Taste of the Wild??

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france89
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jun 09, 2010 6:47 am

Taste of the Wild??

Post by france89 »

Hi ya!

I am searching for a brand of quality dog food that I can find here in Italy. I have found a website that sells a brand called Taste of the Wild. I was reading the website, and it says it is good for all ages. Is it complete for puppy growth? I'm trying to decide a dog food brand that I can find that does not cause any problems. I know not to trust any dog food brand. Did anyone have any experience with this product? Would it work well for a GSD? What other brands are good look at, and what about wet food brands like Bozita? How can I find the perfect pair of wet and dry? :) Thankies!

P.S What about treats for training? What is the perfect thing to use (I know all dogs have diffrent tastes)? What would be the healthiest choices to choose from? I have seen that Victoria used hot dogs. Is it okay for puppies?
josie1918
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Re: Taste of the Wild??

Post by josie1918 »

Every dog is different, I use Taste of the wild SALMON on my GSD. I selected the salmon because of the omega 3 and 6 fatty acids in the fish.(good for shepherd dry skin and their joint mobility) For wet food, I put warm water over the dry and let it get soft. For training everyday I use pieces of his kibble. When we are trying something new, and I need a higher value treat to get him to cooperate, I use small pieces of ham. Taste of the wild is a good product if you have dogs with grain allergies. That is my experience with it.
emmabeth
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Re: Taste of the Wild??

Post by emmabeth »

I cant comment on the food brands because I don't feed 'dog food' - i feed .... food. All get teh same here, puppies, adults, oldies - good quality food in the appropriate quantities and funnily enough... puppies thrive on the same food the adults do, we just make sure its in smaller bits and given more frequently.

I do believe Taste of the Wild is agood food, and I don't 'do' puppy foods anyway, so I would feed a pup on the adult version personally if i was going to feed a complete food.

As for treats - whatever the dog likes best, as long as it isnt poisonous like chocolate, I dont really worry about 'healthy' when it comes to treats - cheese, hot dog sausage, bits of roast chicken, dried liver, cheese spread, meat paste - all make good treats and you make sure they are tiny little bits and you reduce the meal sizes to allow for teh treats each day.. should not be a problem.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
Salomé
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:52 pm

Re: Taste of the Wild??

Post by Salomé »

france89 wrote:Hi ya!

I am searching for a brand of quality dog food that I can find here in Italy. I have found a website that sells a brand called Taste of the Wild. I was reading the website, and it says it is good for all ages. Is it complete for puppy growth? I'm trying to decide a dog food brand that I can find that does not cause any problems. I know not to trust any dog food brand. Did anyone have any experience with this product? Would it work well for a GSD? What other brands are good look at, and what about wet food brands like Bozita? How can I find the perfect pair of wet and dry? :) Thankies!

P.S What about treats for training? What is the perfect thing to use (I know all dogs have diffrent tastes)? What would be the healthiest choices to choose from? I have seen that Victoria used hot dogs. Is it okay for puppies?
I think Taste of the Wild is a very good brand in terms of dog kibble. That said, I personally think the raw food diet is the best way to go. But back to kibble- if you're interested, I talked about diff. kinds of dog foods in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5932

I never fed any of my GSDs wet food. I'm not a believer in feeding wet food to dogs at all. I feed my GSD Acana (dry) dog food (since he refused to eat the raw diet after 8 months of trying). I'm a big fan of Acana as well as Orijen, which are both made by the same company, but I don't know what is available to you in Italy. I also feed him -- separate from the kibble and at diff. times --- green tripe or a green-tripe organ mix because I think it's fantastic for their health, their digestive tract, and their immune system. Plus, Zola adores it with a passion.

