Which dog food do you recommend?

Question

I have a 45 lb mutt (clearly a lot of Shepperd in her). She is 2 years old and currently has been eating IAMS for the last year or so and she seems to enjoy it. However, I suspect she has a food allergy due to her excessive l*****g of her front leg and her chronic ear infections (which she is on a weekly medication for). Please recommend a new brand of food that I might be able to try and slowly introduce into her new diet that may settle better with her.

Answer 1

Pedigree!

Answer 2

As more people understand the importance of nutrition to their own health, they're starting to consider what's in their dog's food bowl as well. Food manufacturers are only too happy to oblige, and the latest products are likely to be labeled natural or organic, and include ingredients said to promote health, such as blueberries and salmon oil. That said, it can still be a challenge to sort out high-quality chow from the canine equivalent of junk food.

Whatever you feed your dog should have a statement on the label saying that it was tested using AAFCO feeding trials. AAFCO is the American Association of Feed Control Officials, a watchdog group that sets food-testing and labeling standards.

Check out this site for some helpful tips:

http://dogtime.com/feeding-adult-dogs.ht...

Answer 3

I use Canidae All Like Stages for my 3 dogs they love it and look great.

Answer 4

You need to get her tested at the vets to see if she has a food allergy first before recommending food as she may be allergic to chicken or beef. It doesn't sound like a food allergy but without seeing her it's hard to tell. Perhaps look into the Hills line of foods as they have a perscription diet and if your dog does have a food allergy there may be a type of food here that would fit in with her lifestyle. Don't buy pedigree or foods from a supermarket as these are not nutritionally balanced quality foods as they are extremely mass produced much more than pet shops. Hills perscription diet is only sold at the vets but Hills diet can be purchased at specified retailers. Hills research their nutrition within their foods to be specific for each animals needs from growth to senior, from sensitive stomach to oral care, from kidney disease to weight management foods.

Have a look on the website: www.hillspet.com.

You can even give their friendly operators a call as each is a veterinary nurse and can match you up with the correct nutrition plan.

Answer 5

iams

Answer 6

Feed natural foods.

http://www.saferhorseracing.com/gpage27....

Costs less in the long run if allergies.

Answer 7

My dog has been eating Beneful healthy weight from Purina and really enjoys it.

Answer 8

Iams is a very low quality food.

Not all pet food is made equally. A lot of it is full of corn, by-products, dyes, unhealthy preservatives, filler grains and all sorts of nasty stuff. A lot of pet food companies are perfectly happy to dump cheap leftovers in. Will it kill your dog? No, it has to be nutritionally complete and safe to even be marketed. Is it healthy? Not by a long shot.

Corn is a low quality ingredient you never want to see in your pet food. Corn and low quality grains are two of the biggest culprits when it comes to food allergies in our pets.

Thankfully, there are some excellent dog foods being made these days that include organic, human grade ingredients rather than trash not fit for human consumption.

Examples of low quality foods to avoid: Anything you can find in a grocery store will be low end, Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Royal Canin, Pedigree, Kibbles n' Bits, Beneful, Ol'Roy.

Examples of high quality foods to look for: Innova, Wellness, Solid Gold, Canidae All Life Stages, Fromm Four Star, Merrick, GO Natural, Nature's Variety Prairie, Nature's Logic, Artemis Fresh Mix.

Although the high quality foods are more expensive, you're getting what you're paying for. Less filler material means more concentrated nutrients... this means you typically need to feed far less of the high quality food than you would of the low quality one. Which also means less p**p!

A great option is to go with an entirely grainless diet. Many of the high quality foods now put out grainless formulas. Some good grainless diet's include: Innova EVO, Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness, Nature's Variety Instinct, Orijen, Fromm Surf & Turf, Now! and Sold Gold Barking At The Moon, Taste of the Wild.

Some of the high end foods can be found in common pet stores. Petsmart carries Blue Buffalo products (such as the excellent grain free diet Blue Wilderness). Petco carries Wellness and Solid Gold. If you can't find a food, most of the high quality food brands have websites with store locators on them.

