Question for anyone who knows alot about good dog foods?!

[Pathwalker]

^Thanks, Sam I Am, for the heads up. That was really nice of you. I'm sure PBM will appreciate the update. Such a shame about all that. Perhaps raw really is the best way to go, or simply mixing up your own food at home for the little guys.

[Sam I Am]

I do mix my own and feed raw chicken or organ meat - I think I've posted this before, but our local grocer will let us have for free the veggies they have pulled off the shelf because they aren't really pretty - nothing wrong with them, they just aren't the cream of the crop - it takes a little figuring to make sure you aren't feeding something bad for them, but I run all the veggies through the food processor, add a little yogurt and feed them each half a chicken back twice a day with about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of "glop" - sometimes they get fish - I almost have to do it with 6 Rottweilers and a mutt. They don't **** nearly as much, their coats are fantastic, and their teeth don't need cleaning. It's really very easy once you get used to it - I mix several days worth in a large stew pot...if I get really industrious I fix enough for a week or two and freeze it in Ziploc bags. The effort is worth the difference - this is the Ever Ready Bunny group - healthy as a bunch of horses! And about the same size..... :-)

[PitBullMommie1206]

Originally Posted by midnightbirdgirl

PitPullMommie, why are you hesitant to start raw?
MBG

I have heard wonderful things about raw diets and we are really thinking about it. We have been doing alot of research and we have talked to ALOT of people who have been feeding raw for years. I am just not sure if I really want to change their diet. If we do change their diet it will be to a raw diet, but it wont be for a while. We just have ALOT going on right now and we really dont have the time or energy to change things up right now.. lol! I was just thinking if the food their on right now is a good food, there is no need to rush changing their diet. If its not a good food we will have to change things up soon, but again, if this is a good food we would rather wait untill everything is back to normal.

[PitBullMommie1206]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

Don't feed some of it - it's been recalled for rice gluten contamination...

From their website - Natural Balance - Recalled Products (broken link)

This list was from April 20 but has not been updated on their site.

We Have Recalled the Following Products:
Venison and Brown Rice Dry Dog Formula
Venison and Brown Rice Canned Dog Food
Venison & Brown Rice Formula Dog Treats
Venison and Green Pea Dry Cat Formula
Chicken Formula Canned Dog Food
Lamb Formula Canned Dog Food
Beef Formula Canned Dog Food
Ocean Fish Formula Canned Cat Food

Let the buyer beware - I'm sorry, I can't buy that part of it is contaminated but the rest may not be.....I feed raw, it's easier and cheaper and my mind has been at rest through this whole ordeal. Much, much better for your dogs as well - you would be amazed.

Wow! I had no idea! Thanks for letting me know!... We do not feed them any of the canned foods and we do not feed them any of the foods with venison. I had heard that the foods with the venison had been recalled, but I didnt know that there were a few different foods with venison and I didnt know that the canned foods had been recalled! We use the Natural Balance Ultra Premium dry dog food and nothing else... Again, thanks so much for that info!! Very good to know!

[APhoenixRising]

Recently when I saw all the big name foods being recalled, I was so glad I switched to raw a year ago. People who know me would ask if I got any bad food. That's the great thing about knowing exactly what is in that food bowl!

But there are times when I do need to give dry food - like when I have to board the boys (2 GSDs) for a 2-3 days. I don't trust my vet's staff to feed what I leave because the only times my guys have thrown up or had the runs was when they were boarded there - and believe me, what came out of them was not what I left! Also, sometimes a good steady supply of raw food is not easy to find, and I also don't like the idea of limitting food options.

In those cases, I feed only Blue Buffalo brand, which has no corn or wheat. Look at these ingredients compared to other foods:

Fish & Sweet Potato (Dry):Whitefish, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Whole Ground Barley, Menhadden Fish Meal, Oatmeal, Canola Oil (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols), Whole Potatoes, Tomato Pomace (natural source of Lycopene), Dried Chicory Root, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Natural Chicken Flavor, Whole Carrots, Blueberries, Cranberries, Flaxseed, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Taurine, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Turmeric, Garlic, Sunflower Oil (natural source of Omega 6 Fatty Acids), Herring Oil (natural source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Chicken Fat (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols), Fructooligosaccharides, Monooligosaccharides, Black Malted Barley, Oil of Rosemary, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin C, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Beta Carotene, Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Folic Acid, Biotin, Choline Chloride, Calcium Phosphate, Zinc Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Zinc), Iron Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Iron), Copper Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Copper), Manganese Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Manganese), Potassium Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Potassium), Cobalt Proteinate (source of Chelated Cobalt), Potassium Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Salt, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Bifidobacterium thermophilum, Bifidobacterium longum, Enterococcus faecium.

The other flavors like chicken or lamb and brown rice have the same basic ingredients except of course the meat. My dogs love it, do well on it, digest it well and without any need for change over rituals. They like it so much that I sometimes use pieces as training treats Ha! When I serve it as a meal they think they are getting "cookies" for dinner Hope this helps at least add another option for those who are looking for good clean food and can't be locked into one raw sometimes. By the way, when I spent days researching foods and hours at the store reading labels (armed with printouts of articles by animal nutritionist and holistic feeding guidelines), I was amazed that I had not heard about Blue Buffalo before!

Phoenix

[mrsengle]

We give our dogs Wellness Fish and Sweet Potato (dry). Our yellow lab has food allergies, and this food has helped tremendously. I also tried the Blue Buffalo, but he never took to it unless I gave him the canned food. We also give the cats Wellness canned food. One cat is diabetic, and for a while there she wasn't doing well at all. I'm convinced that the switch to this brand has tremendously improved her quality and extent of life. Wellness has recently (a year or two ago) come out with their Simple Food Solutions line. They've got a whopping 5 ingredients, but it is noticeably more expensive.

I thought seriously about making the dog food - to improve their nutrition and save some money - but in the end, I just wasn't comfortable with it. I think I had a little information overload . If anyone knows of a website that simplifies all that info, I'd like to see it.

[stuckinflorida]

It is good that the first ingredient is chicken as opposed to chicken meal or something else. Raw is the best thing you can do for your carnivorous pet; specifically Prey Model as opposed to BARF:
The Many Myths of Raw Feeding
United States Raw Meaty Bones
Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats
Preventative Dentistry
http://k9joy.com/dogarticles/dogfood01cooking.pdf
Grass-Fed Pet Food
http://www.mercola.com/2005/feb/5/pets_grains.htm (broken link)
B-Naturals (broken link)
Molecular evolution of the dog family
http://k9joy.com/dogarticles/dogfood01stomach.pdf

Lahoma
Home

[mels]

Originally Posted by APhoenixRising

In those cases, I feed only Blue Buffalo brand, which has no corn or wheat.

Blue Buffalo was also part of a recall. Blue Buffalo Company, Ltd Issues Nationwide Recall of "Blue" Canned Dog Foods, "Blue Spa Select" Canned Cat Foods and "Blue" Dog Treats Manufactured At American Nutrition, Inc.