Taste of the Wild: review and giveaway!

I used to feed Elka Taste of the Wild. When the voluntary recall happened back in May, though, I jumped ship for the time being. My most recently purchased bag of food had fallen in the recall, and I was just squidged out, frankly. Well, as it turns out, no Taste of the Wild actually tested positive for the Salmonella. Which is a pretty rad thing.

Interestingly, when I was contacted by a rep to see if I wanted to sample Taste of the Wild's new flavor, Southwest Canyon, and do a (very generous, I feel) giveaway for my readers, it was exceedingly good timing. Elka, though she'd previously been happy with the Blue Buffalo switch, appears to have become disillusioned with it. Overall, Elka is not a picky eater. Back in November, I groused about how she only wanted to eat from puzzle toys, but after I'd put them away for awhile, she returned to the bowl well enough. Poking around in her mouth, she doesn't appear to have developed anything wrong in there which would make eating kibble aversive, either, so I wondered if it was time for a switch. And then I got the email.

Previously, I fed Elka Taste of the Wild Wetlands formula, which is a six star food on Dog Food Analysis. The Southwest Canyon formula does not yet have a review on dog food analysis, but one of the reasons it's interesting is that it's grain free (as Taste of the Wild is) but also does not have potato in it; it has chickpeas. It also somewhat smells like chickpeas when you open the bag (yes, I smelled it. Wouldn't you?) The meats in it are beef, lamb, and wild boar (wild boar!)

Elka was super interested in the Taste of the Wild. We did the usual "mix some with the old food", and she really just pushed the old food out of the way and snarfed the new stuff. We went through the sample bags rather quickly, and wouldn't you know my local Tractor Supply doesn't have Southwest Canyon yet? Of course, right? I got the Sierra Mountain for now, in a small bag to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and while Elka frequently waits to eat until I've come home from work (why is my dog so weird?) she does seem to like that as well. 

I do like the ingredients in Taste of the Wild, the size of bag and the price for said bag, and the quality of Elka's stool and coat when she's fed on it. So, despite Elka's quirks, and the fact that the actual TOTW end of the recall was precautionary and did not result in any illnesses, I do feel comfortable both feeding it again and recommending it to others.

All of that aside, it's giveaway time!

The winner of the prize pack will receive: sample packages of Southwest Canyon formula, a $25 Petflow.com gift card, and a $25 gift card to Omaha Steaks.

To enter to win, leave me a comment with what you feed your dog now, and whether you would share your Omaha Steaks haul with him or her as well ;)  The giveaway will be open from today, January 15, to Sunday, January 20. Elka will draw the winners and I'll post the good news next Tuesday!