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What are you feeding your dogs?

5K views 82 replies 49 participants last post by  Jeeples 
#1 ·
I was wondering what kind of food you all feed your trusty companions. I have two personal Shepard mutts who aren't much more than 60lbs soaking wet and a foster pittie. My girlfriend and I have been feeding them Ol 'Roy from Wally world(we rescued and placed a large amount of dogs over the last year and the 50lb bags are hard to say no to) but my girlfriend saw a post on Facebook about how someone(friend of a friend. I know) lost her two dogs while they were eating it. Specific, "Ol Roy" caused this.

Now I love all of these dogs a great deal and I don't want anything to happen to them. My female already needs hip replacement surgery and I want to see them all live long and healthy.

At this point in time I can't afford the steep blue buffalo price. Maybe Nutro Max or similarly priced food. I've seen Taste Of The Wild is recommended and Costco supposedly carried the generic version(have no real idea at this point). I was considering Iams but have been told by SunDevilJeeper it's not very good either. He mentioned a raw diet and I'm considering it too. Looking for suggestions or experiences. Thanks.
 

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#2 ·
My Doberman wouldn't gain weight and didn't seem interested in eating as a pup. we tried the expensive stuff along with others and finally settled on Purina one chicken n rice. She's 11yrs old now and looks great and eats great. plenty of energy for an old dog.
 
#3 ·
A good diet is really the best thing you can do for your pet, so I don't mind the cost. My Alaskan malamute gets Taste of the Wild and he's in great shape at almost 11 years old. Good eyes, teeth, coat, no joint problems, etc. Yeah, it's about $50 for a 30 lb bag but it lasts a little over a month and is high density so it only takes 4-5 cups per day to satiate his appetite. I get it from a mom and pop store that gives a free bag for every 12 you buy, so I get one free bag a year.

Some other premium brands (no corn, bi-products, mill runs, etc): Acana, Applaws, Artemis, Avoderm, Blue Buffalo, By Nature, California Naturals, Canidae, Castor and Pollux, Chicken Soup, Earthborn, Fromm, Go!, Halo, Holistque Selects, Innova, Instinct, Natural Balance, Nature's Variety, Now!, Organix, Orijen, Merrick/Whole Earth Farms/BG, Pinnacle, Solid Gold, Timberwolf, Wellness, Ziwi Peak

Iams is pretty middle of the road. It has some corn (non-digestable) and other fillers and low quality ingredients. Other 'meh' brands: Eagle Pack, Bil Jac, Eukanuba, Nature's Recipe, Nutro, Royal Canin, Science Diet - Nature's Best, Purina Pro Plan - Pro Plan Selects, Wysong







 
#5 ·
I used to feed my pug pedigree adult dog food then decided to try that blue buffalo stuff. It was pricey, but he was getting old, he was probably about 15 when we put him on it. After he ate that bag I put some of the pedigree that was left over in the bowl, and he went and sniffed it and walked away. He would not eat it. So after that, all he ate was the blue buffalo. He wasn't in the best of health when we switched him over, so we kept spoiling him with the expensive food. He lived another good 2 years after that until he was just too old and the cancer he had was getting too bad.
Next dog I get, thats the food I will be starting him off with blue buffalo or another type of food like that. No more of that big brand garbage.

 
#6 ·
I don't usually like pugs much, but yours was pretty darn cute, Burke.

I'm pretty fussy about what I'll feed my pack and I've researched the crap out of the subject, so for them it's Taste of the Wild, all the way.
 
#10 ·
I was surprised to find out that food like Iams, Nutro, Eukanuba and Science Diet are extremely low quality foods (1 star out of 6). Here's a web site that's very useful for researching dog foods:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

It should be noted that you will need to reduce the amount of food you are feeding your dog when you change to a higher quality food because it's more nutritious and doesn't contain a bunch of fillers and other crud your dog doesn't need.

Also, a higher quality food will cost you a bit more but there's a very good chance it will help your dog live a longer life and reduce (or eliminate) medical expenses from issues caused by cheap dog foods.
 
