Dog food

[kenny chaos]

A raw egg or two a week will give your dog a shiny coat and help with skin issues.

 

[Eatonpcat]

Yuengling also helps with my joint pain, you might want to give him some of that as well. ;-P

my Rott will only drink German beer go figure
St Bernard strictly a whiskey drinker

:cheese:

 

[rwhite]

Good food is more expensive but if you look at the recommended feeding amounts it usually comes out cheaper in the end. I Look at the 1st ingredient on the label and try and find one that has meat or a meat product as the 1st ingredient.

 

[tinkabranc]

Used to feed our Labs Purina One but switched to Diamond Naturals a couple
of years ago when one dog developed skin allergies.

Better quality food and lower priced than the Purina One.

 

[fredarm]

We feed our dog Taste of the Wild. It's grain-free.

 

[cwill]

I have had my Lab on canidae food for about 3 years now. Great shiny coat. no dry skin, and lots of energy. It's not the cheapest stuff around but it's not the most expensive either. The problem with a lot of brands of dog/cat food is that it is made from the cheapest stuff they can find. It's not about what the animal needs to be healthy. they also recommend about twice the amount that the animal really needs. We feed our 5 year old lab 1 cup in the morning and 1 in the evening. We have seen some foods "recommend" up to 6 cups a day!! He maintains a healthy 75lbs on 2 cups a day. He's very active, we run him every day at least 20 mins. I have a friend with a lab that has been on Kibbles and Bits food, She is very over weight and now has food allergies. Vet said it was probably from the coloring dye in the cheap food.

 

[charly]

We feed our cat taste of the wild, grain free, raw eggs, chicken livers, etc. My two dogs, we make their food from Dr.Pitcairn's book. Basically meat and veggies, with a supplement recipe. We've made our dogs food for over 25 years. Our mutt is 14 and Jack Russell is 12. No skin problems , flea problems, etc. This way we know what they're eating, plus not eating the same thing day in and day out. Plus they get raw marrow bones. Keeps their teeth great. They love venison ribs , from my deer harvest. I'll also grind them some neck meat from my deer take as well. They eat good. They're my buddies!

 

[bfunk13]

I always fed Science Diet, thinking the vets sell it, it must be good.
Well from the research i have done it is way over priced for what it is. We switched to Blue Buffalo for the puppy (if you can call him that)
and solid gold for our adult border collie. Both seem to be doing very well on these.
I do know that too much people food is very bad, i watched my parents feed their dog till it croaked from overweight and heart problems. It is hard not to share with the dogs but its is best for them if we don't.

 

[charly]

I always fed Science Diet, thinking the vets sell it, it must be good.
Well from the research i have done it is way over priced for what it is. We switched to Blue Buffalo for the puppy (if you can call him that)
and solid gold for our adult border collie. Both seem to be doing very well on these.
I do know that too much people food is very bad, I watched my parents feed their dog till it croaked from overweight and heart problems. It is hard not to share with the dogs but its is best for them if we don't.

Making your own food, so called people food, you have to make sure your following a balanced meal. Dogs are meat eaters by nature. You can't just give them meat by itself or they are lacking the calcium they would have gotten from eating the bones along with the meat. So we supplement with bone meal powder, or save our organic egg shells and grind them into a powder for their calcium balance. I agree, you just can't throw food off your table at your dogs. I've read a lot of articles as to what went into some dog foods and didn't feel comfortable feeding my best friends from a bag. We make up food ahead of time and freeze it to make it more convenient at times. We've done it for 25 years so it's no big deal. Read Dr Pitcairn's book , a DVM and I think you'll be shocked about dog food.

 

[andybaker]

This is my first dog. When I got her she couldn't keep anything down. We were getting worried. The only she would eat was what we ate and I knew that would be healthy for her. My bakery was right next to a pet store so I went over and talked to the manager. He told me to try Eagle Pak and she has been on it since. The vomiting stopped and she eats 1 cup twice a day. It's very expensive but with her sensitive stomach I don't want to go back to cleaning dog barf up once or twice a day. When I go buy it and see what the other foods cost I sure am tempted but in the long I tell myself this is better for her one $50 bag of it lasts me for 2 1/2 months anyway. In fact I've bought a glucosamine chondroitin liquid for her the last few years. Without it she will only walk on three legs, with it she can run around the yard and go on walks. So for $15-20 bucks a month I thought that better than the $50 a month pain killer the vet wanted to put her on.

 

[charly]

This is my first dog. When I got her she couldn't keep anything down. We were getting worried. The only she would eat was what we ate and I knew that would be healthy for her. My bakery was right next to a pet store so I went over and talked to the manager. He told me to try Eagle Pak and she has been on it since. The vomiting stopped and she eats 1 cup twice a day. It's very expensive but with her sensitive stomach I don't want to go back to cleaning dog barf up once or twice a day. When I go buy it and see what the other foods cost I sure am tempted but in the long I tell myself this is better for her one $50 bag of it lasts me for 2 1/2 months anyway. In fact I've bought a glucosamine chondroitin liquid for her the last few years. Without it she will only walk on three legs, with it she can run around the yard and go on walks. So for $15-20 bucks a month I thought that better than the $50 a month pain killer the vet wanted to put her on.

Your right in your thinking. Yes feeding our dogs homemade food is more money and work, but,,,,,,,we have saved big time not having any vet bills. Our vet praises us for feeding our dogs the way we do. Our one dog tested positive for Lyme but never showed any symptoms, I think this is do to her getting good nutrition her whole life . She has a strong immune system. We got to see with our own eye's how healthy they have stayed, not having to run them to the vets. I guess you could say, you get what you pay for in your food and labor.

 

[bfunk13]

I agree xclimber, you can do a better diet yourself. I have looked into the raw diets.
I was referring to constant table scraps to the point a dog will not eat anything else.
My parents are already doing this again, the dog will not touch any sort of dog food.

 

[charly]

I agree xclimber, you can do a better diet yourself. I have looked into the raw diets.
I was referring to constant table scraps to the point a dog will not eat anything else.
My parents are already doing this again, the dog will not touch any sort of dog food.

That's a shame Bfunk. One thing feeding raw or slightly cooked, they need less food, because of better nutrition. We sometimes fast our dogs for a day just giving them their raw marrow bones. In the wild, an animal doesn't get a meal every single day, plus it gives their body a day to rest and do some house cleaning. If you give your dog a raw bone [never cooked as those bones will splinter ] , you will notice after he eats, most of the time he will finish up by laying and working on his bone, just as if they finished eating a wild animal. Pretty neat to see a dog's natural instincts have never left , even in a domesticated animal.

 

[woodchip]

Not sure we ever fed dogs many table scraps, but we ate dog food once by mistake.

On holiday in France a few years back we were in a butchers and bought some cheap meat and made it into what was a really ghastly pie, which we ate as we were hungry........

It was only the next day when passing the butchers that we noticed we had bought some "viande de chien"........... ;-)