Wellness CORE

This food is junk! I have 7 dogs and when I switched them to the glorified Wellnes CORE they all started to have diarrhea, vomiting, HUGE stools, and absolutely CONSTANT gas. Have you ever been trapped in a house with 7 dogs that farted every 5 minutes? You don't want to be! This continued for a week. I finally went out and got a bag of Pro Plan. Within an hour of eating it, everything was back to normal. Their stools were no longer 3x the normal size and there was not one bit of gas! I am so happy now. I had to rethink my entire position on pet food. All I can say is --- trust your vet. They know best. I am now happily feeding Pro Plan after trying everything from raw to homecooked to grain-free kibbles. Nothing ever did well for my dogs, except for Pro Plan. Do yourself a favor and take your vet's recommendation. Feed a quality food, not this garbage!

Too rich for my Rottie. Flaired up his intestional tract and pancreas after 3 months , only fed 2 1/2 cups per day. Horrible mess vomiting and diarrhea. No more wellness for my boys.

Did not work for our yellow lab, she developed itchy skin all over and was miserable.. something in it she was allergic to. Switched from Nutro to this, now trying EVO

So far so good. I just started my 2 year old maltese on this food after seeing that she was chewing her paws and having hot spots. She loves it so i will be back to increase my rating once i see if it will last. Has anyone else given wellness core to their small breed dog? At first I was skeptical because of the high protein in it, but it is not much more than what she was eating before Blue Buffalo. I am thinking to actually have her on wellness core reduced fat just to maintain her weight because she is starting to gain some weight. Update.-- Ok so i have stopped feeding this food because I have seen other posts that state they have found "rasor blade" like fish bones in the food. I said ok so maybe once it was a coincidence. Well, when i poured some food in my dogs bowl guess what I found. Yep bones. That was it for me. No more wellness. Sorry, sounded like a good food but come on get those bones out of there. I have started both my girls on Orijen and they love it and guess what,... Read more

Just started my Bichon and Spaniel on Wellness Core Original Formula tonight. Giving them a 3 star OK because my Bichon is a very finicky eater and he liked it. He preferred a piece of this kibble over his treat, and both of them ate all of it, granted I only put a tablespoon into each bowl. After researching for weeks, I settled on this food because of the higher fiber content. Both of my dogs are on Blue Buffalo fish and sweet potato, and although they like it, their stools are hard and broken up. The Wellness Core Ocean has 7.0% fiber content (thought that may be too much for starters), and the Original Formula has 4.0% fiber content, so we are starting off slow. I originally had my Bichon on Honest Kitchen, which he did great on, 5.0 fiber content. he was the poster dog for health at the vet. But this particular food was a committment, hard to travel with and leaving the dog at boarding was hard to explain how to measure it out. When we found our Spaniel we knew that we... Read more

Dogs are just like people. Some people can be perfectly healthy LOOKING on McDonald's and TV dinners while others need to eat a more healthy diet. Either way, no matter what type of person you are, you will ALWAYS benefit from healthier food, whether you can observe the changes or not. My dog was perfectly healthy on corn based food. When I switched him to a higher quality, grain based food (Blue Buffalo), he had more energy and firmer muscles after a few months. When I switched from grain-based food to grain-free, meat based food (Wellness Core), I noticed he had more compact stools. And the gunk in the corners of his eyes? Gone. Wellness Core is one of the best foods you'll find. As with all foods, not all dogs will thrive on it. But for most dogs, Core is a great, great choice.

My lab pit loves the taste of wellness core dog food,she has been eating it for 2 years without a problem. Other foods gave her eye boogers and made her shed a whole lot,Her coat shines beautifully now......Love the wellness,,,,,,,,Pits are misunderstood,,,,,Vinman

Five stars! :) It's a lot easier to keep the weight off with CORE than with the EVO. Still love EVO but I think CORE will be our main feed now. I love both the Ocean and Reduced fat. I've tried a lot of other feeds but I some how keep coming back to Core.

Our dog, Booger, has allergies to all grains, which means I have to really watch labels. There are only a few brands out there that are grain free, Wellness Core is one that I would tell anyone to get. It may cost a little more, but is well worth it. It has improved his coat, he's very shiny, has lost the weight that he needed to loose, and is maintaining it. He is offered the food free choice. When he went to the vet a couple months ago, the vet said if I wouldn't have told her that he just turned 9 years old, she would of thought he was much younger. Great dog food. Comes in a few different flavors.

