Best Dry Dog Food (1 Viewer)

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

We had been feeding our dogs purina one for quite some time and then our Vet suggested we get a better food that the Purina One was not that great. We went to a local pet store (small business not a chain) and they recommended a food called Canidae. We have tried it for a week or two and our dogs have vomited a few times from it. At first I thought was just because the change of diet but I just went on to Amazon and it seems a lot of people are having the same issues.

Are there any high quality foods out there?

 

[MCguidance]

Did you introduce the food slowly by mixing the food or give it to them all at once?

 

[Ministry of Pain]

This might help

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Did you introduce the food slowly by mixing the food or give it to them all at once?

Did it slowly just like when we switched from the puppy food that we were giving (i forget which one) to the Purina One.

 

[Knocks]

We have always used Iams. I have always thougt it a step above Purina because it was NOT corn or rice based. Also is not hugely expensive. ??

Never had a problem so we have never looked beyond it.

 

[eoMMan]

Our dogs always seemed to like a little wet (canned food) mixed in with the dry food.

 

[steelerfan1]

hi buddy,

we feed ours innova

seems to be of good quality.

 

[MCguidance]

Did you introduce the food slowly by mixing the food or give it to them all at once?

Did it slowly just like when we switched from the puppy food that we were giving (i forget which one) to the Purina One.

Hmm. I used Eukanuba with great results for two small dogs.

 

[Hov34]

We mix Orijen(w/out grain) and Canidae (w/grain).

We used to do just Orijen but it got pricey - we have a Dane and a Doby.

 

[Godsbrother]

I find gravy train to be a delicious blend of hard and soft. The mouthfeel is wonderful and in the gravy I detect notes of beef and cashews. Bon Appetit!

 

[Kirby]

Nutro.

Feeding it Purina is like feeding yourself candy for dinner.... not a good idea unless your dog is in college.

 

[walnutz]

I use Science Diet dry food mixed with wet food.

 

[RBM]

Been using Canidae from day one with my guy, never had any problems.

 

[gigantor]

hi buddy,

we feed ours innova

seems to be of good quality.

excellent food. and also one of the more expensive ones. Innova EVO is about as good as it gets

I've been using Natural Balance Venison & Sweet Potato. My dog has allergies and reacted best to this.

 

[fasteddie_21]

Most any dog food sold at most non-chain pet food stores will be solid. I suggest reading up on the things that SHOULD NOT be in dog food and go from there.

Canidae, California Natural, Oijen, Innova, Nature's Best to name a few. One thing to note is that most dogs should not have more than 24% protein. Some of the non-grain foods can lead to serious health issues, long-term. Just like us, everything in moderation.

Lastly, it's a good idea to vary your dog's food every couple months or so (obviously, slowly switching over the course of a week). This helps limit their chances to develop allergies. You can stay w/i a brand or switch brands...just varying their protein source is a good idea.

 

[Fat Nick]

Used Science Diet dry for years with our two labs.

I was pleased to see it wasn't on the list during the whole contaminated dog food scare a few years back, so I'm sticking with it assuming they don't source from wherever the contaminants came from.

 

[Osaurus]

I use Science Diet dry food mixed with wet food.

Pooch gets SD dry every day and wet food once a month as a treat. We also give her a fish oil pill once a week. Her coat is very healthy and shiny.

 

[Genedoc]

http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/

 

[fasteddie_21]

While SD isn't the worst food out there, reading thru the ingredients and it's pretty horrible.

Ingredient list: Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Soybean Oil, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Iodized Salt, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Dried Chicken Cartilage, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E

3 of the first 4 ingredients are things that are either bad for your dog (Corn, Soy) or in the case of Animal Fat, can be from diseased animals. Unless it specifies which animal the fat came from, it's the lowest grade possible.

Not preaching, just trying to inform y'all. It's your pet, do as you see fit!

 

[Wooderson]

We use Iams.

Has worked good so far.

 

[Da Guru]

Pinnacle is a top of the line dog food from Breeders Choice. All human grade ingredients

 

[acapella]

IAMS

 

[Bull Dozier]

Lastly, it's a good idea to vary your dog's food every couple months or so (obviously, slowly switching over the course of a week). This helps limit their chances to develop allergies. You can stay w/i a brand or switch brands...just varying their protein source is a good idea.

Came here to post this.I rotate between NutriSource and Fromm's. Between the two, there is a large variety of different combinations between the protein and grains. I've rotated through enough that I don't even have to slowly work them in anymore. My dog is used to the varied diet and has no problems going from one food to another.

 

[fasteddie_21]

Also, if we had the freezer storage room, we'd raw feed, but that's a whole 'nother can 'o worms.

