What is the most healthy dry dog food to feed to your doggie family member?

Question

Please if you know of a site where there is more about the brand you suggest let me know. Any links to articles or web pages on this would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for your help!

We are getting a puppy she is a shih zu, poodle mix if that helps. Also I have heard bad things about Science Diet. We were going to feed her that but check out dogfoodproject.com They say Science Diet isnt all that good.

Answer 1

The MOST healthy dry dog foods you can feed are Innova, Canidae, California Natural, and Wellness (if you're in the US). I have my dog on a mix of Wellness and Innova. They are expensive, however the dog requires much less food since the calorie content per cup is higher and there are no fillers (in these brands at least). A 26 lb bag of food lasts my dobie about 4 weeks. Here's a website for Wellness and Innova:
http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab
http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/dogs/wellness_overview.html

Answer 2

I prefer to feed dry. You are correct that there have been several recalls and FDA alerts about pet food in the last several years. Since you have a Dachshund, you are lucky that even the most expensive dog food is in reach for a little dog. You can choose to feed anything you wish. Here are some of the better foods: Innova, California Natural, Karma, Healthwise, Prairie, Merrick, Solid Gold, Organix, Wellness Super5mix, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul. Foods to avoid: ANY food sold at Wal-Mart (seriously, none are good). Nutro Max, Nutro Natural Choice, Pedigree, of course, Ol' Roy...all of these have had quality issues recently. I also wouldn't feed Science Diet, Purina, or Iams (crappy ingredients).

Answer 3

Avoid any brand that you can buy in a grocery store! Also, Iams and Eukanuba seem like high end brands, but they really are not that good for dogs.

Try and get a dog food that is human grade, uses only natural ingredients and no BHA. Make sure the first ingredients on the label are not grains and fillers or by products. Try and get a brand that has "turkey meal" or "chicken meal" as opposed to "chicken by products".

Innova, California Natural, Nutro and Canidea are all good brands, and definitely worth the extra money you pay. Your dog's stomach will thank you!!

Answer 4

I personally have had great success with the Natura family of products www.naturapet.com . They make a great food and I have never had any food related issues with my dogs. My big male has sensitive skin and their sweet potato and herring cleared up his flakiness. They also make a line called Evo which is supposed to be a raw food alternative. Another good brand is Solid Gold www.solidgoldhealth.com They make holistic, all natural, preservative free, non-allergic animal products. They have a lot more than just food. I really like them but I wasn't happy with what it did to my big guys coat and I found it personally to grainy for my little Frenchie.

Important things to look for are for your pet to have a shiny coat and bright eyes. Watch out for itching and paw licking or paw discoloration. That can mean food allergy. Solid small poop is good too, it means you dog is using more of his food. Ask your vet what he feeds his dogs or breeder that raise your type of dog what the recommend as well. Most food makers have websites so you can contrast and compare. I hope that helps and good luck!

Answer 5

My personal preference is Science Diet, but that's what my vet recommends and all my animals have been on that since they were babies. There are so many different brands out there, some are very expensive, like Dick Van Pattens natural dog food and can only be purchased online. And that can tend to be costly, shipping dog food isn't light (well for me it isn't, a 35lb bag of dog food and 20lb bag of cat food) The main thing is to look at the ingredients, stay away from the cornmeal and fillers as being top of the list. Good Luck and ask your vet for his/her suggestion.

Answer 6

First you shouldn't chang your dogs food all at one time.Ask the person that you're purchasing from what has the puppy been fed.Then if you choose to change its' food,do sogradually by decreasing a small amount of the brand it has been on and increasing the chosen brand ,do this at each feeding until you get the pup strictly on the chosen brand,because if you change all at once,your pet could get upset stomach,or diarrhea.I feed all my pets the IAMS dry formula and it keeps their coats shiny and helps keep them healthy.

Answer 7

Check out the foods made by Natura Pet at http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab

They have excellent ingredients. I feed their Evo food to my cats, and have heard good things about their dog foods from dog-owning friends.

Answer 8

In general, with pet foods-you get what you pay for. In other words, Science Diet, Proplan, Eukanuba-are truly higher quality foods than Ol Roy. Stick with a name brand that has been around for awhile and make sure it has an AAFCO approval label on it.

Answer 9

i think it depends on your dogs needs. i have 4 dogs. 2 get a mixture of BENEFUL and PEDIGREE LAMB &RICE. 1 gets just the LAMB & RICE because his mouth is too little for the BENEFUL and a wolf mix that gets NATURAL CHOICE because it has real bison and salmon. if your dog has a skin condition there are foods you can get that will help. if your dog has frequent UTI's, there are foods that can help. ask your vet for his recommendations. do stay away from store brands like wal-marts OLD ROY though. most of them are the garbage other companies won't use.

Answer 10

I have a large dog, so we feed our dog Iams Large Breed. Our vet likes this choice...

Depending on your dog's size and breed, they'll help you figure out the best dry dog food...
http://us.iams.com/iams/en_US/jsp/IAMS_Page.jsp?pageID=DP