The Dogfood BLACKLIST

[lv4dogs]

One more to add: (actually I can think of a bunch, but I'm strapped for time & this is the worst)

Dad's dog food, gets its protein from chicken feathers.

[Kfamr]

I think if a dog is healthy with what they're eating, then it's fine. Of course, it's not going to be fine for EVERY dog.

Kiara eats IAMS puppy and Simba & Nala eat Purina ONE. Both are foods that I know many dislike and would NEVER feed their dogs. But, it iwas what we can afford, and guess what? Last vet checks my vet said that they were in "perfect" condition. Everyone always comments on how nice their coats are, too.

[micki76]

While growing up we had a dog named Tinker who lived to be somewhere near 20. We always fed him "Special Cuts" from the grocery store, all sugar. It's basically like the bits in Kibbles & Bits & made by the same company. He did fine on that, and he also got a LOT of people food. All dogs, like people are different. My Dad ate more fat than some third world countries every day for his whole life, but still lived to be 81.

Now, I'm not going to feed my dogs that, just because I want to feed them something that *I* consider better. I wouldn't let my skinkids (if I had any) eat sugar all day, and neither will my dogs. I think there are 4 basic categories of food:

*Utter junk (all fillers, sugar, virtually no decent protein source etc.) A waste of $ IMO, cause it ALL gets pooped out since there are no nutrients to absorb.

*So-so food (some fillers, not as much sugar, some have good protein sources, some don't)

*Premuim (still some have fillers, most don't have sugar, some really good, moderately priced nutrition)

*Human grade (usually the "health" food of dog food)

Having said all that, like Clara said, I don't care as long as they're not being starved. No good protein source and ify nutrition is always better than starving to death.

[Glacier]

Originally posted by micki76
Having said all that, like Clara said, I don't care as long as they're not being starved. No good protein source and ify nutrition is always better than starving to death.

Amen! I used to be really opinionated about this and then I got Kayleigh. Kayleigh had been starved by her first owner. She is currently at a perfect weight of about 120 pounds. When I first got her she weighed less than 75 pounds. Any food, not matter how cheap, full of fillers and corn, would have been better than what happened to Kayleigh. Almost four years later she still has food issues. I believe that abused dogs can overcome and forget almost anything. I don't believe they ever forget being hungry!

[anna_66]

We've fed so many different foods to the dogs. It's hard to find one that your dog does good on, is affordable and that they like.
We've recently started on Diamond Large Breed. It is a Super Premium Food at an affordable price. They all do good on it, have wonderful coats and the like it too!

[Giselle]

I also agree that while there are some foods I'd NEVER feed to my dog, some dogs do magnificent on them. However, I will never feed any food that is sold in supermarkets. Nor, will I feed food with corn or by-products as the first ingredient. Like another person said, there are some foods that I can't believe a dog can do well on. That said, I've done quite a bit of research and we are now doing a half kibble/half raw diet. By January, we shall be full raw or Raw/Innova EVO.

Currently, my dogs are fed Wellness and Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul. Actually, I've been told that Wellness contains a high amount of grains. My Pekingese is showing signs of allergies to grains, and Wellness is truly aggravating him. He is developing the dreaded skin problems and diarrhea. We're about to switch to Innova EVO. Is it expensive? You bet! But my dogs are my life and I want to feed them the absolute best. I'm fine with eating Top Ramen for the majority of my life Generic Mac and Cheese? Count me in!

[K9soul]

I'm in agreement that the most important thing is that a dog gets fed. I think there are definitely some foods that are more and less healthy than others but everyone needs to make their choice on what they feel is best and be comfortable with that. Mine do well on Royal Canin Natural Blend, and it has been an affordable high grade food with meat as the first ingredient. When I was younger and we had the collies, Mom got Diamond, which was what was affordable for us and the collies did well on it.

