what type of food is healthier for dogs??

Answer 1

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 2

I use Innova Dry Kibble for my Golden Retriever. It is high end but a bit pricey. When looking for a top dog food look at the first 5-6 ingredients...you want to see meats (chicken, turkeyok if it says chicken meal), brown rice, vegetables. Avoid foods with BY PRODUCTS.

California Natural, Life's Abundance (not available in stores only shipped directly to you) are others that I have heard good things about. These are also a bit pricey.

Go and check out some foods online, so you can check the ingredients and compare different foods

Answer 3

The best foods can't be bought at Walmart. You should get a dry food that doesn't contain by products of any type.
Also it's better if you don't by a food with corn or cornmeal listed as the first ingredient. Corn is just a filler and it has no nutricinal value for dogs.
You also need a food that list meat as the first ingerdient. The first ingredient listed means thats what the food contains most of.
And last but not least don't buy semi moist food. The chemical that they put in it to keep it moist is bad on animals.

And as a side note my vet recamends not giving your dog canned food everyday. He says dogs get more nutricial in dry food and that unless you plan on brushing your dogs teeth everyday that canned food will rot their teeth out.

Answer 4

There are 3 categories of dog food: grocery store brands, big box brands, and boutique brands.

Grocery store brands include crap like, Purina, Iams, etc. This is absolute garbage and should be avoided at all costs.

Big Box Brands include foods like, Science Diet, Eukanuba, Nutro, Bill Jac. ALSO CRAP. If you really do research on these brands, and the ingredients that go into them, you'd see that it's all marketing. Vets recommend food like Science Diet and Eukanuba, because those companies PAY THEM to. Yup. Veterinary Medicine is still just a business you know.

Boutique Brands include foods like, Merrick, Natures Variety, Wellness, Innova, California Natural, Fromm, O&M, etc. These brands are only made in small quantities so they can't and don't sell to big store like Petsmart. They often use natural, organic, human grade ingredients into their foods. These are probably the best you can buy.

Obviously, the prices are very different, but between some of the Big Box Brands and the Boutique Brands, the price difference is not so bad. a 5lb bag of Nutro about $8.99, a 5lb bag of Natures Variety $9.99.

Answer 5

For my aging dogs, I've found the best diet has been my own home-cooked dog food, using a nutritionally complete recipe I found in a book called "Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog" written by Wendy Volhard and Kerry Brown, D.V.M.

Prior to putting them on that diet, I had fed them a high-quality dry food. My Pom had itchy, flaky skin, was over weight and had a lot of joint problems. My Aussie was nearly spherical and had chronic bladder infections, and my Yorkie's coat was dry and ragged.

It is a lot of work, but since being on the diet, my eleven year old Pom has quit scratching, and his skin has fewer flakes each time I brush him. They also have all lost weight, and seem to be experiencing fewer joint and bladder problems. My Yorkie's coat has developed a richer color, and her hair is silky and in good condition. Oh, the Yorkie and the Aussie are 7 1/2 and 8 years old.

The one major change I've made to the diet has been to cook the meat (slow cooking method) rather than feed it raw. For some reason, two of my three dogs get violent diarrhea from raw meat, and one of those two weighs over 50 lbs. You've never lived until you've gone barefoot into the kitchen half asleep only to find the entire floor coated in -- well you get the idea.

Answer 6

Most high priced Natural foods (not the vegetarian kind, they can be deadly to your pet.) Royal Canine, Eukanuba, Iams, Science Diet, Pro Plan, and Purina and Pedigree are ok, but not the greatest of foods. The worst possible foods you can get are wet foods for anything more than a once in awhile treat, and those horriable foods made of animal products (the part of the animals that other animal foods throw away) Some of those are Ol Roy, Atta Boy, Benniful, Kibbles and Bits, and many many more. Go to your local pet store, like Pet smart and Pet co and ask them to show you the premium brands of food. Also meat should always be the 1st ingrediant. If its not, then don't get that food. Oh and by the way, most vets only recommend food that they know is safe, not because they are getting paid to do so, that is a rummor and usually the only food sold at vet offices are prescription diets (this is just the majority of vets, there may be a very few amoung of vets that somehow do get compensation, and vets don't get enough money from it to care. There is numerous documentation that Royal Canine, Eukanuba, Iams, ect are good foods, there is years and years of testing done. I do however agree that the narural foods containing mostly good meat are the best kinds of food you can get for your dog, but realistically there are not a lot of people that can afford them on a regular basis. If you can, then great but if not, get one of the other premium brands.

Answer 7

I believe that a raw diet is best but some are repulsed by it:
http://www.rawdogranch.com
If it is not something you would consider, the next best would be a balanced home cooked meal - balanced for canine and there are recipes on the Net and you can pass them by your Vet for approval.
If commercial food is the option you select, be aware that not only wet foods were contaminated with multiple contaminants including melamine, acetaminophen, cyanuric acid etc. in the recent recalls that were so publicised and affected so many dogs:
http://www.howl911.com
http://www.itchmo.com
Some commercial foods that weren't affected by this massive and continuing recall:
Canidae, Orijen, Wellness, Nature's Recipe (not to be confused with Van Pattens Natural Balance), Newman's Own.

Until the FDA and processing plants can assure people of quality of products, with a written guarantee of the safety of the product and all of its contents, and clarification of exact origins of contamination and description of steps taken to definitively stop the contamination, then I would not go with any of the foods that had been recalled. That includes some of the regular foods sold like Eukanuba, Iams, Science Diet, Royal Canin, Nutro.
Personally, other than their Ultra product, I wouldn't feed Nutro to any animal. They have had formula changes over the years and added soy which isn't good for dogs. Also their kibble is very hard to digest and my dogs repeatedly threw it up until I changed their food.
Royal Canin seemed great, but unfortunately it was part of that recall.
I'd recommend that food again if it was not for all the recent recalls and updated recalls and cross contamination into dry foods that occured with so many brands.
Things to consider when picking a food are:
breed of dog
puppy, adult or senior
any special dietary needs per Vet
Then it helps to add some supplements like Ester C for immune system, a bit of Norwegian Cod liver oil or something like 3V Caps skin formulation for skin and coat with Omega 3, Vit A, D and E
or a bit of brewer's yeast.
Whatever food or combo you decide on, run it by your Vet for amounts and best combo for your particular dog.
Don't let a vet suggest a food that sponsors them or sponsors vet training or that they get a kick back from.

Answer 8

The suppliers seem to be very dog food concious these days. Go to a pet food store and check out what they have. Foods vary depending on size of dog and if hes on a special diet or not. When I hear the dog food ads, I think their food sounds better for nutrition than ours! lol -bettyk

Answer 9

My husband is a stickler for Hunter's Choice it's meat based and is very healthy. Good for coat and weight regulation. My husband says it's always best to read up on the particular dog that you have then compare health needs to that on the bags nutrition info box

And try to stay away from the soft can foods due to recent reports and lost of family pets.

Answer 10

as in any food I know to be good for them? Or dry vs. wet, and brand recommendation? If dry vs. wet, dry, brand Eukaneuba. Put weight on rescue dogs rapidly, coats shone, eyes sparkled, energy levels were more than I'd have preferred, but correct for the breed, etc. As for best diet for any animal? There is something to be said for making your own dog food for your pet, like you home cook meals for better control of nutrition for the family, and there is a club in Answers dedicated to this cause, who'd be glad to give you pointers, and more qualified than I, I'm looking into it myself at the moment due to a friend's great success with his kennel full of Rotts when he took em all off prepared, store-bought foods.