Premium Redpaw Poweredge High-Protein Dog Food - 26K Mix Formula, 35lb Bag for Active & Large Breed Dogs - Ideal for Training, Outdoor Adventures & Daily Nutrition

I own, train and hunt English setter females. I have fed many dog foods over the last 30 years and in the past have always gone back to what has become Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20 chicken and rice. In the last several months my 4 y/o had developed some hot spots and has struggled with ear problems for most of her adult life. My vet has taken care of burst ear drums twice now and said she probably has food allergies. She hates me rinsing her ears or putting anything on her skin and I finally relented and ordered a bag of this food. It arrived with great anticipation as the price point was nearly double what I allow myself to pay for dog food. I try to buy my food at 1.00/# or so and this was right at 2.00/# delivered to my door. I opened the sack to a very different odor than I'm used to with dog food. I also noted that the cardboard box had oil/fat lines on both ends of the shipping box due to "leaking" on the seams. It was not bad on the one end but very noticeable on the other end where the shipping company obviously had it sitting up. In any case, have an open bag of Pro Plan Sport Chicken and Rice and an open bag of Pro Plan Sport Salmon and Sweet Potato I could instantly compare the odor. The Pro Plan Sport(both varieties) had a noticeable "dead" odor that I've become used to. Both are well within their use date and would be considered "fresh" by most suppliers. They have been stored in my house in their original folded top sacks so the heat of the summer and moths were not directly responsible for their odor. It is the odor I've always smelled and though not offensive it is not inviting. To be certain, both my females readily eat all three types of food. I have cut back on the amount of their food and the older female with ear and skin issues only gets Redpaw 32K while the pup is getting about half and half. They continue to receive 1gram of Costco fish oil via capsule though previously I had given each 2grams/day. This experiment has been going on for about a month now and the skin and ear issues are much improved. If they perform as well as anticipated on Redpaw I may be forced to pay 2.00/# for my dog food. The younger female has some ear issues but her coat is bright, vibrant, soft and beautiful on the 50/50 blend. To be totally honest the older female with the issues has a COI 21.85 so she is rather inbred. She was also spayed(which I never do) due to a "one pup litter" where the one pup grew too large and died in her such that she had to be spayed. I like the odor of this food and the younger dog goes to the bottom to dig it out first and both love it and it seems to be living up to what it said to offer. Thanks and God bless!