Anything to it? Specifically Natures Variety.
We usually buy Purina or Beneful.
We usually buy Purina or Beneful.
High End Dog Food
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My girlfriend and I recently added a st Bernard puppy to our family. She was very adamant about buying only organic dog food with no fillers (corn and whatnot). I don't really know specifics but she says other brands including the ones you mentioned contain really nasty stuff that is overall bad for the dog. I take it all in with a grain of salt but i believe most of what she says to be true. It's more expensive yeah but hey, if I wanted a cheap pet, I'd get a goldfish.
Yes! The grocery store pet foods have loads of nasty crap in them. High end stuff costs more but they need to eat less of it since it's not full of fillers. Theoretically you'd also save in the long run by having a healthier pet.
My dog eats Canine Caviar...seems to cost nearly as much as actual caviar, LOL. But he looks awesome and is healthy so far.
My dog eats Canine Caviar...seems to cost nearly as much as actual caviar, LOL. But he looks awesome and is healthy so far.
I have bred Neapolitan Mastiffs for the past 17 years. About 15 years ago I came across a book by an Australian Vet....Dr. Billinghurst. Since then I have fed only a raw food diet. It costs less than a good quality kibble like Science Diet or Eukanuba. Though I no longer breed, I maintain the bones and raw food plan.
nutty_gnome
Well-Known Member
We have a rescued Brugg who has terrible stomach issues. We stated with the vet prescribed ID food from hill's I think. It was fine. But it was a pain to deal with the vet to get the food, the hours were restrictive. We switched to Natural Balance Pet foods limited ingredient diet venison with sweet potato and haven't been back to the vet since. The dog switched over immediately with no troubles and the store has great hours and availability. Look into it, not cheap, but great quality food.
OP
OP
We were out and about and went into a dog boutique, I guess you'd call it. Just checking out the shops. Naturally, the guy running the place asked about what dogs we had and what we fed them. As to be expected, he talked down grocery store dog food and promted his. Hey, I'd tell you crack was mother's milk if I were selling it.
He did point out his brands had less fillers, you don't have to feed as much because it's better quality and he also said the combo of feeding less and better quality means less dog poop. Well, who the hell wants *more* dog poop? Not us.
The cost per pound of what he sells is pretty close to what we buy now. What they heck. May as well try it.
He did point out his brands had less fillers, you don't have to feed as much because it's better quality and he also said the combo of feeding less and better quality means less dog poop. Well, who the hell wants *more* dog poop? Not us.
The cost per pound of what he sells is pretty close to what we buy now. What they heck. May as well try it.
OP
OP
This shop sells it in huge bags. 40 lb bags maybe. Guess that's how he keeps the unit price close to less expensive food.
He did give us a free sample. The dogs ate it like treats.
He did give us a free sample. The dogs ate it like treats.
My dog has gotten California Natural dog food (dry) her entire life. She's a very healthy and happy Vizsla. I'm not a fan of gourmet food for dogs, but my wife insists that it isn't much more expensive. Anyway, I'm not changing anything - love my dog.
Check the ingredients. "Good" dog food has no fillers, very little grains. The food I feed my dogs is all animal product, vegetable, fruit, and brown rice. Holistic, organic. I feel like feeding your dog grocery store food is the equivalent of feeding yourself KFC or Taco Bell for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday (to each their own).
We (the dogs and my wife and I) like Taste of the Wild, and NutriScource.
We (the dogs and my wife and I) like Taste of the Wild, and NutriScource.
gavball6
Well-Known Member
FYI for the Nature's Variety pet food owners...
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recall/natures-variety-dog-food-recall-2012/
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recall/natures-variety-dog-food-recall-2012/
OP
OP
Well damn. This is why I always check with HBT before doing anything.
Natures Variety does get 4 stars on Dog Food Adviser, not taking the recall into account.
Muenster gets 3. That's one I hear advertised around here.
Most of what they list, I have never heard of.
