Good dry dog food?
 

I might be adopting a dog- tomorrow! I went looking at pet supplies, and found a dizzying array of dog foods. We always fed Science Diet, and Eukanuba and Iams were also considered better quality foods. Now, there are so many to choose from! I wondered what ones are decent quality, without resorting to having a French chef flown in to feed the dog. I know making your own dog food is probably best, but that would be out of the question right now, so I'm looking for a commercial food that is good for the dog, and fits within a reasonable budget. Thoughts?

Mush, I have had dogs for years and we have always found Iams to be a good quality food for a reasonable price. The dogs coats are always fantastic and though it may sound a bit disgusting, they do have less of a pile while eating the Iams. The vet attributes it to the dogs processing more of the food into their system, than passing the fillers out of their system.
The vet sells other higher quality and priced brands, but has never said to switch the dogs as they are doing very well on the Iams, which thankfully can also be found just about anywhere, so you are not having to make special trips for some of the more specialized brands.
Hopefully your new dog buddy happens. I don't know what I would do with out my little girls.

I feed Diamond Lamb and Rice - no corn, wheat, or soy - and costs around $30.00 for a forty pound bag.

My dogs have all done great with it, including my 15-year-old Shiloh, who immediately breaks out in hot spots if he gets anything with corn in it.

My vet recommends Purina. I've had my Corgis for 2.5 years and started them out on the Diamond puppy food. They weren't doing very well on it. That is when my vet recommended the Purina. She says Purina has been in business a long time and knows what it is doing. My Corgis have done great on it. :goodjob:

I only feed Nutri-Source to my male Cardigan Corgi & female Cocker mix! It's a super premium food with no weird additives or by products. It's also corn & wheat free; one of my two is allergic to both corn & wheat.. I get it at my vets office but it's also available at the local Thiesens farm store.

Super Premium Dog Food & Cat Food | NutriSource

You can check out any dog food and how it stacks up to the rest at the dog food advisor.
Dog Food Reviews and Ratings | Dog Food Advisor

Weird. They don't even list Diamond Lamb and Rice and the variety the chose to use as a "representation" of the brand has corn and wheat in it (the Lamb and Rice doesn't) and only got a 2.5 out of a possible 5 rating.

Zilli, I found the Diamond Lamb & Rice. The review is of the small breed version but I would guess all varietes of the lamb & rice are all pretty close with the ingredients except for the amounts of fat & protein.. The Lamb & Rice got a 4 star rating, same as the NutriSource that I feed

Diamond Naturals Dog Food | Review and Rating

I have fed our dog most everything out there... but he vastly prefers kibble.

AHA! Thanks! I didn't think to look under the "naturals" section.

Well, I am glad to see that it does pretty well, with four stars. :goodjob:

I have heard that the Precise brand and Nutri-source (not Nutro!) brands are excellent. Not sure quite how costly/available they are though. Precise has never had a recall on their food. If it were available around here I'd buy it for our cat. The cat however really likes his Fromm's brand of food. I know they also sell dog food too which I'd probably feed a dog if we had one.

As far as other brands that are probably slightly cheaper and still recommended, theres the Blue Buffalo brand that seems to be fairly well available. Also I hear people like Taste of The Wild.

You could also find out what your newest family member has been eating already and if they look healthy, keep them on that brand of food.

Congratulations on adopting, and Thank you! for helping out an animal that needs a loving home!:bouncy: I hope it works out for you both!!!:cowboy:


P.s. If you end up adopting, and can manage it, a pic of the dog would be great! :)

We've been feeding our dogs Purina for years with good results. A vet told me one time to stay away from "bargain" brands, as they change oils in their recipe to save money, and the change can mess with the dog's digestion.

How do they compare price wise?

I do Wellness CORE. It is 98% protein, no by products, fillers, artificial colors or flavors, and completely grain free. My 2 Bulldogs lived to be 15 and 14 respectively. My vet said they were the oldest Bulldogs he had ever heard of. My Rottweilers lived to their mid teens and my 11 yr old thinks she's a puppy still. At 11 she can still out run every dog at the dog park. Don't use crap food pay the extra now and save yourself the vet bills and heartache later.

Old Roy from Walmart good price been using it for 20 years or more have 8 hunting dogs they do just fine eating it. I will continue using it. I have no complaints about it.

98% protein?

If you have a working dog that does really work they will need better food.
If you have a pet that the hardest work it will do is bark at the mail man you don't need quite as high quality food.

Here's another rating service Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble. One of my dogs is allergic to beet pulp - found as a filler in many dry dog foods - and another has a poorly functioning pancreas where I have to watch the fat and fiber percentages. Canidae's All Life Stages works out well for all three of my dogs. I pay $39.99 for a 44 pound bag, and they have a deal where after you buy 12 bags you get one free.

And this is precisely why I feed it, too. I've been paying $32 for 40# at Orscheln's.
It's not the top of the line, but it's still an excellent choice, at a manageable price.

I used to feed Ol'Roy, long ago and far away when we were always broke. Then we "moved up" to Purina. But after I had a dog die of intestinal cancer, I did a lot of research and got a LOT pickier with our dog food choice.
No wheat, no corn, no soy.
For those who choke at the thought of $30-40 for 40# btw, you really DO feed less of it...

We have always bought Purina for our pets.Was told years ago to stay away from the really cheap stuff,if there even is any real cheap stuff any more.

Farm Dog, sold in feed stores. Very cheap and it's total junk.

I used to work in a feed store and I always cringed when people bought that. I've always said that if I ever owned a feed store, I wouldn't even stock that crap.

Same thing with its counterpart - Farm Cat.

Tried to post a picture but didn't work, so I deleted my mistake.

