Best dog food??
Okay, i've spent better part of last night and about 3 hours this morning looking at ingredient lists for different brands of dog food online, going back n forth between that and a list of ingredients i found on the internet that you DON'T want in your dogs food... it's just so exhausting, and i'm getting frustrated because i don't know what would be best for my new puppy when she comes home in 9 days...
I've been on petsmart.com and petco.com looking at the foods they have, i found AvoDerm Puppy Food Formula which seems good as far as ingredients (no unspecific animal ingredients like "animal fat" which could come from roadkill for all i know) and the reviews are all good. right now it's 35 pounds for $25
i'm so confused! i know a lot of you have dogs, what brands do you feed them??
Hi. I'm new to the site and am not sure exactly what you're looking to omit from your soon-to-be new puppy's diet. (Congratulations!) I have two yellow labs, practically since birth. I can't say I've done extensive research on all the information that comes out as being good or bad for one's pet, since the lists seem to change faster than I can keep up on. Yet, I have searched many websites to help me narrow down the choices. One site in particular is:
http://search.onlynaturalpet.com/search.aspx?st=natural-holistic-premium-healthy-pet-food-dog-cat-feline-canine&avs|Department=Food
I hope you find it helpful. Thank you, Kim
Okay, i've spent better part of last night and about 3 hours this morning looking at ingredient lists for different brands of dog food online, going back n forth between that and a list of ingredients i found on the internet that you DON'T want in your dogs food... it's just so exhausting, and i'm getting frustrated because i don't know what would be best for my new puppy when she comes home in 9 days...
I've been on petsmart.com and petco.com looking at the foods they have, i found AvoDerm Puppy Food Formula which seems good as far as ingredients (no unspecific animal ingredients like "animal fat" which could come from roadkill for all i know) and the reviews are all good. right now it's 35 pounds for $25
i'm so confused! i know a lot of you have dogs, what brands do you feed them??
Well, I don't have a dog, I have a cat, but I'm pretty sure Innova (kibble) and Wellness (wet) make dog food too! It's pricey, but well worth it.
One thing I highly recommend is pet insurance. Seriously, pick-up puppy, take directly to vet for physical, promptly enroll for pet insurance. Once you enroll its 30-45days before it kicks in. It seems pricey, about $30/month, but vet bills add up quickly... and little puppy's get into everything and old dogs get sick often. I've shelled out close to $1000 in the last two months on my old man. He is insured but only for "accidents", not illness....( oh how I wish I'd upgraded to full coverage.) Think of it as forced savings.
Does puppy have a name yet?
K^2
I feed mine Origen http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/about/
It was recently voted pet food of the year 2009/10
Well, I don't have a dog, I have a cat, but I'm pretty sure Innova (kibble) and Wellness (wet) make dog food too! It's pricey, but well worth it.
One thing I highly recommend is pet insurance. Seriously, pick-up puppy, take directly to vet for physical, promptly enroll for pet insurance. Once you enroll its 30-45days before it kicks in. It seems pricey, about $30/month, but vet bills add up quickly... and little puppy's get into everything and old dogs get sick often. I've shelled out close to $1000 in the last two months on my old man. He is insured but only for "accidents", not illness....( oh how I wish I'd upgraded to full coverage.) Think of it as forced savings.
Does puppy have a name yet?
K^2
we found Innova at Country Max but it was pretty expensive 15lb for $23, the other one i looked at was EvoDerm that was $26 for 17.5lb but those were the two that seemed to be the best nutrition-wise, we also looked at Nature's Recipe but could only find Adult food. we don't have tons of money to be spending on pricey food so we're unfortunately probably going to go with Iams Puppy for now, even though i would LOVE to feed her Innova.
how often do puppies have to go to the vet? She's going to the vet the morning i pick her up to get her shots and dewormed and vet check but i've never had a dog so i don't know how often they have to go... i don't even know how much food to give her, but i've already had a few people tell me not to feed her after 6pm
oh sorry, we're either gonna name her Molly or Miley
we don't have tons of money to be spending on pricey food so we're unfortunately probably going to go with Iams Puppy for now, even though i would LOVE to feed her Innova.
