What dog food are you feeing your furry little friend?

[m4gician]

Hey everyone,

I mainly feed my chihuahua mix dogged Ultra Hollistic food like Nutra Ultra, Technical natural, or Science Diet Natural dry dog food.

I mix in some wet dog food sometimes to add variety, but am I doing the best thing for this little guy?

[3weddings]

We feed a raw food diet exclusively to our SharPei and Bichon Frise. Since we switched to it, no more ear infections, alopecia or allergies.
There is one brand of food that your little guy would like (you can buy it prepped or make it yourself) called http://www.theskyesthelimit.com/canine_life.htm

I make batches of it weekly, and my dogs have never been happier or healthier.

[laptop-tech]

We have a Shih Tzu and feed him with MediCal, as per the vet's recommendations.

[bionicbadger]

Timberwolf (http://timberwolforganics.com/) & Orijen (http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/orijen/) mixed.

Orijen is pretty high calorie though so you can't feed a whole bunch of it or your dog will get fat.

Also my dog gets a carrot every day too, and in the summer he eats stuff from the garden (peas, raspberries, cucumbers, etc.)

[stealth]

A healthy Malamute and Golden Retriever here. Both get Pro-Plan Seniors. Have also used Beneful and Pedigree, all without issue.
My wife works for a manufacturer, so we get whatevers at the company store (and stick with it for quite some time).
Ours luv carrots too, and the occasional apple from the tree when they're in season.

[Carpe Diem]

I feed my Springer Spaniel (Nutro) Natural Choice Lamb Meal & Rice Formula (http://www.nutroproducts.com/ncdry-lr.shtml).

He loves it.

[ricoboxing]

Ol' Roy from walmart, or the no nome one from No Frills.

8.5 years old, very lean and healthy, never any problems so far.

[CSK'sMom]

We've generally always fed all our dogs either Iams or Eukanuba over the years. For some insane reason we put them on the Nutro chicken and oatmeal, probably because the instore rep touted the reduced shedding. We've had nothing but problems with the 2 yr old Jack on it. Really loose stools with lots of jelly in them and bouts of accidents in the house due to it. After 5 months on it it didn't reduce the shedding or get any better and we just switched them back to Iams new formula. Never again!

[Techhead]

By Nature @Petsmart Lamb & Rice Dry. She rarely got any wet food. Treated her too turkey drippins 3x's a year. :D

[TheCheez]

One of our beagles(mixed) is on straight Orijen and the other is on a mix of Orijen and the rest of his purina something or other from his last home. We've had him a couple weeks and trying to make the switch.

Both also get random veggies and other small bits from us. Both dogs are quite healthy and the new one has dropped all the last owner's porking and is quite lean.

[tancamp]

BARF for the dog (bones and raw food) and my cat is on tlc petfood since she won't go on the barf diet. They deliver and have dog food too.

[brute33]

I think a raw food diet is best but for those like me who choose not to.....

I did a lot of research on different dog foods and IMO the best dog food for the money (best value) is the Kirkland Signature Chicken and rice. I once showed the ingredient label to my vet (who sells hills prescription diet) and asked her what was her opinion. Before she read it she asked me what kind it was. I smiled and told her I would tell her after give me her honest opinion.

She read the ingredients and said if the label it true-it was a very high quality product. When i told her who made it and how much i paid for it she started to warn me that the company can play with numbers, etc.

Among my research I found this unscientific method of giving your dogfood a score. Many dog forums swear by this method. Anyways the KS dogfood scored off the chart 110%. There are a few dog foods that are better but they are 2-4 times the cost.




This is from another dog list. I thought it was pretty interesting. If your dog's food isn't listed, why not try this out and let us know! - Bonnie & Sushi

How to grade your dog's food: Start with a grade of 100:
1) For every listing of "by-product" , subtract 10 points
2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat,
meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points
3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract
5 points
5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first
five ingredients (I.e. "ground brown rice", "brewers rice", "rice
flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points
6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2
meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3points
9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract
2 points
11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is
allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog is not
allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog is not
allergic to beef), subtract 1 point
15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:
1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist,
add 5 points
3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3
points
7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2
points
8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points
9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2
points
10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than
the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein
source, but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point
13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are
pesticide-free, add 1 point
Score:
94-100+ = A 86-93 = B 78-85 = C 70-77 = D 69 and below = F

Here are some foods that have already been scored.

Dog Food scores:
Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
Canidae / Score 112 A+
Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+
Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F
Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A
***** Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
***** Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
Foundations / Score 106 A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
Innova Evo / Score 114 A+

Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+ !!!!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F
ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 A+
Purina Beneful / Score 17 F
Purina Dog / Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

[rdtx2002]

Steamed Chicken Livers with Rice.

