What do you feed?

[apbtmom76]

I think I stated that I feed my dogs Diamond. I have heard all the stuff well at least I think I have about Diamond, but Phoenix has been on it since he was old enough to eat solid food, even thru the recall. And it was only recalled from one of the 3 plants that make the food. ANd the food that I get down here didn't come from that plant. My dogs have never had anything wrong with them with thier food. Now I will be switching the chocolate female, Penny, food soon to a grain free food, it is from EVO. But only because it was highly recommended and she is epileptic. I am going to expierment on my dog, but if it helps then I am all for that. I had never heard of Diamond before I got Phoenix, I used to feed Pedigree. omg how bad am I. But I didn't know any better. I have done SOOOOOO much redsearch since then and have found that this is the best one that suits my dogs. Their coats are nice and shiny and they are healthy.

 

[hrd2gt]

You know, honestly, I will never knock someone for feeding grocery store dog food. Truth be told, my german sheperds were on it their entire life, except the first year (had them on eukanuba). And you know what... they lived to be 13. And my male was over 110lbs in his prime. The only thing that kept them from living longer is TX and the horrible allergies they got here (hawaii is great place for dogs )

As for your epileptic dog, if that food doesnt work out, PLEASE try natures recipe.. the lamb one. Ever since I have been feeding it to my italians, one, i been able to control their weight, and two, more MAJOR.. they have not had any seizures. Both my males have them occasionally, one less than the other... and I swear I think its the food. But nobody with italians want to experiment... they all say, ya ya food food.. blah blah... but that doesnt help

best of luck, seizures really do suck (i didnt mean to rhyme there)

**side note, i did have my boys tested to see if we can figure out why they had seizures, of course the tests came back negative... so technically my dogs dont have epilepsy. but you never know

 

[JanS]

Don't feel bad. Back when we first got our GSP in 1990 the only food recommended by most, including the vet was Science Diet. We fed that his whole life and he lived to be almost 16 years old, and it wasn't until all of the dog food recalls that I started doing all the research to find out that really wasn't a good choice. He had a big problem with hot spots, so the diet probably contributed to it, but how is a person to know? Other than that, his age spoke for itself, so as stated, if something is working well for you dog, and he looks and feels good, go with it.

The thing I hate to see is people buying the cheap junk that has no nutrition, but it fills their stomach, so they think it's fine. Over the holiday's I saw a couple of good examples when out and about and you could easily see the poor diet just by looking at the dull, rough coat, and poor condition in general....

 

[FredC]

Thats reminds me of a day shopping at sav-alot Grocery store and seen a #50 bag of Dogfood for $3.85. I couldnt even begin to guess whats in a bag of that stuff. Besides maybe cardboard.

 

[Janterra]

If I have to feed a kibble it is the Orijen fish formula.

 

[burlysoldier]

You know, honestly, I will never knock someone for feeding grocery store dog food. Truth be told, my german sheperds were on it their entire life, except the first year (had them on eukanuba). And you know what... they lived to be 13. And my male was over 110lbs in his prime. The only thing that kept them from living longer is TX and the horrible allergies they got here (hawaii is great place for dogs )

As for your epileptic dog, if that food doesnt work out, PLEASE try natures recipe.. the lamb one. Ever since I have been feeding it to my italians, one, i been able to control their weight, and two, more MAJOR.. they have not had any seizures. Both my males have them occasionally, one less than the other... and I swear I think its the food. But nobody with italians want to experiment... they all say, ya ya food food.. blah blah... but that doesnt help

best of luck, seizures really do suck (i didnt mean to rhyme there)

**side note, i did have my boys tested to see if we can figure out why they had seizures, of course the tests came back negative... so technically my dogs dont have epilepsy. but you never know

When I was 8 years old I inherited a champion field trial Lab and she was 100% Purina puppy chow then dog chow. She could pull a row boat in the water and was 80 lbs solid muscle. Nowadays I cringe at the thought but at the time we all thought that Purina was the food to give. She, sadly, mauled a burglar who made the mistake of climbing through a window on our porch. Mrs Foxey commenced the asswhoopin in a serious way. It was scary as hell to listen to as a child. Me and my bro and sis and mom were huddled upstairs while my girl put it on the line for us. Still makes me sad we had to give her up. We moved, she was super protective after this, and bit the mailman. The story ends with her being a rep for the spca and getting back with a bird hunter to live out her days. Still the best Lab I have ever known. By far. Long live Foxey!!

