What do you know about dog food?

wandajune6 · June 2014

I'm in love with Maury, our new furry friend. He's a 1.5 year old pitbull and we got him last week. I am not a dog fan but he's rapidly becoming my favorite man in the house!

Maury was eating Pedigree at the shelter. They sent us home with some and I bought another bag while I figured out what to feed him. He's eating it now and seems happy but his behavior suggests that he's not feeling great. He's got loose stools and keeps eating grass. It's not good. He's a laid back boy who sleeps a lot but I'm wondering how much of that is his nature vs. him not feeling well. He's very skinny and the shelter agreed that he needs to be fattened up. We're taking him to the vet at the shelter tonight but I worry about unbiased opinions about food given that the operation is sponsored in large part by Pedigree.

So what do you feed a dog? Pedigree gets lousy reviews because it's full of fillers. There are all sorts of fancy dog foods out there that are all natural but and low on fillers but they're very expensive. I'm also reading lots of review sites and am not sure which ones are actually reputable. When I posted a request for ideas on Facebook I keep hearing about dog foods that get bad reviews or have tons of recalls.

Any help would be appreciated! I'm clueless and worried about my boy!

jdluvr06 · June 2014

I give my dog blue buffalo and supplement it with meat a couple times of week. That is what my vet recommended and it seems to work well for my pooch.

JasperandOpal · June 2014

I give my dogs blue buffalo too. They really like it and can both be a little picky so once I find one that works, I stick with it. I try not to treat my dogs too often, they get two bowls of food (one morning, one evening) because this is recommended for dogs of their size and they get after breakfast which is actually a dental chew to keep their teeth nice. Otherwise they really only get treats when other people give into their big puppy dog eyes. My FI is a big culprit and I will have to train him out of this once we are living together. If my dogs get too much in the way of treats/human food they definitely aren't their chipper selves.

KPBM89 · June 2014

We have tried several different wet and dry foods with our dogs. They eat wet food in the morning and dry food at night or during the day.

They love the Beneful food for their dry food a lot. As soon as I would pour that for dinner, both of them would eat it immediately, and my boy dog is very particular. I think their favorite dry food is Bil Jac though. We don't buy it often because it's pricier, but we got it for them when they were puppies because it was easier for them to digest and they absolutely loved it. We happened to be at a Petco when a Bil Jac representative was there and let them try it. When there was a Blue Buffalo (which is supposed to be really good for them) rep there on a diff occasion, they wouldn't go near it.

For wet food, we buy Pedigree cans just because they carry them at Sam's Club and our dogs seem to like them. Not near as much as they like Target brand Boots and Barkley filet mignon and porterhouse cups, but our Target no longer carries those. If they aren't eating wet food from cans/ cups, I cook them some chicken.

It's hard to find the right food for dogs because some are very particular, and some will eat anything; some foods are really good for them, and some they just genuinely like to eat.

ETA: Your dog is adorable! And I love his name! My brother has two pits and they're big softies.

penguin44 · June 2014

We feed our dogs Orijen. We like the protein percentage and vegetable percentage. We also don't give our dogs treats very often. Well except for meat and raw veggies. They have a really great diet.

The food is more expensive, but you don't have to give them as much because it has so much protein. when a food has a lot of filler, it isn't really doing anything for the dog. We give our 50-60 lb dogs 1 cup of food a day. We would need a lot more Pedigree.

Also, my dogs love their food. They will not eat cheap food or cheap dog treats. It makes the people at the vet sad when they try to give my dogs treats. They just sniff it and look at it.

beethery · June 2014

Our Chocolate Lab, Daisy, gets a couple of different kinds of NutroMax (alternated daily between 3 flavors) and boiled hamburger/rice every other weekend as a treat.

lkristenj · June 2014

I had the same exact experience! I adopted my dog, he was fed Pedigree. I thought, "Why not keep him on it?" So I got some and decided he needed better food.

So, now I buy Precise brand "Chicken and Rice" formula for moderately active dogs. Precise does have other kinds like Holistic and other flavors, but I have fed this one for 3.5 years with no issues. It does have some fillers, but not a lot and is generally healthier than anything I could buy at the grocery store without breaking my bank.

I buy a 44 lb bag every 5 weeks for about $65. There is only one store in Houston that sells it (that I know of) so I do have to travel a bit to get it, so I don't know how available it would be to you. Also, that store has a program where if you buy 10 bags from them, the 11th is free. I'm on bag #7 now. Come on free dog food!

lkristenj · June 2014

I also want to add that I have 3 dogs (two 50 lbs and one 30 lb) so they go through food fairly quickly.

And, (I know I said this before) pit bulls are so wonderful and I love Maury from his photos!

MairePoppy · June 2014

Are you sure you bought the exact same formula that they were using at the shelter? Those bags look so much alike that it would be easy to confuse them. By any chance have you given Maury a chewy rawhide or real meat bone? Sometimes chewing on stuff like that can overstimulate their digestive tracts, resulting in loose stools.

