Dry kibble dog food

[wolf_Q]

I know there's been MANY debates about dog food on pet talk...

Sorry to bring it up again. :o

Right now I'm feeding Nebo Nutro, which, personally, I think is a good food, and he's just fine on that. But I just want to know more about the other food out there.......I know there's better dog food then Nutro...

Anyway, I'm asking about dry kibble only please.....I'm sure a home cooked diet is the best, but I don't have time for that, I don't even cook dinner for myself, lol.

I probably wouldn't be switching any time soon, as there's no food like that available around here....I know some ship it...but I'm poor....

The names that come to mind are Innova, California Natural, Solid Gold, Flint River Ranch, Wellness........but those are just names I've heard.....I don't really know anything about them.....:confused: Which dry food is considered the best?

[aly]

Have you been to the site where you can compare ingredients side by side? I think Nutro is a great food. A lot of the ones you named are a bit better, but if you like Nutro, I'd stay on it.

[gkristian]

Well i feed Foxy Pedigree Meaty-Bites. I don't know if they are available in the US but here in Australia it's the best and the most popular dog food availabe. The breeder that i got Foxy said i should try it on Foxy and she even gave me the first bag.

[wolf_Q]

We do have Pedigree here. Actually, I fed him that for a few months as a pup....it was awful...for my dog at least....he had constant diarhea on it. :(

Aly, I have seen some sites like that, but I don't remember what dog foods it compared. Most likely I'll be using Nutro for right now, but maybe when I'm not so poor I'll switch to a better food. :)

[wolf_Q]

Hmmmmmm.......found a good link......I was thinking about getting a food that used "human grade ingredients" http://www.iei.net/~ebreeden/kibble.html

[Kfamr]

Nala eats pedigree for pups and Sim for adults. both are fine and love it. their poopies are fine too.:p

[aly]

Originally posted by wolf_Q
We do have Pedigree here. Actually, I fed him that for a few months as a pup....it was awful...for my dog at least....he had constant diarhea on it. :(


Pedigree is corn based, therefore not nutritious. They have to eat a lot more of the corn based, junky food to get the same amount of nutrition as the higher quality foods.

The price actually evens out between the junky grocery store food and the premium brands. The premium brands cost a little more but if you look at serving size, it evens out since they eat a lot less of the higher quality foods.

[clara4457]

I feed Leo Bil-Jac Select and he loves it. I used to feed him Science Diet but he is a finicky eater and I would have to doctor it with can food. The Bil-Jac he eats as is. He also has a sensitive digestive system and gets frequent diarreah but since I've had him on Bil-Jac, they have been less frequent (usually only when he eats something he's not supposed to - like my socks) lol. The Bil-Jac is about the same price as Science Diet but there are only a couple of pet supply places that carry it.

[ramanth]

I think there are plenty of good kibbie dog foods out there.. my problem is that Kia has a food allergy so that severly limits what she can have.

She used to be on Nature's Recipe Allergy formula but now I have her on California Natural. :)

[lv4dogs]

anything about them..... Which dry food is considered the best?

Everyone has different opinions so the best food for one might be different than another. Also each dog's system is different & each dog has different needs so what works well for one dog may be a poor diet for another. The foods you mentioned are all very good quality foods & one I would add to that list is canadea.

I feed Nutro natural choice large breed to all my dogs, I was going to switch the nutro natural large breed senior as all my dogs are over 5 but the first ingredient is not meat I do not like that personally, I was also going to switch them to eukanuba large breed senior but that does not have enough glucosamine & chondrotin in it as 2 of my dogs have leg problems (arthritis, cruciate repair & permanant fractures) & the levels in nutro are much better for my dogs. My main reason for not switching foods is that my dogs are all doing very well on nutro so why screw things up. They have healthy teeth, gums, coat & active energy, healthy poops etc.. If your dog is doing good on his diet than I would personally stay w/ it!