 

[deladobies]

You may think im nuts but My guys eat PRO PLAN ! They are doing great... I love jewels coat, and Rome is turning out to be a big boy... No problems with potty time, and the gas isnt "that" bad... (JEWEL, smelly girl)

Oh any even worse.... Max ( 14 year old Border Collie ) is eating kibbles and bits and has been his whole life.... (it's all he'll eat, serious ) he may be old but you'd never know it by looking at him... So, if it's not broken, DONT FIX IT!!! right?
I will buy that old man as many bags of junk that he wants if it makes him happy....

 

[DobieLvr]

Ernie eats Canidae - made the switch to the new just fine, but I want to lower the protein for a less hyper dog so we have switched to Canidae Platinum. We still add canned food - about a 1/4 of a can twice a day to the dry mix and mix it up really good.
Ernie gets raw whatever when we have it - and Bodacious eats raw. The GSP acts as though he is being poisoned if you give him raw bones or anything raw. He actually "gags" if he has to retrieve anything. LOL That does not include cookies each and everytime they go out and come back in!

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[VAdobertard]

I heard somewhere that Canidae is now using Diamond's manufacturing facility. I can't help but wonder how much that influenced their decision to change the formula. I have always used Canidae and am extremely disappointed with the changes to my dog as soon as they changed the food. All negative I might add. I'll try to hunt up that info about the manufacturing facility change and add it when I can.

 

[FredC]

you are correct canidae did move there manufacturing facilitys to the Diamond Plant. they said to cut cost. either way im dissapointed with there new direction. and what made the formula change even worse was the fact they it was never noted on the bag except for the ingrediants list.

 

[VAdobertard]

Ya know, it was your Canidae thread with the link to Consumer complaints that I saw the official statement by Canidae. Duh, you'd think I would have remembered that, lol.
Anyway, once they changed the formula, my dog wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole (and this dog sucks the stainless right off the steel at meal time, lol.) I switched to California Natural and he's doing pretty well with it. I did think about using TOW, but it is a Diamond food product. Not to knock Diamond. I know a lot of people who use it and swear by it. I'm just a big believer in "better to be safe than sorry." Plus I really do believe it's more than a coincidence that the Canidae formula change just happened to coincide with their switch to Diamond manufacturing facilities. Moreover, the ingredient list on the new Canidae reads so much closer to Diamond food brands since the switch as well. Just me pondering a few conspiracy theory thoughts, lol.
HAG1!

 

[megschristina]

It seems that there are quite a few foods made at diamond plants, chicken soup is made there also right?

 

[DobieLvr]

hmmm... now you guys have me wondering. Chicken soup is another Diamond product and the TOW - I tried that and not only would my dogs not eat it - that cats refused it. What is weird about the Canidae Platinum - the CATS eat it!? Yep - eat their cat food and eat the dog food as well....

 

[burlysoldier]

Orijen Large Breed puppy formula Update
Zulu has adjusted to it after the first week and he has been pooping 'logs' for around 8 days now. He absolutely loves it, more so than any of the 8 treat varieties I have ( I know he is a spoiled brat) and I just use individual kibbles for food reward. From what I have read and the list of ingredients I highly recommend it. Zulu is growing like a weed and he is two or three times as strong as when I got him. This I can validate by his tractor like ability to dig down, squeeze every muscle in his body (mainly his butt) and attempt to drag me down the street after those pigeons...
"mmm pigeons!!!"- zulu

 

[Ares]

Is there anyone here that actually feeds their dogs with meat and home kitchen food instead of dry/canned dog food?

 

[kiaransimba]

We feed Kirkland Chicken and Rice. Not the best feed out there but its better then the walmart specials...

 

[JanS]

Is there anyone here that actually feeds their dogs with meat and home kitchen food instead of dry/canned dog food?

Sure, lots of people feed a raw meat diet with good results.
There are also some good home cooked diets you can make (although I've never done it), but you have to be very careful about the ingredients that go into them, the same as needing to watch the ingredients in a commercial diet.

Our normal human table food as a whole is not a good balanced diet for our dogs.

Burlysoldier, I'm glad to hear the good results with the Orijen. I only wish it was available around here....

 

[diekrazy]

Has anyone heard of Blue Buffalo and if it is any good?

 

[hrd2gt]

i LOVED blue buffalo. and i think it ranks pretty high on dogfoodanalysis. you see the ingredients... i could eat that stuff. it got a lil high dollar for me though at the end of the year.

 

[diekrazy]

I think that is what I am going to go with since its readily available to me at PetsMart....The regular BB is rated as a 4 star and they even have Blue Wilderness that is rated as a 6 star. If I'm not mistaken they both were around the same price range...yea its kindy pricey.