I like the Orijen brand, its quality is superior. My Newfie is now 16 months old and has been on Orijen since 10 months ago. He was on Wysong Maintenance before that. The reason I shifted to Orijen is even though Wysong is a good food, its carbohydrate content is a bit high for him and it does not agree 100% with his GI. A number of months ago, I rated this brand 5 stars but now I am a bit hesitant.

This is my experience, since I shifted my dog to Orijen, he grows so much better, his coat is great, muscle tone is great and the GI problem rarely re-occurs. But last week, thru his routine bloodworks, his creatinine level is high (165 vs normal high range at 141). We re-do the bloodworks and also did an urine test, luckily the numbers back to normal but still on the high side of the normal range. Creatinine, from my understanding is a by-product of protein or some kind of metabolic waste. Kidneys will get rid of the creatinine so if the creatinine level in the blood is high, it could indicate the kidneys are not functioning sufficiently. So after this, I am a bit nervous of feeding him Orijen because its protein content is higher than other brands, 40%. And I am thinking to shift him to Acana, which is also another Champion Food brand but the protein content is around the 33% range, a bit lower.

Then after my little creatinine scare, I met a dog owner at the dog park and I told her about my dog's latest. She told me she has the same issue with her dog and she fed her dog Orijen 6 Fish. The exact same one I fed my dog. Now I put two together, it's just too coincident. Her dog is also a very young dog with an active lifestyle, dog park, doggy daycare, etc...

So I talk to my vet, he said even he likes protein, because it keeps dogs lean...40% protein content is a bit high for a regular dog's need. He said it's like a diet for a marathon runner, vs. someone who simply goes to the gym everyday. He is not too concerned because my dog's creatinine level is back to the normal range but it's in the high side of the normal range. Even the kidneys can handle it but why stresses them? So he recommends me to find something as good as Orijen but with lower protein content. I show him the Acana content and he likes it.

We are going to put my dog on Acana for few weeks and will look at the bloodworks again. Keep you posted. But don't be too concern yet! Orijen is still good food. Could be just my dog....but let's say your dog reaches adulthood and does not have an unusually high active lifestyle, do a bloodworks just be on the safe side.