Tell me what you know about Taste of the Wild dog food

I generally don’t pay much attention to my vet’s advice about dog food, but she asked me today what I feed my dogs, and when I said Taste of the Wild (not quite forthcoming on my part because I actually feed a raw diet and supplement occasionally with Taste of the Wild) … anyway, she put on her disapproving face and said I “could do better, even something like Purina One from the grocery store would be a step up.” Then she mentioned something about any dog food called “Blue” or “Wild” she wasn’t too crazy about and something about a company who maintains a poodle should be fed differently from a terrier was no good in her book.

Not sure exactly what her point was, and I know she vehemently disapproves of raw.

She also vehemently disapproved of my decision to wait until my pup Scamp was a year old before I had him neutered, which was based on the advice of the orthopedic surgeon who fixed his tibial growth plate fracture.

There are two vets at the practice, and the one I saw today is not the one I usually see. She’s kinda odd.

But anyway, I’m wondering if there’s something about Taste of the Wild dog food that I don’t know about. I thought it had a pretty good reputation.

Well, I’m the nutty veterinarian who stocks no prescription food, feeds my dog Honest Kitchen, and have fed corn/soy/wheat free for a decade. Cats eat raw of HK. I switched off of TOTW a few years ago when a formula changed lead to soft stool in my household. That said, I think TOTW is better than Purina One. Royal Canin has a number of breed specific formulas, I have no knowledge of them beyond that.

I also favor letting dogs go through puberty for growth plate closure. But, I have a houseful of intact breeding corgis.

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I think there was a recall a few years back, but that’s the only thing I can think of.

TOTW has gone through several recalls, IIRC. Some vets (here, I think?) have also reported orthopedic issues in growing dogs that they suspect are due to the food. (I might be recalling incorrectly, maybe that was Blue Buffalo?)

If you’d like an absolutely top notch dry food to supplement your raw, have you considered Orijen? Or Acana? Same company, really uber premium food. I’ve fed both and really have zero complaints. Probably the best kibble on the market.

I wouldn’t want to feed my dogs TOTW, but would probably feed that before Purina One and would DEFINITELY feed it before Royal Canin (the breed specific food people.)

I have never heard of Orijen or Acana, but I will look into it. My local feed mill carries TOTW, so that’s convenient for me. I’m not going to stress too much over it, since I feed a commercial frozen raw diet that I’ve been happy with plus fresh meat from local farmers or the grocery store. The kibble they get maybe once or twice a week at most.

I just found my vet’s remark about feeding terriers differently from poodles a little puzzling. I’m not even sure if she meant a different food formulation or different amounts of the same food. As far as I know, TOTW has just a few different flavors. Maybe she was thinking of Royal Canin.

My two small “kids” are on Fromm Gold Small Breed Adult and Honest Kitchen.

Tried TOTW with some previous dogs and wasn’t happy with their poop.

Me? Purina One I wouldn’t put at the top of my personal list of favored dog foods. I trust where Fromm and Honest Kitchen are produced.

My one BT will be neutered this summer when he’s 2 1/2 yrs… my vet was fine with that decision (although they tend to push earlier neutering).

Taste if the wild is highly rated by both dogfoodadvisor.com and dogfoodanalysis.com.
purina one is rated well below it. It’s probably the better choice among grocery store brands but that’s not saying a lot. And Kirkland grain free from Costco us better than purine one.
Its better that Blue.
I’ve been feeding TOTW to 3 dogs for about 12 yrs with really good results. I use the high prairie formula.

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Here is the Orijen website, if you’d like to take a peek:

www.orijen.ca

I feed the 6 Fish now, have fed the Regional Red and the standard Adult.

Acana is www.acana.com

Used the Lamb & Apple and Duck & Pear when I needed more of an allergy food.

Chewy.com carries the whole lineup for both :slight_smile:

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The only thing I know about it is my old lab was not a fan of the TOTW. It looked like a decent option and was rated highly and stocked at Tractor Supply so easy to get. Ended up having to donate the almost full bags. My BIL is currently feeding his pittie TOTW and he is not a fan. I gave him my labs food when she passed and it was the first bowl of food he ate at one time. I fed Canidae, since it was the lowest sodium food I could get that was grain free and she would eat.

I used to feed the TOTW, but my dog decided she didn’t like it. Seemed like it was hard for her to chew for some reason. I switched to Purina Pro Plan for both dogs and they absolutely love it and are doing fantastic on it.

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I used to feed my one Bouv Pro Plan Turkey-Barley as it was one of the few foods that his sensitive gut would handle. Tried TOTW but his tummy didn’t like it.

Now that I have something smaller, the BTs, it’s a bit easier to spend a bit more $$ on higher quality food.

Surprised a vet would recommend Purina One. They’re usually the first ones on the pricy food band wagon.

Well, I just remembered that when I took my new pup for his first visit, I declined the free bag of some Hill’s product. And now I wonder if that’s what prompted the question in the first place. She never asked me before what I feed my dogs.

After many struggles with sensitivity with the cockapoo, we are doing great with Fromm Adult Gold.

I’ve fed TOTW cat kibble (Canyon River–supplemented with breakfast of Friskies) for years with no ill effect. My cats are healthy and their coats are incredible. My allergic to chicken/egg/soy pit bull has been on TOTW kibble (Pacific Stream) for nearly 2 years and she looks great as well. My vet actually got me started on TOTW and she fed her dogs that for quite some time.

YMMV, but I find it reasonably priced, decent ingredients, highly palatable, and easy to find when shopping.

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The review of TOTW on dogfoodadvisor.com is 10 years old–2007; on dogfoodanalysis it’s not a top rated food. On the latter site, it gets 4*, right along with Diamond Naturals which is more than $15 per 40lb bag cheaper. Ten years ago, TOTW was a boutique food; now it’s found everywhere, including my True Value hardware.

I also feed raw but have recently switched to 50/50 using the Orijen that Simkie suggested. I get it from Chewy.com as well. Seems great and the dogs love it!

I had some issues with TOTW a few years back. Vomiting dogs, then later, dogs refusing to eat the food. I switched to Tractor Supply’s 4Health Grain Free. It’s a decent food for a decent price.

Just FYI- the Diamond brand is owned by the same company as TOW and comes out of the same production factory.

I thought that the tractor supply stuff was just rebranded TOTW?

Nope. 4Health is a different brand. There’s the regular 4Health and 4Health limited ingredient grain free in several different protein varieties.