I'm so confused!

[Ruth Licht]

Hi all --

As a first-time mom, I've been trying to figure out what's best to feed my 2 y.o., Rusty. The folks at the shelter said they had fed him Science Diet, so I've kept him on that, but he doesn't seem to like it very much. I've been scouring the posts trying to find out which type of dry adult dog food people seem to like the best, but everything I've found just scares me from all things commercial! I've heard that especially Iams, Eukanuba, and Science Diet are bad, but I can't get any info on why. My parents use Kibbles 'n Bits, but I sense that's not any good (but their dog seems to do just fine with it). Anyway, Rusty has allergies (inhalant, not food that we can discern) but seems to be at a normal weight -- can anyone recommend the best kind of dry adult dog food for me to try? I'm really getting overwhelmed by all the choices and info and don't just want to shoot in the dark anymore.

Thanks...

[Jill Ramsey]

Ruth,
AS you stated, everyone has their favorite-and their opinion. It is very confusing.
The foods that you mentioned have a lot of non-meat type fillers(grains, rice) in them. you want to try to find the best food for your dog that you can afford.
Quite a few of us use the Nutro brands. They are mid range price wise, and not the best, but not the worst either. They can be easily found at Petsmart and Petco.
I have been tempted to try some of the "higher quality" foods, but would have to have them shipped. With the hectic lives we all live these days, it's just so much easier for me to stop 2 miles from home and pick it up. :)
You will get a lot of advice, but in the end, it's a decision that you have to make.
Good luck!!

[Eric Vecc]

I second that, Jill. Any decent food will be OK. Kibbles and Bits has a lot of filler but as you said, the dog does just fine on it. In my opinion, unless I was filthy rich or my dog was my career and made me money, I could never imagine spending such a high amount for the top quality dog food. (again, just my opinion) But like Jill said, just find one that doesn't have grain or rice in the first 3 ingredients. Also, look for a x-meal for the first ingredient (chicken meal, salmon meal, etc) Personally, I buy Nutro for the decent quality and low price.

[Maria Juliano]

Hi all --

As a first-time mom, I've been trying to figure out what's best to feed my 2 y.o., Rusty. The folks at the shelter said they had fed him Science Diet, so I've kept him on that, but he doesn't seem to like it very much. I've been scouring the posts trying to find out which type of dry adult dog food people seem to like the best, but everything I've found just scares me from all things commercial! I've heard that especially Iams, Eukanuba, and Science Diet are bad, but I can't get any info on why. My parents use Kibbles 'n Bits, but I sense that's not any good (but their dog seems to do just fine with it). Anyway, Rusty has allergies (inhalant, not food that we can discern) but seems to be at a normal weight -- can anyone recommend the best kind of dry adult dog food for me to try? I'm really getting overwhelmed by all the choices and info and don't just want to shoot in the dark anymore.

Thanks...


I've heard that especially Iams, Eukanuba, and Science Diet are bad, but I can't get any info on why.

One easy way to determine why a dog food isn't good is to read the label of ingredients. If it has too much grain, mollasses, beet pulp, addictives, artificial coloring, by product, I would not buy it.

Go to www.naturapet.com (http://www.naturapet.com) to do a food comparison. Natura has a wide variety of holistic, human grade dog foods. I'm sure you'll have no problem finding a distributor since the Company is located in Ca.

Best wishes,

[Rebekah Hartman]

Ruth-
The world of dog food is very confusing, especially when you start talking about "the good stuff" ;) and everyone has an opinion. If you want a great deal and have a Costco membership, you could try the Kirkland premium food. It's $15.99 for 40 lbs. and it's just a little better than Nutro (in that it doesn't have quite as many "fillers"). If you want, I can send you comments on the ingredients it contains that are more questionable, but generally speaking it's a decent food (and far better than Iams, Euk, SD, etc). By the way, I fed Science Diet initially, too, and when I switched my puppy would pick out all of the new food and leave the SD there....

What is your price range and would you rather just have a short list of good foods or would you just like to know how to read the ingredient labels for yourself? You may have to try a couple different foods to find one that Rusty does best on, but I've had fun doing the research on our end and trying different foods (with gradual transitions from one to the next, of course). Also, if you do feed one of the "premium" foods, you'll feed a lot less so they aren't as much more expensive as they first appear. 40 lbs of one doesn't necessarily equal 40 lbs of another. You definitely can't beat the value of the Kirkland stuff, though, if you're on a budget.

[Chris Smith]

I agree with everyone's comments - this is such a tough question to answer and so personal. I am also a nutro user - Nutro Natural Choice lamb and rice. My dog has done great on it and I believe the ingredients are good - natural, not lots of fillers, one protein source, and wheat free. And for me, it is affordable and easy to find.

