We're On An American Journey

This month we're trying out a dog food that's new to us. Chewy asked if we'd be interested in doing a month long trial of American Journey. I'll be honest, I'd never heard of it before, but after a bit of research, I agreed. I chose the salmon and sweet potato recipe because fish is the natural diet of Portuguese Water Dogs and mine all love the smell and taste of fish.

Here's what I found out. The ingredients are as follows:
Deboned Salmon, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Peas, Sweet Potatoes, Chickpeas, Pea Protein, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Dried Beet Pulp, Natural Flavor, Flaxseed, Menhaden Fish Meal, Blueberries, Carrots, Salt, Salmon Oil, Dried Kelp, Fructooligosaccharides, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Mixed Tocopherols (Natural Preservative), Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Niacin Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Proteinate, Riboflavin Supplement, Manganese Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Manganese Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Dried Bacillus coagulans Fermentation Product, Rosemary Extract.

Calories are 430 per cup which keeps it off Fudge's diet.

The Dog Food Advisor site gives American Journey 5 stars, their highest rating and call it "an above average dry product" with above average protein, near average fat and below average carbs. They also say it contains a "significant amount of meat", or in this case fish. They "enthusiastically recommend" it.

 I had to decide which dogs would take part in this month long trial. I ruled out the three boys immediately. I've finally gotten them all stable with their various intestinal problems and I didn't want to introduce a new food into the mix. Mackey is keeping Fudge company on his diet and Syd was out because I'm very careful to keep her on a regular diet plan. With her mental issues, I don't want her to get attached to a food that I don't plan to continue feeding her. She stays on a nice safe, somewhat boring diet.

Because I have one bag of this food and don't know how far it'll stretch, I chose Lola and Bailey to be the taste testers.

OK, so what do we think? I didn't know what to expect when I opened the bag. We've had some fish based kibbles that smelled so fishy we had to hold our noses while dishing it up. This wasn't one of them. It has a mildly fishy smell, but not too strong. Still the dogs agreed it smelled great. The kibble is a small size, easy for almost any size dog.

I started mixing it with their usual kibble in order to avoid a shock to their systems. Never a good idea to just instantly introduce a new food. I learned that a long time ago, the hard way.

My two testers were more than happy to stick their heads in their bowls and give American Journey a try. They cleaned their bowls without complaint and I'm sure would have eaten a second serving.

 Mid month we'll let you know how the girls are doing with the new food and if we see any changes, good or bad.

Chewy sent us this bag of American Journey Salmon and Sweet Potato food at no cost to us in exchange for three honest reviews during the month of March.