[Cisco's Mom]

Hey! I fed Cisco Nutro Natural Lamb&Rice small bites. When I first got him I was feeding him Hills Science Diet. After a while it seemed that he formed allergies to it. I changed to Nutro and I have had no problems since. I believe the corn in the Hills was the culprit, but I can't be 100% sure. I have always heard from others that the Flint River Ranch is a high quality food. Cisco has tried a sample once and he liked the kibble, but you have to order it over the net. At least in my area ya do.

[KYS]

All the names you mentioned are all very good foods.
I tried Flint River Ranch since my friend swears by it.
(It's a human grade baked kibble)
My dogs gulped it down for the first 2 months and
grew quickly tired of it. I than tried Innova and
used Innova for about a year till I learned about
Canidae, which is also a human grade product.
I started mixing the Canidae with the Innova,
since the Canidae is cheaper in cost.
The dogs loved the Canidae.
After about 6 months I did away with the Innova and
the dogs have been on Canidae ever since.

The dogs never lost interested in the Canidae, and are
doing well on it. Sheba skin is dryer with the Canidae
but she is also a senior. I add a couple squirts of
linatone etc. to make sure they get enough
oil. (I also add human food)

I personally would stick to the Nutro if Nebo is doing well on it.
Nutro is a good food, but not human grade.
Sheba was on Nutro for 5 years and she did fantastic on it. Rocky did not do as well (sensitive stomach) and that is the only reason I switched to a human grade food.


Here is the web site for Canidae: www.canidae.com
Compare the ingredients as sugested.``:)

[primabella]

Mickey gets dry kibble from Iams.

[Cincy'sMom]

After trying a few varieties/Brands of food, we determined Sensible Choice by Royal Canin (Lamb and Rice) to be the best food for our dogs.

There is a free publication on the webThe Whole Dog Journal (http://www.wholedogjournal.com), which in Feb. 2003 rated dog foods and chose these to be the "Top dry foods" ( alphabetical order)


Atremis "Natural 6 Mix"
Azmira's "Classic"
Back to Basics "Chicken"
Bench and Field "Holistic Canine Formula"
Burns "Brown Rice & Ocean Fish"
Canidae
Drs Foster & Smith "Adulat Maintenance, Chicken and Brown Rice"
Eagle Pack Holsitic Select
Flint River Ranch "Dry Water LC"
Go! Natural "Super Premium Chicken, Fruit & Vegetable"
Lifespan
Limited Diets "Duck and potato"
Natura Pet Prodcuts " California Natual, Innova"
Natural Balance "Ultra Premium"
Pinnacle
Prairie "Lamb and Rice Medley"
Prime Life
PHD Canine Growth and Maintenance
Royal Canin " Nautral Blend Adult Formula"
Showbound Naturals
Solid gold "Hund-n-Flocken, Millennia"
Timberwolf Organics
Verus "Gp Advantage Diet"
Wellness "Super 5 Mix-Lamb"
Wysong "Maintenance"

[stacwase]

I feed Jake Purina One. My vet recommended it. She says that's just as good as any of the stuff you can buy from the vet, and it's very reasonably-priced. It comes in puppy, adult, and senior formulas.

His diet is supplemented with cat food (he just keeps sneaking it!) So we give him Pedigree Breath Buster biscuits.

[stacwase]

Oh - if your interested in trying it out, it's available at Walmart (believe it or not!)

[wolfsoul]

Timber is fed home cooked meals, but Leather is fed Pets First. In my opinion, it's the best brand you can get. It doesn't have any corn flour or corn based products, has only vitamins C and E for preservatives, has real veggies added, the same quality meat that is fed to humans, no bi-products and it is great for dogs with alergies, like Leather.
This is info on the type Leather gets:

Our Chicken and Rice LITE diet for dogs is a premium blended diet. It is suitable for older dogs that may have overweight issues. It is also suitable for big boned dogs that require less protein and fat due to their lower activity levels.

An excellent choice for dogs with allergies to corn.

Formulated with chelated minerals to aid with adsorption and a balanced omega profile to maintain a healthy immune system.

As good as it is, it cost fifty dollars! :eek:

[primabella]

Originally posted by stacwase
Oh - if your interested in trying it out, it's available at Walmart (believe it or not!)

