Top 5 Foods

[barbponys]

OK Jumping in what do you recommend for PUPPIES? she's 5 almost 6 months and I need to purchase asap so I can blend foods together

Adult food is fine. What brand are you going to use?

I don't blend foods either. I will just feed the new formula right off the bat. 98% of the time I don't have any trouble with diarrhea or gas.

[abman]

I do feed a 30% protein feed once in a while during hard working times or during the colder months. Ive seen many dogs live full healthy lives on 30% feeds but 42% seems to be pushing it a bit.

The thing that bothered me the most about evo was that my dog was thirsty constantly.

[Curious Pit]

What do you think of Natural Balance? http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/UltDog.html[/url]

[Sean W.]

...so I guess Purina Pro Plan puppy food is out of the question for you guys, eh? Right now I'm feeding my pups about 1 1/2 cups of the kibble and added to it is a whole raw egg(shell and all) and 2 tbsp of Land-O-Lakes powdered milk formula mixed with some warm water. I give this twice a day. Both dogs are 50lbs and are pretty active though not what I would consider "working active" just yet. From time to time I throw in some raw hamburger or chicken breast. But the added meat is rare thus-far.

I know there are some opinions out there so let me hear 'em...

[BullyBreedLover]

Barb,
What are the problems that you eventually see with the canidae? I just switched from science diet to canidae. I love it and the dogs seem to love it also....Just wondering what you ment about trouble down the line...

Sonya

[concreterose]

Barb,
What are the problems that you eventually see with the canidae? I just switched from science diet to canidae. I love it and the dogs seem to love it also....Just wondering what you ment about trouble down the line...

Sonya

I know Pat will elaborate, but I know that one of the issues w/Canidae is that they use sunflower oil, which a lot of dogs have allergy issues with. I fed Canidae for a couple months (like three) and my dogs looked great on it, but then they started chewing their feet. Other than that, I really liked it.

[X-girl]

I know Pat will elaborate, but I know that one of the issues w/Canidae is that they use sunflower oil, which a lot of dogs have allergy issues with. I fed Canidae for a couple months (like three) and my dogs looked great on it, but then they started chewing their feet. Other than that, I really liked it.

I had the same experience as Concreterose with Canidae. That's why we switched to Nature's Variety.

[millierocks]

it is really hard to find a quality kibble where i live...I did find wellness at a ryans petfood store but they are practically the only people that sell it and considering i don't drive it's pure hell trying to get there....I looked in petsmart and as far as i saw they had pretty much all crap from everyone elses stand point....their website shows all the types they sell...can someone look there and let me know if any of the foods they sell are good enough quality for millie?

[concreterose]

...so I guess Purina Pro Plan puppy food is out of the question for you guys, eh?

Here are the ingredients for the Chicken and Rice formula; not sure which you are feeding:
*Ingredients:
Chicken, brewers rice, poultry by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole grain wheat, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), whole grain corn, corn bran, animal digest, egg product, fish oil, dicalcium phosphate, salt, potassium chloride, choline chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, niacin, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite. *
P-4458
Chicken is the first ingredient vs. chicken meal. After cooking, this drops it much farther down on the list. You want to avoid any food that lists 'by-products' this could be ANY part of an animal including nails, teeth, droppings, etc. Brewers rice has little if any nutritional value. Whole grain corn AND corn bran are listed. There is no need for either one of these ingredients at all, and corn is a common allergen w/dogs. Animal digest is also suspect, as they do not specify exactly what is in the digest. You could do a lot better. Check out some of the kibbles listed here. They are more money, but the results are well worth the switch. You also will wind up feeding less, which makes them a bit more cost effective.

[Sean W.]

Are you serious when you say I could possibly end up feeding them even less than 3 cups of kibble a day for dogs their size or larger just based on the type of kibble itself? That would amaze me! Yeah, I feed the Lamb and Rice formula. How often do you guys actually feed your dogs. I've heard everything from once a day to 3 times a day to once every other day.

[BullyBreedLover]

My pit is 75 pounds she gets 2 cups a day....Same with my 68 pound shepherd and 75 pound bulldog... 1 cup AM 1 cup PM Canidae food.

[concreterose]

Are you serious when you say I could possibly end up feeding them even less than 3 cups of kibble a day for dogs their size or larger just based on the type of kibble itself?

Yup, the better quality the food, their bodies use it better. When you have a food that uses more protein sources and less grains, you provide more nutrition, so you are able to feed less.

How often do you guys actually feed your dogs. I've heard everything from once a day to 3 times a day to once every other day.

Some people feed their dogs once a day. I feed twice, an am and pm meal. I also don't have them on a strict schedule because I don't want them bugging me around when they think it's feeding time LOL Also works out better because if we're busy or I get home late or are delayed, it's not a big deal to them that they didn't eat at such and such a time. My senior dog does get three small meals a day though.

[pblove]

Are you serious when you say I could possibly end up feeding them even less than 3 cups of kibble a day for dogs their size or larger just based on the type of kibble itself? That would amaze me! Yeah, I feed the Lamb and Rice formula. How often do you guys actually feed your dogs. I've heard everything from once a day to 3 times a day to once every other day.

I have three dogs here, one is a pit bull the other two are med and small size dogs.
I feed in the morning and in the evening.
I use approx.2 cups of kibble for all three dogs, (not each dog or not each meal).
for the enitre day.

[Sean W.]

Dang. That amazes me. Full grown dogs eating only 2 cups of food a day. At one point I was giving them 4 cups a day each! LOL I was just going by what's on the bag. Plus, when everyone's to the question of how much to feed being; "every dog is different", I didn't know exactly what to do. Ok. Now I don't feel so bad like I'm starving my dogs or something. My wife thinks they look too skinny sometimes. I tell her these are game bred pits and they aren't gonna exactly look like the dogs on Animal Planet or in the show ring. I had to stop her and my niece from feeding he dogs. They would feed(i swear to you...)like 4 cups a day to the pups when they were like 4 months old. I would come in from work and they would look like little barreled monsters . I'm gonna try Timberwolf if I can find it around here(geez my dogs are spoiled). They'll be eatin the fillet mignon(sp) of dog foods while I'm eating PB&J.

[turtle]

Yes, the dogs eat less of the high quality kibbles because they get much more nutrition out of them. And you also get less poop, too!

My 50 pound grown dog only eats about 1 cup of kibble a day, 1/2 cup in the morning and 1/2 cup in the evening, she'd doing great on that. Pups do need a bit more food but you just keep an eye on them and adjust the food. I often feed a raw meaty bone in the morning, then she only gets the 1/2 cup of kibble at night.

The Timberwolf is a great food but there is no retailer in VA. You can order it on line and shipping is only $7 a bag. But if you have a Pet Supplies Plus near you, that chain carries both Nature's Variety and Canidae, both of which are much better than what you are feeding. You can try those and see how your pups do. I like to rotate foods so the get some variety, just get a big bag and when it's low, buy a big bag of a different food. The Nature's Variety is an excellent kibble and has a high meat content.


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