Started my 1- yr old Golden from Innova Lg Breed Puppy to EVO - too high protein/fat, made him terribly sick. Started over introducing Wellness CORE Chicken. So far (7 weeks now) so good. Stool is a bit softer than I thought it should be, but he tolerates the food well and loves it. Lovely skin and coat, bright eyes, energetic, good muscle tone. Everything a Golden should be at this age. I spent over one year researching foods after losing last dog at 9 1/2 yrs - who ate Nutro. I thought it was good. Hah!! Some dogs probably are sensitive to good food, particularly an older dog. Let's face it, if you've been feeding a dog a steady diet of "crap" like Science Diet or Purina, then yes, they would naturally get a stomach upset from the grain-free, richer foods. What happens to us when we eat junk food all the time then switch to lots of fruits and veggies? We get sick sometimes! By the way, a veterinarian CAN NOT tell you what is nutritious for your pets. They are not ... Read more

I really like the ingredients of this food and would like to feed it but I can not get it anywhere near me. :(

I love wellness core! Sometimes I give them wellness indoor also. I love both of them and my cats do as well. My 4 cats are all very healthy and happy. Lots of energy! Way too much energy if you ask me :) I love that there are no by-products, no grain, no fillers! Purrrfect food for my babies!

My dog had to have a vet visit after almost dying from this stuff (pit bull mix)---she was introduced to it gradually and it didn't help, the vet said they'd been seeing other dogs having problems who had also been on this food, mostly urinary problems and a couple of dogs with total kidney failure. I won't ever feed a NEW food to a dog of mine again---wwhen they haven't been out on the market long enough, the dogs eating the stuff are just being used as "test dogs" because noone really knows how a new food is going to affect their health down the road when there is no real history. (Perfect example? When my dog was 2 years old, she was on a premium well known brand of food that has been around at least 12 years. The vet recommended I switch her to the low-fat version, same brand. There were no real problems for awhile...then when she turned 3 she developed cataracts. A friend, who also worked at a veterinary clinic told me they had been seeing dogs getting cataracts at a early ... Read more

Upon the conclusion of reading many of the reviews, I decided to give my own. I have a lovable Golden Retriever, she's 2 years old and her coat is great and her poop is nice and firm. Now, it hasn't been an easy road getting her to eat anything. She was very picky, as a puppy she was started out on regular Diamond Brand Dog food. This was the worst of the worst, she was pooping because of the corn and it wasn't a very nutritious dog food. By-products, corn, artificial flavors, and so forth. We slowly worked our way up the food ladder, trying to be more money wise with the foods. So then we switched her to Nutro Max when she turned a year old, not exactly the best dog food but better than Diamond. (Diamond had been in the pet food recall, thank you China.) This was okay for a while until Nutro upped their prices, so then we tried Nutri Source, it was a newer dog food that was cheaper and had decent ingredients. It also had a frequent buyer program. It was great until we noticed she woul... Read more

My 3 year old Beagle started out loving it. After 6 months he wouldn't touch it. I switched to a cheaper brand to see if he would eat it and he is doing well with it. I have now started moving back up the chain, a little at a time and he seems to be adapting well to each new brand I give him. I would like to try Wellness again down the line and probably will.

Another fantastic grain-free food. Again, not overwhelmed by the whole grain-free trend, but I don't stand against it, either. And Wellness Core is a fantastic choice for a high protein, low carb diet for out obligate carnivore felines.

My 4 shelties have always had kibble Science Diet. We thought we would spice up their food a little, so we gave them their kibble with some canned Wellness (once a week). The oldest immediately got sick, came down with pancreatitis, had her at the vets for almost a week, but she got beyond hope and we had to put her down. Within 4 weeks, my second sheltie followed the same path. I only used the Wellness once a week for 2 weeks and have now lost 2 of my 4 dogs. The last 2 seem healthy, but I am having blood work done on them just to see. I will never use anything but Science Diet again!!!!

My 2 yr old beagle mix doesn't like it. Stopped eating it...and I thought this was suppose to be so good for her. She doesn't care.