As for treats, I do one of two things: 1) I use cubed cheese which I then break off into tiny portions. Zola goes nuts for cheese; the smellier the better (although Feta was a bit of a flop as it was too crumbly and would smear or melt all over the inside of my hand). 2) I buy whatever is on sale at this specialised pet food store I go to which sells raw food as well as ultra-high end kibble. They sell all kinds of treats made with all organic, natural ingredients and without fillers, grains or that terrible brewer's yeast which is in most generic types of treats. See if you can find a similar sort of store where you are in Italy and see what they offer. (BTW, what part of Italy, if I may ask? If you're in one of the big cities like Milan, Rome, etc., it shouldn't be too hard to find a high-end specialty pet food store.) I personally love something called Zuke's as well as Stella & Chewy’s, but there are also: Lakse Kronch, K9Magic, Grandma Lucy’s, Canz, Wildside, & Snooks. They're all either naturally baked, freeze-dried, dehydrated or something or another that is healthy. Alas, I'm not sure you will find any of that in Italy. But do look for something Italian made that is grain-free, with no Brewer's Yeast, and preferably, either naturally baked, dehydrated, etc. etc.

One last thing, if you're getting a puppy and going to be doing a lot of training, take the amount of training treats into consideration when giving your dog his breakfast or dinner. In other words, on those days when you're training a lot and giving a lot of treats, give your dog a little less food at breakfast and dinner times. You don't want to get him too fat. Chubby puppies can be adorable, but it's not good for them, especially when they're a breed like a GSD who should generally be kept at a very trim, lean weight (no matter WHAT the age) due to hip dysplasia.

Hope that helps. :)
france89
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jun 09, 2010 6:47 am

Re: Taste of the Wild??

Post by france89 »

Hey Guys! :D :D :D

How are you all doing today? :D Thanks for all the response! I'm so happy to see everyone so nice to help me out!
Salomé wrote: I think Taste of the Wild is a very good brand in terms of dog kibble. That said, I personally think the raw food diet is the best way to go. But back to kibble- if you're interested, I talked about diff. kinds of dog foods in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5932

I never fed any of my GSDs wet food. I'm not a believer in feeding wet food to dogs at all. I feed my GSD Acana (dry) dog food (since he refused to eat the raw diet after 8 months of trying). I'm a big fan of Acana as well as Orijen, which are both made by the same company, but I don't know what is available to you in Italy. I also feed him -- separate from the kibble and at diff. times --- green tripe or a green-tripe organ mix because I think it's fantastic for their health, their digestive tract, and their immune system. Plus, Zola adores it with a passion.

As for treats, I do one of two things: 1) I use cubed cheese which I then break off into tiny portions. Zola goes nuts for cheese; the smellier the better (although Feta was a bit of a flop as it was too crumbly and would smear or melt all over the inside of my hand). 2) I buy whatever is on sale at this specialised pet food store I go to which sells raw food as well as ultra-high end kibble. They sell all kinds of treats made with all organic, natural ingredients and without fillers, grains or that terrible brewer's yeast which is in most generic types of treats. See if you can find a similar sort of store where you are in Italy and see what they offer. (BTW, what part of Italy, if I may ask? If you're in one of the big cities like Milan, Rome, etc., it shouldn't be too hard to find a high-end specialty pet food store.) I personally love something called Zuke's as well as Stella & Chewy’s, but there are also: Lakse Kronch, K9Magic, Grandma Lucy’s, Canz, Wildside, & Snooks. They're all either naturally baked, freeze-dried, dehydrated or something or another that is healthy. Alas, I'm not sure you will find any of that in Italy. But do look for something Italian made that is grain-free, with no Brewer's Yeast, and preferably, either naturally baked, dehydrated, etc. etc.

One last thing, if you're getting a puppy and going to be doing a lot of training, take the amount of training treats into consideration when giving your dog his breakfast or dinner. In other words, on those days when you're training a lot and giving a lot of treats, give your dog a little less food at breakfast and dinner times. You don't want to get him too fat. Chubby puppies can be adorable, but it's not good for them, especially when they're a breed like a GSD who should generally be kept at a very trim, lean weight (no matter WHAT the age) due to hip dysplasia.

