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Best Dry Dog Food (1 Viewer)

I'm always amazed at the particulars of picking dogfoods (or catfoods for that matter). Maybe it's because my dogs and cats are outside animals, at least 90% strays who moved in, and just don't have the kinds of allergies and problems I've heard here and elsewhere. Maybe it's because they're mostly mutts/mixed breeds--I do remember the two I've had over the years who did have psycho issues, and both were purebred maybe to the point of inbreeding. Dogs are omnivores anyway--not like they need pure meat and such--but if you listen to some of the pros they don't like Purina or any other storebrands at all, based on the grains and questionable meat byproducts.

In any case, I've always gone with Purina products, Gravy Train, or the like--purely dry so I can just keep the bowls filled instead of setting up a schedule. Never had issues. Just for a dare I went with a clone generic grocery brand the last time with my dogfood and was surprised to see they like it even better! No prob--it's cheaper, and I need more of both today so I'll likely pick another flavor of the same.

Biggest problem I've had is with other critters eating the food. Birds tear up both dogfood and catfood simply for strength of numbers--and there's a couple possums coming by that will wipe out the catfood whenever they sneak past the dogs. There was some other fella I didn't recognize in the yard--but my terrier took him out so he's not a problem any more.

 
Da Guru said:
Barry said:
Genedoc said:
Look at the top 5 ingredients. Lamb meal is good. Lamb would be better,
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i was told that lamb meal is better than lamb. Lamb would be guts/meat, while lamb meal was just meat. :rolleyes:
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"Meal" is higher protein. It is the meat with all the water sucked out.
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This isn't really accurate. Here are the detailed definitions of meat and meat meal. Meat cannot contain guts, and meal is definitely not just meat. Actually neither meat meal nor meat can contain "guts", as in stomach/intestine. Meat meal, however, can contain any other organs while meat is limited to muscles. Meat meal is "the rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents...". It does contain a higher amount of protein than meat, but it's a lower quality protein because it's been through more processing cycles than meat and it can contain any organs exclusive of stomach and GI tract components.

Meat is "the clean flesh derived from slaughtered mammals and is limited to that part of the striate muscle which is skeletal or that which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart, or in the esophagus; with or without the accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, sinew, nerve, and blood vessels...".

In short, meat meal is made from any tissue that isn't explicitly named; Meat is primarily muscle with attached skin and fat. Both are substantially better than "meat by-products", which is pretty literally garbage, or "meat fat", which is rendered and extruded crap produced from diseased, dead, dying, or disabled animals. Meat and meat meal are components of all of the best foods; meat by products and meat fat aren't in any of the foods I'd feed my dogs.

 
glumpy said:
Dogs are omnivores anyway...
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Dogs are carnivores, not omnivores. They have short, simple, acidic digestive tracts; sharp teeth; their saliva doesn't contain amylase; and their jaws move vertically. Omnivores, like pigs and people, have longer digestive tracts suited to breaking down plant and animal material and they have flat teeth as well as sharp. That said, dogs are not obligate carnivores, meaning they can survive on foods that aren't meat. Also, wild dogs eat a better diet than Purina. Killing and eating fresh meat is far better than eating road kill and corn syrup. That said, eating Purina would be preferable to a dog starving.
 
This thread has been quite helpful. Thank you guys.

Our dog has allergies, scratching all the time. Just miserable for him. Damn crooked and/or apathetic vet keeps recommending SD, Purina products, or Iams. Don't know why I thought vets would be any better than doctors in this regard.

On the way to pick us some Taste of the Wild.

 
pollardsvision said:
This thread has been quite helpful. Thank you guys.Our dog has allergies, scratching all the time. Just miserable for him. Damn crooked and/or apathetic vet keeps recommending SD, Purina products, or Iams. Don't know why I thought vets would be any better than doctors in this regard. On the way to pick us some Taste of the Wild.
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:bag:I would also suggest asking for samples of other food. Most have them and give them willingly. So that you can see which your dog prefers!
 
