Wellness CORE Dry Dog Food, Grain-Free, High Protein, Natural, Ocean Whitefish, Herring, & Salmon Recipe, (26-Pound Bag)

My dogs have been eating this dog for for over 20 years. It’s a high quality, nutritious food that my dogs love

I am a dog owner and dog trainer with a thirst for knowledge. When I first started hunting for a great dog food I did my research and began with Blue Buffalo. I tried a number of premium brands and formulas before this came out and nothing, including the regular line by this brand, can hold a candle to CORE. It's not the most affordable, but at least in MN, I can't find a better price for this. If you can get the subscribe and save discount this food is a steal!My dogs are constantly observed as extremely healthy by vets and trainers alike. They have noticeably softer coats since switching them to CORE and less skin issues. I also no longer deal with frequent gas - something several premium brands caused.If you're still not sold, here are some guiding principles for why this food is great and how to shop for quality dog food. Everyone has a budget, but try to find one you can afford with the best of these:- The first ingredients should always be meat. Just like human labels, the first ingredients comprise the largest quantities within the product.- Lamb and then chicken tend to be most digestible for most dogs.- Meal is like a protein powder made by rendering down a stew-like mixture to maximum potency. It contains more protein than meat alone by eliminating water per ounce. That said, not all meal is created equal. Make sure the source is specified. Simply saying "poultry meal" can mean it came from any source they could find and usually that means varying degrees of quality.- Avoid grains as they can irritate many dogs stomachs. You want potatoes, oats, and/or brown rice for fiber and carbs. If you see "brewers rice" on a label, it shouldn't be in the top five ingredients (or at all for me). It's a cheaply obtained processed carb and a filler.- Flaxseed and fish oils are great for skin and coat. I used to supplement my dog food with salmon oil in winter, but it hasn't been necessary since they started this food. Mentioning the source of the fish oil indicates its quality, just like the meal source.- I like a food with few antioxidant ingredients in it, such as blueberries and broccoli. Healthy for us, healthy for them. That's just my opinion though. I treat with the fresh stuff when I can.- That list of vitamins at the end? It's your dog's daily multi vitamin. Glucosamine is important to joint health for any size, age, or weight. This product has natural preservatives, which is my preference where possible for their diet and my own.- Protein percentage! Vets say stay above 15% for a normal adult dog; my goal is closer to 25% or 30%. If your dog is very active, that should be your goal too; however, even if your dog isn't that active a higher protein content is fine. Early research used to claim it could cause renal failure, but that research has long been debunked.Don't believe me? Do the research yourself. Don't trust the word of food reps, breeders, or even many vets. Most haven't paid attention to nutrition science, it's advances, or have an agenda of their own. Even a well meaning vet may not know some of this and be operating on outdated common knowledge.Never transition your dog's food all at once. Pay attention to their unique reaction to a new food over the first few weeks at 100% of it. Pay attention to their stool and frequency of bowl movements. Watch for weight fluctuations. New food means you may have to increase or decrease their volume per meal. Each dog has unique needs and sensitivities, just like we do, so even a great food may not be great for your dog.I hope this helps!

Arrived quickly! Not my usual brand but pups ate it!

My dog likes it and it is easier on his sensitive stomach than other brands. Why is it so expensive!

I adopted an adult German Shepherd 9 years ago who had horrible fur, skin, and digestive issues. After trying several different kinds of food, none of which helped the skin issues, and all made the digestive issues worse (even with slow switching over a month), Wellness CORE turkey was the ONLY thing he could eat and he loved it. His fur became softer and thicker and his skin issues went away.We also have a Border Collie adopted when she was 7 months old, and she started out on Wellness puppy until she was ~12mo, then switched to Wellness CORE turkey for the last 7 years. Her fur is super silky, and looks so healthy people typically comment.When feeding a large dog, this is more economical than it seems (see calories per cup and calculations below). I didn't have to feed him as much at a time compared to cheaper grain filled kibble, which seemed to also help the stomach issues he was plagued with.CALORIC INFORMATIONPer the Wellness CORE website: 421 calories per cupHOW TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH KIBBLE YOUR DOG NEEDS w/ NEW KIBBLE (a general guide)Caloric calculations seem to vary, but the Ohio State University School of Vet Medicine recommends the following as a starting point (google for original source). I'll use my Border Collie as an example:My Border Collie is 30lb, 8 years old and spayed.Weight must be in killograms, so divide her weight in pounds by 2.2: 30lb / 2.2 = 13.636 kgWe then plug her weight into their formula for her resting energy needs (how many calories she needs w/o activity):(70*13.636)^0.75 = 496.6 caloriesThen we need to multiply by the appropriate activity factor to get her daily energy needs (google the website for the full table of activity factors)496.6 x 1.6 (her factor for a fixed adult) = 794.5 calories / dayNow I take the calories per cup (8 oz per cup per the website) and divide by 8 to get the calories per oz421 / 8 = 52.6 calories per oz kibbleTotal calories per day (794.5) / Calories per oz (52.6) = 15.1 oz / day or slightly under two cupsThis is the starting point for how much I would feed her per day. I'd also monitor her weight and adjust if she's losing or gaining to find the amount of kibble per day to maintain a healthy weight at her activity level. Because she's getting older, I actually feed her a little less than this and an activity factor of 1.5 or 1.4 might be more appropriate as she's not as "BC crazy" as she was when she was younger.TIPS ON SWITCHING FOODWhen switching kibble make sure it's a slow transition to minimize any GI distress they might experience from a sudden diet change. Depending on tolerance, I typically decrease the old kibble by 10-20% and add in the new kibble to maintain about the same amount of food per day. Changing the percentage every other day, depending on tolerance, until they are eating nothing but the new kibble.