What food?

I really don't see that as a problem. As long as you know the meat is cooked properly, it shouldn't be too bad. I feed Caliber Royal Canin. He liked it the first few months, but now he'll barely eat it. I don't know what to do, cause I still have quite a bit left...I'm thinking of mixing it with beef broth or something, but not sure if that's such a good idea? Help...Anyone? And then start switching him from that once he's running low. Seems as tho these days he only eats a bit in the morning and at night when we do our major training sessions. I try to feed him his kibble before training so he knows that it's not ALL the good stuff he's getting, but nope!! He'll only eat it if he's starving. :rolleyes2: So - I'm on the search, myself for a more valued food(in his eyes) that will last us a while. With the economy and everything being such poop, it's hard to drop almost $100 on a bag of kibble when you don't even spend that much on groceries for yourself! But - we love our dogs and would do anything for them.

I know I can go without eating for a couple days - but as long as the dog is fed, I'm good! LOL
 
I've done a lot (and I mean a lot! :dead:) of internet surfing on foods and protein levels. It seems that it's not the amount of proteins, but the quality of proteins that affect digestibility in dogs.

I also read that it's not really the protein levels in dog food that's the culprit about fast growth and skeletal problems, but the calcium/phosphorus ratio levels.

I remember seeing an episode of It's me or the Dog where the dogs (in this case, Pugs) were poo-eaters. I don't remember her switching their foods; however, in that case (and in the case of my new pup which I've broken him of) it was a case of them eating their foods so fast that their bodies didn't have time to digest it fully before eliminating. So, to the dogs, it tasted like warm dog food. :dead:

I found a website, dog food project, that address many issues with food quality and ingredients. It doesn't recommend food like Dog Food Analysis, but it gives a lot of useful information.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=protein_myth

Keep in mind that all foods will not work for every dog. Oh, how I wish there was a magical bag of food that both of my boys can handle and be the best in the market.
 
Cindy said:
used to be on natural balance chicken and rice..during melamine scare went to chicken soup for the dog lover's soul. Now on California Natural Chicken and Rice. Gavin has a sensitive tummy, so I would say he has done better on the CA natural than the others. It is harder to find, though. Have to go to the local Feed Store, as none of the pet food chain stores carry it (Natural balance is carried by petco, I think, and that was handy when I was traveling with Gavin).
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Diamond Naturals weren't part of the scare or recall, though.

And Chicken Soup is made by Diamond.
 
Wellness, my two both like it. Its a shame the vendors don't have free dog food samplers, like they have in the stores for humans.
 
sable said:
Wellness, my two both like it. Its a shame the vendors don't have free dog food samplers, like they have in the stores for humans.
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Actually a lot of the higher end foods do have sample bags. They are always trying to give me various samples at the dog food place I go to!

Indy eats California Natural Chicken and Rice Puppy food. It's kind of hard to find and the feed store I go to only had a 40 lb bag last time (for a 13 lb dog!) so I guess this is going to last us a while. I think I might switch foods after this bag is finally gone and am looking for suggestions for dogs with sensitive stomachs! :wink2:
 
Crystal1 said:
There have been a lot of other posts about dog food and nobody seems to be using the same thing. I have been researching it over the past few days. I have seen several websites that said too much protein isn't good for large puppies because they grow too fast. Also, on "It's Me or the Dog" (a dog training show with Victoria Stillwell) she had a dog that was eating it's poop and said she thought it was because it was eating a high protein/low fiber diet, when she changed it to a high fiber/low protein diet is started to eat it's own poop less often, and hoped it would eventually stop altogether. I am tired of buying food with ingredients from China that could kill my dog (a friend of mine's dog died during the first big recall). So what I have decided to do is fix a large bowl of brown rice and another bowl of barley every week and give equal portions for breakfast. Then, at dinner give our dog whatever vegetable and meat we are eating (50/50). At least I will know the ingredients are healthy enough for humans. If somebody sees a problem with it let me know. This is for a 2 year old dog.
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Where is the calcium coming from in that diet? I completely agree that human-grade fresh food is best for our pups, but if it is unbalanced (as this diet is) all the fresh-ness and wholesomeness in the world won't help. Please crunch some numbers and make sure that all of his nutritional needs are being met.
 
Thanks Indy and Chris, I had no idea. Boy our pet stores, ya want a sample, you pay for it. If this Wellness goes $8 more on the bag, I will be looking into Life Abundance and others, for the free samples.

This is getting as bad as the detergent. 300 oz for $10, now its 150 oz for $16. The vendors should be so lucky we are buying detergent, we all could just be dirty and smelly.
 
Crystal1 said:
So what I have decided to do is fix a large bowl of brown rice and another bowl of barley every week and give equal portions for breakfast. Then, at dinner give our dog whatever vegetable and meat we are eating (50/50). At least I will know the ingredients are healthy enough for humans. If somebody sees a problem with it let me know. This is for a 2 year old dog.
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That sounds like an awful lot of grain and not much meat for a carnivore. I think it's really risky to totally take nutrition into your own hands. You could end up with some really serious deficiencies.

My pup ate his poop a lot on Science Diet, which was mostly corn, still pretty often on Nutro, which was mostly rice, and the verdict is still out on Taste of the Wild and Blue Buffalo Wilderness. But that, to me, isn't a huge problem. I just try to clean it up before he has the chance.
 
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