Dog Food Question.?

Question

OK...so everyone has OPINIONS on what you should feed. Well, I buy food for a womand and her dogs...for reasons too long to explain...buy suffice it to say I buy the food fer her three LabX dogs.
What I buy them is the Adult Chicken formula Maxximum Nutrition from Wal-Mart.
Is that SUCH a horrid food that I should not be buying it??? Is there something else in that price range that I should be buying?? Am I OBLIGATED to buy Wellness or Innova because everyone says it is "better"???
If you were feeding someone else's dogs, would you buy the "best" because your opinion of the "lesser" foods is so bad, you could not live with yourself if you bought them such bad food????

So Jordan....If you were feeding three 80 pound dogs that belong to SOMEONE ELSE, would you STILL feed them Canidae????? They eat about three cups daily each.

The Maxximum Nutrition seems to be VERY like Purina O.N.E. The dog are doing fine.....better than if she had to buy food for them. Frankly, I have 6 dogs of my own that come first. She WAS feeding Dad's Econo-mets. The name says it all. $4.99 for 20lbs.

I was looking into Kirkland. I think I can only get it at Sam's Club, and I am not a member. MAYBE I will join again just to get the food for them!!!

Sorry...no homemade food for her!!! I really do not have the time and it would require a LOT of supervision...she is "slow". Like in "mentally challanged.

She is just mentally able to live by herself. She HAD a brother (step) who actually owned the dogs, he died. It is a case where
A. the dogs are not very social outside her property
B. the rest of the "family" feel it would be traumatic to lose the dogs...since they are her life.

SO, I got involved a year ago to help her. Get the vaccinated, nail trim, help her take care of them. She was feeding the Econo-Mets and they were having bad diarrhea and looked bad. She had NO clue and cannot afford any more than what she was feeding, and that she still was taking from her $$ to feed herself. So, I started buying her better food. When she would run out, she would eed them bread, and Spaghettio's..what ever. I have to package all the food for the dogs into baggies so she knows how much to give them. It is a pain and a lot I feel overwhelmed about it. She SHOULD be in some kind of "group" home or something.

Part of the reson I started feeding the Maxx Nut, was that our shelter gets broken bags from Wal-Mart weekly, and sometimes we get that and I give it to her, so that saves me some cash.

Answer 1

My opinion of dog foods have changed slightly. I was feeding Science Diet until I started participating on this site. Then I switched to Innova. My dogs did not have one solid stool on that food. Confused, I switched to Canidae. Same thing.

Then, one of my dog's had a stomach bug, and her vet gave me some Hills prescription RD wet food for her for a few days. That was the first time I saw a solid stool from her. I asked the vet about this, and why my dog seemed to do so much better on the Hills food, opposed to the high-quality foods like Innova and Canidae, and she said that it seemed like my dogs needed more fiber, and high-quality foods sometimes lack enough fiber.

I decided to try Nature's Variety Venison formula, as that had more fiber in it. Amazingly, solid stools!!! Short story of it is... whatever your dog does WELL on (IE: solid stools, glossy coat, bright eyes, etc.), you should keep them on. No dog food is perfect for all dogs. It's trial and error.

Answer 2

I think that I would still go with the Chicken Soup, even if the dog isn't mine. When I donate food to the pound, it is the Chicken Soup. In the long run, it runs around the same as feeding Pedigree, cost wise.

For Chicken Soup, you have to feed an 80 lb dog between 3 1/3 to 4 cups a day. 4 cups is about a pound, and at $33 for a 35lb bag, you are paying about $1 a day to feed the dog.

For Pedigree you would have to feed 5 to 6 cups a day. So, 6 cups would be 1 1/2 lbs a day. For a 40 lb bag, you will pay about $26.00. This would end up costing you about $.98 per day.

So, basically there is a difference of only $.02 a day. That really isn't much for a higher quality food.

Just a thought.

Answer 3

I'll start this by saying that I'm very into nutrition. I don't put crap in my body and I refuse to do it with my dogs. When I take them to the petstore/bank, I try to remember to take my own treats so they won't eat the junk they hand out at those places.
In your situation...You are doing this the right way. There is a trailer park that I passed a couple years ago. I saw a TON of cats wandering around. I turned around and went back. They all looked skinny. Some were feral and some were pets. Long story short.... Spayed and neutered everything I got my hands on in the trailer park. Had to trap a bunch of the cats. I released everything back there. There are several people spread around this little community that feed the animals. Since the hurricanes most of those people have a hard enough time feeding their own mouths. It wasn't just cats there multiple people with dogs. I was using canned cat food and sardines to trap the cats. I kept noticing the cats would just about fight to get into the traps. They were so hungry. Cats don't do well on scraps and rice. I now buy all the food for the cats and pretend like I'm giving some of the other people bags of dog food as gifts for watching over the colony of cats. Do I buy EVO/Wellness, etc?... NO! I get cheap pet food. It is not in my blood to buy generic stuff, but I do buy name brands that would be found in grocery stores. You do what you have to do. I see nothing wrong with providing these trailer park pets with food that I wouldn't feed my own. These animals are watched over, loved, and now fed a diet intended for them. That's better than what they had... by a long shot.

Answer 4

I know I will probably get crucified for this, but I see no problem with it, as long as the dogs are checking out to be prefectly healthy at the vet, and there are no other problems at home.