Oh god....PLEASE don't feed your animal Iams, or any food that has 'by-products' in it! If you're considering Iam's...please look at Petsmart's 'in house' brand, Authority, or maybe Max Dog, or Blue Buffalo....but please, no by-product containing foods....
how often do puppies have to go to the vet? She's going to the vet the morning i pick her up to get her shots and dewormed and vet check but i've never had a dog so i don't know how often they have to go... i don't even know how much food to give her, but i've already had a few people tell me not to feed her after 6pm
All these questions are best answered by 1) the vet and 2) the breeder
The whole '6pm' thing is if she's an 'inside dog' she will be less likely to have night time 'accidents'...generally, if the dog is fed by 6 you shouldn't have any problems by the time your bedtime rolls around. Food: 2-3 hours before bed/travel....water: 30 min before travel
Do not feed Iams! Or Science Diet.
this is bothering me so bad, i want to feed her Innova but it's sooo expensive at like $1.53/lb.
i refuse to feed her crap like Iams, and i read on this page since she's gonna be just 8 weeks when i get her that i should only feed her a max of 2.5 cups per day of food and i don't know how many cups i can get out of a 15 pound bag
get nutro. It's not the best but it's probably one of the best dog foods out there that is both around the same price as iams but better quality. I am at the point now where I am trying to feed my pup a vegan diet but it just isn't working and I keep going back to nutro because she does really well on it. All the dogs I have had have done well on it. You can find it at petsmart and petco so it is also easier to come by.
Also, I was told by my vet to free feed my dog when she was still growing. He made the point of asking me "Have you ever seen a fat puppy?" Point taken, but also speak to your vet when you see him/her about that. Your pup will probably eat a bunch at first but then slow down once it realizes food is readily available.
as far as frequency of vet visits. Puppies need to go to the vet a few times within the first year for rounds of shots and can get expensive. Healthy adult dogs typically go once a year for an exam.
The more 'premium' types of food tend to require less volume (ie cups)/serving, since they have fewer fillers. The bags will generally have feeding guides on the back/sides of them as to how much should be fed/day and some will actually tell you how many cups of food are in the bag. In other words, a 'cheaper'/'bigger' bag of food could wind up having fewer servings than the more expensive one. Something to keep in mind when price checking. ;)b
get nutro. It's not the best but it's probably one of the best dog foods out there that is both around the same price as iams but better quality. I am at the point now where I am trying to feed my pup a vegan diet but it just isn't working and I keep going back to nutro because she does really well on it. All the dogs I have had have done well on it. You can find it at petsmart and petco so it is also easier to come by.
Also, I was told by my vet to free feed my dog when she was still growing. He made the point of asking me "Have you ever seen a fat puppy?" Point taken, but also speak to your vet when you see him/her about that. Your pup will probably eat a bunch at first but then slow down once it realizes food is readily available.
as far as frequency of vet visits. Puppies need to go to the vet a few times within the first year for rounds of shots and can get expensive. Healthy adult dogs typically go once a year for an exam.
eta....I have to say that I was a demo-rep for Nutro a few years back, and what atco has to say is true...also a little bit of an 'insider' tip: though it is only at petsmart, Authority is practically the same as nutro--one of the bigwigs from nutro left and joined petsmart to develop authority...so if you have petsmarts around it really is something to keep in mind
get nutro. It's not the best but it's probably one of the best dog foods out there that is both around the same price as iams but better quality. I am at the point now where I am trying to feed my pup a vegan diet but it just isn't working and I keep going back to nutro because she does really well on it. All the dogs I have had have done well on it. You can find it at petsmart and petco so it is also easier to come by.
Also, I was told by my vet to free feed my dog when she was still growing. He made the point of asking me "Have you ever seen a fat puppy?" Point taken, but also speak to your vet when you see him/her about that. Your pup will probably eat a bunch at first but then slow down once it realizes food is readily available.
as far as frequency of vet visits. Puppies need to go to the vet a few times within the first year for rounds of shots and can get expensive. Healthy adult dogs typically go once a year for an exam.
eta....I have to say that I was a demo-rep for Nutro a few years back, and what atco has to say is true...also a little bit of an 'insider' tip: though it is only at petsmart, Authority is practically the same as nutro--one of the bigwigs from nutro left and joined petsmart to develop authority...so if you have petsmarts around it really is something to keep in mind
thanks you guys, i'm gonna go to petsmart on tuesday and look into nutro and authority. this'll be the 4th trip i'll have taken to look at food lol. i spent literally all day looking at sites about dog food and how to read labels, etc. it's exhausting, so all your help is VERY appreciated!
also, hanashi, i get what you're sayin about the cheaper foods, a lot of the Iams reviews i read were along the lines of "the food has so little nutritional value that my dog had to eat so much more of it to get the same satisfaction/nutrition than the better brands" and i read a lot where people said their puppies were losing weight because they needed more of the food to even maintain the few pounds they had.
