Is dry comercial dog food good for dogs or is it better to make your own?

Question

We have a miniature Daschund who is a purebred with papers and is 15 months old, we have only had her for a few weeks and we are new to owning a dog, we feed her pedigree dry food during the day and some fresh mince or a chicken neck at night. The dog food says it has all these nutrients and stuff but is it better to make her food?

Answer 1

Your dog will do just fine & be a less picky eater if you feed it NOTHING but a high quality dry or canned dog food. That way they are getting ALL of the nutrients they require. I know I will get the thumbs down on this, but when you make your own dog food there are nutrients that are left out that a dog requires, I don't care what people say.
There are a lot of "complete" high quality foods out there & Pedigree is NOT one of them.
We feed Canidae All Life Stages. It is made without any grains or fillers which can cause allergies & are NOT nutritious.
We have (8) dogs of various sizes & I cannot imagine trying to cook enough food for them because we also have (8) horses, (3) kids & a house. Besides, what if we needed to leave them in the care of a friend while we are out of town & I sure as heck would NOT expect them to have to spend that much time feeding our dogs.

Answer 2

I think it is best to feed a high quality kibble ad supplement with home cooked food. It takes a lot of time and effort to make a nutritionally balanced home cooked diet for a dog.

Take a look at the ingredients list on Pedigree dog food. The first three ingredients are Ground Yellow Corn, Chicken By-Product (The beaks and feathers, not chicken you would eat) and Ground Wheat. None of these ingredients are good.

Another food, such as wellness, has deboned chicken, chicken meal, and oatmeal as first three ingredients.

Answer 3

pedigree is a BAD food think of it like eating mc donalds and cardboard ground together, theres no real meat in there...just meat byproducts (beaks feet and feathers) and animal fat for flavour...the rest is gorn and grain fillers.

a GOOD quality dry food (you cannot buy good quality at your local grocery store and good quality doesnt include science diet, eukanuba or anything similar, these are mc d's and cardboard in fancy packaging) look for a high quality kibble with meat as the first ingredient (either meat meal or meat NOT meat by-products) and NO CORN.

these high quality kibbles are BETTER than most general home made dog foods because most people think its as simple as throwing some chicken and vegies in a bowl and tada dog food...not quite so...

if your realy interested in feeding a home made or raw diet it involves ALOT of reasech...

raw is the best
a good homemmade diet and a high quality kibble are the next best...

chicken soup for the dog lovers soul
timberwolf
canidea
merrick
royal canin
eagle pack
solid gold
nutro
and if you have a costco neerby, KIRKLAND dog food is actually a very good food at a great price!

and as a side note, papers mean nothing more than you know your dogs mum and dad are both doxies...please dont assume that papers changes its dietary need or makes your dog any more special than a mutt from the shelter...even puppymills provide papers with their puppies...

good luck with your new baby.

Answer 4

Fresh food is better IMO, but only if you put the time into making sure it is balanced. A lot of people don't have much of an inclination to learn about canine nutrition though, and I think those people are better off feeding a high quality commercial food (btw, Pedigree is not the best brand, some great brands are Innova, Canidae, etc.)

Answer 5

There's more to homecooking your dog's food than just giving it meat. It needs to be nutritionally balanced. Check out Dogster's Homecooked forum:

http://www.dogster.com/forums/Home_Prepared_Food_Recipes

If you want to stay on commercial kibble, try one of the following:

Canidae
Innova/EVO
Nature's Variety
Solid Gold
Timberwolf Organics
Wellness
California Natural
Orijen

Stay away from Iams, Eukanuba, Pedigree, Purina, Bil Jac, Kibbles & Bits, Ol' Roy, and other cheap grocery brands. These are NOT good quality foods. Your vet will probably recommend Science Diet- this is an awful food as well. Vets aren't knowledgable about dog nutrition.

Answer 6

In my opinion the best thing you could feed your dog is a raw diet of meaty bones and offal. She is used to crunching through necks so it is only a small transition for both of you!

I can highly recommend "Work Wonders" and "Raw Meaty Bones" by Dr Tom Lonsdale as a starting point for your raw research. There are several raw feeding groups on yahoo as well.

We raw feed one dog, three cats and three turtles!! Feel free to contact me if you want some more links.

EDIT - raw feeding this way is not difficult. The approximate ratio of 80:10:10 (meat:bone:offal) is averaged over a week or two, not every meal, so is not hard at all. This way your dog will have access to every nutrient it needs.

Answer 7

If the choice is between crappy Pedigree food, and a home made diet.. Then I would go with the home made diet.. Pedigree isn't fit for baiting a rat trap.. You should do some research, find out what constitutes a good quality kibble and switch up .. quick!

Answer 8

Well it depends on the kibble. I feed dry Canidae dog food with some EVO canned Venison mixed in. Both foods are high quality and all natural.

Answer 9

Premium food is better for dogs. The best brands are in particular order... Nutro, Royal Canin, Nature's Recipe, Natural Balance, and Solid Gold. All the others have by products and can hurt your dogs stomach. As a pet nutrition specialist.. I dont recommend you make your dogs food. It starves them of necessary nutrients that only a good pet food company can acquire.. such as extra linoleic acid and chicory root.

Answer 10

Talk to your vet before going to a home made diet. It more than just feeding meat. There are a lot of vitamins and minerals that your dog needs. So if you have time to make your dog it breakfast and dinner everyday!!! go for it. Otherwise talk to your vet for the best diet for your individual dog.
Natural diets are a fine line to walk and you have to be so careful follow diets that are already proven that works for dogs. It can be worth it. I don't cuz I can't even make myself dinner everyday! I feed him a premium dog food and he's healthy and not fat.