Natures Variety does get 4 stars on Dog Food Adviser, not taking the recall into account.
Muenster gets 3. That's one I hear advertised around here.
Most of what they list, I have never heard of.
a long time ago i fed my dogs that purina crap, then i found out it is scrap stuff. beneful is fatty stuff, too, which is why dogs love it. i started feeding my little dogs iams senior, and they became 5 years younger
When we got our puppy we bought a small.bag of puppy chow. But we fought like hell to get him to eat it. Went to our local owned pet store and they recommended Wellness brand. Dog loves it and the first two ingredients are Lamb and fish. Wisg i ate this well, except for the pellet form
Chap
Well-Known Member
We have 2 Bulldogs, possibly the most high maintenance dog breed going. We use Wellness dog food ~ $45 for a 30lb bag on Amazon. Smells horrible but the Bullies love it and it seems to have mostly "natural" stuff in it.
We have an American Bulldog with stomach problems. The corn and other fillers made her really sick. If you're looking for a food that won't break the bank that isn't as bad, check out Kirkland (Costco) Lamb and Rice (4 stars on Dog Food Advisor). When we switched, she got much better and has been fine ever since. Healthy weight and no more issues.
$33 for 40#
Link
$33 for 40#
Link
The high quality ones are definitely worth the price. Cheap dog foods use grains as filler and the dogs can't digest grains so it just passes through their system without giving them any nutrition. When buying food look at the ingredients. You want a grain free product that contains mostly meat. When looking at the ingredients, the first few items listed should be a meat products. They type isnt important, chicken, beef, turkey, fish, lamb, all are good sources of protein.
We used to feed our Lab Taste of the Wild food but there was a recall on it a few months ago. Availability was scarce because most of their product line was effected, so we had to switch foods. Since switching is a royal pain, we didn't bother to go back to TOTW. We are now feeding him EVO Turkey and chicken and he's doing great on it.
We used to feed our Lab Taste of the Wild food but there was a recall on it a few months ago. Availability was scarce because most of their product line was effected, so we had to switch foods. Since switching is a royal pain, we didn't bother to go back to TOTW. We are now feeding him EVO Turkey and chicken and he's doing great on it.
nyer
Well-Known Member
Our vet told us that feeding our dog cheap walmart type food would be the same as if we ate 3 meals a day at Mcdonalds.
I have two great danes,1 border collie, and a walker coonhound. All 4 dogs get nutri source. It's a little pricey but they are all healthy and happy animals. Once a week they get a bowl of Greek yogurt they love the stuff and it keeps the stomach enzymes in good shape.
Beautiful dogs.
Add another for Blue Buffalo. The dogs love it and it's given them both better coats.
This is from an article in Whole Dog Journal in 2009 I kept. I feed my black lab/mixes Fromms and cycle through their line every two bags or so. They also have a deal where after 12 bags the 13th is free. Sorry for the extensive post but once you know what to look for in a label, you're all set.
-----------
"Whats the best food for your dog? Its a question that only you can answer - because you are the only one who is in a position to gauge, on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis, how your dog responds to what you feed him.
That said, we can give you some tips to guide you into the right section of your local pet supply store - that is, past the lowest-cost, lowest-quality foods; past the higher-cost but still low-quality posers; and into the area where the top-quality foods are found. Take note: They are expensive, perhaps prohibitively so, [IMGCAP(1)]especially for families with several large dogs to feed. But you cant expect to pay hamburger prices for filet mignon, and its the quality (and thus price) of the ingredients that set the top-quality foods apart.
Before we tell you what attributes to look for, though, we need to make a few points about the quest for the worlds best dog food:
Dry food is not the healthiest diet for your dog. If you want to provide the very best, most natural diet possible for your dog, youd feed a well-researched, home-prepared diet comprised of fresh foods. Or, next best, a well-formulated, commercially made frozen raw or dehydrated diet. Next best would be a top-quality wet food; even poor quality wet foods usually contain a higher percentage of animal protein (and a much lower percentage of grain) than good dry foods.