Genedoc said:
glumpy said:
Dogs are omnivores anyway...
Click to expand...
Dogs are carnivores, not omnivores. They have short, simple, acidic digestive tracts; sharp teeth; their saliva doesn't contain amylase; and their jaws move vertically. Omnivores, like pigs and people, have longer digestive tracts suited to breaking down plant and animal material and they have flat teeth as well as sharp. That said, dogs are not obligate carnivores, meaning they can survive on foods that aren't meat. Also, wild dogs eat a better diet than Purina. Killing and eating fresh meat is far better than eating road kill and corn syrup. That said, eating Purina would be preferable to a dog starving.
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This is where I'm not following I think. I understand the dog in the wild's diet is almost all carnivorous. But when I see these brands like Taste of the Wild that are highly rated, they seem to have a lot of stuff like sweet potatoes and peas. Would a dog ever eat those. Wouldn't a more "natural" diet be almost exclusively meat?J
 
Joe Bryant said:
Genedoc said:
glumpy said:
Dogs are omnivores anyway...
Click to expand...
Dogs are carnivores, not omnivores. They have short, simple, acidic digestive tracts; sharp teeth; their saliva doesn't contain amylase; and their jaws move vertically. Omnivores, like pigs and people, have longer digestive tracts suited to breaking down plant and animal material and they have flat teeth as well as sharp. That said, dogs are not obligate carnivores, meaning they can survive on foods that aren't meat. Also, wild dogs eat a better diet than Purina. Killing and eating fresh meat is far better than eating road kill and corn syrup. That said, eating Purina would be preferable to a dog starving.
Click to expand...
This is where I'm not following I think. I understand the dog in the wild's diet is almost all carnivorous. But when I see these brands like Taste of the Wild that are highly rated, they seem to have a lot of stuff like sweet potatoes and peas. Would a dog ever eat those. Wouldn't a more "natural" diet be almost exclusively meat?J
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From what I've read, while they don't require these things, it helps them ward off cancers and infections. YMMV.
 
fasteddie_21 said:
Dogs are omnivores. Actually, Genedoc is correct. I did some reading up and they are carnivores that can adapt. Noted.

http://rawfed.com/myths/omnivores.html
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Right. That's what I meant when I said they were carnivores, but not obligate carnivores. Obligate carnivores would not be able to adapt to other styles of diet. It's a confusing designation, but it's not trivial. Omnivores have evolved to eat and digest both plants and meat. Carnivores have evolved to eat primarily meat. Obligate carnivores cannot adapt to any other diet. If you are a carnivore that can survive on another diet, that doesn't make you an omnivore. It makes you an adaptable carnivore. Omnivore have several traits dogs notably lack - flat teeth in addition to sharp teeth, longer and more complex digestive tracts, amylase in their saliva. Dogs have none of those.
 
Joe Bryant said:
Genedoc said:
glumpy said:
Dogs are omnivores anyway...
Click to expand...
Dogs are carnivores, not omnivores. They have short, simple, acidic digestive tracts; sharp teeth; their saliva doesn't contain amylase; and their jaws move vertically. Omnivores, like pigs and people, have longer digestive tracts suited to breaking down plant and animal material and they have flat teeth as well as sharp. That said, dogs are not obligate carnivores, meaning they can survive on foods that aren't meat. Also, wild dogs eat a better diet than Purina. Killing and eating fresh meat is far better than eating road kill and corn syrup. That said, eating Purina would be preferable to a dog starving.http://static.footballguys.com/forums/style_images/ip.boardpr/folder_editor_images/icon_open.gif
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This is where I'm not following I think. I understand the dog in the wild's diet is almost all carnivorous. But when I see these brands like Taste of the Wild that are highly rated, they seem to have a lot of stuff like sweet potatoes and peas. Would a dog ever eat those. Wouldn't a more "natural" diet be almost exclusively meat?J
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Predominantly <> "almost all". Wolves and wild dogs also eat berries, eggs, and other vegetable and fruit matter. If you want to most closely mimic wild diets, feed your dog a raw diet. There are plenty out there. Canned is also an option. However, for most of us, the cost and time investments necessitate a dry dog food. In that respect, the "best" of the dry dog foods Orijen, Canidae, Taste of the Wild, several others mentioned in the thread, are the best of the dry dog foods. They've got the best, quality ingredients that closely mimic in quality and amount what a dog would eat naturally. No road kill, no rendered and extruded by-products of dead and diseased animals, no rendered fat, no grains.
 
Well my male Shiba Inu vomited up hice Canidae food once again this morning so the wife and I went to our local mom and pop pet store. We checked the ingredients on ever single bag of dry dog food including Blue and a couple by Breeders Choice. The only one we found with 3 meat proteins out of the first 4 listed ingredients was Merrick's Before Grain. We went with the Buffalo but we plan on changing it up the flavors as per some of the recommendations in this thread. We paid $41 for 25.3 lbs so it was a bit expensive. We are gonna try this for a month to see if we are happy with the results.

