# Are these kibbles safe?



## AnnHelen (Nov 29, 2010)

The grain free kibbles we have avaliable here in Norway is Acana, Orijen and Taste of the wild. Are these SAFE and QUALITY dog foods as promised, or is it a lie too??

XOXO from a confused Baby*s mummy hihi...


----------



## Huly (Mar 5, 2012)

my favorite would be Orijen out of the 3 Acana second, and Taste of the Wild has been recalled in the US once maybe twice


----------



## AnnHelen (Nov 29, 2010)

Oh my GOD, what is a recall?? This whole thing is new to me !  I thought dog food was safe, but clearly not !


----------



## coco_little_bear (May 30, 2012)

AnnHelen said:


> Oh my GOD, what is a recall?? This whole thing is new to me !  I thought dog food was safe, but clearly not !


A recall is when a food/batch of food is removed from the market because something in it poses a health risk. Too many commercial dog foods are terrible, but some are ok. I don't personally feed kibble, but if I did, I would probably feed Orijen or Acana.


----------



## AnnHelen (Nov 29, 2010)

Thank you so much for your answear <3 what do you feed then? I*m starting on Orijen soon, and also will be making my own meat loaf for the kid, with fresh meat and fruit and vedgies  

Woooow, and I thought that TOTW was a fantastic brand hehe...

Orijen it WILL BE <3


----------



## coco_little_bear (May 30, 2012)

I tend to feed a variety of things. Ziwipeak (air dried raw), pre-made raw (Natural Instinct), homemade raw and home cooked. 

From what I read, Orijen is meant to be a very good quality kibble so I'd say that's a safe choice. Combined with homemade will be even better, as long as the homemade food is balanced. I fed the puppy version of Orijen briefly when Lilo was a pup and though I prefer Ziwipeak (when it comes to dog foods) she did very well on it and LOVED it.


----------



## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

Just be careful that you are feeding a balanced diet over time if you choose to home cook. So many recipes on Youtube for example are not balanced at all, usually it is calcium that they are short on.
Can you get ZiwiPeak in Norway? The make an air dried and a canned food, both of which are excellent, and are a reliable ethical company. The company that makes Orijen and Acana is pretty reliable too.


----------



## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

I agree with Stella. If there is any way you can get Ziwi Peak, that would be a fantastic food for Baby that you could feel very good about feeding him. You would see a marked difference in him shortly after switching him from kibble to Ziwi Peak. I watched the video for the homemade meatloaf, and while I agree a dog should enjoy that, it is too heavy on the fruits and veggies proportionately to the meat. Like Stella said you couldn't feed Baby that without supplementing at least calcium, and frankly you would have to do a study of all the daily vitamin/mineral needs of a dog and match it with the ingredients to see what else is lacking. I have done that before when I fed Lulu home cooked. This is also just a personal thing--not saying he is wrong and I am right, but I'm not fond of the addition of the rice at all. That's just me. I'm OK with a little cheese--not that much and would probably switch it to goat cheese and add at time of meal not cook into recipe.


----------



## MMS (Aug 2, 2012)

I don't feed kibble anymore, but I have fed all 3 of these in the past. TOTW is a good food based on the bag, but is made by a company called Diamond, who has had far too many recalls in the last few years for my comfort. They make a long list of different dog food brands, and I wouldn't feed any of them. 

Whether to feed Orijen or Acana is really a matter of how active Baby is. Orijen has a higher protein content, which isn't necessary for your typical lazy housepet, but if Baby is always out running around burning off crazy amounts of energy, then Orijen would be best. 

When my pack and I were out walking 2-3 hours every day and then coming home and playing in the yard Acana wasn't enough for us - their coats got dull and our walks slowed down b/c they didn't have as much energy. We switched to Orijen and things picked up again. 

Ziwipeak was also well taken here, the only reason we couldn't continue that was the cost (shouldn't be a problem for just one small dog, but with 1 small, 2 large and 2 cats it gets quite pricy!) 

As the others have said, balance is key. If you're going to be cooking for Baby, you should make sure you're doing a lot of research on what nutrients come for which sources, and which ones your dog actually needs - though we like to think of them as our kids, dogs are not human and have different nutritional needs than we do.


----------



## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

We feed Acana and have never had issues with it.  Both Orijen and Acana are made by the same company and are produced in the next province to me.  If Baby doesn't do well on the Orijen, try the Acana. They're both great kibble choices.


----------



## AnnHelen (Nov 29, 2010)

Thank you ladies for all your help ! I will look into it all ! Yes we have Ziwi peak here too, so that I have to check out ! 

I just made some mini meat loafs in a cup cake tin, i used 2 chicken filet, half an apple, 1 selleri stick, 1 carrot, a small hand spinach and 1 egg  They are in the oven now, hope he will like it hihi


----------



## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

Orijen would be my first choice also with Acana 2nd


----------



## cpaoline (Oct 9, 2012)

you can pulverize the egg shells and add it to the mix to add some calcium


----------



## AnnHelen (Nov 29, 2010)

I read that spinach, chiaseeds are rich in calcium, and he gets both


----------



## coco_little_bear (May 30, 2012)

AnnHelen said:


> Thank you ladies for all your help ! I will look into it all ! Yes we have Ziwi peak here too, so that I have to check out !


Oh in that case, if you can afford Ziwipeak then that would be my first choice.  

I agree with what others said about too many recipes online not being balanced so you have to be careful. I noticed a lot of them don't have organs in them as well not having enough calcium. While spinach and chia seeds have a good amount of calcium and other nutrients, dogs don't digest plant foods very well so I wouldn't personally feel comfortable relying on that to meet their nutritional requirements. I only cook for my dogs occasionally, but when I do I follow similar rules to the raw diet - 80% meat + 10% organs (5% liver) + 10% bone. Well, when cooking obviously there's no bone so I use ground eggshell and sardines for calcium. I add a bit of vegetables, but they are really just an addition, not an important part of the recipe. I also give them things like plain yoghurt and green tripe (raw) on the side.


----------



## AnnHelen (Nov 29, 2010)

I got my Baby Orijen food today  The blue package  So now I give him 50/50 old and new for a week, right?


----------



## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

AnnHelen said:


> I got my Baby Orijen food today  The blue package  So now I give him 50/50 old and new for a week, right?


That's what people usually recommend. I've tried it and found that Odie just picked all the new stuff and left the old.


----------



## AnnHelen (Nov 29, 2010)

Oh hihihi, so far he has been eating it, but not too much, it*s getting hot in Norway now that it*s summer, so I think that*s why his appetite isn*t as good...


----------