[Fanboy]

My $1500 Golden Retriever gets a nice scoop of cheapo Ol' Roy every day and lots of handouts.

She's healthy, bright, has lots of energy and has never been sicker than an occasional bout of diarrhea.

We turned her into a pretty big mooch, though. :cheesygri

[Dustbunny]

Mine eats a raw diet too. Never again will I feed a processed food. There are just too many good things in eating whole foods and that means no vet bills for ears and eyes and other issues my dog would (by her breed) typically have fairly often.

[T-Bone]

My Golden Retriever - Poodle cross gets the Innova Evo - Red Meat Large Bites made by Natura. We tried the Kirkland brand, Orijen and Natures Variety (Prairie Dry), but the EVO seems to be the best.

His energy level is good, weight is good, no ear build-up and he inhales this food at feeding time. We have also noticed a major reduction in stool in the backyard (firmness is good for pickup too). Price is higher, but feeding volume is lower. 1 cup in the morning, 1.5 at night.

http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1490

Treats too..
http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1499

[brute33]

My Golden Retriever - Poodle cross gets the Innova Evo - Red Meat Large Bites made by Natura. We tried the Kirkland brand, Orijen and Natures Variety (Prairie Dry), but the EVO seems to be the best.

His energy level is good, weight is good, no ear build-up and he inhales this food at feeding time. We have also noticed a major reduction in stool in the backyard (firmness is good for pickup too). Price is higher, but feeding volume is lower. 1 cup in the morning, 1.5 at night.

http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1490

Treats too..
http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1499

innova scored even better than the KS. Just curious...how much is innova for a bag and how much does it weigh?
The KS chicken and rice is 20.99$ plus tax for 40lbs

[felix]

Our shi-poo mix is still on Eukanuba Lamb Meal & Rice Formula (I think) since he has food allergies.

We used to get them for free before my sister recently graduated from vet school at University of Guelph (Iams/Eukanuba gives these for free to vet students so that when they become vets they would recommend this brand to their clients :)).

[Hunter316]

Our Staffy is on a raw diet and he is thriving on it. He has much better energy and seems much more content.

[Euphoriiick]

Orijen and human food (i.e. apples, cheese, lean chicken, etc)

Orijen is excellent!

http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/orijen/

[Brandon]

Innova Puppy for my Maltese.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

[ritsbits]

Couldn't manage to keep up preparing raw food for my schnauzer so we fed her Nutra Ultra I believe... I found it interesting though that after we switched her to that from pedigree, her coat became much softer. Bizarre :|

[phomp]

Our Golden Retriever only can eat a special dog food from the vet, at first this raised a flag because I thought they were just selling us their food. But our dog has had some issues, and any human food he eats, makes him sick. Even if he eats a banana he pukes it back up. We fed him normal food and he was puking a lot, then we switched to a formula from pet valu that was suppose to be healthy which didnt work. Ever since the food from the vet, the puking has stopped. That being said, it is $30 for a small bag... ouch. My dog is large too.. lol

[Evil Baby]

Eukanuba and table scraps from the grandparents.

[Bazooka Joe]

Canidae all life cycles.

Tried Innova, Wellness and Orijen and all had stomach issues.

[TruHP]

We feed our irish wolfhound/lab cross Wellness Super 5 and he is doing excellent on it. Before he had a lot of dandruff, always had the runs and gassy.. he was eating Nutro. He now looks awesome, hie coat is really nice, he is more well muscled,etc. Huge difference and Nutro isn't supposed to be a bad food. We were going to buy a raw diet for him, but we would go into the poor house with it. Now we are on a waiting list for a dachshund and I would like the new dog to be on a raw diet. My inlaws always feed their shepherd just the cheapest stuff on the market.. he died at age 7 of liver problems. I think that should say something. All the by-products in the food is bad. Tho talking about dog food and raw diets can sometimes get worse than talking politics I have found out... lol.

[AmmoWasted]

My 4 month Beagle pup is getting Blue Buffalo Puppy Food, he loves it:cheesygri

[Setz]

Feed the dog chocolate ice cream, chocolate bars, grapes, onions, mushrooms, and chocolate chips.

[Riflem@n]

Feed the dog chocolate ice cream, chocolate bars, grapes, onions, mushrooms, and chocolate chips.

Yes if you want to kill it. Useless post.

[CS-Source-ChallengeME!]

Feed the dog chocolate ice cream, chocolate bars, grapes, onions, mushrooms, and chocolate chips.

im guessing when you say "dog" you mean urself.. sigh.. post *****.

