Best food for small dogs?

[lilmisszarah]

We were feeding our bichon Iams puppy food until a urine test shows that he had the makings of kidney stones and now he is on a prescription food until that goes away.

I read in another thread that Iams wasn't a very good kind of food. What do other people feed their small dogs? I want to feed him something better when he comes off of his prescription food.

[freshmtt]

I am glad you took the puppy off of IAMS, that food is pure crap and probably contributed to the kidney problems in your dog,

Please read this website ASAP and it can give you all the info you need to know about the commercial dog food industry.

http://www.dogaware.com

I have two mini longhaired Dachshunds and they eat a combo of dry kibble in the morning, I feed them Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium kibble and Solid Gold. They also get some Nature's Variety dry kibble, California Natural, Innova EVO. Their evening meal is raw food, chicken, beef, pork etc.. with raw bones.

Basically any dog food you find in the grocery store or department stores is crap,, it is filled with a bunch of corn, soy, wheat, which many dogs are highly allergic too, also it is filled with a bunch of chemical preservatives that are banned in human food because they have found to cause cancer in animal testings,, so why would they put that crap in pet food,,

Petco does sell a variety of the higher end premium pet food, Natural Balance, Solid Gold, can be found at some Petcos.

Please do some serious research on the commercial pet food company, it your dog already has kidney stones as a puppy, I am sure the food had a major factor in that..

The commercial dog food, all the IAMS/Eukanuba, Purina, Alpo, Old Roy, all that stuff is garbage...... It is like feeding Frito corn chips to your dog. It is filled with mostly corn and corn meal, dogs are not meant to eat corn, they are carnivores and their diet should mostly contain meat..

sorry to go on a tangent, but please stay away from IAMS!!!!!!!

[dave]

I have been feeding Life's Abundance and have been very satisfied with it.
With the proper feed the coat and skin will improve tremendously. If your animal has any kind of an odor, the proper food will either reduce or eliminate that also. Also be careful of the quality of the treats you feed That also will make a big difference.

[Courtney&Henry]

I feed Innova to my terrier and he does very well on it. It took me awhile to find one that he liked and that seemed to work well for him. My friend has a Wheaton that has urinary issues and was recently switched to Innova with good results.

My mom's dog (a springer spaniel) also had urinary problems (chronic infections/leaking) and she was also put on a hills prescription diet by the vet. I did some research on what was in the vet diet and it was just awful. Besides being full of filler it also had some preservatives that were proven to cause urinary trouble. My mom switched her to Solid Gold (hundnflockn formula) which has ingredients in it to help urinary issues (cranberry, etc). The springer didn't have anymore urinary issues after the switch. Might be worth a shot for your pup.

It's amazing what a good diet can do to improve health problems.

[opokki]

My favorite brands are Innova and Timberwolf Organics.

[applegayle]

I have a very finicky 8 pound llasa who won't eat anything! After much trial and error she is now eating begrudgingly, Royal Canin for small breeds. In addition I add 1/4 can Wycomb turkey or beef because her brother, an allergic Havanese, can only eat pure food with no additives. He is on Science Diet ZD because of his allergies. Meal time is a nightmare with these two!

[lilmisszarah]

I talked to my vet about Iams and he said that there is no way that Iams puppy food caused Henry's kidney stones. He said that some animals are just pre-disposed to have stones just like humans. He also said that he feeds his dog and cats Iams and they are perfectly happy and healthy. My parents also feed their dog and cats Iams and never had any adverse events.

I have a wonderful veternarian and I trust his judgement. I think when Henry is off of his prescription food that is helping to break up the stones so that he can pass them, we will return to feeding him Iams.

[Kaybie's Mom]

Check out this website. You can click on each food and scroll down and it gives detailed information about why the food is rated as it is. I feed my dog Canidae.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php

[SPARTAN1266]

Simply put lilmiss, the main ingredient should be some type of meat not corn and such. Why? If the main ingredient is corn for example, your dog will not absorb most of the food you are feeding him/her. So, if you feed your dog a dog food that has the main ingredient beef, chicken, whatever, your dog will absorb more of the food. This can be a big plus if you think about it. You would actually go through less dog food, and less of that stuff in the back yard you have to clean up.;) Which brand? That is all a matter of opinion...

