Dog Food question
 

I have been giving my dog Nutro Natural Ultra lately and it is a good food, but i think i am gonna go with something different. Now my question is what to go with. what would your opinion be, between Diamond Naturals, the chicken and rice formula, Science Diet normal small bites, or something else? Opinions? Thank you.

RE: Dog Food question
 

What kind of dog do you have? Some require more energy than others.

RE: Dog Food question
 

I use diamond naturals I like it.

RE: Dog Food question
 

I'd stay away from the Science Diet. Ifeed mylab puppy Canidae all life stages Lamb and Rice meal. Check out this site: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php/cat/1

RE: Dog Food question
 

I have 2 dogs, my dog is a lab and our other dog is just a small lap dog. The lap dog eats very little and mainly eats treats and if she eats it is maybe a cup a day so i give her the food we feed my lab. My lab is used hunting, i take her swimming, running, fetch, regular exercise things like that. If hunting i'd give her a power bar type treat with some extra energy and things so i don't need a high fat/protein food for normal routine feed. I was thinking about during season getting a 5lb bag of high energy/fat food. Why would you stay away from science diet? That canidae looks good. And thats good you are happy with diamond, i've heard good reviews about it and that it is a good food. I'm not sure what to go with. thanks for the help so far though.

RE: Dog Food question
 

This information is from the link I provided above. This is why I would stay away from Science Diet-

(Science Diet Adult Lamb And Rice Small Bites)

Ingredients:
Lamb Meal, Brewers Rice, Rice Flour, Ground Whole Grain Wheat, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Corn Gluten Meal, Cracked Pearled Barley, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Dried Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein (min) 19.5%
Fat (min) 13%
Fiber (max) 2.5%
Calcium (min) 0.7%
Phosphorus (min) 0.5%


This is the review of the food (one star rating, if you can trust the reviews, this one isn't shining):

The first ingredient is a named meat product, in meal form. This is the sole meat product in the food.


The primary grain is brewers rice which is a low quality grain and by-product. Rice flour, the third ingredient, is a grain fragment and filler.


The fourth ingredient is wheat. The use of wheat is a significant negative: wheat is believed to be the number one cause of allergy problems in dog food. This is another ingredient we prefer not to see used at all in dog food.


Sorghum is a carbohydrate source low in digestibility. We consider it primarily filler. Corn gluten meal is another low quality ingredient. Corn is a problematic grain that is difficult for dogs to digest and thought to be the cause of a great many allergy and yeast infection problems. We prefer not to see this used in dog food. The AAFCO definition of corn gluten meal is "the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm". In plain English, that which remains after all the nutritious bits have been removed.


Barley is a decent quality grain, but with six grains following the meat product, this starts to look like a very grain heavy food.


Animal fat is a further low quality ingredient and is impossible to determine the source. Unidentified ingredients are usually very low quality. AAFCO define this as "obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative".


Beet pulp is further filler and a controversial ingredient – it is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required.


Soy is a poor quality source of protein in dog food, and a common cause of allergy problems. Some believe that it is the number 1 cause of food allergies in dogs (outstripping even wheat).

RE: Dog Food question
 

I like eaglepack dog food, they make it for every kind of dog there is. www.eaglepack.com
check it out for yourself..

RE: Dog Food question
 

I would question the ratings the link for Dog Food Analysis gave. It neither gives the author's name nor any contact information nor his work. It doesn't give any information on why the author isconsidered anexpert in the field. The only information given is his contact with Boxer World. I've known people who done alot of research but that does not neccessarily make them an expert. So, I would take it with a grain of salt.

I feed Pro Plan. It may not be the best but its considered good. My vet says, "it's a well balanced food." If its good enough for my vet, its good enough for me. BTW, my dog stools are nice dark and hard and relieves herself once a day.

RE: Dog Food question
 

My dog likes IAM'S dog food.

The rule of thumb is - the more it costs, the better it is.

Eukanuba dog food is also very good.

RE: Dog Food question
 

I feed mine Royal Canine, I looked at a lot of labels, and the main reason is I used to feed him Purina one but the wheat as mentioned before made him scratch all the time. And the proten in the Royal canine is high. Basically this was the best out of every one I read. A close second was the Diamond. but I am staying with Royal Canine, as he is doing very well on it.

