What is the Best Dog Food???

[warddog]

WOW, and HERE we go again. Probably not kept up on the threads of specific dog food questions that have been discussed on here just in the past few weeks let alone over the years. All I can say to beagles 270 is that if YOU are going to feed dry kibble then feed what YOU consider the best bang for YOUR buck. If I weren't so lazy I would feed raw which is the only way YOU will know what YOU are feeding. I have fed every dry dog food beagles 270 mentioned plus many others including the Rural King store brand. What I have personally witnessed over 50+ years of feeding hounds is that they ALL nourish my dogs. That said I have 5 in my kennel right now and my cousin has 5 in his and every dog seems to react individually to being fed the same ration of the same feed. In all my years of following hounds be they beagles or coon hounds being fed dry kibble have NEVER seen one in such poor flesh that they could NOT do what they were born to do, except one. That one eventually had not one but several recalls and I have never used it since. I will also say one other thing when it comes to dry feed and the cost. If one is having to feed a very high protein feed in the brand they love then they are having to pay more for that bang for their buck. FACTS are that in doing so the only difference is the amounts of the very same ingredients within each formulation and therefore the higher cost. There are very few federal regulations on pet foods and about the only thing that there is as far as nutrition goes is the AAFCO "complete and balanced" standards which describe the minimum percentages of nutrients, fat, minerals, and vitamins needed for dog Growth and reproduction or for an adult dog. The bare minimum a dog needs to be fed a "COMPLETE and BALANCED" diet for adult dogs is 18% protein and 5% fat. for growing dogs or reproducing females those would be 22% protein and 8% fat. I understand that there are differences in the work dogs do and just as people, the more calories we burn the more we must take in to maintain a healthy state of flesh. I'm NOT a nutritionist but do know that if one wants to loose weight they put in less calories than they burn BUT if they want to gain weight they burn more than they take in which is done by exerciser work vs. how much is ate or taken in. What I find funny is that the feeding tables on nearly every bag of dog food recommends about the same portion regardless of the protein/fat percentage of the feed. 1 1/2 to 2 cups for beagle sized dogs so I question the validity of the higher protein/fat ratio feeds other than the manufactures make more money on them. The ole saying of "A fool and their money soon part" is probably true but in the case of even human food, let alone pet foods it is " unknowing consumers and their money soon part" and Corporate American sure knows how to play the advertising game! YES, I am a consumer as well and I will buy the best bang I can get for my hard earned dollar with the knowledge to know that higher brand name products aren't necessarily any different than others. I've asked many times how many have heard folks say the like or dislike Wal-Mart meat with no answers. FACT is Wal-Mart makes absolutely NO meat or poultry products but rather purchases it from the same manufacturers that any other grocery store would and then has it labeled as manufactured for, distributed by, produced for etc. Wal-Mart. ALL these meat and poultry products are probably produced by Tyson, Swift or one of the other top thee or four meat and poultry producers in the U.S.

[DEA]

Do your homework buy the best u can afford. If u use your imagination you can feed raw for less money that u can bagged food[garbage]. I have been doing it for 2 years now. Its cheaper and 10 times better for the dog

Shoot Straight
DEA

[Alabama John]

Whatever you feed add a raw egg or two each week. Break it over the dry feed and you'll see a difference in dogs coat and health. WE have a few chickens "Red Stars" to be exact that lay those dark brown high protein eggs. They hardly miss a day laying regardless of the weather, not like most chickens. Hybred vigor!!! All you need is one for every 3-4 dogs.

[ironjawdawgs]

Whatever you feed add a raw egg or two each week. Break it over the dry feed and you'll see a difference in dogs coat and health. WE have a few chickens "Red Stars" to be exact that lay those dark brown high protein eggs. They hardly miss a day laying regardless of the weather, not like most chickens. Hybred vigor!!! All you need is one for every 3-4 dogs.

I have a flock of a about 500 chickens and I forgot to mention eggs. lol. I just crush up eggshell and all. The shell adds calcium. I'll also feed a lot of raw bones for their teeth. The bone morrow gives a lot of different vitamins as well. Not to mention the hearts, livers and kidneys I'll feed. A lot of your butcher shops will give you those.

[BB Beagles]

Raw is best.
Dry food wise VICTOR!

[PREACHERS KENNEL]

never even heard of victor before these post. ..purina pro plan is the best dry feed I ever fed. but I feed pride most the time for $$ sake . here and there I buy some purina pro plan and mix in with it ., they love it ..the original purina my dogs wont even eat it .

[Crow]

never even heard of victor before these post. ..purina pro plan is the best dry feed I ever fed. but I feed pride most the time for $$ sake . here and there I buy some purina pro plan and mix in with it ., they love it ..the original purina my dogs wont even eat it .

Preacher, I've been hunting with dogs about 20 years now. I've fed everything from ole roy and action ration to Purina One, ProPlan, and Iams. I've been feeding Victor for a little while now. I see better results out of it than any I've fed before. A buddy of mine was feeding his high dollar coon hounds Blue Buffalo for quite some time. He switched to Victor not long ago after hearing me talk about it and looking into it a little. Says his dogs look and act better on it than the Blue. Seems like a really good food for a dry kibble. Here's a link:

http://www.victordogfood.com/

[BB Beagles]

for Victor!

[littlewoody]

Road kill !

[PREACHERS KENNEL]

thx crow I looked at it ..no stores close to me sell l it ..about hr away . closest one. but I wil l check into it .

[BB Beagles]

Crow..... Another fellow Victor feeder. Teller how it is brother Crow. Maybe these guys will finally give Victor a try.

[steve w]

Victor is working well here, 26/18 purple bag for about 29$ for 40lbs.

[BB Beagles]

Beagles270 !!!! What part central my you live in. Like around Lexington area?

[Crow]

thx crow I looked at it ..no stores close to me sell l it ..about hr away . closest one. but I wil l check into it .

It was the same way here. I went to the local farmers co-op & asked them to look into getting it as some other stores were dealers. About a week later our local store was stocking it & is listed as a dealer so something like that may help you if you decide you wanna give it a shot.

[Osborne's Beagles]

I feed Purina Pro Plan Savor. I've had good results using it and I can buy it at a really good price ($25-$29).