond of anything predominantly fish, so we avoid those flavors.

Our suppplier ran out of Acana, and we were out, so we got some Orijen. Layla fussed and fussed -- I was getting worried about how little she was eating. Then one day we went to Middleburg to a pet supply store there. Layla sped right over to a whole shelf of Acana, started sniffing, and looked back at me as if to say, "Here it is, Mom! I want this food, please." Of course, I stocked up! :lol:
 
Acana and Orijen are made by the same company, Champion Petfoods, so I'd think rotating either one of them in wouldn't be a problem.

With a high protein food its important to decrease the amount of food they usually eat, or they will gain weight. Sadie who will be four this summer, only gets 1/2 cup of food a day and she's 18" high and 23-24 lbs. She's fairly inactive for her age due to the stroke she suffered last summer.

Its my opinion that if you have a healthy dog, high protein shouldn't be a problem and is probably more natural for them.

This is a good read, if anyone is interested.

http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/ORIJEN_White_paper.pdf

I've had my crew on Orijen 6 Fish since January and have been nothing but impressed with it. They absolutely LOVE the taste and act like I'm feeding them cookies for dinner.

A close friend has been using Acana and has been REALLY happy with it as well.
 
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We also feed a level half cup twice daily. We add frozen green beans for bulk -- except for Layla, who doesn't eat veggies.
 
I don't feed Acana Classic, but I'm going to be switching Bailey to Acana Ranchlands soon.

I think I may have bought a bad batch of TOTW Sierra Mountain. Bailey has had loose stool on this bag, but when I went back to my old bag, she was fine.

After her stool goes back to normal, I'm going to start transitioning her to Acana. The company looks great, but I'm not a fan of the 30% protein range. I prefer mid to high 20's, but Bailey is active and high energy, so maybe it'll be fine.
 
This is a good read, if anyone is interested.

http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/ORIJEN_White_paper.pdf

I've had my crew on Orijen 6 Fish since January and have been nothing but impressed with it. They absolutely LOVE the taste and act like I'm feeding them cookies for dinner.

A close friend has been using Acana and has been REALLY happy with it as well.

That same friend has been considering switching her dogs to Orijen as well, since reading the Orijen White paper.
 
Barb, what foods have you found that are around that level? I had a really hard time finding anything grain free at that protpoint.

I feed Now! Adult Maintenance. It's grain-free and 24% protein. I used to feed Horizon and Orijen but had to cut it out because first of all, Bacca rejected it himself....it was like his body knew that he could tolerate it so he refused to eat it.

This is a very controversial subject. I was big on high protein until Bacca started having hypo-thyroid and high liver enzyme issues. There is still some chance that medication cannot control it and he will need more intrusive measures.

Chicken or the egg? Who knows? All I know is that Bacca's problems are fairly common in Shelties from what I can gather. So, I think you should be cautious about high protein diets.

Now! seems to be a good compromise for us.
 
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