[Jacksons Mom]

Just curious.

Jackson is a 16lb healthy active Yorkie or Silky Terrier [[I really don't know--tend to think he's Silky]]

Anyways. I know that higher protein causing kidney problems is a total myth but I also understand not all dogs do well on higher protein either. I know Yorkies are 36x more likely to get a liver shunt than all other breeds combined but I've always been a believer in grain free higher protein diets for dogs.

Jackson has been eating Acana Grasslands for maybe 3-4 months now and seems to be doing fine and well on it. I also bought a little 1lb bag of Go! Endurance (http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=2293&cat=8) that he seemed to enjoy even better than Acana. How does this rate against Orijen?

He likes Grasslands WAY better than the Prairie (chicken based) flavor. When looking at Orijen Regional Red, the ingredients just seem ALOT better... with four out of five top ingredients being meat and ten total. Protein in RR is 38% while Acana is 33%. So it doesn't seem like THAT much of a leap. Crude fat in RR is min. of 18% while Acana is 17%. Fiber in RR is 3.0% and Acana is 3.5%. So the actual guaranteed analysis doesn't seem to differ a whole lot yet ingredients seem a whole lot better in Orijen RR?

Anyways, I'm just curious if there's a real benefit to eating Orijen over Acana? Or I guess it just differs from dog to dog?

Jackson is active, not Border Collie active (lol) but active. He gets walked M-F for 35 mins per day. He gets about 10-15 minutes of fetch with either frisbee or tennis ball almost every day. He goes swimming in big in-ground pool about 2-3x per week usually for about 20 minutes per 'session' (at my dads house). He goes to my dads house usually on average 2x per week where he runs and runs with dads 2 dogs all over the place. He gets to the dog park typically once a week (Saturdays) where he gets 2-3 hours there. He also goes to a local beach once every other week.

Is Orijen typically more appropriate for active dogs such as he? or should they be more active?

I dunno, just trying to gather more info on the whole protein thing.

Thanks for any help:biggrin:

 

[STPFAN]

Yhere is no real benefit between Orijen and Acana. There made by the same company...Acana is just lower in protein with the same quality as Orijen!
I use to feed the Acana Grassland myself and the dogs actually liked it better and the stools were more consistent then when they were feed Orijen.
Having the same quality and being a little cheaper had me sold!

 

[ann g]

My german shepherd has been on Acana wild prairie for 6 weeks now, he likes it but had more energy when he was on Wellness lg brd adult, he was doing and looking better over all on wellness. He is moderately active, regular walks lots of playtime in yard, but I haven't really seen any big improvements with the grain free acana. I agree with stpfan, acana being made by same company but at a lower price is great. but I also wondered about the high protien levels and amount of activity your dog gets.

 

[kevin bradley]

this whole, "some dogs don't do well on high protein" is for the most part a bunch of garbage.

99% of people having issues with a food like Orijen or Acana are simply feeding too much of it.

I believe the primary difference between Orijen/Acana is meat content. Certainly for almost all dogs, more is better so I'd opt for Orijen if possible. I'm working through a batch of Acana at the moment but will likely step up to Orijen in the near future.

Best Dry food available. If Orijen is an A+....Acana is an A. Net/net...feed Orijen if you can. If you want to save a few bucks and opt for Acana, I sure as hell wouldn't lose any sleep over it. While you are fretting over this decision...some poor soul is feeding Diamond or Natura products :wink:

 

[ziggy29]

Orijen is considered a little higher quality by most and is higher in meat protein, and to the extent that more meat is better, Orijen would be the better food. Having said that, Acana is still better than 98% of the kibble out there -- so if your dog loved Acana Grasslands more than just about any of the other high quality foods you've tried, I see no harm with "treating" him to this in his rotation from time to time.

 

[Jacksons Mom]

Thanks guys!

