new dog food

[BitsyNaceyDog]

my boy Duke who is 1 year old today!!! has been on pedigree since i have had him(7months) my vet recomended it! I had my boy zues, who passed away just before x-mas on it as well(per vet advice) and they both have done well on it! Is it okay?? you all have me worried now!! I have never heard of most of the brands you keep refering to! should i change his food??

The best thing you can feed your dog is whatever he thrives on. But to be honest I'd never feed Pedigree to my dogs. As I stated in my above post, vet's are not generally nutritionists. You know your dog best and it's up to you to research and find which food is best for your dog.

I have 5 dogs. I feed 3 of them (Charlie, Nacey, and Nova) Blue Buffalo. I recently switched the other 2 (Bitsy and Buster) to Innova.

When you're looking for a food you need to look carefully at the ingredients. The first ingredient should be a specific meat (ie: chicken) or a specific meat meal (ie: chicken meal). I also look for foods that don't have corn and wheat as fillers.

Here are the ingredients for pedigree:
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), MINERALS (ZINC SULFATE, COPPER SULFATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE).

1) ground yellow corn- a filler, it has no real nutritional value
2) meat and bone meal- not a specific kind of meat, it could be anything
3) corn gluten meal- more corn, again a filler
4) chicken by-product meal- by-products are all the things you'd normally not eat (ie: feet, intestines, beak, necks)

Here are the first 10 ingredients in Blue Buffalo:
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Whole Ground Barley, Rye , Oatmeal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols, Citric Acid and Rosemary), Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Ground Flax Seed

Can you see the difference?

[critter crazy]

The best thing you can feed your dog is whatever he thrives on. But to be honest I'd never feed Pedigree to my dogs. As I stated in my above post, vet's are not generally nutritionists. You know your dog best and it's up to you to research and find which food is best for your dog.

I have 5 dogs. I feed 3 of them (Charlie, Nacey, and Nova) Blue Buffalo. I recently switched the other 2 (Bitsy and Buster) to Innova.

When you're looking for a food you need to look carefully at the ingredients. The first ingredient should be a specific meat (ie: chicken) or a specific meat meal (ie: chicken meal). I also look for foods that don't have corn and wheat as fillers.

Here are the ingredients for pedigree:
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), MINERALS (ZINC SULFATE, COPPER SULFATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE).

1) ground yellow corn- a filler, it has no real nutritional value
2) meat and bone meal- not a specific kind of meat, it could be anything
3) corn gluten meal- more corn, again a filler
4) chicken by-product meal- by-products are all the things you'd normally not eat (ie: chicken feet, intestines, beak, necks)

Here are the first 10 ingredients in Blue Buffalo:
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Whole Ground Barley, Rye , Oatmeal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols, Citric Acid and Rosemary), Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Ground Flax Seed

Can you see the difference?

well thnk you!! i never thought to look!! I just assumed the vet would know what was best!! how would i go about changing his diet, if i do??????

[Giselle]

Not to mention the generic label "animal fat"! Even worse, the "animal fat" is preserved with BHA/BHT - possible carcinogens. Then you have wheat mill run which is an extremely low-grade filler, wheat flour - another filler, SALT (dogs don't need that added salt in their kibble), natural poultry flavor (again, dogs really don't need this!), caramel color (dogs don't care what color their food is), etc. etc. Yuck yuck, I haven't looked at the ingredients list for Pedigree in awhile, but that's just ick.

Like it was mentioned before, it does not matter what kind of food you feed your dog provided s/he does well on it. My neighbor's cat is approaching her 17th birthday and she lives off a mix of Fancy Feast and Iams. She doesn't know that she isn't eating Felidae or Wellness. The point is that she has energy, she's healthy, and the food is working for her. That's all that matters

If you would really like to switch, I would recommend any of the following brands:
Blue Buffalo
Canidae
Wellness
Wysong
Pinnacle
Fromm
Innova/EVO (I adore Innova and EVO)
California Natural
Karma
Azmira
Flint River Ranch
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul
Natural Balance
Solid Gold

There are plenty more but these are just off the top of my head.
ETA: To switch your dog's food, do so gradually. For the first few days, feed her 75% old food 25% new food. Gradually, wean her onto 50% old food 50% new food, 25% old food 75% new food. Soon, she'll be eating 0% old food and 100% new food.

[bckrazy]

I totally agree with Giselle and Sue and such ;0)

Just to give you a different perspective, critter crazy, I know plenty of people who thought their dogs were "thriving" on grocery store kibbles. Their dogs had flakey skin and fur, bad teeth, etc (from my perspective) BUT because that is what they had fed all of their other dogs, they assumed that was thriving. I personally think it's not wise to just put your dog on one food and keep them on that, because it seems like they're doing fine. Variety is great for dogs, just like for people (except of course those with certain allergies, who need to be careful about switches).

I really thought the kibble I was feeding Gonzo was great for him, when I was feeding Nutro. I switched to a food with less grain, and what I thought was just normal issues (potty issues, dry skin, some tartar) drastically improved! I've been feeding him 50-75% raw now, and I've seen huge changes, even though I was feeding him a kibble before (Evo) that a lot of people say is next best to raw. He has much more energy, stamina, better BM's, cleaner teeth, brighter eyes, better breath, etc! I think just because it seems like your dog is ok on his kibble, does not mean there isn't PLENTY of room for improvement. We should strive to give our pups the healthiest life possible, within our financial/time/etc limits... not just what seems "safe". That's what bothers me with the whole "Just keep your dog on it if he isn't dying, it's whatever is ok with them!" comment. You don't know how much a better food will improve his health unless you try it.