Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance

I have both my 4 year old Whippet and 5 year old Italian Greyhound an this food (original Ultra) and have done so since getting both dogs. I searched all the most intelligent sites I could find and narrowed my list of premium choices down to 3. The availability, price, and ingredient list as well as my vet's approval weighed heavily in the decision making process. We have had no problems with the food. Both dogs are healthy and the whippet's coat is beautiful as befits a fully red brindled dog. The dogs eat the food eagerly every morning and every evening and the stools are uniformly great. I read about the recent recalls on a number of the Van Patten foods but wouldn't dream of switching especially since the Whippet's digestive system is rather sensitive to change. I tried it once when I believed that Innova was a superior product and changed back quickly after the indigestion and diarrhea. That is not a knock on Innova, just the reason I'm back to Ultra and will not experiment any ti... Read more

Wonderful brand and fabulous company. I literally have no complaints about this food. Quality ingredients – read the bag – all holistic and balanced nutrition. Plus you can check that each bag has been tested on their Buy With Confidence program on their website. Natural Balance not only helped our dogs with allergies, but it saved my cats life when she wouldn’t eat until we put her on Ultra and she began to finally eat. My dogs eat LID Potato & Duck and have clear skin and shiny coats and no more signs of allergies or itching.

Nothing better than a big bowl of Dick's Van P's Bodacious B-B-Qued Dog Food! I'm enjoying one right now!

I have an 8yo labrador who is on his third bag of DVP duck and potato. My dog never turns his nose up at food, but now doesn't want to eat this new bag I bought. He will willingly eat any other kibble that is offered to him, but seems willing to starve himself in order not to eat this particular bag of food. Its very wierd, he runs up to the bowl, excited to eat, *sniff* *sniff*, looks at me, and walks away from the bowl. I can't help but think that there is something wrong with this particular bag or lot of food.

I resently got my maltipoo puppy and notest that she was scratching a lot. She was on IAMS at the breeder, but she wouldn't eat it ,so I desided to get something natural. I purchased a bag of Natural balance L.I.D. She wouldn't touch it! then i tried Natural recipe, Avoderm, and she didn't like any of them. Talk about picky eater. She loves table food tho, but I'm affraid she get bad teeth and not enough nutrition. I did some research on Bil-Jac puppy food and it had a lot of good reviews, so I purchased a bag for my maltipoo and my two chow mixes. THEY LOVE IT!!! had my chow mixes on beneful and purina one for 8 years! ya, I know it's a baad food. Vet always said it was seasonal allergies ,but know now it was the food. Bil-Jac is great!

Not a very good food. Your paying for a lot of fillers and a lot of carbs. Many of there foods have potatoes as the first ingredient, and only one significant type of meat meal, generally chicken, which is a poor protein source to begin with. The fact they make a "vegetarian" dog food should be enough, Dogs are carnivores, and should never be given a diet with anything less then 80% meat.

As a retail pet store owner and professional dog trainer, I have recently switched my dog's to the Natural Balance SYNERGY formula. Their stools are great on it and they love it. Many of my pickiest client's dogs will eat it as a training treat! I was extremely loyal to Solid Gold for many years, but after tons of loose stools and some other issues, I decided to try something different. I have read that Solid Gold has changed (it appears over the last year), new manufacturing plant, different ingredients or amounts and new owners? All I know is that my dogs and those of many people I work with are doing very well on the SYNERGY.

My chorkie loves the DVP Natural Balance Eatables... the Hobo Chili being his fave... Unfortunately not many stores carry it and the one place I found it in..Petco.. has now decided to discontinue it and i'm so sad about that because it really is a great brand of food.

One of the best dry & wet foods i have fed , sweet potato & vension , but after many weeks my rottie had intestional gurgling noises every 5 days , so the protein or fat was too much.

I have a 3 yr old Lab who it turned out had developed allergies to animal protein. I went to three different vets who couldn't diagnose what the problem was but still wanted me to spend thousands of dollars on tests to find out. To hell with that. Our old Vet moved back instate and saw him again, she thought he may have develped a sudden allergy to the protein so under her recommendation I switched him from the Regular Premium food to the Vegetarian formula. He is like a new dog. No more diarrhea, bad gas or vomiting. Even though dogs are carnivores I highly suggest that if your dog is having stomach issues to try the Vegetarian formula first and see. It worked for us. This food is at a premium price but it's worth it.

My dog has suffered with allergies and skin problems all her life. The limited ingredients Natural Balance with venison and sweet potato is a godsend. My dog still occasionally has problems but not nearly as bad. Her coat is in the best shape it's ever been and she seems happier. If your dog has allergies you should seriously consider this brand, and as I'm sure you already know if you're looking up reviews that this dog food doesn't have by-products or wheat/corn fillers. This may sound cliche but be aware that your dog has its own digestive needs and this might not be the best food out there.

My cat Lion has been having a megacolon condition for the last 7 years, two surgeries, drastic loss of weight, overall bad health, a real nightmare. I'd have to put him down soon, he was so skinny... till I remembered a vet saying that it might be related to food allergies. That's when I started buying their dry food, Chicken and peas formula, I really took a leap of faith on that one, dry food is a NO NO when you have a megacolon, it's the worst thing I could feed him! Look it up if you want to. Anyway.. it WORKED!!! I now feed my 3 cats the chicken and peas formula "LID" and NOTHING ELSE (My cat Lion just jumped on my lap as I'm typing this!). He doesn't take any medicines anymore and he defecates by himself without any enemas or anything. Maybe when he gets older he'll need his lactulose again, but not for now :) He's gained weight, he's healthy, his coat is nice and shiny, he goes on walks with me and my dog, it's awesome! My two other cats are doing fine too (actually my other ... Read more

Not impressive at all, way too much potatoe and not nearly enough meat

The LID formula's of this food are great for any dog. I had a foster dog with explosive diarrhea when I found this food. It save his life.

After fighting constant ear infections in our Lab, we finally tried Natural Balance (Limited Ingredients) at the suggestion of our new Vet. We have lived in many different states and have spent large sums of money flighting ear infections. Levi has been given prescription meds for the last 5 years which never seem to really help. Each new Vet said his infections were caused by allergies. Since the skin reacts to allergies, it only makes sense that the skin inside the dark, damp ears would be affected also. Each Vet said we should try a different food, but never gave us any suggestions. Our new Colorado Vet suggested Natural Balance (fish & sweet potato or duck & potato). After 1 week on the food, Levi's quit shaking his head & scratching at his ears. The inside of his ears were flesh tone, had no odor, no build up, and did not radiate heat. After 6 weeks on this food (no other treats, scraps or chews of any kind), his ears look like the pictures in a dog book. While he still... Read more

Our English Mastiff was 2 years old and 130 lbs when we adopted him, he had thin spot on his coat and refused to eat his Euk. dog food. We tried probably 8 dog foods over the next 10 months slowly weaning him off one and trying another. So we had a little success with others he did not do very well with. Nutro, Royal Canin, the usual assortment of recommended brands. He would be o.k. for a couple of weeks then throw up undigested dog food and or have really bad diarrea and he had to eat rice and rice with chicken for 3-4 days. Finally we got the Natural Balance Duck and Potato and 6 years later he is a lean and muscular 180 lbs with great coat, no chewing, and everyone is surprised at how great he looks at 9 years old. Now don't get me wrong, he doesn't run over to his bowl and start chowing down but I usually place a spoonful of cooked ground beef or turkey on top that satisfies him. He is a really picky eater, some dog food he just turns up his nose at, and if we don't "doctor... Read more

When I got my puppy she was on royal canin mini puppy and though she was doing fine on it, decided to switch to natural balance ultra premium small bites. She did great with the switch, no tummy upset at all. I did end up switching her to a different brand for puppies but it worked for the time being and it had better ingredients than RC. Now that it seems some formulas have changed among other things don't know that I would use it again.

