I'm feeding my 3 1/2 mo old poodle Nutro.....is there something better for him?

Answer 1

Nutro and Nutro-Max are better than most. If your dog is doing well with it, that's fine - I switched from that to Wysong because it has fewer grains. I also like California Natural (simple ingredients), Wellness, Innova, Evo, Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover, Merrick, Flint River Ranch, and Prairie. Here's a link to help evaluate pet foods:
http://www.4pawsu.com/dogfood.htm

Answer 2

I lost the dog of a lifetime 2 yrs. ago prematurely 8 years old and a very active border collie. He was dignosed with lupus at 6.
I am convinced that if I had fed him the best food possible this may have subsided or he may have lived a bit longer. Now for the new pups.
I made a decision to find what may be the best food ever. Looked at all the NOW commercial high ends. Science Diet, Nutro, Iams, Eukanuba. These are now owned by Huge conglomerates. Don't know how much I trust them. Anyway the test was the ingrediants. The winner is Solid Gold. They have a number of lines. For my beast dog 120 lbs. I give her solid Gold Wolf King ( large breed). First 2 ingredients Salmon and Bison. I challenge you top find another manufacturer that doesnt list a filler or grain or beef by product first.
They have all types for all dogs. I also have a westie pup. Let it be known it will probably be the most expensive in the store. But that could save you alot in the future. My 1 yr old Great Pyrenes is growing to perfection. With large dogs there growth food is very important in the prevention of hip dysplaysia. For smaller dogs who spend alot of time indoors there are certain types of food. What would your dog eat in the wild or if it could choose?
If these first ingredient (or 2) answer that read further. Make sure it is natural and not full of preservatives.
You know what just buy a solid gold product.

Answer 3

I agree with everyone that Nutro is okay but there are definitely much better foods on the market.

Peter,

I just wanted to accept your challenge as I've probably reviewed the ingredients of 80% of the foods on the market. Innova by far has the highest quality foods and use the best sources of meat available. The top FOUR ingredients are meat and even the sixth ingredient is meat.

Innova Evo:
Turkey
Chicken
Turkey Meal
Chicken Meal
Potatoes
Herring Meal
Chicken Fat
Natural Flavors
Egg
Garlic
Apples
Carrots
Tomatoes
Cottage Cheese
Alfalfa Sprouts
Dried Chicory Root
Taurine
Lecithin
Rosemary Extract
Vitamins/Minerals

I make the claim that this is the best food based on research, the ingredients, the intergrity of the company, and customer satisfaction. If I were to disect Solid Gold I would make the claim that it isn't the best quality because of their use of ingredients like rice bran, millet, yucca, and canola oil. But I still think it is an excellent food and would not tell someone to switch just for the sake of it.

If you find a good food and your dog is doing well, stick with it. If you were feeding a low quality food, I would tell you to switch even if your dog 'appeared' to be doing well.

Answer 4

Yes. If you want to stay within brand, Nutro Ultra is not bad. If you want to change to another product, gradually change the food and I'd recommend:
Innova, Nature's Recipe, Royal Canin (this one has formulated food for specific breed or types of dogs), Natural Balance.
You can also add a few spoons of plain activated yogurt to the food.
When my dogs get stomach upset from drinking pond water or eating something mysterious at the dog park, I give them a few tablespoons of pumpkin pie filling.
The problem I had with Nutro which I used to feed to my German Shepherd, is the kibble was too hard and could be thrown up whole, hours after eating.
Also they changed some ingredients in many of their food varieties adding soy which is bad for dogs.

Answer 5

You are going to get a mixture of answers. The people that are die-hard Nutro feeders are going to tell you that there is no better food. Same with like Science Diet and the like.
The jury is still out, but a good percentage of the dog community recommend feeding a BARF diet. Bones And Raw Food//Biologically Appropriate Raw Food. Like feeding soup bones and assorted vegetables to make the diet balanced.
If that's not something you want to do, that's fine. There are many many many many super premium kibbles. So many, it can drive someone bonkers. Unfortunately, when upgrading a food, you are paying an upgraded price. Nutro is not BAD food, but there are better. For about the same price as Nutro, perhaps as much as 3-5 dollars more, you can find a whole new world of dog kibble.
Blue Buffalo, sold at Petsmart is a hollistic food using only human-grade ingredients, no by-products, no corn/wheat/soy. Awesome food for the chain. It runs about 23 for a 15 pound bag. I'm a demo rep for Blue Buffalo, so if you want to know more about it, email me and i will help ya out.
Canidae is an all-life stages food--meaning it can be fed to puppies and adults and seniors--and it's roughly the same price as Nutro.
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance is a good food. They have more exotic meats like duck or rabbit, but either way, awesome food.
Solid Gold is one of the better kibbles on the market. They make a puppy formula as well as adult. Mmillenia is probably the kibble best suited for you, if Solid Gold is your choosing.
Merrick is another all-life stages food. They have AWESOME canned foods, with whole chunks of recognizable meats. The kibble when mixed with warm water makes its own natural thick gravy. There are freeze dried apples, carrots, sweet potatoes and regular potatoes mixed in with the kibble. They have a formula good for dogs with allergies, too. If you dont want all-life stages, they have "Puppy Plate" for the youngsters.
Someone mentioned Innova, good food. Unless you have a high-performance dog, avoid the EVO variety, as it is grain free and really high protein and can lead to excess weight.
Wellness is another one. They are made by Old Mother Hubbard, who if you look, make really good homestyle cookies. They have a few formulas for allergy dogs as well.

If you have any other questions, let me know! :)

Answer 6

Nutro is a good food, if he likes it and is doing well, stay with it.

Answer 7

I have two dogs and one cat, and I feed ALL of them food from Blue Buffalo Company. When I started feeding my oldest dog Blue, people at the dog park actually commented on his improved coat and increased energy level. I recommend Blue, which uses all human-grade ingredients. You can find it at PetsMart.