How do you know if a dog food is working for your dog?

[MsP]

I know about the pet food review sites and I get that there are better foods than others.

I have fed the following foods:

-Natures Variety Instinct,
-Wellness Core,
-Blue Buffalo Wilderness,
-Merrick Grain Free,
-Dogswell Nutrisca,
-(probably others I'm forgetting)

and now I'm trying out Costco's Grain Free Nature's Domain because I've heard several good comments about it. AND it's soooo much less expensive.

I usually mix foods. Use half a bag, add another, stir, etc. I always supplement his meals with a scoop of pumpkin puree or brown rice, some kind of frozen vegetable (carrot or green bean usually), and a big squirt of salmon oil.

He's been eating the costco food for a week now (well, it mixed in with the Merrick) and his poo's are great. I think he likes the lesser protein content (24 vs like 36 in some of the others). It got me thinking... how do I know if a food is doing well with my dog? I see people saying, "oh the dog looks so great when I feed XYZ" but I don't get that... how would you know how the dog looks on some other food and how do you know that the dog looking good is a result of the food? I also hear people talk about muscle mass and maintaining weight but doesn't that have to do with exercise and the AMOUNT of food you feed?

Please educate me. I know we have some very savvy dog owners!

 

[kenny]

If dog poops, food's working.
If dog dies, food's not working.

 

[Matata]

You read this http://rawfeddogs.org/toxic.html and similar sites, then study the ingredient list on the food and pick the food with the least amount of fillers & carbs and the highest amount of protein.

Signs of a dog eating a healthy diet (not comprehensive) -- shiny coat, dandruff free, bright eyes, clean teeth, no rancid breath, small amount of poop that should have no aroma or very little aroma, high energy level, good results on yearly blood analysis.

 

[Matata]

Oops -- forgot to address one of your questions -- the overall condition of a dog (or any companion animal), be it muscle mass or weight is dependent on the quality of the food and feeding the proper amount first, then conditioning and exercise comes into play, and genetics has a hand in it too.

 

[kgizo]

The choices are overwhelming so I use dogfoodadvisor.com for recommendations and analysis. In addition to what Matata has listed above, eye crud/discharge can be a sign of "bad" food. It's great to add high quality human food to their diets, but make sure you are aware of what is toxic first. Onions are bad for dogs and some chicken breasts are processed in spices or a broth, which could include onion.

I research treats as well. A lot of those chicken jerky treats are irradiated in other countries (I'm in N America).

If you are concerned or a problem suddenly develops be sure to check out food recalls, too.

 

[SB621]

Usually I look for poop to be solid, nice shiney soft coat, and is my doggy eager to come eat the food when I put it out. My dogs (lab and shiba) are very vocal about some food and will just have no interest in coming to eat when we don't feed them something they liked. They HATED blue buffalo which most ppl swear bye.

 

[iheartscience]

Usually I look for poop to be solid, nice shiney soft coat, and is my doggy eager to come eat the food when I put it out. My dogs (lab and shiba) are very vocal about some food and will just have no interest in coming to eat when we don't feed them something they liked. They HATED blue buffalo which most ppl swear bye.

Same, but I have cats, not dogs! There are certain foods they LOVE and I stick with those. Our most recent rescued kitty had kind of dull, greasy fur with dandruff when we first got him. After a month or two on the high quality food his fur looked fantastic. No more greasiness or dandruff, his fur is shiny and soft, and he LOVES the food we give him. He actually tries to wake us up if we take too long to feed him.

 

[fabulousfindk]

Our lab has had SO many issues with allergies and food... I'm very discouraged.
We used to always feed them Purina One or Pedigree, and never had any issues. By all accounts, he was healthy and happy. But over the last six months or so, he's had a series of AWFUL ear infections and extremely itchy, dry skin and fur. You can tell he's simply miserable - cant stop itching and even developed hot spots and scabs in some areas. He had to have his whole rear end shaved and special medicine applied several times daily in December.

So after several bouts of steroid shots, antibiotics, two different kinds of allergy tests, cleaning the ear daily, wet food, several different types of fish oil and supplements, changing the soap we use to wash him several times, cooking rice and veggies for him daily, completely stopping all people food and treats, numerous poopy days and nights when we switched foods, and trying several different brands - one of which a Blue Buffalo fish and sweet potato which we were so hopeful for, even though it smelled TERRIBLY - the only thing that seems to keep the itching away is this prescription food made of KANGAROO. On top of being questionably PC and just sort of making me uncomfortable.. it's very expensive, and he doesn't seem to like it all that much. He will kind of give us a pitiful look when we serve it and will just eat bits of it all day.. he doesn't scarf it down like he does with EVERY other type of food.

Any suggestions? I'm at my wit's end with this dog. We have a great vet, but they seem to feel they've exhausted all their options as well. They think sticking with the prescription food is the thing to do. I love him to death, but he's really SO's dog, and well, that's all I really have to say about that. I truly do want to find the ultimate solution for him, and the cost isn't that important, but I can't see continuing to buy this outrageously expensive food that he really has to be coerced to eat. Plus nothing seems to stop the itching COMPLETELY. I am SO glad someone posted that dogfoodadvisor website, I am definitely going to check it out!


ETA I just realized I sort of thread-jacked .. I'm sorry. I can tell if a food is working for our dog if he's not pooping more than normal (more than 3x a day is too much) and if his fur is shiny and without itchy spots/dandruff.

 

[Matata]

Fabulous -- does he have a flea allergy? what type of cleaning products do you use in the house? what type of laundry soap do you use on his bedding? Lacking a definitive dietary cause for his allergies, it's possible it's something in the environment.

Typically when a food allergy is suspected, an animal will be put on a novel protein diet -- such as kangaroo, rabbit. If physical condition improves, it usually means something in the food the animal was eating was causing the problem. Substances in foods that are known to cause health issues are corn, wheat, guar gum, carrageenan, soy, chicken. Then there's the frustrating aspect of never being to identify the cause. You can also try rabbit as a protein source. I don't know where you're located but https://www.hare-today.com has ground rabbit with organs and bones as well as pheasant and other novel proteins that might work with your pooch.

A raw diet might do the trick if all else has failed. Unfortunately, diarrhea is something that has to be endured when experimenting with new foods. Slowly introducing the new protein into the diet is the way to go. By slowly, I mean substituting 1 tablespoon of new food for the old food each meal for a few days and then slowing increasing the new food while decreasing the old food over several weeks.

 

[fabulousfindk]

Thank you so much Matata - rabbit is not a protein that I had thought of or that the doc had mentioned yet. I will ask.

We typically do introduce the new food slowly.. but as you said, it can mean there are weeks before we know whether a food is affecting him negatively or not. Also, we did the allergen test where like with humans, Onyx got pricked with about twenty five different things to see if there was a reaction - and there were NONE! I can't think of anything different in the household that would cause it either. I've switched to hypoallergenic, non-scented, no-dye laundry detergent and we don't give them stuffed animals anymore. Sigh. It's just frustrating when they can't tell you what's wrong!!!

 

[Matata]

I encourage you to think about a raw diet. Your vet may not support the idea but it's been shown to work miracles on worse cases than your pooch. Remember that vets don't receive much in the way of nutrition education and tend to think inside the box on that subject. If you choose to go raw, it's important that you learn how to balance the diet to get the right ratio of meat/organ/bone.

Good luck with your poor pooch. It's so very difficult to see an animal suffer and not be able to identify the cause or an effective remedy.