Of all of these forms of dog food, kibble is probably the least natural for the dog. But its popularity is mainly based on three factors: It is relatively stable and therefore very convenient for the owner to buy, store, and feed. Its usually less expensive, calorie for calorie, than other forms of food with comparative ingredients. And most dogs do fine on a dry food diet.
Just keep it in the back of your head that if you want your dog to eat the ideal, evolutionary canine diet - because hes got persistent health problems? because hes a show or sports competitor and you want an edge? because youve lost your last three dogs to cancer and you want to know you did everything possible to give this dog the very best? - youll need to look to something other than kibble, even the highest-quality kibble available.
No food is best all dogs. There is no single diet that works best for all humans, or every individual of any other species, so why people think there might be a single ideal food for every dog is beyond us!
To find the best foods for your dog, you have to try a lot of foods, and make it a point to observe your dog for signs that his diet is or is not agreeing with him. If he has chronic signs of compromised health, such as persistently goopy or runny eyes; infected or smelly ears; inflamed, itchy skin; severe gas; or frequent diarrhea, and these conditions improve, well, hurray! If these things worsen, try another food.
We strongly recommend that you keep some sort of diet journal - at a minimum, with notes on the calendar - to keep track of what foods you feed your dog, and what his response to each product has been. We keep a journal of health- and training-related events in our dogs life, and note the date each time we open a new bag of food. We store dry food in its original bag until its all consumed, but once its empty, we cut out the ingredients list, guaranteed analysis, and date/code from the bag and tape these bits of packaging into the dogs journal. This sort of journal can help you identify foods or even individual ingredients that are problematic for your dog; in case of a pet food disaster, it can also help prove what your dog ate, and when he ate it.
Switch foods regularly. We know; you heard that you shouldnt switch your dogs food, or his stomach will get upset. If you ate only one food every day for weeks and months, and then ate something else, your stomach would get upset, too. But very few people eat a diet that never varies from day to day. Human nutrition experts agree that a well-balanced, varied diet is critical for human health; so why do so many people believe that variety is bad for dogs?
Say your dog eats one food, day after day, year after year. And say that food contains a little more of this mineral than is ideal, or not quite enough of that vitamin, or an unhealthy ratio of this nutrient to that one . . . Over time, lacking any other foods to help correct the excesses, insufficiencies, or the imbalances, these problems can contribute to the development of disease.
When you switch your dogs food, do it gradually, over a couple of days. Start with 75 percent of the old food and 25 percent of the new food at one meal; slowly increase the amount of new food (and decrease the amount of old food) over a few days, until hes eating only the new food. Try different varieties, as well as products from different companies. If you change foods often, your dog will adjust more and more smoothly.
One more thing: Dont feed foods comprised of exotic proteins (such as rabbit, kangaroo, bison, pheasant, etc.) if your dog does well on the more common proteins (such as beef, lamb, chicken, and turkey). Its extremely useful to have a few completely novel proteins held in reserve for use in an elimination diet (in which you feed him a diet comprised of, usually, a single novel protein and a single novel grain) in case your dog ever develops a food allergy.
What to look for
Keeping the previous principles in mind (kibble is not the most ideal diet; no food works for all dogs; you should switch foods regularly), you are now ready to look for a few good foods for your dog. Top-quality dry dog foods can be identified by the following hallmarks of quality on their ingredients panels:
Animal protein at the top of the ingredients list. Animal proteins are more palatable and are of a higher biologic value to dogs than plant-sourced proteins. Ingredients are listed by weight, so ideally a food will have one or two animal proteins in the first few ingredients.
The animal protein source should be named - chicken, beef, lamb, and so on. Meat and animal protein are examples of low-quality protein sources of dubious origin. Animal protein meals (i.e., chicken meal, beef meal, lamb meal, etc.) should also be named; meat meal could be just about anything.
