Let's have a chat about Dog food.

Damn, I knew I shouldn't have procrastinated. I was going to make the same thread tonight!
I used to feed my rottweiler Evo but something in it didn't agree with him and it never fully digested. So I switched to Taste of the Wild as well as some of you fine folks. I feed him the Pacific Salmon formula and occasionally mix in some of the high prairie. They also offer a water foul formula and a couple others. However the water foul was to rich for him.
Within the first two days of the salmon formula I noticed a difference. He seemed to have more energy, and was pooping less and it was always solid. Within a week I started to notice his coat change. It got thicker, he shed less, and it started to have more of a shine. After a moth he was totally different. Now he shines like a wet seal, his fur is softer, thicker, and much darker. He also bulked up a lot. It was a very good choice. When I get home from work I'll see if I can find some before and after photos. My avatar photo is from about 2 years after the switch.
Also, I used to work at an animal shelter training dogs and doing personality and behavioral assessments. We had a lot of dogs with skin and coat issues. I also recomended they try TotW when someone was adopting. LOTS of people would send us pictures of the dogs a little while after to show how they were doing. 9 times out of 10 the people that had switched to TotW would have the skin and coat issues resolved.
One of the other great things about it is that a 30lb bag is only $40, which seems to be the case everywhere I've gotten it from (MA, NH, NY, MI). They also sell 5lb, 8lb, and 15lb bags. They don't carry it at any grocery stores/Walmart/Petco/Petsmart, but I've found it at every mom and pop store I've looked in and they've had it at every Tractor Supply I've been too. They also make wet food for all their formulas. The dog food advisor gives them a 5 out 5 ranking too!

Good thead!

I am one of those people standing in the pet food store reading labels.

After all the hoop-lah about "Blue" I bought a bag. The ingredients said one thing (lamb and veggies) but when I opened the bag, all I could smell was fish. When the dogs ate it, their breathes smelled like rotten fish. It was over-powering. I couldn't take it, and the dogs didn't like it either.

I've lost two dogs to old age, both at the ages of 15, one well-beyond the expected life expectancy of the breed. Both dogs ate Pedigree their entire lives. I have friends who come over and turn their noses up at my chosen brand, telling me what I need to switch to. I smile and continue to buy it. If it's not broken, don't fix it.

Oh, they adore carrots and whole green beans for treats! My little dogs will argue with you for a carrot!

Note: Publix had some cute little "snap jars" to hold dog treats. (You might have seen them, plastic with little paw prints) When I got them home and put treats in them, the treats had a horrible, chemical smell. I washed it really good, and tried it again, with the same smell still there. I smelled the treats, and they also smelled of the chemical.

Looked on the bottom: "Made in China". In the garbage it went. They evidently place little to no value on our dogs.

I'm torn on this subject. I raised three large dogs from puppy to 13/14 on the cheapest (Beneful) I could get because it was all I could afford and they loved it. Friends were horrified and yet... long, healthy lives. None of my dogs had allergies or skin conditions to consider so guess I was fortunate and they always had mountains of human food too.

I just got a rescue pit bull from California yesterday that was severely starved, so naturally feeding the good stuff and I have an ok job now, so its easy.

I have a 14year old cat that is utterly addicted to cheapo cat food but fortunate he mostly eats wild food he catches and mostly needs us to fluff up his crunchies to get that loving feeling. One bag lasts for months. I still feely guilty buying it at the convenience store

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

My girlfriend and I feed our dogs Wellness too. Considering her profession I'm inclined to trust her on this one.

I would be willing to pay more if I could see a benefit, but so far this stuff seems to be pretty darn good.

I always tell people that the money they don't put into dog food they're going to put into vet bills -- and more.

So, We took our boxer to the vet the other day, to have a skin tag looked at. We were chatting, and of course he brought up her weight, as she is about 15-20 lbs. overweight. We talked to the doctor about what we were feeding her, the 4health, and how much. The 4health is grain free that we were giving her.

So, the vet proceeds to tell us, that, yes, the dog food is a good brand, but that they are finding that dogs on grain free, are having serious heart problems! They haven't yet figured out why. And with boxers already being prone to heart problems, he recommended we slowly switch her to regular. (and cut her back to 1 cup, twice a day.

Has anyone else heard this from their vet?

a reply to: chiefsmom

I haven’t heard that from a vet, but I did read it recently in regards to humans. The whole grains have something that helps metabolism (I think). It might be the range of vitamin B. So maybe ....

I have a slightly overweight dog too, and she has short legs, but with another large dog I need to just leave the food down or they get food aggressive. I’ll have to cut back on their food a bit when the younger dog mellows a bit, right now the younger dog forces the older one to play, so at least she’s fit.

My dogs love the Victor grain-free food. I also give them veggies like carrot, broccoli and pumpkin.