#26 ·
I can't agree with these more. Everyone with an animal should go to this site and read up on the food they are feeding. Read some of the write ups on the 1 rated foods and then on the 5 or 6 rated foods. to see the differences and why they rate them differently.

We can survive on twinkies and mcdonalds cheeseburgers, but everyone will agree we will not be healthy. That is the same if you are feeding your dog a substandard food.

I had a cat with urine tract issues, he had a surgery to remove his ***** and urethra and they put a new tube from his bladder to his taint. We fed him Science diet CD urinary tract cat food, dry only because the wet foods were supposedly bad for urinary tract health. He had rashes, and his coat was not that great, he laid around the house all the time getting up only to follow the sun through the window, to eat, crap and maybe move out on the porch to enjoy the sun.. He was 14-15 when the science diet started costing $60 for a 20lbs bag. I started researching other foods and felt that a better food would be better and after discussing with my vet changed him over to a Before Grain cat food. Feeding both wet and dry. Within 3 weeks we had to go buy new cat toys. He was chasing my boot strings around when I got ready for work in the morning and chasing the dog around. When we let him out he would run around the yard exploring. That was 5 years ago and he still chases the dog around and plays with cat toys. He has not has a bad spot on his skin and his hair is long and shiny.

Based on the results with him we switched our dogs over to a grain free dog food. The first brand they didn't like so we tried a different one. My chihuahua which I thought was healthy gained weight, put on some lean muscle and his stool became much more consistent. He had suffered from skin rashes on his stomach for years he has not had one since we did the switch. We had a female German Shepherd at the time. She was barely able to climb the 3 steps on our back porch when we took her outside. Her health was bad and we were sure she would not last the winter. We switched her over to the same time we switched the chihuahua and we fed them the same food. Within a month she was bounding up the 7 steps on our front porch, running around the yard playing with the chihuahua and bounding around the house playing with the cat and chihuahua. As mentioned we felt she would not live through the winter and she lived three more years. I honestly feel she would have lived longer had we fed her a better food from the start. I feel guilty for not doing so.

Yes the initial cost of the better food is high, but you will find you feed less of it, your pets stool is more consistent and there is less of it because they are not passing a bunch of fillers, grains, and corn. Their health will improve. Those of you who think your pet is doing great will be surprised at the improvement in them.

Do not feed your pets anything you can buy at Walmart, in my opinion anyone who feeds their dog Old Roy dog food should have their dog taken from them. Purina is also a junk dog food. They make a quality large animal feed but that is their niche, they use the stuff they can't put in large animal feed in dog and cat food as a filler. Science Diet, sold by many vets, is also a junk food full of grains and fillers, it is supplemented with vitamins and such for the animals but they are still being fed grains and corn and filler. The reason vets sell it is they get a big percentage from it and they know no better. Not all vets are trained in animal diet and they go on the knowledge given to them from the food salesman. They feed the food that has the best salesman.

Someone mentioned above how the good food they were feeding was to expensive. I will bet money the new cheaper bag of food doesn't last as long, and there is more stool to pick up and dispose of, because the bag is full of fillers. Your dog has to eat more to get any nutrient value out of it and then has to pass the extra fillers. Then on top of that how do the fillers which are usually corn and wheat.

As I mentioned above we can survive on junk food but in the end it will cause us health problems. It is the same for our pets. Please review what you are feeding and adjust if necessary. Our pets are part of our families for many years. We are responsible for their health and well being. There is a lot more to it than just throwing any old stuff in a bowl, letting them out to poop and scratching behind their ear for a minute when you walk in the house. You would not allow your children to eat junk food all the time, then why feed your dog junk food. Be the great person your dog thinks you are and feed them right.
 
#11 ·
Hiccup started out on Purina Puppy Chow and then moved to Purina adult food. My vet, who sells Iams and Science Diet, told me to go to Tractor Suppy and try their 4-Health dog food. He's a big bird hunter and has a kennel full of pointers and a few labs. He told me they eat less and they don't poop near as much. I switched to 4-Health back in November and he really seemds to like it. I can't verify the amount of poop, but Hiccup really likes it and he does eat a little less.
 

