What''s the best food to feed your dog??

[scarleta]

I wonder with so much controversy these days if there is a better choice if you feed dry food?

 

[NewEnglandLady]

My general advice is that if you can buy it at a PetsMart or grocery store, it's no good!

Canidae, Eagle Pack, Wellness, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, etc. are all good premium dry foods that are not packed with fillers (grains and poultry fat) and are very healthy options. Also, quite a bit depends on the age and size of your dog, and of course, if he/she has any allergies. I try to keep my dog on a fish-based food because a.) He's a newfoundland and the breed has historically been fed fish which helps keep their coat shiny and water-resistent and b.) Not only do the extra omega oils in his food help his coat, but they help his joints as well (though we do supplement his food with gluc. and chondroitin).

Finding premium food can be a little more difficult because you have to go to specialty dog food stores, but the benefits are completley worth it.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

I now feed my dogs raw food...which I highly recommend...

but when I fed dry, I used either Innova or Nutro

 

[littlelysser]

Date: 11/6/2008 11:58:28 AM
Author: NewEnglandLady
My general advice is that if you can buy it at a PetsMart or grocery store, it''s no good!


Canidae, Eagle Pack, Wellness, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, etc. are all good premium dry foods that are not packed with fillers (grains and poultry fat) and are very healthy options.

Finding premium food can be a little more difficult because you have to go to specialty dog food stores, but the benefits are completley worth it.

I agree completely. The food is a bit pricier, but it is SO SO SO much better for your dog.

I will say that the Petco near me has recently started carrying some Wellness and Solid Gold! I was quite impressed.

 

[Miscka]

Date: 11/6/2008 11:58:28 AM
Author: NewEnglandLady
My general advice is that if you can buy it at a PetsMart or grocery store, it''s no good!


Canidae, Eagle Pack, Wellness, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, etc. are all good premium dry foods that are not packed with fillers (grains and poultry fat) and are very healthy options. Also, quite a bit depends on the age and size of your dog, and of course, if he/she has any allergies. I try to keep my dog on a fish-based food because a.) He''s a newfoundland and the breed has historically been fed fish which helps keep their coat shiny and water-resistent and b.) Not only do the extra omega oils in his food help his coat, but they help his joints as well (though we do supplement his food with gluc. and chondroitin).


Finding premium food can be a little more difficult because you have to go to specialty dog food stores, but the benefits are completley worth it.

While I would generally agree with NEL, I feed my dog Blue Buffalo, which is available at PetSmart. I did a lot of research and am very happy and confident in it. My dog is really healthy and his coat is gorgeous. The others that she mentioned I would also be very comfortable with, my mom uses Solid Gold.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Yeah, I probably should have been more specific--I didn''t mean every brand Petsmart carries, I just meant about 95%. Our PetSmart carries Nutro, which Byron does very well on (both Canidae and Wellness are too rich for him).

 

[neatfreak]

I agree with NEL, but our local PetSmart has started carrying some of those brands too, so just because it's carried at Petsmart doesn't mean it isn't good.

We actually feed Kirkland food, which is Costco's house brand. So much cheaper than the other good foods and always receives very good ratings on the whole dog journal's pet food rating lists. It's a good choice if you can't afford to feed some of the more expensive ones but still want your dog to get good food.

 

[sba771]

My dog is on practically a raw food and fresh veggie diet. Every night he gets a raw beef rib and he chews on the bone after he finishes the meat for his teeth to remain healthy. He also tends to get fresh eggs. (We live in Germany right now where the dog food offered is not so great) When we were back in the states we also fed him Primal which I highly suggest. People stop us all the time to say how good his coat looks. It was the food. We made my aunt switch to primal for her dog and when we were visiting her last week we saw a major difference in the quality of her coat.
http://www.primalpetfoods.com/

 

[JoangA]

I''m using Flint River Ranch, they deliver, the dogs like it. I also use EVO canned, no grains.

In general the best you can afford.

If you subscribe to http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/ they make excellent recommendations, also they have done a lot of research and continually update their lists yearly. Not to mention the other articles on training and health.

 

[blushingbride]

We also buy our dog (yorkshire terrier) dog food from a specialty store. We got him right around the time of the dog food scare so, we figured it was a safe bet. We''ve been feeding him Nature''s Variety Prairie Kibble and rotate the flavors. I''ve heard good things about Solid Gold and when he was little fed him Wellness.

Is raw food more expensive?

How many of you prefer wet over dry?

 

[JulieN]

BARF is pretty popular (Bones And Raw Food)

 

[Bia]

We are part of the pet Raw Food movement too. My pup just turned 4 and has been on the raw diet for 3 and 1/2 years. She is in perfect health. Her teeth are always clean and her coat is shiny. She also doesn''t suffer from tear stains...and she''s all white!

