Dog Food

[JohnnySavage]

What do you feed your pooch?

I've been rotating Larry's food to see what he likes. Today I got a bag of Blue Buffalo, Bison flavored. He likes it, but it's pretty pricey. Like... 4X the price of Pedigree.

I had a coupon though.

Is the super premium kibble really worth it?

My first dog was a 90 pound yellow lab that ate Science Diet. Lived 13 years.

My second dog was a 120 pound golden retriever who ate Iams. Got bone cancer and died at 5 years old. That was a cancer unique to the breed though and had nothing to do with the food.

Now Larry. 50 pounds of pure energy. Although, he has a split toe-nail right now and not as active as normal.

 

[BotanyBoy]

You can live on MRE's.....is quality food worth it?

How much do you care about your dogs nutrition? As a biologist I'm a bit biased...even my molds/fungus get 100% organic brown rice flour/oats. And the best nutrition I can provide goes all the way up the house from slime mold to humans. Good in, good out.

I feed my dog evangers wet...if it were Z day and I found dog food this is the stuff I would want to find, it looks just like the label and even smells good. I suppliment the meat with the veggie mix.

http://feedingmydog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/evangers-canned.jpghttp://www.cherrybrook.com/images/catalog/staging/imageLibrary/D343EAF615175E012DEDC7E615E7B4B4M.jpghttp://cdn1.bigcommerce.com/n-yp39j5/9eh48i27/products/3695/images/4122/600001413917365566SL1000__36940.1424212607.1280.1280.jpg?c=2

Kibble
http://www.mutleyandmog.co.uk/images/article/orijenadultdogfood_0.jpg

Cat get's Orijin kibble too, but she eats weruva wet.
http://www.weruva.com/images/cat-cuisine/lg/funky-chunky-lg.jpg

 

[Killswitch]

Blue Wilderness different flavors. I usually buy pro plan wet food or whatever's around a buck a can for once a days.

They seem to like the costco stuff too whenever I bought that.

 

[pointless]

my dog gets kibble small breed and far too much cheese.

 

[Wings]

I get Gigi Nutri Source Pure Vita grain free dry food. It's made here in MN and she LOVES the bison flavor but I will mix it up with their lamb or chicken.

http://www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/

 

[AutumnBliss]

I don't currently own dogs but can tell you to go for the good stuff. You don't want to give your pets fillers or other nasty garbage. I switched my cats to grain-free wholesome food a few years ago. Their coats got super shiny and it cut down on the tossing of the cookies dramatically. Traditional pet foods are loaded with crap and dyes. Give your pup the best if you can.

 

[Wings]

There are several big lawsuits over Beneful, don't ever buy that garbage.

 

[UnknownPath]

My family goes the route of Ol' Roy brand Kibble and the Dinner Rounds, and then we supliment with some raw diet (raw diet being--for those who do not know--boneless chicken/beef/pork/rabbit/duck/etc. whichever protein your dog likes best). Overall the mix works because all of our dogs have glossy coats and are in great health (barring the older age of a few).

 

[evesdream]

I feed her Blue Wilderness kibble, too. For wet food I give her Nature's Variety Instinct (duck, bunny, and bambi flavours are big hits with her.)

They seem to make her fur incredibly soft and when it comes to her weight she's spry and healthy.

I don't have a dog though, I have a cat.

 

[Disgustipated]

Just eat the dog.

 

[neci]

i've tried the blue wilderness life protection formula for senior dogs, and he loved it. just tried 'taste of the wild' brand, as it is a little bit cheaper, and it's good as well. no fillers. i think he prefers the senior formula, so i'll probably be picking that one up for him again. if i had a large breed puppy/ growing dog, i would stick with 'taste of the wild.' the senior formula has smaller kibbles.

 

[SolarHomo]

Until gene therapy for dogs is thoroughly engineered, it doesn't really matter. The cheap stuff will make it poop more. Something to consider.

 

[Que]

Just eat the dog.

Lol..

