Top 5 Foods

[Curly_07]

Starting to get annoyed with dog food...
My 7m came eating nutrisource. My 4m came on pro plan. I was mixing with authority to switch both over and ended up coughing up the cash to switch both to blue wilderness puppy over the last week. I'm trying to absorb so much info and now find wilderness puppy has garlic which is bad, yes? Maybe that explains the gas. So, talked to a vet tech friend who recommends hills brands (not science diet).
Also, corn. What's the deal here. Yeah wolves don't eat corn. Domestic dogs have adapted? How much should corn or lack of affect my decision.

I've been trying to read as much as I can and make good decisions from that but now I just need advice. Also, the ivet stuff my vet gave me I haven't touched because of the brewers rice is the second (?) ingredient. Anyone used this?

I don't buy any food that has corn in it. Corn is a filler, and has no nutritional gain for dogs. As for Hills, you won't catch me feeding that either. Your "vet" friend probably recommended it because vet offices get a kick back for selling it.

Sent from my HTC using Tapatalk

[anaverageasian]

She's a vet tech. She feeds her dogs hills t/d. I wouldn't be getting it from her anyway. Should I write off all their prescription diet s then?

[Curly_07]

No, the prescription diets are good when dogs have certain medical issues, or if you are trying to isolate something. I wouldn't advise feeding them to a dog that is healthy tho and doesn't need a prescription diet.

If you are looking for a good food to feed, there are many listed in this thread and many many others. Taste of the Wild, Acana, Fromm, are a few of the best out there. I personally feed Acana Pacific Stream (fish) currently. I fed TOTW for a couple years and loved it, but changed up after the last recall and just never changed back.

Sent from my HTC using Tapatalk

[AllisonPitbullLvr]

Vet clinics don't get a kickback for selling Hills and our mark ups are significantly lower than food you purchase at a commercial store.

[Curly_07]

No? I thought they did. Didn't they used to, or am I thinking of a different brand?

Sent from my HTC using Tapatalk

[AllisonPitbullLvr]

Well we don't get any kickbacks. Maybe they used to but not here in the past 6 years I've worked at clinics anyway.

Our markup on a large bag of food is 25-30%.

[Curly_07]

Well, to me that sounds like a kick back, just desguised in a different way. So basically, if you had a bag of food for sale at $65, that's a $15 mark-up on a $50 bag.

[AllisonPitbullLvr]

Well, to me that sounds like a kick back, just desguised in a different way. So basically, if you had a bag of food for sale at $65, that's a $15 mark-up on a $50 bag.

?

In that case, what do you think the stores you buy commercial food get as a "kick back"? Commercial markups are often 100%.

[anaverageasian]

A kick back is more like:

A gets B to buy from C. C gives $ to A.

But I still don't know if blue wilderness puppy is a good food or not.

[abman]

I always recommend the prescription diets for certain ailments and treatments but not for your average dog on an everyday basis unless the dogs need that type of diet.

I've been researching foods lately and the market has def changed since i last had a dog.

[El_EmDubya]

I've been researching foods lately and the market has def changed since i last had a dog.

Yep, a lot more manufacturing in China...

[Breezy833]

It has been a constant struggle for me to find a food that is good for my boy as well as affordable. I was looking at Purina's Pro Plan and was wondering if anyone had tried it?

[mhocker10]

It has been a constant struggle for me to find a food that is good for my boy as well as affordable. I was looking at Purina's Pro Plan and was wondering if anyone had tried it?

First Ten Ingredients in Pro Plan:

Beef
brewers rice
corn gluten meal
whole grain wheat
whole grain corn
animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E)
poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine)
fish meal (natural source of glucosamine)
dried beet pulp
animal digest

brewers rice, corn meal, wheat, whole grain corn in the top 5 ingredients... Pro Plan is HORRIBLE food.... nothing but filler. I would suggest finding a Grain Free food like Natures Variety. You will find that you feed much less food on grain free, which makes the bag last longer. You will pay more but with the food lasting longer it all works out about even in the end. You will also notice that your dog will physically respond better to a higher protein/no grain/no gluten/no potato diet aswell as smaller, less smelly poop.

[Jamie&Jessie]

Pet Food Ratings


I have been asked to rate both dry and raw foods. The dry foods will be listed in order of quality with an explanation of why it rates where it does.

