Dog food types.?

Question

Anyone who says you NEED to feed your dog a high quality dog food is a low quality person. Not everyone is gonna pay $40 a week for their dogs food. Although we would all really like to we cant :( . Not to say were poor but we just cant spend $14,600 a year on our dogs food when we can spend half that for a dog food that makes them have just as healthy as a life and as long as a life as the more expensive brands. (14,600 would be for a labrador retriever size dog)

Stop making people feel bad about what brand of food they get for their dogs. As long as they show the dog love and give him the excersize, water, daily food and attention he needs the dog will live a long happy life with the owner.

My question is...does anyone feed their dog the high quality dog food? And if so what has it done to improve your dogs life?

OOPS...meant $500 not 14,600 hehe

$500-$2,000

CATS EAT SOO MUCH LESS THAN LABS AND BIGGER DOGS! DO YOU OWN A DOG? YOU DONT KNOW THEY EAT 10-12 CUPS A DAY.

HES NOT A BOXER.

Answer 1

sorry, but I do not spend $40 a week to feed my dogs high quality food. I dont know what kind of food you think costs that much.. unless you are checking out one of the specialty frozen or freeze dried raw foods.

At one point I had 4 dogs, and it cost me less than $40 a MONTH to feed them high quality food!

Better food has more nutrition, the dog eats less of the food.. in the long run, the higher quality food will cost LESS because you are feeding LESS!

My dog gets horrible breakouts from cheap food, he also gets diarreah and loose stools.

My husky mix I used to have, she had a softer coat, and shed less when she was fed high quality food. When fed cheaper food, she had a wirey coat and shed way more.



I currently have 2 dogs and a $12 bag of food last me 3-4 weeks!


Edited to add:

I feed Merrick's.. here is proof that you need less..

feeding instructions for an actve dog that is 60-100 pds 3 1/2-6 cups a day!

more dog food brands.. feeding instructions for large (50-100 pds) active dogs:

Chicken Soup - 3 1/3 - 5 cups
canidae - 2-4 cups
Drs Fosters and Smith 2 1/3 - 3 1/4 cups
pinnacle 3-5 cups
atermis 2-4 cups
avoderm 3 1/2 - 5 1/2 cups
Nutro Ultra 2 1/2 - 3 2/3 cups






Go ahead and give everyone thumbs down, if it makes you feel better about feeding your dog crappy food, then by all means, go ahead.

I often find that most people can afford decent food for their dogs, however, they want to provide the cheapest they can for their pets because they'd rather have extra money for cigarettes or beer.

Answer 2

$40 a week!? There is NO dog food that is that expensive! If you actually look into these foods, it's plain to see that they are NOT that much more expensive than the garbage food.

Yes, I feed my dog high-quality food. I had them on IAMS. Terrible choice on my part, but it was before I had done my research. When I did, I was horrified to learn what I was feeding them. I immediately switched them to Innova, and I noticed a huge improvement in their skin and coat within a very short time. No more itching, because their skin was so healthy, and their coats were beautiful and shiny. No more bad breath. Fewer and smaller stools (since their body was able to absorb the nutrients in the good food, rather than the mainly non-digestible ingredients in the bad food), and much, much more energy. I couldn't believe the change in them and I felt so good that I was doing my absolute best for them.

I think of it like this: I COULD live on hot dogs and crackers for my whole life. I would probably seem fine on the outside, but on the inside, who knows what would be going on? Who knows what the long-term damage would be? OR, I could eat a balanced diet full of good foods, with only the occasional "bad" food (because just like dogs, people need treats!). Which would be better for me? In the same vein, which would be better for a dog? Chicken feat and beaks and bits of corn, or fresh chicken, rice, and veggies? It doesn't take a vet to figure it out.

EDIT - The only reason your dog needs so many cups of food a day is because of the food he eats. The higher quality the food, the less he needs to eat to get full nutrition. The reason those low quality foods recommend so much each day is because the dog's body can't absorb most of what is in that food. It just comes out in poop form. They need huge amounts of that food to have enough nutrition, but with better food, you need to feed much, much less, because the dog can actually absorb what is in the food. You will save money in the long run (as I have) because they will be eating less!

