best kind of dog food

Discussion dedicated to promoting the well-being of your dog through diet, exercise and general health tips.

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emmabeth
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by emmabeth »

Very interesting stuff! :)

Sorry about the edit function folks - somewhere in the huge mcscarything that runs the board there is a 'never' selected where it shouldnt be.... and none of the helpful forum running Hamsters can find it. Every so often we pack them back off into the mines with their little head-torches on to have another looksee...

If you make a BIG booboo in a post, gimme a poke and ill fix it for you (if its a little one and you can live with it then please try, but if its really making you grind your teeth I'll go fixyfixy... cos Im luffly like that :) )
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Leigha
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by Leigha »

Yes, you are Emm!
Wicket
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by Wicket »

Salome,
I've decided to switch to grain-free once Natural Balance is mostly gone. I'm still not sure about which brand since it may be dependent if my parents are willingly to pay for the extra gas money to go to the other place. It's also dependent on how my dog training goes since my poodle has some issues; some of her reactions look like aggression. I'd hate to make her allergies better but her behavior worse at the same time.

Update: Dogs off w/d and stools are okay; both dogs don't mind eating straight kibble. Planning on returning w/d and any leftover Science Diet product to the vet.

1) Are they any other ingredients I should be beware of in kibble or treats?
2) Since grain-free is very different from other kibble brands, should I introduce it more slowly?
maximoo
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by maximoo »

Wicket you can get coupons from the champion pet food co if you call them They cannot send free samples as they are based in Canada. I've gotten coupons for Acana from them. Also if you call the Diamond co they will send samples of Taste of the Wild or you might get samples at a pet store where they sell it. I've gotten many samples this way. You can get Wellness samples the very same way--at a store or calling them. I keep the sample bags in my car as treats when Max is good in the car or if I see a stray & try to capture it I always have something to offer.
Wicket
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by Wicket »

That's a great idea!
Wicket
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by Wicket »

Since my Poodle has been off the w/d, she's not biting her feet as much. Tonight she didn't do her usual night time ritual of biting her feet until she creates red spots. While her biting hasn't completely gone away, she's definitely doing a lot better. :)
Wicket
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by Wicket »

maximoo wrote:Wicket you can get coupons from the champion pet food co if you call them They cannot send free samples as they are based in Canada. I've gotten coupons for Acana from them. Also if you call the Diamond co they will send samples of Taste of the Wild or you might get samples at a pet store where they sell it. I've gotten many samples this way. You can get Wellness samples the very same way--at a store or calling them. I keep the sample bags in my car as treats when Max is good in the car or if I see a stray & try to capture it I always have something to offer.
It turns out Champion foods no longer sends coupons:
"COUPONS
I am sorry we do not have coupons. Our marketing strategy is a bit different than most manufacturers. Rather than spend our marketing funds on coupons, advertising etc., we instead put our budget towards purchasing the very best regional ingredients (ORIJEN features a minimum of five FRESH ,never frozen, regional meats), using the best technology in our family owned factory to truly make the best dog and cat food."
Source

But Champion food did they offer trail sizes for $2.50 at the stores that carry them. :D Now it's matter of getting there....
Salomé
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by Salomé »

Wicket wrote:Since my Poodle has been off the w/d, she's not biting her feet as much. Tonight she didn't do her usual night time ritual of biting her feet until she creates red spots. While her biting hasn't completely gone away, she's definitely doing a lot better. :)
I'm glad to hear it.
Sue1234
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by Sue1234 »

Salome, I know this thread is a bit old, but I just had to write and say a huge thank you for all the information you have given here. My large Golden mix is one of the least food driven dogs on the planet and dinner time was a huge struggle to get her to eat even half of what we offered her. I also needed a food to address her very itchy skin and lackluster coat. Reading all your helpful info here, we decided to put her on the Acana line of dog food and also purchased the salmon oil you recommended. I am so thrilled to say that she loves the Acana food and happily eats every single bite and licks the bowl clean. Between the food and the salmon oil, we have seen pretty dramatic results in only a few short weeks in her lustrous coat, her increased energy level and attention span, and an end to all the scratching.

I just can't thank you enough for taking the time to share all your helpful knowledge and information here. It's been a blessing to us and our dog!
~Sue
hlopez18
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by hlopez18 »

The brand doesn't necessarily matter as much as the ingredients. That being said, the ingredients tend to be affected by the brand and the company. The first five ingredients are crucial and there should be real meat and any meals should be a named meat (e.g. chicken meal). I understand your concern in regards to price, but also keep in mind that the higher quality, thus higher priced, foods will be more filling and require less food per day than the general commercial brands and therefore in the long run the cost evens out.

I would recommend Orijen, Wellness, Blue Buffalo and Acana. Innova and it's sister brands are also great but were recently acquired by Proctor & Gamble and therefore it's widely believed that the quality of the ingredients will suffer because they care about the bottom line and not necessarily the dogs. Also, you can check out dogfoodchat.com to read reviews on food and analyze the ingredients.
Wicket
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by Wicket »

I ended up switching my dogs to Wellness Small bites (not the CORE). The dogs were originally on Natural Balance Ultra Premium which has 20% protein crude weight while the CORE had 34% crude weight. Since my Mom has a tendency to overfeed the Poodle, I decided to go with the Wellness Small bites, which had higher and better protein but not as protein, about the same as the Acana line. Once I move out, I'll probably switch my dog to Acana line and see how it goes, but now it's a matter of convenience and my family isn't interested in the ins and outs of canine nutrition.
Wicket
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by Wicket »

I've found "The Dog Food Project" site very informative! (Mainly covers dry food)
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Scuttlebutt
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Re: best kind of dog food

Post by Scuttlebutt »

Don't think this is available outside of the UK, but we've just started using Green Dog food: a dried food made from human-grade ingredients. My mum's German shepherd is not at all 'foodie' and can be very difficult to get to eat anything (including fresh meat!), so much so that she has been known to go days barely eating enough for a small terrier, let alone a dog of her size which is very distressing for my mum.

While at an event we saw Green Dog and were impressed with the ingredient list (high meat content, whole grains) so picked up some trial bags and Peggy-Soo loved it so much she was actually sitting waiting for her dinner at the next feed time! Needless to say we hopped straight on the web (greendogfood.co.uk) to order some more and have been getting on really well with it since - 10 weeks and almost every meal has been a completely clean bowl, which has been unheard of in the 6 years mum's had her.
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