Nutritious Dog Food question for real experts.?

Question

Hello all,

As a dog lover I like to make sure that my dogs get the best nutrition. I have seen the difference in their coats as well as the firmness of their stool.

Currently I am using Nutro Brand Natural Choice lamb and rice. I've noticed that their stools are not firm like chocolate truffles. Much easier to clean up when they come out like truffles.

When they were eating Biljac the stools were truffle like, but I did not appreciate the ingredients as much. Nutro seems to have better ingredients, but the performance is not as good.

What is your experience in the best, natural, healthy food, that will yield a healthy stool? And preferably one that dogs will love.

And if you can provide pricing and ingredients that would be wonderful!

Thanks

They have been on the Nutro for about 6 months. Stools are still not as good as they were on Biljac. But Biljac has fillers and biproducts which I want to avoid.

Answer 1

I knew someone that swore by biljac and i never understood it...the ingredients are lots of filler and by-products. The food they're on is a definite step in the right direction. Look for a food with no by-products, and no corn. Whole Dog Journal does a yearly article about dog foods. They recommend EXCELLENT foods...no bad ingredients. Here's this year's list...posted on another site. Artemis: www.artemispetfood.com
Azmira: www.azmira.com
Back to Basics: www.beowulfs.com
Bench & Field Holistic Natural Canine: www.benchandfield.com
Blue Buffalo: www.bluebuff.com
Burns: www.bpn4u.com
by Nature BrightLife: www.bynaturepetfoods.com
California Natural: www.naturapet.com
Canidae: www.canidae.com
Canine Caviar: www.caninecaviar.com
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul: www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com
Cloud Star Kibble: www.cloudstar.com
Drs. Foster & Smith: www.drsfostersmith.com
Eagle Pack Holistic Select: www.eaglepack.com
Evolve: www.evolvepet.com
Firstmate Dog Food: www.firstmate.com
Flint River Ranch: www.flintriver-pet-food.com
Foundations: www.petcurean.com
Fromm Four Star Nutritionals: www.frommfamilyfoods.com
Go! Natural: www.petcurean.com
Hund-N-Flocken: www.solidgoldhealth.com
Innova: www.naturapet.com
Innova Evo: www.naturapet.com
Karma Organic: www.karmaorganic.com
Lick Your Chops: www.healthypetfoodsinc.com
Lifespan: www.petguard.com
Limited Diets: www.royalcanin.us
Merrick Pet Foods: www.merrickpetcare.com
Mmillennia: www.solidgoldhealth.com
Natural Balance Ultra Premium: www.naturalbalanceinc.com
Natural Choice Ultra: www.nutroproducts.com
Newman's Own Organics: www.newmansownorganics.com
NutriSource: www.nutrisourcedogfood.com
Organix: www.castorpolluxpet.com
Performatrin Ultra: www.performatrinultra.com
PHD Viand: www.phdproducts.com
Pinnacle: www.breeders-choice.com
Prairie: www.naturesvariety.com
Premium Edge: www.premiumedgepetfood.com
Prime Life: www.ompetproducts.com
Royal Canin Natural Blend: www.royalcanin.us
Timberwolf Organics: timberwolforganics.com
VeRUS: www.veruspetfoods.com
Wellness: www.oldmotherhubbard.com
Wellness Simple Food Solutions: www.oldmotherhubbard.com
Wenawe: www.wenawe.com.uy
Wysong: www.wysong.net
Zinpro: www.lincolnbiotech.com

I recommend checking www.whole-dog-journal.com and getting the whole article...but you have to pay for it. There are many other great foods that they didn't test...these were tested and considered to be top of the line.

Answer 2

It does take a week or so for the dogs system to adjust to a different food. Nutro is a good choice in dog food, I do not know much about Biljac. I feed my dogs (we have 5), regular hard food, but as a treat make up Satin Balls which is served raw. It is great for the coat, BUT it can cause rapid weight gain if you are not careful. B.A.R.F. or RAW diets are the best and a lot of breeder recommend them, but it can be very expensive, I placed the link to the B.A.R.F. diet under sources for you to look into. I am not an Iams or Eukanuba fan, my dogs never really like it either. Iams and eukanube are good for some breeds, but NOT for my large/giant breed babies.

Nature's Recipe is really good too because it contains no soy, no corn, no by-products, and no preservatives. I have had quite a few great dane breeders recommend Nature's Recipe. I could not find pricing for Nature's recipe, but I have listed the link to their site, and you can at least locate who sells it in your area.

Check out those two sites, both of those are excellent choices for your baby.

Answer 3

Hello;

I recommend any of the human quality dog foods on the market - my personal favorite is Dick Van Pattens Chicken -

I prefer to mix dry and wet for the daily meals and leave the dry available in a bowl 24 hours per day.

Sharing my home with 7 large dogs, I have found that by leaving some dry food out all the time, my dogs don't inhale their dinners and they don't compete to see who can eat more, since they are so accustomed to having food available all the time.

The human quality dog foods do not contain any pesticides or antibiotics or growth hormone or waste products like chicken beaks and chicken feet and internal organs and diseased meats - when the dog food contains all human quality foods and with a variety of protein sources, dogs are living longer and healthier lives.

I do not use any lamb and rice every since I experienced several dogs that have developed allergies wit Lamb - The only protein my one GSD could handle was Chicken - and boy did she love her chicken.

Best of Luck to you

Answer 4

Check out this web site www.spoiled-rotten-pets.com
Look under the Payton IA section for an area where you can rate the dog food you feed and they carry some of the highest quality dogs foods available today. They can be ordered or smoe can be purchsed in your area.
All of these food would be better and higher quality than Biljac.

Answer 5

I personally don't recommend lamb meals or formulas unless the dog has a sensative stomach to chicken or fish. best thing to check out on the food, is that in teh first 5 ingredients on teh bag at LEAST 2 are protien oriented. i usually give them kibble plus wet food every other day to supplement and make sure they are receiving enough protein. best bet, if you can find them, Royal Canin, Wellness, or believe it or not, Eukanuba and Iams are actually pretty good foods. Regardless, I would supplement their food every 2-3 days anyway. More protein is always good. That is what makes the poop hard.

Answer 6

Nutro is a great food and so is Canidae. No byproducts. Don't be so concerned about softer stools - it's healthier and easier for the dog to pass. They're not meant to poop out truffle-like, dried out rabbit pellets...

Answer 7

if you want a good food be sure the first five ingredients are meats (no by products especially poultry - which can contain feathers)

I would say raw but ppl dont usually like that.

Go for holistic food with the same rules as above

Answer 8

The best food for cats and dogs is a raw meat diet.

Check out BARF on a search. That stands for Biologically Approopriate Raw Food. Many people make their pets food themselves. This is really the only way you know what your animal is getting -- that it is the highest quality and best for him.
You can easily share your cooked beef pot roast with your dog too (cats need to have their meat raw). It has meat, potatoes, carrots, onions (which I think are safe for dogs, whereas they are bad for cats) great gravy etc.

Answer 9

My dogs eat (and one will only eat) Royal Canin Sensible Choice Natural Blend. One of the dogs that we got had really stinky poo and farts but eventually it clear up on this food. Most dogs that come in my house (family members' dogs) like my dogs' food. Even when I had puppies and they got old enough to walk around the house, they preferred the Natural Blend over their own puppy food. I pay about $35 for a 30 pound bag.

http://www.sensiblechoice.com/SCHDNBA.HTM

Answer 10

I find the best pet food is people food. 1/3 meat, 1/3 steamed veg, 1/3 starch (pasta/potato/rice). Everything they need and they will love you for it. The vet says may dog is happy and healthy.