Canidae Dry Dog Food for All Life Stages

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List Price: $55.99
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I searched for a food that wasn't full of preservatives and fillers, and didn't cost $5 a pound. I did alot of research and read alot of labels. I have a Siberian Husky pup, and Canidae has really proven itself to me. As a former conissour of cheap discount store dog foods, I have finally realized the advantages of feeding a natural premium food. My dogs poop doesnt really stink! True! Poop is still poop, but the smell is minimal. I have noticed it also quickly disinigrates into the ground when it rains. With the cheap food, it smelled like rank dog poop! Would make you retch and gag! And there was so much of it! Less poop, firmer stools with barely any odor, less food consumed per day. AND NO BAD BREATH from your dog! A food that swells up when wet is also undesirable. Flint River Ranch brand and Canidae both stay intact, avoiding the bloat factor. I learned, you can learn too! It's also an excellent value Try Canidae, you'll see!

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We've had dogs and cats for years and always fed them Science Diet or Iams. Our newest dog was an itcher and after research, I decided to try a new dog food. I settled on Canidae for the same reason as the other reviewers; top notch ingredients at a reasonable price.

She loves it. I alternate dry with dry/wet every other day. And, best of all, no more itching or hot spots. Vet believes that she was allergic to corn products in Iams; a common allergy for dogs.

And the added benefits are about the poop; less poop to pick up, poop is solid, not runny, and like the other reviewer said, the poop is way less smelly.

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**Update: March 2012** I still feed this grain free kibble to my shelties, they still love it and I'm still very happy with it. I've found a way to eliminate gas in my younger sheltie mixing the dry kibble with a bit of hot water and letting it sit for 5 minutes before feeding the furry kids. For some reason, my younger sheltie's tummy finds this easier to digest and now he doesn't have gas at all. Woohoo! So now I'm able to feed more of this kibble, they get twice as much of it than they used to. I think I've been feeding this Canidae Grain Free to my dogs for almost 5 years now, and my dogs have never had an upset tummy.

By the way, buying directly from Amazon for this item says "Usually ships in 3 to 4 weeks", but 1-2 days after I order I'll get an update email from Amazon saying something like "Good news We're able to ship this sooner than we thought! Your item will be delivered a week from the date you ordered." And sure enough, it arrives within a week of ordering.

**Original review**

I feed my dogs the Canidae grain-free All Life Stages food (now called Canidae pureElements, I don't think Amazon has updated the photo or name of this food yet but the ingredients haven't changed) why the Grain Free variety? My younger sheltie has epilepsy. Gluten and corn are possible seizure triggers, so I feed both my shelties a wheat, corn, & gluten free diet. Canidae is only part of that diet; I feed them 4 small meals a day 1/4 cup Canidae Grain Free ALS, then a 4" piece of raw turkey neck, then veggies for the last two meals. The last meal is sometimes another 1/4 cup of Canidae instead of veggies. I know, it's complicated, right? But my dogs really do better on a mostly raw diet like this. I still use kibble because it's the fastest way to feed them a meal first thing in the morning before I let them out to go potty.

I've fed a variety of kibbles from the natural pet food shops, some with grain and others grain free, and when I fed them an all-kibble diet (Canidae or other brands) my younger sheltie had TERRIBLE gas, while my older sheltie had anal gland problems where she'd have an anal sac blowout at least once a month. So gross, but that's why we covered our couches in blankets that were easily washed. (Gosh I hope you're not eating lunch while you read this review.) Anyway, I started giving them more raw food and the gas has disappeared and my girl sheltie no longer has anal gland issues. Their teeth are cleaner too.

I didn't want this to turn into a "raw food is the only way to go" preaching session, I swear! But for my dogs, raw is better it's easier for my younger sheltie to digest so he doesn't gas us out of our home, and it gives my older sheltie firmer poo so her anal glands work like they're supposed to. Canidae doesn't help my dogs' particular issues like raw does.

However, Canidae is a heck of a lot easier and cheaper to feed, and my furry kids certainly do love Canidae's taste, they inhale it. If your dog doesn't have weird kibble digestion issues like mine do, then Canidae Grain Free ALS is a 5 star dog food. For my dogs' sensitive systems, it's a 4-star food.

The Canidae Grain-Free All Life Stages has a 34% protein level, which seems to do better with my shetland sheepdogs' stomachs than the higher protein kibbles. I've fed another brand of grain-free kibble (Innova EVO turkey & chicken) that had 42% protein which was too high for them to handle even when switching to it gradually and only getting a 1/4 cup a day... 42% protein made their poo liquid. So, I've stuck with Canidae's grain free ALS.

