What are we feeding our dogs these days?

[Chris J]

Me first :)

Flint River Ranch...

[evelyn1157]

i previously fed zoey eukanuba. but i am now feeding her back to basics.smells a lot nicer :D

[Fuzzy317]

We are feeding our Eli and Sassy Pedigree, the puppy (Ginger) is still nursing so we have not decided on her's yet.

[LoudLou]

Louie eats mostly Canidae I would prefer Innova but it's hard to get here on a regular basis.

[C.C.'s Mom]

I'm still using Hills, but I would like to change to Innova as I read on their site about it. Unfortunately... it's not available here.

[purrley]

I'm feeding my Tess a brand of puppy chow called Authority which is a brand by PetSmart. She also eats the Authority treats as well.

[Dixieland Dancer]

Originally posted by LoudLou
Louie eats mostly Canidae I would prefer Innova but it's hard to get here on a regular basis.

Canidae is a good quality food too! If your dog is doing good on it then I'd stick with it. No need to change.

[C.C.'s Mom]

Originally posted by SpencerTheLion
...is ordering over the Internet an option? Shipping charges might rule that out...

Oh no, the shipment would be really too expensive. But... I talked to the Dog Van (a friend who delivers dog food home) is going to see what they can do.

[ShepherdLover]

I'm currently feeding Iris Pedigree, but I'm changing to Iams ASAP!

[LoudLou]

Louie is weird.. He is the only dog I've ever had who prefers not to get the same thing "All The TIME" so we try and switch back and forth.... I think he thinks he's a cat. His Vet said it was oK since that's what Louie likes and it doesn't mess with him....Think he's spoiled?! :o ;)

[Dixieland Dancer]

Originally posted by ShepherdLover
I'm currently feeding Iris Pedigree, but I'm changing to Iams ASAP!


WHY? Both of them are terrible. If you are going to switch why not go with something that is actually healthy for you dog!

[Pam]

Bella eats Eukanuba. The vet recommended it to me when my last standard poodle had a gas problem :o from the food the breeder had been using. She likes it, it's easy to get, it's reasonably priced and there is no gas. Every now and then I stir in half a can of Mighty Dog and the food really disappear quickly that way! She also gets 1/2 an apple each morning and some pieces of banana. Her other favorite snack is carrots. :)

[KYS]

Sheba and Rocky get Innova/Canidae mixed together.
Pepper gets Purina One.

They all share a can of Might Dog or can Iams and
also they get people food mixed with their breakfast
and dinner. such as:
Plain Yogart, egg,low fat cottage cheese, meat, fish,
vegetable etc.
When I cook I take them into concideration. lol

[*LabLoverKEB*]

Good idea!:)

I feed Sadie Eukanuba, which I think is a pretty good dog food!;)

[kobieeli]

Kobie and Eli started out on Purina ProPlan, but now they both eat Innova. They love it and we have no problems with shedding, poor stools, allergies, etc.

[AdoreMyDogs]

I used to give Graham Innova. It was good food, but he began getting so bored with it. He would smell it and walk away, then come back and take a bite, and walk away again.

After researching it quite a bit, I decided to begin him on a raw diet with bag of grain mix from the company Sojonour Farms, raw meat and raw, ground veggies.

It was hard at first since I have been a vegetarian for 7 or so years, but I got used to having meat in the house again.

[aly]

My dogs are on Nutro Max right now. I was trying to switch them to Innova but haven't done it yet because I am researching to find a good food for dogs with allergies.

[Dixieland Dancer]

Originally posted by aly
My dogs are on Nutro Max right now. I was trying to switch them to Innova but haven't done it yet because I am researching to find a good food for dogs with allergies.

The best food for dog with allergies is California Natural. It is also made by Natura (the makers of Innova).

[Logan]

Opinions of which dog food is the best can become very heated at times. One thing I know is that each of you does everything possible to take the best possible care of your dogs!!! Once over at Golden Retriever, I had to remind people that not everyone could throw down the money required to purchase the premium foods. And we all know that lots of dogs have lived perfectly healthy, long lives on Purina Dog Chow and other grocery store brands. I think the key is to get the absolute best you can afford.

Purrley, Ktreva52, who knows her dogs, and who is a member here, suggested Authority before. I've never read the bag, but she was very high on it. I guess it is Petsmart's own premium food.

