Another dog food question !!!

[sgc]

What is the very best quality dry dog food. I'm not asking what is the best for your dollar, but what is the absolute best. A few years ago (March 2003), Doc S made this comment "Top of the heap has been and I am sure will continue to be Eukanuba. Their Premuim Performance is an outstanding diet, but quite costly."
I'm thinking of changing foods & went to the store today to look at the different foods. The manager didn't really recommend the Eukanuba. He said it has too much corn filler. He said he can buy anything in the store because he gets a discount & he buys Nutra-Max. So, I'm wondering, what is the absolute best higher priced dry dog food? Thanks

[cajunmeadows2]

I have used Purina Dog Chow for years. My dogs are healthy have plenty of energy and appear happy. To me their Puppy Chow is second to none. Even when I changed feed to try other brands I stayed with puppy chow.

[bwe007]

raw diet raw diet raw diet. but if you can't nutro and sportsmanspride are both excellent

[Beagled1]

As far as kibble goes, I have to rank Evolve, Nutro & Healthwise as some of the best I've used. All are moderately priced, around $1 lb. From my own experience, Eukanuba *was* one of the best feeds on the market but around '06 it went downhill. We had several dogs become ill, all were incontinant, their behavior changed overnight. The Beagles bounced back after the food was eliminated, my 3yo German Shepherd never got well again. She wasted away to nothing, constant diarrhea, lumps all over her body, and also temperament changes. Only thing wrong was an elevated BUN but it was not at renal failure levels. She died about 4 months before the big Menu Foods recalls. I wouldn't feed Euk again if it were free.

Best all around, most appropriate diet for dogs - RAW. There is no discussion about that as far as I'm concerned. Processed dried junk is not better than actual fresh food.

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/

[Laneline]

What is the best quality dry dog food - NO MATTER WHAT THE PRICE? I'm not asking what is the best for your dollar, but what is the absolute best.

Since you asked it like this, it is “Orijen” it is made in Canada but is sold in the states. It is hard to find and very expensive. It is around $75.00 for 30 lbs. {depending which line you go with}. Its ratio is 70 percent meat, 30 percent fruit and vegetables and zero grain. It also contains “botanicals”, which very few feeds have now, but in the future they all will go towards. I only know one person that feeds it on a regular basis and he kept one of my dogs for a couple of months to hunt with. When I got the dog back there was a “distinct” clear difference in the dog, in every way possible. His coat, mussel tone and stamina was unbelievable. It is the best, but not for the common man’s budget. Here is a link to it with a store locator: http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/orijen/

[bwe007]

dogs don't need veg. or fruit they need meat and fat and for $70 for 30lbs i can feed my dogs steak every day

[sgc]

There's got to be some others. What about Black Gold, Science diet, etc.

[2500 HD]

I really like Black Gold, the results are consistant in the kennel and in the field. Energy levels are good. What really impresses me the most is how my females on a big litter of pups actually gain weight. If you have Black Gold in your area give it a try.

[HLC_Kennel]

Since my family owns a catering business a lot of meat scraps go to my beagle. He's built nice and the running he gets every day, well lets just say the meat is doing its job. I also feed him Green Bag of Sportsmix.

[tiffinis]

Avoid corn. Avoid corn. Avoid corn. There is nothing on the grocery store shelf I would feed on a regular basis. Here is a website who has a pretty good run down of ratings, ingredients etc.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food ... .php/cat/1

[Laneline]

Orijen, Innova EVO, Taste Of The Wild, Wellness Core, Instinct, Artemis, Blue Wilderness, GO Natural Grain Free Canine, and Horizon Legacy are your absolute best. They are very expensive and some of them are hard to find, but these are your best feeds.

Dog food comes in basically 3 levels:

1} The top feeds lead off with meat, and have additional "meat high" in the ingredient list with “botanicals” which are {fruits, vegetables and other plants} for the immunity and organs, glands, tissues, cleansing of the liver, heart, kidney, reduce insulin levels, blood sugar variances, coat, skin, eyes and immune system. They also do not have any grain at all.

2} These feeds lead off with meat ingredients, but they then add corn and other grains as fillers. Some include rice and wheat for calories and carbohydrates. They also leave out the “botanicals” and leave it up to you to provide your dog with this by way of vitamins and other sources. {Your dog eat grass or their own or other animals feces? it's because they naturally crave "botanicals"}

3} These feeds lead off with grain based ingredients {mostly corn} but add a little processed meat for advertisement purposes. They have no “botanicals” and basically is pure “junkfood” and garbage for your dog. Very little go towards the dog and a whole lot goes in your shovel during your clean-up.

Many of the feeds that many of us use due to “money” is in #2. The top feeds in #2 use rice or wheat because of their “low-cost” calories and their high carbohydrates. This is not a bad thing, but most vets will tell you that grains and carbohydrates are the primary causes of health problems. It is still widely practiced in our dog food manufactures due to the lower cost “to them”, easy access and the long shelf life that grains provide in the stores and they can sell it for a cheaper price.

I wish I could feed the “top” feeds to my dogs, if I ever hit the lottery I will, but for now I feed the best I can afford. But I will say this, if a person does not think there is a difference, pick out one dog in your kennel and go buy a bag of the “top” feed. Feed that one dog that feed only for a few months and continue to feed the rest of your dogs your “normal” feed and see the difference.

Here is a good link if a person actually wants to compare and see the differences of all the feeds:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food ... .php/cat/1

[nhharris78]

hey Jim after reading your last post, I noticed one of my females last time out wanting to eat grass figured she was lacking something or stomach was bothered. what is a good supplement or vitamin to add to my feed?

[Panther Creek]

hey Jim after reading your last post, I noticed one of my females last time out wanting to eat grass figured she was lacking something or stomach was bothered. what is a good supplement or vitamin to add to my feed?

Good question.

[Laneline]

hey Jim after reading your last post, I noticed one of my females last time out wanting to eat grass figured she was lacking something or stomach was bothered. what is a good supplement or vitamin to add to my feed?

Dogs that eat plants or grass are not getting enough greens in their diet. Out in the wild, animals eat fresh meat or other animals that eat herbs, plants or berries, and they also at times eat these herbs, plants, vegetables or berries themselves. It keeps a natural balance in their systems and immunities. That’s why Wolves, Coyotes, Fox etc… don’t often die every time they get worms or other common ailments that our dogs do die from while being domesticated. Remember, these wild animals are never wormed or get any shots. When they die it is usually because a human kills them or another animal predator. Also, {without knowing what they were doing} years ago the “old timers” when they fed their dogs “scraps” right off their kitchen table and they rarely ever did anything to their dogs other than the occasional worming, no inoculations or shots for the most part, and it seemed their hunting dogs often lived to be 15 years old, most dogs today are gone between ages 8-11. They were actually doing their dogs a favor by feeding them a wide variety of foods off their kitchen table rather than today most feed just “dog food” only. The whole key is to try to emulate their natural needs as if they were in the wild to keep up their natural immunities. To answer your question, to fill the gaps in our dog foods, I would give a good Multi-Vitamin: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=19884 every day. Or you can go the extra mile and find something like VitoGlo-Daily: http://shop.halopets.com/Pet-Supplement ... ily-Greens

Just some suggestions, Jim

[deadeyebeagle]

this post has some great info thanks guys i think im going to buy some of this high dollar feed and feed it once every couple of days and feed my deer meat thats in my freezer the rest of days and see what i cant get from a bucher it should add up to less than a dollar a lb and be bettar for my dogs.