Wellness Core Dog food

[Frances W]

Has anyone had experience with the brand Wellness Core dog food? If so is one flavor better for dogs with allergies? Thanks for any help, Frances

[Jen]

I have fed my guys Wellness but now feed Orijen which is a grain free dog food also. The one that would be better for allergies would be the fish based one.

[Frances W]

Hi Jen, was there a specific reason you switched to Orijen? Thanks for your comments, Frances

[Trish]

Yes, Jen is right, the Wellness Core Ocean formula is better for dogs with allergies, since it is fish based. Their original formula contains chicken and turkey, and poultry is usually a big allergy irritater for Frenchies with allergies. Orijen and Wellness Core are both ranked 6 star foods and are high quality dog foods. The Wellness Core is in thick pyramid looking pieces, and the Orijen is in flat round pieces, and my dogs seem to be able to chew the Orijen better. One of my Frenchies has allergies, and I do a rotation diet with him, I don't ever feed him the same kibble for a prolonged period of time. I feed him a fish based, lamb based, venison based, duck based, and kangaroo based kibbles so that he can have a variety of different proteins in his diet, and in addition to the dry kibble he also gets some canned foods, which I switch up as well. A lot of the foods that are better for allergy dogs have a low meat content so I have to supplement it with canned anyway to make up for it.

[Frances W]

Hi Trish, thanks so much for your helpful comments. Since my dogs have no problems chewing the Wellnes Core dog food, would that be the only reason to switch to the Orijen food? Thanks Frances

[Jen]

Hi Frances...I go back and forth between Wellness and Orijen. My dogs do well on both. I do prefer Orijen for they have somewhat better ingredients...for example Orijen has alot of different fish and salmon being the first ingredient, the oil is sunflower oil and salmon oil, not canola oil like wellness, the sea veggies, psyllium (fiber), Orijen does not add Natural fish flavor they put the real thing. They are both a great food so feed which one your dogs do better on and which one they enjoy eating. Hope this helps :)

[Frances W]

Hi Jen, thanks so much for taking the time to explain the diferences. I did buy the Wellnes Core Reduced Fat mainly because of the sentence, "The protein and calcium content of this food may be more suitable for adult dogs, particularly in the case of large breeds" that was on the food analysis review. I guess I got the idea that Orijen was better for larger breed dogs but I guess that's not the case. The ingrediants do look better in the Orijen food so I'll have to try it. Do they carry a puppy food for my new 10 week old baby girl? I just want my dogs to have the best nutrition I can give them. My English Bulldog was put on Science Diet Ultra ZD Hypo Allergic food by the Vet but I think I'll try her on the Orijen also. The Ultra ZD is very expensive at $73.00 for an 18 lb bag and it's not grain free from what I can tell. Thanks again for your help. Frances

[Trish]

Orijen does make a puppy food, but I would not recommend feeding Orijen or Wellness Core to a young puppy, it has way too high of a calcium content, even in Orijen's puppy food. I personally don't like feeding puppy food, I feed an all life stages food, which is a complete balanced diet that is suitable for puppies, adults, and senior dogs. Even now some of the foods I feed are all life stages, but I will feed a food with higher calcium to my two adults. One of my dogs is still a puppy, (6 months old) so he gets fed Natural Balance and California Natural, along with canned food. I use Evo and Instinct canned food, since the California Natural and Natural Balance both have a low meat content. The reason why it's bad for puppies to have too much calcium is because, their bodies just soak it all up and can't excrete the excess calcium, and then it will cause them to grow too fast and cause joint and bone problems. Adult dogs are able to metabolize only what they need, and then excrete the rest, which is why it's okay for an adult dog to have a diet that is higher in calcium.

I agree about trying your English Bulldog on a different diet. There are so many quality foods out there, that sometimes the prescription food is not always necessary. My Louie has some moderate allergies and sensitivities, and my vet wanted to put him on a prescription diet, but I refuse to.. sometimes there are dogs that can only have the prescription food, it's the only kind of food that they can thrive on, but those types of scenarios I have only seen with dogs that have sensitive digestive systems, not food allergies.

I know that Canidae is an all life stages food, and Louie was fed it by his previous owner but.. it used to be a very good food, but they changed manufacturers, and changed the recipe of the food which made a lot of dogs sick, so I'm not sure I would trust using their food again, and haven't used it since all of that happened. When I have some free time I can look up some different foods if you would like me to, and send you information on them.

Having grain in the food isn't always a bad thing, just depends on what grain it is, and if it's a high quality, easily digestible grain or not. Like mine do fine on food that contains rice, as long as it's whole ground rice, and not brewers rice, which is stuff left over from brewing beer. My Boston Terrier actually has a tendency to do better on dog foods that contain grains like rice, versus ones without. But every dog is different. It's not uncommon for me to be using a different food for each of the dogs all at one time, just to meet their individual special needs.

[Frances W]

Hi Trish, Thank you so much for all your information. I'll give Natural Balance and California Natural a try with my new puppy, along with the canned food (Evo and Instinct). The breeder had her on Purina Plus Lamb and Rice Puppy Food which I have kept her on since I got her last week. She'll be 11 weeks old on Nov 4th and has done real well adjusting to her new home. My other dogs have been great with her. She has slept all night since the first night I got her. She is such a little sweetie. Thanks again for all your help. Frances

[Trish]

You're very welcome! Natural Balance and California Natural both only rank 4 stars on dogfoodanalysis.com but they both would have ranked a 5, had they had a higher meat content, which is why I supplement with the canned food. With Natural Balance I use the Sweet Potato and Fish formula, and the Sweet Potato and Venison formula. Used to use the Potato and Duck too, but they changed the ingredients so I don't use it anymore. With the California Natural I use the Sweet Potato and Herring, and the Lamb and Rice. There are a few other foods I feed.. but they're a little harder to find, and not necessary to use, I just rotate foods pretty frequently, because I rotate between 6 different kinds. The others I use are Orijen Fish , and Fromm Duck and Sweet Potato.

If she's doing well on the Purina Lamb and Rice, then California Natural has a puppy food that is a lamb and rice formula, that she would probably do well on, since her stomach is okay with the lamb in her current food. And I'm sure the Purina has grains in it, so it will be easier for her to adjust to a new food that has an easily digestible grain in it like the brown rice. Just remember to introduce it slowly, and if you're going to supplement with canned food, don't use much, only a small spoonful at first. When you feed canned food, it has a tendency to make their stools a little softer, so I don't use much of it. My dog's stomachs tolerate the Instinct canned food a lot better than the Evo, the Evo makes them very gassy, but I do use it once in awhile, because it is $1 cheaper a can at the stores around me, which makes a big difference with 3 dogs! My dogs didn't do well with the Evo Venison.. they do okay with the duck and beef. With the Instinct, I use the Duck, Rabbit, and Venison, but they do the best with the Duck and Rabbit. The Instinct makes them less gassy, and have firmer stools, the Instinct isn't as mushy as the Evo canned food. I split 1 can of food between the three of them.

[Diane]

We were on the Wellness Puppy for some time. Problem was the horrific GAS...

We are now on Natural Balance Duck & Sweet Potato. Their gas is better and their coats are softer.

[Frances W]

Thanks for your help Diane. Definately don't need more gas. You r 2 little ones are just so cut, double the trouble and double the fun. I enjoyed your website. Frances

[Brenda]

I used Wellness for my bulldogs who kept yeast in her ears, Fish and Sweet Potato, worked but turned her white orange.