The truth is Blue Buffalo is a very low quality food and is way overpriced. Yes it does not use by-products which is good. But it still has the same protein, fat and carbohydrate levels as the cheapest foods on the market. That mean it has a very low meat content. Any food high in carbohydrates is low in meat, since meat does not contain carbohydrates, only plants do. Blue is over 50% carbs, which means it is well over half plant matter, since plants also contain protein and fats. Dogs can have plants in their diet, but their diet shouldn't be mostly plants. The worst thing about Blue is it contains a very high amount of barley grain. Barley is one of the worst grains you can feed a dog. I would much rather my dog eat a high corn dog food than high barley. Barley is highly inflammatory and contains a type of lectin that causes damage to the digestive tract. This damage leads to digestive issues, allergies, and skin problems. I found this out the hard way. Believing the hype about Blue I fed it to my dog for about a year. She did fine on it for a while, but started to have loose stools. I didn't realize the food was causing it and continued to feed it. Eventually she started having horrible allergies and skin infections all over her body. She lost tons of hair and she just smelt horrible. I spent hundreds of dollars at the vet on medications trying to get to the bottom of what was causing it. The vet never said anything about food and I didn't think it could be food because Blue was supposed to be so good. Finally out of desperation I took her off Blue and put her on a high quality highly digestible food and in one month all her problems went away. I cannot recommend Blue or any other high carb high grain based dog food. The best quality foods are going to be high protein, very low carb and high moisture. Dry foods are the worst. Canned foods would be better. Vital by Freshpet is an excellent choice or if you are interested in raw, Bravo and Primal are also excellent choices. Right now I am doing a well balanced homemade diet and my dog has gone from really sickly to amazingly healthy. I definitely recommend it.

I have heard good things about Blue but I wont feed it to my dog because it has had a few recalls.

I feed my dog Pet Chef Express. It's a great food.

You can check out any known dog food on the dog food adviser site. They rate all foods by stars. 1 being the least healthy and 5 being the most healthy. Pet Chef Express is listed as a 4 star food.

Go on that site and check out all of the 4 and 5 star foods. Read the ingredients and decide which one you want to feed your dog.

On that site, you can also sign up for them to send you an email the minute a dog food or treat is recalled. That way, you aren't feeding your dog a batch of food that is harmful.

Choose a food without corn or fillers.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

Both foods are fine. I have seen dogs do good on both, I have also seen dogs not do well on either. It really depends on your dog. If you feel that the Ideal Balance isn't working well for your dog then you may want to try a different food.

Personally, I feed my mom's dogs Nutro Ultra dog food. It is an all natural, holistic dog food with many different holistic ingredients, such as blueberries, cranberries and pomegranates, that are great for your dog's immune system. It also has chicken, lamb, and salmon, which makes the food smell and taste great for dogs. My mom's dogs love their food and do absolutely amazing on it.

I hope that helps!

Geoffrey

Pet Nutrition Specialist for The Nutro Company

I personally do not believe this brand is as good as all the hype would have you believe.

Check this out:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/blue_buffalo.h...

You want to make sure you choose a grain free brand. Dogs being that they are carnivores, cannot digest grains of any kind.

Some high Qaulity grain free brands:

Orijen

Acana Regionals

Taste of the Wild

Wellness Core

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/best-dog-foods/best-...

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/a...

http://rawfed.com/myths/

You want to avoid the big brand labels such as; pedigree, science diet, royal canin, kibbles and bits, gravy train, etc. these foods are all TERRIBLE.

Here is Article that explains what Ingredients to avoid when buying pet food and why:

http://www.bestcatanddognutrition.com/?cat=13

Blue Buffalo is an excellent food just like taste of the wild and Origen if you do change do it slowly

IMO, Blue Buffalo is better than ANY Hill's product. Make any changes in food gradually.

I have my dogs on Royal Canin, it's very good and they have specific breed types of food. I don'T know if they make it outside of Canada though.

Blue makes my dog vomit