Hi Amie!!

Hey Adrian!! Great to see you here too! What'd I miss? Who's hosting the first anniversary of Axiom's 30th?

Amie, you turned red again!

I think it's working for me . . . just caught Ian clicking on my profile. . . hubba hubba!

Hi Amie....good to see you again.

To get back on track a little bit, what should I expect to pay for a ~35lb bag of high quality dog food? I'm using Nutro now, which only got two stars. Would not be opposed to switching to something better. Don't know where to get it or what the cost would be though. (or what to switch to, have to do some reading there it looks like). We have a 7 year old Cockapoo male that is about 20 lbs.

Wellness Core looks like a good option, and Petco actually carries it, so maybe we'll give that a try for the next bag. $55 for a 26lb bag vs. $42 for a 35lb bag for our current food.

He seemed to throw up a lot when he was little, which is why we ended up with the current food, which is supposed to be good for sensitive stomachs, and it did seem to help with the vomiting issues, which he only has sometimes on long car rides now. This would be my main reason to not switch.

The Wellness Core is a very good food but you mentioned a sensitive stomach. I am not sure if that food will be too rich but you can certainly try it. I might look for something that is not as high in protein, similar protein content wise to what you use now. I would also look for a food that uses a single meat or fish as its protein instead of one that uses a combination.

Naturapet California Natural Chicken Meal & Rice

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=433&cat=4

Fromm Family Foods Fromm Four Star chicken a la veg (all-life-stages)

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=8&cat=3

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Organic Formula Dry Dog Food

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=168&cat=4

Dog food analysis seems to like California Natural for sensitive stomachs. I noticed your Petco carries DVP's Natural Balance.

My cat went on a 2 day fast, didn't eat a drop of food, until I dumped her bowl that had both the old and new food in it, washed it, and refilled it with the old food. Now she's chowing down. Go figure. (She is female, btw, if that matters.)

Thanks for the info....so it appears the 6 star ones on the site aren't always the best, depending on the dog. I'm assuming anything 4 star and up would be considered good, but I'll focus on the 3 you recommended if we make a switch. I'll have to look to see if the first two are available locally.

The 6 star foods use the best quality ingredients fit for a dog. The protein content in the 6 star foods is usually high. For a healthy, active dog with the no health problems or allergies I would go towards the 5 and 6 star high protein kibbles. The 4 and 5 star foods are still good quality foods.

There is no right or wrong. The Wellness overall uses better ingredients but the trade-off is it might be too rich than what your dog is used to. You can definitely try it and slowly weed him on it. If you find that food makes his tummy upset try the DVP's Natural Balance or California Natural. However, those might not work either.

At the end of the day Nutro is one of the better grocery store brands.