Questions about dog food to be answered by people who own dogs.?

Question

I feed my dog pedigree chump every day for lunch and dinner(obviously i give her more than just that, she gets porridge for breakfast, dog treats, food scraps such as chicken, turkey etc now and then).

Is food like Pedigree chump good for dogs? I have a sneaking suspicion it cant be very good and is full of chemicals and other crap. I sometimes give my dog organic dog food from healthfood shops but it's not very convient as it's not always available and Pedigree has vegetables and pasta in the tin and I like my dog to have a bit of variety.

What brand of dog food do you give your dog? And does anyone have any evidence dog food on the shelves is bad?

I have a West Highland Terrier. I give her small breakfast, lunch and dinner and little treats now and then during the day. She is a very good weight and healthy.

I also will not buy my dog Iams as its tested on dogs. Sick Sick Sick.

Answer 1

The best brands I know of are Wellness (which I feed my dogs), Timberwolf, Innova and Eagle Pack, all of which can be found at most pet stores (sorry, not at retail superstores). The food you are using right now has high amounts of corn and wheat (very bad for dogs and can shorten their life span and cause numerous long term health problems) and can also contain meat by-products (ground up chicken beaks, feet, bowels other gross meat toss-aways). While the pet store foods are more expensive, you dog will not eat as much because they do not have the fillers that commercial brands, including Purina, Iams, Science Diet, Pedigree, Eukanuba, etc.

I used Science Diet Natural for years because I though a natural food would be best. After years of skin problems, allergies, diabetes and other pet health problems, I switched to Wellness. Within two weeks my animals were all more energized. Skin problems cleared up as well as congestion in my one cat. The change has also alleviated some of the swelling my collie has from arthritis so she can move easier.

Also, thank you for not feeding your dog Iams (who also owns Eukanuba). They like people to think they are a good animal company but are out to simply make money off of poor quality, expensive food.

Answer 2

Here's the 2006 list from the Whole Dog Journal. These are highest quality foods. Most of these are not carried at large chain stores but you can usually find them at small pet stores, feed and grain stores, etc.

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

Answer 3

First of all, I will tell you my experiance with the "well known" brands of food. My dog had been fed pedigree by her previous owners. We wanted the best for her and went to the pet store to talk to the man in the pet food section. The first think he said was that if I feed my dog that "crap" I shouldn't expect her to be as healthy or to live as long.

Look at the first few ingredients. I guarentee they are some sort of corn or grain. In most Pedigree it is corn. To put it as the pet store guy did "ever looked at YOUR poop after eating corn? Think of how much a dog will take from that..."

Your dog needs nutrience and protien in the forms of meats and meat products. Anything that is a byproduct is generally just unhealthy. I feed my dog nutrience because the guy recommended it as a great food for a decent price. Good dog foods can cost anywhere from $50-$100 for a large bag, and nutrience comes in at $50 for the biggest bag, with a "buy 10, get one free" policy.

Here are a few websites about dog foods:

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/nutrition.htm

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=97

Also, remember that when switching food it should take up to two weeks and expect there to be diahrea, or other odd stool.

Try and mix the food, new to old, 1 to 8 for two days, then 1:4 for two days, then 3:8 for two days, etc. Also, don't be upset if the dog rejects the new food... just add a little bit more of the old stuff and make even more gradual changes.

Congradulations on keeping your dog happier, healthier... and maybe even reducing possible vet bills!

Answer 4

I have an ex-racing greyhound. He is fed on Vitalin (complete food, just add water). If we have any leftovers from our meal, if suitable they are sometimes mixed in with his meal.

Although my dog is a pet, the food is suitable (designed for) working dogs. I checked with a few people who know the breed, and was told that as a general rule of thumb I should aim for 18-22% protein in his diet.

I don't know the nutritional requirements for a westie though. Sorry.

Speak to people who are familiar with the breed, and when you next go shopping, take a look at the nutrition details on the packaging for any other vitamins and minerals.

Be aware that dog-food manufacturers are not selling to dogs, they are selling to HUMANS. So many will make it look appealing to the HUMAN by adding colourings (the dog doesn't care what the food looks like!). Gullible people then think that they are giving their dog "the best" because they are buying an expensive (overpriced) brand, and it must be good because it "looks nice".

Sometimes the expensive food is worth it, say if your dog has a sensitive stomach, but I'd take guidance from your vet if that's the case.

IMPORTANT - FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE PACKAGING. If it says the food is to be given with a mixer, do so, or your dog will miss out on vital nutrients. If it says to add water, then it's very important that you do so. Otherwise it will expand in her (probably already full) belly as it moistens. Hopefully I don't need to tell you why THAT is bad!!

I've no experience of Pedigree Chum, but we did once buy our dog Bakers Complete. Full of colourings/additives and it played havoc with his guts (Plus they're owned by Nestle, one of the most boycotted brands in the world, and with good reason). So we don't buy that any more.

A final point, if you plan to change your dog's diet, it's advisable to do so GRADUALLY (ie. over 1-2 weeks). Mix a small amount of the "new" food in with what she is used to. Slowly increase the amount of "new" food and decrease the other stuff until the new food has replaced the old.