Honey and Lilly are currently eating Iams Weight Control in the blue bag. We had a severe weight gain in both dogs and this food was suggested by a nutritionist who works with a Golden Retriever Rescue group in Dallas. We previously used Flint River Ranch, which they loved, but they both gained an extreme amount of weight on it. I don't think my dogs are active enough to need something quite so rich. We switched to Iams in October 2001. They have made their adjustment beautifully and have lost weight too! Lilly hasn't been weighed in since before Christmas, but in two months, had lost 9 pounds and looks wonderful. She has probably lost additional weight since then, but we have not been back for a weighin. Honey didn't need to lose as much weight, but dropped from 72 pounds to 69 pounds. I would like to see Lilly at 80 and Honey at 65. They also have Iams Weight Control biscuits, which I break in half for them, so they can have several treats a day. And occasionally, I will give them a scrambled egg or greenbeans on their food. They are very happy and healthy.

[purrley]

Logan - yes Authority is Petsmart own - the only bad thing about this is I have to purchase it there and it is a little out of the way. But Tess likes it and she seems to be thriving on it. I'd like to be able to buy it in the grocery store and maybe when she's a year old I'll switch her over to the store brand.

[aly]

Originally posted by Dixieland Dancer


The best food for dog with allergies is California Natural. It is also made by Natura (the makers of Innova).

Cool!!! Thanks so much. I wonder if its at Petsmart? I'll look into where I can get it here.

[Logan]

Purrley, I can't imagine that you have to buy too much at a time for little Tess!! Maybe you could get it from Petsmart's website instead. I liked it when we were on Flint River Ranch because I bought 40 pounds at a time (to last one month), and the poor UPS man had to haul it, not me!! He would deliver straight to the dog food bin in the kitchen for me!!! I love that man!! :o Now I'm back to buying 20 pound bags, and I just get them one at the time, and buy them from our local Greenville Feed and Seed Store. The grocery store sells Iams now, but only has the blue bag in the smallest size, which doesn't last long around here.

Logan

[purrley]

:D :D Actually the smaller bag will last her over a month, maybe more - she just finished off the second small bag since I've had her which was Dec. 5th:)

[jennifert]

WHY? Both of them are terrible. If you are going to switch why not go with something that is actually healthy for you dog!

Dixie, why do you say Iams is terrible? I know Logan, I know! I don't want to start a fight at all!:) I'm just curious as to what is wrong with Iams and what would be better and why... My vet recommends it for all dogs along with Eukanuba. I would prefer to feed Duncan Eukanuba but my roommate and I buy the 40 lb bags of Iams and are currently sharing. We don't have a Petsmart here, only a PetCo. Some of the brands mentioned, (Royal Canin, Innova, Flint River Food) I have never seen around here at any of the stores.
Dixie, perhaps you can direct me to some articles or websites with info on why Iams may not be the best choice?? Then I can have some ammunition to show my roommate to convince her we need to change food.;)

[kobieeli]

jennifert--

Here's a good site to compare dogfood labels and understand their ingredients.... www.naturapet.com/display.asp?sc=7-1&hsc=
It's part of the Innova/California Natural website so it's a bit biased towards those products, but in general the info is pretty accurate. You can compare almost any dog food brands side-by-side here.

As for the Iams/Eukanuba brands (they're made by the same company, Proctor & Gamble), the negative publicity P & G has gotten in the past few years both in the US and Europe regarding their animal testing has turned me off of those foods completely; I don't even like to buy any household products made by P & G anymore! But they're not bad foods, and there are definitely WORSE ones you could feed your dog. One P & G animal testing link... www.vivisectioninfo.org/news/pandg100501.html There are many others if you search under "iams animal testing" or similar phrasing.

[Dixieland Dancer]

Originally posted by jennifert


Dixie, why do you say Iams is terrible? perhaps you can direct me to some articles or websites with info on why Iams may not be the best choice?? Then I can have some ammunition to show my roommate to convince her we need to change food.;)

I base this comment on the ingredients in both products. Let's just take a couple of ingredients on the Iams chunks bag and see what they really are.

Chicken By-products - This is an ever changing ingedient. By-products are whatever is left over from other processing. Today is it liver, kidney, lung tomorrow it is spleen, heart, intestines. Due to the inconsistentcy of the By-products being used how can the nutritional value be consistent? By-products are also much less expensive than Chicken meal and also much less digestable. This means the nutritional value is going in one end of your dog and passing through the other end with almost the same nutritional value because it is not getting absorbed into the dogs system.

Ground Corn - Ground corn is a processed ingredient that has been determined to be a cause of allergies in canines. While your dog may not develope an allergy that is readily diagnosed, That does not mean a food allergy is not present. Excessive shedding, scratching, ear infections, dull coat, hot spots are all symptoms of food allergies. I have seen to many of these problems in dogs and then when they are switched to a higher quality food they magically disappear!