I have a 2 year old sheltie who has been getting frequent skin shedding in his ear and has been so sluggish. 3 days into the food and he is acting like a puppy again!! His stools are bigger and harder and his ears are finally clearing up. This food is highly recommended if your dog has allergies. We had him on SD Natures Best which is good but it has soy it in. Seems that Chase was allergic to soy. Now he is happier and more energenic. The price is just right for such great and natural ingredients. I'm so happy and so is my pup. A+++++

I recently switched to this food after my himilayan got blocked and had to go to the emergency room at the vet. He was there for 2 days and nights. I had been feeding him Royal Canin but after checking the ingredients and doing some research, I decided that food may have contributed to his becoming blocked. The vet recommended Royal Canin SO formula but after reading about Wellness, I decided to try it and am very happy with the results. My boy LOVES it and he is more energetic than before. Normally switching catfoods will give cats diarhea but he never had a problem switching to the Wellness. He is healthier He loves the food I feel better knowing he is not getting corn or soy fillers A win, win, win in my book!

To the person saying to add yogurt for the probiotics! Wellness has the probiotics which are actually added after the food is processed! Thats one of the reasons its such a great food! It has the human grade meat and all none of the bad perservatives and the probiotics! Its the best of all in griedients thats why it cost so much! Don't expect to get a quality food with quality ingriedients for the same price as a Science Diet or Pedigree type grocery store bag of food! There is no comparison and in this case you get what you pay for. For the people who say its terrible just think how you would feel if you ate Mc Donalds for years and then went to chicken and veggies your system woiuld trip out for awhile too. It may be too rich for some but you cant debate whats in the bag! I have not found a bag of food that compares and the ones that do have fish meal as an ingriedient which you all know unless the manufacturer claims to Ethoxiquin free probably is not! I just tried to find the best ... Read more

Althought this food is highly rated, I have to say my amstaff did very bad on this food. His stool vloume increased ALOT! I know that there is alot of calories in it and fed him according to the guidence. He also LOST alot of weight (6 pounds in 2 weeks) doesnt sound like much but on a 61lb dog that is 10%. We have started the switch to TOTW, so we shall see...

Our cocker was having what appeared to be allergy problems so we switched to Hill's ZD from Wellness CORE. Wow...what a huge mistake! Bentley lost weight on the ZD and had tar like stools and several accidents in the house. After ruling out allergies, we switched back to Wellness CORE and Bentley is happy and healthy again. No stomach issues, no accidents in the house and his coat is growning back in silky and shiney. We were also able to switch back to Core in just 2 days as it has never caused stomach upset in our dogs. (Even after getting in an open bag and snarfing until they were full....no stomach upset.) Great food and well worth the price!

I found this site doing research to find out if anyone else has had problems with this food. We feed both of our female pits the dry Wellness Whitefish and Sweet Potatoe and have always mixed in just a bit of the wet because our oldest has bad teeth. We changed the wet to Core a little over a month ago now. Right away we saw an insane increase in water intake but we never ever thought it could be the food! She even tries to drink standing water outside that is how thirsty she is! We took her to the vet and they did a water deprivation test and felt that it was diabetes insipidus. Then we spent over $100 on the medication for that but when her thirst didn't decrease the vet had us come in again to do more testing! After spending about $500 I was at my wits ends. Her skin is horrible, she has lost almost 10 pounds, and she shivers all the time! Now neither one want to eat. I happened to talk to my chiropractor today who mentioned he had a similar problem with his lab. When I f... Read more

Great ingredients throughout. High protein, low carbs. My dog did not like the salmon. It was really fishy.