 
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Buddy Ball 2K3 said:
Well my male Shiba Inu vomited up hice Canidae food once again this morning so the wife and I went to our local mom and pop pet store. We checked the ingredients on ever single bag of dry dog food including Blue and a couple by Breeders Choice. The only one we found with 3 meat proteins out of the first 4 listed ingredients was Merrick's Before Grain. We went with the Buffalo but we plan on changing it up the flavors as per some of the recommendations in this thread. We paid $41 for 25.3 lbs so it was a bit expensive. We are gonna try this for a month to see if we are happy with the results.
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Make sure that you transition the dog to the new food. Changing any food on some dogs can cause their digestive system to have issues resulting in throwing up, diarrhea, gas, etc. It does not matter if you are going from the crappiest food out there to the best food out there, they may still have a bad reaction if you just cold change it on them. Plus, it also helps them get use to the new kibble and taste for some of the more picky eaters.
 
Just a quick update. We normally would have done a gradual change over of the dogs food however the wife was rather upset about the Shiba vomiting yet again so we did a full switch to the Before Grain - Buffalo on Saturday. So far all three dogs absolutely love it and have had zero issues. No loose stools, no vomiting and best of all they absolutely love it. It also appears that their doots do not have as much odor as with the canidae.

 
The switch to Taste of the Wild seems to be working out well.

The major issue was that he was always scratching himself. Vet tried everything, nothing helped. He was miserable (not the vet, the dog. the vet was very happy with our arrangement of paying for useless allergy shots all the time).

We've been using TOTW for about a month. He doesn't scratch at all anymore.

We didn't go gradual. Maybe that would've been wise, but I figured the dog could handle some runs if it meant not eating the Purina garbage ever again. He stomach seemed to handle the change quite well. I know that's proabably not always the case.

 
Genedoc said:
Joe Bryant said:
Genedoc said:
glumpy said:
Dogs are omnivores anyway...
Click to expand...
Dogs are carnivores, not omnivores. They have short, simple, acidic digestive tracts; sharp teeth; their saliva doesn't contain amylase; and their jaws move vertically. Omnivores, like pigs and people, have longer digestive tracts suited to breaking down plant and animal material and they have flat teeth as well as sharp. That said, dogs are not obligate carnivores, meaning they can survive on foods that aren't meat. Also, wild dogs eat a better diet than Purina. Killing and eating fresh meat is far better than eating road kill and corn syrup. That said, eating Purina would be preferable to a dog starving.http://static.footballguys.com/forums/style_images/ip.boardpr/folder_editor_images/icon_open.gif
Click to expand...
This is where I'm not following I think. I understand the dog in the wild's diet is almost all carnivorous. But when I see these brands like Taste of the Wild that are highly rated, they seem to have a lot of stuff like sweet potatoes and peas. Would a dog ever eat those. Wouldn't a more "natural" diet be almost exclusively meat?

J
Click to expand...
Predominantly <> "almost all". Wolves and wild dogs also eat berries, eggs, and other vegetable and fruit matter. If you want to most closely mimic wild diets, feed your dog a raw diet. There are plenty out there. Canned is also an option. However, for most of us, the cost and time investments necessitate a dry dog food. In that respect, the "best" of the dry dog foods Orijen, Canidae, Taste of the Wild, several others mentioned in the thread, are the best of the dry dog foods. They've got the best, quality ingredients that closely mimic in quality and amount what a dog would eat naturally. No road kill, no rendered and extruded by-products of dead and diseased animals, no rendered fat, no grains.
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Not all Canidae is grain free (in fact I think most lines are not) and after reading the comments below and on Amazon I think I'll steer clear. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/canidae.html

Former Nutro buyer (Petco made it easy), converted to TOTW. :thumbup: Funny thing is I was using Petco as my source due to ease...it's about the only player in town. Found a place near my work that's way better, all sorts of quality food at reasonable prices. Then yesterday I was looking for a place that sells Innova and there's one listed right "down the road." It's someone's house. Might have to inquire some day.