My local store actually carries the Regional Red, which I was happy about, as well as the sample bags. So I tried the sample last night, mixed it with some of the Grasslands and of course he left the Acana Grasslands in the bowl and only ate the Regional Red, ha! He always does that with new food though but stool was perfect. I'll see how it goes through this sample bag. I hope it does well with him because I do think Orijen is better. I probably will continue to rotate with Acana and Orijen (Grasslands and RR). I think that'd be a good rotation since both seem to be his fave kibble ever..... just wanted to update.

I wanted to add Go! Endurance into the rotation too since it seemed like such a great food and he loved the sample we got! But when I went into the store yesterday, it was sooo much more expensive? Why, I don't know. It was $8 for a 1lb bag of Go! Endurance... ONE pound. I got the .88lb bag of Orijen RR for like a tiny bit over $3. A 5.5lb bag of Acana Grasslands is $14 here. I think the Orijen RR is only a little over $1 more. So its worth it to me!

 

[SaltyDog]

. While you are fretting over this decision...some poor soul is feeding Diamond or Natura products :wink:

Yep, my poor dog eats Evo and unless I see a change in the formula she will NOT go back to Orijen. My puppy is on Orijen Large Breed Puppy and I just ordered her last bag of it. By the time she is done with her current bag and the bag on the way she will be between 13 and 14 months old....at that time, I will move her on to Evo as well.

I've tried Orijen 6 Fish (3 different bags mfg at 3 different times) and they can't keep it down...ever I've also tried Orijen Adult which my adult looked less than steller on and certainly did not eat it with gusto. Having said that, both of my dogs have (and still do) eaten Orijen Large Breed Puppy which both of them eat right up and looked (and look) great on. If I were to take both of them back in the future to Orijen it would be the LBP formula....possibly I'd try the Red formula. Someone else on this forum had the same issues that I did with Orijen Adult in which they too liked LBP better. I know it doesn't make sense....it's the exact same formula, just the nutrient analysis is a smidge different. I don't get what the change is, but somebody else noticed the same thing I did, so I'm not crazy.

To answer your very first question....the difference between Orijen and Acana is the fresh meat content in Orijen. Honestly, I think that Acana Grasslands should carry the Orijen name.

 

[jiml]

my dog strongly prefers acana (any flavor) over orijen

 

[Jacksons Mom]

my dog strongly prefers acana (any flavor) over orijen

It's funny how they pick and choose, isn't it?

Jackson likes both it seems. Acana Grasslands he seems to really like, but last night I put half Orijen Regional Red in it and half Grasslands and he only picked out the RR he seems to devour the RR a little faster, ha. If there's only Grasslands in the bowl, he WILL eat it and like it, but he definitely seems to like RR better. :biggrin:

 

[jiml]

yeah, trixie loves all the acana grainless flavors. I really only tried orijen 6 fish because she loved acana pacifica.

for me orijen would be much easier to obtain than acana

 

[Play Fetch]

There is a difference though between Acana and Orijen Regional Red, that has been overlooked. The level of glucosamine and chondroitin in Acana is more than twice as much as in Regional Red. The reduced protein level in Acana (60%) compared to Regional Red (75%) makes Acana a better choice for older less active dogs. They can really benefit from more glucosamine and don't need that much protein. Both brands are made by Champion in Canada, in my opinion presently the best dogfood manufacturer in the world. Both brands rank very high on every dogfood site you might visit. Both are grain free. Most allergies in dogs are caused by grain and corn, not by the meat contents.
Hope this helps by making a choice between the two brands.

 

[RCTRIPLEFRESH5]

this whole, "some dogs don't do well on high protein" is for the most part a bunch of garbage.

99% of people having issues with a food like Orijen or Acana are simply feeding too much of it.

I believe the primary difference between Orijen/Acana is meat content. Certainly for almost all dogs, more is better so I'd opt for Orijen if possible. I'm working through a batch of Acana at the moment but will likely step up to Orijen in the near future.