My dog has had stomach sensitivity issues since she was just 10 weeks old. I tried the Natural Balance Venison & Sweet Potato formula hoping that the limited ingredients would help. The food itself had a bad smell, and let's not even begin to talk about the gas. OMG! Talk about clear the room! Poor Soph, here we were trying to give limited ingredient diet to help her digestive tract and it just made things worse. The price of this food is comparable to other 'premium' stuff you find at the pet store, but I just couldn't stand the bad gas and the stinky kibble. Definitely not for us!

I have a 1 1/2 yr old Papillon, who has food allergies. The owner of the holistic dog food store suggested that we try Natural Balance, Sweet potatoe and venison. Let me first, start out by saying that my pap. has always been a fussy eater. I have tried about 30 brands, and she FINALLY is in love with her food. She eats it all up, and is improving all around. I am very happy with this food, and the quality of ingredients.

Sweet Potatoe and Fish Formula: Just recently rescued a wonderful dog and he loves this food, we do too. Started him on the Venison and Bison, have tried the lamb and the fish. We have kept him on the fish variation for about a month and started to notice a slight discoloring on his under belly. We have come to find out that the farmed salmon that they use in the formula is feed a dye to make the coloring more appealing and now our dog is slowing turning a salmon color as well.... Hence.... NO MORE FISH FORMULA!! Hopefully his color will return to normal as his diet goes back to bison, venison and lamb.

Finally, this company realized that the manufacturing plant they were using has a bad reputation for sanitation problems and changed to a great plant. That makes this food so much safer that it was previously. I like all of the Limited Ingrediant diets, but prefer Pinnacle Duck & Potato to this one.

We have an English cocker spaniel with very bad allergies. The pet store recommended Natural Balance lamb meal brown rice allergy formula. We purchased a small bag to try it out and the dog did very well. His allergies improved, he no longer scratched and chewed on himself. So we bought 2 big bags, and all hell broke loose. He had nonstop diarrhea and bloody stools. Took him to the vet, spent $300, was told he probably had picked up something on the street that caused the problem, was put on beef and rice till he got better, then put him back on the NB and again it was back to the diarrhea and terrible gas. Did not take him to the vet but switched him to beef and rice until he got better. Then again back to the NB, this time mixed with other dog food. He was okay the first couple of days but then it was horrible again, to the point where the dog could not control himself, went all over the house and the gas was just awful. Now I know it is the NB causing the problem. Took him to the ve... Read more

Good ingredients but made by Diamond.

This product poisened my dog! By the title, you should get the hint of what this product is all about. First of all, I have fed this Duck and Potato dry food to my dog for 4 years and never had a single issue, in fact she was a heathly vibrant dog with great vitality during that period. I bought 4 large bags about 5 months ago, because I like to keep a nice supply on hand. After I fed her from a freshly opened bag, I was greeted with a bloody diarrhea crime scene all over the house at 3:00 in the morning. Actually, it was more blood than stool and I freaked out not knowing what was going on, she was then shaking uncontrollably in discomfort. I took her to the vet and $200 later after all the tests, we found nothing. I put her on a strict chicken and rice formula for a month and she was just fine, so I decided to start feeding her the same Natural Balance again, not knowing it was the food doing it and the same nightmare happened again(bloody mucusy stool). Another month of Chicken an... Read more

I really like Natural Balance dog and cat food. I have tried a lot of the different proteins and my dogs have done very well on all of them. I have a 3 year old Chow-mix that has allergies and with their limited ingredient diets he generally does very well. I did a lot of research before choosing this food and found that they are one of very few foods that are not using a preservative in their fish that is causing recalls (I thought that was nice). They have been adding new proteins, which I appreciate, but I have heard from a lot of clients that the Bison they just added is causing some stomach up set and bad gas. I would, however, strongly suggest the fish, duck, and venison bags (my animals have always done amazing on them). I do wish they had a Large Breed formula though. I have a giant Malamute and she needs large breed support, but because they use their ULTRA formula as the all life stages, all sizes option they can't honestly invest in a LG breed formula.They did, however, com... Read more