 
Buddy Ball 2K3 said:
Well my male Shiba Inu vomited up hice Canidae food once again this morning so the wife and I went to our local mom and pop pet store. We checked the ingredients on ever single bag of dry dog food including Blue and a couple by Breeders Choice. The only one we found with 3 meat proteins out of the first 4 listed ingredients was Merrick's Before Grain. We went with the Buffalo but we plan on changing it up the flavors as per some of the recommendations in this thread. We paid $41 for 25.3 lbs so it was a bit expensive. We are gonna try this for a month to see if we are happy with the results.
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We use this stuff. Our dog looks great and is healthy and has tons of energy. And it gets great reviews. Only complaint is that he doesn't really seem to enjoy it that much. Not a lot of enthusiasm when we pour him a bowl. Sometimes he ignores it for hours. He also has some vomiting problems once every couple weeks, but I think that's more because he ignores it until he's starving then wolfs it down ridiculously fast. Or maybe because he's licking stale beer off our apartment floor.

Would be curious to hear how it works out for you.

 
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We had to go back to Iams for our now 11 week old puppy.

The breeder was using Iams and we bought a good brand, Natures Recipe. After eventually weening the puppy off of Iams by mixing in the Natures Recipe, he had some diarhea and I think it was from the Natures Recipe. The Natures Recipe bag was about empty at this point. We went back to Iams and he's fine now. We'll just stick with Iams for now. Maybe try a different brand when he gets older and can handle it.

 
Nature's Recipe isn't really a good brand.

Let me rephrase that. It's not a premium brand. It is better than the Alpo/Purina types though. Maybe it was too much for his young digestive system.

 
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pollardsvision said:
The switch to Taste of the Wild seems to be working out well.

The major issue was that he was always scratching himself. Vet tried everything, nothing helped. He was miserable (not the vet, the dog. the vet was very happy with our arrangement of paying for useless allergy shots all the time).

We've been using TOTW for about a month. He doesn't scratch at all anymore.

We didn't go gradual. Maybe that would've been wise, but I figured the dog could handle some runs if it meant not eating the Purina garbage ever again. He stomach seemed to handle the change quite well. I know that's proabably not always the case.
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Awesome to hear. This is a valuable thing to remember when comparing food costs. If your choice of food saves a vet trip or two, it adds up quickly.
 
Ive been using Blue Buffalo for over 2 years and what a difference its made. I use their Wilderness line which is somewhat similar toTaste of the Wild as its grain free.

Did a lot of research at the time, and heres what I really like about it.

Human grade de-boned meat is always the first ingredient

Never any corn, wheat, soy and never any by-product.

Company is out of Wilton CT ( USA)

Foods all Processed in Missouri and Kansas ( USA)

Started by an avid dog lover whos dog passed away at an early age.

Also they include these ( life source bits) is what they call them... i got a hold of the ingredient list for the life source bit from a rep in petsmart, and its apparently cold formed kibble loaded with anti oxidants and nutrients and minerals. (cranberries,blueberries, flaxssed, alfafa.....)

Results...

Palability is the biggest difference...my dog actually still wants to eat it after 2 years

thicker tighter coat

Consistant firmer stools

increased energy.

Im considering switching to a mix of the Blue Buffalo Wilderness with their newer fish based line called longevity ( 22 % protien). The wilderness is 35 % protien and hes getting older now and ill prolly mix 3/4 longevity with 1/4 wilderness. Hes never been a fish eater so hopefully theres not too much of a palability shock.

 
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We always fed our dogs Purina Pro Plan not knowing how bad it was bc they had a giant breed puppy type for our Great Pyr based on what our vet recommended. We then switched to large breed so they could both eat it bc our lab mix was eating the giant breed. Our lab mix started throwing up after every meal a couple months ago and I happened to see this thread so we switched to Blue Buffalo Wilderness. I just found a local store that carries TOTW so we will be buying a bag this week and introducing that to make the switch. I feel horrible that I fed my poor dogs crap for two years thinking I was feeding them something good for them.

I love this place. Big :lmao: for this thread...definitely educated me!

 
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nyftbl_giants said:
Ive been using Blue Buffalo for over 2 years and what a difference its made. I use their Wilderness line which is somewhat similar toTaste of the Wild as its grain free.

Did a lot of research at the time, and heres what I really like about it.

Human grade de-boned meat is always the first ingredient

Never any corn, wheat, soy and never any by-product.

Company is out of Wilton CT ( USA)

Foods all Processed in Missouri and Kansas ( USA)

Started by an avid dog lover whos dog passed away at an early age.

