recommendations

[Mandy Stillwell]

This may sound terribly irresponsible, but I never knew there was so much to know about the different dog foods. We have a Husky mix who is 11 years old, and a Beagle mix who is 7 years old that have always eaten Ol Roy food. Last month my husband bought an Australian Cattle Dog pup. He's wanted one for years and wants to do agility when he is old enough. This started lots of research on lots of different topics and we stumbled on the doggiedoor site and were reading all the info about dog food the day before it crashed, so we didn't get to finish.
We live in the boonies and have to travel a good 45 minutes to a city that has something other than a wal-mart. We love our dogs and want to give them the best food that we can afford, but we live on one salary and my part time work. So, while we would like to be able to give them the best there is, I think we need to go for the best we can afford.
Is there a brand that Petsmart carries that would do? I remember reading something on the other site about Blue Buffalo being okay. I called the closest petsmart 45 min from here, and asked about the Blue Buffalo brand and they don't carry it. Does anyone recommend anything else they might carry?
Thanks for reading....and any info would be appreciated. We want our babies to be happy AND healthy!

[Jill Ramsey]

Mandy,
We use the Nutro Natural choice for our lab, Finnegan. They have puppy, adult, large breed, etc. They have a higher priced product Nutro Ultra, too. It's available at Petsmart & Petco. But, as it was always said, what works for my dog , may not work for yours. Nutro was on the list as an "ok" dog food. There are many better, and many worse. But, sometimes we're restricted by how much we can afford to pay.
Hopefully, you'll get more replies, so you can check out a variety.

[Sarah Moore]

Mandy-

I'm sure others will chime in, but I know Petsmart carries Nutro Natural Choice and Nutro Natural Choice Ultra, which were both listed as OK food on the list (ultra is better of the 2), if that is all you have available in your area. Have you checked for feed stores in your area? If you go to a lot of the "supoer premium" food websites, you can type in your zip code and it will tel you if there are any stores in your area that carry that food (worth a shot anyway). I feed my dogs Canidae (www.canidae.com) and they LOVE it :mrgreen:

Hope that helps!

[Andre Mendizabal]

hey Mandy, first, this is an article that gives you some information about different diets (commercial, homecooked, raw) and what you have to see in each one of them:

http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/35/07645176/0764517635.pdf

Also, are you able and can you afford feeding them a homecooked or raw diet?

And talking about commercial, I think I remember that they recommended Nutro's Natural Choice and it wasn't too expensive. You can also do a google search to find some store near your locality or maybe buy it online.

One thing I do know, Ol Roy was really not recommended, it was one of the worse.

I also fed Acana to my dogs before I started switching to a homecooked diet and it worked pretty well, it wasn't too expensive at all and it was the best I could find and afford...


Good luck!!! :)

[Mandy Stillwell]

Thank you all for replying.

I went to the Canidae website and typed in my zip code. Nothing in my area.

I never knew that there was that much difference in dog food, so have never really even thought of doing raw. I would have to do a lot of reading and learning before attempting it. But I will read up on it. I am learning all kinds of things!
Like how bad Ol' Roy is. I honestly just thought that it was okay. l Like I said, our older girls have been on it since they were pups. Our beagle mix is starting to get a little over weight and we had talked about seeing if we should do something with her diet, but now I realize it may just be the food. She's fairly active, but she is slowing down more, but I think that's just because she's picked up the extra weight. Our husky mix seems healthy has a horse though. She's beautiful and VERY active, even at 11 years old. But, I still know that I don't want to feed her that stuff anymore. So...all the research and reading!

I'm looking up the Nutro as soon as I log off here. I wouldn't mind driving up to petsmart to buy the dog food, so I'll check it out.

I am also going to look into how much it costs for shipping if I buy online. It might be cheaper than putting gas in the truck to go get the food!

[Luciann]

Mandy,

When i was married and had 3 large breed dogs, i fed mine the old roy puppy food. I don't know where it is on the list of good and bad but they were healthy and their coats were shiny. Though now i feed my chis peurina puppy dry and ol' roy lamb and rice moist. they are very healthy and the vet says that they are in wonderful shape.

So get what works for you

[Priscilla Cronholm]

I agree. Though I feed Solid Gold to Bailey (Akita/Border Collie mix) from what I have read Nutro Natural Choice is good. I only went up to Solid Gold because he was diagnosed with Demodex 2 weeks ago and I am trying to boost his immune system with supplements and the best food. But also I live in the city and it is relatively easy for me to buy it and it costs about the same, since everything else here is expensive too.

I don't know how much Ol Roy costs (there is no wal-mart around me if you can believe it) but Nutro Natural costs about
» net wt. 5 lbs. $7.99
» net wt. 20 lbs. $21.99
» net wt. 40 lbs. $32.99

Good luck.

[Colleen]

I had heard that Nutro Natural Choice was good too, that it would fill my pup up faster and would make his stools solid. It had just the opposite affect and I gave it time to work too. He was always hungry and had very loose stools. We switched back to our other food. So, like the other's say, some foods work better for some than for others!

[Eric Moreira]

Mandy, in the last week I have learned so much about dog health and nutrition that it is making my head spin! There are so many different types of food, diets, etc. out there that it is hard to find what is best. I have found an excellent site for all sorts of information which I found to be pretty unbiased, http://www.thepetcenter.com . On that site you will find all kinds of articles about pet health, nutrition, safety, etc..

