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My families first dog lived to 13 (not bad for a Golden) eating Nutro dog food...Not grain free but a quality kibble. The second, who we got when he was six, lived to 14. He ate Nutro, cheese burgers, sticks of butter that were countersurfed, etc...Nutro has rice at least twice in top five ingredients.
My current dog I feed Purina. He does well on it; eats it and has normal size, well formed solid stools. He goes to work with my wife some days and the office manager feeds him wet food. I can tell when he has wet food because his stools are much larger and looser.
That said, if your dog has allergies, or GI issues, You should look at other options, grain free being one of them. My friend was at his wits end with his dog, and finally got it diagnosed and feeds Merrick to prevent a recurrence of the problem. If your dog seems itchy, coat isn't what it should be, look around...
My dog had a bad reaction (allergic) that I think was the food he was eating when I was on a trip and fed him my buddies food.
I thought that was her point! I ran across a fairly recent study in the past year or two - but haven't the faintest idea where it is or I'd link it. I surely have a bookmark - but even finding that these days -- well, either you take my word for it - or you do your own research. Anyway, the study re-affirmed that dog digestive systems have evolved to accommodate grains. I'm pretty sure there is other scientific validation of that as well. That tops off the fact that wolves and coyotes - dogs' close but wild cousins - are as close to omnivorous as a carnivore can get. Both will eat grains, fruit, greens - it just depends on what is available.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikala43
I've read the same thing. It came down to a strong preference for meat, biology that is all carnivore, but can eat an omnivore diet. To paraphrase poorly.
My dog eats (and enjoys) LOTS of things. Fruit (loves), veggies (likes), meat, whatever. Unlike cats, canids are not hypercarnivores despite having the dentition for carnivory. Sure, they'd love a steak over fruit (though it depends, because I know coyotes love melons when they are available and my dog loves mangoes) but the domestic dog especially is omnivorous.
Like humans, I'm just trying to minimize junk calories that promote weight gain.
I have to feed my dog grain free or he starts having coughing fits. He also gets leftovers from our meals as long as there's no bread or anything else with grain.
I don't know why it makes a difference. I was feeding him a high quality food with grain when I first got him but he was coughing. So it must have been the grain that made the difference. I am always careful to read the labels for artificial ingredients that might make them sick--BHT was something that made my last cat lose most of her fur and have bloody sores on her skin. The additives are nasty.
Today, he and I shared a nice lunch ...
salmon filets with brussels sprouts and blueberries sauteed in a walnut blackberry sauce and mashed potatos.
(sauce= bottled salad dressing and butter).
He gave it 4 paws up!
Wow if that is what you made for lunch, I think I would have a preference for it too as it sounds delicious!
For those of you that feed your dog from your plate, are you sharing seasoned food? ie, salt, pepper, garlic, paprika and so on? (I think salt is the one to watch for, but I am sure there's more)..
My dog eats (and enjoys) LOTS of things. Fruit (loves), veggies (likes), meat, whatever. Unlike cats, canids are not hypercarnivores despite having the dentition for carnivory. Sure, they'd love a steak over fruit (though it depends, because I know coyotes love melons when they are available and my dog loves mangoes) but the domestic dog especially is omnivorous.
Like humans, I'm just trying to minimize junk calories that promote weight gain.
I love it! You know, I started out cooking my own dog food because I had an underweight dog. I was trying this food and that food, but he just didn't care much. At some point, I added up 2 plus 2, and got 4, and realized that buying cheap chicken and tossing in some other stuff for a balanced diet, would be a lot cheaper than buying the commercial foods. And I ended up serving them a better diet. It does take time from me - enough time that most ppl wouldn't do it.
I don't add salt, but I'll serve leftovers that have salt. Dogs need salt just like we do - they just don't sweat as much. Garlic and onions in the amounts we use in human food are not a worry. You'd really have to heap them on to get toxic for a dog. Unless you're a garlic fan, and serving roast garlic for dinner!
Loving all the humor everybody has come up with! Sal-ute!
I don't add salt, but I'll serve leftovers that have salt. Dogs need salt just like we do - they just don't sweat as much. Garlic and onions in the amounts we use in human food are not a worry. You'd really have to heap them on to get toxic for a dog. Unless you're a garlic fan, and serving roast garlic for dinner!
Loving all the humor everybody has come up with! Sal-ute!
That's good to know because I spend a lot of time picking out little tiny green onions from things....
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