My suggestion is to learn about the foods you feed your dog. A lot of pet food manufacturers do it for the billions of dollars the industry creates and not for the absolute love of your pet. IAMS and EUKANUBA were originally a very high quality food when it was run by IAMS co. The founder was Paul Iams and he started the company to create a high quality food. Unfortunately it is now run by Proctor and Gamble and believe me they do not have the same concern for your pet that Paul Iams did over 50 years ago. Their bottom line is how to make a bigger profit for the company using the least expensive ingredients they can. After all they are a public trading company that has to answer to the stock holders! Anyone in business can tell you how that goes.

Royal Canin has a new holistic food on the market that can be purchased at Pet Smart. I have not researched it all that closely but at first glance it looks pretty good. None of the ingredients that are on my taboo list.

Please don't get me wrong. You are the one who ultimately has to determine what is best for your dog. I am only giving my opinion based on years of research and trying to combat problems my dogs were having. Goldens in particular tend to have a lot of food allergy problems. I can honestly say that my Dixie and Dusty are the first Goldens I have owned that are not displaying the problems my other Goldens did. I believe it is because of the food they are eating.

One final note. The cost of a food does not determine if it is a premium food or not. You need to be educated to read the label and see what is in the product. Chances are you will find more foods with unattractive ingredient lists that cost more than some of the less expensive supermarket kinds. However, that being said, a Super premium food will cost more initially but because the ingredients are more readily absorbed into the blood stream, you do not feed as much. Therefor the food actually ends up costing about the same in the long run. You actually get smaller more consistent stools too because the ingredients list is pretty stable.

[ShepherdLover]

Dixie, I was very offended by your comment. I'm not feeding Iris, Iams Chunks, I'm feeding her Lamb & Rice. I don't want to start a flame, but I was very offended. I don't want to be yelled at.

[Dixieland Dancer]

I apologize for offending you. That was not my intention and I did not realize I was yelling. Please forgive me. I was just trying to understand why you would switch from pedigree to Iams ASAP.

I only used Iams chunks as an example. Most Iams products fall into the same processing catagory. The ingredients may change but the processing procedures are still the same. However, you ultimately have to be satisfied with what you feed your dog. If you feel Iams is right for you then that is what you should feed.

In working with dogs over the years, I have had many owners fight battles with problems that are more likely caused by food allergies. This can be prevented by changing what we feed our dogs. I have been trying to get people to look at what is on the ingredient list. I believe if people are informed of the problems in some of the ingredients given to our dogs then they will naturally make the decision to switch to a more wholesome food.

Again, I sincerely apolagize. It was not my intention to offend you. I guess I get a little (okay a lot) passionate about this subject.

[C.C.'s Mom]

I finally found some nice premium dog food in Germany (other than Iams & Co.), It's called Bozita and it's from a Swedish company. It might be hard to get, but in Germany you can either get it by mailorder or some pet shops may have it.

Why Bozita? Compared to EU regulations:
no antibiotics, hormones or sedadive medication allowed for animals used for consumption

Cookie seems to really enjoy it. It's also supposed to be better for the doggy coats.

I bought some catfood from Bozita too this morning, and they like it too. It's also not too expensive. Try it! It seems to be the most natural dog food available in Germany at the moment.

[mary_jsn]

Dixieland Dancer, don't want to start a fight but I don't think Iams is a bad dog food, just because of the ingridients. It's like us, eating Mcdonald's when they use some artificial chicken or something on the nuggets. But hey! who cares? As long as we like it. You should read the label. This is what eukanuba for small breeds say: The eukanuba Vital health system provides advanced nutritional support with special ingridients in each formula to keep you dog's vital system in optimal conditions. Each eukanuba formula is developed with nutrients important for a dog's specific life stage and/or size.
It also has real chicken protein which help to develop and maintain strong muscles and healthy coat. I don't mind animal testing in this product 'cause they test it to make sure that our pups and dogs have a balanced nutrition for growth, gestation and lactation.
Anyways. In Chile, we don't have much dog food brands and this was recommended by Leika's vet and the pet shop were we bought her. This is one of the best brands apart from Pedigree and Purina. And I haven't had any problems with it. And anyways In here I haven't seen any brands that offer a special nutrition for small breeds. All I know is that pedigree has some but for older dogs. As long as my dog eats it and has strong poops I don't mind.

[Stenograsaurus]

I feed my dogs Nutro Natural Recipe for large breeds. They love it and I like it. We're all happy with the choice.

[Dixieland Dancer]

If you are happy with what you feed your dog that is fine. After all you are the one who has to make the final decision on what is best for your dog.