Remember that foods should be switched gradually, especially when switching to a higher quality one, so as not to upset tummies.

Another option for feeding dogs is to feed raw. This is something that should be thoroughly researched before being attempted:

http://www.barfworld.com/

http://www.rawfed.com/

http://www.rawlearning.com/

http://www.wysong.net/controversies/rawm...

More on dog food:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?...  (Learn how to determine the quality of your dog's food.)

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_... (Dog food reviews. Anything with five or six stars is a great food.)

Answer 9

Raw meaty bones are the best food for cats and dogs, especially where the animal is displaying signs of allergies, such as your dog. Elimination diets using commercial food can be a very long process. The problem with a lot of commercial foods is that they are bulked out with various grains, any of which can contribute to allergy problems, not to mention all the chemical preservatives, colours etc that go into these types of foods. Check out www.rawfed.com for tips on how to make this type of diet manageable and the benefits it can give.

Answer 10

I had an American Bulldog that had severe  food allergies, Both Solid Gold and Natural Balance were great. The Solid Gold Holistic Blend and Natural Balances Duck and Potato seemed the best. Most dogs can not handle Corn and Rice (main fillers). Both of these foods lacked such ingredients. The Solid Gold did have more oils which can control flaky skin  and "hot spots"!

Answer 11

You might try her on a good dry food and chicken necks (raw). other than this you could try making your own doggy stew to feed in conjunction with some dry food. Another thing to try is chicken based foods rather than beef for awhile...to much beef can be heating to the blood in some dogs which wiull cause skin irritation.

Answer 12

We just put our dog on Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul.  Our dog seems to like it and it is a healthier alternative than most grocery store foods.  I have not heard good things about IAMS, and we originally had our dog on Pedigree (because it helped shelter dogs).  When we told our vet what food we were on, they acted like Pedigree wasn't good for him so we did some research and changed his food to Chicken Soup.  You could also try Wellness, it is supposed to be a good brand.  They are a little more expensive but much healthier for your dog as most have no by-products, grains, or glutens.  Read your labels!  Good luck!

Answer 13

Eukanuba, my dogs are poodles and they been eating it their whole lives ones 18 and the other is 16, they both act like their still puppies

Answer 14

I love California Naturals.  I have a dog that licked his leg raw, had constant ear infections, and scratched himself 24/7...within a month on California Naturals, "wounds" from l*****g had healed, and he hasn't had an ear infection since.  2 of my dogs have allergies, another has a sensitive stomach...this is the only food that all four of my dogs can ALL eat.  This one is formulated for dogs with allergies-it has the least number of ingredients of any other dry food on the market (only 3 main ingredients), meaning less for your dog to be allergic to!  

Answer 15

pedigree

Answer 16

Some fantastic foods you can find at your local PetSmart or PetCo are Solid Gold (their Barking at the Moon variety is the best formula they make), Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Wellness CORE (any formula), and Blue Wilderness. You may also be able to find Taste of the Wild (any formula). Blue Buffalo is a decent food too, just not quite as high-quality as the others I listed. Still much better than IAMS.

All of these are excellent foods, but they may not help unless you know what she is allergic too. If I were to make a guess, I'd say it may be corn. Many dogs have skin problems because of all of the corn in low-quality dog food (IAMS is packed with it). None of the foods I recommended have corn in them. Chicken allergies are also common in dogs, so if you are able to rule-out corn, that would be my next suspect. There are a lot of great chicken-free foods out there. Wellness Core Ocean Formula is a high-quality, grain-free, fish-based food that can be found at most large pet supplies stores.

I personally feed Orijen, but it can be difficult to find and will usually need to be special ordered. You can't just walk into a chain pet store and buy it. The foods I listed above are readily available at most large pet stores.

These foods will all probably be a bite more expensive than IAMS, because they of a much higher-quality and much more nutritious. However, with high-quality food like this, you won't need to feed nearly as much since your dog's system will be able to more efficiently be able to absorb them (you will probably be feeding at least 1/3 less), so you will actually save money in the long run.

