Best dog/puppy food?

Question

We feed our Cocker Spaniels Iams, however I do not like what the Iams company doles to animals...It sickens me. We stopped feeding it and our dogs' coats became dull. What is another quality dog food we can feed them that doesn't torture animals? We also have 6 4wk old pups that are starting to eat food now also, so a food for them too.

OOPS...sry for spelling mistakes

Answer 1

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" and "Natural Balance" brands and Petsmart sells "Blue Buffallo", which are all quality foods, 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

Puppy food is easier to chew and has nutrients and ingredients that help the puppy ward off infection and grow. Adult dogs (ages 4-8) don't need help chewing unless they have bad teeth. They're also full grown so they don't need help with that. And the infections their susceptible to are different, as well. Older dogs (9+), do need help with chewing, but they have different nutritional needs than puppies. That's why there's different foods for different stages of life. If you fed an adult dog puppy food, they could end up gaining weight, being malnourished and getting tooth decay (since the hard kibble fights plaque and gingivitis).

Answer 3

well just to correct u iams isnt a quality food. neither is purina, or eukanuba, or science diet or anything else u see at walmart or petco or petsmart. or even anything u see on tv. some really good brands r innova, canidae, chicken soup brand and timberwolf organics.

Answer 4

Nutro Ultra Holistic, canidae, or california natural.. It doesn't have any by-products nor fillers especially euthanized dogs and all of that disgusting stuff that pedigree, iambs and other lower end dog food manufacturers use.

Answer 5

Life Abundance Dog food....

compare your brand....
http://www.healthypetnet.com/HealthyPetNet/Products/LifesAbundance/DogFoodCompare.aspx?realname=&Ath=False&hdr=&cat=0

Answer 6

A friend of mine breeds and shows standard poodles. She uses avoderm and is very happy with it. I feed my dogs Natures Variety Prairie and it is very good

Answer 7

Puppy Chow! Smart food for a Smart puppy. M M M M M....Toasty!

Answer 8

i feed my dog iams because it is the best quality for the mioney. i prefer eukenuba but it is too expensive for my big dog. an important thing to keep in mind is check the ingredients. the first thing listed should be some kind of meat rather than corn meal

Answer 9

After hearing on here how wonderful Canidae is, I got some. But my dogs won't hardly eat it.

And the cats got Felidae, and they won't hardly eat it. They demand the Iams lamb & rice.

Answer 10

eukanuba, it is a bit on the more expensive side but my dog has been eating it since he was a little puppy and he's very strong and healthy and active. good luck :)