 

[snitwitch]

Nutro.

Feeding it Purina is like feeding yourself candy for dinner.... not a good idea unless your dog is in college.

We use Nutro also, it's the only food our dog can handle.If time and money were not issues, I think we'd feed him the raw diet.

 

[marshall88]

We use Costco brand (Kirkland). It's actually a really well made dog food (check the ingredients). We've also used Blue (sold at PetSmart). The Costco brand, like many of their products, are actually the same product as more expensive products, it's just packaged on the Kirkland package.

Science Diet, I'm told, is not that good of a product and is successful only because of their marketing done through veterinarian offices. Whatever food you get, make sure the first ingredient is the meat (lamb, chicken, etc.) and no corn (which is just a cheap filler).

 

[Da Guru]

Nutro.

Feeding it Purina is like feeding yourself candy for dinner.... not a good idea unless your dog is in college.

We use Nutro also, it's the only food our dog can handle.If time and money were not issues, I think we'd feed him the raw diet.

No offense but Nutro has has more problems with their food than any ofther company. Purina is all corn and animal by-products.Since the Mars company purchased Nutro the quality has gone downhill in favor of higher profits. You are much better off looking at some of the smaller holistic companies like Breeders Choice. People who are in it for the right reasons.

I know a guy who is the regioal manager for Nutro and he is trying to find a new company because he does not believe in the product anymore.

 

[Hawks64]

We use Kirkland (Costco) brand.

 

[Da Guru]

We use Kirkland (Costco) brand.

Kirkland Dog food is made by Diamond Dog food..a middle of the road food, better than Purina but it has had its share of recalls as well.

 

[Hawks64]

We use Kirkland (Costco) brand.

Kirkland Dog food is made by Diamond Dog food..a middle of the road food, better than Purina but it has had its share of recalls as well.

The recalls never affected the Kirkland brand I don't think, and while it's not Fromm's (which I used to use) it's a pretty good food.

 

[Da Guru]

We use Kirkland (Costco) brand.

Kirkland Dog food is made by Diamond Dog food..a middle of the road food, better than Purina but it has had its share of recalls as well.

The recalls never affected the Kirkland brand I don't think, and while it's not Fromm's (which I used to use) it's a pretty good food.

No offense, but the Kirkland line is a mass produced dog food. I know people in the industry..Diamond has always been just an OK dog food company. Like I said it is better than Beniful and Purina. Not as good as some of the smaller holistic companies.

 

[toshiba]

Taste of the Wild is a great brand of food.

 

[walnutz]

While SD isn't the worst food out there, reading thru the ingredients and it's pretty horrible.

Ingredient list: Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Soybean Oil, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Iodized Salt, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Dried Chicken Cartilage, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E

3 of the first 4 ingredients are things that are either bad for your dog (Corn, Soy) or in the case of Animal Fat, can be from diseased animals. Unless it specifies which animal the fat came from, it's the lowest grade possible.

Not preaching, just trying to inform y'all. It's your pet, do as you see fit!

Well now, that is quite interstng. To be honest, I never fully read the ingredients. My vet reccomended the food to us when we first got our dog as a puppy. I just figured it was a good diet for him. I will need to look at this more closely. Any reccomondations for a 10 year old lab. He has done well with the SD thus far.

 

[Osaurus]

I've heard an all hot dog diet is also good.

 

[PAO]

We mix Orijen(w/out grain) and Canidae (w/grain). We used to do just Orijen but it got pricey - we have a Dane and a Doby.

We use Orijen for our Dane and she loves it and always has solid crap because the last thing you want is a great dane with diarrhea...

 

[dfwboiler]

Nature's Variety Instinct - Grain Free

Check out other dog foods on that site as well...

 

[Hov34]

We mix Orijen(w/out grain) and Canidae (w/grain). We used to do just Orijen but it got pricey - we have a Dane and a Doby.

We use Orijen for our Dane and she loves it and always has solid crap because the last thing you want is a great dane with diarrhea...

x 20

 

[D-BO]

What's the difference between Purina and Purina One?? Both are bad??

 

[Da Guru]

What's the difference between Purina and Purina One?? Both are bad??

Yes

 

[Da Guru]

While SD isn't the worst food out there, reading thru the ingredients and it's pretty horrible.

Ingredient list: Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Soybean Oil, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Iodized Salt, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Dried Chicken Cartilage, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E

3 of the first 4 ingredients are things that are either bad for your dog (Corn, Soy) or in the case of Animal Fat, can be from diseased animals. Unless it specifies which animal the fat came from, it's the lowest grade possible.

Not preaching, just trying to inform y'all. It's your pet, do as you see fit!