We usually get her Aunt Jenny''s or Nature''s Variety (both equally good IMO)--which is organic raw meat (bones and all), eggs, veggies and vitamins/minerals mixed together to form little patties (comes frozen). It comes in different varieties: beef, chicken, lamb, turkey, etc. We quickly heat it up (almost sear it) and give it to her. She loves it. If we run out, and we often do, we give her chicken (small) or cornish hens cut up and then we mix it with a home-made veggie puree. The chicken is NEVER cooked b/c the bones will splinter, just warmed up so its not cold.

For special treats we give her cooked beef and chicken. Honestly, it’s been the best thing we could have done for her. When I first got her I gave her kibble, and good kibble at that! She would routinely suffer from gas, loose stools, vomiting, etc. AND her poop stunk! (sorry, TMI!

) Based on our research (and our vet) we found that with raw food, her poop is less smelly and dark because she absorbs so much more nutrients. The bones also help immensely with teeth cleaning. Another thing we do is add a couple drops of fish oil to her food for the omega benefits--My bf is a total health nut, that''s the only reason I know any of this!

Its definitely not the easiest or most convenient way to go but I honestly believe it’s the best way. If you can''t go raw, some of the better foods are Innova and Evo. We have used both for when we travel.

Good luck!

 

[lliang_chi]

I also give my dog Flint River Ranch. SHe doesn''t do well on any kind of people food, like if I boil chicken meat for her, she gets the runs. But once she pulled a raw pork chop off the counter and was just fine. Weird...

 

[Amandine]

I feed my Edgar Nutro, which has been great for him. As NEL said, it has no fillers, and also uses no animal by-products. His coat is gorgeous, even when he''s filthy. We feed him the large breed lamb and rice.

 

[indecisive]

Sorry to kind of thread-jack but does anyone have any suggestions on how to transition a dog to new food? When we got out Chihuahua baby, Grace, from her breeder she was on Purina... not the best. We have tried to put her on something better but she will just eat the new food and leave the Purina no matter how we mix it. This makes her really sick and they she gets dehydrated from being sick to her tummy. Then she would have to go on a bland diet then her old Purina Sensitive formula. It is not a money issue at all, for the amount she eats we could be giving her fillet mignon. She is doing fine on the food and has kept a good weight and a healthy coat although it is not especially shiny. She chews a lot on toys so her teeth are fine too but I want to get her on the best nutrition to hopefully lengthen her life span. Sorry this is a novel, I just love the spoiled brat so much!

 

[*Danielle*]

To transition you start off by giving 75% of the old food with 25% new for 3 days, then switch to half and half for a few days then 75% new and 25% old for 3-4 days. and ween off from there. If you notice an upset tummy or diarrhea add more of the old food to the mix and go slower.


I agree with most that Innova, Solid Gold, Eagle Pack, etc are very good foods. Be careful with bones because too much can cause chips in their teeth. Also, raw foods are good occasionally but a some dogs have digestive problems later on in life if they have too much (chance of colon cancer can increase). Wet food is also not good for the teeth so I don't recommend it unless absolutely necessary.

I feed my chihuahua Natural Balance, Limited Ingredients Diet. I believe his is Sweet Potato and Venison or Duck. Not sure since I through out the bag after putting it in the container.

Some more advice, keep you pet foods in an air tight container. It prevents the fats from getting rancid and the food from goign stale while keeping ants out.


ETA I spent a year in the pet nutrition field (worked for Science Diet, but don't recommend their food for anything other than medical diets) so I hear a lot of first hand experiences with different brands.

 

[indecisive]

Date: 11/6/2008 7:56:07 PM
Author: *Danielle*
To transition you start off by giving 75% of the old food with 25% new for 3 days, then switch to half and half for a few days then 75% new and 25% old for 3-4 days. and ween off from there. If you notice an upset tummy or diarrhea add more of the old food to the mix and go slower.

We do that but she picks out the new food and leaves the Purina so no matter how we mix it she eats mostly new food. She eats really small meals so she will get full on the new food. I guess we can try to start with more of a 90/10 ratio. It was just so horrible last time we tried to switch her!

 

[happyfeet1988]

Just wanted to add a little different perspective to this thread. Our black lab came home from his breeder on ProPlan. ProPlan to me seems like not a super premium food, but much better than a lot of other brands. So we decided to feed him something better. For about a year, we were on the food rollercoaster with him. We tried Innova, Wellness, Eagle Pack Holistic, and Blue Buffalo. The whole time we dealt with liquid stools, staph infections, and bacterial ear infections. My lab is now back on ProPlan Salmon and Rice, his coat is glossy, his stomach is much better, and he looks amazing. These super premium, holistic foods do not work for all dogs, and my dog is proof of that. His food is $45 for 38 lbs, so definitely not cheap, but alot more affordable than Eagle Pack. The protein content is simply too high for a portion of dogs out there. You cannot use what is necessarily highest recommended, you need to use what works for your dog.

