Switching from BARF to Dry diet - suggestions on food

[Maverick]

Before you judge..
Maverick and I are going to a wonderful trainer who primarily deals in pits/bully breeds and DA. The foundation is rigorous so Maverick will have to work for his meals. This being said, I have to give him around 50 kibbles per meal session which is also training time.
Anyhow, my dogs are all on BARF and have been for 3 years or so. Maverick put on needed weight, 10lbs in one year and all healthy muscle. Because of the training, it's unreasonable to consistently have and carry 50 bits of raw chicken. And their actual meals are frozen and I prepare them for the week.
I hope this makes sense

I already pay around $120 a month for their chicken and beef, so anything less is a gift.
My girlfriend feeds her dog Blue buffalo and is happy.

Suggestions on all natural, grain free, best quality?
Suggestions on a method of transitioning them?

Thanks in advance, sorry if it's confusing.
Nick

[star_frances]

I have been feeding Taste of the Wild for a couple of years now and have no complaints!

[Enigma]

I feed Acana Grainfree to my senior and she's doing great on it. For treats you could just use dried up chicken breasts instead of raw

[GoingPostal]

I don't understand, why not cut back on his meals instead of switching foods, you can give lots of treats and then just feed less, move mealtime back. Or use like ziwipeak, vital essentials, stella and chewys all have freeze dried foods and treats, I use the first two's raw diets as treats, the VE are big so I chop them up so they last.

[Maverick]

I have to feed him 25-50 pieces (luring and marking) each session, 2-3 sessions a day.
It's unreasonable for me to do this with raw food anymore. He gets about 1lb 8oz a day and I can't cut bones into such small pieces, and so many - and that defeats the purpose of BARF.
I have been using treats in his sessions with food until I can switch and he has already had the runs pretty good, so I must be careful with the treats.

Thank you for the suggestions - I will look into all these.

Any chance these items are found at Petsmart/Petco?

[BabyReba]

yeah, feeding raw does make it harder to train that way ... unless you keep a tub of parts on the counter all day and just slop them into the dog's mouth here and there as reward for good behavior!

i went to a conference in january where this was actually discussed ... someone suggested getting a ketchup/mustard squeeze bottle and feeding ground raw through that but ... bleargh.

anyway, over the years i've gone back and forth between kibble and raw a couple of times for a variety of reasons. and right now, we're feeding all three kibble ... and we started using something called Hi-Tek Naturals. it's fairly new, and the dogs seem to like it. and it's not terribly expensive, which is a nice bonus.

i never really did anything remarkable to transition them off raw. maybe a couple of days of raw in morning, kibble in evening but nothing dramatic and the switchover always went fine. but my dogs aren't super-sensitive when it comes to food, so ...

[Enigma]

i went to a conference in january where this was actually discussed ... someone suggested getting a ketchup/mustard squeeze bottle and feeding ground raw through that but ... bleargh.

That's actually a good idea, you can buy tubes made for that..

I have two, they are really useful and you can easily clean them

http://www.petexpertise.com/dog-training-aids/dog-training-pouches-bait-bags/dog-training-food-tube.html?sef_rewrite=1

[Maverick]

As much as I love the BARF diet - it would be unreasonable for me to go the route of the squeeze tube, although it's a great idea, so for that thank you.

I will look into these foods. I have always been intrigued with the EVO diets as well. Just not sure if they are all pretty bags and hype. Any input on EVO?

I am trying not to rush, but I do have to switch them soon. So I am gathering information.

[starrlamia]

I like Taste of the Wild and Acana, also GO! EVO is pretty good but be aware that some of the highest protein foods give some dogs the runs and bad gas!

[Maverick]

I am not sure that the protein would affect them adversly - on barf they get chicken and red meat. Lots of protein already.

[FransterDoo]

For many raw fed dogs, it's not the protein but the high level of dry, processed protein.

When I've needed to have kibble on hand, I like Fromm, Go! and Arcana. When money's been tight Taste of the Wild is a good price.

[Maverick]

Found this on champion pet foods:
While there are many differences between ACANA and ORIJEN, both diets reflect our belief in “Biologically Appropriateness, and “Fresh Regional Ingredients”.

Five of the main points of difference are summarized below:

MEAT CONCENTRATION: ORIJEN is made with 75-80% meat, while ACANA has between 40 to 65%, depending on the formula.
PROTEIN: ORIJEN diets range between 38% and 42% protein, while ACANA features protein levels of 27-34%.
CARBOHYDRATE: ORIJEN diets range from 18-22% of carbohydrate, while ACANA diets are typically in the 28-30% carbohydrate range.
AMOUNT OF FRESH MEAT: ORIJEN is made with up to 40% of fresh meats, compared with ACANA which ranges from 9-15% of fresh meats.
FRESH MEAT VARIETY: ORIJEN features a minimum of 5 fresh meats, compared to ACANA which contains 3 different fresh meat ingredients.
Put simply, we believe ORIJEN is the best dry dog or cat food worldwide. Although lower in protein and total fresh meat content than ORIJEN, ACANA provides unbeatable value and a price point that makes Biologically Appropriate pet foods accessible to a wide range of pet lovers.

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I have heard of Orijen and it piqued my interest.
I think it will be between these two. Comes down to importance of ingredients and amounts needed to be fed.
I am also checking some Amazon.com ratings, they help.

[Maverick]

Reading on, this is a very helpful site. Lots of Acana and Orijen info, nice!
http://www.championpetfoods.com/faq/

[MarMar]

I love Acana, prefer it to Orijen definitely. My guy eats Pacifica, but I like all their formulations and they just came out with a new one, Duck and Bartlett Pear. You can use it for training and I also soak it in water and mix some wet or pumpkin in to stuff kongs with, then freeze. Who is the trainer you are using?

[starrlamia]

I am not sure that the protein would affect them adversly - on barf they get chicken and red meat. Lots of protein already.

I also fed raw for a while before switching back to kibble. Raw is full of water and even though you are feeding direct protein sources actually contains less protein by the % (approx 25%, its 7g per oz).

Orijen caused poop issues and terrible gas for my boy off and on when feeding it, I prefer acana as well. The website you posted is the company who makes the product, it has good info but is biased :P