Just looking for an honest response-I was feeding PP and was convinced into trying the more expensive "better" quality foods. I have tried many over the past year and so far have not seen any results to write home about.
I'm wondering if anyone who had been a PP user switched and has found a higher quality food that they really saw results with. If so which food and if not, do you feel the pressure that you are feeding a food that has lesser quality ingredients?
I am on the fence as to if I should keep searching for go back-had no issues with it just felt I should be feeding my dogs "better nutrition".
Thanks for your honesty.

This doesn't answer your question, but what is wrong with the PP nutrition? I feed PP Performance to all my dogs and I couldn't be happier. Unless PP screws with it, I wouldn't change for anything. What would you like to avoid or add to make "better nutrition"?

I used PPP and switched to Taste of the Wild, I loved it, they had great coats and small stools, dogs loved it, I rotated through all the flavors, I would definitely feed it again. For bang for the buck feeding though, I haven't been able to beat Purina Pro Plan Performance for adults, adolescents, and even weaning puppies on to it. It's high calorie, high fat, the dogs and puppies all look fantastic, poops are solid, and everyone here is eating it. Easy Peasy.

I have friends who had me read the dog food analysis..PP has the corn, the wheat, the "by products" no statement about not using ethoxyquin and they still use synthetic Vit k.
I know my dogs did good on this but I did get questioned that if there are so many other higher quality foods why feed this.
This is why I am asking long term users or those who may have tried to switch and either did or did not come back.

I have always had my puppies come home on PP and changed them over to a higher quality food around 12 months.

I do not care for all of the ingredients in the PP that you posted above. I have more yeasty ear issues with my dogs on the PP formulas as well.

Solid Gold Millenium has always worked with all my adult dogs. I love the food because my coats are nice, skin is healthy, ears are better. And I can maintain a nice weight on all of them as well. They don't get too fat or too lean on it.. And I do love that all of them, but one do well on it. (She has a beef allergy)

It is definitely more expensive and sometimes harder to get, but worth the price for my Labs. And the company has never been involved in any kind of recall which is important to me as well.

I don't have a problem with corn and I get great coats with it so I switched to EP Power formula. Purina customer service won't reveal if or how much ethoxyquin is in their food. Someone I know had one of their formulas tested by a professional lab (not PPP) and the formula did contain ethoxyquin, quite a bit of it. I don't like the synthetic Vit K either, there's no reason for them to be using this. I haver repeatedly voiced my concerns with them but they could care less so I switched.

That dog food analysis site is just someone's Opinion on dog food, I wouldn't take that site as gospel.

My dogs don't have allergies that result in ear and skin problems. Are your dogs with food sensitivities in your breeding program?

I was going to try PP, but when I opened the bag and scooped out a cup the first thing I saw was chicken feathers sticking out of a number of the kibbles. I can't justify knowing how hard it is to break down that "protien" and while I know some breeders dogs do well on it I'd rather know that I'm putting in a better quality and more digestable protien source and have healthier insides and less vet bills. No ear issues and healthier dogs are worth it to me in the long run. And after I averaged out how much more of it I would have to feed there wasn't any savings.
I did notice that the dogs I tried giving some of it to them with their other food started drinking huge quantities of water, and it's not the heat,it's been cool here, so I know it's their kidneys having to work more.When I stopped feeding it they also started finishing their bowls again.

Good post. I hate being quoted Dog Food Analysis. I don't know why so many treat that website like the addendum to the 10 Commandments.

I've tried just about every premium and super premium brand out there. I keep ending up with Pro Plan again. I do supplement a couple dogs with BB Wilderness Salmon, but I have a dog with a special need and I think this is helping him.

I understand all the "questionable" ingredients. I try to eat better myself...local, limited processing, blah blah...and I am still sitting here with my Diet Coke and I like my McDonalds once in awhile. I am not feeding my dog Ol' Roy or Beneful or Kibbles and bits. My dogs do fine on grain...no ear issues, no food sensitivities.

Pro Plan for me. Performance and Lamb/Rice ALS are my choices these days.

