Orijen dog food - worth it?

gettingready

Fed Zara Burns, fed her Orijen, now on to Skinners (salmon).

Orijen is a great food, just can not afford it any more at the moment so switched her to Skinners.

Kinski

Dollardog wrote: »

The vets usually sell Hill's so probably get money for pushing it.

They do get a kick back for selling it I was also told that the weeks training vets get on nutrition is funded by Hills. I fed my dogs on Orijen and they did great on it, the only reason I changed was because I wanted to raw feed. Arran my sheltie came to me from the breeder on Beta, it went straight in the bin and I fed him fish/chicken and eggs mixed with his dog food which at the time was Burns, there was no way I was going to feed that crap ( Beta ) to any dog I've owned.

kezdek

CSJ have a No Grainer same composition as Orijen 80/20 far cheaper.;)

krlyr

Typed a long post and just lost it, so will summarise, sorry!
Different dogs suit different foods, just like humans thrive (or fail) on different diets. Burns is a good brand but it didn't suit my dogs at all. I was a fan of JWB and found one dog did great on it, but my next dog was sick every time I fed it. My current two were on CSJ lamb & rice for a while but had terrible wind - turns out it's lamb itself that disagrees with them, in any form, so something I have to bear in mind when deciding their diet.
You won't go wrong with Orijen, as long as it suits your dog, it's a good brand. But if it's out of your budget, there are other foods. As mentioned above, other companies have made similar foods. Zooplus stock a range called "Nutrivet" which is apparently very similar, but a bit cheaper.
When working out cost, remember that it's the price per day that is important. A £50 bag of premium food may seem a lot, but might be more economical than a £20 bag of food that is poorer quality and full of fillers, so needs 3 times as much to be fed.
There are several websites that explain what the ingredients labels on dog foods mean, so you can familiarise yourself with the terms they use and get an idea of whether any dog food is half decent rather than relying on specific brand names.
http://www.dogfoodproject.com

dancingbillie

I changed from Arden Grange to Orijen about 18 months ago and have seen a big difference in my dogs. I race 3 collies in Flyball competitions and I find they have more stamina, energy, more tolerant to the heat, their coats are shining and waterproof, their stools are small and consistent and not "stinky."
A 13kg bag of Orijen lasts me as long as the Arden Grange did because you don't need to give as much.
Not the cheapest on the market but in my opinion, the best. No grains, cereals, rice or potatoes normal or sweet used as cheap bulk but advertising no grain/cereals!!

I've tried several other makes but they all have added grains, cereals, rice, potatoes which dogs don't need, it's just cheap bulk.;)

gettingready

gettingready wrote: »

Fed Zara Burns, fed her Orijen, now on to Skinners (salmon).

Orijen is a great food, just can not afford it any more at the moment so switched her to Skinners.

Zara's been back on Orijen (fish) for long time now, hope to be able to keep her on it. It is the best food for her.

dancingbillie

kezdek wrote: »

CSJ have a No Grainer same composition as Orijen 80/20 far cheaper.;)

CSJ No Grainer is NOT the same composition as Orijen. Far from it !!!!!!
Orijen Adult ingredients are:
Fresh deboned chicken (22%), dehydrated chicken (15%), fresh chicken liver (4%), fresh whole herring (4%), fresh deboned turkey (4%), dehydrated turkey (4%), fresh turkey liver (3%), fresh whole eggs (3%), fresh deboned walleye (3%), fresh whole salmon (3%), fresh chicken heart (3%), chicken cartilage (3%), dehydrated herring (3%), dehydrated salmon (3%), chicken liver oil (3%), red lentils, green peas, green lentils, sun-cured alfalfa, yams, pea fibre, chickpeas, pumpkin, butternut squash, spinach greens, carrots, Red Delicious apples, Bartlett pears, cranberries, blueberries, kelp, liquorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, Enterococcus faecium.

CSJ No Grainer contains a lot of potato (second on the list of ingredients) which is just another cheap bulker to replace grain and cereal which is why it's a lot cheaper than Orijen.

pawsies

Barking Heads is another one that is pretty good.

However if cost is an issue I would seriously look at feeding raw as it is so much cheaper. You can get premade raw food too (natural instinct/honey's/wolftucker etc.)

Dogs don't need dry food and it's not better for their teeth. So where possible I would feed wet/raw

Rev

If you can afford orijen, and it agrees with your dog (it's too rich for some). Then there is no better dry food. Some as good, but no better.

There's some UK foods now that are up there with it, no idea on prices sorry. But worth a look. Millieswolfhart, Simpsons 80/20 to name a few.

http://www.millieswolfheart.co.uk/


http://www.simpsonspremium.com/80-20

Rev

kezdek wrote: »

CSJ have a No Grainer same composition as Orijen 80/20 far cheaper.;)

Whoever told you that was telling lies


CSJ


Tripe (26%), Potato, Poultry Meal, Chicken Fat, Duck Meal, Chicken Liver, Peas, Salmon Meal (4%), Unmolassed Beet Pulp, Alfalfa, Carrot, Full Fat Linseed, Yeast, Apple, Cellulose, Nettle, Seaweed, Mannan Oligosaccharides (1,500mg/kg), Milk Thistle, Marigold, Tomato, Glucosamine (1,000mg/kg), Dandelion, Celery, Burdock Root, Devil’s Claw Root, Yucca Schidigera, Blackcurrant, Green Lipped Mussel (100mg/kg), Kale, Beetroot, Rosemary.


Orijen


Fresh deboned chicken (22%), dehydrated chicken (15%), fresh chicken liver (4%), fresh whole herring (4%), fresh deboned turkey (4%), dehydrated turkey (4%), fresh turkey liver (3%), fresh whole eggs (3%), fresh deboned walleye (3%), fresh whole salmon (3%), fresh chicken heart (3%), chicken cartilage (3%), dehydrated herring (3%), dehydrated salmon (3%), chicken liver oil (3%), red lentils, green peas, green lentils, sun-cured alfalfa, yams, pea fibre, chickpeas, pumpkin, butternut squash, spinach greens, carrots, Red Delicious apples, Bartlett pears, cranberries, blueberries, kelp, liquorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, Enterococcus faecium.


Vast difference in ingredients.