what do you feed your dogs

[DawnM]

I use the Kirkland Lamb and Rice food from Costco. I find it to be the same or a very close similar to the Neutro Lamb and Rice I was feeding them, but it is HALF the price!

I have 2 Labs and get a 40 pound bag for $24 about once a month.

Dawn

 

[happygirl]

Ok, I'm truly starting to feel like Michael Vick or some thing. What's wrong with the supermarket pet food. We have 2 mixed bred mutts we got at the shelter. We love the dogs but we feed them Kibbles and bits.

Am I slowly poisening them? They go to the vet regularly and always get a clean bill of health. You guys got me feeling like I'm a bad pet mom since I don't get the high end stuff.

That what we feed our dogs as well, they haven't been sick yet

 

[golfgal]

I am surprised nobody has mentioned this one yet. I feed Maggie(black lab) Solid Gold http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/products/index.php?product=62&code=170
The main ingredients are Bison and fish. We get tonnes of compliments of her shinny and soft coat. This is one of the few dog foods that wasn't effected by the big dog food recall a while back. It comes in foil vaccum sealed bags also.

We have switched from Chicken Soup to Solid Gold. She did ok on the Chicken Soup but our store stopped carrying it. She LOVES the Solid Gold (the pink bag for small breads).

 

[goofy4tink]

My goldens have gotten Solid Gold, Beowolf, Canidae, but currently do best on Wellness. I feed nothing, absolutely nothing, with corn in it. Since I stopped feeding kibble with corn, skin issues (hot spots) and ear issues have decreased dramatically. Dogs do not need corn in their diet. It is a filler...plain and simple.
I also try to stay away from chicken, but that is only with my current golden. He gets very hyped up when fed chicken, so he gets rice and lamb now...and is doing very well on it. He doesn't get as much exercise as he should, so the reduced fat works very well. His coat is wonderful, his ears are good and no more nasty hot spots.
We do give him a raw burger once in awhile though. No doggie treats, other than ice cubes, veggies, and sometimes Wellness Apple/Yogurt treats.

 

[livie1205]

My dogs eat publix brand dog food and they are healthy...the vet always gives them a clean bill of health. Their vet says as long as they do not have a allergy to it they are fine.

 

[luvwinnie]

No experience with that brand. Hooch has many allergies. He eats Go Natural! Salmon and Oatmeal kibble with Ziwi Peak canned venison.

 

[robinb]

Ok, I'm truly starting to feel like Michael Vick or some thing. What's wrong with the supermarket pet food. We have 2 mixed bred mutts we got at the shelter. We love the dogs but we feed them Kibbles and bits.

Am I slowly poisening them? They go to the vet regularly and always get a clean bill of health. You guys got me feeling like I'm a bad pet mom since I don't get the high end stuff.

I don't think you're a bad pet mom and I feed middle to high end food to my pets.

We started feeding better food when we had a 100 lb Akita with food allergies (and yes, we had her tested and had her on an elimination diet for a while). We needed a food with no beef and fewer ingredients and not needing a truck to pick up dog poop was a bonus. OK, that's an exaggeration but the best thing about better foods is that the poop is more compact. My sister feeds whatever is cheapest (think Wal*Mart brand) and her dogs eat more than mine does and they poop more & bigger than my dog does. It takes a few days to get their food out of my dog's system when they dog sit her.

 

[C.Ann]

For the most part vets know very little about canine nutrition. Most of them recommend or prescribe brands, like Science Diet, which is horrible, or brands that give them corporate kickbacks.

If any vet is recommending a certain brand of food, I would ask them a lot of questions to see their knowledge base about nutrition (how much they know about raw or barf diets and things like that), because there are vets that are quite knowledgeable.

For pancreatitis, a dog needs a low fat high carb diet, and not necessarily a certain brand of food (though, most better food brands are high in protein). A poultry base would be good for them and the recommended bland food diet (white rice/boiled chicken) is the best. If your daughter is worried at all about feeding Iams due to the chemicals in it, she can look at the label and see what the fat/carb/protein ratio is, and find a better brand with the same ratio.

.....

 

[puffkin]

For the most part vets know very little about canine nutrition. Most of them recommend or prescribe brands, like Science Diet, which is horrible, or brands that give them corporate kickbacks.

If any vet is recommending a certain brand of food, I would ask them a lot of questions to see their knowledge base about nutrition (how much they know about raw or barf diets and things like that), because there are vets that are quite knowledgeable.