If you start to see things like excessive shedding, dull coat, hot spots, excessive scratching, constant ear infections, etc. it is possible the dog has a food related allergy. You may want to reinvestigate the possablility of what they are eating if you see these symptoms.

On that note, I just want to say that I will not respond to this thread anymore. Everyone is able to feed their dogs what they want. I was only offering advice and giving examples of certain ingredients that are known to cause problems in canines. Now the decision is each dog owners choice on what to feed. I have apologized for upsetting ShepherdLover. It was not my intention and I will not engage in any further debates in what to feed your dog.

[ShepherdLover]

Originally posted by Dixieland Dancer
I apologize for offending you. That was not my intention and I did not realize I was yelling. Please forgive me. I was just trying to understand why you would switch from pedigree to Iams ASAP.

Thank you for apologizing. I feel that Iams is a good food for my dogs. I'm not sure if we can offord Eukanuba right now. Alot of dogs that are on Iams, look/act very healthy to me.

Thanks for apologizing, again! :)

[aly]

But if we ate McDonalds every day, we'd be REALLY REALLY unhealthy.

I am not criticizing anyone for any type of food they feed. I would just also like to say I've read about and researched Iams and found the same things Dixie was talking about.

Dixie - I appreciate your advice and links.

[mary_jsn]

Well you are right about Mcdonalds but Leika hasn't shown yet any signs of allergies or anything that would have to do with Eukanuba. But you can't keep your dog feeding all these healthy and diet foods. 'cause everyone needs fat. It might be true that they have all these sort of things that look gross and is bad for us but maybe is not for our dogs. Anyways if I wanted to change the brand, I just couldn't 'cause at the moment in my country Eukanuba is the only dog food that provides extra vitamins and stuff for smaller breeds which makes the pellets smaller so Leika doesn't have any problems eating them.

[jackiesdaisy1935]

I agree with Aly, if we eat healthy, then we should in any way we can feed our dog healthy food. I think Dixie was just stating her opinion just like everyone else, in fact just trying to give good advice, which I have listened to and respected as she has many years of experience. I really don't feel that she should apologize to anyone under the circumstances. Everyone is entitled to their say, that's what the board is here for.
Jackie

[Cincy'sMom]

We just switched from Iams to Senesible Choice about 3 weeks ago. The girls like it much better

[Chris J]

Years ago I use to feed my dogs Wayne Dog Food now as Senesible Choice I hear....

[sabies]

Sadie eats Innova and LOVES it. Once she started getting older I figured I'd look into the best food choices to get rid of preservatives and by-products that might be ultimately harmful to her health - it's more preventive since I would not be able to afford cancer treatment or something like that, I can only hope it helps but will never really know!!

I made a web page from my research: pet nutrition (http://members.aol.com/sabies/sadie/DogCare/petnutrition.html)

I give my dogs pedigree!

[Logan]

I was just re-reading this whole message thread and it has been very informative. Sometimes, emails and message boards are tough because the tone we "read" might be far from what the author intended it to be. I know I have reacted to posts directed at me, here and on other boards, negatively, and allowed my feelings to be hurt. Perhaps I jumped to conclusions. In fact, I re-read something I wrote on another topic yesterday, and decided to delete it (better late than never, I guess :o ). I had spurted out my dismay in haste and when I saw it again, I thought "OH, LOGAN, that sounds terrible!". I'm glad you guys got it all straightened out. :)

As for the food subject, we have achieved what we wanted to with Honey and Lilly's diet, using the Iams Weight Control. My plan was to keep them on it for maintenance, and work on getting those last few pounds off of Lilly. Honey has other plans. She refuses to eat it now. I've noticed her leaving it in the bowl and finally eating it as a last resort in recent weeks. I think it is time to start introducing them to something else, but carefully this time. My friend, who also has a Golden Retriever, is using California Natural with great success. Abbey has had terrible skin problems, constantly itching, pulling out her hair, has been on prednisone off and on for two years, but never got better. One month ago, they changed to this food. Miraculously, no more itching and Kim says that her coat is more beautiful than it has ever been. I'm going to do some more research and then hopefully find the right thing for them. I'll keep you posted!

Logan

[mary_jsn]

Most food brands have this ingridient that makes pet allergic to it and start scratching and all. I think if eukanuba is really bad for our pets then why do they sell it?

[AdoreMyDogs]

Originally posted by mary_jsn
Most food brands have this ingridient that makes pet allergic to it and start scratching and all. I think if eukanuba is really bad for our pets then why do they sell it?