I rated this with three stars only because I haven't yet had the dogs on it long enough to be sure how things are going. I decided to post because of some of the comments. I breed and show Cardigan Welsh Corgis, who--despite their short stature--actually have the bones and robustness of a large breed. And I have a Lab as well whom I show. The reason I'm commenting is that I wanted to suggest anyone trying out Wellness CORE, or Orijen, etc--the top-ranked premium foods--should add yogurt to these foods when you first introduce them to the dogs. You want regular plain yogurt, not fat-free, and make sure there is lactobacillus and/or acidophilis as ingredients. These are probiotics and go a LONG way toward settling a dog onto a new food, particularly if the protein content is high. (The average grocery store food is 21% or less.) Certainly I'm not suggesting that this is the right food for every dog, because some dogs do indeed have issues with certain types of food. Wellness m... Read more

I went to buy a bag of this dog food and was absolutely horrified by the price!!!!! it was $35.99 for the 12lb. bag!!! Is this company on drugs or something? have they not been watching what is happening in the economy? I used a $5.00 off coupon for my purchase, but man, this stuff is expensive. My dogs like it ok, but I won't ever buy it again. I think I will try TOTW and mix it in with this. $35.99 for 12lbs, absolutely rediculous.

My two dogs (a 10 year old pit/lab mix and a 8 year old yellow lab) did not do well with the Wellness Core foods. They have always been on the holistic/all natural or organic foods and have tried most all of them. My dogs had never tried Wellness but my cat has and it's worked well for him. I was really excited about the Wellness Core fish formula for my itchy yellow lab. I bought the chicken Core for the other dog. I fed them a VERY SMALL amount for a week (2 Tbls. of dry and 1 spoonful of the matching canned formula added to their regular meal which consists of homemade and has been that way for the past 5 years.) Both dogs hid in other rooms of the house when finished eating for about 40-60 minutes. When they came to find me, they didn't seem right. (Both dogs were fine before the meal containing Wellness !) As the week went on, they kept hiding immediately after their meals. They grew increasingly tired not wanting to play anymore, no interest in their toys or attention f... Read more

Recently switched our Otterhound and German Shepherd to Wellness Core from Avoderm because the meat content was too low, which was switched from Canidae because they changed their ingredients to questionable replacements. The Otterhound is almost two and then Shepherd almost three. WOW! Both have started acting like puppies again, which, as my wife says, might not be a good thing afterall!! However, the Shepherd's coat is gleeming and so very soft. She, the Shepherd, has more energy, her eyes are full of life and she seems more alert and focused. The OH is more active, as when he was a pup, and he naps less and plays more. Anyone who has ever ever owned an Otterhound can tell you, these guys love to sleep! Even his nose seems to be more active, if that is possible!! The protein content is quite high as this is a grain free, high meat diet so you definitely have to watch how much you feed them and their exercise! As long as they are active and you get them a GOOD amount of exercise, thi... Read more

I tried this for my yellow lab who is 4 who seems to have problems with everything. She was on this for 5 days before I stopped using it. Something in it made her itch horribly, her eyes are still a little puffy from all the itching she did. I have also tried the Wellness Super 5 Mix, however, she did horrible on that too. Point is each dog is different, but with mine, it was horrible for her... Very Very Itchy.

Great kibble,one of my dogs,wants nothing but this,and does great on it,but still I will not give 5 stars but 4,cause they went too high on the price.

My American Bulldog was on Wellness Core Ocean Formula and she did well on that. However, I couldn't afford that any more since they raised the prices. Also, the ocean formula smelled like rotten fish! I then switched her to Wellness Core Regular and now she has the runs! (And yes, I switched her slowly) I guess for some dogs it settles well and for others it does not. For my dog, it does not.

good quality ingredients. TOO expensive now. They jacked the price up 11 dollars from the last month we bought the food. I bought it and then decided to return it. I then purchased Taste of the Wild Bison and venison version. Our 2 puggles love this food the best out of everything they have ever had, we can tell. It is cheaper, comes in 33 lbs instead of 26, and they like it more. Just as good of quality as the CORE. Try you will not be dissatisfied.

My friend bought a  bag of this food and there were worms in it,jacky!!!

Our dogs didn t like this kibble,we forced them to eat it,never again I say.

I tried this once,couple of months ago,terrible,all my dogs got diarrhea...maybe it was only ma dogs,but stil...for me this is never again

too expensive,and not easy to  get to : ((

This is a great food. Grain free and good sources of meat content. Dogs do not naturally eat grains in the wild so I appreciate the fact that they do not include them. The high protein content isn't good for house dogs or puppies in the early growth stages. There are good sources of Probiotics and vegetables.

Wellness was recommended by our vet when we took our then 10 week old lab in for his first visit. He loves it and enjoys great health and a beautiful coat. It's a tad expensive but we've adjusted and have greater peace of mind in light of recent problems with other pet food brands.

