Dog food .....?

Question

Hi,
I've had serious problems with finding a suitable puppy-food for my 5-month-old Lhasapoo puppy. Bubba is "picky" if you will, we've tried IAMS (which we *thought* was healthy, and now know different) and Science Diet (Which is vet reccommended - yet I'm told it's still unhealthy?) And he will *NOT* eat either. He seriously eats like two bites a day! Recently his IAMS food ran out (halelujah) and we went new-food shopping. We(aka; my mom - the one who can drive) don't have time to go to the nearest petstore(about 100 miles away) to get food, so we got him "Old Roy Puppy-food" .. he loves it! AHHH! First time ever, we gave him some, he gobbled it down! So strange. And all the other foods had CORN as the #1 ingredient, but Old Roy had bones & meat, brown rice, THEN corn. He seems to think it's "the heavenly" dog food, I just don't know how healthy it is...?

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think he's sick - just picky ;-)
Diamond....anyone have some information on this brand? Is your dog happy with it? Is it healthy? Thanks!

Answer 1

Iams, Science Diet, and Old Roy are all what I like to refer to as "crap in a bag". It's the equivalent of eating McDonald's every day. Sure, you can live on it, but it's not very healthy.

Dog food is a subject I recommend NOT trusting your vet on. The majority of vets don't have much knowledge about nutrition.

Dogs don't have a good sense of taste. Instead, they decide what is more edible by smell. Cheaper foods tend to be sprayed with fat so that dogs will eat them.

Do you give him snacks, table scraps, treats, etc? If so, cut all of that out of his diet (at least for now) and only give him his dog food. Call the dog to you, put the bowl down, and pick it up 15 minutes later regardless if he has eaten or not. Offer the food to him in this manner 2-3 times a day. A dog will not starve itself. It will learn that the food you give him is his food that he should be eating.

But *FIRST*, I recommend getting a better dog food.

You say the petstores are a ways away, but do you have a farm supply store? They often carry at least a couple varieties of higher quality dog food, such as "Chicken Soup" brand is often sold in farm supply stores.

Another option is to order it by mail either from the food manufacturer's website (some have online ordering, some don't), a petstore website, or from a site such as: http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/

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On choosing a good dog food:

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 is an article about byproducts:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=ingrd

And an article on what ingredients to avoid:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

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There is no single food that is "best". For example, some dogs thrive on grain-free foods, while grain-free is too rich for other dogs. What you want to find is the high-quality food that *your dog* does best on. (I recommend feeding dry food instead of wet. It's healthier for the gums and teeth.)

Some GOOD foods are :
* Merrick - http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
* Solid Gold - http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/
* Canidae - http://www.canidae.com/
* Timberwolf - http://timberwolforganics.com/
* Orijen - http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/orijen/
* Wellness - http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/
* Chicken Soup brand - http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
* Blue Buffalo - http://www.bluebuff.com/
* Innova - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp
* Innova EVO - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp

Or check this website for good foods: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
(I recommend only feeding foods rated 4, 5, or 6 stars. Anything 3 stars or less, I would stay away from.)

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Stay away from grocery stores brands. They are low-quality foods chalk full of fillers, preservatives, dyes, etc.. (Grocery store foods are those like Beneful, Old Roy, Alpo, Pedigree, Purina, etc.)

Beware "premium" foods. "Premium" does not mean good nutritionally, and is not a nutritionally high quality food. It has the same types of ingredients as grocery store foods, just a bit better quality of those not-so-good ingredients. (Premium foods are those like Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, etc..)

Another thing to be wary of: A lot of vets will recommend what they sell in their office. They get profit 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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Higher quality food may seem more expensive at first, but it evens out. The higher quality the food, the less fillers eaten (and therefore the less poop comes out the other end). Your dog eats more to try to get the nutrition it needs, and most of the food just passes right on through. Also, it will make your animals healthier, so you save money on vet bills in the long run.

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"Big box" petstores like Petco and Petsmart rarely have quality foods. (I do believe that PetCo sells "Solid Gold" brand, which is a quality food, but most of the foods aren't.)

Also, grocery stores and Walmart aren't good places to buy food either.

