In 2007, Blue Buffalo claimed their partners - Wilbur-Ellis and American Nutrition, Inc for "tampering" with their formula and added the rice protein concentrate without their knowledge or consent. Here are 3 recall release on the FDA site 1,2,3. I remember when other companies started issuing recalls, BlueBuffalo PR jumped in and announced that theirs were not affected, and then just a few days later.... On the other hand, a lot of pet owners ask "how could Blue Buffalo not know?" well, it's up to you to believe the spin or their version of truth.
As far as the food goes, I find the food is "richer" when compared to other brands. I did use Blue Buffalo for a while, my Vienna did great on it, however, Mocha has a sensitive stomach and he didn't do so well, he did fine for one bag and then the 2nd or the 5th bag not so good. Since we didn't get good consistent results, Blue Buffalo was not longer on our menu.
Read the FAQ, especially the FDA and AAFCO article, watch this , then read this. It'll help you to make an informed decision.
A few months ago I switch my dogs to BB Wilderness and they both love it! And are doing fantastic on it! I wish I taken a before and after picture of them to prove..... it changed our lives! Both my english bulldog and Shelly love eating it and both are pretty picky eaters they will eat it without wet food and with out water. And the english bulldog has never looked better in her whole life.
I buy mine at petsmart and they are having trouble keeping it on the shelves so I had to switch to the basic. I just bought that bag today so we'll see how it goes : )
We use BB and Midas does fabulous on it. Dozer is of coarse on the puppy version of Blue and we are a little concerned his system isn't taking it as well. Out of the gazillion poos he has produced we have had maybe 3 solid good poos. The rest have been formed and mush or just plain pureed! We are considering switching brands but are unsure of what to go to next. We want to make sure we have the appropriate protein content for Dozer since he is only 10weeks. I have heard that because Corgis are a dwarf breed they need a little different protein amounts.
I have been feeding Quincy Blue Buffalo since he was a puppy. He loves it. He is currently on the Wilderness formula because it is low carb. I think he likes it better than the regular food. I always get compliments on how shiny his coat is. Was thinking of switching to EVO only because bits are smaller, but... I don't know he has really done well with the blue buffalo I don't want to mess up a good thing. Hope this helps :)
Thanks everyone for the feedback. Shiner loves Blue Buffalo but we have heard mixed reviews so I wanted to get more opinions. Shiner and me appreciate it!
I'm a PetSmart trainer and I can tell you we recommend BB quite a bit. The ingredients are quality and the food is good. Of the ones we carry, BB is the best. I've tried our dogs on it. And although I love it and they do too, the small amount of grains that are in it cause havoc with their allergies. The Wilderness BB is no grain but very, very high in protein. We're back to Natural Balance allergy formula and the fur-kids are back to normal.
As for the recalls, BB wasn't horribly affected by them. Nutro was the biggest offender. BB was one of the foods we recommended to folks when the recalls came through. Since that time, they've had no issues. BB has become quite popular in our store and we've been fortunate to keep stock up.
My two Corgis were on it for awhile, Peanut was on the adult, Tulip on the puppy. Peanut got sick on the fish flavor. I was sure it was the food because when he got sick I took him off of it, gave him blanched chicken and rice for a few days. He was all better so I put him back on the Blue and he got sick again! I was so upset! I contacted them and they refunded our money, but I don't buy their food anymore because of that.