Also they include these ( life source bits) is what they call them... in the kibble which apparently is cold formed kibble loaded with anti oxidants and nutrients and minerals.

Results...

Palability is the biggest difference...my dog actually still wants to eat it after 2 years

thicker tighter coat

Consistant firmer stools

increased energy.

Im considering switching to a mix of the Blue Buffalo Wilderness with their newer fish based line called longevity ( 22 % protien). The wilderness is 35 % protien and hes getting older now and ill prolly mix 3/4 longevity with 1/4 wilderness. Hes never been a fish eater so hopefully theres not too much of a palability shock.
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So we switched our food to this and for some reason my dogs will not eat these life source bits. It is so funny to walk into our morning room where their food bowls are bc there are empty bowls and little brown balls (nttawwt) spread throughout the entire room on the floor, lol.
 
FBGirl79 said:
nyftbl_giants said:
Ive been using Blue Buffalo for over 2 years and what a difference its made. I use their Wilderness line which is somewhat similar toTaste of the Wild as its grain free.

Did a lot of research at the time, and heres what I really like about it.

Human grade de-boned meat is always the first ingredient

Never any corn, wheat, soy and never any by-product.

Company is out of Wilton CT ( USA)

Foods all Processed in Missouri and Kansas ( USA)

Started by an avid dog lover whos dog passed away at an early age.

Also they include these ( life source bits) is what they call them... in the kibble which apparently is cold formed kibble loaded with anti oxidants and nutrients and minerals.

Results...

Palability is the biggest difference...my dog actually still wants to eat it after 2 years

thicker tighter coat

Consistant firmer stools

increased energy.

Im considering switching to a mix of the Blue Buffalo Wilderness with their newer fish based line called longevity ( 22 % protien). The wilderness is 35 % protien and hes getting older now and ill prolly mix 3/4 longevity with 1/4 wilderness. Hes never been a fish eater so hopefully theres not too much of a palability shock.
Click to expand...
So we switched our food to this and for some reason my dogs will not eat these life source bits. It is so funny to walk into our morning room where their food bowls are bc there are empty bowls and little brown balls (nttawwt) spread throughout the entire room on the floor, lol.
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hahaha MINE TOO !!! for like the first 3 months he was so finicky with the bits. My brothers in the Navy, and his dog stayed with us for like 3 weeks. He also feeds blue buffalo and when his dog was here is when mine started finishing all of the bits.who knows...

 
FBGirl79 said:
We always fed our dogs Purina Pro Plan not knowing how bad it was bc they had a giant breed puppy type for our Great Pyr based on what our vet recommended. We then switched to large breed so they could both eat it bc our lab mix was eating the giant breed. Our lab mix started throwing up after every meal a couple months ago and I happened to see this thread so we switched to Blue Buffalo Wilderness. I just found a local store that carries TOTW so we will be buying a bag this week and introducing that to make the switch. I feel horrible that I fed my poor dogs crap for two years thinking I was feeding them something good for them. I love this place. Big :goodposting: for this thread...definitely educated me!
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:thumbup:
 
good thread.

my dog eats sticks and twigs, all day long :goodposting:

Authority is what i currently feed him in between stick eating.

 
Another vote for TOTW here - so far my Border Collie/Black Lab mix is loving it! What's funny is that we were trying to slowly introduce him to it by mixing it with the old cruddy stuff we were using, but he'd just eat the TOTW and leave the old stuff in the bowl. We figured what the heck and just dumped the old stuff, and he hasn't had any issues.

Here's a question - what bones can we safely give him? He's almost a year old, and with BBQ season coming up, I'd like to give him something to lay on the deck and gnaw on. I'm thinking stuff like t-bones (after I've eaten the steak, of course :thumbup: ), etc...And is it true that the chance of choking on a bone is vastly overrated for dogs, or is there a real chance it could happen?

 
joker said:
Another vote for TOTW here - so far my Border Collie/Black Lab mix is loving it! What's funny is that we were trying to slowly introduce him to it by mixing it with the old cruddy stuff we were using, but he'd just eat the TOTW and leave the old stuff in the bowl. We figured what the heck and just dumped the old stuff, and he hasn't had any issues.

