Why do people feed expensive dog foods?

Question

I was at a dog show two weeks ago & a person who has the same breed that I do asked what I feed my dogs. I replied - "Purina, and sometimes IAMs or Eukanuba."
She wrinkled her nose & made a face & said "That stuff is CRAP!" I know that she feeds Canidae. I looked at her dogs - who are skinny & rangy looking, with coats as dead as straw. And then at my dogs who look AMAZING - and said "Well, my dogs look AMAZING!" She said - begrudgingly - "Yes, they do!"
So please people - don't waste your money on this stuff. I'm sure it's ok food - but you don't need to spend that kind of money to keep your dogs healthy.
Anyone who says you must, is either a dog food supplier (as a lot of people I know are.) Or they are just misinformed & are succumbing to advertisements.
BEST to all!!

Answer 1

She was being a snob. Best to ignore her advise. I also feed my dog's purina and it works great for them.

Answer 2

I used to feed Eukanuba for years and liked it. Several years a go I was told about Canidae and how good it was supposed to be. I looked at it and did some research on it and then gave it a try. My dogs love it. They eat only about half of the ammounts they ate before and the results show on their skin, their eyes and coats and their energy levels. I require a high energy dog because of work and I have it with this dog food. Now, having said all that, I have been to the Check Republic and I visited the border patrol kennels there and of course I had to ask what they feed these dogs. They feed them wild game that is frozen and then stored in deep freezers. They boil it and mix it with some type of home made noodles and let it cook all day. The dogs eat it like crazy and you should see the results they get from that diet. Amazing, I wish I could do it here.

Answer 3

Each dog is different and will respond differently to the food they are fed (just like people). I would wrinkle my nose as well but I advocate raw feeding which will really bring out the shine in their coats. Purina makes one decent food for breeders which is called Pro Plan Selects. It's not great but it's better than their grocery store food. Personally I think the Royal Canin is a good food but not all dogs do well on it. They seem to lose weight and don't really get their nutritional value from it. Whether this is the fault of the food or a difference in digestive capability I do not know. Look through the latest issue of Showsite Magazine and you'll see lots of dogs fed on it that look very healthy (supposedly fed on it I should add).

Answer 4

Actually Purina is crap...pure garbage. People are basing their opinions of this on their ingredients and not because they are snobby. If you look at the first few ingredients on Purina, Pedigree, Iams and the like, you will see "Corn Meal" and some type of "Byproduct". These are fillers. All they do is make the animal crap more and not give them nearly the nutrition that they should be getting from foods like Candidae. If you look at ingredients on the higher quality foods, you will see that the first few ingredients, by comparison, are REAL foods such as Chicken, Rice, Duck, etc. This gives the dogs the nutrition they need and you can feed them less that you would of the crap brands because they are getting the nutrients they need from a smaller amount, so you actually end up spending about the same as you would the lesser quality stuff. Not to mention they will be healther because they are being fed REAL FOOD and not a bunch of byproducts, chemicals, artificial colors, and flavors.

Her dog may be thin and mangy because of it's breed. A lot of wire hair dogs, for example, tend to be thin and sort of scraggly looking. Has nothing to do with what they're eating.

Answer 5

Well my brother feeds that crap to his dogs and his dog has gas all the time, has a dull dry coat and poops big huge cow piles. He has to feed almost three times what I feed so his food ( purina) is cheaper for the purchase price but it becomes more expensive in the long run. So it cost me $38 for a bag of food (40lbs)and it cost him $20 but he will have to buy two more bags before I run out. How can that be better then what I use?
I will not feed purina to my dogs for one I do not like the ingredients used and because it really is not a good value for the money.
I realize you are trying ro say it is good food but most folks do not agree with you. I know we are all just misinformed and too dumb to figure out that it is just marketing hype because it couldn't be that people have figured out that purina in addition to being crap cost more per feeding to give your dogs then the quality foods(I mean the ones we have been brain washed into believing is better food). Give it up already people can spend their money on whatever food they chose. Just because it is new and different then what you are using, does not make it wrong.

You know they didn't have all the vaccines for dogs in the past that they do now so is that just hype and misinformation? Maybe research was done and they figured out what was needed. Mmmm

Answer 6

If anything, Iams and Purina spend the most money on advertising among the pet food industry. However, you hardly ever hear about the premium brands unless by word of mouth or through careful research.