I tried Nalu on one of the "premium" food (chicken soup) and he did terrible on it. Almost 2 months of diarrhea and runny stools. Clearly he wasn't getting nutritional value from this "super good" food since it was going right through him!

So you also need to consider what your dog's system can handle, what he likes and what you can afford.

[Krispie]

I was vey confused at first too. We had always fed our dogs plain old dog food like Kibbles and Bits and they all lived good long lives. But I have learned to be a better label reader and tried to pick at least a better alternative. My dogs both eat Nutro( puppy and adult) and have done great with it. My older dog no longer has the skin problems she had before and the puppy is growing like a weed! Like Chris was saying, it may not be "the best" but it has been good for my dogs. As everyone says, what is most important is what is best for you dog. Good luck in making the best choice for you.

[Grace Erick]

Hi Ruth,

We have a list made up by a member here that listed the bad brands, premium brands, and ultra premium brands, but someone has to help me find it again, yes again. I thought I saved the list in my e-mail storage, but it's not there. When I locate it, you will have a ton of good foods to choose from. It will make life simple for you. Science Diet and Eukanuba have too much grain and/or by products plus other negative ingredients.

All you have to do is pick one, then add the new kibble to the old a little at a time. I think Rebekah said to add 10% a day which would mean your dog would be fully on the new food after 10 days, right? Otherwise, your dog may get the runs from switching which they sometimes do anyway, becaue even a good food may not agree with your dog. Then you have to find another brand, so it may be good to start off with a small bag or even see if the store has trail bags which the better foods stores that sell foods like Innova.

Grocery store brands tend to have too much grain or are mostly grain and since dogs are carnivores, it's not a optimum diet. I looked up kibble n bits. It's pretty bad:


Kibbles 'n Bits Original

1. Whole Corn
2. Soybean Meal
3. Ground Whole Wheat
4. Beef & Bone Meal
5. Animal Fat
6. BHA/BHT
7. Corn Syrup
8. Wheat Mill Run/Middlings
9. Water
10. Animal Digest
11. Ground Whole Wheat
12. Salt
13. Caramel Color
14. Titanium Dioxide Color
15. Methionine
16. Vitamins/Minerals

This food is all grain as you can see by the first 3 ingredients which are what is most in the food. It should state what the fat is an not just say animal fat, BHT & BHA are perservatives that are considered to be cancerous. There is no reason for corn syrup in food which is just sugar. That wheat stuff is just what's sweeped up off a brewery mill floor. What is animal digest? Then if there isn't enough grain, they have wheat listed AGAIN!!! Wheat is not even that digestible as ground white rice or brown rice. Coloring are not good and I don't know what the heck methionine is. This is pretty disgusting when you read the label.

You may have to go to the store locator at the dog food's site to see where it's sold. Here is a site where you can compare some foods that are good like Innova, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul and Natural Balance may be listed there too. It's www.naturapet.com. That is actually the site for Innova and Evo food, but they provide this comparison chart. I have to say 2/3 of the foods they list are not good as you will see by doing comparisons.

Yeah, your parent's dogs are doing fine, but some problems from feeding poor food don't show up until the dogs are older, and even you can eat corn and wheat every day and still survive, it's not a good diet an does not support the dog's immune system. You're parents are doing what a lot of new dog owners and older dog owners do, and that's buy food with popular names. I did it too. I fed my dog......I hate to even say it.....Eukanuba.

Humane Societies feed whats cheap I believe since the dogs will be adopted and only be on the food a short time, but I don't think they should ever recommend a person keep their dog on these foods. Cheap, bad food companies will go to shelters to push their foods and make them look good for shelters to buy. Even breeders feed their dogs trash and even recommend it to people that buy their puppies. A lot of breeders are trying to make a buck and feed the worst foods possible.

Now where is that damn good dog food list????? Anyone know? I will make sure, I will promise, to copy it and store it so I don't ask again:)

[Grace Erick]

I hate to refer new people to archives, but for food, I don't think it's a bad idea to mention which ingredients are not good or in question and what to look for in food and list some good foods. From there, a person can ask more specific questions. Include things like how to switch to new foods and how it may not work out and you have to try new foods etc.

I do have the link for what's in pet food:

http://www.api4animals.org/79.htm

On the bottom of that page is a link for "how to pick dog food".

I think these would be good archive type articles with additional ones written about the ingredient lists, and other things I mentioned above.

Bye, Grace

[Grace Erick]

I never noticed, but now I see Colleen has topics on the heading of the page for archives for current or recent posts, then articles and that is where I guess good articles should go about food. Right now there is nothing there about dog food.

I'll suggest the link I posted and the other link about buying food, but I think it would still be nice to have an article if someone can write something along the lines that I suggested.