Oh and about what your vet said...I rescued a german shepherd from a rescue group and thought she was a bit skinny. I took her to the vets 3 different times asking about it and the vet said " oh she has good muscle mass". We took her in a few monthes after our normal vet saw her to a different vet because our normal vet was to busy to she our sick dog. After the other vet examined her " muscle mass" he said there was a big problem. We told him the other vet said it was fine and he just went quiet and said nothing. Our dog never came home from the vets that day because she had advanced untreatable cancer...just because a vet said something doesn't make it gospel. Trust me on that one.

[DiggityDogs]

I don't think Iams is a horrible food, in fact my boxer had bad bad gas for a long time and finally his stomach settled down on Iams. I don't know why, but it worked for us. I've since switched to solid gold, primarily for the digestibility of it. I noticed a HUGE change in his coat and overall appearance health wise within three bags of solid gold. The bottom line is that foods like Iams will sustain your dog, they may very well be healthy and happy, but there are better alternatives with less fillers. I always say grain free is better. Think about it in terms of people. If kibbles and bits equals eating MacDonalds every day for the rest of your life, how do you think your dog would feel? A raw diet would be the equivilant of us eating a freshly prepared healthy meal at home, with high quality packaged foods ranging just below that, Iams sits in the middle in between kibbles and bits and a good quality premium food. I personally wouldn't go back to feeding it, but I usually tell people if you're happy with the results of the food, and don't think that the benefits are worth looking into something else, stay with what you've got. Staying on Iams would be better for your dog that switching around every time you get a chance.

[Jessica_zero]

My small dog (about 5 lbs lhaso apso terrier mix) is a very picky eater probably due to his abuse early in his life. I found that he love Dick van Pattens Natural balance dog food rolls Zero loves the Lamb flavor but there is also beef and turkey. If you inspect the laber you'll find the ingredients to not beging with soy or corn like other foods but starts with real meat and animal organs not by products. I buy them at petco and they usually have small sizes for sampling. about a week after i started feeding him this brand I noticed that Zero's feces were more easily passed (he had some constipation problems) and that they hardly smelled at all and just looked more healthy over all. I would recomend this as a healthy food that stays true to its claim of being great for picky eaters. Hope this helps anyone with a picky eater like my Zero.

[lilmisszarah]

I just went and read my bag of Iams and the first ingredient is Chicken. Doesn't sound that bad to me.

[freshmtt]

I just went and read my bag of Iams and the first ingredient is Chicken. Doesn't sound that bad to me.

Read the rest of the ingredients very carefully, IAMS is not a good food to be feeding your dog, you can see from most of the posts here that everyone else agrees,

one poster said that IAMS will sustain your dog, like eating McDonalds but it is not the best food in terms of keeping the dog it tip top health for the rest of its life.

IAMS has corn, soy, wheat, and animal by-products in it,,

I fed my dachsunds IAMS puppy for three months until I realized how bad the food was then I switched to Solid Gold and a raw diet. They are doing much better on the other food after I switched from IAMS. Any food company that uses corn and soy products as fillers are not concerned about the best health needs of a dog.

Proctor and Gamble bought the IAMS/Eukanuba company back in 1999 and drastically changed the formula, now it is filled with a bunch of cheap junk

Read your label better than that,, your dog deserves more than what you are giving him..