Never saw a feather in all my years in any of the Pro Plan bags. And for you to say that ears go off on Pro Plan means you have issues. Maybe you need to reconsider these dogs in your breeding plan. I've fed Pro Plan, Purina One, Nature's Variety, Canidae, and it doesn't matter what these dogs eat, I never get bad ears or food sensitivities. Blame it on the food but it's the genetics of the dog. Sorry.

I feed PP Performance and Sensitive Skin and Stomach, have for years with outstanding results. I watch my friends try one outrageously expensive food after another in the name of better nutrition for their dogs. More power to them, but I can't afford $60+ per bag for my gang. And even if I could, I honestly don't see that their dogs are any healthier or have better coats than mine.

Feathers? That is more than a little weird. Certainly you MUST have called Purina and sent them a piece of kibble with a feather sticking out. How did they respond? By now I must have gone through tons of PPP kibble. Have not ever seen a feather or anything else suspicious.

I switched over from Purina One Large Breed to Kirkland Chicken Rice and Veggies about 4 months ago. I have awesome coats, no skin issues, and have been thrilled with the food. It is so reasonably priced ( $26.99/40#) hard to beat!! :) I will tell you that if you feed a little too much you will get loose stools because it is so rich but once you find out what is that right amount for your dogs it is great!!

I'm using Kirkland C&R for 5 years for my adults and older puppies. I never had loose stools in my dogs, maybe I fed the rite amount from the beginning. It's a great food for a reasonable price. The price just rose in my Costco but it's still $20 less per bag then PP C&R or any food of comparable quality. There is still too much shredded sitting on the shelves of most Petco's too. They're old bags!

I'm tempted to try their puppy but not everyone has Costco near them. I used PP C&R for a litter recently and all pups did well on it. A little too much of that and stools immediately turn loose tho. So you cut back. I don;t find Kirkland to be all that rich. Firm, smaller stools and great coats. My Labs are healthy on it.

Also, Kirkland is a 40 pound bag, ProPlan Puppy C&R is 33 or 34 pounds so the savings are more than over $20 per bag. You're also getting 20% more food. I would rather play with my puppies then sit and cut out food circles. It's a savings from the beginning and quality.

Kirkland C&R is like Lays Potato Chips, you can't buy just 1 bag once the dogs are used to it and happily changed over .

It's quality with a lower price tag to sum up my years of experience with it.

I pay $36.99 for 40 lbs. of EP Power formula (30/20 food)and all of the ingredients are very high quality. Kirkland is made by Diamond (no thanks)and corn is better for coats than rice.

"Premium" what did you switch to if you don't mind me asking?

I use to feed PP Chicken and Rice, I had one boy that was throwing up atleast once a week. He also had gunky ears, my other boy was doing fine on it. I also had some concerns regarding the quality of the food. I had recent issue's of finding different piece's of food in the bag, I called PP and they had told me that it was probably from when they were switching their lines over and a bit of a different kibble may have still been on the conveyor and had accidently fell in the bag. Then I had issues of finding pieces of kibble coated in a white greasey substance. I again called PP and they apoligized and said that it was probably when they applied the fat content to the mixture, it may have got sprayed longer then it should have. By then I was done with PP. My boy that was throwing up was switched to "Now" Adult, it's made in Canada by Petcrean. He's been doing fabulous on this food, hasn't been sick since he's been on it and his ears are really clean now. At the time when I switched him, I got a new dog that was eatting Royal Canin and I decided to put my other boy on this food with her. He's doing great on it. I'll never feed ProPlan again.

Corn in PP C&R? I did not know there was corn in PP Puppy C&R so when this bag is done, it's history for any of my puppies. That's my fault for not reading the fine print and listening to what others use. This was my first shot at Purina and the last usage.

I will check out the labels of Kirkland Puppy for my keepers. Otherwise my keepers will be on Kirkland C&R adult by 5 months old. I've done it before and had no problems along with a couple of OFA Excellent Hips and Clear Elbows if the food makes a difference in orthopedics.

I was never a Purina fan and corn is not what I want in any of my Labs food. For $50 a 34 pound
bag they can keep it along with their shredded garbage food.

Thanks for the information. I should have gone with my gut feeling.