RE: Dog Food question
 

I feed my Labs PMI.
21% Protein
8% Crude fat
They work most days out of the year and are in great shape.

RE: Dog Food question
 

I started out with a Pit a couple years ago. According to my vet he had an allergy to corn products in his food. I stopped feeding him Iams and switched to Diamond Lamb and rice as per my vet's recommendation. He did really well with that. Had to get rid of him because of dog aggression and current living arrangements. I now have a treeing feist and feed her the same Diamond Lamb and rice. When compared to other foods with similar ingredients it has the best price.

RE: Dog Food question
 

So as far as ingredients do i want like chicken meal or just chicken and what is the difference? Would i want to go with a hollistic dog food over the normal type of dog food that is non-hollistic? or is hollistic better?

RE: Dog Food question
 

Chicken meal is dehydrated chicken parts, namely the choice cuts and skin w/o feathers. Undehydrated chicken is mostly moisture. It is recommended that if you do not feed chicken meal then feed them canned or fresh chicken. You can look at this website written by an animal nutritionist (credentials on site): http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=betterproducts

RE: Dog Food question
 

We used to feed our dogs Canidae and really liked it. Unfortunately, it became too difficult to get and we had to switch. We now feed Royal Canin and have for at least 5 years. It's always a top rated food and all our dogs like it. We also recommend it to the people who buy puppies from us. What we (and other breeders we know) have always told people is that, as a rule of thumb, if you can buy a food in a regular grocery store, it's usually not a very good food.

About Science Diet. I would NEVER recommend it, nor would any breeder I know. And it's always at the bottom of every single list of dog food ratings. BTW, the link to the list RIStrutStopper posted about is a very good one; I have had that bookmarked for quite some time. That list also pretty much follows what the Whole Dog Journal list has said for a lot of years.

Bruce

RE: Dog Food question
 

Diamond Lamb & Rice 3/4 cup in morning, 3/4 cup at night. I have a 38lb. Brittany and she has been doing great on it for five of the six years of her life.

RE: Dog Food question
 

I like the Nutri Source products. Good ingredients and good price. I use the Performance or the Super Performance for my dogs depending on what they look like.

Good luck

RE: Dog Food question
 

I still like Eaglepack and have been very happy with it, here is an item of interest regarding dog health issue in dog foods. Also a recommendation on some of the allergies dogs and cats get from some pet foods. www.eaglepack.com/Pages/EP_PetHealth.html

The link above will explain this question, on another note I may be wrong here but wasn't Diamondf dog foods on the recall from having chemicals from China that were making pets sick?

When I find out that makers of pet foods donate money to PETA I refuse to purchase regardless of whether or not it is a good pet food..I enjoy my hunting and other outdoor sports to much to have my money going against it.

RE: Dog Food question
 

Phil,

When did Eukanuba/Iams donate money to PETA? I've heard about their anti-hunting campaign along with the HSUS, but never a PETA donation.

I have also heard that Eukanuba may be up for sale. P&G apparently is looking to offload it, but wants to keep the Iams division.

By the way, which Eagle Pack formula to you feed your setters?

RE: Dog Food question
 

i have a couple of dogs (huntinghounds) and we feed them buddy boy and it goes around $12 a bag

RE: Dog Food question
 

You are correct it was threw HSUS that the donation was made, Thanks for pointing that out for me..
Either way it is still anti though. Just a few years back.

I feed my setter the power formula and have never had any problems with it at all, but keep in mind they are very active. They have a need for high protien and high fat.

RE: Dog Food question
 

I have a 5 1/2 year old male - intact- Springer...(he became a Dad last Fall :))

I have alwaysfed him Artemis dog food and would not consider changing to any other brand unless
instructed by his Vet.

It may not be the most popular brand but it certainly warrants looking in it.
I highly recommend it.
http://www.artemiscompany.com/products_detail.asp?product=dry_dog

Good Luck!

RE: Dog Food question
 

i used to feed DIAMOND LAMB/RICE but found a much better food only 8 dollars more for 40#.

CANIDEA ALL LIFE CYLCES..
no wheat/corn in it.

be careful, some dogs cant take CHICKEN/BEEF.

if after changing your dog starts scratching their ears,its DOG FOOD..

then you have to go back to LAMB/RICE..