Natural Balance L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets Dry Dog Food, Potato & Duck Formula, 26 Pounds, Grain Free

We have a six month-old Goldendoodle puppy who already weighs 53 pounds (he's a big boy). We switched to this food from Core Wellness Puppy formula which has Turkey because he ended up with an anal gland infection (which we blame largely on Greenies treats) and our vet recommended we switch foods. She said in her experience, doodles tend to have a higher rate of allergies to foods and environment than other dogs. She also said that for some reason, doodles (and many other dogs) don't handle chicken well and sometimes not even turkey. We pressed her for a recommendation which she was reluctant to provide because she said they're really not supposed to do that. She finally broke and said she has seen great success with Natural Balance duck and potato limited ingredient. She said it works wonders for dogs with skin allergies and digestive issues. We were willing to give it a try plus it's less expensive than Core Wellness. We bought a bag of Nature's Balance here on Amazon. We slowly switched our puppy over by mixing this food with his old Core Wellness kibble until he was fully on Nature's balance. He hasn't had a problem with his anal glands since. He gobbles this food the same as the other. We like the slightly larger sized kibble because it doesn't tend to fall out everywhere when scooping it up. We have not noticed an increase in his "output" in the yard which tells us this isn't a food that is filled with fillers. So far we have nothing bad to say about it. The price seems to fluctuate on the site within a ten dollar range and that's a little irritating if it happens to be up when we need a bag. But otherwise we're happy. Our dog has a great body composition per our vet and we feed two cups in the morning, two at dinner time and usually about a half cup or so more in handfuls here and there as "treats". The vet said we'd be feeding this amount of just about any dog food so I don't understand some reviews complaining about this amount of food for a large breed dog. To be fair, he is a larger Goldendoodle than most because he was only one of four puppies to a mama with good milk and he was the largest of two male puppies & the biggest puppy from his litter. Still, this amount of food is working just fine for him. We will edit our review if anything changes with this food.

It's pretty common for dogs to gradually develop sensitivity to their food, if you stick to just one protein source, and one manufacturer. I'm a strong proponent of 'switching it up' - use different brands (always of high quality), and different protein sources, and rotate through them over time, or even just throw in a few bags of a different brand/protein source once or twice a year, then go back to your regular feed.Feeding your dog only beef, or chicken, or even lamb - at every meal, for years and years - will likely cause sensitivity eventually. Living creatures require variety. There are micronutrient even beyond the 'standard' ones of vitamins and minerals that cannot be guaranteed with single source, highly uniform foods. In nature, a dog (or cat, or darned near any creature) will eat a variety of different foods - based on their needs and availability. Manufacturers *have* to make their foods highly uniform - both in order to make it at scale, and to provide guaranteed analysis - it's just how the modern world works. But that limits variety, and can introduce micronutrient deficiencies.Because beef and chicken have been the primary protein sources used in commercial dog food for many years, even switching brands may not be enough to provide the necessary variety, if it's just one manufacturer's chicken base vs another. Plus, many 'brands' are just different names for the same manufacturer's products, with very minor variations in ingredients.So - that's a lot of preamble. Anyway, duck is a 'non standard' protein source. Far less often used as the base protein. Which makes it a good alternative to the regular stuff. Our German Shepherd Lillie developed sensitivity to the standard beef and chicken stuff - dry, itchy skin, which would cause her to 'worry' patches on her body, often her foot pads, to the point of bleeding. Switching to this cleared it up within a few weeks. We use this as our main food for her - but as above - from time to time, throw in a different brand, different protein source. Keep some variety in the diet - if even only to give that pup a new taste to enjoy!

The dogs love this. I was using the bison-sweet potato but this is less sugar and the dogs love the change in flavor. They look wonderful, they have good, healthy tummies with little gas and are eager to eat. Both the older 12 year old dog and the younger 6 year old dog seem to do well on it, firm muscles, shiny eyes, and soft coats (standard poodles.)The ship subscription is so handy because the pet store runs out of this and I don't have to lug it from the store to my house, just tug it indoor from the porch when delivered.My dogs get 2 cups a day at 45 and 55 lbs weight, and it lasts just about a month, not quite.Duck is not raised with antibiotics and potatoes are not grain. These dogs love vegetables and fruits so the potato is a welcome taste (one dog steals raw potatoes to chew on, but that's another story.)