At the top of my list with 4 stars is raw or BARF. It’s the most appropriate for dogs to eat, easiest for them to digest, and though there are inherent risks, the safest as well.

For dry foods the first at 3 stars would be Timberwolf:
With a very high percentage of meat based protein it is quite expensive. But since the dogs don’t eat as much of it, it really ends up being a good buy. They also, as a general rule, don’t develop a lot of the usual issues they deal with when lower quality foods are fed. Their lowest protein formula starts with 50% meat based protein, their highest has 90% meat based protein. The more meat protein the less grain they use. There is a wide variety of formulas and 3 are true allergy formulas since they don’t use any form of rice, corn, wheat, or soy.

Number two with 2 1/2 stars would be Nature’s Variety:
They use a standard kibble but when it’s cooled from the extrusion process they coat it in dehydrated raw food. They call this “Bio-coating”. It ups the meat percentage quite a bit, though pound for pound it’s still less than the Timberwolf. They have recently added an allergy formula, Venison with pumpkin seed and sweet potato. The dogs do well with it.

Number 3 with 2 1/4 stars would be Merrick:
Merrick also coats the kibble in dehydrated meat. They have added freeze dried vegetables and chunks of dehydrated meat in with the kibble. It has an added component of making gravy when warm water is added with the kibble. It takes a couple of minutes for it to thicken up but the dogs love it.

Number 4 with 1 3/4 stars would be Wellness. The biggest thing with this food that made it stand out is it is baked. It crumbles very easily, and is suppose to be easily digested. They were one of the first to come out with an alternative allergy formula with something other than lamb and rice.

Number 5 with 1 1/2 stars would be Canidae:
This is a decent food, much better than a lot of the big names out there. My main complaint is that they use sunflower oil and, eventually, most dogs will have trouble with it. It’s a good middle of the road food for a lot of people coming off grocery store or big name foods. It shows them the benefits of feeding better quality.

Thanks so much for these. Are they still accurate? I will look into.

I feed my dog Nutrisca Dogswell. It seems to be working out well. Anyone know anything negative about it?
http://nutrisca.dogswell.com/lamb.html

[El_EmDubya]

Here are your ingredients:

Lamb, Lamb Meal, Peas, Chickpeas, Menhaden Fish Meal, Flaxseed, Dried Eggs, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Pea Fiber, Pea Protein, Pea Starch, Potassium Chloride, Salmon Oil, Natural Flavor, Tomato Pomace, Choline Chloride, Carrots, Cranberries, Apricots, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Iron Proteinate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine
Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Proteinate, Biotin, Selenium Yeast, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Rosemary Extract.

Look at the first 5 ingredients to determine the majority of the value, then at the other ingredients for allergens, inflammatory agents, and things that degrade quickly:

Lamb - Good
Lamb Meal- this could be *just lamb hooves for all you know. "Meal" really means not suitable for human or cosmetic consumption, therefore sold the the pet food industry.
Peas - contains phytates to protect the seed, this can cause IBS and damage the gut
Chickpeas - read above
Pea Protein - filler to bring the ratio for protein up, since the previous three ingredents and fish meal are not balanced. This is not a biologically appropriate protein and will therefore be incomplete.
Fish Meal - Filler... likely scales and bones.

Flaxseed - phytates and highly degradable oils
Dried Eggs - allergens for some dogs
Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols)- largely Omega 6 fats due to corn fed chickens being the industry norm. Inflamatory. Tocopherols are likely synthetic and therefore biologically inappropriate causing inflammation and hormonal disruption. (Google Chirality for more info why.)
Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Pea Fiber, Pea Protein, Pea Starch - hmmm, wonder why they just don't say Peas? Oh, that's right, its because these are byproducts and the goodness have been sold to other food channels.
Potassium Chloride - salt as a preservative
Salmon Oil- degrades quickly when exposed to air at room temp. A bag of kibble will be rancid quickly.
Natural Flavor- VERY LIKELY TO BE MSG
Tomato Pomace - potential allergen and inflammatory agent
Choline Chloride,
Carrots, Cranberries, Apricots- Why do your dogs need these? Oh, that's right, they don't - These are "marketing ingredients" to make you think the food is healthy
Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Iron Proteinate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Proteinate, Biotin, Selenium Yeast, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Rosemary Extract. - added due to nutritional deficiencies in previous ingredients and/or as preservatives.