Hi - it's been a while since I have been back to this Itchmo site...was just checking in to see if there was any additional info on the MERRICK'S can food when I saw the Wellness topic.

Our story - back in late March one of my English Setters developed chronic liquid stools. I was feeding Merrick Homestyle Dry Kibble with a touch of their great canned food varietys...always chicken based...GrammyPotPie was the favorite.  When the young ES started with his problem I thought it was just him!  I have another ES (girl) who was off of her regular kibble diet due to anorexic behavior from a False Pregnancy..so I had no way to compare their reaction to this food.  I stopped the Merrick Canned Food after reading MANY posts about the Merricks - special gravy formula and where it MAY come from...that's all it took for me and I stopped all of the Merrick food here for my pups.  I also want to mention that my girl...came out of the FP just about the time of the recalls...and the same timeframe my young boy pup was starting with his liquid stools.  SO...I DID HAVE A COMPARISON CONFIRMATION ...my girl had ONE MEAL of the Merrick mixed with their HomeStyle Cans and came down with liquid stools as well.  I gave such a small amount that I did not think that was the problem..........Have to admit some of the posts on this site about the Merrick plant in Texas tied in with the Dead animal processing on the same site sort of turned my stomach.  I saw no way that They couldguarantee that some ofthe garbage mix was not getting into their pure ORGANIC mixture that brought me to use them.  Sad day for my two ES as they loved those Homestyle meals. 

I checked out just about every post on Wellness , Merrick and some of the other well known holistic/natural diets and decided that Wellness Kibble..Chicken Super 5 mix was best for us.  Similar ingredients as other diet...wonderful response from Wellness about my concerns on formula, packing plants etc...and the smaller amount of food required to meet my 6o lb dog nutritional requirements since they are NOT big eaters.

I WAS ELATED that both of my dogs took to this new kibble immediately...and that is not how things happen here usually.  I was debating on choosing Innova or Wellness...

I have to report that it has been some 6 months and both of my ES are doing very well.  Poop so solid  that it can be scooped (yey!)...and very regular am and pm samples..........thats a good thing.  A GREAT THING.  I admit that my dogs get something added to their kibble..I tried the canned Wellness regular and they would not eat it........(remember they were used to Merrick Homestyle so not unusual IMO to reject plain old dog food)....the would not touch the EVO or the Wellness 95% (core can) food either.  I tried several of the choices...at first the Chicken was accepted..but after a week...they rejected it.  Some of it repulsed me, the smell, yuk!

So..now I am looking for a canned food that I can use a tad to mix in with the WONDERFUL WELLNESS SUPER MIX CHICKEN..and not destroy the balance of the food too much.  I had started to add cottage cheese and chicken when they refused just the dry food, but those things really offset the nutritional balance of any food.

I picked up a few cans of the Merrick Homestyle Grammy PotPie just yesterday since my girl had spay surgery and I wanted something to entice her to eat.  I keep having FLASHBACKS to the reports I read on Merrick on this site and cant believe I have succumbed to this..............<sigh>....I also got one can of Eagle Pak Can Food that has exactly the same ingredients as the Merrick Cans...I am going to try it first..if they eat the Eagle Pak then the Merrick Cans will be returned....

So...after this long winded reply..........does anyone know of any REAL problems with the Merrick Organic Diets....they used to be the top of the line and I admit its hard to believe that they may be doing something underhanded with their formula.  (They never replied to my emails which adds to the suspicion.)....

MY VERY PICKY GIRL LUVS THE WELLNESS DRY KIBBLE...no way would I consider switchings..and so far I am happy to read nothing negative about the formula.  I think the dogs who have shown some reactions may just have digestive issues..but on a whole...WELLNESS is a great diet with my two.

    olegirl, A good place to start to get info would be on the dog food experiences thread. Also, I do not believe that anything in the Merricks is Organic. They do promote their food as being "holistic". If your dogs had problems on the Merrick previously, I would not even consider feeding it again. It may take some time to find a another quality canned food they will like and do well on. Home cooking would be an excellent way to supplement the kibble.

Olegirl:  Cottage cheese & chicken mixed in with the dry is wonderful for your dogs....it will not upset any nutritional balance.  That's something the big pf companies want us to believe so that we will use their garbage & not supplement it with fresh food.

I have had problems with loose stools for a year & have tried a lot of dry foods (many I used before March & some had recalls of the canned which freaked me out).  I never used canned because I always supplemented with chicken, burger, cottage cheese, carrots or green beans.....switching around so she wouldn't get bored.

Recently I have tried both Wellness Core & Natures Variety Instinct (dry) & Evangers Super Premium canned.....all of these seem to have the least amount of fluff that you find in just about any pet food.  Because of my fear of ANY pet food, I feed a little dry, a little canned & the rest home cooked.  Hannah is doing the best she's ever done on this diet.....perfect poopies, beautiful coat (people always ask me what I feed her) & lots of energy.  I guess I finally hit on the right diet for her.  I switch flavors of the canned so she gets variety there & I change my home-cooked proteins and veggies so she does get something different every few days.  I also give her a little non-fat plain yogurt for dessert in the morn & all-natural applesauce in the evening.  If I happen to be in another room when she finishes her meal, she'll come get me so I'll give her dessert.  Spoiled???

She's doing super on this but it may not be perfect for every dog.  I believe variety is really good for them......I certainly wouldn't like to have the same flavor cardboard pellets twice a day every day for the rest of my life so I try to do the right thing for my pooch.

Please let us know what you decide to do & how it works out for you......

olegirl you might try the Evangers canned which also has organic dog food now too in cans.

Carolo pm me which dry kibble you found that seems to be working good - still have not found another one for my precious girl. Was on Karma like you used to use. Still searching.