After accidentally feeding him puppy food, we thought that the results were surprisingly not bad despite it was pretty high in fat and protein. So I decided to try the adult version with the same main meats. There are many meats at the front of the ingredient list, which I'm happy about.
Leo has always enjoyed Petcurean food despite his potato sensitivity (he gets yeasty/ shakes head a lot). This one has a significant lower percentage of potatoes than the Now! line which I stay away from now. He maintained his healthy weight on this kibble and it smelled pretty amazing.
Personally, I am still questioning the importance of grain free, as I feed my dog oatmeal occasionally and it just.. works with his body. But it's good to know the option to go grain free is out there.
I would recommend this food if your dog does not have potato problems.
Okay perhaps this is for a 4 pound dog because my 9 pound dog does not chew on these because they are so tiny. They smelled really good though.
My review 3/5/ Leo's review, 4/5
Aside from potatoes, I love all the ingredients in this food - omega 3 and 6, coconut oil, etc.
While I've heard other dogs do super well on this formula, mine was not the best.
NOW FRESH is Petcurean's "fresher" line. When I was trying this out I noticed that Leo was shaking his head a lot (1 sign of yeast overgrowth) and he was also smelling like yeast. Then I noticed that this line is heavy in potatoes. However, this could also be from other reasons but this is the biggest suspect as of now. I switched him to a less potato-y food and he's definitely shaking his head less.
Although it is suitable for more older dogs, I felt that their GO! line is still an superior product. And look at the kibble! He was swallowing them whole. I wish it was the same design just twice as big.
Even for a chihuahua, I felt that the kibbles were a little bit too tiny.
Overall, I trust Petcurean as a company and they have a fantastic company that always donates food to shelters.
On a nice saturday, the fam popped over to our favorite pet food shop, My Fluffy Friends to check out a food demo!
On top, it says 100% ingredients approved for human consumption(impressive)but honestly I had 0 urges to taste it. The food looked very bland.
This is definitely a gourmet food, I love the whole design of the labels - very chic. But is Leo chomping down on the the label designs? Noooo... In the information package, there are 6 things their customers have claimed (I like science, but you know, we will work with what we've got)
No more allergies
Disappearance of tartar (This is possible since the food is quite hard)
Improved joint mobility
Improved digestion
Shinier coat
No more burnt grass
The food smelled like nothing, which concerns me a little. Where's the smell? Where is that FLAVORTOWN I love so much? Also they say I could rehydrate (which I regret not trying) but it just seems like another extra step.
I received a generous sample from a demo event at a local pet food shop. Noticed right away that while Leo was eating the food, he wasn't wolfing it down like when I feed him his normal petfood (Currently Petcurean). I also noticed that he had a little difficulty breaking the food into smaller pieces (If I am correct, they are about the same size as these marrow bones and also kind of looked like them)
With the leftovers, I just toss 3 or 4 into his regular food, and use it as treats. He does a moderate tail wag for them but no EXCITEMENT EXCITEMENT he gets with other treats. I am very interested in dehydrated foods (which is a nice in between raw and kibble) But this one just seemed... brittle.
While the ingredients actually look pretty good (First few are Deboned-chicken, Green Lentil, Chicken Liver) the protein content (24%) is not as high as I'd like it to be.
All in all, Leo with Canisource is like me with Kale - I'll eat it, but I'm not going to be ecstatic about it unless you put on a delicious sauce.
Again, another Canadian company. I do trust that their ingredients are good, but perhaps a little less animal protein as I'd prefer. This also seems like if you dehydrated it, would make a decent topper.
LEO is an active senior dog that is around 4kg and I fed 1/3 of a cup of this food a day + snacks such as veggies and a spoon of yougurt. He walks average an hour a day.
4.75/5 Leo gives it a 100% amazing delicious wow gimme more.
You know, sometimes I make mistakes. I read ingredients and percentages so diligently I forget to look at the label on the front. Definitely saw that this had fish meal and a significant amount of protein got too excited.