Why, WHY are you turning a blind eye to FACTS? If someone is telling you something important, how can you possibly turn your head and keep saying, "Nope, I'm RIGHT, you're WRONG! So there!" when it has to do with the health of your pets?!

Answer 3

I do feed a high quality dog food. I spend $42 on a bag, but there are even better foods than what I buy. One reason is that one of my dogs is allergic to corn, and it is in every kind of the grocery store type dog foods. Also, I feed them less cups per day feeding a higher quality dog food. I only feed 3-4 cups per Labrador of the high quality food, versus a cheaper brand I would need to feed 6-7 cups. Also, they digest more of what they take in, so they don't need as much and they have smaller stools because of it.

So, while I do feed a higher quality holistic food, I don't spend any more than I would buying a feed like Iams.

Now, I ALWAYS recommend to anybody feed within your budget-even if it is one of the cheapest dog food out there, but do research to get the best for your money. Make sure that the dog food says it is nutritionally complete, then you know it has what your dog needs in it. Just because you cannot afford an expensive food, does not mean that you need to feed the worst food that there is on the market-just do your research.

Answer 4

Well . . .quite honestly, I could say the same to you. To me it takes a low quality person, after having acsess to the facts about dog food, to condone feeding Beneful. Go check out www.dogfoodproject.com, if you haven't already.

I started feeding Chicken Soup last month, switched from Blue. About 32 bucks per bag, and even my four dogs can't get through a bag in one freakin' week which includes one working spaniel and two Boxers who go 90 miles an hour all the time. Now I've got a little story - the week before we picked up our first bag, we had to feed Eagle Pack for that week (best locally). Personally - it was hard for me to feed a food with such poor quality. And guess what? It was TEN BUCKS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN CHICKEN SOUP!

Has it improved their life? HELL, YES. When I never knew any better, my family fed Pedigree. The dogs had lack-luster coats, glassy eyes, lack of energy, horrible gas, itchy skin, and their weight would fluctuate extremely on that food. The two dogs who we still have from that point in time are almost new dogs. Gas is gone, their weight maintains itself, bright eyes, one of them is even getting the thicker coat he originally had as a small pup back. And guess what? Now, you can have a time trying to tell if one of the pups just tore past you, or if it was one of the other two.

Was it worth spending "more"? Did it really help them in the long run? Absolutely.

Answer 5

Since i know this was directed at me. and you havent read either of the links i gave.... I KNOW what is put into the dog food that some people feed their dogs. It is DISGUSTING. You dont necissarily have to spend a fortune I fed my dogs Nutro for a while but my girl is allergic to chicken so that knocked it out I loved it for my boy tho it's a great food if you cant afford to feed premium food. BUT at the same time. I'm not spending as much as you think. I might pay $40 a BAG but that's not a WEEK.... The food I feed now, well my dogs get 3 cups a day and that may be too much (we'll see they havent gained too much weight yet). But if I was feeding my dog Beneful which is about $20 for a bag the same size i would be feeding almost 10 cups for dogs the size of mine. Half the price per bag but three times the amount of food.... so in the end, the beneful would be more expensive.

Thats because they put a TON of corn into their food, the first ingredient is corn. Yes dogs should be getting veggies in their diet, but corn is actually a GRAIN not a vegetable (no matter what mom called it) and dogs shouldnt eat grains (even though MOST foods contain some kind of grain) and corn is one of the worst. Beneful is also heavy on soy to up it's protein count. Soy has been linked not only to allergies but to bloat which is a life threatening condition and if your dog gets it and doesnt recieve IMMEDIATE $3000 or more surgury they will die.... And that's not to mention the roadkill, euthanized animals and heads, feet and everything EXCEPT the meat of the animals that were processed for our consumption going into the foods. I'm sorry but I just cant feed my dogs crap food knowing what goes into it. BESIDES the health benefits of feeding better ingredients.

I'll redefine my rules.