I started Cali on a raw diet on May 20th. Her fur is getting better and better daily and she is growing hair on her bald spots where I never thought I would see hair again. Has been bald in these spots for over a year.
I did a lot of research on raw diets. I home cooked for about 16 years. But thought I would try pet food. She did well on home cooked but was of course going through the worst part of her mange. Orijen (have heard many dogs do wonderfully on it) did not help at all and neither did the last food. I tried for 10 months. Put her on raw and in the three or so weeks she has been on it, the improvement is amazing. I don't buy prepared raw. I buy actual raw meat. She loves it. I don't so much love buying it. However watching her eat it and work at eating her food is amazing. Her gums look great. Her teeth look better than ever. Her skin is improving and she is growing new hair.
I found a website of a lady in Australia who raises champion Portuguese Water dogs. Once weaned, all the pups go on raw.
I did the test for fun. Put some of Cali's favourite veggies steamed in a bowl and favourite veggie things (although my pets have never been veggie) and put her raw meat in a bowl. The veggies went untouched.
For the last 8 months she was on this brand: http://www.eaglepack.com/
I know many dogs and cats that have done very well on it and it is available in the states. Cali did not do well on it and kept losing fur.
Years ago, my little black Affenpinscher was on Iams. His coat started to turn red. Not great for a jet black dog.
Good luck with the new pup!
My cats eat Innova Evo and yea it's expensive but their health is worth it. Taking good care of animals is expensive, and if it's not something you can afford right now then maybe it's not the right time to get a pet.
I have yet to see a large chain pet store that sold the really good pet foods. They tend to stick with the Iams/Science Diet/Purina range of things.
my dogs eat Nature's Recipe Vegetarian Formula (no by-products).....we get it at PetsMart and its $25 for a big bag.....it makes their breath smell like garlic and I love it.
my dogs eat Nature's Recipe Vegetarian Formula (no by-products).....we get it at PetsMart and its $25 for a big bag.....it makes their breath smell like garlic and I love it.
thanks i'll look into that one too. i know we saw some Nature's Recipe at petsmart and saw it was good
well.. unfortunately Authority Harvest Baked is being discontinued :( saw today it was "priced to clear" and asked one of the employees. they recommended Nutro Ultra or regular Authority but the nutrition labels don't look very promising (compared to the Harvest Baked)
so we walked up to Country Max again and looked at what they have. Does anyone know anything about Blue Seal dog food and whether it's good? cuz they have a 40 lb bag for 24.99 so that doesnt seem too good to me
but i saw they have Chicken Soup for the Dog's Soul dog food and it's just less than $1 a pound, which is fine for me. anyone have any experience with either of these?
Chicken soup for the dog lovers soul is a very good food. It ranks in the Whole Dog Journal top foods of the year. I fed that to my dog when she was a puppy and would still feed it to her if it was still easy for me to get.
I feed my dog V-dog and she loves it: http://www.v-dogfood.com/ The site seems to be down right now but it's packed with all sorts of vitamins and good veggies and proteins and my dog goes crazy for it. I was reluctant to try a vegan dog food but now I'll never go back. Unfortunately, she is more of a freegan than a vegan herself as she is constantly trying to eat gross popeye's fried chicken bones off the street.
Has anyone else tried it? Or any other vegan dog foods?
I feed my dog V-dog and she loves it: http://www.v-dogfood.com/ The site seems to be down right now but it's packed with all sorts of vitamins and good veggies and proteins and my dog goes crazy for it. I was reluctant to try a vegan dog food but now I'll never go back. Unfortunately, she is more of a freegan than a vegan herself as she is constantly trying to eat gross popeye's fried chicken bones off the street.
Has anyone else tried it? Or any other vegan dog foods?
I have vegetarian dogs and they are healthy and their coats are super smooth. I've always rotated their food. I use V-dog, Ami, PetGuard, and Evolution and they gobble it up.
(To the OP, for non-vegetarian kibble try "Chicken Soup for the Dogs Soul", Solid Gold, Nutro, and Innova to name a few. A dog lover friend of mine who knows about such things says that Chicken Soup gets high props from dog lovers and the American Kennel Association)
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