Whole meats do not contain enough protein to be used as the sole protein source in a dry dog food. Whole meats contain as much as 65 to 75 percent water and about 15 to 20 percent protein. When a whole meat appears high on the ingredients list, generally another source of protein is also present, in order to augment the total protein content of the finished food. We prefer to see animal protein meals, rather than plant proteins, fill this role.
An animal protein meal is essentially cooked and dried (rendered) muscle meat, although a certain amount of bone, skin, and connective tissue is included. Animal protein meals are dried to a moisture level of only about 10 percent, and contain about 65 percent protein.
Whole vegetables, fruits, and grains. Fresh, unprocessed food ingredients contain wholesome nutrients in all their naturally complex glory, with their fragile vitamins, enzymes, and antioxidants intact. They are also less likely to be adulterated with impurities of any kind.
That said, formulators often use a concentrated (processed) constituent of a grain or vegetable to accomplish a specific task in a dog food. For example, beet pulp is frequently used in dog food for its ability to concentrate the dogs solid waste (resulting in smaller and firmer poop). Wed rather see whole ingredients used for this purpose, but one or two food fragments wont make or break the quality of the food, especially if they are lower on the ingredients list. The more of them there are in the food, and/or the higher they appear on the ingredients list, the lower-quality the food.
Organic ingredients; locally sourced ingredients. Both of these things are better for our planet. Organic ingredients may be especially appropriate for dogs with cancer, chemical sensitivities, or other serious health problems, but holistic practitioners recommend them for all creatures.
What to look out for
Here are some of the things a top-notch food should not contain:
Meat by-products or poultry by-products. Some non-muscle parts of food animals (i.e., the internal organs) are highly nutritious - in some cases, higher in protein and fat, as just two nutrient examples, than muscle meats. But there are many other parts of food animals that have much less nutritional value - and are worth so much less (in dollars) to the processor, that they are considerably less carefully harvested, handled, processed, and stored.
Poorly handled meats (which contain fat) and fat sources can quickly become rancid. Rancid fats not only smell noxious and taste bad, they also speed the destruction of vitamins and other nutrients in a food. Worst, rancid fats are carcinogenic. Nuff said?
In contrast, whole meats are expensive - too valuable to be handled carelessly. Their cost doesnt rule out poor handling and resultant oxidation (rancidity), but it makes it less likely. So, for all these reasons, we suggest avoiding foods that contain by-products or by-product meal.
Added sweeteners. Dogs, like people, enjoy sweet foods. Sweeteners effectively persuade many dogs to eat foods comprised mainly of grain fragments (and containing little of the animal protein that would be healthier for them).
Artificial preservatives, such as BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin. Natural preservatives, such as tocopherols (forms of vitamin E), vitamin C, and rosemary extract, can be used instead. Preservation is necessary to keep the fats in the food from oxidizing and turning rancid. Natural preservatives do not preserve the food as long as artificial preservatives, however, so owners should always check the best by date on the label and look for relatively fresh products.
Artificial colors. The color of the food makes no difference to the dog; these nutritionally useless chemicals are used in foods to make them look appealing to you."
-----------
"Whats the best food for your dog? Its a question that only you can answer - because you are the only one who is in a position to gauge, on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis, how your dog responds to what you feed him.
That said, we can give you some tips to guide you into the right section of your local pet supply store - that is, past the lowest-cost, lowest-quality foods; past the higher-cost but still low-quality posers; and into the area where the top-quality foods are found. Take note: They are expensive, perhaps prohibitively so, [IMGCAP(1)]especially for families with several large dogs to feed. But you cant expect to pay hamburger prices for filet mignon, and its the quality (and thus price) of the ingredients that set the top-quality foods apart.
