Dog food

VR3
VR3 Posts: 27,965
edited August 2010 in The Clubhouse
Wonder what you guys use

I was using Iams at first... it was ok - my Dog didnt really seem to like it and her stomach was super sensitive to it

I switched to Royal Canin yesterday for large breed puppies.

DUDE, I tell you what - my dog is hovering about the food bowl. She loves it.
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Post edited by VR3 on
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Comments

  • Ric5811
    Ric5811 Posts: 400
    edited August 2010
    Blue buffalo...great stuff.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    edited August 2010
    INNOVA.... by the way Sid, Royal Cannin has some, well more than some really,batches of dog food that are on a recall list,so be carefull.
    http://www.petfoodsettlement.com/

    Go down the page and there is a link for the brands....make sure yours is not on it. When it comes to dogfood, I have done ton's of research in the past and it would scare you to know what gets put in some brands.
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 27,965
    edited August 2010
    Thanks for the info - checked it out...

    Mostly can and special needs food
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    edited August 2010
    My dog gets lobster and Kobe Beef prepared by her own personal chef, and her doggy treats are flown in from the finest French Pastry shops via private jet on a daily basis to ensure freshness.
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  • bobman1235
    bobman1235 Posts: 10,822
    edited August 2010
    Purina One. Honestly he's eaten his own **** before so I doubt it matters.
    If you will it, dude, it is no dream.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited August 2010
    Hello,
    You might want to look into a raw meat based diet instead of a commercial one. The idea is to feed your dog the same kind of food it would eat if it were hunting down its food. Look at "BARF" diets on the web. It takes some personal commitment on the part of the owner to prepare the food, but it's well worth it.
    Cheers, Ken
  • bobman1235
    bobman1235 Posts: 10,822
    edited August 2010
    Wow, number one directly benefits the author's book sales? SHOCKING.

    I'd like to see actual studies showing health and longevity improvements based on these "raw" or "natural" diets. We've had dogs in my family all our lives and have always fed them standard (not crappy but mid-line) bagged / canned dog food and they've all lived long and healthy lives.
    If you will it, dude, it is no dream.
  • Joe08867
    Joe08867 Posts: 3,919
    edited August 2010
    My dogs eat a mix of two foods.

    Iams adult for small dogs and Science Diet Small Bites. They have been on this combo for 6 years and according to our Vet are healthiest looking Dachshunds she has ever seen. Shiny coat, weight and demeanor.

    My wife had a Pug she made food for and he lived to be 13 which in pug years is about 4yrs beyond expected. And was put down when we found out he was riddled with Cancer. So I would say there is something to making your own.
  • Demiurge
    Demiurge Posts: 10,874
    edited August 2010
    I did a lot of research on food before getting my dog.

    It is worth spending more money on quality food for your dogs health long term. I would stay away from 'no grain' foods, as its my opinion dogs need some healthy grains. Most domesticated dogs don't do well on all protein diets anyway.

    There are a lot of boutique brands and a lot of them are very good. You have to pay a lot of attention if you go that route because large companies are buying up these small companies and drastically altering the ingredients.

    I used to be a huge fan of NUTRO, but they have turned into absolute garbage since they were bought by M & M/MARS. Procter & Gable recently purchased NATURA, makers of EVO, INNOVA, California Natural, Health Wise, Mother Nature and Karma. They signed a 2 year contract that will nullify the purchase if P & G changes the ingredients. After that, look for those foods to take a nose dive like NUTRO did.

    Wellness, Fromm and Natural Balance are all really good foods. I started my current pup on Wellness, but it was too rich for him and I now have him on Natural Balance, which is going very well. Its a little cheaper than the Wellness.

    A lot of issues in dogs are genetic, just like in humans. Still, no matter which way you go, I would stay away from the Iams/Purina etc. crap you can buy at Wal Mart. Just my .02.
  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,707
    edited August 2010
    Raw diets are just the same for animals as they are for humans. With the way slaughterhouses and processing plants are run, unless you can verify beyond a shadow of a doubt the cleanliness of the processing facility and how the products are handled, you run the risk of giving your precious animal worms and other parasites or some sort of bacterial infection both off which can and likely will threaten the life of your animal and make a bunch of money for your vet.

