Pedigree .. not recommended?

Question

I have a10 month old Golden Retreiver (whos quite thin, although he gets dry food anytime).

I just started Pedigree Puppy dry food (and at night "mixture of can & dry food") he's loving it. The vet said Pedigree isn't that good.

But I'm trying to get him fatter and healthier ... he seems to like pedigree more than the previous food .. What to do?

Answer 1

My pit is 9 months now and I feed him Pedigree as well. We have tried all kinds of food. The expensive ones, he won't touch. I was a strong believer in the "expensive kind is always better". But if he won't even touch it, he isn't getting the nutrients anyway. He only gets 4 cups a day and that seems to keep him happy. I add a little bit of water to it and stir it up and it becomes like a gravy. When we switched to the more expensive foods, we noticed that he was losing weight, not gaining, so we went back to the Pedigree, and now we have no problems. The vet will always say that so you buy what they sell. It's called suggestive selling, so they can make more money. Granted, they are concerned about your dog's health. We have achieved exactly what you are trying to with the Pedigree. As long as he is eating it, I wouldn't worry. I feel that if it was that bad for your dog, they wouldn't be able to sell it. I used to work at a pet store and rep after rep came in and said nothing good about Science Diet. The next best thing I would say trying is the Nutro puppy formula, which IS good, better than Pedigree, but again, my dog would not touch it...

Answer 2

Pedigree is not the worst food out there, but there are better ones also.....I feed Canidea(i think thats spelled right).....But there are others.....Pedigree, Iams, basically any brand you buy at the normal grocery store will have a lot of fillers like corn.....while premium foods like Canidea do not....it is all good stuff. These foods have less fillers and are easier for the dog to digest. You will notice that these foods are more expensive, however, when I feed pedigree my the bag said to feed 2-4 cups a day for the size of my dog(30 lbs).....with the Canidea, I have to feed 1-2 cups a day.....so you won't actually be spending anymore money, and because of the lower amount of fillers she poops a lot less.....I have also noticed that my pups hair is better and she seems to be all around more healthy....hope this helps

Answer 3

Your dog might gain weight on Pedigree, but you'll have to feed him ALOT more than if you had him on a higher quality food. The amount of nutrition in one cup of Pedigree versus one cup of something like Innova is probably at a 1:4 ratio. If you had your pup on Innova he would probably only need about 3 cups of food a day, versus needing maybe 7 cups of Pedigree. Also the better the quality of food, the lower the amount of waste. Pedigree has a lot of unnecessary ingredients along with some things that can be harmful. You should devinately switch to a better quality. I'm not a fan of Science Diet, Purina, or Eukanuba, but at least upgrade to one of those. You should not be able to buy the dog's food in a grocery store. Those are the absolute lowest quality of dog food. My dog is on Wellness, which is a top shelf dog food. Pedigree is a basement dog food. I'd say Science Diet and Eukanuba are at least on the floor above the basement. Oh, and so you know, dogs like crappy foods like Pedigree because they spray a smelly coating on the food before they package it to entice dogs to eat it. Otherwise if it wasn't coated, I doubt any dog would be interested in eating it.

Answer 4

Go to a pet store, not the grocery and look at the other brands available. There are dozens of better brands of puppy food. Innova, Blue Buffalo, Canidae, Solid Gold. I could go on. Check the ingredients. You want meat and healthy veggies (corn is often a filler) flaxseed and omega oils give a healthy coat. Some of them with even have sample bags you can pick up to try for a meal and see how your dog likes it.
For a better quality food Canidae is actually very affordable, more so than lesser brands like Science Diet and you feed less (no filler)

Answer 5

Pedigree is not a good or 'premium' dog food. It has a lot of things in it that dog's should not eat... a lot of carbs and wheats that are unhealthy for dog's... It may help to fatten your dog up but in the long run it will make him unhealthy. Try a premium brand of dog food--at the vet clinic I work at we recommend "Hills Science Diet", "Royal Canin", "Nutro", "Eukanuba", and "Iams" to name a few. My personal favorite is Royal Canin, I have two dachshunds and an English Bulldog who are on that brand of food. The good thing about this particular brand is that it contains Salmon Oil which helps to moisturize your dogs skin. Pedigree is not necessarily a bad brand but it does have a lot of things in it that are not recommended to feed your dog. It is kind of like feeding your child cake for dinner every day...not a good idea! Best of luck! And if your dog is still not gaining weight, you may want to try some type of vitamin supplement or take him to the vet just to make sure there is not a health problem!

Answer 6

Dogs of any age do best on a species-appropriate raw diet of meaty bones and organs.

Purina puppy chow has, as the first 3 ingredients, corn, chicken by-product meal and wheat (or it may be corn again).

None of those are meat. Chicken by product is the closest that it gets to having meat, but by-product could be anything from feet to feathers. Not much protein there.

Dogs are CARNIVORES, and require a CARNIVORE diet. Do some research on the web, and you will see what I"m talking about. Your pup deserves a long healthy and happy life. Crap in a bag will shorten it, and may give her cancer, too. I'm not saying that a raw-fed dog won't get cancer, but putting crap in a bag in her bowl certainly ups her chances!

Answer 7

Pedigree, Iams, Puppy Chow, Kibbles and Bits, etc are pretty bad foods.

You want to look for a premium dog food w/ no by products, and no corn. The first thing in the ingrediants should be some kind of Protein or Protein meal.

Premium puppy food is higher in protein and fat than adult or senior so keep him on there untill he's 12 months - 19 months of age.

Feed him in intervals. NO free feeding. Put the food down for 10-15 minutes then pick it back up. It helps w/ potty training and to control and monitor his weight gain or weight loss.

NO canned food except on special occasions. Canned food gets stuck in their teeth and causes rot and decay.

If he has problems eating then put some water on his food and put it in the microwave. It brings out the aroma and makes it more alluring.

Good Luck

Answer 8

Both of my dogs love pedigree, and it has made their coats look amazing. I've tried science diet, iams....all that expensive crap, but nothing seems to work like pedigree. I think vets are full of shite sometimes as far as food. They get bonuses from dog food companies to sell their product. Anyway the thin phase may be b/c the puppy is growing, and he will get bigger with time.

Answer 9

He's probably just use to the taste of the Pedigree. I agree, I would def. try him on a diff. type of food. Science Diet, Eukanumba or Iams are great choices. My dog has ate Iams all her life and she is 12 years old and never had any major health problems. I really like that brand to be honest. I would start off by maybe buying one can of dog food (of your choice) and see how your dog likes it (before you go out and buy a ton of food he wont eat). If he likes the can food, try mixing it with dry food from the same brand (don't mix match foods). Also, avoid feeding table scraps. A treat here or there isn't bad, but a whole helping of human food isn't good. Fresh Vegestables, chicken and beef are okay to give them, but avoid sweets. As long as your pup is eating, active and seems to be happy, I wouldn't really worry about him. Just try to get him started on a good eating program now. Good luck.

Answer 10

i had the same problem so i put my dog on bakers dry and she seemsed to fatten up very quickly. she is not a fat dog but a vbery healthy wait says my vet, maybe this would work? i also made a structured feeding plan of 2 bigger meals a day. this way th dog eats more fewer times a day and will be hungry enought to eat more. when my dog reached two i knocked it down to 1 big meal on a morning as meals on a night can disrupt there sleep.