 

[diamondfan]

I only feed dry. I give my dog canidae and it is a wonderful food.

 

[kellyfish]

I cook food for my dogs. They hated even premium wet packaged food, and I was weary of wasting it. I researched it and it ends up actually being less expensive. I vary my ingredients, but use lean turkey or beef with brown rice or other whole grain, a veggie (peas, carrots, etc) & usually egg (with finely chopped egg shells once a week for minerals). It''s easy once you figure out thr correct proportions. My dogs love it & I make a batch every 3 days. My neighbors would make a big batch for their dogs & freeze it in portions....lots of websites with help/recipes if you are interested....

 

[diamondfan]

I also use a salmon oil and a powder in the food. The powder has flax seed oil and other nutrients. I give her healthy gourmet low cal biscuits and sometime a bone from the butcher, fresh carrots and fresh apple. I do not feed her table food. I also give her a mushroom chewable that is for her immune support, which is great. She loves it.

 

[*Danielle*]

I agree that not all dogs can handle the high protein content of certain foods. Every pet is unique and sometimes finding the right diet can be a pain.

I once talked with a man who had a pug that was allergic to everything. Chicken, rice, egg, dairy. He spent thousands on food trials and was stuck with feeding peanut butter and pinto beans because that was all his pet could handle. I pointed him towards some holistic foods with bison and venison and hopefully that worked.

 

[Haven]

We feed our Bailee a raw diet, and I believe my husband created her diet using the BARF books. (Gross acronym, I know.)

When we first adopted her we tried a few of the higher-end foods available (Wellness, Canidae, etc.) but her poop continued to be gross. Feeding raw requires a lot of research at first, but she is doing very well on it. And her poop does not smell anymore, which is definitely a bonus!

I highly recommend the BARF diet. It is much better than it sounds.

 

[gailrmv]

Am I just a terrible dog owner? My girls eat Eukanuba. I did some research on Science Diet, Nutro and Eukaneuba several years ago when I adopted my first dog, felt good about my choice, and my dogs seem to like it and do well. Now I feel like a terrible dog mom since the rest of you are feeding your dogs things that I have never even heard of!

 

[diamondfan]

Eukanuba is fine, many vets sell and recommend it.

The BARF diet is tricky and needs to be handled carefully, there is HIGH risk of salmonella with it and I would not do it as I had a young child and it was not worth the risk. Some vets endorse it, some do not. It really depends. I just did not want raw stuff all over like that.

 

[gailrmv]

Date: 11/6/2008 11:01:19 PM
Author: diamondfan
Eukanuba is fine, many vets sell and recommend it.


The BARF diet is tricky and needs to be handled carefully, there is HIGH risk of salmonella with it and I would not do it as I had a young child and it was not worth the risk. Some vets endorse it, some do not. It really depends. I just did not want raw stuff all over like that.

Thanks DiamondFan, I feel better!

 

[Haven]

Eukanuba has a lot of fillers and other ingredients that are not the optimal things to feed your dog. But is it bad for your girls? I don''t really know. Perhaps it''s just not as good as it could be.

Diamondfan is right about any raw diet that you create on your own, it is difficult to do at first and you have to be very careful. We bought separate dishes and a separate food processor for the pets'' food when we switched to raw.

The health benefits outweigh the work it takes to safely feed them the raw diet, in our opinion, so that''s what we do. (Our cats are on a partially raw diet, as well.)

 

[diamondfan]

I think there are many better choices than Eukanuba, but when I was younger and had dogs, Science Diet, Eukanuba and one other brand which were only at vets or high end pet stores, were the standard.

My breeder is also a vet. She has been breeding Chesapeakes for 25 years, and she does not endorse raw food. If you want to do it, she will assist you, but she in no way advocates it as better, and she thinks for a lot of people (meaning people who are not that fastidious or careful unlike Haven) it can be a mess and difficult.

 

[Haven]

Our vet endorses Science Diet, too, and when DH has asked her about what he''s read through his research she admits that she doesn''t know as much about diet as she could. We''ve actually met a lot of vets that don''t know much about diet, which is odd to me, but it seems to be the norm here in Chicago.

We researched the raw diet for a looooong time (long before we even had a dog together) because there is so much information out there about it. I definitely recommend finding local people who feed a raw diet and asking them as many questions as you can before you start it, if you''re interested in doing it at all.

As for kibble, there are a lot of great kibble brands out there. You just have to do a bit of research into what ingredients you should be feeding your dogs, and then check the labels before you buy.

 

[Miscka]

You know Haven, I feel the same way about vets and Science Diet. They all seem to recommend it, or as you say endorse it, and after some pretty extensive research I can''t figure out why. Is it a promotional thing? Since they all sell it and have samples? I admire your dedication with the raw diet.

To the OP, you might want to check out

this website