Dog food thread

[AstroManLuca]

My dog, a middle aged Boxer, needs some better food. We've tried several different types and they all have disadvantages.

First she got Nature's Recipe, which seemed like a quality food but led to a lot of gunk in her mouth. She also would get an upset stomach fairly often. We put her on Science Diet for sensitive stomachs and so far it has been good for her. No mouth goo, no gas. But i'm concerned because I've heard almost nothing good about Science Diet. Apparently it uses lots of cheap filler ingredients despite being fairly expensive.

But it's hard to justify switching when it seems to be a good choice for her. Should I take her off Science Diet anyway? And what should I look for in a food that is easy to digest and won't leave residue in her mouth?

 

[Newbian]

Try asking your vet?

Also a quick google found me this:

http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/feeding/

 

[DrPizza]

For 10,000 or so years, dogs grew up alongside man, eating his table scraps. That did a lot to determine the best type of diet for dogs. (Just like originally, humans would have lost the ability to digest milk as they got older, but now, as a result of millenia of having domesticated animals like goats and cows, many races do just fine consuming milk. Packaged dry dog food has only been around for a few decades.

So, perhaps planning on eating a healthier diet (no McDonalds) for yourselves, preparing a little extra, and feeding it to the dog? It takes a lot more work to go that way, and you need to be aware of what foods the dog shouldn't eat (i.e. onions.) Our dogs love most vegetables, potatoes, meat (of course), etc., not to mention fresh bones.

--- just a thought in a different direction from where you're going in this thread.

 

[stag3]

our trainer and vet recommended natural balance, been using that for 3+ years now.
dog's not hyper, shit is solid, shiny coat.

 

[AreaCode707]

Nutro has always been good for our Great Danes, but my husband went out and did his research and found that the Costco brand dog food actually is about equivalent. We had our last two Danes on it and they did fantastically. Out lived all our others, great coats, tons of energy, no arthritis til the end.

At one point one of them started having a little problem with gas and we switched from chicken and rice to lamb and rice and that took care of it.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Thanks for the link, very informative! Someone posted a site rating dog foods a couple days ago but that one goes into better detail.

 

[slag]

We feed our dogs Wellness Core. They seem to love it and the issues we had with their coats have cleared up.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...98D7FP0H865VJ6

 

[Dulanic]

There are a lot of good dog food brands. I prefer...

http://www.naturesvariety.com/

 

[UnklSnappy]

I feed my dog Orijen and ZiwiPeak and he does wonderful on it. Beautiful coat and small solid poops.
Also used to feed him Innova EVO but have since stopped since they were bought by Proctor & Gamble. Can't trust a big corp. not to screw up what was a good food with cheap crap sourced from china and chemicals/byproducts. Anything for a nickel.

 

[Gunslinger08]

We're trying the Costco brand as soon as our dog finishes the current expensive stuff. Looks like quality stuff based on the ingredients (first 3 are meat, I think) and it's pretty cheap.

 

[Dulanic]

I feed my dog Orijen and ZiwiPeak and he does wonderful on it. Beautiful coat and small solid poops.
Also used to feed him Innova EVO but have since stopped since they were bought by Proctor & Gamble. Can't trust a big corp. not to screw up what was a good food with cheap crap sourced from china and chemicals/byproducts. Anything for a nickel.

Thanks for the notice. I used to use California Naturas which is owned by the same company as Evo and Innova but recently switched to the Nature's Variety. They have a good grain free line which is important for my dog as she can't digest grains very well, but she does well on their Prairie line too. It seems to have decent grains that she doesn't have an issue with.

 

[jaha2000]

We have been using the taste of the wild brands since our dog was a pup. It grain free and her coat has always looked great.

Plus its a US based company with US based production. For me, its worth the extra cost based on that alone.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Orijen

 

[Zeze]

Taste of the Wild is a perfect balance between price & quality for me.

6 star best quality at dogfoodanalysis.com, but only $47~ amazon free shipping for the super big bag. Grain free too.