Who says corn is better for coats then rice? What about the rest of the dog besides feeding the coat? Is coat all you feed for in your dogs?

I never switched, I feed Orijen, and before that I fed California Natural, and before that until they screwed with the formula -Nutro.I just thought I would try it because everyone raves about how great their puppies do on it. None of my dogs have ear problems nor food issues, they don't get hotspots and they do plenty of field work and swimming.
The differences in the grain sources have to do with how much of a glycemic effect that they have on the system. If you have cancer or are trying to booster an immune system so that it doesn't get it you want to feed a lower glycemic food like rice or potatoes or peas than one that is hotter like corn.
After I realized exactly what the poultry by products were, which can be turkey or chicken skin,beaks, feet and feathers,(they use the bones for chicken meal) and animal fat (what kind of animal??) it didn't make sense to feed it to my puppies. I will be calling Purina to tell them what I found in the bag and give them the lot number, I still have it and it's sitting in my basement until I have time to call them, but one thing I've found when you complain about a product is that they send you a bunch of coupons for their products which I don't need.
I too like the occasional McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts as a treat, but I wouldn't feed it to my family as their soul source of nutrition and expect that at some point their diet won't play a part in their overall health,don't forget Morgan Sperlocks "Super Size Me" . I can feed them fresh fish and vegetables or Angus steaks or even cheaper than fast food is shrimp scampi for $3.25 a plate (though the Mickey D's is more expensive so that analogy doesn't work) but you get the point.
And actually neither corn nor rice are good for their coats, it's used as a binder for the meat/protien source.The quality of the binder(s) will play a large part in the overall digestability and quality of the food, lesser digestable or undigestable ones such as corn gluten meal, brewer's rice,corn germ meal, etc will bring down the nutrient level in a food.

I fed Proplan for years, then lost faith in Purina when the shreds came out so thought it was time to try something "better." So for two years I fell into the hype and tried so called better foods, I tried Canidae, Canidae grain free, California Natural, Innova, EVO, Precise, Healthwise, and Innova puppy on a litter. But none seemed to work as good as Proplan had. So last year I decided to go back to Proplan performance and I could not be happier with the results, now I can appreciate this food even more. On paper the ingredients may not read as good as those other foods, but I learned what is more important is how the dogs do on the food and I stopped reading all those websites.

We feed Nature's Domain, both Salmon and Turkey formula bought at Costco. I like the Salmon the best..both formulas are GRAIN FREE !! My Chocolates and Black boy never have Dander on the Salmon kibble. Stools are great, smaller than when I used to feed Kirkland Lamb and Rice.

No I don't feed just for coats but all dog food has to have a binder in it. Are potatoes good for anything besides glycemic index? They aren't good for arthritis as potatoes belong to the nightshade family. Corn has "substantial quantities of linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid important for healthy skin". A healthy skin barrier is helpful on many levels. The EP Power formula gets the majority of it's protein from meat sources not corn. Corn is very digestible!

I recently switched to Diamond Naturals C&R. According to the dog food analysis website, it's a better quality food than PP and is priced very reasonably. Haven't used it long enough to know the results yet.

The ProPlan "Corn" is better quality, not the shavings and floor scraps. If you want to avoid the corn, go to the ProPlan Select.

Feathers in your food, that's a bit outlandish! Come on!

I agree! Why go cheap with your dogs? To me, they are my kids, they only get something that I would eat! I grew up eating Purina Dog Chow! lol. I turned out fine. I dont have ANY ear problems!

KNOW YOUR CORN! Feed Pro Plan Select then, but Kirkland? Seriously?

I guess I dont understand your concern about corn. If your so "concerned" why didnt you just read the ingrediants????? I dont get it, so how you act all shocked. lol. It must be a full moon.

If you have one dog doing fine, and one dog puking and with gunky ears, I would hope you find out what is wrong with that DOG, it's not the food!

Well, I had also wondered if he had an allergy to something in the food. That's also why I switched him to a grainfree food which is what "Now" Adult is. He's done so much better and is no longer being sick. Actually, the last time he was sick was when he was still on PP. I still don't like PP, with all the issues of the QUALITY of the food. When I start find crap in the dogfood that doesn't look like it should be there, then I have an issue with it and I'm done with feeding it. Thanks for your concern with my dog, he's fine.

