Whats the best diet to feed your dog??

Question

i have just started to feed my dog (a shih tzu) a BARF diet (which is raw food) and the change in her is fab!!! She used to itch all the time (no fleas) on commercial foods, she had been on the BARF diet for about a week and the change really is good, just wondered wht you all fed your dog!?

Answer 1

feed him the cats they mess in your garden.

Answer 2

I feed my dogs fresh meat or tuna with rice, spinach pasta or multi grain bread. I am not happy about the carbs I give them, but they don't have a lot as they also have a high quality dog biscuit down all day everyday and these account for around 50% of their diet. I have been told about feeding my dog raw food and toyed with the idea, but they are happy and healthy on the diet I give them and as their diet is varied I don't get them trying to steal food. Their diet is also very tasty and often better than what me and my boyfriend eat! I have now looked up the BARF diet and am seriously considering a change. Well done I hope your dogs live long and happy lives, apparently this diet helps them live longer. All those who said they could not be bothered, shame on you! Animals rely on us to do the best by them. How can you look at your pet when you feed them crap? I would never entertain the idea of tinned dog food and feeding them dry food only is boring and cruel quite frankly.

Answer 3

I don't have the time/skill or willpower to cut up fresh foods for myself nor my dogs though I love them dearly and want a good food for them. I use Innova Evo dry kibble. It is the same ingredients of a BARF diet yet in a kibble makeup that offers them teeth cleaning benefits and a natural food without all the prep time. It is also a all life stages food so they won't need to be switched later in life.

BARF is good if you have the time, but you're not getting the teeth cleaning/rubbing power from it like you would frmo kibble nor they would get in nature if they scavenged for food.

Another downfall to BARF diet....in case of emergency, natural diseaster how would you feed your dog?? I keep 5 pounds of Innova Evo kibble in a airtight container in my earthquake kit so the boys will have something to eat in case of emergency and than every 4 four months I rotate that stock into their daily food and relenish the emergency container. You can't do this with a BARF diet.

Answer 4

Ideally raw or homecooked diets would be best IF done correctly, however most people have no idea how to do it correctly nor do they wish to. A high quality kibble is the next best option. One with meat as at least the first 2 ingredients, no corn, wheat, soy, beet pulp, preservatives, dyes or by products.

Foods such as IAMS/Eukanuba, Pedigree, Science Diet, Purina Dog Chow, etc should be avoided. They aren't good quality foods and they contain one or more of the ingredients that need to be avoided...in other words they are loaded with cheap fillers.

Answer 5

The following is my advice for what to feed a dog. What you are doing is great too. Our pets need quality pet food. Read the ingredients list and learn what the stuff on there is and what it does (or does not do) to/for our pets. A quick pet food 101. If the pet food contains corn/corn products or by products it is a poor quality food. Do not pay attention to advertising, they all say there food is great. Corn is a filler that can trigger skin problems. (allergies, skin problems, itching and excessive shedding) By products is anything from an animal not fit for human consumption, including cancerous tissue. Quality foods have meat as the first ingredient. California Natural, Solid Gold, Innova and Merrick are a few of the best brands available. If you want to learn more check out: http://www.sagekeep.com/petfood.htm www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359& more=1 http://animalark.eapps.com/animal/PetFoods.nsf/$$PetFoodsByRating?OpenForm

Answer 6

I have also heard that the BARF diet is best for dogs. Alot of bagged foods can contain allergens and things that arent all that good for your dog. So, actually it is best to go with the BARF diet.

My Chihuahua is on Pedigree Adult. With my lifestyle, I wouldnt consider feeding BARF to my dog.

Answer 7

I feed my two dog Innova dry kibble. It's the next best thing to raw my Vet says.
We were going to fee them raw but my Vet said because there are young kids in the house it's best not because of the salmonella and e-coli.
But since getting my two dogs and feeding them the good Innova kibble their coats are softer/silkier.

My two dogs are a about 2 year old Shepherd, Husky mix, maybe even a bit of Elkhound. And my other is a about 3 year old Border Collie mix.

They both love the kibble as well.

Answer 8

i dont know anything about the barf diet. but we're considering getting a dog soon so ive been doing research on this. i found a dog food..."natural balance". i think i will use that. u can buy it at petco...they have all kinds of different forumlas. dry food, soft rolls, treats, and i even think their coming out with a form of raw food. they dont use any by-products which i like too.

Answer 9

feed them as natural diet as possible. Think wild dog...what would they eat. Meat... bones...natural forages etc. Dogs would hardly ever choose a cereal based diet and that it what most commercial feed is bulked up with. Barf is a really good choice and the results speak for themselves. :-)

Answer 10

I feed mine a huge rotation so they don't get bored but i like the following for kibble: Eukanuba, Hills science diet, royal canin (dogslike that one too cause it stinks and therefore is really super attractive to doggies), occasional small bag of nutrience (it's not the best). If your doggy has had problems with itch, heshe might have also benefited from one of those low allergy kibble formulas like lamb n rice or chicken n rice. Lots of doggies have allergies to red meat. Generally if they have itch problems though, feeding them good home prepared food will really benefit. Only problems with that are: 1. getting the correct nutritional balance and portion size (as important for doggies as it is for us) 2. it's a huge hassle!

Answer 11

Glad to hear she seems better to whatever was wrong with her!?! there is too many people feeding advertised rubbish that is full of cr*p and blows the poor dogs head off!! most things your vet recommend are rubbish aswell, i bet most of your vets recommend something they sell ;)
Hope it all goes well with the dog on the Barf diet though!
Heard its cheap and easy to do!