Switching off off Beneful, what is a good, healthy dog food with nutritional value?

Question

Well, I was reading on http://www.doggybling.com/newsarticle.php?id=1098, and I decided to switch over to a different. I'm considering going with a natural, homemade diet, but if I can find a good DRY dog food, then I will be happy as well.

So, recap:
-NO Purina Products
-No menu food products
-Dry food only
-Tips on Homemade diets?

My dog is a Golden Retriever.

Answer 1

I also used to feed my dogs beneful until one of them stopped eating my vet (like most vets, I wonder why?) told me to switch to eukanuba or science diet. I did (science diet) and my dog still didn't eat, so I switched to an all natural dog food you only find in dog bakeries, EaglePack Holistic food, and they love it. It's a little more expensive but 100% worth it... ( I also switched to a new vet! )

The best I've heard of is Aunt Jeni's frozen raw food, I tried, it's great but too expensive for me.
http://www.auntjeni.com/

Answer 2

You can check the ingredients on the back of the bag to see exactly how healthy it is for your dog. I believe Purina makes Beneful? I could be wrong, it's just off the top of my head. Corn meal, chicken or beef by-products is not something that should: A- be a key ingredient in the food (listed within the first few ingredients on the bag). And B- by-products is exactly what you might think it is... by-products can include, unfortunately, chicken leg, beak or worse. It's a processed mash of what's left over that was considered undesirable. For the most part. Granted all foods are approved by FDA and all of that, but there are better foods you can feed your dog. I have 2 cats and feed them Nutro Natural Choice, it's a high end food and more costly than a Purina brand. But a better quality food is better for your animal, period. Nutro makes a cheaper food called Nutro Max. I spoke with a representative from Nutro and I was told that it's the same quality as the Natural Choice line, just a little more affordable. They make cat and dog foods, treats, and wet foods. Depending on the age of your dog, if he is over a year old I would feed him adult food if he's a little more mature, 6 or 7 or so, I would feed him a food that is for older dogs. You should notice a difference in your dogs coat as well as a difference is the elimination of "number 2". It may be less stinky and less often. This is because the dog will be getting more out of the food and that is better for him. I would also recommend Eukanuba/Iams and Bil-Jac. There are other high quality foods out there, you can ask your local petstore for a high quality, decently priced food as well.

Answer 3

Here are a few that are good: Solid Gold, Wellness, Canidae, Timberwolf Organics, Innova Evo, California Natural and Artemis Fresh Mix, there are several more but these are really good. They may be a bit pricey initially but they come out cheaper because you feed less. These are 100% human grade dog food with NO corn, wheat, soy, grain fractions, fillers or by products – and naturally preserved.

Answer 4

After five years of constantly cleaning up my 110 pound German Shepherds hair, trying various supplements, special shampoos, etc... Finally switched 9 months ago to FROMM Family, just add a dot com to find it. All this winters hair only came off in the brush and my spoiled dog loves the taste of the fresh duck, chicken, lamb, whole eggs and real cheese. She loved beneful for five years but I had to mix it with canned food, even though Fromm is a bit more money I’m spending less since I don’t need to buy canned. What ever you switch too just remember to start with a mix of 1/2 beneful and 1/2 new food.

Answer 5

Read the ingredients on the food you buy. Go with a high quality dog food. A grain should not be in the first couple ingredients ingredient (corn and such are mainly fillers, dogs don't digest it well). Avoid foods that have a lot of "by products" listed.

Here are some good foods (these are just a few, there are definitely more brands out there that are quality dog food, but it will give you an idea of the ingredients to look for):

Chicken Soup Brand - http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
Merrick - http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
Innova - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp

Or check this website to find GOOD dog foods, not full of fillers and byproducts, they rate dog foods based on the ingredients, 6 being the best. I would recommend feeding only 4+ star foods. Any food 3 stars or less, I would avoid.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php

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Here's an ingredient comparison of not-so-good food (in this case, Pedigree), to good food (in this case, Chicken Soup brand):

Pedigree:
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, Wheat Flour, Salt, Carmel Color, Vegetable Oil (Source of Linoleic Acid), Vitamins (Choline Chloride, dl-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate [Source of Vitamin E], L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate [Source of Vitamin C*], Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Biotin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement [Vitamin B2], Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide), Added FD&C and Lake Colors (Yellow 6, Blue 2, Red 40, Yellow 5).

