Question by Rick: What brand of dog food would you all suggest I buy?
It has been brought to my attention about the many different retailers and what they actually put in the ingredients. I currently have my dog on Before Grain ( Merrick ) dog food. Please give me a detailed answer and why you choose to do business with the brand you have. Ex: Wellness, Orijen, Canidae, Eagle Pack, etc. The best answer I will donate points to. Thanks!
Best answer:
Answer by Alien
BARF or raw
Add your own answer in the comments!
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13 Responses
I use Purina Pro Plan salmon and Rice. My decision is based on two reasons – 1st My dog has sensitive skin and this one is non-irritating 2nd I live in France and the choice is limited and this was the best one I found. (It is not what I used in the US.)
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 10:51 am
I do Taste of the Wild with my dog when he’s not eating raw. I feel it has the best ingredients of any pet food I have come accross. He loves it, which is excellent, because he doesn’t love very many brands of food, but he will eat them. It’s not that expensive, either, though price doesn’t really matter. Even though he mainly eats raw, I will always use this brand when I’m not raw feeding.
I haven’t heard anything bad about this brand, either, only good things. It has an excellent rating on DogFoodAnalysis.com, too.
Tiger has corn allergies, and since this brand does not have corn in it, or any bad things, for that matter, I feel safe and happy giving it too him.
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 11:16 am
We started our boxer out on Science Diet. As she got bigger, we had to switch brands. It started costing to much to feed her. Science Diet can be pretty expensive. We shopped around for awhile. Finally landed on Beneful. My boxer likes it better than Science Diet and it still has all the vitamins she will need as she gets older. Plus it really isn’t that exspensive.
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
I feed Nature’s Logic
http://www.natureslogic.com/
I found it a bit over a year ago after all the grain free foods caused gas in Dante (Think it’s the potato, didn’t try Nature’s Variety that uses tapioca).
One of the things I really like about NL is the fact that all the vitamins/minerals come from the ingredients naturally – there are no synthetic vitamins/minerals in there like there is for other foods.
Their customer service has been outstanding when I’ve contacted them with questions.
They have several protein varieties so Dante gets different variety each bag.
ETA – Just an FYI to folks that think their dog food is free of anything from China. Most all our vitamins (human and animal) have ingredients sourced from China!!!!
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 12:37 pm
I use Canidae, not only because it’s reasonably priced but according to my research, it’s one of the brands that meets all my requirements. The reason is that Canidae is one of only a few companies that use only US ingredients and don’t import anything from overseas. They are also one of a handful of companies that guarantee that none of their meat meals contain any ethoxyquin, which is a preservative that is known to cause cancer and organ failure. Most good food companies don’t add ethoxyquin, but they don’t guarantee that they don’t use meat with it to begin with. Canidae tests all their meats before and after production to make sure no ethoxyquin gets into the food.
The other brands I would use, but just don’t at this time due to extra cost are Orijen, Innova, Fromm, Timberwolf, Nature’s Variety and Merrick.
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
i am feeding Orijen. i have never tried other dog food. However, from what i have seen on all my friends’ dogs, i can really tell the difference between feeding high quality food and commercial brands. stools are firmer and easier to pick up, coats are shinier and silkier. I know that Wellness is excellent too, but at where i live (Canada), since Orijen is from Canada while Wellness is from the States, it’s about $ 10 cheaper per the biggest bag.
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
I would suggest you buy the dog food that agrees with your dog the most :)
I feed my dog James Wellbeloved because…
- it’s hypoallergenic and doesn’t contain additives
- it doesn’t contain wheat or dairy
- they don’t use any invasive methods of testing and it isn’t tested on animals
- Burns dog food doesn’t agree with my dog (or I would feed him that as I feel it’s a far superior food, so a shame I can’t)
Oh, and just in case the brands I mention sound like gobbledegook to you, I’m in the UK ;)
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
I have a Doberman and he eats Nutro.
Nutro and Royal Canin are under the same parent company but Nutro is a cheaper brand – but it is still a high quality food.