    If you are going out and killing your own meat and growing your own veggies for your pet and you know how to properly dress said animal to avoid meat contamination from effluence of all kinds then good. Otherwise, I would tend to shy away from a raw diet no matter how many experts are writing books about it.
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  • POLKHT
    POLKHT Posts: 138
    edited August 2010
    I just got a dog the other day. I've been doing some very light research on dog foods. I've been told that Blue buffalo, Royal Canin and Evo are good stuff. I was told by a friend to use Beneful. Only to read that they are one of the worst dog foods out there. But he loves eating it though.

    Any recomendations on food that's good for small breeds and won't cause tear stains?
  • Ric5811
    Ric5811 Posts: 400
    edited August 2010
    Jstas wrote: »
    Raw diets are just the same for animals as they are for humans. With the way slaughterhouses and processing plants are run, unless you can verify beyond a shadow of a doubt the cleanliness of the processing facility and how the products are handled, you run the risk of giving your precious animal worms and other parasites or some sort of bacterial infection both off which can and likely will threaten the life of your animal and make a bunch of money for your vet.

    If you are going out and killing your own meat and growing your own veggies for your pet and you know how to properly dress said animal to avoid meat contamination from effluence of all kinds then good. Otherwise, I would tend to shy away from a raw diet no matter how many experts are writing books about it.

    +100, the "guy" at our regular pet store swears by this also, I have serious, serious reservations about "raw" products. Dogs have been domesticated for a long time, being fed by humans etc..they scavenge before they "hunt" for food.
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  • John30_30
    John30_30 Posts: 1,024
    edited August 2010
    I'd also call B.S. on that notion of your pet in the wild diet because it is a B.S. assumption. Pets are domesticated like ourselves. Who (besides lightman and doro) run down and eat raw bear or buffalo?
    Also a very well-regarded vet, the late Anton Kammerlocher, strongly advised me to never feed my dog anything that had soy byproducts in it. Humans can digest soy, animals can't, and it tears their guts up.
  • Toxis
    Toxis Posts: 5,116
    edited August 2010
    I use Purina One. He loves it and he's most regular on it over a couple other brands I've tried.
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  • Ric5811
    Ric5811 Posts: 400
    edited August 2010
    POLKHT wrote: »
    I just got a dog the other day. I've been doing some very light research on dog foods. I've been told that Blue buffalo, Royal Canin and Evo are good stuff. I was told by a friend to use Beneful. Only to read that they are one of the worst dog foods out there. But he loves eating it though.

    Any recomendations on food that's good for small breeds and won't cause tear stains?

    Yeah, he loves eating beneful, just like humans love eating , fatty, starchy, sugary food!:D
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  • muncybob
    muncybob Posts: 2,962
    edited August 2010
    Sometimes you just never know what to do. We have been feeding our dogs Beneful for years. Our 2 best buddies that we lost last year were a full breed St Bernard and a mixed breed German Shephard(the other mix we think was wolf but we never knew for sure). Rocky(St Bernard) lived to be almost 13(VERY old for that breed) and was healthy and active up until near the end. Casey lived to be almost 15 and likewise was very healthy and we lost her just a few months after Rocky died...we think she died of a broken heart :(
    We absolutely want the best for our 4 legged friends but we are not yet convinced we could have done any better for them.
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 27,965
    edited August 2010
    My obedience trainer called Beneful the captain crunch of dog food.

    One of the ingredients is friggin sugar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
  • muncybob
    muncybob Posts: 2,962
    edited August 2010
    My obedience trainer called Beneful the captain crunch of dog food.

    One of the ingredients is friggin sugar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    well that figures, they like doughnuts too !
    Yep, my name really is Bob.
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  • POLKHT
    POLKHT Posts: 138
    edited August 2010
    Ric5811 wrote: »
    Yeah, he loves eating beneful, just like humans love eating , fatty, starchy, sugary food!:D

    After finding out how bad this stuff is, definitely looking for another dog food.
  • POLKHT
    POLKHT Posts: 138
    edited August 2010
    My obedience trainer called Beneful the captain crunch of dog food.