Here's a question - what bones can we safely give him? He's almost a year old, and with BBQ season coming up, I'd like to give him something to lay on the deck and gnaw on. I'm thinking stuff like t-bones (after I've eaten the steak, of course :thumbup: ), etc...And is it true that the chance of choking on a bone is vastly overrated for dogs, or is there a real chance it could happen?
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DO NOT GIVE YOUR DOG COOKED ANIMAL BONES!!!

If you want to give them bones, raw chicken backs and wings are great. Once cooked, bones can splinter and pretty much kill your dog if they puncture something after swallowed!

 
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That's odd - my neighbors do it all the time with their boxers, and the dogs have no issues. Ok, then - where do I get these raw bones, the butcher?

 
fasteddie_21 said:
joker said:
Another vote for TOTW here - so far my Border Collie/Black Lab mix is loving it! What's funny is that we were trying to slowly introduce him to it by mixing it with the old cruddy stuff we were using, but he'd just eat the TOTW and leave the old stuff in the bowl. We figured what the heck and just dumped the old stuff, and he hasn't had any issues.

Here's a question - what bones can we safely give him? He's almost a year old, and with BBQ season coming up, I'd like to give him something to lay on the deck and gnaw on. I'm thinking stuff like t-bones (after I've eaten the steak, of course :blackdot: ), etc...And is it true that the chance of choking on a bone is vastly overrated for dogs, or is there a real chance it could happen?
Click to expand...
DO NOT GIVE YOUR DOG COOKED ANIMAL BONES!!!

If you want to give them bones, raw chicken backs and wings are great. Once cooked, bones can splinter and pretty much kill your dog if they puncture something after swallowed!
Click to expand...
This. Dogs are accustomed to eat bones in the wild, but NOT COOKED BONES. Cooked bones get dry and brittle, crack and splinter, posing a substantial choking hazard for your dog. We give our dogs raw buffalo bones as chew treats. They go at them like mad for as long as we allow them, which is usually 30 minutes or so at the time. I'd be willing to bet that wherever you are buying TOTW also sells safe bones and other chews. We get two buffalo femurs for like 8-10 bucks, and they last a couple of months. We store them in the freezer in a zip lock baggie.

 
joker said:
That's odd - my neighbors do it all the time with their boxers, and the dogs have no issues. Ok, then - where do I get these raw bones, the butcher?
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Just because they do it doesn't mean it isn't bad for them. :blackdot:What genedoc said.And if you want to feed them some raw food (ie. chicken etc), you can usually get the butcher @ your grocery store to get in a package of chicken necks/backs.
 
Thanks, guys - I'll check at my local store for some. What about those big bones I see at regular stores (Target, Fleet Farm, etc.) in the pet section? Are those the same as my local store (or if not the same, at least not harmful)?

 
joker said:
That's odd - my neighbors do it all the time with their boxers, and the dogs have no issues. Ok, then - where do I get these raw bones, the butcher?
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I'm sure lots of people do it, and most dogs that eat cooked bones won't die. But plenty do, and the first "sign of a problem" is a dead dog. No point in taking the risk when you can eliminate it for a few bucks a month by giving them safe raw bones. Like I mentioned before, I'd be stunned if the place that you're buying TOTW doesn't also carry raw bones.
 
joker said:
Thanks, guys - I'll check at my local store for some. What about those big bones I see at regular stores (Target, Fleet Farm, etc.) in the pet section? Are those the same as my local store (or if not the same, at least not harmful)?
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The general rule is that if the bone is cooked or rawhide (also not good for dogs), don't buy it. I'd suggest hitting up your local pet store (non-big box) and talking to them about them.FWIW, we don't give Asher (our greyhound) bones. Instead we give him one of 3 things:1) CET chews (that also have a dental coating to help w/ their teeth)2) Bully sticks (basically, it's dried penis of either cows or buffalo's and dogs love them)3) Buffalo trachea (yup, it's exactly what it is...and it's also a great source of glucosamine which is great for their joints)Again, I'm not saying bones are bad, and if we switch to a raw feeding diet, he'll eat them, but we just don't give them to him ATM.
 
fasteddie_21 said:
joker said:
Thanks, guys - I'll check at my local store for some. What about those big bones I see at regular stores (Target, Fleet Farm, etc.) in the pet section? Are those the same as my local store (or if not the same, at least not harmful)?
Click to expand...
The general rule is that if the bone is cooked or rawhide (also not good for dogs), don't buy it. I'd suggest hitting up your local pet store (non-big box) and talking to them about them.FWIW, we don't give Asher (our greyhound) bones. Instead we give him one of 3 things:

1) CET chews (that also have a dental coating to help w/ their teeth)

2) Bully sticks (basically, it's dried penis of either cows or buffalo's and dogs love them)

3) Buffalo trachea (yup, it's exactly what it is...and it's also a great source of glucosamine which is great for their joints)

Again, I'm not saying bones are bad, and if we switch to a raw feeding diet, he'll eat them, but we just don't give them to him ATM.
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:shrug:
 
fasteddie_21 said:
joker said:
Thanks, guys - I'll check at my local store for some. What about those big bones I see at regular stores (Target, Fleet Farm, etc.) in the pet section? Are those the same as my local store (or if not the same, at least not harmful)?
Click to expand...
The general rule is that if the bone is cooked or rawhide (also not good for dogs), don't buy it. I'd suggest hitting up your local pet store (non-big box) and talking to them about them.FWIW, we don't give Asher (our greyhound) bones. Instead we give him one of 3 things:

1) CET chews (that also have a dental coating to help w/ their teeth)

2) Bully sticks (basically, it's dried penis of either cows or buffalo's and dogs love them)

3) Buffalo trachea (yup, it's exactly what it is...and it's also a great source of glucosamine which is great for their joints)

Again, I'm not saying bones are bad, and if we switch to a raw feeding diet, he'll eat them, but we just don't give them to him ATM.
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All good points, especially about asking at the local pet store where you're already buying TOTW. We avoid nylon, rawhide, and hooves. Bully sticks and trachea are both awesome. Our dogs love them, but even the big ones are no match for our bulldog. He'll plow through a bully stick like you or I would a hard peppermint. He's the one who gets buffalo bones. The lab/husky mix doesn't like to chew - she's ball obsessed.
 
pollardsvision said:
The switch to Taste of the Wild seems to be working out well.

The major issue was that he was always scratching himself. Vet tried everything, nothing helped. He was miserable (not the vet, the dog. the vet was very happy with our arrangement of paying for useless allergy shots all the time).

We've been using TOTW for about a month. He doesn't scratch at all anymore.

We didn't go gradual. Maybe that would've been wise, but I figured the dog could handle some runs if it meant not eating the Purina garbage ever again. He stomach seemed to handle the change quite well. I know that's proabably not always the case.
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Yea, all dogs are not going to have issues with the change of food, just like not all dogs will end up scratching themselves uncontrollably because of eating Purina. When I was growing up my dogs had the crappy dog food brands available and we changed their food here and there. They never had issues with the changes of food. They never had any bad side effects from eating the food and lived long and healthy lives.

Changing the food gradually is just a good general rule to follow. First because of the possible stomach issues with an abrupt change of food and second because it usually helps more finicky dogs adjust to the new food as well.

 
joffer said:
good thread.

my dog eats sticks and twigs, all day long :lmao:

Authority is what i currently feed him in between stick eating.
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It could be that he is a chewer and is looking for natural chew toys or it could be he is bored. I would try getting him some chew toys, get him some more exercise and play time. See if that cuts down on his stick eating.

 
For something to chew on, we started buying our dogs Free Range Elk Antlers and they love them. I usually let them chew until they get bored which is about 20 min or so typically but my Lab mix was chewing so much the other day her mouth started bleeding (minor) so I had to take it from her.

 
FBGirl79 said:
For something to chew on, we started buying our dogs Free Range Elk Antlers and they love them. I usually let them chew until they get bored which is about 20 min or so typically but my Lab mix was chewing so much the other day her mouth started bleeding (minor) so I had to take it from her.
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This is definitely something that is breed dependent. For instance, these aren't good for greyhounds teeth. Other breeds, it's great for. One of the local stores we frequent has these and a lot of people buy them for their dogs. in the end, it's always a good idea to talk to the proprietors of the stores and have them help out!
 
Any tips on how to get your puppy to stop eating and/or chewing his own poop (besides removing it from where he goes, obviously)?

:heeatallthepoop:

 
eoMMan said:
Any tips on how to get your puppy to stop eating and/or chewing his own poop (besides removing it from where he goes, obviously)?:heeatallthepoop:
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The one thought that always crosses my mind when buying the expensive food: "dog will eat ####, why not buy cheap food?" :unsure:Seems like I've always had at least one dog that "cleans up" after the others. :X
 
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