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(More customer reviews)Why the Grain Free variety? My younger sheltie has epilepsy. Gluten and corn are possible seizure triggers, so I feed both my shelties a wheat, corn, & gluten free diet. Canidae is only part of that diet; I feed them 4 small meals a day - 1/4 cup Canidae Grain Free ALS, then a 4" piece of raw turkey neck, then veggies for the last two meals. The last meal is sometimes another 1/4 cup of Canidae instead of veggies. I know, it's complicated, right? But my dogs really do better on a mostly raw diet like this. I still use kibble because it's the fastest way to feed them a meal first thing in the morning before I let them out to go potty.
I've fed a variety of kibbles from the natural pet food shops, some with grain and others grain free, and when I fed them an all-kibble diet (Canidae or other brands) my younger sheltie had TERRIBLE gas, while my older sheltie had anal gland problems where she'd have an anal sac blowout at least once a month. So gross, but that's why we covered our couches in blankets that were easily washed. (Gosh I hope you're not eating lunch while you read this review.) Anyway, I started giving them more raw food and the gas has disappeared and my girl sheltie no longer has anal gland issues. Their teeth are cleaner too.
I didn't want this to turn into a "raw food is the only way to go" preaching session, I swear! But for my dogs, raw is better - it's easier for my younger sheltie to digest so he doesn't gas us out of our home, and it gives my older sheltie firmer poo so her anal glands work like they're supposed to. Canidae doesn't help my dogs' particular issues like raw does.
However, Canidae is a heck of a lot easier and cheaper to feed, and my furry kids certainly do love Canidae's taste, they inhale it. If your dog doesn't have weird kibble digestion issues like mine do, then Canidae Grain Free ALS is a 5 star dog food. For my dogs' sensitive systems, it's a 4-star food.
The Canidae Grain-Free All Life Stages has a 34% protein level, which seems to do better with my shetland sheepdogs' stomachs than the higher protein kibbles. I've fed another brand of grain-free kibble (Innova EVO turkey & chicken) that had 42% protein which was too high for them to handle even when switching to it gradually and only getting a 1/4 cup a day... 42% protein made their poo liquid. So, I've stuck with Canidae's grain free ALS.
I've also done a 50/50 mix with the Grain Free ALS and the Grain Free Salmon, the furry kids love it. The Salmon variety smells like FISH, big surprise, right? I try not to breathe when dishing it out, don't care for the smell of fish like the pups do.
As I write this, Amazon's price is the same as my local natural pet store. As much as I'd like to support local business, my local natural pet store is terrible (it's a long story), so I buy Canidae here on Amazon.
Ingredients:
Chicken meal, turkey meal, lamb, potatoes, peas, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), lamb meal, ocean fish meal, tomato pomace, natural flavor, choline chloride, suncured alfalfa meal, inulin (from chicory root), lecithin, sage extract, cranberries, beta-carotene, rosemary extract, sunflower oil, yucca schidigera extract, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, papaya, pineapple.
**Update** Canidae is soon going to have 4 grain free varieties, and this Grain Free All Life Stages will have its name changed to Canidae Grain Free pureELEMENTS. Different name, same ingredients.
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Canidae Dry Dog Food for All Life Stages, Grain Free Chicken, Turkey, Lamb and Fish, 30 Pound Bag
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