Dog Food

[ally20o7]

I'm trying to figure out what kind of dog food to get my pug. She needs weight management since pugs have an extreme tendency to be overweight. I'm willing to spend up to $15 for 5 pounds. What would you guys recommend?

[WebLady]

We are pretty much home cooked; we only feed half kibble now. We buy Purina One salmon and rice for sensative systems.

[PGDesigns]

We feed Canidae All-Life Stages to our three. Two of them are seniors that we have to watch their weights, and they have done really well on Canidae.

Not sure what you are feeding now, but one thing to note is corn and by-products. By-products are just NASTY and corn is used simply as a filler, meaning the dog has to eat more food to feel full or gain nutrients.

Many people don't realize that you typically feed less on a premium food (since it doesn't have fillers), so they will feed the dog the same amount they were feeding on the previous food, causing the dog to gain weight quickly.

[EarlyBird]

how do you do your home cooked Brandi? Do you feed them a special diet that you cook once a week or do you cook something different every night?


I use purina one (i think its weight management or weight control cant remember) i spent about 18$ on the HUGEEE bag and it lasts me more then a month with two dogs

[Heywie]

I buy Biljac for my chihuahua. They make a reduced fat version, too. I think it may be more money than you want to spend though. It may be $16.99 for a 5 lbs bag. I buy it because there isn't corn meal or any other meal in the first 5 ingredients listed.

[derricksdoll]

We get Science Diet's Nature's Best for our chihuahua...she's a little overweight too...but she absolutely loves it. The first 3 ingredients are chicken, brown rice, and whole grain wheat. Plus it's natural food...not to expensive either.

[NurseLau84]

I feed my little guy Wellness Small Breed dry food, with a tablespoon of fat free cottage cheese. They are gorgeous and healthy!!!

[ger]

We feed Bella Science Diet. We also feed Socks (our cat) Science Diet, but the indoor, weight control, fur ball kind. They seem to do better on it...and it doesn't have as much filler stuff. It is kind of expensive though.

[Kirby]

We feed our lab Iams Pro Active, which he seems to do well on. Before he lived with me he ate Ol Roy (Wal Mart brand) which is full of fillers. I was told that it was the worst and was recommended Iams, which is filler free and pretty good for the price. (I can't afford Science Diet) He eats less of it and gets sick less.

[Kfancii]

We feed Nature's Recipe because after lots of research we found it is one of the least expensive no filler foods out there. (usually under $30 for a 40 lb bag) We used to feed Natural Balance and the dogs loved it, but it went up to $45 a 40 lb bag and with our 4 big fur kids, we go through a 40 lb bag every week! :bbeek: Here is a link to the Nature's Recipe site:

http://www.naturesrecipe.com/

All 4 of our pups eat it up, even the picky 17 year old lab who turned her nose up the the more expensive Science Diet food her vet prescribed to keep her allergies under control. I have 3 black dogs and after feeding them this food for 2 weeks I noticed a real change in the way that their coats looked and felt. They are so glossy and shiny now!

[ger]

When we were feeding Bella, Socks AND 7 puppies...it was killing us. Now we're back to just Bella and Socks...it has helped a lot.

[Piedpiper522]

We feed Natural Balance dog food. Dogs love it, and doesn't have all those nasty fillers that cause weight gain, bad breath, bad body odor, skin problems, etc. :bbeek:

Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation about dog food and feeding out there, but good for you for being proactive about your dog's weight!
Being overweight is so bad for their joints and does significantly reduce their life span. :bbcry:

[KMS]

We were using Nutro, but since it's been bought by Purina (I think) I'm not sure what we're going to switch to. There's a really awesome natural foods eco friendly pet store that recently opened up right next to Whole Foods. I think we're going to check it out.

[Whitewater]

We feed our poodles Blue Buffalo (you can get it at Petsmart). It's all natural, and they have an organic style and a high-protein style too -- also a 'small bits' style for smaller dogs, which is REALLY popular at the store I go to, they can hardly keep it stocked. Blue doesn't have any corn, wheat, or soy in it at all. Those are the 'Big Three' grains that you need to avoid when buying a dog food, because not only are they total fillers and nutritionally about as sustaining as sawdust, but they are also the top producers of food allergies in dogs.

My mom feeds her poodle Natural Balance Lamb and Rice, but that's *really* expensive. She also gives him eggs and meat and veggies as supplements.

When my first poodle, Roxie, came to me she'd been free-fed pizza and frozen chicken nuggets, also Ol' Roy scattered on the floor. Needless to say, Roxie was badly malnourished and actually is now stunted, and has physical and neurological issues because she didn't get high quality food as a puppy.

I started her on Wellness, but that was too rich for her tummy, then I started to work as a demonstrater for Blue Buffalo and bought her some of that, and she never looked back! She has sleek, shiny hair, bright eyes, lots of energy, and she gained the weight she needed to safely and slowly, over the course of about 18 months.

I don't have to worry about her weight, she gets plenty of exercise by playing with her new pal Willough, walking with me, going to the dog park and the store and so on, and going to her poodle play group. Most of those cheapo dog foods totally exaggerate the amount you have to feed your dog -- because the faster you feed, the more you have to buy! And because their food is full of fillers that the dog just poops out anyway, they have to eat more to get the same nutrition as in a smaller serving of the better quality stuff.

