What Brand Dog Food do you Feed Your Dog and Why?
Figure this information may be helpful to folks wondering what to feed their dog/s.
Pops, Calvin, and the mangy Wabbits
Pops, Calvin, and the mangy Wabbits
Forum Discussion
64 Replies
BCSnob wrote:
The dog food review websites are just the opinions of a small group of people based upon their biases on various ingredients listed by the food manufacturers. These food experts typically do not have education in pet nutrition or animal sciences. They do no testing of foods (feeding trials or lab testing of food).
I would take their ratings for what they are; the sites do offer comprehensive lists of available foods with ingredients.
Evaluating food for its effects on longevity is very difficult since the genetics of the dogs have a far greater influence on longevity than food; genetics is why some breeds live longer than others.
How true. You beat me to it.- The dog food review websites are just the opinions of a small group of people based upon their biases on various ingredients listed by the food manufacturers. These food experts typically do not have education in pet nutrition or animal sciences. They do no testing of foods (feeding trials or lab testing of food).
I would take their ratings for what they are; the sites do offer comprehensive lists of available foods with ingredients.
Evaluating food for its effects on longevity is very difficult since the genetics of the dogs have a far greater influence on longevity than food; genetics is why some breeds live longer than others. Oaklevel wrote:
Ditto. We have currently been feeding Purina One Chicken & Rice for quite a few years.
Our dogs get some form of Purina Dry Food ( Purina s been around probably 100 years)....
FYI, here is Purina's history:
Purina history
Personally, I feel very comfortable using a company that has been around as long as Purina. Slick advertising will sell products in the short term, but to be as successful as Purina, you have to have happy, repeat customers.Crowe wrote:
it was foolish for us not to invest in quality products(No knock on Costco at all). So now our "kids" get Blue Wilderness canned(had used Newman's Own also) and Orijen Senior Dry. They Love it!!
Just out of curiosity is there any difference in their coat/health, etc? We had been feeding Blue Buffalo but got tired of the cost so we tried the switch to Pro Plan and have had great results. Price doesn't necessarily equate with quality.
I certainly agree about price vs quality but with that being said, I generally do my research on the numerous available WEB sites dedicated to "rating" both wet and dry foods. I tend to go so far as to pick the top rated(in this case, 5 Star) foods chosen in individual flavors(meaning certain products from the same manufacturer can have different ratings).The health aspect is difficult to answer due to the length of time I've used these products...here again, My "kid's" seem to have lived long lives on the "not as highly rated" foods...all I know is they eat it, they like it and as a consumer, we feel better knowing a tad more about the "quality" of ingredient's that make up these foods. I'm NO scientist, so I rely on the review's of independent researcher's in making these choices.
With four dog's, no matter their size, price can be a consideration although ordering through the internet seems to offset the difference a tad. The "pet food" industry is massive and corporate bickering is evident in every aspect of it(Purina accusing Blue Buffalo of misleading labeling/product ingredients) so here again, relying on review's is what we do to help in determining quality. Unfortunately, in many cases, price does reflect quality but I'm open for suggestions for finding a highly rated food at the lowest cost comparatively speaking? :)- Our dogs get some form of Purina Dry Food ( Purina s been around probably 100 years).... All the dogs since Lady adopted me in 1981 have had one type of their dry food....... our current dogs are 5 - 8 and 16 The 16 year old wants a drivers licence...... just kidding but he has slowed down some but still keeps the girls who are much bigger in their place. He is a 28 lb Heinz 57 while the girls are 50 and 70 lb Boxers.
- Loyal brand. We purchase it from a local place that deals in feed for dogs, cats, horses. They also get spoiled on people food.
- Diamond naturals chicken and rice
Our dogs do well on it and it is reasonably priced since we buy 120/140lbs at a time. - Nutro, puppy food, chicken and brown rice. Ranger, black and tan spaniel, is doing great with it. Breeder had him on Iams puppy, chicken, and he seemed to itch a lot. Had Bailey Boy on Nutro Lamb and Rice, he had very sensitive stomach.
Ranger has just found out what a hamburger tastes like. I am ruined now.
Edited by Barb CA POPPY wrote:
We had routine labs done on Darcy recently, because she is nearly 8 yrs old. She had no symptoms, but turned up with "a few crystals" in urine, so she's on Royal Canin SO for urinary tract. I really hope that's not all she can have, forever! :E We re-test in 3 weeks.
My little Havanese had this problem and I did not like the ingredients in many of the vet recommended food. I fed one of Fromns food and I think it was their Gold Weight Management. What you can do is email the companies that make quality food and ask what their target urine PH is for their food. I believe the target urine PH for dogs is 6-6.5. I also gave 250mg of vitamin C each day, plus added warm water to the dry food to get more fluid in him. Interesting discussion at this link http://community.dog.com/f/29544/t/27665.aspx You can buy spa or pool ph tester strips to check her at home between vet visits. Hope Darcy is better soon!- Belle eats what we eat (steak, pizza, chicken, lots of veggies). No fur, stool, or health problems so far. She is 17 now so I think it's okay...
