Just Right by Purina product first thoughts

At the end of October, I posed this shot as a "teaser":

Well, it's because we'd just gotten our box of customized Just Right by Purina food. I was approached by a rep to see if we were interested in trying out Purina's new customizable food. I did a test run to see what the ingredients ended up as, and then said yes.

(these offers also always seem to come at a time when Elka has become bored with her current food)


So, ordering is kind of fun, actually. They have a questionnaire about your dog: breed, size, activity level. Skin and coat health were also on the question list, which is great, because Elka will frequently have dry skin while her coat is still bright and shiny. You can choose grain free or not, and you can choose your protein (chicken, lamb, or salmon). The website is handy to use, and it's very clear which amount of food you're ordering (it comes in units of 6 pound bags, to maintain freshness or whatever). My only hitch in the ordering process came at shipping time; I received notice the food had shipped, with tracking, and then it didn't actually get to my house for another week.

I confess, the price gave me pause. Were I not receiving the food in exchange for review, I wouldn't buy it. For a 6 lb bag, it's $24.99. Shipping is free, but it is plus sales tax.

They do remind you automatically when it's time to re-order, though I've only just finished the blending old food with the new to switch her over phase, so I've ignored my reminder. The food per day recommendation is a bit high, but it is on all dog foods. It's always best to pay attention to what your dog seems to need, not just what the bag says.

Another cool thing about your custom blend? It has your name on it, it comes with a little card in the box that says who packed it, and you select a picture to go on the bag as well.

And a better view of Elka's bag picture (wearing her Hoorag):

So we've taken our time switching her over (because I had more previous food left than I'd anticipated) and now we're just a few days into feeding Elka just the Purina. We've had the heat on for a couple of weeks now, and her skin isn't dry yet (though it might still be too early for that) and her poop is great, actually (I know you always wonder about poop. It's all right.) I can't say she's been super enthusiastic about it, but that's normal; frequently Elka only goes to her food and eats it after she's sure you're not giving her any of yours.

I took pictures of the ingredients, but of course I can never get that to come out right, so here's the list:

Chicken, cassava root flour, canola meal, pea starch, chicken meal (natural source of glucosamine), dried egg product, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols, brewers dried yeast, animal digest, fish oil, inulin, potassium chloride, salt, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite. B-3940

I would prefer the first ingredient was chicken meal, not chicken, and I would prefer the animal digest to be removed, but those are minor enough details I was okay with ordering the food. So far, we're happy with it. The kibbles are little flat discs, much like other foods we've had, and give off no undue (to me) aroma. It's nice that Elka's food pretty much never has that distinctive "dog food" aroma that you can detect even just walking down the pet food aisle of a store.

As we work our way through the food (which is only our first order), I'll post more about if I see changes in Elka, or don't see changes in Elka. I'm very  happy so far!

ftc disclosure: Purina has sent me Just Right by Purina food in exchange for review, but did not otherwise compensate me for this post. My opinions are my own.