I was just curious as to what everyone fed their dogs (if dry, what brand and why... what do you not recommend), if you fed a mixed diet, or completely raw.

As of right now, my dogs are on Nutro MAX Large Breed. I wish the protien content was a bit lower. We're thinking of switching to Nutro NATURAL CHOICE Large Breed. I like Blue Buffalo as well. We also give raw every now and then and haven't had any problems.

Thanks for your time.

I feed my dogs Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul. They also get treats, rawhides, occasionally some wet food mixed in, and quite a bit of people food.

They are my leftover eaters.

Ours get leftovers, too. Heh. Just can't help those big, flopping faces.

Now, personally, I think pedigree and purina are crap. Better than Kibbles and Bits, but still crap. (The ingredients are ewww, but that's just my opinion.)

How does Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul rate, ingredients wise?

I give my dogs Wellness. My little one will actually start eating Innova Evo soon because of her allergies.

I think it's always good to be very, very careful with a raw dog food. If you're feeding it right, there should be no problem. But It takes a lot of research before you can get it right.

I can't say I like either of those Nutro brands. They have fillers. And they also have Vitamin K will can cause liver failure. Blue Buffalo is a good food though.

Go to www.dogfoodanalysis.com it's a great place to read about dog food. It's all rated, has all the ingredients down, and has reviews. A trick with dog food: anything you can buy at Target, Wal-mart, K-mart is bad!

My dogs are my scavengers. I don't think floor has to ever be swept because they eat any food that drops on it!

I also feed Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul. It rates pretty high among dry foods. There is no corn and the first four ingredients are whole meats. For the price I don't think you can beat it. It's about $30 for 40 pounds.

quote:

Originally posted by Canterbury_Tails:
Ours get leftovers, too. Heh. Just can't help those big, flopping faces.

Now, personally, I think pedigree and purina are crap. Better than Kibbles and Bits, but still crap. (The ingredients are ewww, but that's just my opinion.)

How does Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul rate, ingredients wise?

I consider myself a bit of a dog food "know it all", LOL.

As talltail stated, anything you can but at Target, Wal-Mart ect. is terrible, and almost all the foods you can get at Petco and Petsmart are low end as well.

Chicken Soup, IMO, is the best you can get price, ingredient, and nutrition wise.

There are some really good foods out there, the Innova EVO being one of them, but they are twice the price as the Chicken Soup. It's also readily available at my local pet store, so it's the food for my dogs.

So Nutro is a no-no. I work at Wal-Mart and we have Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul there. I get 10% off of the bag, too. Perks of working for world's worst corporation.

I've always had luck with Nutro, besides the gas. The gas is absolutely disgusting. It's pretty bad when your dog sits on the couch, rips one that rattles the windows, and stares at you... like you're the one who did it.

Doesn't PETSMART carry Chicken Soup? I know they carry Blue Buffalo. (What about Bill Jack?)

There are no Pet Supplies PLUS around here (we're in Columbus, OH), and PET PEOPLE and COMPLETE PETMART are ridiculously over priced.

Again, thanks for ALL of your help!!!

Dog food is so very, very tricky. My aunt feeds all her dogs high quality foods, but her foster dog can't take such rich food and can't eat the same as the others.

As I said, one of my dog's is having an allergy problem. I believe it's the grains in the dog food, but it might not be. Trial and error.

I've learned more about dog food by teaching myself then I have by hearing it from other people. And that's really the best way to learn about it. Even vets will try to give you Science Diet claiming it's the best out there. I had a family member paying $40 for Science Diet for her cat because the cat needed to loose some weight. And over a year her cat lost only a couple of ounces. Now when I'm looking for dog food, I don't ask my vet!

I actually find the best dog food in my area by going to pet supply stores way in the boondocks. But it all depends on where you live. Where I live, most people honestly don't care what they're feeding their dog.

