What do you feed your dogs???(ot)

[JuneChickie]

Our dogs are very tiny and finding very small kibble is pretty hard.
The get Royal Canin and have been on it for 3 years.
Tried the Solid Gold dog food but one of the 3 kept throwing it up ,,,yuck
So they all get the "Royal Canin" . Very healthy and their coats are gorgeous too !

 

[lvloopingbag]

We feed our dog Flint River Ranch. They deliver it right to my front door.

 

[poohbear158]

Another vote for Nutro here. My dog has skin allergies to certain dog foods. At first I didn't know what it was, but my groomer said that he may be allergic to something in his dog food. She suggested that I try Nutro and boy did it make a big difference in his skin. He has not had any allergic reactions with Nutro and his coat has never looked better.

 

[natenapril]

We have an 8 year old Golden Retriever. He has used beneful for almost 5 years now with no problems.

 

[Ellester]

Our 12 yo pound puppy gets Iams dry and 1/2 can of Alpo daily. I used to work for Nestle/Friskies in a pet food plant. We actually used to can some of Nutro's products. They did have special raw ingredients that were a higher grade. I can tell you exactly what goes into Mighty Dog and Friskies Cat foods! That said, Nestle (now owns Alpo too) spends tons of money making sure their food will keep pets healthy. I spent time working at their R&D facility and it was amazing. Iams and Eukanuba was started by guys from Nestle that used to work at the plant I was at. I totally agree that you should not switch their food often, especially with purebreds. Dogs have very resilient digestive tracts (it is very difficult to poison a dog unless you are really trying) but for some reason they do not react well to changing their food around. My poochie does very well on what we have him on now, so I don't plan on changing it.

 

[janey99]

Here's another Joisey mom weighing in for Hund N Flockn Holistic Blend!

Where do you buy yours? When we moved from abroad, we could only find 2 places in the whole northern half of the state that carry it!

Cheers -

Jane

 

[Laurajean1014]

Wellness by Old Mother Hubbard

A natural ingredients with real lamb (no by products).

Only the best for Tucker!

 

[Newfie2000]

Okay... I am going to try and do this in a way as to not get flamed...

First of all... virtually every person, every specialist, every breeder, every vet will recommend a different kind of food as being the best. So no matter what the answer you are searching for you are likely to find it in one place or another!

For a loonngg time we fed our dogs Iams Eukanuba, they were police dogs (CPD) and thrived on it. After my Father retired we continued the tradition until we got black labs. Our first black lab started off on Eukanuba also and loved it, over the years we were forced to change his diet due to a decrease in physical activity and lymphoma. The next dog another blk. lab quite simply refused to eat Iams, Science Diet, Nutro, Royal Canin... I think we tried everything "premium" out there! We were working closely with our vet during this time and when I say refused I mean REFUSED ( this was not a case of provide the food when he gets hungry enough he will eat... weeks would go by with him eating next to nothing and what we did manage to get into him we hand-fed only to keep him alive!) Every week we would go back to the vet and although they could find nothing wrong he simply would not eat. Finally she recommended (I am sure much to her horror!) that we try a more shelf friendly grocery store type brand of food... her first choice... Purina Beneful! This is why I am sharing this story with you, her first choice if it was to be a less premium brand was definitely Beneful! In our case it did not work as although it did increase his feeding, he still was not crazy for it and we kept searching... Fianlly we found Bil Jac!! Success! I know it is not the best for his teeth because of the small pellet kibble shape, but he has been eating it well for over four years... loves it and has become a healthy, beautiful 85lb. dog! We along with the vet are quite pleased! Throughout time we have tried various foods to see if we could get him on a kibble that was larger and better for the teeth but to no avail.

Good luck in your search for a great food for your dog... and remember everyone has their own preferences!

 

[marcyinPA]

My almost two year old Corgi eats Nutro mini-chunks. He's been on Nutro since we got him.

 

[DawnM]

I feed my dog Kirkland brand lamb and rice dog food.

Has anyone compared Kirkland lamb and rice to Neutro Lamb and Rice?

I would be curious. Our last dog was fed the Neurtro for years until I found the Kirkland (50% less $$).

Dawn

 

[Oreo Cookie]

Here's another Joisey mom weighing in for Hund N Flockn Holistic Blend!

