[chowder]

I decided to try a small bag of Taste of the Wild since it was the only one I could find without Salmon in it as a rotation for Chelsy and Rocky. Normally Chelsy eats Evo and Rocky eats Evo and Orijen. Rocky usually will let his kibble sit in his bowl all day and sometimes a day and a half before he will eat it. He just does not like to eat much.

I put a half cup of the Taste of the Wild on top of Rocky's Orijen and he attacked the bowl. Then, he came up to me, stood on his hind legs, and gave me a 'hug'. Then as I stood there, he stood next to me and gently mouthed both my hands over and over again which is something he only does when he is very happy (it's a husky play thing).

I have NEVER seen him react that way to any food....not even canned. I know there are people here who don't like TOTW but I was really shocked at his response. Chelsy also gobbled her's up and my inlaws poodles each begged for a few pieces (they are visiting and eat home cooked meals usually).

I did check the expiration date on the bag (sometime in 2011), but what other reason do people here NOT like TOTW? I'm going to see if he stops all his scratching while he's on it because he is scratching a lot while eating the Orijen.

 

[kevin bradley]

Chowder,

Glad its working for you.

Most of us don't dislike TOTW because of any ingredient issue or glaring danger(aside from Ethoxyquin but as I understand it, Diamond is moving to a safer preservative)....its more a distrust of the company as a whole.

Admittedly, TOTW certainly checks out on paper. Ingredient wise a solid food.

I will say this though....my Dogs loving a food and going nuts over it wouldn't be very high in my analysis. My Dogs would go bonkers over McDonald's French Fries.

 

[SaltyDog]

Agreed.....it's a manufactuer thing for me.

 

[chowder]

Chowder,

My Dogs would go bonkers over McDonald's French Fries.

Funny thing, Rocky will refuse McDonalds french fries! He actually drops them on Chelsy and she eats them. He is strictly a carnivore. Won't touch bread, chips, fries, vegies, fruit, or anything like that. Will politely take them from us but promptly drops them on the floor and walks away. Also does that with almost any dog biscuit or treat.

 

[luvMyBRT]

I too have fed TOTW (bison formula). Lucky just loved it! She always just gobbled it up and could hardly wait for me to put the food down.

The two things for me is the manufacutuer and ethoxiquin. However, I too have heard that they are moving towards using another way of preserving the kibble.

 

[kevin bradley]

Funny thing, Rocky will refuse McDonalds french fries! He actually drops them on Chelsy and she eats them. He is strictly a carnivore. Won't touch bread, chips, fries, vegies, fruit, or anything like that. Will politely take them from us but promptly drops them on the floor and walks away. Also does that with almost any dog biscuit or treat.

thats funny. My troop will gobble anything thrown their way. (I know, it isn't good)....

I didn't mean to imply that it makes no difference that your Dog likes their food. I think it does.

 

[Eurobox]

Isn't the ethoxyquin only used to preserve fish??

 

[chowder]

thats funny. My troop will gobble anything thrown their way. (I know, it isn't good)....

I didn't mean to imply that it makes no difference that your Dog likes their food. I think it does.

I'm just kind of wondering what it is that is so different about TOTW that makes it so appealing to dogs? I haven't decided whether or not I am going to keep feeding it. I have limited choices since Chelsy gets horrible bloody colitis on anything with the littlest amount of salmon it it. So far all I've found is Evo for her so this would at least be something different. Every Champion food has some salmon in it according to the new updates at their websites so that eliminates them entirely. There really aren't a whole lot of other choices out there for her. She does great on the Evo and I"m fine keeping her on it for now. I just was curious about their reaction to this food.

 

[ghostrunner]

Glad that TOTW is working for you. Although it is not my favorite food (not enough meat/protein) my dog responds to it extremely positively. A while back, when he was recovering from surgery, TOTW was the only kibble that he was interested in.

The two things for me is the manufacutuer and ethoxiquin. However, I too have heard that they are moving towards using another way of preserving the kibble.

There was a post on the "ingredients" section from a member who had received an email from TOTW indicating that they were going to eliminate ethoxyquin sometime soon. I haven't heard any follow up.

 

[GermanSheperdlover]

I decided to try a small bag of Taste of the Wild since it was the only one I could find without Salmon in it as a rotation for Chelsy and Rocky. Normally Chelsy eats Evo and Rocky eats Evo and Orijen. Rocky usually will let his kibble sit in his bowl all day and sometimes a day and a half before he will eat it. He just does not like to eat much.

I put a half cup of the Taste of the Wild on top of Rocky's Orijen and he attacked the bowl. Then, he came up to me, stood on his hind legs, and gave me a 'hug'. Then as I stood there, he stood next to me and gently mouthed both my hands over and over again which is something he only does when he is very happy (it's a husky play thing).

I have NEVER seen him react that way to any food....not even canned. I know there are people here who don't like TOTW but I was really shocked at his response. Chelsy also gobbled her's up and my inlaws poodles each begged for a few pieces (they are visiting and eat home cooked meals usually).

I did check the expiration date on the bag (sometime in 2011), but what other reason do people here NOT like TOTW? I'm going to see if he stops all his scratching while he's on it because he is scratching a lot while eating the Orijen.