Well now, that is quite interstng. To be honest, I never fully read the ingredients. My vet reccomended the food to us when we first got our dog as a puppy. I just figured it was a good diet for him. I will need to look at this more closely. Any reccomondations for a 10 year old lab. He has done well with the SD thus far.

This is what is wrong with the industry. Purina and SD give "free food" to vets to build up a consumer base. People think that "My vet gave me this" it has to be good. Like many MDs vets are not required to take nutrition course as part of their training.

 

[fasteddie_21]

While SD isn't the worst food out there, reading thru the ingredients and it's pretty horrible.

Ingredient list: Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Soybean Oil, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Iodized Salt, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Dried Chicken Cartilage, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E

3 of the first 4 ingredients are things that are either bad for your dog (Corn, Soy) or in the case of Animal Fat, can be from diseased animals. Unless it specifies which animal the fat came from, it's the lowest grade possible.

Not preaching, just trying to inform y'all. It's your pet, do as you see fit!

Well now, that is quite interstng. To be honest, I never fully read the ingredients. My vet reccomended the food to us when we first got our dog as a puppy. I just figured it was a good diet for him. I will need to look at this more closely. Any reccomondations for a 10 year old lab. He has done well with the SD thus far.

The reason you think this is because a lot of vets get kickbacks/perks from pushing/selling Hills (SD).As for recommendations for you pooch? Well, there have been a lot of good suggestions in this thread. Here's the way we (my wife and I) see it. We have a 70lb greyhound and he goes thru approximately 1-30lb bag of dry kibble a month. Yes, the 'better' dog foods are more expensive, but still, this is only, what, and extra $20-$30/month. The end result is a happier, healthier dog who, hopefully, has an added couple of years from being fed better.

I'd suggest reading up on what is good for dogs and what is not good for dogs. But as I said, there are a ton of good suggestions ITT (Canidae, California Natural, Orijen, Nature's Best, Innova, and there have been more...just listing some). The key is a well balanced diet. The problem that I have w/ the no-grain foods is that their protein can be as high as 42% which is great if you have a dog that uses it (ie. racing greyhounds, when they still race), but for 99% of dogs, that isn't the case. And w/ that high of a protein content, that gives them liver/kidney issues later in life.

So, like I said, the best thing you can do is take an hour or two and do some reading on what is best for your dog and then be willing to spend a couple extra bucks. And as said before, introduce the new kibble SLOWLY. For example, when we switched from Canidae to California Natural, (he eats 2 cups, twice a day), we'd give him 1.5 cups of Canidae and 0.5 cups of CN. Then every other day, add another half cup. After around a week, he was acclimated to the new kibble. Lastly, keep in mind that some dogs have sensitive digestive systems so what is good for one dog might not be for the next. Most smaller dog food stores will let you return a bag of kibble even after a couple of days if your dog doesn't like it.

HTH's!

 

[Kirby]

Nutro.

Feeding it Purina is like feeding yourself candy for dinner.... not a good idea unless your dog is in college.

We use Nutro also, it's the only food our dog can handle.If time and money were not issues, I think we'd feed him the raw diet.

No offense but Nutro has has more problems with their food than any ofther company. Purina is all corn and animal by-products.Since the Mars company purchased Nutro the quality has gone downhill in favor of higher profits. You are much better off looking at some of the smaller holistic companies like Breeders Choice. People who are in it for the right reasons.

I know a guy who is the regioal manager for Nutro and he is trying to find a new company because he does not believe in the product anymore.

Sorry for the bad info... last time i was feeding a dog was 4 years ago.

 

[fasteddie_21]

These are some quality foods to go along w/ many that have been mentioned already.

 

[dfwboiler]

While SD isn't the worst food out there, reading thru the ingredients and it's pretty horrible.

Ingredient list: Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Soybean Oil, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Iodized Salt, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Dried Chicken Cartilage, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E

3 of the first 4 ingredients are things that are either bad for your dog (Corn, Soy) or in the case of Animal Fat, can be from diseased animals. Unless it specifies which animal the fat came from, it's the lowest grade possible.

Not preaching, just trying to inform y'all. It's your pet, do as you see fit!

Well now, that is quite interstng. To be honest, I never fully read the ingredients. My vet reccomended the food to us when we first got our dog as a puppy. I just figured it was a good diet for him. I will need to look at this more closely. Any reccomondations for a 10 year old lab. He has done well with the SD thus far.

This is what is wrong with the industry. Purina and SD give "free food" to vets to build up a consumer base. People think that "My vet gave me this" it has to be good. Like many MDs vets are not required to take nutrition course as part of their training.