Where do you buy yours? When we moved from abroad, we could only find 2 places in the whole northern half of the state that carry it!

Cheers -

Jane

I have two places relatively close to me, but if you go to the website, http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/ and put in your zip code they will last what stores are near you. You can also purchase directly through the mail. I've never ordered directly and had it shipped so I don't have any idea about the costs.

My dod has been on this food since he was a pup and loves it. I like the fact that it is healthy for him.

 

[Disneefun]

We feed our dog Innova Senior. We tried her on beneful when we first got her, but she wouldn't eat it. Don't know why. We had good success with Purina ONE for a couple of years, but she needed a higher fiber food, thus the switch to Innova. Although she's not technically "senior" yet, the extra fiber in the senior food is just what she needs.

 

[babiesX2]

We had a wire fox terrier (had to give him up for adoption because he was not adjusting to the babies). He ate Iams Lamb & Rice formula (the red bag).

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Okay, I'm the worst 4-legged baby girl Mommy in the world. I'll admit that Molly's spoiled rotten & gets her way. I'm hoping you guys can answer some questions & help me out w/o flaming me. Her baby dr. (Vet. ) has finally given up on doing so. Anyway, she won't eat any type of dog food not even snacks. Rawhide chews are the only thing pet related she'll put in her mouth. When we 1st got her, we tried everything. We spent a fortune on gourmet foods & snacks. It was hopeless. She wouldn't eat any of it. I'm convinced the breeders fed her table food. She is by far the pickiest eater in our house. Sometimes, I have to make her a special meal to get her to eat. I do try to give her a balanced diet, but veggies have to be completely disguised to get her to eat even a few. I was told to give her green beans, because all dogs like those. Not Molly. Most of the time she just moves her veggies around in her bowl & leaves them. She likes meat, pasta, & rice, but won't eat just any of those. At 1st, her vet told me that when she got hungry enough she would eat the dog food. I tried this twice, & both times she went a day & a half w/o eating anything. By dinner time on the 2nd evening, I couldn't stand it anymore. I can't stand watching her go hungry.

So, does anyone have any helpful suggestions for assuring she gets a balanced diet? Is there some type of vitamin we could give her? What else should we try? Please, don't flame me or tell me to withdraw food until she eats dog food. Neither are helpful to our situation. I would really love some advice & hope to receive it in the same spirit it was asked for. BTW, she's almost 3, if it makes a difference. TIA

 

[Daisysmom]

My Golden eats Diamond Maintenance dog food. Not that expensive, and considered to be a great food for dogs.

 

[daisax]

You can do a search on Bones and Raw Feeding which should generate some information. Dr. Ian Billinghurst is an expert in the area -- his book is kind of the Bible for many people who feed raw food.

If you're going to feed a home made diet you really do need to do your research to ensure a balanced diet.

There are homemade raw diets such as Oma's Pride, and the holistic websites can probably point you to some. You can buy bags of ground raw food for them, but it can get pricey (hopefully Molly's a small girl!)

I feed Artemis, after feeding Wellness for 7 years (they changed their formula once too often and my dogs all got sick). Everybody's happy and healthy.

A new approach is actually to change foods and water sources fairly regularly to avoid the sensitive stomach syndrome. Probably more work than people want to invest, though!

I agree that Science Diet is a scam -- and a lousy food. Look at the ingredients. Garbage.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

You can do a search on Bones and Raw Feeding which should generate some information. Dr. Ian Billinghurst is an expert in the area -- his book is kind of the Bible for many people who feed raw food.

If you're going to feed a home made diet you really do need to do your research to ensure a balanced diet.

There are homemade raw diets such as Oma's Pride, and the holistic websites can probably point you to some. You can buy bags of ground raw food for them, but it can get pricey (hopefully Molly's a small girl!)

I feed Artemis, after feeding Wellness for 7 years (they changed their formula once too often and my dogs all got sick). Everybody's happy and healthy.

A new approach is actually to change foods and water sources fairly regularly to avoid the sensitive stomach syndrome. Probably more work than people want to invest, though!

I agree that Science Diet is a scam -- and a lousy food. Look at the ingredients. Garbage.