You will know your dog is in good weight when (looking at him from the top down, not looking at his side) you can see his waist go in at his hips, and when you can easily feel -- but not see -- his ribs. It's not about how much you feed your dog, but the quality of what you feed him and how much exercise he gets. I always told people, when I was talking about Blue, that it's kind of like eating nothing but Twinkies and junk food. Sure, you'll survive, but you won't be healthy. It's all about giving your dog the best food you can find and not letting him gorge on junk.

Blue is reasonably priced at about $1/pound for the 40lb bag -- and I feed Roxie about 2 cups of Blue a day. She's not overweight, she's not underweight, and we aren't constantly going out to the pet store to get more food. One bag of 40lb Blue lasts us (for two dogs, who get a cup each, maybe a little more depending, twice a day) about 6 weeks.

The cat is on Blue too, we feed him the various 'indoor' formulas -- he likes the salmon flavor best. We also give him wet food, some by Blue Buffalo, but he likes best the new stuff that's completely natural that's made by Meow Mix, of all people! But the ingredient list is very good, there's no fillers, and it doesn't have that awful canned cat food smell, because there's recognizable bits of chicken and veggies or fish etc in the food. You can get it at Target, but I haven't seen it at the pet stores. It's 74 cents a thing, which is a little expensive, but for high-quality wet cat food it's a steal.

Regardless of what food you choose, make sure to introduce it to your dog gradually, at least a few days. Roxie, because of her sensitive stomach, took a little over 2 weeks to change over. Willough, on the other hand, was good after 3 days -- it depends on the dog. Just put a few bits of the new food in with the old, then gradually increase the percentage of new food to old food, until you are feeding the new food 100%. If they start puking or having soft stools, dial it back a bit.

Oh, I forgot. You can get Blue at Petsmart and they have a deal with Blue where if you buy a bag and your pet doesn't like it or he can't adjust or whatever, or you have a problem, you can bring it back with your receipt and they'll refund your money. Check with your local Petsmart but that's what ours does!

Blue Buffalo dry food has also never been on the recall list, and more than likely will never be because they have their own farms and their own suppliers and their own factories, I think they're out east somewhere. They don't get wheat from China, because wheat isn't in their food!

Heh, I know I sound like a Blue Buffalo commercial, but I wouldn't feed my dogs anything else. Roxie's recovery was so dramatic -- you quite literally could see the changes overnight -- that I will sing the praises of Blue Buffalo cat and dog food to anybody who will stand still long enough for me to get going :) When I adopted her it's not too strong to say that she was slowly dying by inches due to malnourishment and parasites. Within about 5 months, she had made a complete turn around and became a beautiful, show quality Standard Poodle.

I take her to the dog park and people don't believe me that she's a rescue dog that I adopted.

Now, I worked with her and did doggie PT and other stuff, but it's Blue Buffalo that helps her grow healthy skin and coat and muscles and whatnot, without a doubt.

Whitewater (PS -- Willough loves her Blue so much that we had to train her to sit and wait until we put her food down, otherwise she'd jump around and knock her food bowl right out of our hands!)

[amisteratwisterandme]

You can find all kinds of recipes online to make your own dog food. We use bolied chicken, rice, chicken broth and oats. They seem to love it.

[08chrissy08]

This website is awesome for food recommendations. You really can't go wrong with any of the 5 or 6 star foods. My two fluffs are on Innova Evo small bites and do well on it, but that probably wouldn't be a good food for weight control. Anyway, great site!

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php

[70707Bride]

I can finally join in the threads about doggies! Bo is my first dog so its interesting to read what you all feed your dogs. He hasn't really eaten anything yet since we got him. The shelter gave us a sample bag of Pedigree but he hasn't eaten it yet. Chris got a bag of Purina One but we haven't tried that yet. He has eaten some snacks but just soft chew ones.

[NurseLau84]

This website is awesome for food recommendations. You really can't go wrong with any of the 5 or 6 star foods. My two fluffs are on Innova Evo small bites and do well on it, but that probably wouldn't be a good food for weight control. Anyway, great site!

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php

I switch between Innova Evo and Wellness every 4 to 6 months and my dogs are gorgeous!!! Just say no to grocery store food!!!

[08chrissy08]

I've been thinking about trying the Wellness. Jazz loves the Innova Evo...Pixie could do quite happily without it. There is this great little pet shop not too far from me that only sells the really top quality foods that I just love. They don't sell any live animals either, which I also love. They have a great variety of foods to choose from there, so I'm going to check out what else they've got. Pretty sure they have the Wellness. I'm hoping my picky eater will like it!

[NurseLau84]

I'm with you on that one.....I won't buy from any store that sells animals (particularly puppies). But don't even get me started on that subject...lol:irked:

[08chrissy08]

I'm with you on that one.....I won't buy from any store that sells animals (particularly puppies). But don't even get me started on that subject...lol


No need to say another word, I understand completely and I'm right there with ya!