Horizon Pet Nutrition (Legacy Brand) + General Kibble Inquiry
We have a 1 year and 2 month old golden doodle, she's great, she's never had much gut issues other than in January.
We had started with Boreal shortly after getting her (September 2025) and she ate it so we stuck with it. She seemed to get tired of a flavor so we started to switch back and forth to the same "limited ingredient" branded grain free food from Boreal until she was like I don't like it at all around Christmas (2025) time.
We were desperate and were trying cheap kibble and cheap we foods, anything, to get her to eat, she was eating the wet food no problem, kibble was hit and miss, we bought so many cheap crap foods but eventually landed on a Legacy branded kibble.
Before going to this kibble, we gave her a bland chicken / rice for a week to reset her gut as the diarrhea was insane. We gave her a dewormer (from vet) in case it was also a problem. We transitioned to the Legacy kibble with some chicken and rice to eventually only the kibble but kept adding some boiled chicken to each meal. (we still add the chicken topper to this day)
We've stuck with the Legacy grain free kibble, two flavors mainly, "Prairie Vista Red Meat Blend" (PORK, PORK MEAL, CHICKPEAS, PEA PROTEIN, DRIED YEAST are the five first ingredients listed) and "Farm Country Blend" (CHICKEN, CHICKEN MEAL, TURKEY MEAL, PEAS, PEA FLOUR are the five first ingredients listed), so far it's working out, she has never LOVED any of the foods, just tolerates it and eats it.
I see often people talking about "boutique brands" and a lot of grain-free kibbles tend to have peas/pea flour and that seems to have potential links to heart issues later in life.
When we say "boutique brands" would these quality as that? They are smaller brands that are Canadian made, I saw past comments on Reddit that the Legacy brand parent company are just a very small crew from Saskatchewan.
I see people praising Costco's Kirkland kibbles. I see people swear on Purina Pro Plan. I see people swear up for SVAVA compliant foods. I see people say that's bad. It's all overwhelming. I keep thinking we are doing right by her but then I wonder if these grain free kibbles are just as terrible for her health.
Could anyone help guide me on what is best practice? Or point me to some literature that explains the pros or cons to grain free kibbles or what's the best to look into.