Does any one feed the raw diet and is it better for the dog, what is the best dry dog food.?

Answer 1

The raw diet is debated. I think it is basically a personal decision based on the amount of time you will put into preparing food, the money you are willing to spend, etc. There are plenty of dry foods for dogs that are healthy and nutritious.

When looking for a dog food, make sure the first ingredient is a meat and not meat BYPRODUCT. That means it is made with organs, bones, and other undesirable parts. You want protien in that dog!

Also, stay away with anything that has corn or corn meal in it. It is NOT good for the dog and they will eat a lot more because they won't be getting the filling nutrience they need.

I feed my dog nutrience. Most good dog foods cost 2-3 times the price of food such as iams, pedigree, prohealth and eukanuba, but the dog will eat 2-3 times less as well since they are getting the proper nutrience. I listed a few websites below where they describe the ingredients in dog food and what to look for, how to switch foods, etc.

Answer 2

The best raw diet food you could find it Innova Evo. This is one of the best dry dog food. You could tell a lot about a food by looking at the first four ingirdients. There should be no By-products, no corn, you want foods that say chicken meal or lamb meal

INNOVA EVO ( No by-products, no corn, all natural)

Evolutionary Diet for the Modern Canine

Innova EVO has been specially designed to provide all the key nutritional benefits received from the feeding of raw food diets but with the benefits of 21st Century nutritional research

check out the website www.natura.com look for Innova evo

trust me your dog will love this food.

Answer 3

Troxie - This question is asked numerous times daily. A simple search of YA would yield you some great answers. How can someone who screams about not being a BYB, yet is, not know what a good brand of food is?

To directly answer your question:

Raw can be great for dogs. Many dogs with health problems have seen them disappear with a raw diet. However, loads of research must be done to do it correctly. You can't just make it up yourself. You actually have to take the time to *learn*, which I know is difficult for BYBs. Also, not all dogs do well on it. It is too rich for some dogs, which can lead to digestive problems.

The best dry dogs foods are ultra premuim foods that use only human grade ingredients, no fillers, and no common allergens. Solid Gold, Merrick, Wellness, Evo, Natural Balance, and even Blue Buffalo are a few. To be clear, Iams, Eukanuba, Science diet, purina, Alpo, etc ARE NOT high quality foods.

Please, have your pets spayed or neutered.

Answer 4

I feed the barf diet..... (biologically appropriate raw food) I have fed this diet for the past 10 years and have nothing but success. I have 20 dogs at this moment and they are extremely healthy with no health problems what so ever. It really is a good diet, i do suggest u do the research first but it is not as difficult as some people will say it is.... My dogs do not have allergies, they do not have any health problems that i swear is related to the food they eat. I get to feed my dog what i want, and i know what is in the food instead of ground up diseased and dying livestock or etc.....

If you want a dry food i recommend innova, but there are others out there that are good. canidae, solid gold, wellness, california natural, artemis, dick van pattens. there are others but the few i mentioned are great foods with all natural ingrediants and none of the junk that causes cancer and allergies in your pet...........

Answer 5

I know people who feed the raw food diet. I would not recommend it for some people because it takes a lot of work. Some people are just not capable of it. I hate it when people insult dry foods though. It is possible to have opinions and just because others don't agree wit it doesn't make them wrong. I use Riplees Ranch. I am and independent distributor. Check out http://www.ripleesranch.com. We don't sell our products in stores and it's not readily available for all people, so I educate myself in other foods. Canidae, Flint River Ranch and Timberwolf are good foods. People need to realize that expensive foods same them money in the long run. Raw diets are perfectly fine as long as people realize that dogs are OMNIVORES! Cats are Carnivores! A raw diet is a HUGE responsibility! I would not recommend it for everyone! I don't think either one is better, but Science Diet is the WORST! Science diet contains Ethoxiquin, a DEADLY cancer causing chemical banned from human food as a preservative. Do some research on chemicals in dog and cat foods at http://www.knowbetterdogfood.com/dogcare/health/petfood.php
Not all dry dog foods are created equal.

