Whats the best dog food??

[mastiff22]

I have a 8 week old and she is on Royal Canin junior large bread. Stuff is like 60 dollars for a reg. bag pretty pricey i dont mind buying that if its one of the better dog foods but what do you guys recommend?? Is their a better brand food out there?? when she is finished with the bag she has i dont mind switching her.

 

[Danté Vivi & Bella's Mom]

Posting my response on a similar question posed in an earlier thread. In addition, Smart_Family created a thread that I believe many are finding to be helpful. I inserted the link to directly below. You can copy and paste this link to navigate there. Good luck, it can be a tough decision.

http://www.mastiff-forum.com/showthread.php/2934-2011-Whole-Dog-Journal-Food-List

____________________________

Wow, what a question! There are so many different foods, opinions and methodology around what to feed so that is a rough one. I will give you a starting point.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

You can start with the six star foods and go down from there. As you read the reviews and the ingredients, you should get a feel for what is best for your pet - and then your budget, if applicable

There are also many proponents of raw diets so you may want to factor that into your decision at some point or another.

 

[Cheyenne]

Dante gave you some good sites which is actually how I found my dogs food. My pit is on Wellness Core (switching over to Fromm because its a little cheaper and just as good) and my Presa Canario is on Evo Red meat mixed with Taste of the Wild Prairie.
I have never been real impressed with Royal Canin foods. They tend to be way overpriced and use cheap meat sources and fillers like corn. When you are comparing foods look at the ingredients not just the analysis. The first several ingredients should list meat sources(ie lamb, turkey beef). Steer clear of foods that list "by-product" high up in the ingredient label and never get a food with corn anywhere on the label. By products have no nutritional value to the dog but some food companies will count the protein content of the by-products in their "guaranteed analysis" even if the dog cannot utilize them.

 

[Rich103]

I feed my two dogs a raw diet and I will tell you why .I was like you researching better dog foods and chose blue buffalo and natural balance but my pitbull was shedding too much and real bad gas so I did some more looking in to the raw ...oh by the way my vet tried to talk me out of it and I found out why veterinarians are paid a portion of the proceed to steer people to purerina products which makes sense no sick dog no vet visit ...well I have a Cane Corso a year old & a pit a year and a couple months and couldn't be happier with their health smaller stool cleaner teeth and a lot less gas ...if you want you can look them up on youtube under rich103 channel I have posted up a couple videos and also I have my kids (teenagers) feeding them not really a big deal ....well just hope too shear some alternative to commercial dog food .

 

[dmouse66]

Another good site is www.dogfoodadvisor.comThey break down the ingredients and analyze each one. They have a rating scale of 1-5 star. That is how I picked Raistlin's food and susequently switched my cats to Diamond brand cat food to. (All the grocery store brands, including Iams had my cats vomiting daily!)

 

[Smart_Family]

I so wish we could feed raw. We have no butchers around and feeding three dogs from the grocery store is expensive. We do get them treats once in a while. They love gizzards, hearts and raw eggs.

 

[mastiff22]

still so many different options.. Right now we have her on large breed puppy.. will she be ok on that till we switch over? I know puppy food isnt good but its junior large breed so thinking it should be ok till we finish it off.. As far as raw foods def. dont have the budget or time to feed her raw all the time but maybe once or twice a week. How old does she need to be till can start her on raw foods every so often?? and can i just go with any raw meets? (chicken and what else? ) As far as dry foods i think i may try acana foods any thoughts ??

This is what i have her on now.. and i know its not the best due to it having corn and other fillers http://products.royalcanin.us/products/dog-food/giant-junior.aspx?Animal=Dog

---------- Post added at 08:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:44 PM ----------

Think I may try Evo red meats

 

[mastiff22]

Think I may try Evo red meats

 

[Cheyenne]

Rich Maybe your vet is receiving kickbacks from Purina although I don't know how they would even keep track of that but your statement as a generalization of veterinary motives is completely false. The main reason that we caution people about feeding homemade and raw diets is because many people do not do their research and balance the diet properly. Even after pointing them towards appropriate literature on these diets we find several owners still are not doing it correctly. We do NOT try to keep pets sick to keep people coming back. We are pet owners too and we want your pets to be healthy and happy. Thinking about it solely from a financial standpoint a vet would make money for repeat wellness care over the course of a pets long healthy life than a pet who comes in for several illnesses and a shorter life.

 

[shelby2535]

I have tried so many foods with my dog. Found out that the brand chicken soup is whats best for him. Never even heard of this brand of food until I found this website http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/brand/ . It lists most of the brands and analyzes them. The chicken soup brand is highly recommended on many sites that I researched, he also likes it a lot. I heard blue buffalo was highly recommended but when I fed that to my dog he hated it and wouldnt eat it.

 

[mastiff22]

Ill have to look into that as well. Pretty sure my local petsmart has it. Thanks!!

 

[Smart_Family]

Oh and she can have raw now. Just don't feed raw and kibble at the same time since they digest at different rates. No cooked bones, no ham or pork, bones or meat. Start with chicken quarters, but you may need to take the skin off for her.

 

[Smart_Family]

Do not feed evo to any puppies under a year of age and ideally not until they are 18 months. The protein is way too high for younger puppies.

---------- Post added at 10:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 AM ----------

Oh and she can have raw now. Just don't feed raw and kibble at the same time since they digest at different rates. No cooked bones, no ham or pork, bones or meat. Start with chicken quarters, but you may need to take the skin off for her.

 

[mastiff22]

yes i noticed the protein was way to high. So what your saying is if i feed her raw i have to only do raw nothing else??

 

[Smart_Family]

No you just can't feed them in the same meal. So you can do a raw breakfast and a kibble dinner or vice versa, just not at the same time. You want to give as much as a gap as possible between the kibble and raw.

 

[mastiff22]

Thanks for input. So since she is only 8 weeks should I just do a small chicken breast? Wanna do it at least once a week

 

[STEVSH]

I feed Chicken Soup as well and love it. Doesn't cost as much as other brands and is the same quality.

 

[dorisklira]

You can see here they have provided top 10 best food for dog:

squidoo.com/10-Best-Dog-Food

 

[mastiff22]

Oh and she can have raw now. Just don't feed raw and kibble at the same time since they digest at different rates. No cooked bones, no ham or pork, bones or meat. Start with chicken quarters, but you may need to take the skin off for her.

Chicken quarters have bones ...??

 

[Smart_Family]

If you're going to feed raw they need bones and organs in addition to the meat to get all the nutrients. She'll be able to eat the bones with not very much effort you just might need to help her pull apart the quarter at first.