My Lab has been eating the Natural Balance Duck and Potato dog food for years with no problems, When they changed up the ingredients it wrecked havoc with her system. I am now trying to find a food that will work for her. I am currently trying the Pinnacle Duck and Potato. Pinnacle Duck and Potato: Ingredients Duck Meal, Potatoes, Oatmeal, Duck, Oat Flour, Potato Fiber, Canola Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Toasted Oats, Flax Seed, Quinoa, Grapeseed Oil, Lecithin, Rosemary, Sage, Papain, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium Bifidum Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Licheniformis Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Lactis Fermentation Product, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Zinc Oxide, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Sulfate, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3, Manganous Oxide, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelat... Read more

Have a 2 year old lhasa apso who has horrible allergies -- always itching everywhere and chewing her fur and paws. My vet suggested trying a limited ingredient dog food. After what seemed like days of research, I decided on Natural Balance venison and sweet potato formula. She has been on it for a few months, and I have not really noticed any improvement with the itching. (Maybe it's not a food allergy). I will say that she does not have any stomach problems with it (she tends to have a sensitive stomach), she loves it, and it doesn't have that rancid road kill smell like most dry dog food has when you open the bag. The only bad thing I've noticed is that she always seems hungry since I changed to this food; it may not have enough protein in it to fill her up, or maybe she just likes the taste so much that she's always begging for more food. I'll probably keep buying it for now, but am also on the lookout for something else to try to help with the allergies.

my dogs love this food and it is a very healthy blend of ingredients. I have good confidencde feeding them this food. I use mostly dry and the can in small amounts. the can smells and looks like good ingredients. they love it. also feed my cats the natural cat food.

These formulas don't have enough meat in my opinion. My dog become quite itchy on the ultra. The ingredients seem to be good quality, it just didn't work for us. If they added a bit more meat, it would be much better. Seems to work well for lots of dogs with food issues though, which is a good thing. Certainly much better than many foods out there. We really like the grain-free treats, they are affordable and bite sized. The rolls, however, actually have "sugar" as the third ingredient! Why anyone would put straight sugar in a dog treat is beyond me. We used to give these to our dog when we crated him, but not when I realized they added sugar, it seems useless and unhealthy.

my dog had allergies for other dog food. natural balance dog food helped her out so much. and she loved it.

I have used Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison, both the dry and canned, and more recently the Sweet Potato & Bison. Despite the fact that the first ingredient is not a protein source, but a carbohydrate (Sweet Potato) I am dually impressed with the my dogs condition on these foods. Incredible energy, very shiny coat, great weight (not too plump looking) and perfect poop! I originally wanted to try the allergy formulas for one of my dogs that has allergies. I fed it to both dogs with great results. Unfortunately, it did not help my dog with allergies. Could be she is allergic to Sweet Potatoes or Venison. I never gave her the Bison formula, I only feed that to my non allergic dog. Once I find out exactly what my dog is allergic to, I'd like to try a NB formula that will work for her. My Vet has put her on Rx food, temporarily, and she is doing much, much better! I also thought I would point out that NB is no longer made by Diamond Pet Foods, but by CJ Foods in Bern, KS. Fo... Read more

Was at petsmart and I wanted to upgrade my two chihuahua's diet to something with less grain and more protein. I purchased Potato and Duck Formula Small bites. It is a grain free food which I though was cool considering I have notced that my dogs are licking and scratching a lot with some redness. In two weeks of feeding them both this new food, they both have stopped licking near as much and their skin looks much healthier, not to mention that their coat is extremely shiny (even the short haired chihuahua's). Even though I recommend gradually changing a dog's diet, I didn't with this food and it caused no diarrhea, flatulence, anything. Hard formed stools twice a day usually is it. Great product!

