Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So we have two hounds, one old and one young. Been feeding them the box store pedigree brand. If I want to step up to a better (healthier) food what would you recommend? We pay $25/ 40lb bag. Are the more expensive brands worth the money? Why? Thanks
Pedigree has a ton of fillers in it, and meat isn't even the first ingredient. In fact it doesn't have any "meat" in it all, just by-products and meal. Pedigree Dog Food | Review and Rating
You want a food with no corn(its just a filler) real meat and good grains(think brown rice) the less "fake" ingredients the better. Some of the most well known brands are; Blue Buffalo, Wellness, Simply Nourish, Solid Gold. But there are others as well. Best Dog Foods | Dog Food Advisor
I always look for grain free and meat as first ingredient. We feed ours Simply Nourish and swap between the Salmon one and the Lamb one(our beagle doesn't like chicken, beef, or bison based foods). We mix in high quality canned from the same brand. They have excellent coats, normal stools and maintain a good weight on it.
I'm sure some people will chime in with RAW/homemade diets, I don't have the patience or freezer space for that, so we stick to high quality dry.
So we have two hounds, one old and one young. Been feeding them the box store pedigree brand. If I want to step up to a better (healthier) food what would you recommend? We pay $25/ 40lb bag. Are the more expensive brands worth the money? Why? Thanks
Yes, a good high quality kibble and/or canned food will be more expensive up front, BUT the result will be a healthier happier more balanced dog, so you will spend less on vet bills. As well, because the quality of the food will be more nutrient dense, you will be able to feed much less of it. For instance, even between the high quality foods I feed, for one brand I feed 2 cups daily and for another brand I feed 1-1/2 cups daily. Switching from a grocery store brand to a high quality kibble may easily cut the amount you feed in half.
I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I pay about $65 for a 26-30 lb bag; this lasts my 2 medium sized dogs about 6-7 weeks. If you look for specials online you can often get 20% off from Petflow or other suppliers. In short, for a good quality food you are paying for the research it takes to put together a high quality kibble, a safe manufacturing plant (remember the deaths a few years ago that resulted from sub-par manufacturing plants), packaging to keep the product fresh and stable, and last but not least you will have high quality ingredients = a high quality diet free from common allergens (corn), toxic add-ons (glycol!), or by-products (which could be anything from offal to the shavings off the slaughterhouse floor and everything in between).
To put it in human terms- consider a 10 year old child who is existing on a diet of junk food and McDonalds as opposed to a child who eats a diet composed of legumes, greens, vegetables, fresh meat, dairy, whole grains, etc. You get the idea. It is absolutely true that a dog can "do well" on a grocery store brand, but the difference will be reflected in overall long-term health, energy level, weight, enthusiasm, tolerance for stressful situations, and numerous other health benefits.
Don't forget that a healthy dog is a lean active dog- you need to be able to see their tummy tuck up and feel their ribs.
Although I currently feed a high quality kibble, alternating between Fromm's, Canidae Pure, and Orijen, I am an avid proponent of feeding raw, either to supplement a kibble based diet or feeding a 100% raw diet. Yes, it is a little bit extra work and requires a freezer to store the supply of raw food, but it is well worth it. Don't let people tell you it is more expensive; if you shop wisely, buy in bulk, and buy directly from the slaughterhouse, you can often get much better rates on things like beef heart, liver, kidney, and other items than if you buy at the grocery store. If you are interested in going this route there are a couple of posters here who will be able to provide you with good links and information.
I feed my dog Taste of the Wild which is a pretty good value and quality food. Everything I've read and heard supports that cheaper foods (ie with fillers) will end up costing nearly as much as seemingly more expensive ones because you need to feed the dog more for them to get their basic nutritional requirements met. Not to mention the harm that those cheaper ingredients may cause for a dog in the long run. My perception is that the more a company has to advertise it's food the worse that food actually is. Better to feed the dog less of a high quality food than more of a low quality one. Especially since that is going to be most of what they eat for their entire lives.
Go to Dog Food Advisor and look for at least 4 star foods and read what's in them. Start from there. Grain free is best and as others have said, you feed less in a higher quality food than you do a low quality one. Less from the other end too!! There are very good foods out there that do not cost an arm and a leg. Taste of the Wild is one. If you belong to Costco, they have a decent food, loads better than Pedigree and a low price if there are budget constraints. I don't know what part of the country you are in but if you have a Tractors Supply store or feed store near you, they often have pretty good prices too.
Your dogs will be much healthier with a better food. Don't forget to transition them over slowly adding more of the new food and less of the old over a week - 10 day period otherwise you will have upset stomachs to deal with!
We feed that in dry and canned to the dogs at the rescue. They do OKAY on it. It's free food donated from Pedigree, so that's one positive thing about the company. There is so much corn in it, just like Purina.
You will see a change if you switch brands. Fur coat will grow fuller, shinier and less shedding. It's not uncommon for the corn and fillers gives your dog diarrhea or pooping several times a day. You will see a change in their digestion too if you switch brand.
When I fed my dog Purina, she was scratching a lot from the corn allergy. She was also shedding a lot, not gaining the weight she needs, pooping a lot, having too soft poop, less energy and was always hungry for more kibble. Once we change brand, the opposite occur for her.
Another example are the kittens I'm caring for. They were skin and bones, weighing less than a pound at 4 weeks old. Mom was euthanized. Shelter feeds them Friskies, a cheap store brand that is filled with corn and fillers. I tried to stay with Friskies and fed them the food. They didn't gain any weight and had diarrhea. I switched to Max Kitten food that has all meat, no corn, no fillers. They start to gain weight and had no diarrhea.
Unlike people food, quality in pet food matters. It does affect their health and growth. It is worth the extra cost to change brand.
You don't have to spend crazy money to feed your dog. I spend $30 for a 40 lb Diamond Natural to feed 2 medium and large dogs for 6 weeks. We would boil an egg for them once a week, boil pasta, chicken, sweet potato, low sodium soup, white rice or whatever leftovers we dont want mixed in their kibble, add a little water and stir. The human food is less than a spoonful and we make sure it is safe for them to eat. This, I find is ten times better than paying a company for corn fillers.
For kibble, my dog always did well on California Natural Lamb & Rice. It's not ridiculously expensive. I also fed Canine Caviar with good results. I didn't have great results with Eagle Pack, Victor, or Purina Pro Plan. But some people do. The best dog food for your dog is the one he does best on, not what some dog-food hobbyist on some website (Dog Food Advisor) ranks as "5 stars." That guy's not even a dog-food expert, he's a dentist. Dog Food Advisor is a decent place to begin researching ingredients, but his star-ranking system is laughable. Bottom line, in my opinion, don't get bogged down in his rankings.
As a good rule of thumb, I agree with LBTRS -- if you can find the food at a grocery story, you shouldn't be feeding it.
Tractor supply sells it and I THINK Pet Smart sells it.
We pay $44 for a 40 lb bag. It is pricey up front but the dogs actually eat less and no longer have stomach issues.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
