Research on Dog Food & Information

[MS_PAWS]

Ok let me explain something here, I'm trying to teach you what is the value about dog or cat food here. I'm not attacking anybody I'm just a opinionated person lol

If I tell you that Iams is not a good source of food and you feed your kitty that anyways after I tell you the down low stuff. I don't wanna be bothered

I'm simply doing my best to tell you the bottom line about pets food! I can't twist your arm make you feed your pet food something BETTER

[Kfamr]

Jennifer, I respect you and it's nice to see that you are interested in dog foods. However, say that I fed a low quality food and someone spoke to me/tried to "educate me" like you have here (which I've yet to see anyone in this thread that feeds low quality foods) I would most likely be highly offended and not listen to a word you said.

There are different ways to "educate" people sucessfully.


I agree with Giselle when she states Chicken Soup For The Dog Lovers Soul is a good food. Yes, Diamond products were recalled. They are longer recalled. If we stopped using every single product that has been recalled we'd have little to nothing left in this world. A good company corrects the problem and they have.

[Spiritwind]

Ok let me explain something here, I'm trying to teach you what is the value about dog or cat food here. I'm not attacking anybody I'm just a opinionated person lol

If I tell you that Iams is not a good source of food and you feed your kitty that anyways after I tell you the down low stuff. I don't wanna be bothered

I'm simply doing my best to tell you the bottom line about pets food! I can't twist your arm make you feed your pet food something BETTER

Ok.. so maybe you have posted about this before and I never saw the posts.... So just out of curiosity.. what makes you an authority on dog food? What are your qualifications to tell people what they should or should not be feeding their dogs? Do you have any real proof to back up your claims?

In the 13yrs I've had dogs (I've had dogs all my life as family pets, but 13 yrs when I've had my own dogs) I've feed a ton of different foods.

Back in 1994 when I got my first Collie he was fed Purina Puppy Chow, recommended by the breeder. Of course I was 12 at this time, and didn't know any better so that is what he ate... though I always got complemented on what a great coat the dog had and people always asked me what I fed because they wanted their dog to look like mine!!... then I know over the years I fed Pedigree, and Purina ONE, and Diamond Premium Adult, then by the time I was 18 and really into showing I did a lot more dog food research. At one time I fed my dogs Wellness (which I do NOT like.. and neither did my dogs.. they did horribly on it!! and I personally think its way over priced for its quality, JMO).. Royal Canin Natural Blend, Pro Plan, Canidae and Diamond Naturals.... the list goes on an on... I have fed Chicken soup for the dog lovers soul as well, when I lived in Ohio, and the dogs did well.. its much harder to find in my area where I live now.

My first Collie (who was an 85lb rough tri male) lived to be 12 1/2 yrs old and was never sick a day in his life... he wasn't on any medications, other than joint supplements, the only time he ever spent at the vet was to be neutered or for annual check ups... the food he ate most of his life was Purina ONE. His BIG old body just wore out on him..

I currently have 8 Collies and 4 of them eat Canidae and are doing great... look wonderful are healthy with great coats... the other 4 are on Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice, and look WONDERFUL! They are healthy, active, in good weight and their coats look amazing. They eat diamond because that is what those 4 do best one... I've tried them on other foods and they don't look half as good as they do when eating Diamond Naturals.

My last litter (In 2006) was raised on a mixture of Diamond naturals lamb and rice and Iams.... the pups did great.. though I prefer Diamond, the place I bought the food kept running out of diamond puppy so I mixed with iams.

I fully agree... people need to feed what works BEST for their pet, not what someone else says is good food to feed. All animals are not the same and what works for one, will not always work for another.... I'm happy with the results I get from the food I feed. I think my dogs look their best and they are very happy and healthy!.


Janna

**Just wanted to add... diamond naturals has, what I feel to be very good ingredients, and like I said its the food 4 of my dogs do best on.. and the price is very good ~$22 for 40lbs, and the dogs do very well on it. The ingredients are better than iams or pro plan and its cheaper than those brands. Canidae how we get it (not from a store but in bulk from a distributer) at the end after the breeder program rebates etc.. the total price per bag is about $28 per 40lb bag.... and its delivered right to the house.

[anna_66]

MS PAWS, what kind of food do you feed your dog? Just wondering what "you" think is the best.

[pitc9]

I feed my dogs Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach and have for years.

I tried switching to Wellness and the following pictures will show you what the food did to my Buddy:




I'm happy with the "Low Quality" food I feed my dogs.

Thanks for the information and just as a note, people would be more open to your suggestions and opinions if you didn't come across so rude.

As it's been said before... what works for one will not work for all.

[Glacier]

It's all opinion. And honestly, I would rather someone feed their pet Ol' Roy and love them than leave them tied in the backyard their entire life and not feed them at all.

Amen! I have a dog who was starved by her first owner. He said he couldn't afford to feed her. She came to me more than 30 pounds underweight. Kayleigh would have been better off if he had fed her the 15 bucks for 40 pounds stuff! 7 years later we are still dealing with her food issues! She lives alone because she'll kill another dog over something she thinks might be edible. I'll guarentee that somewhere in the straw in her doghouse she has stashed a chunk of meat, just in case I forget to feed her tonight.

