Best Food For Shelties in the USA?

Bill Porter

Bill Porter

Forums Enthusiast
Howdy Folks,

It has been 10 years since we owned a dog (also a Sheltie) and there have been a lot of new foods introduced over the years. We want to make sure that we feed our 5 month old the absolute best possible dog food we can buy. Researching food is hard because of all the misinformation on the internet. However, we came to the conclusion that Wellness Complete Health Puppy food was a good choice. But we're not sure if we're right.

Any help with food suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Bill P.
 
I used to feed Wellness to my adult dogs, until the DCM scare. After long discussions on this forum (look under the commercial foods tab) and doing my own research, plus talking to my vet, I went with her recommendation of Purina Pro Plan. BUT, when we got our puppy Meadow, who is also 5 months old, I did not like the Pro Plan puppy ingredients - it had corn in 3 different forms. So I went with Fromm Gold Puppy food (I believe Ann uses this also for her puppies). It is NOT grain-free (so important), has good quality ingredients without anything too exotic and she is doing great on it. I asked my vet when to switch to adult and she said not until 7 - 8 months, unless she is starts getting fat on the puppy food.

The food controversy with heart health has been a nightmare to navigate. Check your Wellness ingredients. The things you DON'T want are peas/lentils/legumes in your food - these are the suspect ingredients, and for sure don't go grain free. Hope this helps.
 
This is like starting an oil thread on a race forum :ROFLMAO:

Seriously there is no best but there is a bunch of great foods and some bad ones. Find something your dog likes and has no issues with that is good contents. This varies by dog.

My guys eat Fromm, not the cheapest but the variety is nice and I switch it up without them having stomach upset YMMV. But as an example of fitting the dog, I went away one weekend and got an hour down the road and realized no food bin. I stopped at Petsmart figuring I would get something for the guys that weekend. I think it was Blue Buffalo but I could be wrong (the point is not the brand as it was a fine one). Sca the iron belly was fine (dog could eat rocks I swear). Spitfire had an allergic reaction and broke out, had to get him some prednazone. So while the brand was fine and likely fed by a lot here Spitfire could not tolerate it. So be cautious of anyone telling you the 'best'.
 
Hi Bill and Welcome! As Sheep said, the food discussion can become quite interesting, LOL. There are as many opinions as food. I agree with Sheep and Sharon...Fromm is a great food, but so is your Wellness. A few years ago, Wellness was causing diahrrea with many Shelties. I have no idea why, but it is a good food so if your pup tolerates it that's great. Stay away from very high protein foods...they aren't good for Sheltie kidneys and also not necessary for your dog's nutrition. A food with protein in the mid-20s to 30 (the higher end for a puppy food is fine) is good.

The basic rule of thumb when you're looking at food is to read the ingredients!! That's my mantra. Ingredients are listed on the bag in the order of volume they appear in the food, so the top five listed are the most important. The kiss of death is anything with by-products, wheat, corn or soy. Those are all fillers your pup doesn't need and have no nutritional value. Even worse, they are common allergens which may cause issues. And for good measure, they're also harder for the dog to digest.

There are lots of great foods out there. Even if you don't buy there, sites such as Chewy.com list ingredients and nutrition in many foods, so you can look them over at your leisure and choose one. I hope this helps. Feel free to post any questions you have!
 
Another vote for Fromm. Oberon likes it and it doesn't give him any trouble. We stick with the non-grainfree (is that a double negative?) formula but switch the flavors occasionally; the only one that gives him problems is the duck, it's just too rich and gave him diarrhea. We also like the fact that for a premium food it's really not that expensive. Because you feed less than with a supermarket brand (Oberon gets 1/2 cup twice a day) a bag lasts longer.
 
I feed a dehydrated raw (called Smack but not sure if it's available in the US) made right here in Winnipeg Canada, almost no carbs with bone and veggies (but expensive). They also get one meal of raw/day and every other day a meal of bone. No problems and I swear Piper (my 5 year old...been on raw since 1 1/2) has the best coat...so shiny and no dandruff! Finnie is my youngest at 2 1/2 and he's been on raw since 11 weeks (thanks to Margi for helping me out there!).
 
I fed my puppy Kip Wellness small breed puppy food for a short time when he was a puppy. It was NOT grain free, but it did contain peas. So I stopped feeding it to him.

Now I feed Kip (11.5 months old) Acana+ Wholesome grain. I alternate between the poultry & fish formulas. I chose it because it includes healthier grains, a high percentage of meat, and a protein range I like: 27-32%. Kip likes it and is doing well, so I'm happy!
 
Thank you all for your responses on the food. Years ago, we were really really stupid parents of our first Sheltie. We fed him Nutro because we thought it was the healthiest food, but he would spit up bile and we thought that was just him. Years later we switched vets, switched foods and he was fine. I do not want to make the same mistakes here. I haven't been paying attention to what's good and what's bad as far as ingredients. We knew not to go grain free, but I'm not sure where my wife discovered Wellness. He had a tapeworm when we got him so he had diarrhea for a while, but our boy eats bugs, grass, plants, sticks, everything. So we're not sure when he has loose poops what's causing it, but they're much rarer now. His wellness complete health puppy food has this:

Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Oatmeal, Ground Barley, Peas, Chicken Fat, Salmon Meal, Tomato Pomace, Ground Flaxseed, Salmon Oil, Tomatoes, Carrots, Natural Chicken Flavor, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Spinach, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, Zinc Proteinate, Mixed Tocopherols added to preserve freshness, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Blueberries, Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Carbonate, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Proteinate, Chicory Root Extract, Manganese Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Garlic Powder, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Rosemary Extract, Green Tea Extract, Spearmint Extract. This is a naturally preserved product.
https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/natural-dog-food/product-catalog/complete-health-puppy-puppy

I don't know what 1/2 this stuff is, so if any of you see something bad, please let me know.

Again, I sincerely appreciate the assistance and certainly don't want to cause a riot with my questions ;-)

Bill


BTW - How did all of you hear about Fromm? I can't get it off Chewy, Petco or Petsmart.
 
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