Hope that helps. :)
I live in Rome, unfortunatly here I can not find a large varieties of food for dogs.There is soooo many "bad" brands of dog foods here, and I just do not want to ever give my dog that stuff! I think the raw food diet is intresting, but I am afraid that it might not work out because I am not an expert (I usta be vegan, and into raw foods but I did it all wrong for myself. So I do not want to "mess up" especially for a dog who is not me.) I do want to make shure that I can give him some raw chicken, veggies, and yogurt. I was thinking about twice a week chicken :?: . Then veggies and yogurt every day. I am a huge cheese fan, but is aged cheese safe for dogs? I never have feta in the fridge because I do not go crazy for it. I do have huge quantitys of parmiggiano allways in the fridge (yum!) Do you give any thing like salmon oil to your dogs?
josie1918 wrote:Every dog is different, I use Taste of the wild SALMON on my GSD. I selected the salmon because of the omega 3 and 6 fatty acids in the fish.(good for shepherd dry skin and their joint mobility) For wet food, I put warm water over the dry and let it get soft. For training everyday I use pieces of his kibble. When we are trying something new, and I need a higher value treat to get him to cooperate, I use small pieces of ham. Taste of the wild is a good product if you have dogs with grain allergies. That is my experience with it.
Do you use only Salmon version? I have read that they have various flavors. Did you ever seen a diffrence of coat, and skin after using this product? I am so happy the there is so many people out there with German Shepherds! YaY! :)
emmabeth wrote:I cant comment on the food brands because I don't feed 'dog food' - i feed .... food. All get teh same here, puppies, adults, oldies - good quality food in the appropriate quantities and funnily enough... puppies thrive on the same food the adults do, we just make sure its in smaller bits and given more frequently.

I do believe Taste of the Wild is agood food, and I don't 'do' puppy foods anyway, so I would feed a pup on the adult version personally if i was going to feed a complete food.

As for treats - whatever the dog likes best, as long as it isnt poisonous like chocolate, I dont really worry about 'healthy' when it comes to treats - cheese, hot dog sausage, bits of roast chicken, dried liver, cheese spread, meat paste - all make good treats and you make sure they are tiny little bits and you reduce the meal sizes to allow for teh treats each day.. should not be a problem.
What type of foods do you give to your dog? Do you cook for them, or do you feed them raw? Cooking sounds nice also :) , and I am a really good cooking from scratch. I just do not know well what can or can't dogs eat. What made you decide not to use dog food?


Francesca
Leigha
Posts: 1211
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:02 am

Re: Taste of the Wild??

Post by Leigha »

If you're interested in the raw food diet, there is a thread called Raw Food Diet in this section that is very detailed, you might try starting there just to get the information.
maximoo
Posts: 1111
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:07 am
Location: South Florida

Re: Taste of the Wild??

Post by maximoo »

There are many 'doggie' cookbooks out there. Foods that you cook for yourself but you make xtra for the pooch. I find variety is good for us & for dogs. My boy (part GS) gets kibble, human food & raw bones. Not all at once tho lol :lol:
ciel121
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2010 2:01 pm

Re: Taste of the Wild??

Post by ciel121 »

I feed Taste of the Wild to my dogs all the time along with Canidae dry and canned food. I think both brands are wonderful. I know Canidea was recommended to me by an exceptional dog breeder who shows at Westminster and really knows her stuff. I also read a lot about dogs and dog nutrition and I personally have found with my dogs that wheat is a huge enemy. Based on my experience and what I have read, NEVER feed wheat to your dog. Being a person with Celiac disease, we avoid wheat in my house anyway.
But I also find that feeding my dogs a grain free diet (potatoes and yams would be a good carb substitute) makes them have less gass, their stool is far less smelly, they don't get bloated as much and they don't gain as much weight even when I feed them larger amounts. So that's what makes Taste of the Wild so great to me--no wheat and it's grain free. It is also very high quality dog food with nutrients they need and good sources of carb and protein.
Fundog
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Re: Taste of the Wild??

Post by Fundog »

As for "healthy" low-fat treats, my two go crazy for frozen vegetables: green beans, peas, broccoli, etc. They are small bits so go down quickly (they like when I toss it to them and they catch it in the air). Also, one of my dogs has a tendency to gain weight, so I like to give her treats that won't make her fat. Frozen vegetables works for us.
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