I now feed only the Sweet Potato and Fish (Salmon) formula and my dog is finally healthy and free of an autoimmune problem of the claws. He spent a year in pain with nails that were splitting deformed and breaking off at the quick. The food has changed his life and attitude. He used to be fed only the high quality Innova and Evo foods---but his condition never improved--only worsened. I heard of others with this nail problem in their Dobermans and Greyhounds and they had success with a fish and potato based food. Still on the higher priced end of foods--but considering what the vet charges each time we bring him in bleeding from the quicks of those broken nails...it is really a bargain. My over-sized Doberman is quite large at 120 lbs. so he goes through quite a bit. There should be a wholesaler for those who need 50 pounds or more a month.

I've recently purchased a 6 month old English Bulldog from a championship breeder and she recommended that we kept feeding our dog the same dog food that he was on in Orijen dog food. For the next 3 to 4 weeks, we noticed that our dog had a very running stool and we were getting tired of wiping his butt and seeing him uncomfortable. After researching online and making a phone call to our local pet store, we decided to switch his food cold turkey and bought a bag of Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish Formula. Literally after one feeding his poop was hard and looked normal. Yeah!! My wife and I were so excited and happy we wanted to share our story with everyone. Natural Balance rocks!! Thank you guys!

Awesome food especially for those with sensitivities and allergies! A little low in the protein but then again not all dogs do well on the high protein foods. My cat eats their canned and I could not be happier. The company is also awesome. Will answer any questions or concerns very promptly.

This food is better than many, but it is grain-heavy. Some dogs are sensitive to too many grains, even if they are high quality. A meat "meal" should be the first ingredient in a food to ensure that the food has enough protein. Our puppy was on the ultra formula for a while, but after switching to higher protein foods, his coat was much shinier and less dry. I'm sure its fine to rotate, but we have found others that work better for our pup. I do think that dogs who have had issues with other foods would do well transitioning to this food as it is gentle on the stomach with high quality ingredients. Overall though, not enough meat content for us. Natural Balance does have some grain free formulas that look good, but after reading some of the reviews I'm hesitant to try them. I have read so much helpful information on this website about dog foods! I trust the consumer opinions, especially when my pug/beagle mix has a sensitive stomach.

What a relief! We have a 13-year-old dog who had chronic diarrhea and a 4-year-old with allergic skin problems. As soon as we switched them to the Natural Balance limited ingredient foods (both canned and dry) their problems disappeared. I appreciate the number of flavors available in the limited ingredient variety (even the fish and sweet potato - it stinks, but hey, that's what the dogs seem to respond to and it disappears from their dishes very quickly!). Our dogs love this food - I haven't seen them jump around in such goofy excitement over their food in a long time. We also give them Natural Balance treats.

I have a 9 year old Shep/Lab and we have battled allergies/stomach issues her whole life. I had put her on Nutro for seniors the last couple years and developed a sensitivity to it. Two months of on and off diarrhea. Finally, my pet store recommended Natural Balance Limited Ingredients, Chicken and Sweet Potato. This seemed like a wonderful choice since she does well on potatoes and also boiled chicken. She responded to the diet change immediately and hasn't had any gas or diarrhea. But where she use to go out twice to relieve herself, she now needs to go four times a day and can't seem to hold it. While her movements are normal, she has an urgency to go more frequently and it seems very unusual. Wondering if anyone else has the same experience? I may or may not continue with this food. While the result has been an improvement, I think four times a day is a bit too much.

I have had good results with natural balance L.I.D. no-grain formulas,especially the venison and potato.Some folks will nitpick over the order of the ingredients on the bag or say its not as good as its competitors,who are higher priced..whatever.But its good quality food,and the limited number of ingredients makes it ideal for dogs with allergies.Plus,its lower in protein than other no-grain formulas which makes it better for senior dogs or dogs prone to digestive upset.And most dogs love the taste.Mine does.