[DeimosBeros]

We just got a Sheppard/husky pup the other day and are contemplating going on the BARF diet. I'm thinking about hitting up the butcher for leftover bones and stuffs. Any RFD opinions out there?

[Setz]

Yes if you want to kill it. Useless post.

LOL I listed all the thngs bad for a dog.

Feed our terrier mix Cesar for Small Dogs, and some no-name Kibble and Bits chow. She's not too fussy for it, but we usually give the dog leftovers from dinner (steaks, roast, ham, sometimes pasta with meat sauce, etc).

Sometimes I do give her ice cream, though, but always vanilla or butterscotch. It's maybe a once a week deal. She really likes it and goes nuts for it. Not much, maybe half a small bowl.

[dubey]

Feed our terrier mix Cesar for Small Dogs, and some no-name Kibble and Bits chow. She's not too fussy for it, but we usually give the dog leftovers from dinner (steaks, roast, ham, sometimes pasta with meat sauce, etc).

Sometimes I do give her ice cream, though, but always vanilla or butterscotch. It's maybe a once a week deal. She really likes it and goes nuts for it. Not much, maybe half a small bowl.
lol

[originalnutta]

i dont feed my cat dog food.

I feed her teh "Wellness' shiznit.

[zoolander]

My short Sicilian buddy does not eat dog food unless he's super hammered.

[Mei Yee]

Our Golden is on Eagle Pack. So far so good he will turn a year old soon. :) Our other Golden, now in heaven :( was on Nutro Lamb and Rice for a long time, then on Medi-Cal per vet's suggestion.


Also some table food, rice, beef, liver, chicken and veggies. And oh some junk too like bread. He loves pressed rawhide for snack and recently I got him a beef knuckle and beef hock.

[Dustbunny]

We just got a Sheppard/husky pup the other day and are contemplating going on the BARF diet. I'm thinking about hitting up the butcher for leftover bones and stuffs. Any RFD opinions out there?

The BARF or any other raw diet are really superior to kibbles when it comes to the dog's health and future vet bills. You do need to do it properly though so do some research as there are many versions of raw feeding and you need to make sure you are feeding enough of the right things (meat to bone to organs) or you could end up with problems. Some believe they need veggies, some don't.

If you do feed your pup properly I can tell you it will have gorgeous teeth and coat. You can usually see the difference in the teeth of a dog fed raw (if fed while a pup) to one that wasn't in that the have much whiter adult teeth so you know it's better to start them while they are developing teeth and bones.

If you are just starting and not really sure of what is what, take a look at http://www.natural-paws.com/
(http://www.natural-paws.com/) for some good starting info, comparisons to premade foods (vs making your own) etc. Then find a pet store (usually the smaller independents) that carry rare foods and you can pick up some to get you started until you are confident enough to go to butchers etc. There are also forums of raw feeders like http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/RawDogCanada/
where you can get all sorts of info on diet and local suppliers and co-ops of raw feeders who can get food a great prices.

When I got this dog I had already decided it wouldn't be eating kibble and did buy the premade stuff until I was more comfortable and had a feel for what the dog liked. I also bought things like chicken at the grocery store (on sale it's cheap especially the back bone included pieces). For one meal she would get the whole chicken piece, for the others (being a pup she would eat 3 times a day) she would get the premade blends so I knew she was getting everything in the right amounts. My pup took to it instantly and never went back to her kibble even though I left some out just in case. She still won't touch the stuff and she is 4 now.

There are lots of good sites about raw feeding. Some are particular to the BARF diet, some to prey model, and everything in between.

Also, since you have a pup and are thinking of going a little more holistic, watch the vaccines. They tend to give puppies combo shots and they can really cause problems now and later. Google 'canine vaccinosis' to see. Most vets are open to giving individual shots spaced out instead for the puppy shot combos. It's a few more vet trips but is much easier on them and less likely to cause reactions.

[Bomberman07]

Here is the scan from my KS mature dog food. $30 for 40 lbs.

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/3443/kirklandmaturedogfoodqe7.jpg

Would be cool if you guys post yours so we can compare the different foods.

[Brandon]

Here is the scan from my KS mature dog food. $30 for 40 lbs.

Would be cool if you guys post yours so we can compare the different foods.

http://www.innovapet.com/product_line.asp?id=502

[Candiana]

i switched my maltese from cesar to Fromme salmon (http://www.frommfamily.com/products-fs-d-d-salmon.php) after the dog food scare. she's in much better overall health... fromm is also small bite sized which she absolutely needs.

[onetruguju]

Our Yorkie gets Wellness for Small Breeds...

that along with fruits, and stuff we cut off veggies.
no soft food.