I've also done a 50/50 mix with the Grain Free ALS and the Grain Free Salmon, the furry kids love it. The Salmon variety smells like FISH, big surprise, right? I try not to breathe when dishing it out, don't care for the smell of fish like the pups do.

As I write this, Amazon's price is the same as my local natural pet store. As much as I'd like to support local business, my local natural pet store is terrible (it's a long story), so I buy Canidae here on Amazon.

Ingredients:

Chicken meal, turkey meal, lamb, potatoes, peas, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), lamb meal, ocean fish meal, tomato pomace, natural flavor, choline chloride, suncured alfalfa meal, inulin (from chicory root), lecithin, sage extract, cranberries, beta-carotene, rosemary extract, sunflower oil, yucca schidigera extract, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, papaya, pineapple.

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I have a Goldendoodle and felt he was a little on the thin side, so I started researching dog foods. I found that what he was on, was not really good for him. The second ingredient was ground corn and I found out that shouldn't be in the dog food at all. It's all filler, non-digestible...filler in, filler out. Through this surfing and sifting of information, what was good, explanation of terms, and eager for any information I could get and then pursue, I ended with Canidae All Life Stages Dry. There were others under consideration, but considering cost, balanced with good nutrition, supplements included in the food, and availability, I opted for Canidae.

Of the top five ingredients, before the fat (in this case chicken fat), three are animal protein meal, Chicken, Turkey and Lamb meals. The other two ingredients are Brown and White rice, good easily digestible grains. My understanding is dog food is weighted and the ingredients listed based on that weight prior to them being reduced in the cooking process. Meaning when your ingredient list lists chicken first, that is precooked weight. After cooking the water and some of the nutrients and calories are lost in the process and if the same ingredients were measured for listing after cooking, the ingredient list would not come out looking as good. Chicken might not be as high in the list. If a 'chicken meal' is listed, they start with the same grade of chicken, generally speaking, however meal is weighted and listed after it has been cooked down. This is the same for any 'meal' protein. A 'meal' protein is just the protein you end up with after it is cooked down, the water cooked out of it. So a 'meal' protein in the ingredient list is a good grade meat protein, which won't be reduced by the processing of the ingredients together. Five lbs. of chicken, may end up to be 4lbs, however 5lbs of 'chicken meal', stays 5lbs.(this is made up example for clarity, not based on any math or science). The ingredients go on to list additional herring meal, vitamins, probiotics (for good intestinal health), natural preservatives and supplements like amino acids and calcium to name a couple.

Beforehand, Riley was less than excited about meal time. He would pick at it almost from the beginning, walk away, come back a little more eating and allot of drinking. Now, he eats it.

A big benefit and another part of the reason for a search, is the reduction in feces. He was going 6 or 7 times a day and no small amount. We are down to two four times/day so far. Improvement in condition of feces also. Firmer, more normal coloring, less of it. It seems like his body is getting more out of his food.

He seems to have an improved activity level. His playfulness is increased, but not hyper by any means. Just healthier? perhaps. Calms right down on command, even around the other dogs.

So far so good for this change. I have read that poor results can happen after weeks or months of a change, but so far so good. He doesn't shed, so I'm watching carefully for any new hair loss. I won't wait it if occurs, I will take him off. I certainly would say, conditionally, this is turning out to be a good food for my dog and would suggest it to others looking for a quality food.

** It's been about 2 months now on Canidae. Riley is still looking good. No sudden hair loss, healthy, energetic, eating as I type...Still happy with this decision, and am still using it.

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After a lot of research, i decided to switch my 3-yr old Doberman from Iams to Canidae and have been very impressed with the product. Samson LOVES this stuff too, with the Iams I had to entice him to eat by mixing it with canned food/tablefood, but with the Canidae, he eagerly wolfs it down by itself. And why not? The first 4 ingredients are all meatshuman-grade at that! Besides having less "filler", Canidae uses no corn products, which is good for dogs with allergies (corn is a common allergen in dogs). Some may balk at the price, but you are going to use less food per day then with the junk brands due to the high quality of indredients in this stuff. Besides, Canidae is considerably cheaper then most of the other top-shelf brands like Eagle Pack or Flint River. I'm just happy to be able to feed my dog a "super-premium" grade food knowing how much healthier this is for him, for just a few bucks more per bag then a mid-grade food like Iams or Pro Plan. When you look at it like that, I believe it's one of the best values in pet nutrition on the market today.