I have a really spoiled german shepherd, but he's happy, healthy and and excellant shape. I get plain (brown colored) dog food at a Heilderberg dog farm, but you could just purchase plain food from any store. But, anyway I mix the plain food with a lot of other stuff. Here's the recipe
-2 and half cups of dog food
-1 tablespoon of plain yogurt (for shiny coat)
-1 tablespoon of cod liver oil
-1/2 cup of water
-spoonful of fish (maceral)
-Spoonful of dog vitamins(purchased at dog farm)
-1 cooked egg (optional)
-1 clove of garlic-pressed (helps with fleas)
This recipe was recommended to me from a German Shepherd breeder. My dog is healthy, and he's always very eager to eat it. I feed him twice a day.

What's the protien level on the chicken Soup?

I'm headed to PETSMART within the next hour or so. Any other suggestions before I hit the road? (I have enough Nutro left to transition over a week, so no worries about that.)

Seems like even though Nutro is held as a better food, it's held somewhat low on the totem pole.

http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/products/...d/adult_dog_formula/

This link should take you right to the ingredients page for Chicken Soup dog food. (also has the protien content, etc.)

My Petsmart doesn't carry Chicken Soup, but others may.

I feed raw not BARF i don;t believe dogs need vegetables in daily feeding unless i want to add something for a specific reason. Kelp will darken the mouths of breeds like rottweilers (dark pigmentation is important when showing rotties) sometimes minerals in the water will turn parts of a rottweilers mouth pinkish.

Wow, I've never heard of Wal-Mart having good dog food.

All I ever see is crap there.

The protein level of CS is 24% I believe. Nutro is a good food, but you can do better. Dog food is a lot of trial and error for your dogs particular needs and what agrees with their tummy and skin.

My bad. PETSMART or Wal-Mart doesn't carry CSftDLS. Heh. It was Beneful. The bag has similar colorings.

24% protien is a bit high for Danes. 21% is okay, but lower is better. Usually the 19% range. We bought our normal Nutro this time. Just two weeks worth.

I forgot to inform everyone. This is an ECOT computer. It's for my wife's schooling, so there are few sites that I can actually get on, as we don't pay for this internet and it is highly edited. I had to confirm my e-mail on a different computer to be able to post here.

Still hunting for food.

Ah Beneful, terrible stuff.

Why do you prefer a lower protein for the Danes? I was always under the impression that dogs, being carnivores, and naturally not eating any grains at all, do better on high protein diets. Innova EVO for example is almost 50% protein.

The grain is probably what is making your dogs so gassy. My sisters dog was the same way on Nutro. I fed Nutro for a long while, I started on Ol'Roy many years ago, like so many other owners, and then learned how bad it was.

I've actually done some research, and for some dogs, high protien isn't so great. Danes are one of them. I went to a seminar for class explaining it. I can't remember everything offhand, but my friend Janet retained all of it.(I'm going to school to get my DVM. I'm very early on... and things are going on and off because of cash... but I'm going for it.)

Just like, Great Dane and other Giant breed pups shouldn't be on puppy food. They should be on a lower protien adult food, as it can (and often leads to) pano.

I've done some research on the high protein content as well. I've always heard that too much protein isn't good for a dog. But I actually stumbled on a lot of places saying that's a myth.

Apparently, it isn't always good for younger puppies, you want to give moderate protein content. But the protein content thing is an old wives tale and an outdated theory. Most likely started by cheaper food companies because of the low protein content in their food.

http://betterdogcare.blogspot.com/2006/08/is-high-prote...nhealthy-for-my.html

This place explained it great. You said you have a younger Dane, so maybe a lower protein content would be better. But I don't think any harm should come to your older Danes. As I said before though, some dogs just can't take such rich food and then you can start to see problems.

I haven't had a computer, so research has been futile for a LONG time. This is why I've stuck with Nutro.

So... Chicken Soup sounds like it's the way to go. Couldn't find it at PETSMART or Wal-Mart. I haven't had a chance to call around, either. Where do you guys get yours at? There aren't any Pet Supplies PLUS around here. I'm pretty sure my other choices are down to Complete Pet Mart and Pet People. I haven't seen any PETCO's, either. (Not a fan of PETCO, anyway.)

The Petco I went to actually did have Chicken Noodle Soup. That was easily the highest quality food they had there. But I guess it all depends on the area you live in.