Also, just by searching on Google for holistic dog food, or natural dog food, or BARF or raw dog food, etc., you will find a plethora of info. I am currently switching over to Flint River Ranch fish and potatoes mix and so far my dog loves it! It is kind of pricey but remember that when purchasing higher quality food you will not have to feed your dog as much.

One last thing, don't forget that you can have food shipped right to your door!

[Anonymous]

I feed my dog Diamond Dog food. It was not on "the list", but one of the advisors responded to my question on "doggiedoor" and said some of their foods were good. The ingredients look good, and it is inexpensive. They have more than one type, so read the ingredient labels. We use the lamb and rice for sensitive stomachs formula. It is carried at some pet stores, feed stores, farm stores and vets' offices.
Jody

[Stefie C]

We adopted Sandy in December. She was 11 months old and was being fed Ole Roy Soft & Meaty & Ole Roy Gravey Packets. We slowly switched her to Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice. It was the best we could afford that was available in our area. I have been very pleased with it. Sandy loves it and since we've been feeding it to her she has slimmed down and her coat has gotten so much softer and shinier. I've become a big fan of Nutro even though on "The List" from DoggieDoor is was only listed as an okay food.

[Summer Magic]

Nutro Natural is a good choice of food for your dogs, but take it slow with the change over. Magic had diahrea for two days when I changed her over to Nutro. She had a mix of old and new 2/3 to 13 ratio and it still affected her.

[Krista Winegardener]

When I was trying to find a better food for my Husky mix puppy,one of the members on Doggiedoor shared this site with me to help me make my decision.It's a 'comparison wizard' that allows you to compare most of the major brands in terms of the ingredients and what they are and what they mean.This site plumps for the premium brands but is helpful in that it allows you to research what's exactly in the foods you might find at Petsmart,for example.

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz

I'm such a techie beginner,I can't figure out how to post that so you can just click on it.Sorry! But if you can type in the site,hopefully you can find the comparison thingie on there.

My dog was on Natural Balance and got tired of it after a few months.I was very happy with the condition of her coat,etc but she went on strike and refused to eat it.So,we switched to Nutro Ultra as it was easy to find.She just loves it and scarfs it down.I want to get her on something else,so today we went to this charming,kind of improbable feed store out in the country that doubles as a premium dog food store.They gave me samples of Fromm,Merrick,Innova and Wellness and guess what.My dog turned her nose up at these premium brands and just wanted her Nutro.I'd say ask for some samples online before you break out
and invest some cash in a big bag.Lots of the premium dog food companies offer samples.I know of several dogs who are happy and healthy on Nutro.It's not a crap brand and if the dog is satisfied with it,great![/list][/code]

[Anonymous]

Hi everybody,
I can't say enough good things about feeding the raw diet. I have been feeding raw for 14 years to both my cats and dogs. My senior rescues have bounced back in health (even the old guy with mast cell carcinoma). Please give it consideration. Your dog will love you for it and be healthier and happier :) Rudy

[Anonymous]

I feed my beagle Nutro Natural Choice and he loves it. No obesity problems for him yet either, and I know beagles are prone to that. So this food seems to work!

[Robert]

I went with lifes abundance. Ill never go back to store brands not after what i found out.

[Mandy Stillwell]

Well, I found a local feed store that carries a variety of pet foods. They carry all the well known, supposedly good brands, and Innova, Wellness, Chicken Soup Brand, Diamond, anda few more. I bought a small bag of the Chicken Soup for the puppy because the ingredients looked okay, and the price was in our range. Even for a 40 pound bag it would only be $26.

Does anyone else use this??

[Jodi Williams]

Well, I found a local feed store that carries a variety of pet foods. They carry all the well known, supposedly good brands, and Innova, Wellness, Chicken Soup Brand, Diamond, anda few more. I bought a small bag of the Chicken Soup for the puppy because the ingredients looked okay, and the price was in our range. Even for a 40 pound bag it would only be $26.

Does anyone else use this??

We're in the process of switching over to Chicken Soup. Our puppy loves it and her poops have firmed up. We'll definitely be sticking with it.

[Summer Magic]

checked DD cache and found this!!!! :!: Hope it helps, I've downloaded it on to my comp as well.

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:zGblP AhvPhsJ:www.doggiedo or.com/food.htm+doggiedoor. com+dog+food&hl=en

[Ann Morscher]

I was just wondering if anyone has tried or is using Honest Kitchen? When we got Misty from the breeder she was being fed a raw diet. As much as I was interested in trying this out, it is just not for me. Yet, I did want her on a high quality food. The breeder also used Honest Kitchen when she travels as well as Innova kibble. So for now Misty receives kibble in the morning and evening and then the Honest Kitchen Embark midday. SHe loves the Honest Kitchen and it was a bit pricey. Yet I am only using a small amount a day so it will last awhile. I am just hoping all of this is ok for her.

Ann

[Summer Magic]

here's a line regarding Honest Kitchen, I've never used it but who knows?

http://www.preciouspets.org/verve.htm

[Grace Erick]

Summer, that pic of your cat is a riot. I have to learn how to use my new camera and take some nice pics of my dog!!!!

[Summer Magic]

Thanks Capri. She spends as much time in this position as she does on her feet!

[Grace Erick]

Summer, I have a Chihuahua and they love to lay on their backs, especially when they relax or sleep. They just look so contented when they are laying like that, your cat and my dog :)

[Grace Erick]

Sometimes it's hard to compare dog food brand ingredients to each other when you don't know what you are looking for. One question I have is about chicken fat. Is that good or bad for your dog?

I know it's bad for people, but maybe dog's utilize it or metabolize it where it helps them and not us.