Bye, Grace

[Colleen]

Hi there,
I did request to reprint these articles about food and I'm waiting to hear back. The other link you gave me will have to stay a link because she does not want me to reprint the article.

[Ruth Licht]

Hi all --

Thanks so much for the responses to my question and sorry for the delay in responding. I've been awash in research over this subject and think I've now got a bit more of a handle on what's good, what's better, and what's just junk :). We live about a block from a Petco and they have Nutro, Solid Gold, and Natural Balance, so we're in the process of trying those three to see which Rusty likes most. Right now he loves the taste of the Nutro but I'm waiting to see if it positively affects his stool, which was a bit on the soft side. After that I think I'll try the Solid Gold and then the NB and then make the grand decision.

Thanks again!!
Ruth

[Grace Erick]

Ruth,

It's not as confusing as you think. Read the labels on all three foods. Nutro Ultra is their high end food and it has more grain than the other two, so it's ranked #3. Then Natural Balance is a very good food and ranked #2. It claims it has taurine in it which is good for large breed dogs, but I have read that dogs have taurine naturally, so it's good if your dog has a taurine producing problem, but overall it is a very good food. Ranked #1 is Solid Gold, whether you go with their Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog or their large breed dog food since it has more protein and I think better ingredients than the other two foods.

You probably already read that you should mix some of your dog's old food in with the new food to avoid a soft stool or diarreah. Some dogs stool will never firm up on certain foods, even if they are good foods. The books never have an explaination why this is necessary since I can switch my dog's canned food variety from week to week without any problems.

Dog nutrition books recommend switching foods every 4 months, so that your dog does not build up any toxins that may be in any one brand.

Bye, Grace

[Kendall Aliza]

Grace,
I have been wondering how often we were supposed to switch foods. Thanks! Also, I thought soft stools could also mean they are being overfed. Is that correct?

[Grace Erick]

Hi,

Vanessa posted this link to a food calculator:

http://www.petdiets.com/default.asp?Menu=Nut rition&Submenu=DER&PageName=/calculate/der.asp

Of course each food has a different amount of calories per cup, so you have to read the bag and also to see what the brand recommends along with how much excersize your dog gets.

I'm not sure if over feeding can lead to soft stools, but it can be related to switching foods without a doubt. I tried to search around the web for an answer, but came up with nothing except articles about not over feeding a dog, lol:)

I have read that over feeding can cause bone development problems in puppies since the cartilage will turn to bone too quickly w/o letting the bone itself get strong enough first.

Bye, Grace

[Kendall Aliza]

so much information- so little time! Every now and again I'll find myself lingering on a forum or reading an article meanwhile my dog is in need of attention. He just doesnt seem to understand its for his own good dammit! :) I suppose thats how my 40 dollar pillow got torn up last week. :shock: He has some weird thing for anything thats like memory foam material.

[Liz Gilbert]

We feed our Chi Nutro Natural Choice. Its what his previous owner was feeding him, so we didn't change it. He seems to be doing well on it. Its not the most expensive, but its definitely not the cheapest. I do understand that picking a good food for your dog is important, but you also have to be practical too.

When I see fights about dog food, it just makes me think of our family dog we had growing up. He wouldn't eat dry dog food (but would eat the cat's dry food) and for a few years we didn't have much money so we couldn't afford to buy him the wet food he liked. So he ate leftovers for many years (lol his favorite was spaghetti). And was healthy. He was not overweight, and the vet always said he was very healthy. My mom just had him put to sleep last summer at the ripe ole age of 18.

And No, I'm not recommending that people feed their dogs leftovers! :)

Good luck finding a food that works for you and your dog!

~Liz

[Grace Erick]

Kendall, that is too funny about the pillow. Animals do see when you are concentrating on something and feel the need to get involved in some way to disrupt what you are doing and get attention. My chihuahua comes over to be put in my lap when I'm on the computer.

Liz, I just recommend that once a person has set a price that is within what they can pay for dog food that they find the best one for their money. I'm lucky where it takes 5 days for my dog to finish her can of food!!!!!

That's funny about the spaghetti sauce since it probably had onions in it and they are not good for dogs. It really makes you wonder about sites that post this info, and that there really is more to it, like onions if cooked are okay in small amounts, but since they feel pet owners can't be trusted they just put onions on the "not good" since we can't keep onion consumption under control.

I read somewhere that heartworm medicine is good for 6 weeks, but we are told the dog needs it every month because people will remember a months time passing better than 6 weeks. Isn't that crazy???? I wonder if it's true.

Bye, Grace

[Liz Gilbert]

Liz, I just recommend that once a person has set a price that is within what they can pay for dog food that they find the best one for their money.

Yup, I agree with that too. Thats what I meant by you have to be practical. :)

~Liz