Raw diet is great too.
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Natura (EVO)-
Hollistic
High quality ingredients
No filler or questionable ingredients
All food made in their own American facility
No ingredients from China (many companies use Chinese minerals and vitamins)
Champion (Orijen)-
Hollistic
Use only fresh ingredients that are locally grown
Manufactures all own food in their Canadian plant
No indgreients from China
No fillers or questionable ingredients
Both companies manufacture very high quality food while also having positive corporate politics.
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Right now my dogs are on Nature’s Recipe. This is because it’s about the only decent food I’ve found that my lab/pit mix does well on. The only other food he does this well on is Ol’ Roy, and I can’t stand that stuff. He has allergies to certain foods, fleas, topical flea treatments, certain shampoos, etc… and also has skin issues due to his breeding (his fur holds in more moisture then his skin can handle). We’ve tried other premium foods with him, but he did awful on them. I would love to try Taste of the Wild once I am better able to afford it. My goal is to get my dogs on an all raw diet, but I have to convince my husband to let me first.
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
I have been very happy using Canidae ALS dry kibble. but all the brands you have listed are top quality foods.
Here’s why I chose the Canidae, if it’s any help to you:
-All ingredients sourced in the USA. That means they have tighter controls on quality and testing.
-Meat based food.
-All meats are guaranteed to be hormone and antibiotic free.
-Has a relatively high percentage of linoleic acid, which is great for coat and skin
-Very reasonably priced for a food that is meat based and has no corn, soy, wheat, byproducts, artificial coloring, artificial flavorings or artificial preservatives.
It is certainly possible to feed a dog too much protein. My dog is a pet–she is not worked, shown or bred. Therefore I felt the protein content of the Canidae was appropriate for her age, activity level and system. Unless your dog is being heavily worked (field, herding, etc.) a food with more than 25-28% is excessive and possibly detrimental to its health and temperament. Excessive protein costs a fortune, can worsen aggression issues and stresses the kidneys.
Canidae has been very responsive whenever I have had a question to ask them. I receive an email and sometimes a phone call within 24 hours of contacting them.
I also strongly prefer a company who only makes pet foods. Companies who also make human foods, IMO, use the lowest quality parts of animals and grains in their pet foods. They could make more money using the better parts in human food so of course that’s what they do.
I prefer to work with independent pet food manufacturers.
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 4:34 pm
We chose Blue Buffalo. It’s all natural. No dyes, corn, anything they can’t digest. Our dog loves it. It’s pricey but it’s so worth it. We also do a lot of raw food. If you switch to Blue you will notice a huge difference in the dogs coat, eyes, and digestion. After only a couple days of being introduced to Blue our golden retrievers coat was so beautifully shiny, his eyes were bright and clear, and it was so easy for him to digest because there are no fillers. It also seems to keep his teeth cleaner.
I also know that Taste of the Wild is good too. It is also all natural. I’m pretty sure it is the same as Blue. My mother in law feeds it to her dogs and shes had the same results in her rottweilers.
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
We feed our dog (53 lbs APBT/Shepard mix) half-half EVO and Wellness CORE. The reason is that both are grain-free, and have the highest dog food ratings. Very pure ingredients and very healthy. At first we fed only EVO, but since we wanted for our dog to gain a little (shelter-dog..) and the 2 cups we fed him daily had too much protein in it (44% which led to bowel issues), we have now switched to this combination. His coat is shiny, he is full of energy and very healthy. Plus, he really loves the food, and I think to mix food brings a little bit of variety to change up the diet.
Now, I don’t want to bash Merrick, but.. I used to feed my cat the canned Merrrick cat food and he loved it. But twice I found whole chunks of plastic packaging of who-knows-what, and pretty big bones in the can. So I am not entirely sure what is going on in their production facility. I’d imagine it is different with dog food, especially dry food, just wanted to put my experience out there.
Good luck
Posted on April 19th, 2011 at 5:13 pm
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