Mary, it's fine that you feed your dogs what you feed them, and that goes for everyone. I think this post got a bit heated, but most everyone seems to be level headed about it. It was nice of Candy to appologize, even though I honestly don't think she meant to hurt feelings. I am not trying to get the debate going again, but Hostess cupcakes and cigerettes and potato chips and soda pop and donouts and candy corn and McDonalds, and all the other unhealthy foods/stimulants that are being sold DAILY, are not at all good for humans but yet they still sell that stuff SO MUCH! Just because one food is not healthy, does not mean the manufacturer will stop selling it. Food sells because people buy, regardless of it's health benefits. If the world suddenly converted to a fully healthy diet, that junk would not sell. That's the only way unhealthy foods will stop selling...if people stop buying!

I was at Walmart yesterday and I happen to browse their pet department and saw a huge bag (it looked to be 50 pounds) of the cheapest dog food I have ever seen. It was less then $10.00 for all that food and the ingredients were not good at all, but at least that shopper was buying food instead of letting his dog starve. Although it's hard to see such bad foods out on the market, they are far better then NO food. The guy buying that bulk, no-name brand of dog food loved his dog enough to make a trip to the store to buy it a great big bag of food.

Ok, I'll shut up now :) You know what I mean.

[mary_jsn]

Ok, thanks. I guess you are right. But I still can't believe that Iams thing even though my vet recommended it to me. :confused:

[Logan]

Many people recommend Iams, Mary. Its just an individual choice...one that until recently, my dogs did fine with. Honey is just being finnicky, so as usual, I'm going to work hard to make her happy and find something else! :p

[mary_jsn]

Leika is picky too about her food. She's starting to eat less. It worries me even though I wouldn't mind that she actually comes back to her normal weight, 3kg. She's weighting at the moment 4kg. The worse thing is that I leave her all day in the backyard and let her in in the night 'cause the nights are really cold even though we are in summer. Well the thing is that if she doesn't eat her food it get's full of ants and I have to take the plate away and throw out as many ants as I can. If this keeps I'm going to switch to the 15 minutes thingy.

[Crikit]

I use Eukanuba adult maintence for both dogs although I'm in the process of switching Smudgers over to weight control formula because as I was told by both my vet and my agility instructor, he needs to lose some weight...funny thing about that the instructor was on my case worse then the vet was...then again she sees him every week or so and unlike the vet she knows where I live (can you guess what one I'm more scared of?)

Crikit ^_^ \/

[sabies]

Smudgers, what a cute name Crikit!

[Crikit]

actually his name is Smudge but I call him Smudgers as well as many other things which tend to get a little embarassing, then again the ones for Winter girl are much worse:)

[xoxjoaniexox]

I tried different foods to see which one the little Princess likes. We settled on Pro Plan Lamb and Rice. Whew!

[shais_mom]

I am late on this subject, and I do not intend to get it all fired up again, but wanted to give my 2 cents worth.
I totally agree with Leslie, that was beautifully said. I shudder when I see people buying Ol' Roy, or Come and Get it or Kibbles and Bits type foods but they are not letting them starve and love them enough to provide them with food and that is just as important. Not everyone can afford to buy the cadillac of pet foods like some of us can. But then again not everyone treats their dogs and cats like we do either!
I have tried many types of foods, finally settling of Royal Canin Holistic blend. Shaianne had sensitive bowels and stomach. We went thru gastritis and cholitis. The gastritis was worse I think b/c she vomited at least once or twice a day. Sometimes I would wake up in the morning and and find 4 piles of vomit on the floor. The vet said if we didn't get her cleared up we might have to put her on perscription food and we didn't want to do that. I finally found the holistic blend and we had great results, she stopped vomiting completely until about a month before she died, when I bought another kind of food and mixed in it with the R.C.
I have been trying to keep Keegan only on dry food, with occasional bil-jac (frozen) mixed in. Not often tho, I don't want her to get used to eating it with other things in it. Altho she does enjoy it when I mix green beans or chicken/beef broth in with it occasionally.

Incidently, I feed Kylie the R.C foods also. I tried switching her and she started vomiting also, so I am switching her back to the R.C. They came out with a new formula for indoor cats that is supposed to reduce litter box odors!
She really like the R.C food

[Serra'sGhost]

Hello, i'm new to this.....but well here goes.....i was feeding Ghost Iams and found she had lots of gas.....so we are trying Hill's Science Diet....I've been trying to find something around here that would be good for her nutrionally.....They sell Nutro and Hill's but i'm not sure about these others that are listed.....Ghost is a Siberian Husky.....any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks,
Serra'sGhost