TheDailyPainter
Forums Enthusiast
I feed Fromm also. You can get it at Pet Supplies Plus (the green and yellow signs) and at Kriser's if you have those stores near you.
Best Food For Shelties in the USA?
- Thread starter Bill Porter
- Start date
Sandy in CT
Forums Sage
The peas in your Wellness are what are considered problematic. Companies substitute peas for protein instead of a meat. The DCM issues that were brought to light brought up concerns about peas in dry food as well as grain free foods. There are some fairly lengthy reads on some threads here on SN on diets.
Ann
Moderator
Fromm is a family company that's been around for years. It used to be available on Chewy but Fromm pulled it when Chewy was sold to a chain. That's also why you can't get it from Petco or Petsmart. They will only distribute through independent manufacturers. There are several online that sell it if you do a search. You can also email Fromm and they'll tell you where you can get it, and probably also send you some coupons!
My dogs did well on Fromm for years until I had to start feeding specialized and homemade diets for medical issues. All my puppies have eaten it. I have also fed Nutro and it's an excellent food. Not every dog does well on every food, no matter how good it is, so to some extent it's trial and error. Also, not every dog likes every food, although most Shelties are chow hounds.
Sharon7
Moderator
The peas are the major problem in the Wellness, which is why my vet wanted me to switch. My two adults do beautifully on the Purina Pro Plan Lamb for Sensitive skin & stomach (they don't have sensitive skin or stomachs but I like this formulation). The Pro Plan was recommended by my vet. As I said puppy is on Fromm and I'm very happy with it.
If you do switch food, do so very gradually, mixing about 1/4 new to 3/4 old to start, wait a week, increase to 1/2 & 1/2 etc.
If you do switch food, do so very gradually, mixing about 1/4 new to 3/4 old to start, wait a week, increase to 1/2 & 1/2 etc.
Bill Porter
Forums Enthusiast
Thank you all for writing about the peas. That's very upsetting. Our vet also recommended Purina Pro Plan.
I'll be honest with my concerns here:
1) Purina seems like too big a company to care about the health of a pet that isn't considered a pet by us. Large companies tend to skimp on premium ingredients in order to increase profit. Most people just want dog food for their dog, but that's not us.
2) Fromm seems like too small of a company to be held accountable for what is actually put in their food. But then again, I've never heard of them and really know nothing about them. But I do get concerned with none of the 3 places where I buy pet supplies sells it.
3) All of you folks seem very nice and helpful, so I'm likely to try Fromm. But we only just met and so please forgive me if I'm a bit overly cautious. This "best dog food" issue seems to always lead to a myriad of pros & cons.
Nonetheless, peas definitely seem to be an issue in the dog world so we'll move him onto something else gradually. Just when his poops started be consistently good...
I'll be honest with my concerns here:
1) Purina seems like too big a company to care about the health of a pet that isn't considered a pet by us. Large companies tend to skimp on premium ingredients in order to increase profit. Most people just want dog food for their dog, but that's not us.
2) Fromm seems like too small of a company to be held accountable for what is actually put in their food. But then again, I've never heard of them and really know nothing about them. But I do get concerned with none of the 3 places where I buy pet supplies sells it.
3) All of you folks seem very nice and helpful, so I'm likely to try Fromm. But we only just met and so please forgive me if I'm a bit overly cautious. This "best dog food" issue seems to always lead to a myriad of pros & cons.
Nonetheless, peas definitely seem to be an issue in the dog world so we'll move him onto something else gradually. Just when his poops started be consistently good...
Bill Porter
Forums Enthusiast
Y'all have made me aware of this DCM issue that I was completely unaware of beforehand. To my knowledge, Wellness hasn't been on any list of concerns but apparently Fromm was last summer (https://frommfamily.com/connect/fda-dcm-20190701/). I'm not sure what, if any, updates have come out since last summer as far as studies or causes or lists of pet food companies. I haven't found any and I'm bothered by the fact that it's hard to get straight answers on this.
On a positive note, if we were to switch to Fromm (I like their website) there is a high end pet store close by that sells their food. For grain included puppy food, the Natural Pawz employee recommend Fromm or N&D and gave me sample bags of both today. I actually forgot about this store even though it's so close to our house and more convenient that Petsmart/Petco. So there's that ;-)
On a positive note, if we were to switch to Fromm (I like their website) there is a high end pet store close by that sells their food. For grain included puppy food, the Natural Pawz employee recommend Fromm or N&D and gave me sample bags of both today. I actually forgot about this store even though it's so close to our house and more convenient that Petsmart/Petco. So there's that ;-)
TheDailyPainter
Forums Enthusiast
Hi Bill and Remy,
My quest for the perfect food never ends! I've had four shelties and over the years I have fed, Solid Gold, Eagle, Acana, Blue, Stella and Chewy and Fromm once I tried home cooked for a sheltie with allergies, and probably other brands I've forgotten. It's so hard, and there doesn't seem to be a one size fits all. If you have netflix there is a show on there called "Pet Fooled" which will leave you even more confused! In the end we can only do our best, and then hope for the best.
My quest for the perfect food never ends! I've had four shelties and over the years I have fed, Solid Gold, Eagle, Acana, Blue, Stella and Chewy and Fromm once I tried home cooked for a sheltie with allergies, and probably other brands I've forgotten. It's so hard, and there doesn't seem to be a one size fits all. If you have netflix there is a show on there called "Pet Fooled" which will leave you even more confused! In the end we can only do our best, and then hope for the best.
Sharon7
Moderator
Believe me, we here were all pulling our hair out. I hated to switch from Wellness actually because they did so well on it, but it does have peas kind of high on the list so, after much research and soul-searching, I made the switch to Pro Plan. I found the Lamb formula to be very close to the Wellness Lamb and Barley that I was feeding so I went with that. When Meadow is an adult I will switch her to that. I just wasn't so thrilled with the Pro Plan puppy ingredients so decided to do the Fromm for her puppy months. There is more than one thread on the DCM issue under the Commercial Foods tab (I think that's where they are) if you want to take a deeper dive. One of our members who is a vet weighed in on that discussion as well.
Bill Porter
Forums Enthusiast
Thank you for that information. I looked up the Fromm Family Foods after seeing folks here post about it and when I walked into this specialty pet store in our high end area near my house, they had mostly Fromm with other specialty brands as well. That gave me a comfort level that Fromm might be the right choice for our Remy.
Another issue that seems unusual to us is that Remy has a lot of gas which we hardly ever experienced with our first dog. Now, Remy had a tape worm that we had to deal with 3-4 weeks ago, so I don't know if that has any long lasting effect but his discharges are strong (and so are his poops that its my job to pick up). If that has anything to do with the Wellness we've been feeding him, it would be good riddance just to change that situation.
Sandy in CT
Forums Sage
Here's a good read on the DCM food issue - short and sweet.
https://stpetersbark.com/our-take-on-the-fda-update-regarding-the-dcm-investigation/
I had fed Merrick for YEARS prior to getting Brodie. He was on Purina Pro Plan when we got him, the Merrick gave him issues. I did try Wellness. With Shelties, protein content is an issue to be aware of as well. Feeding your pupper is a very personal thing - you will find something you like that you are comfortable with.
https://stpetersbark.com/our-take-on-the-fda-update-regarding-the-dcm-investigation/
I had fed Merrick for YEARS prior to getting Brodie. He was on Purina Pro Plan when we got him, the Merrick gave him issues. I did try Wellness. With Shelties, protein content is an issue to be aware of as well. Feeding your pupper is a very personal thing - you will find something you like that you are comfortable with.