Dog Food Brand

[Zooshoveller]

Any recommendations? We adopted a puppy and are about to run out of the free bag the vet gave us.

 

[pumba]

go to Dog food advisor.com...

Good info on all types of dog food and reviews..none from the companies that make the food..which is good..

We swapped our 9 year old dog to another type...found out that what we were feeding all these years was not really a good dog food..

we are happy with our choice..

 

[Laura66]

Dr Gary's grain free chicken

 

[bballmom56]

I agree with Pumba's suggestion to check that website. I went to it quite a bit. We chose Wellness Core Grain Free for our newly adopted pair. The vet remarked how wonderfully healthy the younger of the dogs appeared to be. She couldn't get over it. That was nice to hear from a professional. And the dog does look very healthy in all respects. It is not cheap, but the good foods are not. The other dog has several issues we are dealing with, but at least we know the food is not one of the causes.

 

[DisDance]

My dog eats Bil-Jac, has been for almost his whole life (4) years. His vet is aware of this and has no problem with it. My dog loves it, like wants 2nds, 3rds, 4ths lol. Of course we do not give it to him though

 

[disneymom2evie]

We give my dog Blue Buffalo. Another one that isn't cheap. He also gets scraps that fall on the floor as my father in law cooks. He really likes going to my inlaws house. Last night he was eating filet mignon.

 

[MouseOfGold]

NutriSource. We feed grain free.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

Eukanuba

 

[bellebud]

We use Blue Buffalo for our 2 dogs. Read the first few ingredients on any brand you're considering, and you'll get to see the difference between a 'good' brand and a cheap, crappy one.

 

[Ceila]

Blue Buffalo here, too.

 

[aprilchem]

We've been through the gamut - Blue Buffalo, Eukanuba, Trader Joe's Organic, BJ's organic. I've got a dog with allergies and skin problems, and all of those exacerbated it. We switched to Purina Healthy Weight on the advice of a friend and it's worked wonders - two years without an outbreak! It's got the lowest rating on that dog food site but I don't care - it works for us!

 

[bcla]

Whatever happened to basic dog food? I remember when I had a dog, it was just basic Purina Dog Chow that my dog tolerated really well. When I splurged I'd go for Purina ONE. And once bad teeth became an issue, it was Purina Moist and Meaty and/or Kal Kan (apparently the brand is no longer on the market except as a dry food only sold at Wal-Mart).

 

[My2Cinderellas]

We were using Blue Buffalo large breed but discovered my golden is allergic to chicken, which is in just about every food in one form or another. We found Costco has a salmon and sweet potato grain free food that is working well. Just had a glowing check up at the vet, he is very pleased with how she is doing. The Costco food is cheaper than the blue buffalo we had been using, and a fraction of the price of prescription food we got when first making the switch off chicken and beef.

 

[Zooshoveller]

Whatever happened to basic dog food? I remember when I had a dog, it was just basic Purina Dog Chow that my dog tolerated really well. When I splurged I'd go for Purina ONE. And once bad teeth became an issue, it was Purina Moist and Meaty and/or Kal Kan (apparently the brand is no longer on the market except as a dry food only sold at Wal-Mart).

I don't know about ingredients in the past, but now many of the brands use a lot of fillers and by-products. To me it's like eating nothing but McDonalds.

 

[bcla]

I don't know about ingredients in the past, but now many of the brands use a lot of fillers and by-products. To me it's like eating nothing but McDonalds.

Fillers may not be that great, but there's frankly nothing wrong with meat by products for animal consumption. They may not be prime cuts of meat, but frankly the organs and bone meal are good for the health of carnivores. And basically all pet foods are made from the scraps of what was separated for human consumption. The major pet food manufacturers have huge R&D budgets and they have lots and lots of testing. The packaging may not be as fancy and the price may make it seem inferior, but there are lots of pets living long and healthy lives on pretty basic stuff.

My dog lived to the ripe old age of 17 and was active and bright eyed until maybe that last year.

Unless a dog has a specific health issue, I'm not convinced that springing for uber-expensive dog food is going to lead to better health or a longer lifespan. I do understand that some pets are very particular about what they eat, but as with many things in life I think a lot of people are convinced that they're getting possibly dubious benefits by paying a premium price.

Here's a pretty interesting article:

http://www.moneytalksnews.com/2013/08/02/does-your-dog-need-expensive-pet-food/

But your veterinarian will likely tell you that the average dog doesn’t need pricey food. For healthy adult dogs, a medium-priced kibble will provide good nutrition as long as it carries certain labels.

First, look for “complete and balanced.” That indicates the food provides enough nutrients to be your dog’s only source of food as defined by the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Then look for a statement on the bag that says the food meets the AAFCO’s standards.

http://www.globalanimal.org/2010/06/03/premium-pet-food-worth-the-extra-cash/

“All pet foods are made from the byproducts of human food production,” Dr. Nestle explained. “No matter what the package says, your dog is not getting whole chicken breasts, but what remains after the breasts have been removed for human food.”

And, indeed, it is primarily human food companies — Nestlé, Purina, Mars and Procter & Gamble — that make the pet foods sold throughout the world. Of course, in much of the world, domestic dogs and cats survive on table and street scraps, not commercially produced pet foods. In seeking evidence for the added value to health and longevity of commercial pet foods, the authors found almost none with any validity.

 

[JillyBean1899]

Any recommendations? We adopted a puppy and are about to run out of the free bag the vet gave us.

What type of dog is it (or if a mutt, what's the best guess about breed or size)? And how old?

If you're going to change foods, you don't really want to do it suddenly, you want to do it gradually, over the course of at least a week. The vast majority of dogs do just fine on "regular" foods, and "more expensive" does not always equal "better".

My dog was on Royal Canin when I worked for the vet (I got it at half price, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford it), and then switched her to Nutro Adult. When she turned 8, I changed her over to Nutro Senior, but she started having stomach problems and skin itchy-ness, so I started her on Blue Buffalo Senior, and haven't had a problem since.

 

[Pakey]

I feed mine Natures Variety Instinct Raw Boost which is 72% animal ingredients and oils and 28% fruits and vegetables. It is a dry kibble with chunks of freeze dried meat. It's grain free and potato free. I have hairless dogs who are allergic to both grain and potato. Almost all brands have either grain or potato so before I discovered this brand, I made their food (a huge pain).

 

[Poohforyou]

We have a mini long haired doxie and feed him primal. It's frozen raw food. We tried lots of different things with him. He loves the primal and his coat is amazing, so silky and shiney.

 

[Wanderlust]

We feed our dogs Zignature right now but we rotate with other brands. Dog Food Advisor is a great site.

 

[Wendy31]

I second (third? fourth?) Dog Food Advisor!

We feed ours Blue Buffalo.

When we got him from the breeder, she was using Blue Buffalo.

But, for whatever reason, Maks (our dog), after he got past his first puppy stages, just kinda started picking at his food.

We slowly switched to Taste of the Wild, which he loved, but then it was recalled.

So we switched to Blue Wilderness - which was okay, except the cats really liked the taste as well.

Within the last month or two, DH switched him back to Blue Buffalo, & he's been eating it just fine this time!