Dog owners: What dog food do you feed them?

[BHW]

Just curious to see what you feed your dogs? There are a lot of dog owners here, so I'm expecting a lot of varied answers.

We bought Iams Natural Chicken for our dog, but I'm still doing some research and reading on brands and ingredients. My lab that's been dead a few years now, had bad allergies and we fed him a lamb/rice food. But I'm open to trying new foods for my labradoodle.

Let me know why you chose what you did...be it price, ease of availability, ingredients, vet recommendations, etc. Don't be shy and be honest.

I've been looking at pet stores, club stores, and department stores...and am seeing food range from well under $1 a pound, to well over $5 a pound!

[Dave]

I've been told by several veterinarians to look for food made in California. CA apparently has pretty strict rules as to what can and can't go into pet food.

I won't even get into pet food that's made in China. There have been several outbreaks of tainted food.

Personally, we use Nutro Lamb and Rice. The dog that Mrs. Dave and I got a couple of months ago was fed Iams all the time. Ever since the food switch, her coat has improved a lot, has more energy, and a good firm stool. Her coat quality is quickly catching our other dogs. 'Course, she also gets a lot more exercise now, too, which probably also helps.

The food isn't cheap, though. It used to be $30 for a 40 lb. bag. They've held the line on prices, but now it's a 30 lb. bag.

[Motornoggin]

I've been feeding Natural Planet Organics adult formula. Riley seems to be doing well with it.

[nskitts]

Diamond brand. They have several different formulations and get good ratings in comparisons. We get ours at Tractor Supply. You won't see it advertised in magazines, so it's not real expensive but not cheap either. You don't want corn as your first ingredient in whatever dog food you buy.

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by BHW

Just curious to see what you feed your dogs? There are a lot of dog owners here, so I'm expecting a lot of varied answers.

We bought Iams Natural Chicken for our dog, but I'm still doing some research and reading on brands and ingredients. My lab that's been dead a few years now, had bad allergies and we fed him a lamb/rice food. But I'm open to trying new foods for my labradoodle.

Let me know why you chose what you did...be it price, ease of availability, ingredients, vet recommendations, etc. Don't be shy and be honest.

I've been looking at pet stores, club stores, and department stores...and am seeing food range from well under $1 a pound, to well over $5 a pound!

www.dogfoodadvisor.com

Acana for all of my dogs now, after having three dogs with elevated liver values and one dog that died of complications from liver cancer all while I thought Science Diet was still a good dog food. I'll never be able to prove that synthetic vitamin K3 in Science Diet and many other shitty dog foods had anything to do with it, but it's more than a little coincidental that the third dog that had elevated liver values in blood tests on Science diet for 5 years now has normal liver values on Acana. Go figure.

Research your dog food thoroughly. It can make a big difference in the amount of time you get with your best friend. And yes, I'm a little bitter about the loss of my Siberian, and more importantly the difficulty she went through for the last three years of her life.

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by nskitts

Diamond brand. They have several different formulations and get good ratings in comparisons. We get ours at Tractor Supply. You won't see it advertised in magazines, so it's not real expensive but not cheap either. You don't want corn as your first ingredient in whatever dog food you buy.

You don't want corn period. When's the last time you saw a dog break chase at a game animal to rip an ear of corn off of a corn stalk?

[Ursa Major]

Orijen adult dog food, it's made in Canada. It's bloody expensive, but it took a rescue dog who'd been tied to a tree behind an apartment complex and left to starve from 17 lb. and near death in early November to 44 lb., muscular, and with inexhaustible energy as of yesterday morning. He couldn't keep the stuff from Target that he got his first week down, but he's thrived on Orijen. Gets 5 stars on the site Bueller linked.

[Hittman]

I do raw with our dogs. Raw turkey necks usually with some organs mixed in sometimes. Also some cooked veggies mixed in. Perfect coat, great teeth and breath, and always given a great bill of health at the vet.

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by Ursa Major

Orijen adult dog food, it's made in Canada. It's bloody expensive, but it took a rescue dog who'd been tied to a tree and left to starve behind an apartment complex from 17 lb. and near death in early November to 44 lb., muscular, and with inexhaustible energy as of yesterday morning. He couldn't keep the stuff from Target that he got his first week down, but he's thrived on Orijen. Gets 5 stars on the site Bueller linked.

Good stuff, made by the same folks that make Acana. We used it on our emaciated stray we found this summer, but once he hit normal weight we moved him to Acana. Orijen is a very high protein food (can cause issues for large dogs) for very active dogs.

[FlagRS]

Canidae - recomended to me by the owner of our local feed store. My old boy ate it everyday for 14.5 years. Best thing about good quality dog food is that it produces less dog shit.

[KeithinSC]

Originally Posted by FlagRS

Best thing about good quality dog food is that it produces less dog shit.

Less dog Farts also!

[Robert^]

Flint River is fantastic. Wysong is very good. I had a large dog for a very long time and the better food probably contributed alot. With really good food dogs need less to eat and don't poop as much. Pound for pound can be like comparing apples and oranges.

Originally Posted by BHW

Just curious to see what you feed your dogs? There are a lot of dog owners here, so I'm expecting a lot of varied answers.

[troidus]

Originally Posted by FlagRS

Canidae - recomended to me by the owner of our local feed store. My old boy ate it everyday for 14.5 years. Best thing about good quality dog food is that it produces less dog shit.

Another good thing about quality food is that you can feed them less of it for the same result. Why feed a dog two cups of crap when one cup of good stuff gives them all the nutrition they need and it's better for them? (Adjust volume for size of dog, of course.)

My wife's beagle has been on either Azmira or Canidae for most of his ten years and still runs around like a much younger dog. Only recently has he started to get a joint supplement for a little arthritis, but he looks great. Thrice-daily walks help, too.

[Tinks]

We used Purina for years. We have a 14 year old Border Collie and 16 year old Golden. I have a tough time thinking an average food is all good or all bad. Now we use a food made in Arkansas...specifically my kitchen. Our youngest dog has some very severe and unique allergies and the best way to dodge them is making food. You have to make sure you don't short them on vitamins and minerals amd give them long-term nutritional deficiencies. The dogs are doing well, and my Border Collie is losing weight without being grumpy. This has been helping her joints and mobility. It is cheaper than some of the special brands, but more than we used to spend, given the volume of food we need for two large and one medium size dogs.

[jdiaz]

Iams and ice cream for our lab.