Also Vets are not animal nutritionists,, they don't take Animal Nutrition classes in vet school, they are fed that line of bull about IAMs and Eukanuba and Purina being good food cause the company reps come to the vet schools and boast how good their dog food it,,

I had the exact same mindset about IAMS when I first got my pups, until I spent months researching the commercial dog food industry and realized how crappy those foods are that have corn, wheat and soy and animal by-products in it..

go to this website and do a food comparison, you can click on all the ingredients and the site gives you very detailed information about what is good and bad about each ingredient in every food.

http://www.naturapet.com

[Sweettuth]

Here's a website where consumers review dog food: http://www.rateitall.com/t-353-dog-food-brands.aspx

Here's another website it's for Life's Abundance which the founder of my rescue group uses. It compares Life's Abundance to other foods. http://www.dog-food-nutrition.com/comparison.htm

My mother used to feed her dog Science Diet, because that's what the vet recommended. My dog has also had allergy problems, he has been given a shot of cortisone, he was given Sudafed every night when his allergies where bad. Then when I started fostering, the lady in charge told me that Science Diet is crap, and I researched different dog food, and decided upon Natural Balance Fish and Potato, which is for dogs that have allergies. Once my dog started eating this food, his allergies greatly improved. The vet never recommended this because they aren't taught what good dog food is, not to mention they sell Science Diet at the vet, so of course they are going to be biased.

The second ingredient in Iams is:
Corn Meal - the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm. A lot of dogs are allergic to corn.

The 4th ingredient is Chicken By-Product Meal: consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.

[yorkiepomlove]

I have been feeding my three kids raw foods and veggie mashes for the past couple of years. After researching pet foods I was so appalled at the sugar, salt, fat and indigestible "meals" that I had no choice but to go to raw foods.
Also, if you learn a little about a dog's digestive tract you will find that it is short and sweet just like him. This means that they are built to quickly break down foods and absorb them.When a dog eats mostly processed corn and wheat and soy his digestive tract is stalled. These foods tend to take a long time to be digested and often are not. Meats on the other hand will break down quickly in the digestive tract and most of the nutrients will be absorbed and utilized. I'm giving a simplistic overview but I don't want to write for 3 hours. lol
Please look into "Give Your Dog A Bone" by Dr. Ian Billinghurst and "Raw Dog Food" by Carina Beth MacDonald.
The former is a more informative and persuasive book while the latter is easy to read and simplistic with some great recipes.
There are tons of books by doctors and other educated researchers out there who have nothing to gain by telling you the truth about commercially available "pet foods" except maybe a couple bucks in royalties.
I hope that more people become interested in what they are actually feeding their beloved family members. It doesn't make you a bad person to feed them what you think is good for them, but it can't hurt to do alittle research on the matter. Don't listen to the crap the pet food companies try to sell you. They are making a bundle and don't care that their chow is just barely adequate as nourishement for your pet.
I've had two cats and two dogs die from cancer and diabetes from eating "dog food". One cat I gave insulin shots to twice a day for 3 years before he passed. I apologize if I sound like I'm either preaching or ranting but this is a very personal issue for me.
Good luck to all on their personal journey.

[jolene]

what do you guys think of nutro?

thats what i feed my doggie

[ClarkFarm]

I know many people on here are advocates for the raw (BARF) diet but it should be noted that there are some serious issues that need attention in order to make sure a dog will benefit from such diet.
In raw diets, a dog can have serious iron deficiencies, leading to the dog becoming anemic. There are also serious doubts as to the calcium/phosphorous ratio. It is recommended now that dogs on raw diets have blood work done annually and a canine nutritionist be consulted every few months to review the current diet and suggest ways to improve.
Also, these raw fed dogs should be on vitamin supplements.
I personally disagree with the raw diet. I have refrained from adding my own two cents about it before but I think its important that readers realize the raw diet has some serious nutritional concerns that can lead to permanent health problems.
Dogs are not wolves. They have evolved over hundreds of years to become dogs and can very well still have obstructions and/or tears from eating bones.

I like Nutro for a good dog feed and its price is very reasonable. They have had clinical studies done to prove their feed is beneficial and balanced.
That is the key word that makes a good diet... balanced.
Nutro does have a specific formula for small sized dogs as well.

[Miska]

what do you guys think of nutro?



IMO, Nutro is a decent food.. I wouldn't consider Nutro a Premium kibble..

:)