    One of the ingredients is friggin sugar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    One of the associates at Petsmart referred to it as junk food for dogs.
  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,707
    edited August 2010
    OK folks, sugar, it's not a bad thing. It's a simple carbohydrate that is found in damn near everything you eat. It is one of the main sources of energy you body gets and it's instant energy. Your body likes it because it runs well on it. It just doesn't run very long on it, hence the sugar rush and then the sugar drop.

    The problem with sugar is when you eat too much of it without eating other things that your body also needs to maintain itself and use that sugar energy as efficiently as possible. Just because a product has sugar in it doesn't mean it's bad. Overly processed sugar, like high fructose corn syrup, is likely bad for you but the jury is still out since studies are still being done.

    Sugar has very little nutritional value. It's pure fuel. But many things that are "healthy" for you are loaded with sugar. Oranges, apples, tomatoes, bananas...hell, most fruits and vegetables have one form of sugar or another, sometimes multiple forms. From sucrose to glucose to lactose, everything has some kind of sugar in it. Even human breast milk is loaded with it.

    Ingredients labels are required to list any ingredient added to a product. So if a product has sugar listed in the ingredients that means it's been added. That's not always good. But sugar is not an evil substance. The reason we like sugars and fats so much is because they are raw energy and our bodies need it to run. In moderation there is nothing wrong with sugar. Our bodies, our pets bodies, they are designed to process sugar and they do it better than anything else. Too much raw energy and your body can't use it all so it stores it as fat. Then you get fat yourself and all kinds of problems surface.

    I'm not defending Beneful or anything. I'm just saying that sugar and fat isn't evil and actually a necessary part of our and our pets diets. But all things in moderation.
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  • fatchowmein
    fatchowmein Posts: 2,637
    edited August 2010
    Another vote for Blue Buffalo. I also like Natural Balance and will switch between the two depending on sales. Expensive but my dogs are much healthier. In the past, I had them on IAMS (constipation) and Hills Science Diet (itchy skin) but they didn't work out. Also, I discovered cheaperfood usually resulted in a larger amount of defecation whenever they weren't constipated.

    YMMV
  • muncybob
    muncybob Posts: 2,962
    edited August 2010
    What you said about sugar makes sense. I'm certainly not defemding Beneful either and actually after this discussion I think I will re-evaluate what we are feeding our current best buddies. But, seeing is believing and those 2 dogs I mentioned were the pitcure of health, our vet was amazed at how good condition Rocky was in and how much energy he had(except for hot days) for not only his size but his age. Both were at their ideal weight for most of their life so I guess being active they burned off most of any sugars/fats.
    As for Petsmart...they are basically telling you what they have been trained to say. I'm not saying they are wrong but I compare their product knowledge to most of the Best Buy salespeople on audio equipment....I'm just sayin' :)
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  • Fireman32
    Fireman32 Posts: 4,845
    edited August 2010
    My dogs get Purina and they both love it.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited August 2010
    I found out about a raw food diet from one of the product line managers at Polk. She raised dogs for athletic competition and was a big proponent of a carefully balanced diet. When my female mixed breed dog was about four we began a raw diet consisting of chicken necks we bought from Whole Foods. These were kept frozen and thawed out in bunches as we needed it. For the balance of the meal we pureed spinach, broccoli, carrots and mixed in apple juice, molasses, honey, two fish oils, powdered sea kelp (a great source of iron) and powdered grape seed. So her meals, twice a day, were a couple pieces of raw chicken necks (which have an almost ideal balance of bone matter and flesh) and a couple of tablespoons of the "green stuff". She didn't really have too many problems when we started, a fairly bad case of skin rash in the hottest parts of the summer. This completely cleared up after using the diet.
    When she was about eight she contracted ehrlichiosis, which is a disease transmitted from ticks and effects the dog's immune system. When she was diagnosed the vet was pretty sure it would be fatal. We followed the antibiotic treatment and kept up the same food. She seemed fine and I'm sure the diet had a great deal to do with her fighting off the infection. Then when she was fourteen she developed kidney failure. It looked pretty bad, she would need daily injections of fluids. I adjusted her "green stuff" away from spinach and increased the amount of broccoli and went to raw pig kidney as the protein.
    She lived another three years, seventeen when she died. I firmly believe if she hadn't had the ehrlichia she would have lived another year at least. So, to say the least, giving your dog a well thought out, balanced diet that included raw meat is highly recommended. Just because your dog gobbles up the food doesn't meant it's good for them. Look at how much water your dog drinks in a day. My dog drank about a 1/4 cup of water everyday, she was getting an almost perfect amount of food and water in her diet. if your dog laps up a whole bowl of water there's a problem, too much salt. Granted dogs have become domesticated, but that just effects their social makeup, not their physical structure. They still digest food exactly the same as ten thousand years ago. They are capable of eating meat that is days or weeks old, they are scavengers. They have stomach acid that can kill harmful bacteria, as long as you use common sense in dealing with the raw meat they will be fine. There's more harm for the person handling the raw chicken than the animal eating it.
    Also there's a great deal of satisfaction in making your pet's food instead of buying a bag of kibble and sticking it in the car. You feel like you're really working to give your dog a good life and you can learn something along the way.
    Ken
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    edited August 2010
    Amen to all that Ken,unfortunately alot of people don't take that much consideration when it comes to their dogs meals. Kinda like the same as going to Mickey D's everyday for your dog.

