How I feed my dogs.

[Muddy4paws]

I've read alot of topics on here about feeding raw and it really isnt an option for me because of money etc,

Our dogs get fed once a day with Bonios for breakfast and normally a treat during the day like Dentastix's from Pedigree, At night they get fed a can or half a can of either Winalot or Pedigree dog food along with some Mixer either by Winalot or Pedigree and I mentioned this to someone today and they told me that Pedigree is really unsuitable and causes skin problems? I've never seen my dogs with any type of skin problem but its worried me and I want some opinions if you have heard anything bad? I dont understand ingredients for dog food (I know I sound stupid!) so anyone have any input?

[pitc9]

My parents 12 year old GSD Mix Toby has been eating Pedigree since she was first adopted at 4 months old, she gets canned and dry Pedigree.
I know it's not the best food they could give her, but she's fine and has always been a very healthy dog!

[Muddy4paws]

Mine were started on Eukanuba (sp) and a canned meat but we saw something on tv that put us right off of that brand so we changed to what seemed a popular choice which was pedigree and winalot, I have to admit we do get the odd can of winalot which the food is green when we open it but we wrote to them and they explained it the machine that does that and we get vouchers for 6 free tins but we do try and stick to pedigree if we can.

[My Peanuts]

Ok, this is what I was told and I'm not saying it to upset anyone. I was told that if you can buy it at a supermarket, it's PROBABLY not the best food. If your dog is doing well then you might not want to switch, read the ingredients. Look for things like corn (a filler) or anything that says byproduct. If corn is in the first few ingredients listed I would suggest changing the food.

Personally I like Chicken soup for the dog lover’s soul. The ingredients are wonderful, but I know some dogs do better on it than others. Three of my four eat it and do wonderful on it (the fourth is a vegetarian on prescription food with a meat protein allergy) Their coats, which from the shelter and foster care, were dry and dull are now shiny and healthy. It's priced like Eukanuba, but has better ingredients.

Some dogs do well on food that I would consider bad. My childhood dog, Barney, lived to be 18 years old and when he was older he ate cycle 4 senior food (not even sure if it’s still made) that we bought at the grocery store. He was diabetic, which I suspect was from the poor (we didn’t know any better) food he ate when he was younger, still, he lives to a ripe old age.

Food for thought, no pun intended!

[timlewis]

Hey I Have Asked The Same Question About Purina Puppy Chow, I Still Dont Know A Lot About It But I Think That Corn Wheat And Soy Are Fillers. To My Understanding They Just Put It In There To Take Up Space And It Just Ends Up As Poop To Put It Plainly. Ur Dog Cant Use It For Anything So It Just Goes In One End And Out The Other. I Was Told To Use Nutro And Now They Say It Is Going To Be Sold At Wal Mart And For Some Reason That Makes It No Count, So It Went From One Of The Best To One Of The Worse Because It Is Going To Be Sold At Wal Mart. If U Can Buy These Foods Anywhere Aroung Nutro Is Not That Much Higher I Have Been Trying To Find A Place To Buy It Myself. Their Website Says I Have A Store About 30 Miles Away But Where I Live I Have To Go Over Mountains And Thru The Hills Take Me A Hour And A Half To Get There So Im Still Trying To Find Something Around Here. I Found One Down The Road That Sells Diamond Which Has Omega 3 In It And I Dont Know What That Is. Good Luck.

[Muddy4paws]

Ok, this is what I was told and I'm not saying it to upset anyone. I was told that if you can buy it at a supermarket, it's PROBABLY not the best food. If your dog is doing well then you might not want to switch, read the ingredients. Look for things like corn (a filler) or anything that says byproduct. If corn is in the first few ingredients listed I would suggest changing the food.

Personally I like Chicken soup for the dog lover’s soul. The ingredients are wonderful, but I know some dogs do better on it than others. Three of my four eat it and do wonderful on it (the fourth is a vegetarian on prescription food with a meat protein allergy) Their coats, which from the shelter and foster care, were dry and dull are now shiny and healthy. It's priced like Eukanuba, but has better ingredients.

I've never heard of chicken soup for the dog lovers soul? I come from UK so maybe the dont do that here? Dont worry you wont offend me I asked for comments!

I'll look up the ingredients and see if I can find one here without corn in it? will that also help with her weight? I got told that feeding her on a fish based canned food called Chappie would also help?

[My Peanuts]

I've never heard of chicken soup for the dog lovers soul? I come from UK so maybe the dont do that here?

You might not have it, but I didn't know the US had it until people on this board told me about it. I'll look to see.

[My Peanuts]

Dont worry you wont offend me I asked for comments!

I know, but a similar topic came up and I offered the same advice and someone picked a fight with me. I was so confused, I was just trying to help but this person thought I was being mean to them. It was very strange. So that's why I said that, so there was no confusion.

[lisahumphreys882]

I haven't fed purina to my dog but in the case of bad skin it's possible that it could have been caused by an allergic reaction to the food.

[CathyBogart]

My parents' dogs, Star and Wibur both eat Pedigree and they're both doing very well. Wilbur's skin IS a bit dry, but that has more to do with how often he finds something "awesome" to roll around in (and consequently gets a bath) than his food.

I feed raw myself, but I have no problem with Pedigree, and I actually gave Jasper a few meals of it while I stayed at my parents' house.

[wolfsoul]

As far as ingredients go, Pedigree really doesn't have anything great to offer.

See the ingredient list here. I've put in bold the questionable ingredients.

GROUND YELLOW CORN, MEAT AND BONE MEAL, CORN GLUTEN MEAL, CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT MEAL, ANIMAL FAT (PRESERVED WITH BHA/BHT), WHEAT MILL RUN, NATURAL POULTRY FLAVOR, RICE, WHEAT FLOUR, SALT, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, CARAMEL COLOR, VEGETABLE OIL (SOURCE OF LINOLEIC ACID), VITAMINS (CHOLINE CHLORIDE, dl-ALPHA TOCOPHEROL ACETATE [SOURCE OF VITAMIN E], L-ASCORBYL-2- POLYPHOSPHATE [SOURCE OF VITAMIN C*], VITAMIN A SUPPLEMENT, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], BIOTIN, d-CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, RIBOFLAVIN SUPPLEMENT [VITAMIN B2], VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENT, VITAMIN B12 SUPPLEMENT), TRACE MINERALS (ZINC SULPHATE, COPPER SULPHATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE).