I'm looking to change dog foods. Any reccomendations?

Question

I've been feeding my dogs Purina Dog Chow, but lately their coats seem to be more dull than they were this time last year and they are shedding a lot more. The Border Collie mix is black but she's greying and seems to be healthy other than the fact that she's getting older. The Lab mix is the one I'm worried about. Her coat use to be so vibrant and now it's dull and sheds a lot more than before and a lot more often.

What dog food would be a good change? Also, did Dog Chow change their formula within the past year?

Also, I have taken my Lab mix to the vet and he said that she's perfectly fine except for her coat. Both dogs HATE the food her reccomended.

Answer 1

From experience I can say California Natural is great for my dog's coat. We fed Science Diet to our previous dog. Shedding was horrible. I couldn't brush her enough and she was short haired.

When we adopted a dog this summer, he had a nice shiny, a vibrant auburn color to his coat. His foster parents had fed him California Natural but that's hard to find (you can order online and do a store search) so we didn't get any in time so we fed him Science Diet.

In than 2 weeks his coat dulled and he was shedding. When we finally got the California Natural, his coat went back to being shiny and a richer color.

Also, I read on their website that while you'll see the same ingredients in many foods compared to theirs, they have a guarantee that when they say chicken meal they mean only from chicken meat and skin whereas other foods would include bones and such.

Answer 2

Check out www.spoiled-rotten-pets.com Look under the Payton IA section for an area to rate your dog food. You can read the bag of dog chow and tell how good or bad it is from what is in it.
Then look at some of the foods they have available.
They carry some of the best foods available today for dogs. You will feed much less food and your pets coats will look 100% better than they do now.
Dog chow is full of cheap fillers and ground corn is the number one ingredient in it. There are many better foods on the market.

Answer 3

NO offense to any Purina lovers or sponsors, but PURINA stinks! It is one of the worst brands besides Iams. I have 5 dogs...Chihuahua,German Rottweiler, American Staffordshire, Australian Shepherd, & Great Dane....we use Authority Large Breed (green bag) by PetsMart. It's fat(14% max) and protein(24% max) content is lower which is better for any dog...plus it does not have a lot of fillers, by-products, or corn meal. Royal Canin is good, Nutro Max Adult Large Breed, and Eagle Pack. Also, I will give you the link to make up Satin Balls, the ingrediaents are all of things we would eat, and it is very healthy, plus it will bring back the shiny coat. I do spend more money on their dry foods, but I know it is better than settling for the others...and some of the others cost more, BUT have too much fat & protein!

Your dog does not have ot be a larger breed to buy that specific food, it is healthy for them no matter what.

Good luck!!!

Answer 4

The first thing you want to do is look at ingredients. Make sure the first ingredient is meat or a meat product. If it is ground yellow corn, that is a filler. They eat more, they poop more, the poops are soft not solid. This will also contribute to a dull coat. I really like the Nutro products. They have a great formula and I have seen wonders in my show dogs with it. Many show handlers will change the dog's diet to Nutro as soon as they pick the dogs up from their owners.

Answer 5

You will get a TON of different responses to this question, so you will likely have more choices than before you asked. But here is a good guide. Choose a premium quality, name brand food. Look for whole ingredients. Look at the ingredient panel and see if the stuff looks like something you would eat. A good general rule of thumb (though of course there are always exceptions) is "you get what you pay for." In general, the cheaper the food, the poorer the quality.

My personal opinion on dog foods, Eagle Pack, Wellness, Nutro, Royal Canin... Many people have good experiences with other kinds of foods, like Purina Pro Plan. Dog Chow is Purina's grocery store brand. It is cheaper and of poorer quality than their premium brands. They like to appeal to a wide range of people so they make foods that fit every budget, but that doesn't mean all of them are good just becaue they are a fairly good dog food company.

Petsmart also carries a brand called Blue Buffalo that looks really good. I've no experience with it, but it looks promising.

Answer 6

Dog chow is very low quality food, this or any grocery store bought brand is not good for your dog. Read the lable Most of these brands will have ground corn as their first ingredient, that is not good for then. Always look for a dog food that has real meat as the first ingredient. It should say lamb, not lamb meal for instance. Also please do not feed Beneful it is one of the worse foods you can feed your dog. Just read the ingredients they are horrible. The foods I swear by are Natural Balance, Candae, and Innova. They are super premium foods. If you do not want to pay that much try Nutro Natural Choice, it is a huge step up from Dog Chow. Not to mention the super premium foods have no by products, and no corn. Basically read the ingrediants..say away from any type of tallow, corn, by products or too much sugar. Aslo, although they are a bit more expensive you typically do not feed as much as say Dog Chow, it fills them up more and it is so much better for them! Also Science Diet is not that great, it is Way over priced for the quality of it, even Nutro is a major step up from science Diet.

Answer 7

I have a Lhasa Apso/ American Eskie mix and I have tried several different dog food for her, dry and can food. I found out that Merrick can food hav a lot of flavors and ingredients for coat include vegetable oil and omega and such. There is also Canidae which is dry food with a special formula that fit for puppies, adults workings or seniors. It also has Chicken lamb, rice, sunflower oil, herbs and vitamins which you don't ave to change the food at all for your dog whole life and if have mild taste which rarely upset their stomach. My dog used it for few weeks and her coat look more silky and vibrant. However she likes it better when I mix it with can food but that's your choice. Good luck

Answer 8

My parents had the same problem with their dogs on that purina food, so they switched over to "Benefil", or something close to that. The "Benefil" food is all natural and it will improve your dogs coat imensely. It's around the same price that you'd pay for the dog chow but like I said it is SOOO much better for them. It even has little different flavoured pieces mixed in so its always like a little treat for them (one of my moms pugs will sit for hours sorting through the bowls picking out all the red ones, he really likes those ones)

Also ensure that when you change food, you must wein them off one to the other it cannot be a sudden change because that will upset their stomachs.

Hope this helps!

Answer 9

I feed my dog Nutro.... I have heard it is very good for dogs and it's not too expensive either.
Please don't buy Iams because they are using animals for testing.....
I personally will never buy Iams again.....
and when you decide on switching the food, I've heard to mix it up with some of the old food for awhile and then you can't totally get rid of the old and have just the new dog food. It's better for their digestive system

Answer 10

I have my bulldog puppy on purina one for large breed puppies. But I never give her JUST kibble. I always add some yummy treat to it. some canola oil, scrambled eggs, homemade beef stock from boiling beef soup bones, fresh mashed potatoes, carrots, yogurt, brown rice. I'm going to a K-9 nutritional seminar in a few weeks, I can keep anyone interested posted on what I get out of it.