I feed my dogs a good quality formula designed for working dogs, heavily supplemented with meat(mostly wild game). But I have, on occasion, fed absolute junk food. Sometimes I get donations of kibble that isn't a brand I would normally use, but I have 25 dogs to feed, I'm not turning down free dog food! I just mix it in with their regular stuff. When Paxil was battling cancer, the only thing she would eat was Ol' Roy Meaty Chunks. What she ate didn't matter to me, it was far more important that she eat something! When she was feeling better, she returned to her usual diet. She still gets her Ol' Roy occasionally when her appetite is off and throughly enjoys it. I use it to bait water in the winter too--2 cups of kibble in 5 gallons of water, guarenteed the dogs will all drink it before the water is frozen.

[Flatcoatluver]

WOW, now I really understand why people don't like to discuss dog food on pet talk. I thought I was passionate about feeding quality food and I still am. There is one way to educate people about quality food, and shoving it down there throat is not one way.

Let's see a year and half ago (before I had Sage) my parents fed Kirkland lamb and rice. T.j did fantasic on it, Zoey did not. I was then educated about dog food and switched to chicken soup. Again T.j did fantastic and Zoey did awful. I then switched to canidae, at that time I had bought Sage, and he was being fed IAMS. The only problem Sage had on Iams was bad teeth. I switched Sage over to canidae. All three of my dogs didn't excel at it. I then switched to merrick, then solid gold, and then canine caviar. Never really finding the success I really wanted. Zoey was still having her allergy spasms and T.j and Sage not so shiny and soft. I then tried Zoey on Innova Evo and I am sooo pleased. She does not have her spasms or dandruffy skin. But she has horrible gas. T.j and Sage are now eating chicken soup and they are doing fantastic on it. I'm sticking to that and no one is going to tell me that it's not quality, because I like the ingredients and I can still sleep at night knowing what I feed my dogs.

[Jessika]

There is a huge difference between educating and forcing your opinion upon someone.

Educating is giving someone all of the facts and information and letting them draw their own conclusion. Forcing your opinion upon someone is giving them all of the facts and information and then telling them they are wrong is they do not come to the same conclusion as you.

[MS_PAWS]

Both of my dog's are dead...

This was before I read about dog food, they were always on Science Diet from day we got them, Misty however was on Purina when she was a puppy. They both had really bad health from the start.

Misty had a rare weird blood disease at age of 9-10 her life was a rocky start to begin with she had a illness called non-genetic blood cell disease which you can read more here http://www.geocities.com/aihadogs/

When Misty started to get ill I rush on internet and did so much research it was beyond what I found that I had imagine!

We put Misty on pedigree and I didn't like the results at all, then tried Newman's Own then we decided to home-cook prepared her meals throughout her life. She had to be on meds and we had to rotate cooking and kibble. Then we finally stick with Canidae all other source of kibble like Innova, Cali Natural, Eagle Pack were just impossible to find

And Lacey however died of spleen cancer results of that she was on science diet and was living off of table scape she died at age of 12.5 yrs old

I went here to compare to other food with Natura food as well
http://www.naturapet.com/tools/comparison.asp

[Catlady711]

I feed my dogs Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach and have for years.

I tried switching to Wellness and the following pictures will show you what the food did to my Buddy:




I'm happy with the "Low Quality" food I feed my dogs.

Looks alot like a food allergy reaction. I've also seen reactions like that only worse with Canidae and a number of other foods both high and low quality by anyone's definition.

Like it's been said before there's no one food perfect for all pets. You have to feed what works for your particular pet.

Besides, I wouldn't get too riled up over someone posting such 'in your face' food recommendations when not only do they not appear to have any pet nutrition credentials to their name, but also when they list Royal Canin on the 'low quality' list then a few posts later recommend that same brand of food for prescription use. lol I just found that amusing.

[Lady's Human]

Lots of scare info on those sites, as usual little to no referencing or scientific backing.

The debate about dog food is religion. Impossible to sway the true believers, regardless of how many facts backed up by science you throw at them.

[Karen]

And Lacey however died of spleen cancer results of that she was on science diet and was living off of table scape she died at age of 12.5 yrs old

I went here to compare to other food with Natura food as well
http://www.naturapet.com/tools/comparison.asp

To just use this one statement as an example -

Remember, you have no proof that your dog's illnesses were caused by their food. How can you state that the spleen cancer was because of Science Diet and table scraps? Do you have any scientific data to support that? And where did you get that data? It is scientifically unsound to just make assumptions, and to try to convince others based on your own guesses is just not right.

[Lady's Human]

Another ingredient to avoid:dihydrogen oxide. It is a universal corrosive agent, and if consumed in high enough doses can cause death. It's ONE MOLECULE away from being antifreeze, which is a deadly poison.

[MS_PAWS]

I think everyone needs to visit this forum
http://www.ourdogsonline.com/

[Lady's Human]

Okay, its another pet forum. Your point would be?