NO CORN
NO ANIMAL BYPRODUCTS
NO "MEAT MEAL" or BONE MEAL
NO SOY

words like chicken meal are OK but not great as are any other specifically named meal beef salmon etc.

some foods like beneful tout the corn and soy as GOOD things but they arent. Do the research and you'll understand why i'm such a nutcase.

And for the record, i dont make ****. I would just rather by my dogs good food than myself clothes :)

Answer 6

Feeding a cheap quality food is false economy..It is full of carbs..cheap fillers and by products. It isn't even healthy for your dogs despite claims to the contrary.It is these cheap foods that that keep so many dogs going to the vets for cronic ear issues, skin issues, digestive upsets, allergies, obesity. It takes up to three times as much of the low quality foods as it does of the good quality foods for a dog to receive proper nutrition. The more in the more out...in other words feeding cheap produces more poop.
It also doesn't cost close to $40 a week to feed a dog a good quality food...I have 3 Danes I spend @ $72 per month to feed them. I feed Canidae All life Stages. My son has 2 Labs..he feeds Chicken Soup and spends @ $35 s month.. My Danes only eat 4 cups per day per dog of the Canidae.They are at excellent weight, have great skin, nails, eyes & health.

Answer 7

The higher the quality the LESS you feed. My 84lb. Borzoi ate 3 cups a day ! He was on Nutro Natural Lamb and Rice one of my favorite of the mid priced foods.

Plus most people overfeed, because the feeding table on the bag is wrong...too high.

My main thing is to avoid Corn or Wheat the first 5 ingredients.....I prefer to avoid Corn all together.

I raised multiple dogs on Nutro Natural Choice. I fed higher protein Eukanuba or Nutro performance food when I was hunting, lure coursing and showing all in one season.

Currently I feed Innova EVO. It is expensive, but my dogs eat maybe a cup to 2 a day. So I buy large bags and put them in sealed buckets so it stays fresh.

Buying the large size bags saves money. Sealing your food keeps it fresh. Keep the food in the house so it does not overheat and go rancid.

So no I'm NOT low quality, thanks :(

Your math and your logic is flawed.

Nutro was costing me under $40 for a 40lb. bag. That lasted me over a month, not a week. My Innova is more expensive. It costs quite a bit more per pound, but since it has NO grain I don't worry about the recalls. And my dogs keep weight on even being picky eaters. I buy a bag about every 2 months?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lastly I used to manage a petstore. We sold the cheapest food around. It was $9.99 for 40lbs. It was crap. You had to feed 10cups a day . The dogs pooped huge piles. They got dry skin.

I'd sell it to people and say, it will keep your dog alive, but when you can afford it try a food that is better. Your dog will eat less, poop less and look better. Otherwise you'll end up with vet bills and buying supplements to keep the skin and coat healthy.

Most of my customers would switch later to a better brand. They saw I wasn't lying.

I got major compliments on my dogs. No one ever guessed their ages when they were old (over 10).

Answer 8

I feed all mine Canidae chicken and rice, they all do very well on that. Iams is junk, mostly corn meal, read the ingredients. Supermarket dog food is not nutritious - get a good dry without corn meal or artificial preservatives - first ingredient listed should be meat - you will not find food like this at the supermarket or Walmart. Try a feed store or large pet store or do an online search for a source of Canidae or other good kibble. By the way "Animal Expert", Science Diet is no better than supermarket junk, main ingredient is also corn meal, not meat. Your vet gets paid to stock it, it's still crap.

Answer 9

I give Science Diet to my dog. But my problem is serious than financial ones. In my country it is not easy to find quality dog food brands. Actually all one starred food is available here but the 4-5 strarred foods are problem (I've checked the web site).
If I can find any of the quality brands here I do not think about money much.
If you can reach quality dog food you should use them or you should not be lazy and prepare home made food according to your vet's advice. However it is not as economic as it seems since you have to prepare it daily.

Good luck

Answer 10

I have gone with "high" quality dog food and "supermarket food". I agree. I was spending my kids college fund on dog food.( not quite, just a small joke). I have two dogs over 75 lbs each and they ate a lot. I have been feeding Pedigree for years and my dogs are both healthy. Thumbs down are like sticks and stones. But I can see them already! I think your post makes a great point. Thank you.