Chicken Soup Brand:
Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, ocean fish meal, cracked pearled barley, whole grain brown rice, oatmeal, millet, white rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), potatoes, egg product, tomato pomace, duck, salmon, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, choline chloride, dried chicory root, kelp, carrots, peas, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, yucca schidigera extract, L-carnitine, Enterococcus faecieum, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Saccharomyces cerevesiae fermentation solubles, dried Aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Notice how the better food has more meats, less grain, and no by-products than the other brand? That's where to start looking for what food is higher quality. Also be aware, just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's a good food.

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Another thing to be wary of: A lot of vets will recommend what they sell in their office. They get profit and kick-backs from the brands they keep on their shelves, that's why they push it. Truth is, vet schools don't focus a lot on nutrition. It's not saying that a vet is a bad vet because he recommends those foods, a lot of vets just are told "this is good food", so they pass the message along without proper nutrition knowledge. Also, some dog food brands (like Hills) support vet schools, so vets have heard of it from the time they start college, which makes them think it's good as well.

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When switching foods, do it slowly. I do this over about a two week timespan:
25% food A, 75% food B
50% food A, 50% food B
75% food A, 25% food B
100% food A

Answer 6

What you need to look for is the first source of fat or oil that appears in the ingredient list. This can either be from an animal or vegetable source. Anything listed before that first source of fat, and including it, are the main ingredients of the food. Corn & wheat are grains. Dogs are carnivores (meat eaters). Grains are not nutritious for dogs as they don't get digested very well, so it just comes out the other end and makes a larger quantity of poop for you to pick up than a brand with little or no grains.

Be an educated consumer and know how to read those *very* tricky dog food lables. So here's a quick course in "Label Information 101"
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=betterproducts

Here's site that has already rated some brand name foods
http://www.bigdogsporch.com/blog/?p=46_

Here you can compare brands against one another
http://www.naturapet.com/tools/comparison.asp

Be sure to double check that what you pick is not on RECALL
http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/

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If you want to feed a homecooked or a raw diet, then you MUST become educated on how to make it balanced.
http://dogaware.com.hosting.domaindirect.com/dogfeeding.html#Balance

You didn't say how old your Golden was, puppies have very different nutritional requirements to adult dogs, and you only get one chance to rear them properly. Deficiencies or excesses as a pup can cause problems.

Minerals often need to be balanced with each other in the homecooked diet to work well. Giving too much of one mineral and not enough of another can affect growth and cause other problems in the body. Balancing takes some study to do it right. http://b-naturals.com/Feb2006.php

Here's just one example of an imbalance: too much phosphorus (from meat) and not enough calcium (from bones, yogurt, egg shells).

If calcium is deficient in the blood, the body will withdraw some from the bones to insure enough calcium is in the blood stream for regulation of the heart muscle. Bone can lose up to 30% to 40% of its calcium before a deficiency becomes apparent.

Answer 7

Some really good foods:
Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Innova, Solid Gold, Fromm, Merrick, Premium Edge, Percise just to name a few.

Answer 8

Thank the Lord you are switching from Beniful. It's REALLY bad food. It's one of the very worst rated foods you can buy.

I feed my dogs Wellness. It's human grade food in both canned and dry. My dogs do brilliant on it. Yes it costs a little more, but it's so worth it. The dogs eat a lot less of it than cheaper brands too so it really does not work out much different except your dog will do so much better on it.

Answer 9

Innova, Evo, Canidae, Flint River Ranch, Wysong, California Natural, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover.....These are all very good brands.
To compare ingredients and to learn more, visit
http://www.4pawsu.com/dogfood.htm
and
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

And I love Dr. Pitcairn's book about dog nutrition. There's great ideas in here for adding supplemental foods to your dog's kibble:http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=CDN142

Answer 10

I have to say to you that I have both my Golden's now eating Canidae. Their coats are just beautiful and they love the food. I have also seen a much better skin condition and so far no spring allergies. By now with one of my boy's I would already have had him into the vets for this. So far nothing. I highly recomend Canidae for your Golden too.