Best Dry food available. If Orijen is an A+....Acana is an A. Net/net...feed Orijen if you can. If you want to save a few bucks and opt for Acana, I sure as hell wouldn't lose any sleep over it. While you are fretting over this decision...some poor soul is feeding Diamond or Natura products :wink:

couldnt you have said some poor soul is feeding purina or eukanuba products? i mean that would leave noone on the boards offended. many here feed diamond, and natura so of course that would offend some lol

 

[kevin bradley]

It was tongue in cheek, RC. Probably kind of poor taste on the joke front.

Tell Shane Happy Birthday. Give him a hug for me.

 

[monkeys23]

*shrug* I switched to Acana from Evo after the buyout.

Their favorite was by far Grasslands, but they liked the others fine too. Only reason I didn't get Orijen was price difference. I was very pleased with how well they did on Acana overall. It was the last kibble I fed before going raw.

If I had to feed kibble again I would feed Lily Orijen and Scout would get Acana. Scout seemed to do better on the slightly lower protien in Acana, whereas I could tell Lily needed bumped back up that little bit.

 

[RCTRIPLEFRESH5]

this whole, "some dogs don't do well on high protein" is for the most part a bunch of garbage.

99% of people having issues with a food like Orijen or Acana are simply feeding too much of it.

I believe the primary difference between Orijen/Acana is meat content. Certainly for almost all dogs, more is better so I'd opt for Orijen if possible. I'm working through a batch of Acana at the moment but will likely step up to Orijen in the near future.

Best Dry food available. If Orijen is an A+....Acana is an A. Net/net...feed Orijen if you can. If you want to save a few bucks and opt for Acana, I sure as hell wouldn't lose any sleep over it. While you are fretting over this decision...some poor soul is feeding Diamond or Natura products :wink:

It was tongue in cheek, RC. Probably kind of poor taste on the joke front.

Tell Shane Happy Birthday. Give him a hug for me.

thanks man..ill be makign a vid of him and posting it..of him with his busy bone

 

[withawye]

Acana vs Orijen

A rep from Champion explained to me that the Acana was designed for smaller dogs or people who found the Orijen just a bit too much protein. Some dogs just can't handle the protein or aren't active enough.

They are both made in the same factory with the identical quality of ingredients. Don't think one is "better" than the other. It's just the amount of meat which results in a slightly higher cost and slightly higher protein level.

There is no one type fits all solution, find our what works for your dog or what ingredients they may be sensitive to and adjust the type. The beauty of the Champion products is once you find the right "mix" you're still getting the highest quality dog food on the market.

 

[Jacksons Mom]

A rep from Champion explained to me that the Acana was designed for smaller dogs or people who found the Orijen just a bit too much protein. Some dogs just can't handle the protein or aren't active enough.

They are both made in the same factory with the identical quality of ingredients. Don't think one is "better" than the other. It's just the amount of meat which results in a slightly higher cost and slightly higher protein level.

There is no one type fits all solution, find our what works for your dog or what ingredients they may be sensitive to and adjust the type. The beauty of the Champion products is once you find the right "mix" you're still getting the highest quality dog food on the market.

This thread is from 2010.

But thank you for the explanation!
I've been feeding Acana on and off (but mostly on) with pretty good results since 2010.

 

[Morsemouse]

Hey I have a question- we were using Natural Balance for our Morse until they were bought up by DelMonte. I am running out of my pre-buy out stock and I am looking to switch Morse. His ears (he is a cockapoo) flair up with chicken and wheat products and Natural Balance kept that in check. We are looking to upgrade Morse's food in the process.

Does anyone here have experience with a dog who had transitioned to Acana with these problems? What did you find?

 

[InkedMarie]

Morse mouse: are you using Natural Balances limited ingredient foods? If yes, take a look at Natures Variety lid, Zignature, Canine Caviar, Canidae Pure....those are other lid foods. Acana isn't a lid food but their singles line may work.

 

[Morsemouse]

InkedMarie-

I will give that a try- yes we are using lid and you are the second person to mention canine caviar.

We are pretty sure at this point it is wheat and chicken (as can be common with Cocker Spaniels, I believe) - thank you for pointing out other options