Answer 17

Iams is low quality, it has a lot of fillers and junk.

Here are some examples of GOOD dog foods:

* Artemis Fresh Mix

* Blue Buffalo

* California Natural

* Canidae

* Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul

* Eagle Pack Holistic Selects

* EVO

* Fromm Four Star

* Innova

* Merrick

* Nature's Variety

* Orijen

* Solid Gold

* Taste of the Wild

* Wellness

* ZiwiPeak

Or check this website; the 4, 5, or 6 star rated foods are all good foods. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_...

There is no food that is the *best*, different individual dog may thrive on different foods. What is best for one may not be the best for the next. And just because a food is good quality, it doesn't mean it will jive the best for your dog.

What you want to find is the HIGH-QUALITY food that *your dog* does best on.

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Read the ingredients before you buy.

Here is my "short list" of rules when I am looking at dog food ingredients:

1) When I chose a dog food, I chose one high meat content. I want to see preferably at least 2-3 out of the top 5 ingredients be meat or meat meal (first ingredient must be!). Meal is simply the meat with the moisture removed.

2) I want to see higher quality grains, such as barley, brown rice, and oatmeal, instead of seeing wheat and corn. Or an alternative starch/carbohydrate such as potatoes or sweet potatoes.

3) I don't want to see any byproducts.

4) I don't want to see a lot of fillers.

5) I don't want to see preservatives that are believed to be carcinogens (BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin).

6) I don't want to see artificial colorings such as the Red, Blue, and Yellow dyes.

7) I don't want to see added sugars (sugar, corn syrup).

8) I don't want to see mystery meats (meats identified only as "meat" or "poultry".)

Here is an article about byproducts:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?...

And an article on what ingredients to avoid:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?...

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Higher quality food may seem more expensive at first, but it evens out. The higher quality the food, the less fillers eaten (and therefore the less p**p comes out the other end). Your dog eats more of a low-quality food to try to get the nutrition it needs, and most of the food just passes right on through. Also, higher-quality food will make your animals healthier, so you save money on vet bills in the long run.

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What *NOT* to buy:

Stay away from grocery stores brands. They are low-quality foods chalk full of fillers, preservatives, dyes, etc.. (Grocery store foods are those like Beneful, Old Roy, Alpo, Pedigree, Purina, etc.)

Beware "premium" foods. "Premium" does not always mean good nutritionally, and is not a nutritionally high quality food. Most of these foods have the same types of ingredients as grocery store foods, just a bit better quality of those not-so-good ingredients. (Premium foods are those like Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Bil-Jac, Royal Canin, etc..)

Another thing to be wary of: A lot of vets will recommend what they sell in their office. They get profit from the brands they keep on their shelves, that's why they push it. Truth is, vet schools don't focus a lot on nutrition. It's not saying that a vet is a bad vet because he recommends those foods, a lot of vets just are told "this is good food", so they pass the message along without proper nutrition knowledge. Also, some dog food brands (like Hills) support vet schools, so vets have heard of it from the time they start college, which makes them think it's good as well.

Hills company, the makers of Science Diet, are heavily involved in vet schools. "Hill's scientists author more than 50 research papers and textbook chapters each year and teach at leading schools of veterinary medicine" (Source of quoted section: http://www.hillsvet.com/zSkin_2/company_... )

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"Big box" petstores like Petco and Petsmart rarely have quality foods. (There are some higher quality foods at those locations, but most of the foods aren't.)

* Blue Buffalo

* Castor & Pollux

* Eagle Pack Holistic Selects

* Natural Balance

* Solid Gold

* Wellness

Also, grocery stores and Walmart aren't good places to buy food either.

Your best bets for getting quality dog food are:

- small, locally owned petstores

- holistic pet food stores

- dog boutiques

- farm supply stores

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When switching foods, do it gradually. I do this over about a two week timespan:

1/4 food A, 3/4 food B

1/2 food A, 1/2 food B

3/4 food A, 1/4 food B

all food A

.