Ingredients: Deboned Turkey, Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whitefish Meal, Potatoes, Salmon Meal, Natural Chicken Flavor. Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, a natural source of Vitamin E), Tomato Pomace, Cranberries, Chicory Root Extract, Salmon Oil, Flaxseed, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Beta-Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B-12 Supplement), Choline Chloride, Minerals (Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Kelp, Taurine, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Rosemary Extract.First, they eat less per meal because it is so much more nutritious than other foods that are mostly filler.... Read more

I have had excellent experience with this product in the past. It was a highly anticipated entry into the pet food market, and was either the third or fourth (depending on your region) entry into the "Grain Free" cat food market (InnovaEvo and Prairie Raw Instinct being first and second in -my- market, at least). My only complaint with their formula is that they have yet to offer an "Ocean" formula as they have with dog. My cat has recently developed issues with poultry (chicken, turkey and duck) and I have been forced to stop using the product. I contacted the company, however, and was told that a Core Cat Ocean was in the works, but when it would get to the consumer was still unknown. For quality of ingredients, for the communication of the parent company (now a sibling company of Eagle Pack), and for listening to their customers, the Wellness/Old Mother Hubbard company has created an awesome product.

I have been using Wellness and my American Staffordshire terrier (Pitbull) is having a difficult time digesting it. He is running around with a swollen butt, and constantly sniffing his butt and my other dog hate it as well and she eats any and everything. i am going to try Blue Buffalo or Innov because this is concerning. For the past couple of days, i've made them turkey necks with rice and vitamins and chicken back with rice and veggies.

We tried this food a couple months ago for about a months time. It was alright, but my dog wasnt impressed with the taste. I had concerns over the amount of potato, and the use of canola oil, so we decided to stop continuing it. OTOH though, it is nice to have another choice of a grain free diet, and for some dogs I am sure it works quite well.

Best food we've tried for our pups - especially for our pug with skin issues and grain sensitivity. My Daschund love this product!!! It has helped us keep her weight where we want it! She was a lil fat when we rescued her! This is a great product to get your lil couch potatoes to lose the weight!

I love this food... Wellness Core is on my very short list of kibbles I would actually feed my dogs.

I have three performance Border Collies. I recently started using a rotating diet. I added Wellness Core into the rotation. My dogs love it. One of my dogs is a picky eater and will occasionally not finish her meal, but is still, more enthusiastic about this food than any in the past. Their stools are smaller and well formed and their coats are shiney. Due to the caloric value of this food, I did have to cut back a bit on the amount that I feed, which is not a bad thing considering the cost. Wellness Core is expensive. Also, because it is a bit higher in protein than most other foods, I read that you should always add water to the kibble before feeding. It helps the body handle the extra protein.

I am feeding food to six dogs. Four are German Shepherds, one Beagle and one Border Collie. They range in age from 1 year to 12 years. After a month we have amazing results. Weight has stabilized and coats are beautiful. All of the dogs love the food dry. Our rescue GSD had a dry, dull grey coat. After a month on Wellness Core she is becoming a black and red dog with a soft coat! Amazing transformation. My 9 year old was slowing considerably but is now showing renewed energy. We are feeding a lot less kibble also due to the nutritional content. When switching foods, upset and diarrhea can occur. This is very common. Go slow in transitioning. I have tried other meat-based diets and none had results like those of Core.

My pit has been eating this food for almost one year now. She LOVES wellness core, and has had NO problems at all. She seems to have gain more muscle and she has alot more energy. I am NOT a fan of EVO, I found out that the dog food company does secretly put animal by product in that food and that is why it contains more protein than wellness .

My dog has lost interest in this food. I'm switching him partly for that reason and partly because he's very stiff in the mornings, and I wonder if the food could have anything to do with that. I think I'm switching him to Natural Balance - I'll write again when he's adjusted to a different food.

I have an adult samoyed with lots of energy. She has tried both Wellness Core Regular and Reduced Fat with excellent results. We just bought a bag of Core Ocean.  She is alert and active. Her appetite is healthy on this food and her coat is excellent. She has a history of struvite crystals in her urine but I wanted to feed her a grainless kibble. Core isn't as high a protein as Orijen or Evo.