So I got a sample bag. Leo adores this food. The small kibble size is fairly easy for him to gobble up, I noticed that the kibble itself is quite shiny (It is high in fat and protein to promote the growth of a puppy). And of course, there are many arguments on the internet about if a senior dog needs as much protein (I personally believe so). All in all, this, on top of many other factors, Leo gained a tiny bit of weight. (half a pound) But generally speaking, he maintained his weight and honestly, everything is pretty good and I would recommend this food. One thing I'd like to add is that due to it being quite oily, one should add a little more fibre into their puppy's diet such as Steamed pumpkin and Yams.
A personal preference thing is that his breath smells quite fishy since it's got trout in it. One way to counter this, is with a minty gum supplement called Healthy Gums which I will do a complete separate post about soon. I've tried the home remedy of Cilantro but it didn't make much of a difference. Fish is one of the best proteins and other minerals for canine health.
He digests this food well and his poos are looking good on this puppy food.
I love this brand because it's Canadian and their ingredients are quite good. On active online communities, it has always been held in high regard.
Let me know what kind of main dish you feed your Fido in a comment below!
Just some background information. Leo is an active 8 or 9 years old chihuahua that currently weights 4kg or 8.8 pounds. This is the beef chomper, I got the 4 inch.
Open range farm is a Canadian owned company and I appreciate that their products have minimal packaging. I personally bought this bully stick from Tisol but many other pet stores carry it.
I was looking around for a good bully stick and honestly thought this looked a little too hard. Little did I know, he devoured it in 20 minutes - the entire thing!!! I tried to take it away from him at one point and he just started to pretty much gulp it.
So in retrospect, I would recommend this as a treat (especially for medium sized and large dogs)
but for chihuahuas, I would saw it in half so he can enjoy it two times.
However, seeing this is beef esophagus, it actually looked quite high in fat content, so I would recommend lowering his calorie intake in other foods and/or taking him on extra long walks the next few days.
Leo gives this a 5/5 (I LOVE THIS WOULD INHALE AGAIN)
I give it a 4.5/5 because I doubt it's teeth cleaning properties and also the need to portion it out for him for next time. Would repurchase.
We recently bought the water buffalo stick from the same company, so look out for that review soon!
Hello, it's me! Leo! The little dog that everyone adores! I guess it wouldn't exactly be a blog about my life if I didn't tell you some of my favorite foods!!
RICE
When I first arrived in my new home, I found my first obsession, rice! It's soooo yummy!! and smells so appetizing!
Rice Pros: surprising rich in nutrients, yummy, easy to digest
Rice cons: Lots of sugar so it's bad for teeth.
ALTERNATIVES: brown rice, just cook it longer than white rice
OATMEAL
What is it with breakfast foods? Why so good?
Oatmeal Pros: Good for regulating bowel movements, easy to digest, especially good for older dogs
Oatmeal cons: If you are using steel cut oats like I am, try to cook then leave in a slow cooker overnight.
BROCCOLI STEMS
Oh my god!!! SOOO crunchy!! and great amount of antioxidants!!
Pros: nutrient rich, good fiber
Cons: too much of this may cause Hypothyroidism (similar to raw cabbage), Do not feed too much broccoli florets (the flower part) because it has traces of something poisonous for dogs.
CUCUMBER
you may be beginning to see a pattern here... I really like crunchy green vegetables. hehe!
PROS: good for cooling off after a hot day, good source of Vitamin K
CONS: NEED. TO. PEE!!!!!
EGGS (FREE RANGE)
Sooooo yummy. Just leave me with the leftovers in the shell and I'll be sooo happy!
Pros: Protein, many other important nutrients, keeps fur very shiny!
Cons: Some say high in cholesterol, give it once every week or every two weeks.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Tumeric powder (a lil mix with raw egg) anti inflammatory,
Small amounts of Tomato (too much can cause heart problems)
Small amounts of shrimp and fish
Ground flaxseed (fiber & good digestion)
Coconut oil on Rye crackers (SO. YUM.)
Carrots (very finely chopped and sometimes cooked with coconut oil)
Watermelon rinds
In order to be on the safe side, please try a small amount first, just in case your dog is allergic to any of these items! No dogs are born the same (unless they are twins I guess..) Also it's very important to try one food at a time, for the digestion to be optimum.
More to come! Please follow this blog to see my future posts!