One thing my vet has always told me though is that "light" and "senior" foods are not so great. He said they degrade the quality of the food and add more filler to make it "light" and it isn't really healthy. He believes seniors or overweight dogs (not caused by medical conditions of course) should just have portions of regular food carefully monitored and reduced as needed, and of course exercise is always best too.

[Miranda_Rae]

I've known people that feed their dogs the REALLY cheap stuff, like my Aunt is currently feeding her Mini Schnaucher (I know I didn't spell it right!) Ol' Roy, YUCKY YUCK! I am trying to find her a good quality dog food that isn't extremely expensive because they don't have a lot of money. She wants to change it too but she doesn't know what to get him. He needs it too because I think a better quality dog food would be helpful for his bad breath. The only reason she is feeding that to him is because the people she got him from (he's 5) feed him that, and they said that it is the only thing he will eat.

I feed Heidi Pro Plan, and she has a really nice coat, clean teeth, and she doesn't get fat on it when I don't have a chance to exercise her or when its SO cold out like it is now!

[Pit Chick]

Originally posted by Miranda_Rae
The only reason she is feeding that to him is because the people she got him from (he's 5) feed him that, and they said that it is the only thing he will eat.

That's the only thing he'll eat because that's probably the only thing their cheep behinds would feed him. You can't get any crappier dog food than Ol' Roy. If your aunt is on a budget then Pro Plan would be a major upgrade from Ol' Roy. She can mix Ol' Roy and Pro Plan together until the bag of Ol' Roy is gone. I'm just assuming it's dry kibble? If not the same applies to canned.

[Miranda_Rae]

Yep, I know that Ol' Roy is the cheapest dog food that you can get. PLUS they didn't neuter him either, and hes five. I think she is going to neuter him when they get some money. Pro Plan is rather expensive for her though because her husband lost his job, and they are sending him through treatment for alcoholism. I would love to know about some good quality dog foods that aren't extremely expensive. I made a thread asking about that just a little while ago. I think its called "Good dog food that isn't extremely expensive".

[Pit Chick]

Does she have a Sam's Club in her area? They have a brand called Exceed that I've heard is actually pretty good and since everything there is sold in bulk they could get a nice sized bag for probably the same that a small bag of Pro Plan costs. Don't quote me on that, I don't shop at Sam's very often.

[Miranda_Rae]

Nope, no Sam's Club.

[lute]

You can't get any crappier dog food than Ol' Roy.

REALLY??? the dog we had when i was little ate ol'roy. she lived to be 12. i guess my parents didn't know about that kind of stuff back then. i figgerd ol'roy was pretty good since she lived so long.


also, i heard that Diamond large breed's main ingredient was corn. i tried it on my show husky for a while and her skin got really bad and she scratched all the time.

[K9soul]

Ground corn is the first ingredient in Ol'Roy. This is the first few ingredients listed for it:

Ground yellow corn, meat and bone meal, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, animal fat... and so on. Lots of filler.

Here are the first few ingredients for one of Diamond's basic foods (Diamond Beef Meal and Rice):

Beef meal, brewers rice, wheat flour, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), chicken meal, beet pulp, egg product, etc.

And their Lamb Meal and Rice:

Lamb meal, brewers rice, brown rice, rice flour, fish meal, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), egg product, beet pulp.. etc.

Not top quality but definitely seems better than Ol'Roy to me. I know Diamond has a lower price tag than a lot of foods of its grade.

[anna_66]

Originally posted by lute
also, i heard that Diamond large breed's main ingredient was corn.

Nope, not true.
Here are the ingredients in the LG BREED dog food:
Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, whole grain white rice, wheat flour, rice bran, beet pulp, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), egg product, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, brewers dried yeast, potassium chloride, salt, dried chicory root, glucosamine hydrochloride, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, chondroitin sulfate, beta carotene, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, L-Carnitine, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganous sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite (source of vitamin K activity), riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
Not too bad I don't think
And if you want to check out what is in the rest here is the website to Diamond Pet Foods