Thanks for the suggestion. Molly's a mini doberman, & very healthy. She does shed quite a bit at times, which I think has a lot to do with her diet. Sorry, but I don't really know what you mean by a raw food diet. I've tried researching a balanced diet for her, but am not having a whole lot of luck. She's not a balanced diet kind of girl. I even try melting cheese on her veggies. She licks off the cheese & leaves the veggie. She's just too smart to fall for my tricks.

ETA: I did a Google search, & now I think I know what you mean by raw diet. That looks overwhelming, but I'll read what I can in order to make an informed decision. Thanks again

 

[Matt'sMom]

I disagree, big time, with all who are claiming that Science Diet is crap. We have fed Sci Diet for ages. I had a Dalmatian back in the 1970's-80's that was fed Sci Diet and lived to be 15.5 years--and then was put down only due to the recurrance of major back problems (for which he had previously had surgery; vets said he was in excellent health otherwise).

I currently have a beagle breeding kennel, and all of my hounds are fed Science Diet Lamb & Rice formula from weaning time onwards. Just lost my oldest gal at age 15 years last Summer (to congestive heart failure on the record breaking, hottest day of the year here)--she was healthy throughout her entire lifetime, and even went out rabbit hunting with us at 14 years of age (and was not ready to quit at the end of the day, but wanted to continue running). One of my gals (a 6th generation homebred, all of whom had been raised on Sci Diet) is a multiple group placing, CH show dog who was ranked 6th in the Nation last year. She was maintained in top show condition on the Lamb & Rice formula (would not have done any winning if she were in poor condition). Another of our beagles has earned more than 30 performance titles thus far, and was the #1 beagle, #1 hound, and ranked amoung the top 5 or 6 dogs (any & all breeds) in the Nation in Agility at one point. He has set countless breed records in performance events. Again, raised on Sci Diet... and at age 11 years he is still competing successfully and racking up the wins and additional titles.

The proof of how 'good' a dog food is, is in how well the dogs are able to utilize it to maintain maximum quality of condition/health over the long haul. Sci Diet Lamb & Rice works very well for our hounds--always has. Something else may work out fine, or even better, for someone else's dogs. Just because different formulas apparently work well for different people & their pets, that doesn't make what I choose to feed, or what they choose, 'crap'.

PS: What some of those comparison studies list as the ingredients for Science Diet are not necessarily accurate. I have had discussions with people who pointed out that certain comparison studies said 'x, y & z' were ingredients found in Sci Diet that were 'bad' for my dogs. Only problem was that neither 'x, y, or z' were ever listed on the ingredient lable of the formula I feed. LOL! So don't believe everything that you read.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I have two dogs, a yellow Lab and a Border Collie. I normally feed them the BARF (Bones and Raw Food) diet, consisting of raw, meaty bones, some meat, some fish, some eggs and vegetables. No grains. I add a powdered supplement that is made by the BARF company.

However, recently my budget has been very tight and I couldn't afford to keep up the raw food - these are both fairly big dogs and it gets expensive. So at the moment they are eating canned President's Choice food, and I add the supplement, raw eggs, bones, etc. as I can afford it.

I really notice the difference - on the raw diet, they don't have the "doggie breath," unpleasant gas problems, and foul-smelling poops that they do on commercial pet foods.

Teresa

 

[stemikger]

I have a little shi-tzu named Bo. When I first got him 4 years ago, I kept him on the food the pet store was giving him. It was Purina Pro Plan. I noticed he only ate once every two or sometimes three days. I could tell he just didn't like it. From there I went to Purina One. He ate a little better, but not much.

About a year ago I went to Purina Beneful Healthy Radiance and he loves it. He eats once a day and his stool is better then when he was on the other food. For some reason Pro Plan and One made him constipated. Some people say this food is crap, but I know a few dog owners who have fed their dog the worst foods and the dog lived a to a very old age with few health problems.

My sister had a Bull Mastif and she only fed him the best of the best and he died early, so I'm not sure I really buy into this dog food debate. I have seen several instances where people feed their dog only the higest premium food and I know one person who made all their own food and the dogs didn't seem to live longer or be healthier then a dog with over the counter dog food.

Small dogs generally live a little longer then big dogs, so if my little Bo likes his food I rather see him happy then live a long life eating food he hates. By the way - on his last vet visit, the vet told me not to change a thing he is doing great.