Thinking about buying this brand? Check out what real rachel ray dog food reviews are saying.

Alright, let's talk about dog food. Specifically, Rachel Ray's brand. My dog, Cooper, a goofy golden retriever mix, started getting really finicky about his meals a while back. He'd sniff his bowl, push it around, and walk away. Plus, his coat was looking a little dull. I figured it was time for a change.

I started looking around. You know how it is, standing in the pet food aisle, just overwhelmed by choices. I saw the Rachel Ray Nutrish bags. I recognized the name, of course, and the packaging looked nice, talking about real ingredients and stuff. It seemed less… industrial? than some of the others. I wasn't looking for anything super fancy or expensive, just something decent that Cooper might actually eat.

Picking a Bag and Making the Switch

I grabbed a bag of the Nutrish Real Chicken & Veggies recipe first. Seemed like a safe bet. Chicken's usually a hit. When I got home, I didn't just dump the whole new bag in his bowl. Learned that lesson the hard way years ago! Nope, I did the gradual mix.

• Day 1-2: Mostly old food, just a tiny bit of the Nutrish mixed in. Cooper ate it, didn't seem to notice much.
• Day 3-4: Upped the Nutrish amount, maybe like a quarter new food, three-quarters old. Still okay.
• Day 5-6: Went about half and half. This is where I watched him closely.
• Day 7 onwards: Gradually increased the Nutrish until it was all new food.

The transition went pretty smoothly, honestly. No major stomach upsets, which was a relief. His poops stayed pretty normal throughout the switch.

Living with the Food

So, Cooper was fully on the Rachel Ray food. What did I notice?

The Good Stuff:

• He definitely seemed more interested in eating again. He wasn't leaving food in his bowl nearly as often. Meal times were less of a struggle. That was a big win.
• The kibble size was fine, not too big or small for him.
• I felt okay about the ingredients listed, seemed better than the super cheap stuff I'd bought in the past.

The Not-So-Good Stuff (for us, anyway):

• After a few weeks, while his coat maybe looked a tiny bit better, it wasn't a dramatic change. It wasn't suddenly super glossy or anything.
• His energy levels seemed about the same. No huge boost, but no drop either.
• The biggest thing I noticed over time, maybe after a couple of months, was that he seemed a bit gassier than usual. Not terrible, but noticeable.

Moving On

We stuck with the Rachel Ray Nutrish for probably six months or so. He kept eating it okay, but the gas thing persisted, and I just wasn't seeing any amazing benefits beyond him simply eating his meals again. I started wondering if maybe a different formula, perhaps one with different grains or proteins, might suit him better.

Eventually, I decided to try another brand altogether, something specifically for sensitive systems, just to see if it would help with the gas. It wasn't that the Rachel Ray food was bad, not at all. It got Cooper eating again, and the transition was easy. But for him, long-term, it just wasn't the perfect fit. Every dog is different, right? What works great for one might just be okay for another.

So, that was my experience. It served its purpose for a time, got us over the picky eating hump, but we eventually moved on to find something that worked even better for Cooper's specific needs.