no dog food is good enough?

Question

i feed my dog pedigree natural and he has a shiny and healthy coat and lots of energy. he still sheds but not as much as he used to and he has discharge from his eyes. i was told by people on here that i should change to a better brand of dog food to stop this. now i'm hearing top brands such as beneful and eukanaba (?) are terrible foods. what foods can i buy? this is all i can afford but i want the best for my dog!
i live in australia and the only top quality looking ones are
beneful
optimum
and i forgot the rest but there's not much
i will not be making home-prepared meals but at least commerical dog food meet the requirements of a dog however if i made it myself, i wont be able to do it and ruin my dog's diet

Answer 1

beneful is crap. no doubt about that. i would go to the vet and see why there is drainage from your dog's eyes. it very well could be something else besides the food. changing foods around can cause intestinal upset. personally i do not find pedigree natural to be the best food available. eukanuba is too rich for many dog's and often causes problems with weight gain, etc...and you know you're right. everyone reccomends these top quality brands and then says and oh by the way i supplement with this too. why if you're feeding the best food that is nurtitionally balanced you shouldn't have to supplement with anything. the dog food should contain all the proper mix of nutrients your dog needs. take your dog to the vet. find out why the eyes have drainage from a vet. no pedigree isn't the best food you can get for your dog. no i wouldn't feed it to my dogs. and that's my opinion. but if your dog is healthy and is doing fine on it, who am i to tell you to switch? as for feeding your dog scraps because dogs from way back when did fine on it. what is that about? please don't feed scraps. how long was the average life expectancy of a domestic dog 50 yers ago? it's called advancement. 50 years ago smoking was thought to be ok. come on now.


aw jeez do we have to go through the recalls again? the wheat gluten was processed at the same plant. NOT the ingrediants and the make up of the foods. just one ingredient. and not all brands were recalled. hardley any dry was recalled. it was mostly the crappy filler canned foods. the only science diet brand that was recalled was it's m/d for cats. and the only purina variety that was recalled was the mighty dog. but the beloved nutro was on that list though. it was one ingredient that was manufactured at specific plants. yes the number of dogs and cats affected was way underreported, but two of the so called crappy brands were hardly on that list. less than many of the so called "best" foods.

Answer 2

The biggest problem with those brands like beneful and iams, etc. are that they are made the same way, with the same ingredients, at the same place. They aren't any better than the super cheap stuff you can buy at some places for your dog. The only difference is that they are packaged and marketed differently. Many here in the U.S. learned this fact the hard way when almost all pet food brands were recalled for causing kidney failure to animals. The reason why? All the foods were made at the same plant, and had been contaminated.

Answer 3

Beneful is not a top brand... nor is Eukanuba. Try and find a brand where there is NO corn listed as an ingredient. Are you shopping at the grocery store or at a pet store? Pet stores will carry the better foods.

Eukanuba's food is overpriced for the quality you get (not to mention their nasty animal testing). Hope this helps a little. Look for brands where meat is the first ingredient, then a rice or grain product. No corn :)

Answer 4

Correct Beneful and Eukanuba are not good foods. They're just as bad as Pedigree. Basically any foods that contain By-products corn and/or wheat are horrible foods.

Here is a list that grades food hope this helps in deciding what to feed your doggy...

How to grade your dog's food:

Start with a grade of 100:
1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points
2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points
3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points
5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer’s rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points
6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points
9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points
11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog is not allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog is not allergic to beef), subtract 1 point
15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point
Extra Credit:
1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points
3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points
8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points
9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source, but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point
13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point

94-100+ = A 86-93 = B 78-85 = C 70-77 = D <70 = F

Dog Food scores:

Alpo Prime Cuts / Score 81 C
Artemis Large/Medium Breed Puppy / Score 114 A+
Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
Authority Harvest Baked Less Active / Score 93 B
Beowulf Back to Basics / Score 101 A+
Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
Blackwood 3000 Lamb and Rice / Score 83 C
Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice / Score 106 A+
Burns Chicken and Brown Rice / Score 107 A+
Canidae / Score 112 A+
Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+
Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F
Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A
Diamond Performance / Score 85 C
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice / Score 106 A+
Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
EaglePack Holistic / Score 102 A+
Eukanuba Adult / Score 81 C
Eukanuba Puppy / Score 79 C
Flint River Senior / Score 101 A+
Foundations / Score 106 A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
Innova Evo / Score 114 A+
Innova Large Breed Puppy / Score 122 A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+
Member's Mark Chicken and Rice / Score 84 C
Merrick Wilderness Blend / Score 127 A+
Nature's Recipe / Score 100 A
Nature's Recipe Healthy Skin Venison and Rice / Score 116 A+
Nature's Variety Raw Instinct / Score 122 A+



Nutra Nuggets Super Premium Lamb Meal and Rice / Score 81 C
Nutrience Junior Medium Breed Puppy / Score 101 A+
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
Nutro Max Adult / Score 93 B
Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice / Score 98 A
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Wheat Free / Score 86 B
Nutro Natural Choice Senior / Score 95 A
Nutro Ultra Adult / Score 104 A+
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F
Premium Edge Chicken, Rice and Vegetables Adult Dry / Score 109 A+
Pro Nature Puppy / Score 80 C
Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach / Score 94 A
Purina Beneful / Score 17 F
Purina Dog / Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
Purina One Large Breed Puppy / Score 62 F
Royal Canin Boxer / Score 103 A+
Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
Solid Gold / Score 99 A
Summit / Score 99 A
Timberwolf Organics Wild & Natural Dry / Score 120 A+
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

Answer 5

Shitzu? They are only small dogs so i'd say just one. If it has a big apettite see if it wants two tins. Dry food usually has a guide on the packet so check the back. :-D PS. I always leave a star. Rhiannon

Answer 6

Our dog is almost 15 and has been eating commercial raw food for several years. We purchase from www.nw-naturals.com They do not ship international but their website is very informative. I've heard of www.bucketobeef.com in australia, but never tried it...just an idea; good luck to you and your doggy!

Answer 7

I give mine Eukanuba ... and they are both healthy, beautiful dogs. The breeder I got my dog from also feeds Eukanuba, as did the breeders she got HER dogs from. And those dogs are Westminster champions. You don't really need a thousand-percent protein ... think about it, in reality a dog will eat whatever it encounters that it deems edible. Any good-quality dry dog-food will do fine for your dog.

My advice? Ask your vet. He or she will be able to judge your dog's condition.

Answer 8

Dog food is dog food. Just because these brands says will make your dog live forever doesn't mean your dogs going to live forever. Just use the brand you can afford and give your dog scraps i mean what do you think people fed there dogs way back when they didn't have beneful or any of those other corporation rip offs. O and maybe you should take your dog to the vet if your worried about the discharge.

Answer 9

Feed the best you can afford and have access to. Here's a link that can help:
http://pets.families.com/blog/grade-your-dog-food

Someone beat me to it!

I feed Wellness, and am quite happy with it.

Answer 10

I think Pedigree is the best of the grocery store dog foods. I know a lot of people who feed it including a vet tech who works for my vet,and their dogs look great.I've bought the Healthy Maturity before,and my dogs loved it,but I normally feed Diamond Naturals.If your dog looks and feels good,then it must be OK.