I switched from Orijen to Essence and like the kibble quite a bit. I fed the chicken first (as the Orijen I was feeding was chicken), now feeding the Ranch version but have a slightly stinky pup so may try the Fish.
We have one Shepherd who is a stanky girl. I’m beginning to lose count of how many dogs we have, so I try to be reasonable with their kibble. She maintains pretty well on the Pro89. It’s not my favorite food, but it works for the crew. They also get a probiotic and a duck egg daily.
It’s been about 2 weeks since I switched my smelly girl from a chicken/turkey based kibble (Orijen Puppy) to a salmon/ocean fish based kibble (TOTW Pacific Stream Puppy). The dog smell has definitely decreased! She’s eating better, too.
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Bumping this back up almost a year later.
After not being an issue for a loooong time, my dog’s odor came back with a vengeance. I couldn’t figure out what was going on, then I realized the “fish-based” food I had recently switched her to has chicken as the #1 ingredient.
How about that.
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Glad you figured it out.
Sneaky chicken!!
It amazing me that something can be labeled as X and clearly be Y. And people wonder why we feel gaslit by labels, marketing, and corperations. Heaven forbid someone’s dog had a really bad reaction to food labeled one protein and it being another.
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It’s may bad for ASSuming. Usually I do my due dilligence better.
Poor dog, I haven’t really been able to find a kibble that agrees with her long term. She either a) stops eating it or b) develops some kind of weirdness on it. Diamond Naturals Skin & Coat Salmon formula was working well for her, but I started having supply issues both online and in stores. Someone told me Purina One had a salmon formula, and while not my first choice, it was reliably available and my dog loves it so far. But… she stinks. Badly. And I should have looked at the ingredients. I’m wondering if they meant the Pro Plan version, not the Purina One.
Have you tried Iams? One of their adult foods is no-chicken, I don’t remember which offhand. But it’s widely available.
And they probably did mean the Pro Plan, that’s the sensitive skin and stomach Salmon one.
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Don’t beat yourself up! The formula IMO is misleading by being called a fish based food on the front of the bag.
Have you tried Zingnature? I get it from Chewy. I have had success with the kangaroo, beef, and pork formulas. I use it along with Steve’s Real food and K9 Naturals for some additional calories/filler to help my wallet out. Personally, I am not a fan of the pea/pea flour but I only feed a cup of it a day in total. And there is added taurine which makes me feel better about it.
I am about ready to open a bag of pork that was delivered a day or so ago. Do you want a sample popped in the mail to you? DM me your info if you would like a few cups worth.
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This is such a great thread … my stinky dog also gets hot spots, etc. I’ve been mixing it up between lamb and fish based, with the occasional beef base thrown in. I’ve switched to ordering on Chewy so I’ve tried their brand, plus others. Budget is a concern, so I try to get premium-but-not-the-OMG-priced-super-premium that is available.
I was so focused on getting hot spots cooled down that I forgot to evaluate whether his stank is reduced. I’m so used to him that it’s hard to tell. 
I’ll need to remember to give him a sniff, perhaps outside, after inhaling a palate-cleansing aroma … 
Oh, ETA (because I forgot) to mention that I noticed fish is really reeky. Part of that is the fish itself, but now I wonder if it has some sneaky ingredients? Hmmm.
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Interesting timing!
I actually wound up switching back to Canidae this winter after all the itching with my red boy just would not resolve, and went with their salmon and wild grain formula because it had zero soy. Resolved the majority of his issues and my stinky boy has been less stinky. The Purina food was soy protein based. Only downside is I’m battling their weight and them constantly claiming they are STARVING 
. My red boy just seems to have constant allergy issues anyway, esp in the summer when grass is grassing, we just finished a round of prednisone and doxy for some rando hives on his freakin nose and lips that sure looked like hives, weren’t getting better and were getting bumped into and aggravated, but I couldn’t treat topically at home because he would just lick off… Vet agreed prob an allergy to what? who knows? is he telling? nope? and it cleared up but now looks like it might be coming back again so I swear it’s just grass or nature in general… UGH.
BUT. Stinky boy, other than his butt occasionally or too long between baths, is no longer musky, so I’m guessing was the soy. Zero acrid musky gym bag smell since.
This past week post bath:
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I’m in the same boat; I’m on a pretty tight budget these days so I’m trying to balance economical with the ingredients I want. Time is also at a premium these days, so I need something I can reliably access.
But I feel like I’ve fed this dog from every single price point and nothing is quite right. She came to me on Rachel Ray, so I figured everything was an improvement. I experimented with a few primo brands, a few thriftier brands, a few in between… and they’ve all had their challenges.
It also says “no poultry by-product meal” on the bag, which I stupidly ASSumed to mean “no poultry.” Ah, marketing. 
That is such a kind offer to make! I will have to look into Zignature; that is not a brand I’m familiar with.
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That means they want you to think they put the GOOD chicken in 
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Now I want to know the brand of food so I can write them a letter!
@Mosey_2003 all I hear is Ina Garten saying, “use the good chicken”
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It’s not a secret, I said it upthread. It’s Purina One.
Not my usual go-to, but I was having trouble getting her previous food. The lady at the kennel where I boarded her mentioned if I wanted a salmon-based feed, the Purina One was available basically everywhere and she had good luck with it. I saw the bag with its “no poultry” (byproducts) and “real salmon #1 ingredient” and figured it was worth a try without doing much more homework (especially since the local store was out of her previous food and my online order was delayed and I was scared I may run out).
It seems that my little dog is reactive to chicken. If you need to avoid it you need to read ingredients labels carefully. Many add chicken in as a cheap protein source, even though they are “lamb” or “beef”.
I have used both Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Beef and Honest Kitchen dehydrated beef for him. He also gets probiotics added.