Before we tell you what attributes to look for, though, we need to make a few points about the quest for the worlds best dog food:
Dry food is not the healthiest diet for your dog. If you want to provide the very best, most natural diet possible for your dog, youd feed a well-researched, home-prepared diet comprised of fresh foods. Or, next best, a well-formulated, commercially made frozen raw or dehydrated diet. Next best would be a top-quality wet food; even poor quality wet foods usually contain a higher percentage of animal protein (and a much lower percentage of grain) than good dry foods.
Of all of these forms of dog food, kibble is probably the least natural for the dog. But its popularity is mainly based on three factors: It is relatively stable and therefore very convenient for the owner to buy, store, and feed. Its usually less expensive, calorie for calorie, than other forms of food with comparative ingredients. And most dogs do fine on a dry food diet.
Just keep it in the back of your head that if you want your dog to eat the ideal, evolutionary canine diet - because hes got persistent health problems? because hes a show or sports competitor and you want an edge? because youve lost your last three dogs to cancer and you want to know you did everything possible to give this dog the very best? - youll need to look to something other than kibble, even the highest-quality kibble available.
No food is best all dogs. There is no single diet that works best for all humans, or every individual of any other species, so why people think there might be a single ideal food for every dog is beyond us!
To find the best foods for your dog, you have to try a lot of foods, and make it a point to observe your dog for signs that his diet is or is not agreeing with him. If he has chronic signs of compromised health, such as persistently goopy or runny eyes; infected or smelly ears; inflamed, itchy skin; severe gas; or frequent diarrhea, and these conditions improve, well, hurray! If these things worsen, try another food.
We strongly recommend that you keep some sort of diet journal - at a minimum, with notes on the calendar - to keep track of what foods you feed your dog, and what his response to each product has been. We keep a journal of health- and training-related events in our dogs life, and note the date each time we open a new bag of food. We store dry food in its original bag until its all consumed, but once its empty, we cut out the ingredients list, guaranteed analysis, and date/code from the bag and tape these bits of packaging into the dogs journal. This sort of journal can help you identify foods or even individual ingredients that are problematic for your dog; in case of a pet food disaster, it can also help prove what your dog ate, and when he ate it.
Switch foods regularly. We know; you heard that you shouldnt switch your dogs food, or his stomach will get upset. If you ate only one food every day for weeks and months, and then ate something else, your stomach would get upset, too. But very few people eat a diet that never varies from day to day. Human nutrition experts agree that a well-balanced, varied diet is critical for human health; so why do so many people believe that variety is bad for dogs?
Say your dog eats one food, day after day, year after year. And say that food contains a little more of this mineral than is ideal, or not quite enough of that vitamin, or an unhealthy ratio of this nutrient to that one . . . Over time, lacking any other foods to help correct the excesses, insufficiencies, or the imbalances, these problems can contribute to the development of disease.
When you switch your dogs food, do it gradually, over a couple of days. Start with 75 percent of the old food and 25 percent of the new food at one meal; slowly increase the amount of new food (and decrease the amount of old food) over a few days, until hes eating only the new food. Try different varieties, as well as products from different companies. If you change foods often, your dog will adjust more and more smoothly.
One more thing: Dont feed foods comprised of exotic proteins (such as rabbit, kangaroo, bison, pheasant, etc.) if your dog does well on the more common proteins (such as beef, lamb, chicken, and turkey). Its extremely useful to have a few completely novel proteins held in reserve for use in an elimination diet (in which you feed him a diet comprised of, usually, a single novel protein and a single novel grain) in case your dog ever develops a food allergy.
What to look for
Keeping the previous principles in mind (kibble is not the most ideal diet; no food works for all dogs; you should switch foods regularly), you are now ready to look for a few good foods for your dog. Top-quality dry dog foods can be identified by the following hallmarks of quality on their ingredients panels:
Animal protein at the top of the ingredients list. Animal proteins are more palatable and are of a higher biologic value to dogs than plant-sourced proteins. Ingredients are listed by weight, so ideally a food will have one or two animal proteins in the first few ingredients.