I know how much these dogs can pack away. My 5 labs go through a 40lb bag in a week and a half. I used to feed Nutro Ultra Large Breed, but they weren't always eating it and it was so expensive. SO I know feed Purina Beneful and they always eat their breakfast and dinner. The way I see it is how good is it if you can't always afford it, and the dogs aren't always eating it.

On a side note, my dogs also get a Multi-V twice a day plus fish oil.

Anyways, I think you are being very kind and considering what these dogs would be eating, there is no problem. No need to go broke if the dogs are at a good weight, are happy, and healthy.

Kudos to you for being so kind and helping out. I think you should talk to the family to see if they may be able to help this girl out with the dogs since you now have them all on a routine, that way you are not as overwhelmed.

Good Luck, God Bless, and Merry Christmas!

Answer 5

Don't worry about the name on the front of the package, do a side by side comparison of the ingredients. The food you've mentioned is comparable to better brands like Purina Pro Plan or Purina One. These meet the standards for premium quality food - so who cares what the label snobs say.

There is a lot to be gained from supplementing the diet with other natural ingredients. But let's say this is all you have the time or the means to do, is buy this premium kibble. NO PROBLEM!!!
And you'd be surprised what manufacturers are behind some of the store-brand foods. Many times you're buying the identical product for a lot less!
The ultimate judge of whether a food is good enough, is the dog that's eating it. If he likes it and is vibrant and healthy with bright eyes, good skin and coat, who's to say it's not good enough.

Answer 6

Canidae is an excellent. Food . It is very cheap.. 5 pounds goes a long way and I pay 7.99 for 5 pounds. pretty good for a high end food. Anything from walmart is junk.

Yes I would by Canidae for someone elses dog too. I actually donated six 20lb bags of Canidae lamb and rice to my local shelter. They sadly were are ushually fed iams. They deserve to get some good stuff.

If you HAVE to buy food from wal mart or the grocery store. Purina ONE is an ok food.

Additional Details Re: For them I would buy a 20lb bag. Those cost about twenty one dollars. Yes I would still buy it for them.

Additional Details #2 Re: Well read the ingrdient list. If it lists at least 3 meat sources(not by products) than I would say go for it.

ADD ON: Why may I ask are you feeding her dogs. Can she not do it herself? Is she mentally ill? is she a hobbo or something? is she handicapped? did she win a lottery for free dog food for a year? if she can't take care of HER pets herself, I would think giving the dog to a good owner.

Answer 7

Kirkland is Costco ("House" brand for them).

If the dogs are doing well, then there is no reason to change what they're eating.

My Aussie was weaned to Royal Canin puppy food and I'm in the process now of blending him to Canadae.

My 13 1/2 year old lab eats Purina One. I've tried switching him over to better food several times, but he completely turns his nose up at it and frankly, at his age, that's fine - He doesn't have much longer in this world, so let him eat what he wants! He's healthy and for his age, has had minimal problems.

Answer 8

Yea, I think if I were feeding 3 big dogs like that, I would do exactly what you are. I mean, there are always going to be those who say that their choice of food is better but you know what your checkbook says and you know better than we do if the dogs are healthy or not. I switched from purina to a higher quality food but I feed a 55 lb and 12 lb dog so that works for me. I'll still recommend my choice to people if they ask though.

Answer 9

The food you choose to feed your dogs, or this case any dogs, is a personal choice. I think you need to buy the food that you feel good about and can afford. I think some people would like to feed the best but just can't afford it and there are others that could afford the best but feed junk just to save a penny. I personally don't like the idea of getting a pet just to feed it crap, but as long as the dog is getting fed, it is a choice that is up to the owners.
Were it me, I would do what I had to do to get any dogs that I was feeding at least somewhat good food as I would feel terrible doing anything less, however, just the fact that you are buying them food at all is great. Like I said, if you feel good about what you have been buying then that is all that matters. If you are asking because you are looking for a better food, Costco's brand Kirkland is really cheap but actually fairly high quality. It's 40 pounds for like $18 bucks but they actually use decent ingredients in it and I wouldn't feel guilty at all feeding it to a friend's dogs and I am PICKY!!!!
If you can get a Costco membership, it is worth it. I think it is much better than anything at Wal-mart and it won't cost you much more at all.

I found the list of ingredients in the Costco Kirkland food. It isn't bad at all. I am actually surprised at how good it is and still so cheap - WOW!
Ingredients: Lamb,lamb meal, whole grain brown rice, rice flour, white rice, egg product, cracked pearl barley, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and Vitamin E), beet pulp, potatoes, fish meal, flaxseed, natural flavor, brewers dried yeast, carrots, peas, kelp, apples, dried skim milk, cranberry powder,potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, rosemary extract, parsley flake, dried chicory root, glucosamine hydrochloride, taurine, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, chondroitin sulphate, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite (source of vitamin k activity), riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Answer 10

I think you're doing a very nice thing, helping this woman's dogs.

Low quality food is not going to kill her dogs. It's like Froot Loops vs. Cheerios vs. Kashii. You know the good stuff, you know the not so good stuff. Froot Loops won't kill a human, but they would do better eating Kashii or even Cheerios.

Perhaps you can email one of the manufacturers of the quality dog foods and tell them the situation? They might help, you never know. Additionally, quality foods might help prevent pricey vet bills down the road.

Bottom line, feed these dogs what you want to (or what you are able to) afford. And bless you for helping this woman and her dogs.