Good luck.

Answer 5

I actually make my own food so I am not sure about Pedigree. I am going to assume that it probably isn't the best. (I am not a dog snob by the way) I had a pooch for 15 years and fed him anyhting that was on sale. Now that I have more time I am trying to be a little more creative. I am sure that you know that there is quite a lot of resources on the web. You could google "best canned dog food" or try some of the healthy dog magazines/websites. Whole Dog Journal has an article this month in their sample section http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/sample/food.html This may help.
Best of Luck
Bill

Answer 6

Pedigree is crap. It's like Mcdonalds for dog...just a lot of fillers and by-products and chemicals and not a lot of nutritional value.

I prefer the all-natural and organic brands. My dogs absolutely LOVE the Whole Food's brands of dog food if there is a Whole Foods by you. It's really reasonable too...the Performance type I get is 15lbs for 13 dollars. There are also some good choices in the pet store as well. Castor and Pollux has a good line and so does Natural Balance, though they are a little pricey, but worth it I think if you consider that your dogs is getting a much better quality and nutritional value from it. My thought is that the extra money I spend on the organic/all-natural food, I will save down the line on vet bills for ailments caused by poor nutrition.

Answer 7

Try looking at the Burns Pet Food web site. They use only natural ingredients with no additives. The food seems to be expensive but is very economical because you don't need to give your dog much at each meal.

You can get Burns in the better pet shops and they deliver as well. I used Iams years ago but felt that their standards slipped . I'm not happy with all the additives in most of the canned foods, Butchers Tripe is probably the safest.

Burns do a great dog treat - small pieces of cod baked in rice flour. My dogs love them.

Answer 8

First of all - does the porridge have milk in it cause thats really bad for dogs. Also watch she doesn't get fat from too many treats cause thats bad for them too. Food wise, my collies rather unique in that she is allergic to meat and animal products, but I found a vegetarian food called HappiDog that is quite cheap, but seems to be good quality. She also gets a can of tuna a day which she tolerates. We just started feeding tuna to our other dogs cause they go absolutly nuts for it and its really quite cheap - less than a can of dog meat for pure fish- no artificail anythings, although it does need to go with a complete food of some type. Our more nomal dogs are fed on James Well Beloved at the moment, which is hypoallergenic, but more nomal, chicken and rice, duck, egg etc. It doesn't have any nasty things in it and provides a good well balenced nutrient source.

Answer 9

I will not feed my dog Pedigree. I feel that it's not quality food. I'm becoming really picky about what I feed my puppy. I currently have her on Nutro dry food and pouch food. I notice that she does asorb thet food very well, because when she poops she doesn't have anything come out.

When looking for dog food one thing to make sure is that the first ingredients are meat products in the dog food and corn is @ the bottom of the list if need be, perferable with no corn. Corn is consider a filler in dog foods and it's not asorbed by dogs (just like humans).

I am online @ the Pedigree website and the ingredients for the dry dog food is horrible. The first ingredient is corn which is mainly a filler.
PEDIGREE SMALL BREED ™ Food for Adult Dogs:
Ground Whole Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with BHA/BHT), Meat and Bone Meal, Natural Poultry Flavor, Wheat Mill Run, Potassium Chloride

This is horrible. I could never feed my dog with these ingredients at the beginnig. This bag is just full of fillers.

Once again in a different dry food product PEDIGREE WITH CHICKEN, RICE & VEGETABLES™ Food For Dogs - Dry
INGREDIENTS
Ground Whole Corn, Meat and Bone Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-product Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with BHA/BHT), Natural Poultry Flavor.

Did you look @ their pouch foods:
PEDIGREE® LITTLE CHAMPIONS® COMPLETE NUTRITION in the FLAVOR-LOCK™ POUCH
Healthy Start for Puppies Morsels in Sauce with Lamb
SUFFICIENT WATER FOR PROCESSING, CHICKEN, MEAT BY-PRODUCTS, DRIED EGG PRODUCT, WHEAT GLUTEN, STARCH, WHEAT


This is Nutro, which is what I feed my dog:
NATURAL CHOICE® PUPPY

Lamb Meal, Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Rice Gluten, Ground Rice, Dried Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Natural Flavor

NATURAL CHOICE®
PUPPY FOOD
Yankee Pot Roast Entrée
Chunks in Gravy
The Pouch
Beef Broth, Beef Liver, Beef, Chicken, Wheat Gluten, Brown Rice Flour, Sunflower Oil, Peas, Carrots

Basically my perosnal opinion: This is crap. Sorry to say. You should switch your dog over to another more nutrious food.
Good LUck.

Answer 10

Key thing to look for when choosing a dog food is that one of the first 3 ingredients listed is an actual meat product like chicken, beef, lamb, etc. That is the main ingredient so it would be listed first, not last or in the middle.

What kind of dog do you have that you feed it that often?? My Labs are only fed twice per day per the vet's recommendation. Oh and I feed them ProPlan.