The animal protein source should be named - chicken, beef, lamb, and so on. Meat and animal protein are examples of low-quality protein sources of dubious origin. Animal protein meals (i.e., chicken meal, beef meal, lamb meal, etc.) should also be named; meat meal could be just about anything.
Whole meats do not contain enough protein to be used as the sole protein source in a dry dog food. Whole meats contain as much as 65 to 75 percent water and about 15 to 20 percent protein. When a whole meat appears high on the ingredients list, generally another source of protein is also present, in order to augment the total protein content of the finished food. We prefer to see animal protein meals, rather than plant proteins, fill this role.
An animal protein meal is essentially cooked and dried (rendered) muscle meat, although a certain amount of bone, skin, and connective tissue is included. Animal protein meals are dried to a moisture level of only about 10 percent, and contain about 65 percent protein.
Whole vegetables, fruits, and grains. Fresh, unprocessed food ingredients contain wholesome nutrients in all their naturally complex glory, with their fragile vitamins, enzymes, and antioxidants intact. They are also less likely to be adulterated with impurities of any kind.
That said, formulators often use a concentrated (processed) constituent of a grain or vegetable to accomplish a specific task in a dog food. For example, beet pulp is frequently used in dog food for its ability to concentrate the dogs solid waste (resulting in smaller and firmer poop). Wed rather see whole ingredients used for this purpose, but one or two food fragments wont make or break the quality of the food, especially if they are lower on the ingredients list. The more of them there are in the food, and/or the higher they appear on the ingredients list, the lower-quality the food.
Organic ingredients; locally sourced ingredients. Both of these things are better for our planet. Organic ingredients may be especially appropriate for dogs with cancer, chemical sensitivities, or other serious health problems, but holistic practitioners recommend them for all creatures.
What to look out for
Here are some of the things a top-notch food should not contain:
Meat by-products or poultry by-products. Some non-muscle parts of food animals (i.e., the internal organs) are highly nutritious - in some cases, higher in protein and fat, as just two nutrient examples, than muscle meats. But there are many other parts of food animals that have much less nutritional value - and are worth so much less (in dollars) to the processor, that they are considerably less carefully harvested, handled, processed, and stored.
Poorly handled meats (which contain fat) and fat sources can quickly become rancid. Rancid fats not only smell noxious and taste bad, they also speed the destruction of vitamins and other nutrients in a food. Worst, rancid fats are carcinogenic. Nuff said?
In contrast, whole meats are expensive - too valuable to be handled carelessly. Their cost doesnt rule out poor handling and resultant oxidation (rancidity), but it makes it less likely. So, for all these reasons, we suggest avoiding foods that contain by-products or by-product meal.
Added sweeteners. Dogs, like people, enjoy sweet foods. Sweeteners effectively persuade many dogs to eat foods comprised mainly of grain fragments (and containing little of the animal protein that would be healthier for them).
Artificial preservatives, such as BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin. Natural preservatives, such as tocopherols (forms of vitamin E), vitamin C, and rosemary extract, can be used instead. Preservation is necessary to keep the fats in the food from oxidizing and turning rancid. Natural preservatives do not preserve the food as long as artificial preservatives, however, so owners should always check the best by date on the label and look for relatively fresh products.
Artificial colors. The color of the food makes no difference to the dog; these nutritionally useless chemicals are used in foods to make them look appealing to you."
DregAddict
Well-Known Member
My German Shepherd has a very sensitive stomach so after trying out many different foods I settled on a breed specific food for GSDs made by Royal Canin. He loves the stuff. Eats it quickly and hasn't had any digestive issues in a couple years. It runs about $50-60 for a 35lb bag, but the price is worth not worrying about his health and trying to scoop up mounds of diarrhea in the yard.
My pit is another story all together. She has horrible skin allergies so I actually have to feed her a prescription dog food that runs about $100 for a 35lb bag. It's really expensive, but if I feed her anything else she literally breaks out in hives, itches like crazy, and get awful ear infections. The price of the food beats having to pay for expensive steroids, antibiotics, and eardrops every few months.
