Dog owners: What dog food do you feed them?

[seuadr]

Well, i did use whatever was on sale.. after reading this thread and that website, i am now feeding them taste of the wild. the only one i've tried so far is the plains fowl, but based on how they wolfed that down, i wouldn't be supprised if they like all the other flavors as well!

[nskitts]

Originally Posted by BHW

I'm intrigued by the 4Health brand sold at Tractor Supply. Its $36.99 for a 35 pound bag! One of the blends gets 5 stars on PetFood Advisor. Most of the rest their blends get 4 stars.

It looks to be Tractor Supply's premium offering. I'm going to give it a try the next round. That's better than 2 bucks a pound for some of the others.

[Boondox]

Aren't the evaluations on PetFoodAdvisor.com sponsored by...pet food companies?

[groop]

Originally Posted by Boondox

Aren't the evaluations on PetFoodAdvisor.com sponsored by...pet food companies?

There's petfoodadvisor.com and dogfoodadvisor.com. Dogfoodadvisor.com is the more popular of the two. If you believe what is on the internet, there is a disclosure page to make your own conclusions; http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/discla...nd-disclosure/. Then there's this 8-page debate on scam.com discussing whether or not the dogfoodadvisor.com, is a sham. You be the judge: http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=163221

Petfoodadvisor.com simply redirects to sponsored links

[el queso]

Currently I'm feeding them Natural Balance Limited Ingredients Lamb and Rice formula, but the younger pointer seems to be developing an allergy, so I'm looking for something else. I used to feed the old guy Natures Choice senior food, but I moved him over to the NB because it was easier to manage. The one thing odd about the NB is that it gives them rock hard poops - seems like it must hurt!

The old dude just turned 17!

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by el queso

The old dude just turned 17!

[Bueller]

Today I made the decision to move my 2nd oldest dog from Acana to a raw diet. She's always been on the neurotic side, and would often lick the air, the couch, blankets, etc., when she would get stressed. I've done a decent amount of reading about potential food sensitivities and allergies, which was the motivation to move my dogs to Acana from Science diet about a year and a half ago. But in addition to the licking, this dog has started to puke up a bit of kibble in the middle of the night about once every week and a half. After reading that it could be an issue of the kibble absorbing too much water from her intestines we tried soaking the kibble for about 45 minutes before feeding. It seemed to help at first, but she got sick twice last night. So I purchased Primal raw Chicken formula today. Holy shit, that stuff is expensive! But if she stops getting sick and/or having other symptoms of food intolerance I suppose a raw diet is cheaper than a vet bill.

[MookieBlaylock]

Originally Posted by Bueller

Holy shit, that stuff is expensive! l.

if you go the freeze dried raw route this place is typically much less expensive than local stores

http://www.doggiefood.com/primal-dog-foods.html

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by MookieBlaylock

if you go the freeze dried raw route this place is typically much less expensive than local stores

http://www.doggiefood.com/primal-dog-foods.html

That works out to 9 days worth of freeze dried food for her, for $19.99 versus 8 days of frozen Primal for $17.99 at the local Pet People. Basically the same cost either way, but I appreciate the suggestion

[DangerMoney]

We've had GSDs for years and tried different brands of quality dog food. We've settled on Flint River Ranch and have it delivered via UPS so there's no hassle finding it nor running out. As others have mentioned, higher qualtiy food means less filler->more gets absorbed into their system->less comes out the back end.

Dogs have sensitive GI tracts so if you switch foods, do it gradually by mixing a little of the new food with a lot of the old in each feeding and increasing the ratio of new to old as time goes on. Otherwise the dogs develop diarrhea.


The current pack members:

[cogitate]

Originally Posted by Bueller

Today I made the decision to move my 2nd oldest dog from Acana to a raw diet. She's always been on the neurotic side, and would often lick the air, the couch, blankets, etc., when she would get stressed. I've done a decent amount of reading about potential food sensitivities and allergies, which was the motivation to move my dogs to Acana from Science diet about a year and a half ago. But in addition to the licking, this dog has started to puke up a bit of kibble in the middle of the night about once every week and a half. After reading that it could be an issue of the kibble absorbing too much water from her intestines we tried soaking the kibble for about 45 minutes before feeding. It seemed to help at first, but she got sick twice last night. So I purchased Primal raw Chicken formula today. Holy shit, that stuff is expensive! But if she stops getting sick and/or having other symptoms of food intolerance I suppose a raw diet is cheaper than a vet bill.

So true. Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I gave up dog food and switched to peas and frozen chicken breasts, which I cook, and meat when I get it on sale. Not only did my dog lose 30 lbs, his coat is great, his poops solid, he does not throw up, does not scratch. Basically eliminated all the issues I had with him, due to food but I could not track it down.

And he is healthier, too, more energy, too boot.

[PoundSand]

Originally Posted by cogitate

So true. Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I gave up dog food and switched to peas and frozen chicken breasts, which I cook, and meat when I get it on sale. Not only did my dog lose 30 lbs, his coat is great, his poops solid, he does not throw up, does not scratch. Basically eliminated all the issues I had with him, due to food but I could not track it down.

And he is healthier, too, more energy, too boot.

If he lost 30 lbs, seems like you could have started by just feeding him less of his regular food and he would have had less poo, lost weight, been healthier, with more energy.... Sometimes the answer is pretty obvious. ;)

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by PoundSand

If he lost 30 lbs, seems like you could have started by just feeding him less of his regular food and he would have had less poo, lost weight, been healthier, with more energy.... Sometimes the answer is pretty obvious. ;)

Obvious as it seems, some dogs just can't lose weight on conventional high carb content dog food.

[Grreatdog]

Originally Posted by cogitate

So true. Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I gave up dog food and switched to peas and frozen chicken breasts, which I cook, and meat when I get it on sale......And he is healthier, too, more energy, too boot.

Our last Golden lived to be pretty ancient for the breed. When he got to be over 14 years old it became a bit of struggle to keep him hydrated and nourished. He was happy and healthy enough but just couldn't digest kibble anymore.

We started him on that diet on advice from my vet after she made a miracle save following a bout of severe diarrhea. It probably added a solid year to his life. We bought giant packages of frozen chicken breast on sale then cooked them in big patches.

The cost wasn't prohibitive since we bought big packages on sale and the old boy wasn't eating much by then anyway. And, if nothing else, he went out a happy old dog chowing down on as much yummy chicken as he wanted every day.

[RocketJohn]

Whe our greys were alive we fed them this grain free food:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...3-001b2166becc

Their sensitive digestive tracts adjusted well and they seemed to enjoy the taste.