Answer 6

I use Hill's Science Diet Nature's Best with real Beef. Why? because it's what I've been given with every dog I've ever adopted from the Humane Society, and rather than force the dog onto something new and risk stomach upset, I prefer to keep him on something that I know he enjoys, is good for him, and will not disturb his digestive system.

Why do you insist on asking when just yesterday you were on here insisting that all dog owner who fed their dogs dry food were "retards" (your exact words, btw), and that a raw diet was best. If you think the raw diet is best then that's your choice you are making for your pet, but don't going around posting about how B.A.R.F. is the best when your idea of a raw diet is nothing like what B.A.R.F. is about. You can just throw some raw chicken and fruits together and claim you know everything. For all your ranting about it, all the "research" you've claimed you've done, you still don't know jack. I suggest you stop trying to advertise your own beliefs and head on over to http://www.barfworld.com/ .

Answer 7

i have to agree with the previous poster.

if you're going to do a dry dog food, do something that is natural and holistic. these foods will not contain all the bi-products and fillers that "grocery" brand foods contain, which contain very little nutrition.

premium, natural foods cost a little more money, but they're well worth it. when you go with a better food, your dog is not having to consume as much to gain the nutrition it needs which will save overall on how often you're buying food. they're body is going to have more to use from the better food, therefore resulting in less garbage to eliminate that it did NOT use.

other good foods to try are nutro ultra and blue buffalo.

whatever you decide to do as far as your feeding options, please consider incorporating the change in food GRADUALLY to limit the amout of disruption in their digestive system. do this by using approx 70% of the food your dog is currently eating and mixing it with 30% of the new food you're switching to. do this for a few days and slowly increae it to 50% of the old and 50% of the new for a few more days and then do 30% old and 70% new until you're completely transitioned to the new food. a good transition takes about 2 weeks.

Answer 8

I went to raw almost two years ago after doing much research and changing my dogs' diet from premium, to ultra premium food and then to pre-packaged raw. I did a lot of research and talked to lots of people, many who I know personally, about their raw food experience. Many people I know have been feeding raw for years and love it.

My dogs look the same but their teeth and breath are now great! No need to brush or take them in for a cleaning.

I started my journey by reading the whole dog journal - www.whole-dog-journal.com and learning more about dog foods

I switched to ultra premium foods and I kept switching brands regularly. People tell you to not switch dog foods but the truth is, the only testing we have on foods is the AAFCO standards which only tests dogs for 6 months and the only qualifications is that the dog doesn't die or lose a significant amount of weight. That doesn't tell you much about whether it's a good diet for the rest of the dog's life.

After going to ultra premium and doing more research and talking with people on their experiences with raw, I changed to pre-packaged raw which was too expensive.

Now I use a whole prey method which is easy and quick and gives my dogs great teeth and fresh breath and their feces are no longer big smelly piles.

There are LOTS of fallacies and myths about raw feeding and wading through the truth and fiction is long and laborious. Do research and find out for yourself if it's the right choice. This is a good starting place www.rawfed.com

For the best dry dog food, there are lots of good choices. I like Nature's Variety Prairie Brand but anything with good whole meat and other whole ingredients are great too. Try www.petfooddirect.com to comparison shop.

Answer 9

Innova dry dog food is the closest thing to a raw diet. It's got great ingrediants. I have had my dogs on it for a little over a year now, they eat less because it's better quality and not full of fillers, their coats are shinier and healthier, they are full of energy, they poop less because they eat less.

Answer 10

There are many good dry dog foods out there. You shouldn't be looking for a brand name, but ingredients. The best way to go is to find a dog food with little or no corn. Also the smallest amount of wheat and soy. Those three items cause most dogs skin and stomach problems. Mixing your own food is not a good idea. You might be giving fresh meat and such, but you tend to leave out important vitamins and minerals. My personal favorite dog food is Purina's Exclusive. It contain's all your dogs necessary vitamins and minerals also it has the omega fatty acids for their skin and coat. It's highly digestable so there's less waste. It's all natural, fresh chicken or lamb, never frozen. It has no by-produce mill (which is usually ground feathers and other random parts), no soy, no wheat, and no ground corn. I'm not saying that this is the only food for you, but brands aren't important, ingredients are. If you choose to use Exclusive, you can find it at most Purina dealers. Hope I helped.