I agree with this. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE VET UNLESS YOU ARE SURE THEY HAVE STUDIED NUTRITION EXTENSIVELY. My best friend is a vet and she said they get 1 lecture on small animal (cats/dogs) nutrition and it is usually a representative from one of the companies like Purina that comes in. She went to the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary school which is a top ranked program. She has done tons of research on her own, but many vets just recommend whatever their "suppliers" have in order to get the kickbacks.

Ok, I'm truly starting to feel like Michael Vick or some thing. What's wrong with the supermarket pet food. We have 2 mixed bred mutts we got at the shelter. We love the dogs but we feed them Kibbles and bits.

Am I slowly poisening them? They go to the vet regularly and always get a clean bill of health. You guys got me feeling like I'm a bad pet mom since I don't get the high end stuff.

My one cat had stomach issues her whole life and then had to have 11 teeth removed. When researching foods to feed her I was absolutely APPALLED by what the grocery store brands put in their food. I will NEVER feed them Purina/Iams etc again.

My goldens have gotten Solid Gold, Beowolf, Canidae, but currently do best on Wellness. I feed nothing, absolutely nothing, with corn in it. Since I stopped feeding kibble with corn, skin issues (hot spots) and ear issues have decreased dramatically. Dogs do not need corn in their diet. It is a filler...plain and simple.
I also try to stay away from chicken, but that is only with my current golden. He gets very hyped up when fed chicken, so he gets rice and lamb now...and is doing very well on it. He doesn't get as much exercise as he should, so the reduced fat works very well. His coat is wonderful, his ears are good and no more nasty hot spots.

I also avoid corn at all costs. I try to limit chicken as well and absolutely no glutens or by products. I read every label carefully. My beagle has done really well on Natural Balance Lamb & Rice. I tried the Avoderm Lamb & Rice and he got real itchy and a lot of ear gunk again, so going back to the Natural Balance. My cats get absolutely no grains and I try to avoid chicken with the one (seems to upset her stomach). My favorite for them is the Wellness brand, but they also get Blue Buffalo, Avoderm, Eagle Pack and few other brands.

Absolutely do I believe that they better quality foods make a difference. All their coats are super healthy/shiny. The health issues have all but disappeared in the year since we have been feeding them the "good stuff" (scratching, itchy skin, upset stomach, ear issues, weight issues). They just have this clear gleam in their eyes and a lot more spunk. Definitely seen a HUGE improvement in all 3!!!!

 

[capitolhill]

thanks everyone for the feedback! I am glad to hear other pet owners have high opinions of CS. and thanks for the link to dogfoodanalysis.com, will def. need to check that out.

 

[Jockaroo]

thanks everyone for the feedback! I am glad to hear other pet owners have high opinions of CS. and thanks for the link to dogfoodanalysis.com, will def. need to check that out.

Your goal is to feed the best quality food you can that your dog does well on. It differs from dog to dog. I have heard very good things about Chicken Soup food.

For those wondering about the grocery store brands: my first dog was very itchy. He had an allergy to fleas, but he also had a sensitivity to artificial dyes used in many grocery store brands. Because of this experience, I do not purchase foods or treats that look like Froot Loops. Many of your grocery store brands are colored to appeal to the person feeding the dog--the dog can not tell this so it is unneeded. So if you are feeding multi-colored kibble consider researching your dog's food. You may spend more for a mid-level or high-end kibble than the grocery store, but you will feed less. You will clean less mess in the yard. And most importantly, your vet bills may be less and your dog's immune system will be stronger.

 

[Fortune1211]

DD's DH's cousin is a vet (very well versed in pet nutrition and the treatment of pancreatitis in dogs) and agreed with the 2 other vets (one from the old neighborhood they lived in and one from the new neighborhood they live in) - so it's all good.. He's been fine ever since he went on the IAMS 5 and a half years ago -except for the incidents I've mentioned below..

The only other incidents he has had with the pancreatitis is when some well-meaning people have given him table scraps and such or when he has accidentally gotten into something up here at the lake where a campers garbage got torn open.. He needs a big sign around his neck: "Please do NOT feed me!!!"