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#13 ·
Good stuff guys and great looking dogs. Also agreed, the pug is adorable.

It's interesting to hear the different stories. I had a Dalmatian that lived to be 14-15 until her hips went south and we fed her kibbles and bits and pedigree and a variety of other stuff because she was so picky.

My girlfriend also had to put her 16 year old boxer mix down and she was on Nutro max weight control.

And my aunt has an 11 mutt that's been on ol Roy it's entire life and she's still like a puppy.

I'll definitely look into the taste of the wild. Maybe, I'll try to get a Costco bag to compare.
 
#14 ·
We feed our 2 labs Blue Buffalo Large Breed Chicken & Rice. We fed the older one Iam's Naturals and then Nature's Recipe and she did ok on them, but we noticed a huge difference when we started her on BB. Big jump in energy, joints didn't seem to stiffen up as much, her coat improved 10x over and her ears cleaned up a lot (we used to have to clean them out once a week or so). They both get 2 cups/day and a 30lb ($50) lasts us about 3 weeks.

http://bluebuffalo.com/dog-food/lp-...ize=large&type=dry&protein=chicken&animal=dog
 
#15 ·
#16 ·
Kirkland signature lamb, rice & vegetable.
We have three dogs and in order of age they are 11, 9 and 7 and have eaten nothing but it since they were puppies without issue.
The price has gone up quite a bit recently but it's still only 75 cents a pound for a 50 pound bag.




 
#71 ·
Kirkland signature lamb, rice & vegetable.
We have three dogs and in order of age they are 11, 9 and 7 and have eaten nothing but it since they were puppies without issue.
The price has gone up quite a bit recently but it's still only 75 cents a pound for a 50 pound bag.
Gonna update this.

It was late at night, we ran out of food and costco was closed so we picked up a small bag of rachel ray nutrish just 6 lamb and rice dog food from a local grocery store.
After a couple of days of feeding them it they were more energetic than before and their fur had even more of a sheen.
None of our dogs ever had any issues and they were in perfect health according to our vet, it was more like 3 or 4 years had been removed from each of them.

Before we gave them dog joint supplements and now we don't with no issues.

Our now 12 year old dog used to sleep all day, now she wanders around outside a lot and chases her tail occasionally which I haven't seen her do in years.
Our now 10 year old springer spaniel wants to play ball even more now.
And our golden retriever once again goes out, finds the biggest stick he can and starts rolling over and over making grunting noises with it in his mouth (whatever floates his boat I guess)

The bags are small and expensive but with the results we saw we decided to continue feeding them it.

Fed them that for a couple months and then I happened upon a 22 pound bag of iams simple and natural chicken rice and barley at a outlet store for 25.
That dog food review site gives it 4 stars so I decided to try it.
They seem even peppierer (if it isn't a word it is now)

Its pretty remarkable what a quality dog food will do for your pet,
It might be more expensive but it still costs less than human food.
The costco stuff seems to be the middle of the pack and isn't bad but to me the benefits given by the pricier dog food is completely worth it.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Riley the (rescue) granddog seems to like, and be doing well on, Tractor Supply 4health
 

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#22 ·
Our Fox Red Lab gets Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice. Since she has been on this food her shedding has stopped for the most part. It may be pricey,but for the amount we go through it's worth the cost. A big bag lasts quite awhile with only one dog.
 
#23 ·
Blue Buffalo for my partner.........i'm not rich,but not poor either..but even if i was on a tight budget he'd still get Blue Buffalo,i don't put my dog's health on a budget cut,he gets the same respect and treatment as any of my family...
 

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#27 ·
i believe the food i feed my dog is crap, but i really dont have much choice.
everyone in my house eats like crap, dog may as well suffer with us.

if i had the money, id buy the good stuff. but for now, poor girls gotta suck it up.
the way i see it, at least shes fed. and has never gone more than a day without being fed.
i think in the past, roughly 5 years we have had her, she went a day without eating maybe twice. thats more than some can say
 
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