I have had both my dogs on NAtural Balance Ultra due to allergies in one of my older dogs. Natural balance cleared up the rash and skin itchiness and restored his fur to normal within 2 weeks. When we got a new puppy the breeder was feeding Purina , but I immediately switched over to Natural Balance for her as well. I highly recommend this brand to anyone. In fact I have. People always ask me what I am feeding as my dogs fur is soft and shiny and extreemely healthy. Believe me.I have been the gauntley with dog foods dealing with allergies. I cant speak highly enough of this product. Keep up the good work and keep me a contented customer forever.

Well....after years of using this food for my dog, I am greatly disappointed in what Natural Balance has done to their Limited Ingredient Diets. First, they changed the Potato and Duck. I said, OK, I can still feed him the Venison formula and the Fish formula. They just did the same thing to the Venison formula that they did to the Duck one...took out the Venison meal!!!!!! So it is now 3/4 carb and 1/4 meat, basically. It's a only a matter of time before they change the Fish formula too, I suppose.It is hard enough to find grain free exotic protein dog foods for dogs with major allergies. I am on a limited budget so buying dehydrated foods, while very healthy, all the time will break me. Why do dog food companies have to change and cheapen their ingredients like this? At least I know I can order the Great Life Grain/Potato free formulas online, but it's more expensive than Natural Balance. I will have to cut corners in other aspects of my life because I refuse to deny my dog healthy d... Read more

Same happened to us. Our 10 year old Maltese, Byron, had been on DVP Duck/Potato since early 2009 with great success. However, he was diagnosed with low red blood cell count/anemia and an enlarged liver in early September and we had to take him off Duck/Potato for home made diet until his health improved. I received the OK from the vet last week and purchased a new bag of DVP Duck/Potato this weekend . I also noticed the color was different and didn't pay attention to the "new and improved" sticker on the 5 lb. bag. I only gave him a few kibbles at a time w/his current diet for a smooth transition but he has been battling a terrible case of the runs and gas since Monday night. Poor thing was up every 2 hours. I returned the food to Pet Supply Plus and received a full refund. I also talked to our vet and she suggested Royal Canin which has three single source diets that could work. A duck/potato, rabbit/potato and whitefish/potato. Once the bathroom situation is under control ... Read more

My Jack Russell, Benny, was started on this food in May '09 after a bout of pancreatitis. He loved it, as did my other 2 dogs. I was happy to find a food that he ate readily, without any additions, which were off limits after the pancreatitis. He had previously been on Nutro Natural, and wasn't overly fond of it. Went to Petco in July to buy a 30 lb. bag of DVP Potato & Duck, happy to find a food they all liked. Upon returning home , and opening up the bag, I thought it looked darker & duller than my previous purchases, which were 5 lb.er's only. That night my dogs told me what I had suspected... something was different. They refused to eat it. Upon reviewing the bag there was no mention of a change, till I read the ingredients, and noticed the absence of duck meal. Checked their website, and read about the "new & improved" version, and how it was so much better. What a load of bull !!! Called the company 4 times before I could talk to someone other than a receptionist. The "righ... Read more

The same thing happened to my pups, terrible diarrhea from a new vegetarian formula bag. I have been using this brand for over a year and it is horrible now. Don't recommend it at all.

I had been using NB Duck & Sweet Potato for over a year with great success. In August my Irish Setter stopped eating entirely - took her to the Vet where she continued not to eat for 3 days. We ended up feed ing her hand to mouth with eggs and cottage cheese until her stomach returned to normal. We thought she ingested something or contracted a virus. We started her back on NB Duck & Sweet Potato again and the symptoms reappeared once more. Then I checked this blog and realized that it was the NB food. The new mix is crapola and anyone that loves their dog should stay away from it. There is a comment above that says we should have checked the bag and then to introduce the food slowly. Well I am sorry to say to that person that when you trust a manufacturer and there is not any indication warning to the consumer that the formula has been substituted with junk we feed it to our dogs out of trust of the manufacturer. Other companies put notes inside of their bags to the consumer that the ... Read more