I used to feed my chihuahua Iams but he always picked at his food and had problems with his digestive system. Only after I switched to a brand with better ingredients did he become healthier. It really boils down to what you want to feed your dogs; corn and meat by-products or nutritious, quality meat. And if you really think that meat by-products and artificial flavors are good for your dogs then I would say you are the one who is seriously misinformed!

Answer 7

What it comes down to is everyone does what they think is best for their pets.

Some animals have special dietary needs due to allergies, obesity, breed problems etc...

Many of the premium foods you're scoffing at are successful because they do not contain the most common allergens; soy, wheat and corn, many of them also do not rely on cheap fillers that cause obesity and a chemical preservative that is known to cause cancer.

Additionally, the premium foods that are more expensive per pound, end up not costing as much as you may think. If you read the feeding guidelines on the bag, you will find that in most cases your pet needs to eat a lot less.

Some people who feed premium foods are snobby about it. Some people feed it because they have had very bad experiences (health problems) with the more popular grocery store brands. Some people feed the premium brands because they are oppsed to the use of by-products and potentially harmfull chemicals.

Everyone has their reasons. While the woman at the show should not have been so nasty to you, it also does not do anyone any favors to say that what works for your dogs will work for all dogs. You have robust, healthy, beautiful animals, you are very fortunate.

Answer 8

I do not base my food decisions on price OR advertising, *YOU* shouldn't either. Read some labels, it is the ingredients that matter. Cheap generally means crap, but expensive doesn't always mean better.

I do think it is hilarious that you feed Iams or Euk, when you can do much better for the same price. They are not cheap foods. Iams, Euk, and SD should spend more on their food and less on advertising. Don't succumb to advertisements.

Dogs were not meant to live mostly on corn and grains. Some grain, yes, but not mostly grain.

Read some books, analyze labels, and educate yourself. But you won't, as you seem to have some personal vendetta against decent dog food. I don't feed the real high dollar feed either, but there is a happy medium between the high buck stuff and the total crap.


Sweet said - I looked at Royal Canine ingredients I did not like what I
> saw. Some of them actually had corn in them

Yes, well they DO have different formulas, most food companies DO. NO corn in mine, not mostly grains either.

Sweet - you said dried beat up pulp is a filler because it is ALSO
> found in Royal Canine in the Indoor dog 21 formula.

Not in the one I feed.

Sweet - > Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Salmon, Salmon Meal. Yeah I rather have
meaet> as my FIRST ingridient as to the 3rd or 4th ingredient.

Yes, that is the 'allergy' formula, NOT the one I used to feed.

Sweet - > Please do some research and read the ingredients

I have spent many hours reading books and articles, as well as analyzing
labels.

Sweet - > Thanks for the> unwanted message.

Thanks for being so nasty.

I will agree that the Nutro *ULTRA* is a pretty good food though, but I would NEVER feed *my* dogs the regular Nutro, it IS mostly grains.


Sensible Choice Natural:
Chicken meal, brown rice, chicken, oatmeal, brewers rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), natural chicken flavor, dried tomato pomace, flax, fish meal, brewers dried yeast, dried egg product, etc

Natural Balance:
Natural Chicken, Organic Brown Rice, Chicken Meal, Organic Oats, Organic Millet, Organic Barley, etc

AND you train at Petsmart! LMAO!!!

Answer 9

I feed an expensive food for several reasons. Years ago we had a chi that ate crap food from the grocery store. Her coat was really coarse and dry. We switched to a premium food and her coat improved dramatically. Now we have a super picky chi who will only eat the food we are giving now. All my dogs eat this food and they all look great and have great coats. The all prefer this food over any other (the picky guy will only eat it). Also I have chihuahuas, a 30 pound bag last my 5 adults about 6 weeks so why now spend the money on them. I want them to be healthy in their old age.

Answer 10

I have always fed my dogs the higher end food because they have allergies and they cannot take fillers in their diet. I have some of the best looking dogs also . My mother has a 19 yr old husky and her vet is amazed at her blood work and she also feeds the same thing i do . the vet says she has excellent blood work and she can still move like a puppy . I am convinced it is because my mom feeds the higher end foods . Yes you do need to spend a little more on food if you want healthy dogs and want them to live a long and full life . And no i am not a dog food supplier . I dont think we are the ones who are misinformed. I think we do what we have to ,to keep our dogs healthy.

Answer 11

I feed my dogs Nutro, which is about the same price as some of the others. I started using it when one of my dogs (a poodle/jack russell mix) had an ear infection that would not go away. I switched foods and finally finished the antibiotic treatment and he never got another ear infection again. Purina and some of the others have a lot of filler in them that dogs don't need. It just fills them up.