I see you got the sig to work. Good job! Jake is a cutie!

Yes, we give Mickey those Breath Busters form Wal-Mart too. I hate the smell fo the actual cookie though..eeyyuck!

[RogueFerret]

I fed all dogs I've ever owned Iams'. But Valentine refuses to eat it! All she will eat is Purina Dog Chow.:confused: She does well on it though and my vet says that as long as she has a shiny coat and plenty of energy, her food is fine.:)

[*LabLoverKEB*]

I am not saying that anyone here that feeds Pedigree is stpuid, I love you all!:D

I just once read that if you take a handful of Pedigree dog food, and put it onto a brown paper grocery bag, you can see all of the grease (sp?) on it? I don't know if that is entirely true, though!

I feed Sadie Eukanuba! Thanks to Pam, because she said that does not give them bad gas, and yes, my Sadie girl has horrible gas!:o

[wolf_Q]

After trying a few varieties/Brands of food, we determined Sensible Choice by Royal Canin (Lamb and Rice) to be the best food for our dogs.

Thanks for bringing that up! I forgot about Royal Canin...I was going to look into that one...I *think* we may have it at Petco now....I know we have it for cats....

Part of the reason I was bringing this up is because I'll be changing Nebo's dog food in a few months anyway...from puppy food to...adult food...just not sure of the brand yet. :)

[primabella]

Oh, what age do you have to make the switch, Amy?

[wolf_Q]

Honestly I'm not positive, as I've heard different things....but I'm going to switch him when he reaches a year old (in about a month)

[aly]

Thats the age we switch all the shelter dogs to adult food :)

Sensible Choice is pretty good.. especially for dogs with sensitive stomachs.

[GoldenRetrLuver]

I feed Molly and Daisy Nutro Large Breed Adult, my vet recommends it, they used to be on Pedigree, but they had runny poopys to, so i switched them to Nutro, and they love it! No runny poops with Nutro! I also add a teaspoon of canola oil to their food, its good for their skin and coat! I recommend Nutro!:)

[kingrattus]

the junky grocery store food almost killed Max. Max has been on Nurtro since he was 2 1/2 (thats when he almost died of lack of neutrition). When he turned 5 we put him on Nurtro senior. Max is now 9 yrs old & he eats about 4 cups of dog food once aday. He's poops r great, only goes once a day, they're solid & small (which means he's digesting almost all of the food)... Max is very healthy for an old doggy (the vet said his muscles & the feel of his fur is just like a very young dog's) Max doesn't have dry skin at all, his fur is very shiny (we don't add oil nor egg)... Max is far from being fat (he has always had too much extra skin, u can pull his neck skin/fur over his face & 1/2 way down his muzzle.

oh, we took him off of puppy food at 6 months, because if u keep the dog on it much longer then that the dog has a MUCH greatter chance of developing joint & other health problems cause he's growing way too fast too long... Thats what all the vets, sheltes & breeders say in this area & other parts of Ont & PEI..

Honestly I think u should keep him on Nutro, but u need to switch him to adult food soon.

[wolf_Q]

oh, we took him off of puppy food at 6 months, because if u keep the dog on it much longer then that the dog has a MUCH greatter chance of developing joint & other health problems cause he's growing way too fast too long... Thats what all the vets, sheltes & breeders say in this area & other parts of Ont & PEI..

I've had him on the Large Breed formula....I thought that was supposed to be better for larger growing puppies then the regular.

My parents feed Reggie and Smokey grocery store brand food, of all different kinds....and they've never been sick from it...ever...and Smokey is 17 years old lol. I'm not recommending it, but dog food does vary with the dog.

I guess I should stick with Nutro as at work I HAVE to wear a smock that says Nutro on it and we're supposed to promote Nutro to anyone who asks about dog food...it's much easier to promote it when you can say "I feed my dog that" lol. :rolleyes: I really do think it's good food, I'm just my wishy washy paranoid self again after reading stuff about all the preservatives, etc. in so many commercial foods. *sigh*

[kingrattus]

the larger breed food is better for larger breed puppies, but its still puppy food, & 6 months is the best cut off line