Your best bets for getting quality dog food are:
- small, locally owned petstores
- dog boutiques
- farm supply stores

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When switching foods, do it gradually. 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 2

Personally, I don't think much of Old Roy. Anything with grain high on the list of ingredients is not all that great. I feed Solid Gold Wee Little Bits to my Poms. It is made from Bison and Salmon and the pieces are tiny and they love it. I admit that every now and then I buy a sack of Old Roy for my Lab, who eats like a horse, simply because it is cheap. And, you are right, dogs seem to love it. But I think of it like people liking fast food....tastes great, but not all that good for you. You can order Solid Gold on the internet, since a Petco is so far away from you. I would suggest maybe mix the two together, so your dog gets a bite or two of the good stuff, and a bite or two of what tastes good, and you make the good stuff last a lot longer, too.

Answer 3

Old Roy sucks as far as a dog food goes, the reason your puppy is eating it is the sugar content. If you don't have access to a pet store often you can buy a big bag and keep it in the freezer bringing out a coffee can at a time. I always recommend Royal Canin... dogs who won't eat anything else eat it! Also, Eagle is a good food, as is Eukanuba. Nutro Ultra is also rated as very good.
Sometimes to get a finiky eater to eat we will wet the dog food down and let it soak till it's semi soft and add a bit of chicken broth to the mix... gradually cut out the wet and then cut out the broth (however, a good food should be pallitable without messing with it) and I know for me the Royal Canin has done that.

Answer 4

That stuff is not very healthy at all. It has all kind of by-products and preservatives. The best thing for your dog would be to find a dog food that had no by-products and no preservatives (even Science Diet has this...). Also, you should mix in some wet dog food every other day or so to make it a little healthier. Wet dog food is way less processed, so it is easier to digest. Then, it is also really good to feed your dog "Extras" with their food. You can mix in things like a spoon full of cottage cheese, chopped up carrots, while grain rice, steamed veggies, or banana. My dogs love this!

Answer 5

Of the foods you have mentioned, Diamond is the best. Try Diamond Naturals Lamb and Rice. It sounds like your mom is only interested in foods she can get at a mass retailer, and this is probably the best you will find in a place like that. It's an OK food, much better than the others you have mentioned, but it's not the BEST available. If your mom is unwilling to spend the money on a great dog food, or unwilling to drive out of her way to pick it up, go with the Diamond.

Answer 6

Sorry to burst your bubble but Ol'Roy is at the bottom of list when it comes to healthy dog food. Iams, Science Diet, Pedigee ..They're all the same!
They all contains ingredients such as dyes, by products, fillers, and synthetic preservatives which are BAD for animals just like they are for us.
Also an ingredient that shouldn't even be in dog food in any form is CORN.
I would reccommend to you the foods Abbyful mentioned above they are ALOT healthier. The extra effort and dollars spent is well worth it.
I would highly suggest that you read the information on the website posted in my source list.

Answer 7

Go to both sites

dogfoodanalysis.com
dogfoodproject.com

using both sites is better than just using one. it would be better if you have a mental list of the products available there so you can check the brands out on the two sites. just make sure the formula is suitable for your dog.

I use Canidae and Solid Gold as they are the only good ones available here and I switch brands after every bag. If Innova Evo Red meat is available here I would use that as well.

Answer 8

it's probably one of the worst foods out there(which is no doubt why he likes it). I would very seriously consider making the drive, and stocking up on the better food so you won't have to go often. If that is really too far away, consider feeding him raw food, all ingredients can be found at the grocery store. Just get him off old roy fast.

Answer 9

Sorry, but the dog food doesnt "sound" healthy. Do you have chicken thighs at home and rice? Try giving ur puppy some boiled chicken mixed with cooked rice and steamed veggies. My dogs love it and maybe ur puppy will aswell.

Answer 10

I wouldn't trust a brand that had lots of their products recalled recently. I give my two pups dry Eukanuba, they like it because i mix in also a bit of meat (ground beef, turkey or chicken) with small veggies, but the mayority is the kibble and they love it. Before they wouldnt eat the kibble by itself, now they are eating everything :)