 

[warrior queen]

I have always made my own dog food and kibble. Predominantly meat-based, supplemented withpooch vitamins, oils and some greens. Kibble made with the same mix but dehydrated in the oven.
All of my dogs have been healthy and none had any major issues apart from the odd accident here and there.

 

[DesEsseintes]

Letter from yesterday's Country Life magazine:

'What a great article by Emma Hughes on 'real food for dogs', I have long been alarmed at the compete domination of the dog-food industry by cheap processors. What on earth did dogs eat before they came along? The answer is of course, they ate what we did.

'My father, born and raised on a Skye croft in the 1920s, remembered the sheep dogs being fed on salted porridge and milk in the morning and big bowls of Scotch broth, cock-a-leekie or lentil-and-ham broth in the evening - the same as the rest of the family. I remember one of the collies, Queenie, living to the ripe old age of 21 on this diet.'

For what it's worth. Perhaps not much. But it is still common in the UK to feed farm dogs and other working dogs more or less human food, and such dogs are generally healthier than 'pet' dogs.

 

[colddiesel]

I have a place in Western Queensland where I spend perhaps 30% of my time. We have four cattle dogs usually, and the guy who looks after the place shoots a 'roo every few days.(There are thousands on the property) They get fed on that once a day three days in a row, then nothing for a day, except for what they might scavenge.

They keep pretty fit but tend not to live overly long because some get worn out with work, and occasionally one gets injured working cattle. There is no vet within 200 kilometres, so they have to get over problems on their own generally. We did have one bitch who lost a leg. I wasn't there at the time but one of the aboriginal hands, removed the smashed leg with a hot lamb tailing iron and sealed off the wound with it too. She was a tough, frankly vicious bitch, and successfully reared two more litters of pups.

The old guy who had "operated" on her thought the world of her, and even tho' she must have bitten him a dozen times; he would just say, "Ah boss she's a good'un just like my missus was," and roll about laughing.

They were as tough as each other.

 

[Wild_Honey_66]

I just looked this up recently.

http://homemadedogfood.com/?gclid=C...ZNLC_sCYyj6waU1RaqVP3BasQCXK-bWJB4hoC3Hnw_wcB

links to the author's recipes at the bottom of the page.

 

[smoothg103rd]

Homicide eats raw chicken. Well anything raw, and he loves it.

 

[McMax]

A veterinarian told me that when you find a brand that your pet(s) like you should stick with it and not constantly switch brands and only feed dry food as that is better for their teeth.

 

[Wings]

Dry food is better for their teeth health, yes.

 

[Lancecastor]

I was hoping for an Iggy Pop thread.

 

[JohnnySavage]

Larry doesn't seem to like the expensive stuff more than the cheap stuff, but I guess I'll stick with Blue Buffalo for a while. I've always fed the dogs dry food; mostly because I'm lazy and can leave it in the bowl all day. All my dogs have been snackers rather than gulpers.

It seems odd though to worry a great deal about purity, because my last dog used to eat deer poop.

 

[MaryanneB]

Until gene therapy for dogs is thoroughly engineered, it doesn't really matter. The cheap stuff will make it poop more. Something to consider.

Found this to be true when we had a 160lb. Rottweiler. The ash content was the volume factor.
I feed Fran, a 60lb. mutt Nutro. It's half way between cheapo and Blue Buffalo. I tried BB and went through the change over routine but at the half and half stage, she started farting and smelling so badly I couldn't stand it. So bad to good ol' NutroMax.

 

[Wings]

We don't feed Gigi in the evening until she tells us she's hungry. She noses her bowl off the stand and that tells us she's hungry. I always feed her before I leave in the mornings but sometimes she won't even touch it until I come home. The summers are a bit different in that she runs so much I supplement her food with boiled chicken to keep her muscle tone up. She's a right tank in the summer.

 

[Wings]

Until gene therapy for dogs is thoroughly engineered, it doesn't really matter. The cheap stuff will make it poop more. Something to consider.

This is definitely true, less fillers means that there's less waste in the yard. worth it to me to pay a little more for less cleanup.