Merrick Healthy Grains Adult Dry Dog Food – Natural Beef & Brown Rice Recipe with Ancient Grains for Balanced Nutrition

Why did you pick this product vs others?: This dog food is great with my dog that has multiple food allergies.  Delivery was terrible,  driver dropped the box and then kicked it. Box was opened.

My 9 yr old shih tzu has been eating this all 9 years. His coat is shiny, his breath never stinks, bowels are always regular, his teeth are clean and when we take him to the vet, he's 100% healthy. Every. Time. Im so glad my friend recommended this food to me when I first got him as a pup. My only complaint about this brand is, the beef and rice flavor is so hard to find in stores. I used to get from petco or petsmart. Petsmart only sells the huge bag and petco no longer carries this flavor at all. The beef is the only one my dog likes :-( but I don't want to spend $80 on a huge bag of food for a dog that weighs 12 lbs. So, I buy on Amazon. At least it's available online...

I cannot praise this Natural Balance Limited Ingredients enough. I am using the Lamb Meal & Brown Rice formula. My two Border Collies are thriving on this Natural Balance kibble, and really enjoy the taste. In fact, if it's near meal time (I feed twice daily) they both come to me and remind me it's time for kibble. Moistened with a little warm water, the kibble stays crunchy and forms a nice little gravy. I had previously been feeding an expensive other grain free brand that had 4lbs less per bag and was higher priced. Then I found an article by a veterinarian stating recent studies by the FDA have found that dogs fed "grain free" food based on peas, lentils or potatoes are developing an unusual condition that can cause an enlarged heart. And it was seeing these enlarged hearts in breeds that were not genetically pre-disposed to canine dilated cardiomyopathy. I was horrified. I will literally pay any price to ensure my dogs are eating the very best quality food. I was paying a fortune for food that could compromise their health! After hours of checking ingredients from various dog foods, Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Lamb Meal & Brown Rice is the ONLY high quality grain free dog food I could find that did NOT contain these potentially harmful ingredients. Peas, chickpeas, lentils or potatoes (even sweet potatoes) are all linked. “We are concerned about reports of canine heart disease, known as dilated cardiomyopathy, in dogs that ate certain pet foods containing peas, lentils other legumes or potatoes as their main ingredients,” said the FDA’s Dr. Martine Hartogensis. Dogs with the disease develop an enlarged heart, which then struggles to function properly. They can develop congestive heart failure, which can be fatal. I am so happy I found this article and switched my much loved Border Collies to Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice. I hope other pet owners read this and research so they do not feed these other harmful dog foods unknowingly. The boys are thriving on Natural Balance. Their coats are shiny, digestion excellent, and they really enjoy the taste. Two very happy, healthy dogs with their vet reporting they are in excellent health.

The kibble itself seems to be good but it does make my dog's stool a bit soft. However the packaging sucks so bad that I'm thinking about buying a bin to store the food.

The large bag is very convenient as I have two dogs and do go through a lot of food. The quality of the food seems excellent and I have been feeding my dogs natural balance for many years. They have a good selection of flavors which my dogs seem to love and when ordering through Amazon, the delivery is fast it saves me from going to the pet store and having to drag a bag out of the car and then back into the house. Great product rate price.

I don't normally write reviews unless I really like something, and I have no idea how this stuff tastes.. but Our lab showed sensitivity to a lot of proteins and it took us a number of foods before we found one that seemed to work (a different highly rated fish-based food). Protein issues aside, she seemed to be in very good health and we thought the food was great. In the meantime, she had some other health issues. Frequent mucus build up in the corner of her eyes, sensitive skin, and she would spit up a small amount of water once or twice a day (a couple of tablespoons usually). She would much less often, spit up a lot more water. It was always just water though, not food, and not more than one time quickly, not like vomiting. This later issue got us taking her to see the vet. They concluded it was likely stomach acid-related and recommended we give her a little food extra before bed and maybe an antacid. This seemed to lessen the occurrence, but it never fully went away. Now just after turning 2, we went on a vacation she couldn't go on and left her with a relative. Just before leaving we were unable to get her normal food and were forced to find an alternative to get her through the vacation (the food from this review). It was also fished based and we wanted to see if adding grain back in might change anything for the positive. Getting back from the trip, the relative reported very few water regurgitation issues. We thought she was being nice so we didn't feel bad. Shortly after we were able to get her old food back and mixed the two to transition her back to it. Her water issue seemed to be more common again. We hadn't been back long though, so we didn't think anything of it. This time though, she seemed to have the issue almost any time she got up from lying down. Putting 2 and 2 together I concluded maybe the food was the issue. After stopping all other treats and switching to 100% the new food, the water issues went away. now a few months later she is back to getting her normal treats and is just eating the new food. I can't recall the last time she spit up water, I want to say it hasn't happened at all. In addition, her eye mucus issue is gone. She gets some on occasion, but at a level I would consider normal for any dog. I wish we had thought of this before now, it would have been great. needless to say, this is the food we use now and I couldn't imagine ever changing it. Her energy and attitude are unchanged and she is doing great.