I think raw meat is good for dogs but we don't know when or how much nutrient he is getting. It also depends on age as well, raw meats more for big dogs compared to small dogs.

I've asked one of the sales person when I was purchasing dry dog food a couple of days ago, and she did mention that Orijen is a highly recommended brand. But because they consist of such high protein, even the puppy formula is too much for puppies. I have a 3 month old maltese and she said to give it innova puppy, which most of her customers have been switching to.

our dog loves orijen, never had a problem. All dogs are different and some may not like it or they have the same problems you are having. You have to do a search and try. I would ask the workers at tisol for advice.

so here's my update on this product.

apparently my sister DID try orijen on our dog. but quickly switched to a different brand. why? our dog is a large breed. for large breed dogs, you want to minimize their protein intake so that they will grow but at a rate same to their bone growth. if you force them to grow faster, then their bones become too porous. orijen brand is suppose to be somewhere around 40% protein. this wouldnt be so much an issue for small or medium sized breeds, but for large breeds that tend to grow very fast from 0-1.5 years old, this dog food isnt the best for them.

Anyhow, until he is fully grown we will keep with the "go" brand and "natural" brand, which are around 26% protein.

went to pet cetera, wow, a lot of their merchandise is gone!

my update. My puppy was on Orijen's puppy formula. He gets bad breath. I think its the fish in Orijen that causes the stinky breath. Since Orijen, He went on EVO red meat. No more stinky breath. As of today, He will be on Go! Natural grain-free endurance formula. This has alittle more fish than EVO red meat ( all red meat). We'll see how he does.

we've been feeding our dog a pill of salmon oil once a week. keeps his coat healthy looking, and when he see's the piece of hotdog (which we put the salmon oil pill in) he thinks he's just getting a treat!

gezzz this dog is getting pampered like no tommorow.

our issue is controlling his growth, he probably still has another 1/2 a year of growth left, but we've been trying to control his growth at a reasonable rate so that he doesnt get hip displacia like most xlarge breed dogs.

i give my dog 1 salmon oil pill everday. he loves the stuff. eats it first from the bowl. makes a POP sound haha.

ok, as far as Orijen dog food goes, I would not recommend it for puppies especially due to its super high protein content. If you want the same quality of food that is grain free but lower in protein, they make a dog food called Acana(SP?). I do agree that "go" is also a great dog food, much better than orijen for puppies because its got a lot less protein in it but is still grain free. A few other dog foods that I'd recommend would be Royal Canine, and Wellness. When looking for dog food for a larger breed, make sure to check for glucosamine content as it will help quite a bit with their joints.

O and when switching foods, if you see that the stool is runny, try mixing plain white rice, and plain yogurt with your dogs food. That generally helps quite a bit when switching dog food.

As for skin issues, salmon oil pills do help, also when bathing your dog, make sure that the shampoo your using has oatmeal in it, that should take care of the dry flaky skin.

Stinky body odor is never a good byproduct. Dogs who are on a diet that works for them and are healthy should not have a strong odor to them. That is counting that they are clean and brushed recently. Smells coming from dogs when they are clean is usually an indication that something is up.

The plain yogurt is great to add on occasion, and when switching. Also for the runny stool add canned pumpkin (the kind without the sugar). Pumpkin will help with soft or hard stool. It will harden the stool if it is runny or soften it if it is too hard.

Salmon oil is great and as it is a non grain based oil it works well with dogs that have allergies. Just a heads up though, some dogs with allergies can't handle oatmeal shampoo as it will make them itchy.