Best dog food out there?

oliwa

I can't attest to recalls and outsourcing, but 98% grain based? The first 5 ingredients are "Beef Meal, Ground Rice, Ground Whole Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat Flour". The first ingredient (by weight) is "Beef Meal" which constitutes more than 2% of the dog food. The crude protein analysis is 24% so I am unclear on how the food would have 24% protein if it was 98% grain based.

I'm not arguing for or against Nutro, I was just arguing the point that they are 98% grain.

Ladipyg

If you read about the recall a couple of years ago that resulted in canine deaths due to kidney failure Diamond was one of the top offenders. I use Call of the Wild that I can get from Tractor Supply. It does not contain any corn, wheat or soybeans. It uses whole rice and not a lot of that. My dogs love it....I can even use pieces of the food as a treat / reward they like it so much. I think if you Google Diamond dog food recall you will get the info you need.

brittanystamand

I suppose I'll put my two cents in for the heck of it. Like someone (don't remember who) already mentioned, dogs do great on thousands of different foods, it mainly depends on the dog. Like another member mentioned you must take into consideration the weight of the dog, any health issues/allergies, breed, etc. Another thing I might add to that is whether your dog is a pet, a show dog, or a working dog. Working dogs may need a higher energy food than say a house pet, and show dogs may need a higher salmon oil concentrate, vitamins, etc. to get the whole show shine deal.

Let me start out by saying I have both a show dog and a pet. My pet dog was originally on Eukanuba for her whole life, the main reason I ever switched because I went through a vegan phase and was informed that Euk tests on animals. I'm over it now, but she has been switched to Instinct and although it's quite costly it's a much better food anyways.

My show dog is on Royal Canin Puppy Food right now, and will *most likely* stay on RC for the rest of her days unless I somehow find something better. She's a Pomeranian and was on Instinct like my other dog, however her coat was dull and her waste was runny. My other dog seems to have solid feces and does not need coat shine as she is a pet and also is a shorthair. Royal Canin has also done a lot for my pom due to her breed. When I first got her she became hypoallergenic, very common for her breed. I have an endless supply of nutrical/kerosyrup but it hasn't been needed ever since she's been fed Royal Canin. This company offers not only puppy food ranging in weight, but a wide variety of specific breed foods. When she's older she will be on Royal Canin Pomeranian as it has more sugar than most foods to keep her sugar levels up. (She desperately needs it)

I'm going to say I absolutely HATE Purina. I won't get into it, but to make a long story short I have never seen ANY good results that I could be satisfied with in any dogs that I know are fed it. It may be quite strict, but my "rule" so to speak with dog food is that if it's sold in Walmart, Market Basket, Dollar Stores, etc. then it is no good.

Taste of the Wild, Instinct, Royal Canin, Wellness, Orijen and possibly some others are GREAT dog foods IMO, if you're willing to spend quite a bit. It does, however, go a long way and is definitely worth it. If you're not willing to spend as much foods like Eukanuba and Nutro and *maybe* Nutro have their advantages. Iams, Purina, and Hills I would stay away from for multiple reasons.

brittanystamand

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Hill's is seriously just a way for Vet's to make money in my opinion, hahaha. My vet tried to put my dogs on it too and I laughed. Just because it says "vet approved" doesn't make it good

Not to mention that my vet also tried to tell me that the reason my dog was losing hair on her face was because she was "getting old". Strange that she was only three months at the time! xD He's not the brightest, but I switched vets anyways. All the hairs grown back on her face, he's clearly never heard of "puppy uglies", so why's he a veterinarian anyways?!

Luv2byte

Just my 2 cents since you mentioned these brands: Iams & Eukanuba are both made by Proctor & Gamble who do horrible live animal testing. I personally avoid all P&G brands of any product as much as possible.

tonisaysss

i was being sarcastic. out of the first 9 ingredients in nutro, one is meat. that's not a meat based food.

the reason nutro was recalled in the first place was because the grains (that were outsourced from china) they were using were sprayed with some chemical to boost protein values.

elisabeth

Have you considered a raw diet?

I don't think there are too many of us "raw-dies" here, but I thought I would throw that into the mix.

I have been feeding raw for over 13 years now and couldn't be more happy with the results.

My 13 year old German Shepherd has never had any health issues (not even a cold) in all the years of her life. Her teeth are still white as snow, her gums are pink, her coat is still shinny although getting grey (hehe), and she has never had any skin or ear infections/issues. She still has tones of energy and limited issues with ther joints and mobility.

Here she is out-running my 10 month old German Shepherd boy (both dogs were weaned to raw at 3-4 weeks old).



And one of her playing tug with my sister.


This one is of my 10 month old male. Notice how he does not have that 'gangly' teenage body as much as other dogs, I believe this is because the raw diet allows his body to grow at a slower rate which can prevent a host of problems later on in his life.


If you would like more information, please ask. I love talking raw!

seebrown

This is what we will end up feeding our dog (when we find one to adopt!). We've begun switching our cat over to it, and we had our previous dog on an "organic" dog food that we realized wasn't as good as we thought. Since we're looking at getting only one small dog, the price isn't as big of an issue, because it will take so much longer for the dog to go through a 15 lb. bag. This is what we're finding with our cat. We're basically looking at budget + health + availability/convenience, and what is the best we can get for our price range and area. Honestly, I wouldn't do raw only because it is too much work (I don't even spend that much time on my own meals). :P

elisabeth

Raw is so easy!

I spend about 4 hours a month weighing and bagging and I am good to go. All I have to do is pull out 2 bags (RBM and MM/OM) out of the freezer at night and I am good to go!

Hahaha...

seebrown

Hmmm. That does sound easy. I'd have to research it more. I hardly ever buy raw meat, and I do less cooking than 4 hours a month for myself! :P I'd be afraid of not giving my pet the right foods nutritionally. How do you find the cost compared to higher end kibble? Where do you get the meat?