I worked for a 7 doctor practice for 8 years and went to many seminars including ones on nutrition. You want to know who they were sponsored by? Iams, Science Diet and Purina. For 8 years I convinced people to go out and feed their animals anyone of those foods, heck even puppy chow was great, you know since it was made by Purina and all. You couldn't convince me any vet that is not a holistic practicing vet is going to recommend anything BUT those 3 varieties due to the kick back they get from those foods for selling them in-house.

We feed our animals IAMS forever until we got a puppy this summer and I was doing research on dog food. I was deeply disturbed by my findings and ended up choosing Fromm for her and switched my cats to Natures Variety Instinct. Honestly you feed what you can afford and if you can afford to give your dog something other than what's in a black and white bag then that's what you can do. I've considered cooking for my puppy but I need to do more research so I know she's getting everything she needs.

 

[marymouse]

Several studies have shown that some ingredients are more likely to cause food allergies than others. In order of the most common offenders in dogs are beef, dairy products, chicken, lamb, fish, chicken eggs, corn, wheat, and soy. This was taken from an article in Peteducation.com.

I'm not really sure why you think that people don't digest corn. I understand that the corn casing will often "reappear" the next day but if you eat a piece of cornbread or a corn meal muffin do you poop a piece of cornbread. If you chew your food completely even the corn casing won't show up again.

Yes, Iams still uses Ethoxyquin in some of its Vetinary diets but they have substantial research to prove why and will stand behind their feeling that it is a safe preservative.

I don't like seeing foods get knocked because people get on a bandwagon.

 

[C.Ann]

You couldn't convince me any vet that is not a holistic practicing vet is going to recommend anything BUT those 3 varieties due to the kick back they get from those foods for selling them in-house. .

....

 

[DisneyLover83]

My dog eats Innova EVO Red Meat. She used to eat Eukenuba but was having problems with the corn. There has been a noticable difference in her coat and weight! We will never go back.

 

[The Princess]

Eukanuba

 

[Fortune1211]

Funny you should mention "holistic practicing vets" because that's just what my Dson-inlaw's cousin is.. She too agreed with the IAMS being the best for DD's dog and his particular needs.. Having just returned from CA when DD's dog had his first (and worst) episode of pancreatitis, she brought him home from the regular vets office, nursed him back to health, and would not administer the pain medications provided at the vets office.. She used accupuncture instead - and it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!! No grogginess and that dog was in NO pain whatsoever.. She now works as a holistic vet for race horses - so I'm pretty sure she knows what she's doing.. No one would allow a vet near an astronomically valuable race horse without the education and experience to do what's best for the animal..

No need for a "kick back" on dog food because she works exclusively with race horses now..

Isn't that something, I had a feeling you just might say she was! There's no way that I would allow a vet near my insanely valuable horse that recommended a food that killed hundreds of animals a few years ago. I'm glad your daughters dog is doing well and pancreatitis is no joke(having had it myself ) but if I were your daughter I would do some research on my own on getting a better food for my dog.

As far as the kickbacks go, IAMS (or purina or Hills for that matter) it isn't just about selling the food, they're involved in EVERYTHING. Walk around any major veterinary seminar(as I have) and you will see that they sponsor many of the speakers, booths etc. Holistic medicine has become much more mainstream and so you will see information out there and sometimes often there are seminars and booths now, but you're not going to see any of these brands that have been mentioned here at one of these seminars.

Here is part of the catalog of classes available last year at a major veterinary conference http://flashedition.com/publication/?m=2870&l=1 Count how many times you see Hills mentioned. And most of those are not pertaining to a nutrition seminar. There is one column dedicated to classes about animal nutrition, sponsored by Hills. Most of them have nothing at all to do with plain old nutrition teachings. Iams is still reeling from the catasrophe from 2 years ago so Hills and Purina have taken the lead at these events. These companies are the ones sponsoring the classes at the veterinary schools as well, they are learning what these companies want them to learn and that's about their foods.

Ok, I'm done for the moment

 

[C.Ann]

Isn't that something, I had a feeling you just might say she was!

Ok, I'm done for the moment

Have a great Thanksgiving!

 

[dwdeb]

I feed our 2 Pembroke Welsh Corgis Back to Basics Chicken; have since they were puppies. I put a teaspoon of flaxseed oil in with their morning bowl.

They do very wel lon it so I haven't tried Chicken Soup brand for dogs..
However, my cats do very well on the Chicken soup for cats.

 

[james'mommy]

We feed our 2 Blue Buffalo chicken and brown rice senior. Pretty expensive but they are worth it.