Bad food VS Good Food

[ShetlandSheepDog]

Don't you just love the way people who buy pedigree dog foods tell you that it's the BEST dog food out there just because the vet says that you should buy a well known dog brand?. Casey eats Canidae and he never gets any wet foods, he does get his fresh veggies ( which he loves) I think im going to throw up if i hear someone try to tell me that pedigree is an awesome food. :eek:

[DiggityDogs]

OMG if I had a dime for every time a client walked into my place with a bag of beneful talking about how it's the best food there is- one even claimed that his dogs got sick on any other food and this was the only thing that worked for them! corn is like 2 of the first 3 ingredients.

[ClarkFarm]

There are many different opinions on dog diets and I think we all do the best we can for our own pets. This is a hot topic, and not one diet is complete by itself, not kibble, not raw, not any alternative of the two. The best we can do is educate ourselves on their nutritional needs and then formulate the right option based on the valid information we gathered and our own personal beliefs as well as the individual dog's particular needs. Of course, consulting with a canine nutritionist is always a benefit as well but make sure the person has the proper credentials.

I have never heard of a veterinarian recommending Pedigree. Usually it is a brand either their office is compensated for selling or a diet they have some positive personal experience with or a negative one that they advise against.

I do feel that newly graduated veterinarians have much more indepth material and case work with animal nutrition than they did several years ago. I have read through some files that had serious consequences for dogs subjected to imbalanced diets.
Of course any one advocate is going to promote their opponent's products as far worse and dig up the worse case scenarios found. It is up to us to find one that works for our dogs' needs, our budget, and our peace of mind.

[StarfishSaving]

My vet tells people to go get pedigree.

I even give him the ingredients lists of the foods I buy (like Pinnacle, Timberwolf, even Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul) and he always talks about how great they look but he thinks its overkill!

[ClarkFarm]

Does the vet actually say to use Pedigree or does he just go along with whatever the dog owner says they use? My sister will advise against certain diets but she can't very well tick off her clients.

Will you pm me the vet? I am curious who it is.

[Raye]

That reminds me of my friend who was overly worried about the ingredient list of treats she wanted to buy her cats (the treats in question did suck)... But the food she feeds is that stuff you can buy at the feed store... 50lbs for 5$ where every ingredient is a filler!

[rutylr]

Some people feed only what they can afford.
They care not for whats inside.Their dog has lived this long on it,and I'm sure their last dog did to.
Old Roy's is the one I see lots of people buy.(poop in a bag).
People need to find a food they are comfortable with and their dog does well on.Not everydog is going to do well on every food.

[GSP4619]

My vet deals with Science diet and when I had my Rottie I used it. Found out that it's not a very good dog food. So for Ava I don't use it.

[ShetlandSheepDog]

I agree that not everyone can afford a better brand of dog food. I also agree that not every dog does well on the same type of foods either ( just like us humans, we don't all like the same foods). I used to grow up with a german shepard that lived off of dog chow and lived to be 14.

I once had my dog on natural balance and he would get sick. Some dogs do good on natural balance and mine didn't.


I just don't like it when people tell me that i should feed my dog pedigree when they know it's not my choice of food, they may feed their dog pedigree and the dogs do fine, but im sure mine wouldn't since he does not digest corn very well..

I do apologized if i came the wrong way like i was condeming people for feeding their dogs a commercial brand of dog food which i would never do. :)

[ClarkFarm]

Some people feed only what they can afford.
They care not for whats inside.Their dog has lived this long on it,and I'm sure their last dog did to.
Old Roy's is the one I see lots of people buy.(poop in a bag).


An off the subject thought on this. We have three pet turkeys. The man who breeds them for meat purposes feeds 'Ol Roy dog kibble to his turkeys. He says nothing in his many years of experience has ever put weight on a turkey like 'Ol Roy.
I find that funny in a disturbing way. :p

[ShetlandSheepDog]

An off the subject thought on this. We have three pet turkeys. The man who breeds them for meat purposes feeds 'Ol Roy dog kibble to his turkeys. He says nothing in his many years of experience has ever put weight on a turkey like 'Ol Roy.
I find that funny in a disturbing way. :p


wonder how that turkey taste like for thanksgiving LoL :p

[myminpins]

Don't you just love the way people who buy pedigree dog foods tell you that it's the BEST dog food out there just because the vet says that you should buy a well known dog brand?. Casey eats Canidae and he never gets any wet foods, he does get his fresh veggies ( which he loves) I think im going to throw up if i hear someone try to tell me that pedigree is an awesome food. :eek:

Couldn't agree more!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

[tori]

some dogs do well on certain foods , even the lower end ones , and other dogs wont do well on the same foods.you have to take that into condsideration when feeding your dog.;)

[ClarkFarm]

some dogs do well on certain foods , even the lower end ones , and other dogs wont do well on the same foods

I don't know if I would say that some dogs do "well" on lower end foods. I think it is more that they may eat it without hesitation and look alright but if we were to take a look at them internally, it would be a different story. Sort of like comparing someone who eats pretty healthy to someone who eats just fast food/junk food.

