Review of the GoodLife Dog Food: My Dogs Won't Eat Anything Else!

Raising seven Chihuahuas, I know that feeding them a balanced, nutritious diet is vital to maintaining a good healthy lifestyle. As a single parent, I am responsible with choosing the finest dog food to ensure they live a long natural life while avoiding enormous veterinarian bills.

Like many other pet owners, I was extremely alarmed with news reports of pets developing serious illnesses, death related to certain dog foods in March 2007. Companies began recalling a long list of contaminated dog foods attributed to the illnesses. I panicked and knew I had to act fast before their food was included on a recall list. Natural foods for pets became a new trend, so I had decisions to make.

My family owned dogs (mostly Chihuahuas) for 45 years but I never heard of "natural" dog food. My mom fed her dog table food when I was young but my dogs can only eat store bought dog food. I was under the impression that buying the most expensive and well-known brand name dog food was enough to ensure an adequate balanced nutritious diet but apparently not. Therefore, for the first time, I needed to learn how to read dog food labels.

I researched until I knew what ingredients to look for in natural food for my dogs. One pet supply store listed the order of ingredients in dog food as the best gauge to the nutrient value. In the meantime, I had to continue their same brand since it had not been recalled and it is not easy to get them to eat just any food.

Chihuahuas are finicky; mine would only eat chicken basted mini bites dry dog food and snacks. I have to be careful because if I allow them to choose, it will make them even more finicky. I made that mistake once and ended up with three types of dog foods, which eventually, I had to give away.

Once I learned to read the ingredient list, I started the search. I found specialized natural dog food at a pet store that they enjoyed but it was expensive and not widely sold in all stores. My search continued. One added requirement was a dog food that did not contain fillers; I learned they were causing the high volume bowel movements.

Then that beautiful purple and yellow bag appeared on the grocery store shelf! The name was THE GOODLIFE RECIPE food for dogs. It read, "Made with natural ingredients; wholesome food in perfect balance; no fillers; taste guarantee; and 6 key ingredient groups naturally balanced". I was ecstatic, it was the closest grocery store dry dog food that fit my list of required ingredients (yes, I actually wrote a list from my research) in the correct order.

The Ingredients

Real Chicken Natural garden peas and spinach
Carrots Wholesome Grains
Tomatoes Natural Whole Grain Brown Rice

For some reason, Chihuahuas were born to love chicken. I remember when the last three were 2 weeks old; they crawled around trying to smell out my chicken!

My dogs will not eat anything beef and now with THE GOODLIFE RECIPE real chicken small bites dog food, they will not eat anything else. At one time, I had to travel 12 miles to buy their food but now our neighborhood grocery store sells it. Since we live in a one-store town, I asked the manager to order the larger bags so I can have a 2-week supply each time.

Once little Rudy refused to eat for 3 days (no joke) because I could not find the store that sold THE GOODLIFE (after going to three stores), I bought the kind of dog food her cousin ate. At that time, only a certain grocery store stocked GOODLIFE. We were vacationing separately from the others and I certainly did not want to waste money and buy more, but she is so stubborn. She went on until she developed low blood sugar and was becoming lethargic, I had to buy a McDonald's burger and shake. Fortunately, I was able to find her GOODLIFE RECIPE dog food the next day.

The price is reasonable compared to their previous food. I pay about $16 for the 15.5 lb bag which lasts almost 2 weeks when fed the correct amount each require a day. Most of the time, the bags contain valuable coupons.

My dogs have always shared the same flat plastic food platter with 2-3 eating at a time without problems. They also share the same water bowl because Maya takes others and dump them out on the floor. I could never understand how a company could guarantee taste of dog food and I refuse to taste it, but apparently, it tastes good. It is funny with about four of them, they would take one piece at a time somewhere to eat then run back to the platter. Malik, the father, likes to pick over the food for his favorite color, flavor, and shape before he eats the rest.

My Chihuahuas are healthy and extremely rambunctious. Imagine having seven Chihuahuas running in a pact with such sharp turns on our 1-acre property, like racing greyhounds. I dread rainy days! They have strong teeth and bones, shiny smooth fur, and bright eyes (no, no fluffy tails here). THE GOODLIFE RECIPE dog food comes in appealing colors and shapes; the small bites are very easy for them to chew.

My dogs and I highly recommend THE GOODLIFE RECIPE dog food. For you cat lovers, you will be happy to know, there is also a GOODLIFE RECIPE for cats.