My expierence with TOTW vs Canidae

Dog food convo always makes for a great debate

I've come to the conclusion that TOTW is just simply the better dog food of the 2 (for my dogs that is). I raised a litter last year that the mother was feed the entire time I have owned her (about 3 years now) Taste of the Wild. She whelped the litter on it and they too were fed it during the switch from her milk to kibble.

Litter 1 looked alot chunkier after the weaning to TOTW than litter 2 does on Canidae. I switched to Canidae as my yard is growing and the $$$ difference is enormous when you got more than one dog and all dogs here have been on Canidae for about 5 months now. Even the adults do not appear as good looking coat wise and body built as well on Canidae as they did on TOTW and that has been the only change in their regiments.

I realize the litters are from different sires but both sires are around the same size but still, I thought I would show the comparison as pictures are worth a thousand words. While litter 2 looks skinny, I assure you folks as my vet assures me, they are very healthy and vibrant pups that as he put it, "are extremely active".

Keep in mind I am only stating from my observation of the 2 dog foods as they affect my dogs and what works for them or doesn't.

What works for my dogs may not work for yours and visa-vera.

Anyways on with the pictures:

Litter 1 @ around 7 weeks old:







Litter 2 @ 7 weeks old:










Whats your opinions on it:confused:

 

how are the stools on the canidae? litter2 is def slimmer but nothing worrying. pups dont HAVE to be calve fat.

 

Horrible naus,
On TOTW it was dark small and firm now its light brown almost a yellowish and loose and lot more of it. Plus I feed the Adults more of the Canidae (about a cup more) than I did with TOTW.

 

Oh I'm not worried about them, they are very healthy, active pups. I just figured this would be a good thread to start since you always see the comparisons between the 2 brands of food.

 

they might be losing all the weight in the stool. i never had much luck with canidae myself. tried it before totw. i figured totw would be too harsh on a pup though so picked up diamond puppy and i've been impressed. healthy weight gain, great looking coat, solid stool and at $33 for 40lbs not breaking the bank

 

I'm just confused any really good food with high protein i ever fed a dog would give me the same thing firm dark stool if that food was that good whats up with the stool???

 

canidae's ingredients aren't really as good as totw

 

Either are the protien to fat ratios, I made the switch because I, in a sence, wanted to feed a lower quality food to Koda to get him to gain a bit of weight on his lean self. I still want to feed a good dog food though, but TOTW will break you with multipule dogs. I was spending around $200 - 250 a month to feed dogs. Canidea is much cheaper than TOTW and I read all the hype on it and figured I would switch and see for myself and while it has done wonders for Koda the rest look like he did on TOTW....lol damn it I am going to find a compromise here to buying mutipule brands of dog food to feed....lol

 

How much does TOTW cost where you are AGK?

 

$49 + tax for 30lbs TOTW
vs.
44lbs for 39 + tax Canidae

Another gripe I'd like to throw in there is why the fuck don't Holistic dog food come in 50lb bags, drives me nuts.

 

part of the holistic scene. pretty packaging and random ass bag sizes.

 

I know what you are talking about AGK. I have 17 dogs. One bitch who only had 2 pups. We are keeping both pups to see how they turn out. She was fed totw while pregnant and the pups are on the food as well. I also feed 4 other dogs totw while the rest of the dogs get Diamond lamb and rice naturals. I have tried all sorts of other premium food and totw is the best for the buck imo. Like you said, small stool amounts, small feeding amounts, good coats and basically all around good health.
Eventually I would like to mix it with another food with grains to cut down some of the protein content for some of the older dogs.
Candidae isn't available where I live but from what I have read online about it, it seems to cause a lot of diahrea and more problems than good for most folks.

 

I can get it for about $44/bag on sale online. Since you feed less, I'm betting that 30 lbs bag is equivalent nutritionally to the 44 lb bag of canidae but it still is more expensive.

Probably don't make 50 lb bags because it would cause sticker shock :eek:

I would send an inquiry to Diamond about it. At least you might get a coupon out of it LOL!

 

I swear I've gotten a 50 lb TOTW bag before... maybe I am just going nuts but I usually buy one of three brands and I get 50 lb bags on all of them:

TOTW
Before Grain
Timber Wolf

Maybe see if your feed store can order you a 50 lb bag, I wonder if they just don't stock it?

 

I use to feed Canidae. They had switched the formula without informing customers some years back. The result was a bunch of angry customers that had dogs with loose stools. I was told Canidae was easier on their digestive system, but I did not like the result I was getting from this high dollar diet. I was approached by a salesman who use to be one of the head Canidae people, that took the old Duck formula and bought out the rights for the product. I was feeding his pruduct for a year of so, but it became too expensive. The product was called Nutri-Life - By All Gold. Incase you wanted to check into this food. I believe the last bag I bought was 40lbs for $40. I know feed a raw diet and the benefits of RAW are unbeatable.

 

How does the Timber Wolf work for you i was thinking about getting a bag yesterday while at the feed store but i decided not to

 

AGK, why not go a step down and feed Diamond Naturals? It is made by the same folks that make TOTW. $32 bucks for 40 lbs vs $40 bucks for 30 lbs around my way. It can't be that different?

Could part of the loose light colored stools be the pineapple and papaya in the Canidae? Fruit fibers and natural sugars?

To me some of this has to be marketing hype for these natural, organic, holistic food.
What dog ever ate pineapples before they starting making this shit?

 

I like it, the thing I really like is that I trust the company - they are very proactive and will issue a recall if something even "not dangerous" occurs with their food like the fish having a slightly higher mecury level than usual, etc.

As far as results, I find TOTW works just as well though - both are decent grain free foods - and TOTW is far easier on the pocket in terms of $$$.

 

The guy who owns the Feed Mill I frequent told me none of the Holistic dog foods came in a 50lb bag. I think I am going to try to find the company site and look there for what size bags they go up to...

 

Theres a huge leap from Diamond Naturals and TOTW. I've feed the Naturals lamb and rice and totw and with diamond the stools were a lot bigger, softer and yellow. it was squirts for weeks before it started to solidify. also there was a lot of shedding and lower quality coat.

totw is 5,15,30lb bags


I've heard great things about Blue Buffalo Wilderness though it is pricier than TOTW. Their duck formula is 34/15 protein fat vs 32/18 in TOTW Wetlands(Duck/Wild Fowl) Formula. Wilderness also comes in random ass sizes, 4.5, 11 and 24 lb Bags