My pit is another story all together. She has horrible skin allergies so I actually have to feed her a prescription dog food that runs about $100 for a 35lb bag. It's really expensive, but if I feed her anything else she literally breaks out in hives, itches like crazy, and get awful ear infections. The price of the food beats having to pay for expensive steroids, antibiotics, and eardrops every few months.
davidr2340
Well-Known Member
Kirkland brand for my Beagle... Can't beat the price for a quality food!
petie- Nice looking dogs! How does the leather furniture hold up? I'm thinking it's better than fabric?
DregAddict- Try checking for the Rx ingredients on high end foods and ask a knowledgeable salesperson at a good pet food store. That's how I ended up with my dog's perfect food. For allergies, I'm mostly convinced that the Rx foods are a money making scheme, basically just grain-free food.
DregAddict- Try checking for the Rx ingredients on high end foods and ask a knowledgeable salesperson at a good pet food store. That's how I ended up with my dog's perfect food. For allergies, I'm mostly convinced that the Rx foods are a money making scheme, basically just grain-free food.
I work in a pet store, so I get this question all of the time.
Personally, I feed my dog Blue Buffalo. His coat is softer, his bowel movements are more regular (and denser) and he loves the stuff.
The best way to compare dog foods is to just look at the ingredients....simple as that. If a protein isn't the top ingredient in the food, I'd steer clear of it.
There are Federal regulations on what a dog food has to contain (Protein %, Fat %, fiber %, etc)...so any dog food you meet will at least cover these requirements.
Let's compare, for example, Pedigree's Adult food top few ingredients:
to, say, Blue Buffalo's "Lifetime Protection" adult chicken and rice food:
Yes, there is a big cost difference in the two foods, however there is a HUGE quality difference between the two.
I'm of the "buy what you can afford" belief. If you can't fit $50/bag dog food in your budget, by all means don't buy it....but if you can swing the extra cash for a better food your dog will benefit from it greatly.
The other issue I'll run into often is dogs suffering from food allergies. If you read most of the "high-end" dog foods they'll often state "no corn, wheat, or soy" on the bag. These are not only considered fillers but are also common allergens to dogs (chicken can be one as well). If your dog is constantly scratching, biting his/her paws, or has dry or scaly skin it might be time to consider a more limited ingredient food, or especially one that doesn't contain chicken. Lamb, Salmon, and Venison (as well as many others) are all readily available as a primary protein in dog foods if you're shopping in a pet store (not the grocery store). Some dogs also have a grain allergy or intolerance, so there are a ton of grain-free formulas available. Nutro's Natural choice just launched a line of several different flavors with non-chicken proteins.
So, YES I do believe that more expensive dog (and cat) food is worth it.
Personally, I feed my dog Blue Buffalo. His coat is softer, his bowel movements are more regular (and denser) and he loves the stuff.
The best way to compare dog foods is to just look at the ingredients....simple as that. If a protein isn't the top ingredient in the food, I'd steer clear of it.
There are Federal regulations on what a dog food has to contain (Protein %, Fat %, fiber %, etc)...so any dog food you meet will at least cover these requirements.
Let's compare, for example, Pedigree's Adult food top few ingredients:
to, say, Blue Buffalo's "Lifetime Protection" adult chicken and rice food:
Yes, there is a big cost difference in the two foods, however there is a HUGE quality difference between the two.
I'm of the "buy what you can afford" belief. If you can't fit $50/bag dog food in your budget, by all means don't buy it....but if you can swing the extra cash for a better food your dog will benefit from it greatly.