[StarfishSaving]

I don't know if I would say that some dogs do "well" on lower end foods. I think it is more that they may eat it without hesitation and look alright but if we were to take a look at them internally, it would be a different story. Sort of like comparing someone who eats pretty healthy to someone who eats just fast food/junk food.

I think instead of saying they "do well" or "do poorly" that the difference is actually this:

Dogs can survive on lower end foods, but can thrive when fed a more appropriate diet.

[trainingtrixie]

my fiance's father used to feed his GSD mix Dad's Econobites or something like that....one of those 50 lbs for 4.99 brands. That dog ALWAYS stunk, his breathe was terrible, his poops were HUGE and his coat was very dull. I used to get sooo mad, but coudln't say anything (being my future father in law) He only lived to be like 8 or 9 (I know taht's not REALLY young, but all of our dogs lived to be 13+)...I'm sure that the crappy food had a lot to do with it. But like everyone is saying, all dogs are different.

[scarlett]

The best food is whatever is best for your pet. All of my animals have been on Pedigree. My last dog Shae lived to be almost 17. My dog Jack eats Beneful because he can't tolerate any other food.

It's true. I tried him on everything and Beneful is all he can eat. Go figure.

Jack will turn 9 this year and is the picture of health. No fat on this kid. He is all lean muscle and has no medical problems as of this day.

Dog food has and always will be an arguable subject. So why argue? I really don't care what someone feeds their dog or cat. As long as they are happy, I'm happy.

[DoggyMom]

Lily used to eat Beneful. We've tried several foods over the 5 years that we have had her, Eukaneba, Science Diet, Pedigree, Iams, and the Beneful so far. Now she eats Natural Balance. I looked into it and it sounded much better for her then what she has had in the past. She absolutely loves the sweet potato and lamb :D

[scarlett]

Maybe I'll try that one. Natural Balance huh? Sweet Potato? yummy. Can people eat it too? Thanks for the heads up on this one. Jack has such a sensitive tummy I'm afraid to try anything new but it sounds good and maybe I can just get a sample. Thanks again

[pbrdog]

I feed Luke Solid Gold Wolfking. It's made with Bison and Salmon. I also add a couple spoonfuls of canned salmon in his supper. For treats, he loves baby carrots. I'll hide 5 or 6 baby carrots around the house for him to find when I go to work. I'm sure he finds them within 2 minutes of when I leave, but he kind of expects me to do it. He also gets a Milkbone once or twice a day. His favorite treat though is the cookies from the cookie bar at Petco. He loves bellying up to the cookie bar there when we go to Petco. I keep an airtight cookie jar on the fridge stocked with his favorite cookies. Sounds like a real chowhound, huh? But Luke is the picture of health for a weimaraner. Very lean and muscular. :cool:

[StarfishSaving]

pbrdog, have you had a problem getting/keeping weight on Luke at all with the Wolf King? How many cups do you feed him? My Irish setter was actually getting Wolf CUB for a while and I could NOT keep weight on him- and he's not nearly as active as a working boy like Luke, I'd bet.

[pbrdog]

I switched to Millenium for a couple months, which is a little higher in fat. His stools seemed much looser so I switched back again to Wolfking about a month ago. They are much firmer now. Luke is kind of a loner dog. I was dogsitting for a freind for a couple months and would feed the dogs seperately because they wanted eachothers food. Luke is sensitive to chicken and the other dog eats Eukanuba. Anyway, he gained about 5 lbs in 2 months, I think because he would eat his entire breakfast and supper immediately when I gave it to him. Now that he's alone again, sometimes when I get home from work, he hasn't even touched his breakfast. I kind of think the climate has something to do with that too. He doesn't eat much when it gets warm out. He seems to stay in good shape with the Wolfking but I may switch him back to the Millenium when hunting season starts back up. I give him 2 cups each feeding, with some canned salmon with his evening feeding.

[scarlett]

Joel...I can just picture Luke at the cookie bar...filler up maam! He is such a beautiful dog and you take such good care of him.

[furbabymom]

I really dislike Beneful, even more than other grocery brands like pedigree ir Iams, because of all the artificial coloring to make it look pretty.
Scarlett, what kind of problems has he had with other foods? was it the runs? I know that one of my cats (thinks hes a dog hah) is very sensitive to food switches, and he has to be switched VERY slowly, more than a normal switch.
What other foods have you tried?
Not trying to put you down for what you feed, I can understand if that is the only thing he does well on, just hoping to offer some advice...I am a doggy nutrition fanatic lol

[scarlett]

No offense taken. When Jack came into our family he was on purina but he always had loose stools. As he got older, I slowly introduced Pedigree but he developed the same problem, plus he just didn't like it. I tried Iams and some other Pet Smart foods (I got samples). He either didn't like them or just couldn't digest them. Jack is part Great Dane which I understand this breed has digestive sensitivities. The beneful so far seems to make him happy and he is very healthy. He has occasional stool problems but they are usually caused from people feeding him too many treats. Jack also gets fresh meat and veggies when available from the table to supplement needed vitamins. He loves cooked veggies. I'm careful what ones I feed him.

[furbabymom]

Nutro Natural has a sensitive stomachs food. Thats good he gets fresh food too mmmm :D