Just remember that SD that is given with a prescription is different than the SD found in PetCo or wherever. So if your vet gives you a prescription for SD food, it's for a reason and I would feed my dog that.

 

[Genedoc]

The easiest thing to do is find a local pet store you trust and ask the owner. Not a chain, a local place with an owner who cares. They've likely done all of this research and work for you. May be more expensive than PetSmart, but worth it to have advice you trust.

Next, just look at the ingredients. Meat should be #1 on the list and the primary protein source. Meat meal is not as good as meat, but markedly better than meat by-products or grain. Just go to purina.com and try to find their ingredients list. I couldn't find it in 5 minutes. Here's a link to the ingredient list of some popular brands. Here's the ingredient list to Taste of the Wild, which I recommended and someone else seconded:

Bison, venison, lamb meal, chicken meal, egg product, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, canola oil, roasted bison, roasted venison, natural flavor, tomato pomace, ocean fish meal, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Taste of the Wild isn't cheap, but because of the quality, you don't feed your dogs as much as you do with Purina, they poop less, and it's not nearly as noxious when they do poop. I have two 50 pound dogs. They each get 1 level cup of food, twice a day, and than maintains a very healthy weight for them. I probably spend $50/month feeding them. No clue how this compares to Purina, but the dogs love it and they're healthy.

 

[DCThunder]

Our dog eats Royal Canin WD and loves it.

 

[fasteddie_21]

The easiest thing to do is find a local pet store you trust and ask the owner. Not a chain, a local place with an owner who cares. They've likely done all of this research and work for you. May be more expensive than PetSmart, but worth it to have advice you trust.

Next, just look at the ingredients. Meat should be #1 on the list and the primary protein source. Meat meal is not as good as meat, but markedly better than meat by-products or grain. Just go to purina.com and try to find their ingredients list. I couldn't find it in 5 minutes. Here's a link to the ingredient list of some popular brands. Here's the ingredient list to Taste of the Wild, which I recommended and someone else seconded:

Bison, venison, lamb meal, chicken meal, egg product, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, canola oil, roasted bison, roasted venison, natural flavor, tomato pomace, ocean fish meal, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Taste of the Wild isn't cheap, but because of the quality, you don't feed your dogs as much as you do with Purina, they poop less, and it's not nearly as noxious when they do poop. I have two 50 pound dogs. They each get 1 level cup of food, twice a day, and than maintains a very healthy weight for them. I probably spend $50/month feeding them. No clue how this compares to Purina, but the dogs love it and they're healthy.

This is basically what I was trying to say, but in a lot less words. One thing to note, though, is that w/ TotW, you see there are 4 different proteins in the food. Some dogs have no problem w/ this. Some do. Experiment and ask for samples and see what your dog likes and can handle. One of the main reasons we went w/ California Natural is because we just got him, it's the most 'basic' higher-end dog food out there. Meaning it has one protein, one source of fat, and one source of carbs. We're going to try out different foods thru the years, since variety is good for dogs, but this was a good jumping off point.

Good luck and I also totally support going to a local, mom 'n pop dog food store and talking w/ them. I spent about 4 hours between different stores, finding the one where I was most comfortable and the owner seemed the most knowledgable. The ladies who run the store that we shop at really do care about Asher. It's really a cool thing!

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Thanks for all of the info. We are going to go with Taste of the Wild. We often give our dogs raw food as a treat (our new vet suggested feeding raw but we do not have the fridge space for it yet) and this food seems to be as close to that as we can get. I also love it because its sold at several of the no chain pet stores in our area.

 

[D-BO]

What's the difference between Purina and Purina One?? Both are bad??

Yes

InterestingI tryed giving my 3 Boston Terrier's Blue Buffalo a while back but they didn't seem to like it. I've been using the Purina One since. Didn't know it was bad. Actually have owned Dog's my whole life and the last 2 big breeds I owned were a Boxer (Greatest dog ever..miss him) and a Black Lab mix...I fed them Purina Dog Chow their whole lifes. They were healthy, happy dogs until the end. The Boxer was 11 and the Lab mix was about 12.5 years old. GREAT DOGS.

 

[fasteddie_21]

Thanks for all of the info. We are going to go with Taste of the Wild. We often give our dogs raw food as a treat (our new vet suggested feeding raw but we do not have the fridge space for it yet) and this food seems to be as close to that as we can get. I also love it because its sold at several of the no chain pet stores in our area.

Here is a link explaining the various ingredients in dog food

For instance:

animal fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid) (1 stars) found in 5% of pet food products analyzed

Non-descriptive fat! Can be anything rancid or 4-D (dead, dying, disabled, diseased) regardless of natural Vitamin E and C preservatives. Misleading.