Anyone with feedback on this food? It's only in some Costcos, has a slightly different formulation than the Nature's Domain. It's made by Tuffys Pet Foods instead of Diamond (they make Nutrisource and a few other high end brands.)

I think corn gets a bad rap. The corn hysteria seems to have a life of its own. I use a kibble that contains corn and my dogs do perfectly well on it.

As for the ear thing, fed the same kibble, some dogs have wonderfully clean ears and some dogs have gunky ears. If the kibble created the gunk, all the dogs ears would be gunky. Just like people, some have problems & some don't.

You have 6 posts in a row aruging about others experiences with food *I use Pro Plan*. 1 post could have summed up your feelings. I stopped reading your replies once I saw how many you addressed.

Everyone has the right to have an opinion about their dogs welfare including the food for their dogs. That includes you. Don't rip apart others opinions about their dogs welfare just b/c you think otherwise and don't agree with their choices. Agree not to agree. Don't get snarkey.

It's a holiday weekend in the U.S. Try to enjoy the 4th of July and let others do the same.

Just fyi this is the same food as the kirkland chicken rice and veggies that costco sells but it is usually $10 more a bag than at costco for the kirkland brand (diamond makes both) at least in my area

I agree, I feed a meat base food, that has some corn in it too, it is a Performance food, no gunky ears or allergies of any kind. Have fed it for over 15 years, I think this whole corn thing has gotten out of hand, and the new breeders coming in are as obcessed with it as they are with every new health clearance that becomes available. Breeding has become an OCB list of clearances, and the name of the food one feeds. Talk to the old time breeders, and get some advice from EXPERIENCE , they didn't get where they are by jumping on band wagons !

I knew it was manufactured by Diamond but didn't know they had the exact same under their name. It's still at least a $10 saving and I'm happy with it for youngsters and oldsters for many years.

I not trying to be rude but I'm not sure where you are getting your information from.

Regarding glycemic index of grains:
Sweet Corn is 53
Brown Rice is 55
White Rice is 64
Green Peas are 48
Barley is 25
Wheat is 41
Baked Potato is 85
Boiled Potato is 50
Sweet Potato is 61

These numbers are from Harvard Health Publications. It doesn't appear to me that rice or potato's are a lower glycemic index than corn. And, peas minimally so.

All dog food must have a starch to hold it together. The trick is to use a combination of starches that provide for a steady glucose level. As opposed to a food with only one starch source that sends the glucose up then crashes. I'm very happy a nice combination of corn, brown rice and barley instead of a primary starch of potato or sweet potato.

The information you gave regarding "by-products" is common misconception. First off feathers are not legally permitted to be included as by-products. Feathers may be used in pet food but they must be listed as feather meal. If you found feather in a food that did not list feather meal on the ingredient panel that's a AAFCO violation which comes with pretty significant penalties. By-products by definition are anything that is not meat, bone, fat, feathers or hair. When a company orders by-products they specify what parts they will or won't take. Often times by-products is the internal organs only but unless you call and ask you won't know that. Chicken feet specifically are not found in pet food. Approximately 95% of all chicken feet are exported to the middle eastern countries as they are a delicacy there. Due to this chicken feet cost more than hearts, liver and lungs do!

One last comment about corn. Corn is a single ingredient that can provide multiple nutrients - it's a startch, a protein and an omega 6 fatty acid. Corn oil is very high in linoleic acid which means it's an excellent source of Omega 6 fatty acids (skin and beauty). So, yes corn is good for dog coats.

We all choose what we want to feed and make our choices. Personally I've been where the orginal poster is. I tried all the "better ingredient" foods out there and even fed raw for over a year. But, what I discovered is that the best nutrition is usually in the ingredient panels that aren't so appealing. The companies that spend millions of dollars in pet food research don't do so just so they can make poor quality food. Always keep in mind that you can make dog food in your own kitchen with an appealing ingredient panel but that doesn't mean it will be nutritious