    Do any of you know what rendering plants do ? Do you know what happens to dogs that are put down and left at the vet ? Yep,chopped up and put back into dog food or other animal feed...and so is the poison used to put that animal down. There are cases where people actually find pet tags in the dry food they buy. Disgusting. So goes for farm animals,circus animals....rendering plants will make you puke and change what you shove down your throat and your pets,for years to come. I advise those who care to read this book,very enlightening, and gives great insight to dog food,vaccines,etc.

    http://books.google.com/books?id=VCFwBKVySF0C&dq=holistic+animal+care,books&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=g2NYTO30Csmhnwer_OGUCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=13&ved=0CE8Q6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=holistic%20animal%20care%2Cbooks&f=false
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,707
    edited August 2010
    I'm glad I have a pet rock. Don't have to worry about what he eats. He loves me and is quite smart too! Way better at telling me what the weather is than the weather man. When he's wet, it's raining. When he's dry, it's sunny. He tells time too. When I can't see him, it's dark...or snowing. He helps keep pests like squirrels, rabbits, birds, kids, raccoons, skunks and so on away. He loves to play with hornets nests too! All I gotta do is pick him up and toss him at the miscreant and they usually run...others just say they are going to call the cops. Except the hornets. They usually come after me. I don't understand why. He was the one that attacked their nest, not me! Buncha jerks.
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,707
    edited August 2010
    tonyb wrote: »
    Amen to all that Ken,unfortunately alot of people don't take that much consideration when it comes to their dogs meals. Kinda like the same as going to Mickey D's everyday for your dog.

    Do any of you know what rendering plants do ? Do you know what happens to dogs that are put down and left at the vet ? Yep,chopped up and put back into dog food or other animal feed...and so is the poison used to put that animal down. There are cases where people actually find pet tags in the dry food they buy. Disgusting. So goes for farm animals,circus animals....rendering plants will make you puke and change what you shove down your throat and your pets,for years to come.

    Um, every vet I know sends carcasses to be incinerated unless the family recovers the body for burial themselves. I wouldn't doubt that animal shelters send carcasses to rendering plants but most vets...well, at least the ones I know, would never dream of doing such a thing. If your vet does, you might want to find a new vet.
    Expert Moron Extraordinaire

    You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    edited August 2010
    A pet rock .....suits you.:)
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  • gdb
    gdb Posts: 6,012
    edited August 2010
    We serve Costco chicken & rice dry food and Canidae chicken & rice canned food. All systems "go" ! :D