The other issue I'll run into often is dogs suffering from food allergies. If you read most of the "high-end" dog foods they'll often state "no corn, wheat, or soy" on the bag. These are not only considered fillers but are also common allergens to dogs (chicken can be one as well). If your dog is constantly scratching, biting his/her paws, or has dry or scaly skin it might be time to consider a more limited ingredient food, or especially one that doesn't contain chicken. Lamb, Salmon, and Venison (as well as many others) are all readily available as a primary protein in dog foods if you're shopping in a pet store (not the grocery store). Some dogs also have a grain allergy or intolerance, so there are a ton of grain-free formulas available. Nutro's Natural choice just launched a line of several different flavors with non-chicken proteins.
So, YES I do believe that more expensive dog (and cat) food is worth it.
Blue Buffalo Wilderness here... Both of our dogs love it and couldn't be healthier. We "inherited" a older mixed breed dog from a relative and she was in BAD shape....we weren't sure she would make it another week or two. After some TLC, a bath, brushing and a few weeks on Blue Buffalo she looked like a completely different dog...just an amazing transformation. I think she got a lot of people food before, so I think the BB really helped. We also had an older dog a while back with a really senstitive stomach (wheat sensitivity). Switching to BB really helped him as well.
Got a friend who makes and sells premium dog food to Whole Foods and a few other places. It's fresh and not something most can afford. Most are about $25-$30 a day! Sorry, we can't do that.
OP
OP
Went with Victor Super Premium, grain free. 5 star rated on dogfoodadviser. Works out to $1.33 a pound. Not too bad. We were paying .80 to 1.20.
We're giving the new food to the dogs like treats today. They'd eat strips of newspaper if they though it was treats. We'll mix the remainder of the old food into this until it's gone.
Looked into feeding raw food and it looks like a fine idea. But I know us and we won't keep up with it.
We're giving the new food to the dogs like treats today. They'd eat strips of newspaper if they though it was treats. We'll mix the remainder of the old food into this until it's gone.
Looked into feeding raw food and it looks like a fine idea. But I know us and we won't keep up with it.
I feed my boxers Acana Ranchlands dry food.
It contains no grain or corn and is all meat and vegetables. Best thing we ever did fir them. They lost weight, have healthier coats and more solid poops! They have that mixed with greek yogurt and Merrick wet dog foid
It contains no grain or corn and is all meat and vegetables. Best thing we ever did fir them. They lost weight, have healthier coats and more solid poops! They have that mixed with greek yogurt and Merrick wet dog foid
ThreeBrothersBrewery
Well-Known Member
+1 for Kirkland dog food. I searched and searched for the right food and kept coming back to it. It has a quality that is very similar to the $50+ but at 2/3's the price. We supplement it with the occasional table scraps and wet food and our dogs couldn't be happy. Really good coats, healthy overall, and our lab has enough energy to power a small city....
I lied. That's what my cats get fed.
My dog gets EVO. (my wife just walked in the door with pet food).
scottvin
Well-Known Member
We feed both my dog and cat taste of the wild. Yes, the food is more expensive than Purina or anything like that. However, the eat much less of the good food rather than the filler-filled crap food. We have a one and a half year old lab and people stop me in the street to comment on how shiny his coat is. We do not feed him human foods or anything else except for an occasional bully stick.
Thanks for the compliments on my pooches. With 2 great Danes in the house I wouldn't have anything other than leather furniture. So far it's held up great and doesn't hold any odor from the dogs layin on it. As you can see when they're on it they're all over it.
MMTG
Well-Known Member
I used to feed my dogs(German Shepards) Wolf King from Solid Gold but after I found out that there was a NASTY Salmonella outbreak at a plant that makes this food as well as MANY other high end dog foods, I switched brands to Rotations Pet Food. High Quality food with awesome customer service! The owners are really great guys and if you'd like a promo code, please email or pm me
www.rotationspetfood.com
www.rotationspetfood.com
stevereigh
Well-Known Member
Our Pitt/Lab/Pointer is allergic to damn near everything that goes in her mouth (and she tries to eat everything she can...) so we feed her Hills Z/D prescription food. $98 for 25lbs. Cleared up her itching and redness, got back to a healthy weight and grew all the hair on her backside back. Totally worth it to us...
