Premium food (like Taste of the Wild), as opposed to basic food, for my BC (Border Collie) dog/son

[Doug_FL]

I have been feeding my 10 yr old BC basic food, like Pedigree. With usually a little moist food on top,
to make it taste better. My vet says this is fine. She does not feel premium dog foods would be healthier
for my BC. But, I'm thinking of buying Taste of the Wild. Sometimes, I use a little gravy from crockpot
cooking, as the topping for his basic dog food. I'm afraid some might get left in his bowl, go bad and make
him sick. This could happen with the canned food too, I would think. Costing me a big vet bill. So, I wash
his bowl everyday, to prevent this problem.

A premium dog food, that my BC would just eat, without a topping, would be easier for me. Cost of the new
food is more, but not that much. I was told the problem with some so-called premium foods is dogs often get
overweight. So, they are not more healthy, for dogs if this happens. My BC has always been between
45-50 lbs., right were a male BC should be. I would think if I follow the instructions on the side of the bag,
my BC should not gain weight on the new food. Anyone have any experience with doing this?

[Karen]

There is no reason for the dog to gain weight because of "premium" food, unless the person is feeding it more than necessary! o make the switch gradually, to avoid an upset tummy!

[Jessika]

Premium foods tend to be richer and more caloric dense than lower quality foods, therefore you need to feed LESS of the premium foods. Dogs often get overweight on these foods because owners are so used to feeding, say, 6 cups a day of the lower quality foods where you may only need to feed 2-3 cups a day of the premium food.

Check the kcal/cup content on the food... actually, it may be impossible to find it on the low quality food bag as many food companies don't list the kcals at all.

My Aussie is right at 40# and eats a premium food that has 468 kcal/cup and when I did the math to figure out how many kcals/day she needed, it wound up being 2c of this food per day (yes, there is an equation to figure it out, if you want to get that in depth about it). So, in theory since your BC is around the same weight as my girl, and depending on the food, you should really only be feeding your dog around 2c/day on a more premium food.

Versus Pedigree Adult only has 290 kcal/cup (I had to do A LOOOOT of searching to find this out, btw, as they don't make the information readily available as premium brands will), so you'd need to feed nearly DOUBLE the amount of this food as you would a more premium brand.

TL;DR: Dogs tend to gain weight on more premium foods because they're more caloric dense, meaning you should be feeding LESS of it to meet their nutritional needs, but owners tend to over feed it.

Forgot to add....... the feeding guidelines on the side of the bag are just that -- guidelines. And they're guidelines for the dog's IDEAL weight, not their current weight. Food companies make money off selling dog food... so the guidelines are often telling owners to feed a little more than they should be. The guidelines also don't take into account individual dogs' metabolism, activity level, build, etc... which realistically would be impossible to do anyway. I never follow the guidelines and when people ask me how much to feed I tell them not to pay TOO much attention to them, but to use them LOOSELY.

Basically... if your dog is gaining weight, feed less. If they are losing weight, feed more. Even if it goes against what the "guidelines" say you should be feeding.

Hope that all makes sense!!!!!! I have done A LOOOT of research and hands-on with stuff like this if you're confused or have more questions :)

[Freedom]

Your dog will be healthier on a high quality food, and there will be less waste -- i.e. smaller poops.

I fed TOTW for over 2 years, for all my pets, dogs and cats both. Then I learned that their food contains ethoxyquin, a known carcinogen. They are not required to include this on the label because it is not something they, the dog food manufacturer, adds. Rather, it is something the fish supplier adds to the fish. So I switched to Earthborn Holistics. Earthborn offers 3 grain - free formulas, I use those. Earthborn has never had a recall, and is prepared in a factory which also prepares human grade food. So it is right up there in quality.

Bichons have LOADS of food allergies, so we have to keep them on a grain free diet.

You can learn a LOT about dog foods by reading on this site: www.dogfoodanalysis.com
Read the labels for a few 6 star foods. Then read the labels for a few 2 star foods. Then look up the food YOU are feeding. You will learn what to look for, what to avoid.

Vets have little to NO training in nutrition.

[IRescue452]

The guidelines on the side of the bag usually give about a 200% range of what you should feed your dog. By following those guidelines you can be underfeeding your dog by half or overfeeding your dog double what they should get. That is because those guidelines are usually based on the size of the dog and maybe slightly on the age (puppy, adult, senior), but rarely ever on activity level. A dog being kept outside in the winter in a cold climate is even a factor on how many calories they should get. You can find a basic calculator here, but be sure to be honest about your dog's activity level. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-feeding-tips/dog-food-calculator/

A premium food can make a big difference if a dog has skin infections, ear infections, allergies or other health issues, but if your dog is doing fine on the regular food don't expect to see some miraculous change. Your dog is probably already pretty spoiled with the gravy so he may not want to eat any sort of kibble without his toppings. It may take some convincing.

[Freedom]

Anothr good source of info: The Whole Pet Diet, by Andi Brown. Found it at my library; liked it so much, I bought a copy.

I thought of this because she is a big fan of toppings, so the comment above brought the book to mind.

[jessewills]

Good, if you BC like premium food. But some time premium food is main cause of some infection and allergies. You should give him premium food accounting to guideline on the side of the bag. You can give him grain free, organic and natural dog food. These are very good food for dogs.try it .....

[River Amore]

You may want to check out this website for dog food reviews. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/ The Dog Food Analysis website is also good. My Papillons eat Victor Grain Free Salmon kibble and Wellness.