I was curious about Purina, since it is such a well-known brand, so I pulled up the Dog Chow variety at that rating site and they only give it one star.

I know that any brand whose first listed ingredient is "corn" is maybe not the best choice.

my dog eats every bit of crap, debris and discusting things she can find on the farm, but I kid you not, she will only eat one dog food that is $50.00 a bag!! some sort of salmon and sweet potato thing...

LOL :happy2:

Diamond Lamb and Rice is a very good feed. Would not feed Purina!

For our two big dogs, it's the cheapest kind of kibble we can come up with, which is about 25.00 per 50 lb bag.

Now before someone flames me, I home can dog food for them in pints, which is added to the kibble. Probably could buy canned dog food cheaper, but I know what's in the home canned stuff and they love it! :)

Same here. We feed Eagle Pack per the vet's instructions. It's rated 4 stars on the review website. I'm sure that the horse manure, dead fish and rotten deer pieces they find and eat probably cancels out some of those fancy dog food stars!

Innove Evo have used it for years I do feed raw wings as well and some hoimemade. I won'[t touch Purina I can usually tell a dog that is on it by the sttae of its coat.skin.weight. If you feed high quality it pays you back I had a dog with a stage 4 heart murumur live for years on it and he had a massive stroke and recovered very well.

I hadn't even thought to mention this--

We've had TWO dogs with known congestive heart failure live for 3 and 4 years, respectively (a basset who lived to 16, and a border collie who lived to 15), after they started showing the first, mild symptoms.
In our basset's case, the doc would never have known if he hadn't been looking for a different problem and happened to see his massively enlarged heart on the x-ray.
Neither of them really started to hack and cough seriously until about six months or so before they died.

I sure won't say brand of dog food is what gives my dog's long lives, but at the same time, I also won't say that the sole source of their nutrition doesn't have a big impact, either...

We have fed Iams for years. We always seem to have big dogs and their "large breed" variety has nice size chunks to help maintain their teeth. The dogs have healthy coats, skin, etc., don't get gassy, overall they just do real well on it. It only takes 3 cups per day (plus 1/2 a can of "wet" food) to maintain our dogs, both in the 90 lb range, so the 40 bag lasts a long time.

Some dogs will thrive on about anything, a friend has a couple labs that eat kibbles and bits and they have the glow of health. Other dogs seem to need the premium food or they just don't thrive.

I feel the same to our 8 (7 hounds, 1 Boston Terrier) as many of you above do, Diamond NATURAL Lamb and Rice (no corn, no wheat, no soy). You can do some price shopping around and watch for sales, even up here in the middle of nowhere I can get it at Menards, TSC, the local feed mill, etc...

My husband's hunting buddies feed their hounds the cheapest junk you can buy, and it shows. Hate to see bony thin dogs in the winter cold...

Terri

The BEST I have found is from Costco. It's called Natures Domain and it has ZERO GRAIN, not even rice. It's made by the same maker that makes the Bison and Venison SUPER DUPER MAX PREMIUM for Pet Food Stores. It has meat, sweet potato, peas, carrots,and all that good stuff. My dogs like the Turkey Flavor and so do my outside cats who won't usually eat even cat food. Cost is about $29 for a 35 lb bag. No grain - no food allergies. My dogs eat less of this dog food than any other dog food they have ever tried and their condition is excellent. Good Food = Eat Less.

We believe that dog food should really be looked at. The Whole Dog Journal is great for looking at dog foods. They break it down where it is easy to understand and they don't accept advertising ( so they can't play favorites. We have worked Shutzhund, and rand sled dogs. Have had many rescue dogs , breed boxers years ago, and try to keep info on their food in dogs. An easy test to test ( in our opinion ) is to look at their waste. A good dogfood really cuts down on the size of the stool. Some foods are built on sales, cost alot , and not as good for our dogs as less expensive ones. Some are very inexpensive at the cash register but it all comes out the other in giant stools. Canidae is one of the ones we use, as well as some of the Diamond brand. Another concern is rawhide. We don't use. it can become twisted in the stomach, and much of it is imported ( who knows what chemicals are on it). We do believe in raw bones, even chicken, but never anything cooked.

Not saying that our ideas are right, but we think that paying for a food that doesn't digest is a waste of money and a food sold by name isnt always what it seems to be.

4Health also is corn wheat and soy free and is made by Diamond for Tractor Supply. It is not listed anywhere at the advisor either. Their coats are beautiful, they poop less and it stinks less. They require way less in their servings.

Corn and wheat are carbohydrates, and they turn into sugar, which feeds cancer.
Dogs can not digest corn, so that is not good for them.

WM as a new Old Roy that is said to be corn, soy, and wheat free, but I haven't checked a label yet.

Purina is okay, but the ingredients don't cut it for us.

That sounds even better Mr. G.!

The 4Health is more expensive than the Diamond label, for some reason. I think it runs around $30.00 a bag, too, but for five pounds less.

I do feed my cats the 4Health for cats. No grain and just under $20.00 for an 18 pound bag. The best quality for the money I've been able to find around here.

Yes, it's there Rick & it got 4 stars!! :nanner:
4Health Dog Food | Review and Rating

Zilli

We can't get Diamond anywhere close by, but thanks.

Smalltowngirl - what heading did you find it under? Merci

Really?! We can even get it out here in the hinterlands.
Any feed store, Tractor Supply, Orscheln's, Bomgaars, etc, etc. They all carry it, if not necessarily the entire line...

My local feed store, which is a TSC but under a different name here ("Del's") carries both Diamond label and 4Health. That's how I know about the price.

I have bought 4Health a few times when it's been on sale for cheaper than Diamond.