Tony goes nuts for TOTW wetlands. He also went nuts for Fromms duck. Both are decent products but Fromm's produces their own food and diamond produces TOTW..Check him out and his super nice coat,clear eyes and such, a good diet does make a difference..


http://3toestony.shutterfly.com/

 

[JoyceFCR]

Interesting Reaction - TOTW

I too believe the problem with the TOTW is that it is produced by Diamond, however, it gets very high ratings, even six stars on the dog food analysis information. My dogs do quite well on both the Prarie and Wetlands formulas, no gas, no scratching, and their breath is considerably better since switching to TOTW. It is one of the foods that I feed on a regular basis, with good results; however, we all kow that not all dogs are the same, some will do well on this, some will not, I do use it as a rotation food,along with Honest Kitchen, Orijen and Blue Ridge

They do not actually preserve with ethoxyquin however, this is a reply that I received from them last year, but now I understand (true or not I do not yet know)they are also looking at something different for the fish meal sources....................................

The preservation systems used by our vendors are all legal, but are
considered by them to be proprietary information. However, we know that the
heat from our pet food process destroys whatever antioxidants are used in
the ingredients that we purchase. After the heat process (extrusion and
drying), we apply natural tocopherols (Vitamin E) in order to carry the
shelf life of the food. Diamond does not preserve any of its products with
ethoxyquin, only with mixed tocopherols.

There is a law that requires fish meal to be preserved with ethoxyquin. The
following is a link to that law:

Fish Meal & Ethoxyquin

The meats, meat meals (chicken and lamb) and fats are preserved naturally.
End of their reply..................................

 

[kevin bradley]

thats BS.

they don't HAVE to preserve w/ Ethoxyquin.

Diamond dances around this issue with their typical "cryptic" response that only a freaking Lawyer would understand.

First they say it destroys the Ethoxyquin. Then they tell you they never use Ethoxyquin. You are left scratching your head in utter confusion.

Disgusting company.

 

[JoyceFCR]

Interesting Reaction

Thank you ever so much Kevin for your so well worded opinion, and thank you very much for reminding me why I normally do not post on these types of lists.

 

[whiteleo]

I think if you look through these posts you will find that there was an independant lab test done on several dog foods and TOTW definitelty has ethoxyquin in it.

 

[luvMyBRT]

Thank you ever so much Kevin for your so well worded opinion, and thank you very much for reminding me why I normally do not post on these types of lists.

I don't think that it is Kevin's opinion.....it's fact.
There are many sites that state that Diamond does in fact use ethoxyquin to preserve their fish meals.

 

[chowder]

thats BS.

they don't HAVE to preserve w/ Ethoxyquin.

Diamond dances around this issue with their typical "cryptic" response that only a freaking Lawyer would understand.

First they say it destroys the Ethoxyquin. Then they tell you they never use Ethoxyquin. You are left scratching your head in utter confusion.

Disgusting company.

Commercial chickens are fed chicken feed preserved with ethoxyquin. Residue is found in the highest amount in chicken liver, body fat, and egg yolks with lesser amounts in the breast muscles. Unless you are buying organic chickens, they have probably contained some amounts of ethoxyquin when you ate them and fed them. The same applies to beef and pork. It is widely used in animal feed worldwide.

It is also routinely used post- harvest on pears, apples, and is used as a preservative in a lot of spices like chili powder and paprika. Ethoxyquin was found in paprika samples at levels up to 63 ppm and in chili powder samples at levels up to 20 ppm. Here is a website with several good research articles on the subject.


Ethoxyquin :: analysis

The same is true of cows, cows milk, and pork. It is widely used in most animal feed worldwide.

 

[SaltyDog]

I don't think that it is Kevin's opinion.....it's fact.
There are many sites that state that Diamond does in fact use ethoxyquin to preserve their fish meals.

agreed

 

[Jacksons Mom]

Diamond has stated they are going to switch to a natural preservative, didn't they?

 

[ghostrunner]

thats BS.

they don't HAVE to preserve w/ Ethoxyquin.

Disgusting company.

Why don't they "have" to preserve with ethoxyquin? They way that I read the regulations, it does not seem optional.

Section

To be sure, many companies do not use it. Are those companies violating the law?

More to the point, your answer doesn't seem rooted in any science that I am aware of. As a scientist, that's all I care about. Can you point me to any well-controlled studies that establish that ethoxyquin is a canine carcinogen? Your reference to Diamond as "disgusting" leads me to conclude that the evidence must be overwhelming. But a quick search of PubMed didn't turn anything up. Educate me.

 

[chowder]

Just as an update to the original subject....after being on this food for awhile, we won't be staying with it. Chelsy ended up getting her colitis on it. Even though it does not list salmon on the bag and just says 'ocean fish' the manufacturers were very nice when I emailed them and said they couldn't guarantee that there would not be any salmon mixed in with the ocean fish since the ships caught both kinds of fish. I took a chance and she ended up getting sick, but not as bad as with a food with pure salmon in it. (Orijen almost killed her, literally).

So, it's back to Evo and canned food for us for now.