Taste of the Wild Dog Food

Taste of the Wild Natural Dog Food is one of the best brands that you can feed your pet. It is a grain-free all life stages formula that contains natural protein sources such as fish, wild game and poultry. It can be fed to pregnant or nursing mothers, puppies and elderly dogs alike. Taste of the Wild promotes regulated growth, strong bones, solid muscles and healthy joint development.

Taste of the Wild was my family's first choice of food for our Rottweiler puppy, Liberty.

Taste of the Wild Pet Food

The Best for your Dog

Most "grocery store brands" of dog food include "filler," usually corn. Not only does this cut down on the protein that your dog consumes, but corn isn't easily digested by many animals and is, in fact, a serious allergen. Corn can cause problems with a dog's coat, and if your dog is experiencing skin allergies, this could very well be the cause of them.

Generally speaking, premium dog food brands do not include corn or other grains as "fillers." Instead, they focus on the nutrients that your dog needs in his diet. They are more nutritionally complete and generally promote reasonable growth in your puppy as well as supporting a long, healthy life for your dog.

Switching to a premium food should allow you to see changes almost immediately in the quality of your dog's coat, teeth and musculature. You may even notice a change in personality as your dog regains his youthful vigor!

However, the best benefit that I have observed is that feeding premium foods, such as Taste of the Wild, generally costs the same or less than feeding grocery store food brands.

They might!

Because I didn't know any better, historically I have fed my dogs store brand foods. Early on a vet instructed my husband and me that the store brand foods were no different than other (grocery store brand) foods. In reality, they aren't any different than any other food that you can obtain at Kroger, or Walmart, or any other grocery store. The only difference between a store brand food and a grocery store brand food (such as Pedigree or Iams) is the cost. So why pay more, if you are going to get the same quality food?

I thought that I was saving money. In fact, I was shocked to read that feeding raw food to a dog might cost less than buying dog food. I did more research, compared the cost, and then took the plunge.

Here is what I discovered: My pets eat significantly less of the premium brand than they do of the grocery store brand. In some cases, the grocery store brands (such as Purina) have a comparable cost to the premium brands. However, my dog must consume much more of the store brand in order to become "full."

I am paying roughly $10 more a month on both dog and cat food for my pets than I was on the store brand foods, and yet they are significantly healthier. Isn't that $10 a month worth the added cost, particularly with it adds up to lower vet bills?

(I am going to need to get to the store to write down actually prices and weights since the store brand foods do not give me cost online. I will edit this later with that information).

If you aren't sure whether or not you feed a premium dog food, let me put it to you this way: If you can find it at Walmart or your local grocery store, it probably isn't a premium food. Premium foods are usually found only at pet stores or feed stores. However, just because you can't buy it at Walmart doesn't mean it's Premium! For example, Science Diet is not a recommended dog food brand!

Please use the poll comments to tell what brand of dog food you feed your dog, and why. This will help others to choose the best dog food for their dog!

Photo Credit

When we first got Libby, she was on Eukanuba large breed puppy food. Eukanuba is an example of the fact that just because a food is expensive does not mean that it is a premium dog food. In this case, the puppy food includes grain and a higher percentage of protein than what I would prefer for my dog. In looking for a solution, we first decided to put our dog either on an adult dog food or on an all life stages dog food. Research led me to a choice between Taste of the Wild or Blue Buffalo. We tried Taste of the Wild first, since it is a "better" brand. High Prairie was the first food we tried, since my husband and I are both fans of wild game. She tolerated the food very well initially.

Taste of the Wild High Prairie is recommended.

When we ran out of dog food and I needed to make a quick run to the feed store, High Prairie was unavailable. Without thinking about the ingredients, I snagged a five pound bag of Wetlands formula, which includes duck and chicken. I wasn't expecting much of a problem, because I wasn't thinking about the peculiar properties of duck, including the fact that it is a very high fat content food.

Immediately Libby got diarrhea. I chalked it up to the change in food. I had just enough of the High Prairie left over to appropriately blend the food she was going from with the food she was going to but she still became quite ill on the Wetlands formula. I asked out vet what the problem could be, and she said that it was the fat content in the duck. So we went back to the High Prairie.

(Long story, but the diarrhea didn't stop due to a reaction to the vaccines Libby had gotten at the vet. She is no longer on High Prairie but I do recommend it!)

Taste of the Wild Wetlands is not recommended.

We have not yet tried the Pacific Stream formula, but we plan on adding it into Libby's rotation along with the Blue Buffalo blend that she is currently eating. I have no experience at all with dogs on fish blends, and will be interested to try it. I will update here when she has tried this blend so that I can share my experiences.

I have not tried this food and therefore cannot recommend it.

We have not tried the Taste of the Wild Sierra mountain, though we did consider trying it when Libby's stomach was so upset. This food is difficult to find in stores and is expensive when you can get it.

It is a given that we will be trying this food as I have always had good luck with lamb-based formulas in the past.

I have not tried this food and therefore cannot recommend it.

A few things!

• The Price: Generally speaking, Taste of the Wild is the least expensive premium brand of dog food (depending on where you get it).
• Number of Flavors: There are four different flavors of Taste of the Wild!
• Dry and Canned: Taste of the Wild comes in both dry and canned varieties so that dogs who have difficulty with dry dog food can have the canned variety instead. Canned is not generally recommended, however (see below).
• All-Life-Stages Formulas: Taste of the Wild dog food is an all life stages food, which means that there is no fuss over switching your dog from a puppy blend to an adult blend. This food is suitable for all stages, including pregnant and nursing females.

MSG in your Dog Food

There has been a lot of talk lately about Glutamate in Taste of the Wild pet foods. Where you see "natural flavor" in the ingredients list, this is referring to glutamate, which may be bad for your dog. There is also a question of the amount of salt that is now being added to Taste of the Wild.

Now i don't know much about glutamate, and to my knowledge Taste of the Wild has not addressed this issue with any of the Dog Forums members who have e-mailed their concerns to the company. However, the salt addition has been made because of the increased sodium requirements in pregnant and nursing females. Sodium is a natural mineral that is a required nutrient.

if glutamate is a concern for you, don't feed Taste of the Wild. The ingredients lists on Amazon aren't showing "natural flavors." Check your bag when it is delivered.

Recently my dog came up with a lot of dander. The pet store recommended adding some oil to her food, but I decided to ask the vet about this before I did it. The vet said that she could not recommending adding oil to dry food, or feeding wet food in order to improve the dander situation. She instructed us that the dog is on a skin shed cycle and that she is shedding the "bad" skin from her Eukanuba days. The timing for this is spot on, so I believe the vet to be correct.

The reason that she didn't like the idea of us adding oil to the food or feeding canned is that it is inclined to give a dog digestive upsets such as what we are already experiencing. If you do choose to feed canned or to mix canned and dry foods, please watch your dog for diarrhea or other problems.

I would like to keep this guest book on the topic of Taste of the Wild Dog Food if possible. Angels, by all means, leave your blessings here so that I can know if you blessed this lens, but otherwise it is most helpful to me and my visitors if the guest book stays on topic. Let me know what you think of Taste of the Wild Dog food.

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