Whatever he can get out of the freezer by himself.:loll Seriously, I tried various kibbles, Dick Van Pattens Naturals, Pinnalce, but there were always some digestion issues. He had a bad reaction to a rabies shot and his testicles blew up to the size of softballs at age four, so we had emergency surgery to neuter him. He put on thirty pounds, and it was not pretty. I just started cooking for him, chicken breasts, frozen, from Trader Joes, with half a can of peas. When I get meat cheap, I cook that too. Hey, he is my best friend and deserves the best! Anyway, he lost and kept off all of the thirty pounds he gained, his energy is great, NO MORE DIGESTION issues (vomiting, diarrhea) which I am sure was due to the kibble. I add vitamins and glucosamine to his food, and overall, it is probably about $40 more a month to feed him this way. Well worth it to me. And him!
OH, yeah, I forgot about the itching and dry skin from the kibble. Plus, a friend had a dog die from food with the Chinese additives, another push to cook for my dog.
I'd do RAW if work travel wasn't such an issue (copout), we have a very active Boxer who does well on Orijen Regional Red. The ingredients are key to a health dog.
I don't get that shit. I can't for the life of me talk my neighbor out of free range feeding his two Bull Terriers 300 lb. bags of $25 dog food. Yet he still wonders why they chew the shit out of their paws, tails, legs, have terrible allergies, dry skin, over weight etc. etc.
Trader Joes Lamb and rice or Chicken and rice dry dog food. anything else and his ass is ultra-toxic, not to mention he pukes up most anything 'other' he gets. boxers are very delicate stomachs. His coat is gloriously shiny. jaz
Sam's Rotisserie Chicken, meat & skin pulled off the bone. Seriously. We rescued a lab-borzoi mix that had too many skin issues + numerous allergies. Possibly a puppy farm escapee; but without a doubt the best dog we've ever had. We tried too many canned & bagged foods from supermarkets, pet stores, and the vet. Don't recall how we started on this, but it's incredibly economical - a $4.99 bird is good for 6-8 meals, and his skin has cleared up, coat is better, eyes are clearer. Can't even blame him for farting anymore. Three months & going strong. Vet checked him out last week, vitals and blood work are clear. Go figure.
It is extremely rare for an animal to get salmonella. I shop the meat department for the oldest steaks and "manager" specials. take them home and separate them in ziploc bags with a pulverized Zinpro (Zinc supplement) biscuit mixed in. She wont eat the biscuit by itself. Picky Bitch. I will mix up the steak with Chicken, Chukar (Partridge) and Pheasant from time to time depending on the season. (She acts as a fill in bird dog at a local game bird ranch and I get the birds for free)
Loyall adult maintenance. One dog lived to be nearly 16, and the other is going strong at 11. In fairness, I actually know the people who developed it, so I trust their judgement, but our one dog had terrible skin issues and the vet put him on fish oil supplements. When I changed to the Loyall, they went away.
For the last few years my rottie has been eating Merrick. She had a ton of health issues around 6-7 to the point where I almost lost her but she is going on 12 now. Also I just checked the dog food adviser site and they don't list the flavors she eats but all the Merrick foods I clicked on had 5 stars.
While that's true, many a dog lived long lives working their tails off- sheepdogs kept on scraps of polenta and sheep milk. Those dogs put on dozens of km each day and night- now they won't say no to the occasional game they can catch, but their main meal is corn... My dogs are on a combination of home made and kibbles- the kibbles I use now are Natural Balance. The reason for it is the digestive system of my Belgian, she shits solid on this food. As a rule of thumb, radiated food is bad. Road kill is bad. Too much protein is bad- especially for some breeds/individuals highly sensitive to this (Bull terriers, etc). The too much protein rule applies to active dogs too. Just because your dog eats it doesn't mean anything- crap food can taste good, in the short run. Unlike rats, who can smell on other rats what not to eat, and memorize a gazillion food experiences, our companion dogs lost this ability. So do it right... Ko
And humans can survive on gruel. But with all we've learned about nutrition we know how to eat better. I try to treat my pets the same way.
I feed my Great Dane "Holistic Select Large and Giant Breed Adult Formula" kibble augmented with cunks of meat table scaps. Minimal farts, happy poops, no puking or other neg. side effects. Get it on line through Petflow.com, it's runs me $1.80/pound and my Dane goes through about 40 lbs/month.
I checked out your link from page 1. I've been into a lot of different dog food stores, and I honestly have never seen or heard of half those brands. I wonder how many of them are store specific brands or are regional only. Day at the beach. One of my 'holes in the couch' into which I pour money.
I'd like to add my last Dog had issues with tumors all his life. Can't prove it but I believe it was due to the food. That dog was special. He was a mutt of the highest degree,Rottie/Pit Bull and German Shorthair Pointer. Climbed trees,ran deer down and had a real problem with ground hogs. He'd hunt them down,find where they lived and wait until they emerged and pounce on them from 10 feet way. grab 'em by the head and 2-3 shakes and they'd had it. Then it was dinner time. Pretty gruesome sight. One time I came home and he was in the yard playing with one of the kills. Threw it up in the air,he heard me coming and looked at me. The carcass landed on his head like a Dan'l Boone hat. He just sat there panting waiting for me to make it down the driveway. Anyway I spent thousands throughout his life on surgeries to remove tumors. The last time the Vet buffaloed me into a big surgery at 12 years old. The biopsy came back malignant but he said it was a slow growing type of cancer and should it return he'd be done by them anyway. 4 months later he stopped eating. X-rays showed him riddled with tumors. I was told to take him home feed him well and he'd tell me when it was time. He did. As I sat there with him while they administered the drugs he looked up and gave me a big slurp on the face. 10 seconds later he was gone. Feed your dog the best you can afford. He'd do the same for you.