Dog Food

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Comment by Piotr on June 1, 2009 at 8:30pm

I find that amongst the best brands of Raw Diets you cannot get below about $2/lb. Fortunately, there are many excellent producers, some local, that can cater to this price point. I like to talk about healthy diets, but I like to see how broad a consumer base I can cater to as well. Bark Market does carry some diets that can get as expensive as $4-5/lb. There is much more expensive food on the market, too.

I typically advocate a moist diet for dogs along with a kibble supplement, although I am sensitive to special needs. For cats I am just happy if they are eating regularly and hopefully getting some crunchies, be they kibble or treats. I find it hard to justify the very expensive products at times when there are just so many good foods at very competitive price points.

Comment by Jenny Collins on April 2, 2009 at 9:03pm

I have used dogfoodanalysis.com, although I do not agree that just because I dog food is grain-free, that it is automatically a better food than some with healthy whole grained foods!

Comment by Abby N on February 15, 2009 at 12:42pm

Do not give dogs Iams. They changed their recipe list(due to the economy) and now they have some BAD stuff in there. Also, pigs ears are to be avoided. The people who make them don't care if the pig is sick or not, they cut off its ears and sell them.

Comment by Abby N on February 15, 2009 at 12:38pm

I feed my dog Nutra Nuggets. She's eaten them her whole life and is totally healthy.
But then, she gets tons of excercise...

Comment by Andrea Schneider on April 23, 2008 at 3:54pm

Has anyone used the site dogfoodanalysis.com? I just heard about it today as a resource.

Comment by Jennifer on April 19, 2008 at 3:37pm

Oh my gosh, I was reading the ingredients in Rubicon on greatlife4pets.com and it sounds incredible! No synthetic vitamins, chelated minerals, freeze dried raw meat... wow.
We are trying to get it in at Sellwood Dog Supply, but unfortuneatly I think the bags are so expensive that people may not purchase them. Something like $85 for the big bag? I would love to hear if anyone knows anything about Great Life products. They seem very intriguing.

Comment by elizabeth knight on April 19, 2008 at 10:41am

I can''t tell you how many people I've bored with this topic...I call it my hobby...!!!
I've fed totally raw diets, home cooked and presently, with 4 dogs, I'm doing a mix. In the am my dogs get a High quality kibble--(right now we're doing really well on Timberwolf Ocean Blue; was using Orijen but am a wee bit leery of the amount of protein in it) mixed with a bit of yogurt and N'zymes, adn in the PM, they get a frozen raw mix. My papillons are eating Prairie and my collie is getting NW Naturals. I rotate proteins.
They also get raw bones a couple of times a week.
I wish we could use something like the Honest Kitchen foods...but one of my little ones gets cal ox stones, and sweet potato and spinach are really high in oxalates...which makes it not a good choice.
I used to be an anti kibble purist, but I've seen too many dogs live long healthy lives on such a variety of foods, that my new yardstick is to look at general condition, bloodwork and pleasure. I want my guys to enjoy thier food. I also like to rotate kibbles.

There's a guy named Doug at Western Pet on Bton-Hillsdale Highway who is incredibly knowledgeble about dog foods. I find it especially useful that he investigates the plants where the foods are made.

Does anyone use Great Life Rubicon? I was reading about it and like the ingredients....

Comment by Jennifer on April 12, 2008 at 12:03am

some things to keep in mind when choosing food - where do the protein sources come from, are they free-range / hormone and antibiotic-free. Preference from the Honest Kitchen makes this easy because you add the meat yourself, therefore you control the quality.
Another thing to consider is synthetic vs. naturally occurring vitamins. Food based vitamins are recognized by the body and readily absorbed whereas synthetic vitamins my not get broken down because the body does not recognize the molecules they're comprised of. Some studies claim synthetic vitamins like A and D can build up in organs even become toxic.
I'm a big advocate of raw. I'm most familiar with Nature's Variety (and Rad Cat for the gatos).
A couple of other interesting companies are Nature's Logic and Great Life (greatlife4pets.com).
I can't vouch for the quality of Merrick, but I'm kind of excited about their new canned food from their line called BG (before grain) which is 100% meat. Of course Evangers has already been doing this without the great packaging.

Comment by Laurie on April 5, 2008 at 3:16pm

Our dogs -- and cats -- get a variety of raw, cooked, and some processed on a regular basis. I feed the processed when I'm out of home-made or don't have time to throw something together. I like Innova, Wellness, Castor & Pollux Organix, and Canidae, but there are so many out there to try! I think the key to diet and nutrition for our "kids" is to give them a "regular" variety vs. the same thing day after day, regardless. After all, no matter how much we like something, we eventually get tired of it, and they can too (although it depends -- some of those critters are just vacuums with four legs!)

Comment by Abby Marie on April 3, 2008 at 4:11pm

Abby has not had issues with any particular dog food but she does have a "preferred" palette. After the dog food problems I switched her to EVO Ancestrial Diet Red Meat....she LOVES it. It is more expensive than other foods but the amount you feed is less than other brands. It is a nice alternative to raw. Many dog boutique stores will give you several samples to allow your dog to do the taste hand test. Every smaple Abby would choose the hand with EVO in it. Hip Hound and Furever Pet are some great stores for high quality food.

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