Farmina N&D Ancestral Grain Chicken & Pomegranate Medium & Maxi Adult Dry Dog Food, 5.5-lb bag

This food has been wonderful for my Kuvasz. She loves it. No legume seeds either, and that is very important as legume seeds (such as peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas, etc) contain anti-nutrients which deplete sulfur amino acids (such as taurine, cysteine, and methionine). My Kuvasz had her blood tested at UC Davis, and her whole blood taurine level was 292 (quite good)--she had been eating this and Dr Tim's Pursuit, 50/50 each, for approximately 6 months prior. Multiple other Kuvasz (not mine thankfully) had been diagnosed recently with dilated cardiomyopthy (DCM) which responded to treatment with taurine supplements and a change in diet to one with grains and without legume seeds. As an added benefit to this food, my Kuvasz who had yeasty ears in the past now has very clean ears. What a huge difference food has made. Perhaps that Farmina Ancestral Grains uses no GMOs nor corn has contributed to this.

As a dog lover as well as a former breeder of Pembroke Welsh Corgis, I am very particular about what I feed my Corgis while also working within a budget. When I began raising Corgis, I did a lot of research on dog’s, their ancestral diet, what they need in their diet as well as what they should not have in their diet. I researched The Association of American Feed Control Officials recommendations are. What AAFCO recommends is the minimum of what any animal feed should have. I do not want the minimum - I want what is best for them. Hans just turned 7 years old and Ady will be 8 years old a a couple months. I watch their weight closely. I pay close attention to their hair coat, energy level, etc. to make sure they are getting proper nutrients. They have maintained a glossy, soft hair coat and everything else that I monitor with the change to Farmina. I made the change from a Merrick dog food about 4 months ago when I learned about Farmina N&D Ancestral Grain Chicken & Pomegranate Dog Food. Not that I any major complaints about the Merrick feed I had them on, but they had made some slight changes that I would have preferred they had not made. I was simply more impressed by Farmina. I read through Farmina’s website, saw their dedication to dogs (& cats) as well as quality ingredients. The cost difference was only 4 cents a pound more. I look at everything from protein and fat content and all ingredients. While I am not against all grains, I am against some grains being in my dogs’ feed. I don’t want corn, corn meal, or anything corn in my dogs’ feed. Nor do I want wheat, soy and white rice in it. I want to see certain things in the first five ingredients, with meat being number 1, preferably in the top 2 or 3 ingredients. Since ingredients are listed according to the amount that is in it, growing from highest to lowest, those first 5 ingredients are going to provide the bulk of the quality in the feed. I also avoid by-products as the source (which can be multiple sources) and quality is often questionable. By-products also tend to overly processed. “By-products” and “meal” are not the same thing. Meal is typically a single source and higher quality. Farmina meets or excesses what I look for in feed for Ady and Hans.

This food smells tasty. My dog is very un-amused by most kibble foods but he loves this. He stops and sniffs the bag every time he walks by it. He’s had no adverse reactions adjusting to the change. The kibbles are kinda large but my Doodle chomps them just fine-good for cleaning the teeth. He is more energic and playful. Is gaining lean muscle mass too! I have peace of mind feeding him this clean, gmo free food. The fact that this food is produced in Europe, where some cancer causing pesticides have been banned, and they process it to not have preservatives for long shelf life is very appealing. Could not be happier with Farmina’s dedication to quality food production.

I’ve fed this food for many years and been very happy. Towards the end of last year my dog started having non stop GI issues and I’ve spent a small fortune diagnosing the problem. Turns out it was the food the entire time. I recently found out Farmina changed the recipe and the factory last year right around the time his issues started. When I did find out we took him off the food and he has not had any GI issues since. If only I had known this prior to spending tons of money trying to determine the cause of his issues. The whole time I was feeding him the cause. I felt awful when I realized but there was no change notification and the bag looked the same so I had no idea. So if you have fed this for years and your dog is having issues, look for another food. I will not be buying Farmina in the future over this situation that my poor dog had to suffer through with this food.