The Dogs Dinner: All You Wanted to Know About Food For Fido

[kazkirkpatrick]

Hi, me again

As to where I got the lists, its all in my credits at the bottom of the first post.

When it comes to food, Im taking the general. When I state the brand, I stated the general content of the majority of the food they produce. Some brands have one particular line thats a whole lot better than the rest of their food. I did not take this into account as I would still be working on this a month later. The purpose of the sticky was a general education for the general public with the ultimate goal of people being about to make decisions for themselves. The reason I put the list in there is because I knew (and it came true!) that people would be asking "but how about this food?". Individual people should make individual decisions about their individual dogs! This post just serves as a guideline, its not the doggy food gospel.
Of course, Im also picky about what I eat. If you have pizza hut on speeddial and are a local at Wendys, then you might not grasp the importance of dog nutrition. Such is life, to each his own.

I feed canidae. Its good food at a good price. My vet told me its crap and that you cant chose a dog food on its ingredients. Needless to say, thats now my ex-vet.

My backup food is chicken soup. Also good stuff at a good price, just watch for the bonus items

Karen- the tofu eating carrot stick lover.

[rmci]

Thanks again for the information, I'll be looking into it.

For those who are interested, here's a link with a different opinion:
http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/nutrition.html

[kazkirkpatrick]

see! perfect, now there is a good example of something thinking for themselves, good work

[mrsgrubby]

Where are you guys buying these "top list foods"? I went to Petsmart today and they don't carry them. When I was asking the clerk about where to get them she answered that nothing is better than Natural Choice by Nutro. When I started to quizz her about the ingrediants she got a bit nasty, and said only the cow feed store sells Solid Gold, that it's not as good as I think it is.
I did find Chicken Soup for the Dog lovers Soul which someone posted about, but is not on any list.
I do currently feed Nutro but it's like "pulling teeth" to get my dog to eat it. She only will if I mix canned food in it to make it taste good.
i'd like to know where you all are buying Solid Gold and Mother Hubbard and the others.
Thanks

[kazkirkpatrick]

You generally have to go to feed stores or mom and pop stores. Pet Supplies Plus also carries good food. You can go onto the website of the brand and go to "store locator". You will suddenly find lots of awesome petstores that you never knew about! These days I only use petsmart as a social scene to keep my doggies sociable as its the closest store Everything else I get from my little stores.

[mrsgrubby]

(I feed canidae. Its good food at a good price. My vet told me its crap and that you cant chose a dog food on its ingredients. Needless to say, thats now my ex-vet)



Karen, if your ex-vet said you can't choose a dog food on it's ingredients, what did he think you should choose it based on? The pretty bag?!?!?!?!!?

[kazkirkpatrick]

Originally Posted by mrsgrubby

(I feed canidae. Its good food at a good price. My vet told me its crap and that you cant chose a dog food on its ingredients. Needless to say, thats now my ex-vet)



Karen, if your ex-vet said you can't choose a dog food on it's ingredients, what did he think you should choose it based on? The pretty bag?!?!?!?!!?

Exxxxxxxxxxxxactly!
stupid vet!

[GreenleafGreyhound]

Nah, the pretty paycheck that comes to the vet after every bag of Science Diet he sells!

[Libelle]

This is a GREAT post...I like to discuss this topic. In my 18-odd years with dogs, here's some silly facts. My first dog was born before I was...she was fed only canned, some crap called PEP...she lived to be 17...lol

My rotties have been trial and error. My boy Titus we finally figured out is sensitive to turkey, so we had to go with another meat base. I have tried Natural Choice (as a puppy, and he did well), Solid Gold (yuck), Royal Canin (which kept him healthy at first then his coat became dusty) then I kept searching for a food that would maintain his growth, vitality, etc. Believe it or not, he was on Purina ONE Lamb and Rice for 3 years and did fantastic. When I started work as a vet tech, I switched them to Medi Cal Preventative (corn and all...lol), and he looked even better. So he and Icy were both on that until 2 months ago when I went looking for a diet that was more natural but contained some ingredients I knew Titus would benefit from as well. I went to Wellness Lamb and rice:

Lamb, Fish meal, Whitefish, Ground Brown Rice, Ground Barley, Oatmeal, Rye Flour, Ground Millet, Amaranth, Flaxseed, Canola Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Peas, Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Whole Apples, Whole Blueberries, Whole Clove Garlic, Alfalfa Leaf, Yucca Schidigera, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Inulin, Fructose, Glucosamine, Chondroitin Sulfate, Beta-Carotene, Potassium Chloride, Zinc Proteinate (a chelated source of Zinc), Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Proteinate (a chelated source of Copper), Copper Sulfate, Niacin Supplement, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate ( a chelated source of Manganese), Sodium Selenite, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid

The lamb is human grade A from new zealand, and it's Hormone free, steroid free, and antibiotic free.

Now here's an interesting one...I was chatting tonight with a minpin breeder who's dog developed allergies to gluton, in all its forms. It was causing respirotary problems. She feeds something different (can't remember what) plus some raw and her boy seems much better. So there's another thing to think about...because the majority of foods contain SOME product with gluton.

I think we all need to find whats good for our own dogs by doing the research, and go with that...but I Love sharing stories!!

[Jamilupine]

So, I'm a little concerned becuase my dog food is on the last list! Not good, and I was recommended this brand of pet food for my cats, so I just used it for my dog! Is it bad to finish out the bag and then buy her the good stuff?!

[tessa_s212]

Jami--It won't kill your dog to finish this bag and not let it go to waste. If you are willing to change her food, that is Great!

Remember: Just because a brand of dog food is on the "good dog food" list doesn't mean it will work for every dog

[fireworksinjuly]

Originally Posted by Jamilupine

Is it bad to finish out the bag and then buy her the good stuff?!

buy a bag of the new stuff before this bag is completely gone and mix the two down. So you switch her over slowly. The suddent change wont be good for her stomach.... she may still have lose stool with slow switching, but it wont be as bad as if you switched cold turkey.

[Jamilupine]

Thanks for the tip! I will try to pick up a bag of the new stuff tonight. Cute puppies by the way!

[mrsgrubby]

Karen,
Thanks again for putting this post together. I have shared it with so many people and they and their pets have gotten alot out of it.
Hoooray I switched Jasmine to her new food and she loves it. I was feeding her Natural Choice by Nutro and she never wanted to eat it. She would scrounge for crumbs on the floor rather than eat the food. I switched her to a combo of Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul, and Solid Gold and she ate every bite of her dinner, and ate breakfast for the first time in ages!
So Karen, Jasmine thanks you too!
Libelle, just out of curiosity, why didn't you like solid gold? Just asking as Jasmine is a rottwiller too and you fed it to your dogs.

[Alikins]

I am currently feeding my 1.5lb puppy Iams ( which is on the last list) and I was searching for some brands on the 2 tops lists but I'm having trouble finding a food on the list in a small breed puppy form.

Any suggestions? TIA!