Every dog that I've owned has enjoyed eating grass, some more than others. As long as you don't treat your grass with pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer, it shouldn't hurt him.

We feed our dogs Blue Buffalo Wilderness dry food and assorted Blue Buffalo canned food. We are careful about the treats we buy, too. If it doesn't say manufactured in the U.S.A. or Canada, we don't buy it. Many items that were recalled were made in China. We also give them whole, raw carrots, and frozen snap peas and beans for treats.

Inkdancer · June 2014

All I know about dog food is that dogs need to eat food to stay alive. Hope your furbaby feels better soon.

lyndausvi · June 2014

We feed both dogs Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon (it's grain free). Bag lasts about 3 weeks. They both do well on that. The bulldog also gets Nature's variety raw venison or rabbit. They both get raw meat occasionally.

NavyBlue143 · June 2014

He may be stressed from the new environment. Or he may have worms. We use Purina One because one of the dogs has a corn allergy. More quality ingredients, while still being affordable. We have 3 dogs so we can't do the pricier, better brands.

lkristenj · June 2014

I won't buy any treats from Milo's Kitchen or any "Chicken Jerky" dog treats, regardless of where it's from.

When the whole chicken jerky treats thing went down, Milo's Kitchen was still advertising for them, which made them completely lose my trust (not that I ever bought their treats in the first place) and now I roll my eyes whenever I see one of their ads. For those that may not know, chicken jerky dog treats, especially ones from China, were actually warned against by the FDA for being linked to unexpected canine deaths. Hundreds of them. Never buy chicken jerky treats (though treats made in the USA might be okay). I just can't trust them after that.

My dogs also like carrots. Never feed dogs grapes or raisins. I have two dogs that try to munch on foliage and one that never does. Canned pure pumpkin (not pie filling) is also good for dogs with diarrhea, upset stomachs, and for constipation. It both helps firm stools and softens them. I swear by adding a little bit of pumpkin to help things along and the dogs love it.

beethery · June 2014

lkristenj said:

I won't buy any treats from Milo's Kitchen or any "Chicken Jerky" dog treats, regardless of where it's from.
When the whole chicken jerky treats thing went down, Milo's Kitchen was still advertising for them, which made them completely lose my trust (not that I ever bought their treats in the first place) and now I roll my eyes whenever I see one of their ads. For those that may not know, chicken jerky dog treats, especially ones from China, were actually warned against by the FDA for being linked to unexpected canine deaths. Hundreds of them. Never buy chicken jerky treats (though treats made in the USA might be okay). I just can't trust them after that.
My dogs also like carrots. Never feed dogs grapes or raisins. I have two dogs that try to munch on foliage and one that never does. Canned pure pumpkin (not pie filling) is also good for dogs with diarrhea, upset stomachs, and for constipation. It both helps firm stools and softens them. I swear by adding a little bit of pumpkin to help things along and the dogs love it.

My mom was TERRIFIED by the chicken jerky thing.

She now makes her own dehydrated chicken treats for their dog and he is OBSESSED. All you have to do is say COME GET A CHICKEN TREAT and he'll come running from wherever he is, even if he's clear across the neighbor's giant field. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he ran up to the door just from my TYPING it.

lkristenj · June 2014

@beethery - Mine can be the same, but not about food. It's the B-A-L-L. All you have to do is say the word and he will spend half an hour looking for one (or anything close to one, like a Hello Kitty keychain on your little sister's purse) for you to throw. Needless to say, we have all the tennis balls locked up in a drawer, only to come out for special occasions. He is nuts for them and unfortunately, does not share, thereby causing arguments with FI's dog who also does not share. Dog drama. He doesn't get as nuts over other toys so they can play with a Frisbee just fine. Just no balls.

Speaking of special occasions, today marks this dog's fourth "Gotcha day" or the anniversary of when he was adopted. He was approximately 3 when we adopted him so I also call his gotcha day his birthday and can now call him 7-years-old. Perhaps he will see a B-A-L-L tonight.

AzAnnie · June 2014

All of our fur kids are on Iams and have been since they were puppies. Our vet is always impressed with how healthy their coats are.

kaos16 · June 2014

When we adopted our guy he had loose stools and are grass. It turns out he had worms. Pretty prevalent on shelters it seems. He was better after some meds. We switched him to a brand called I Love You....... I had never heard of it, but it gets good reviews and Scraggs loves it. We changed his food cold turkey because we had no clue what he was being fed at the shelter (drama..... Don't ask). If you have the option to transition from one brand to another, ease him into it. Give him 1/4 new, 3/4 old for a few days then 1/2 1/2 for a few, and finally 3/4 new, 1/4 old before getting to all new. That should help his stomach adjust too.

APDSS22 · June 2014

Our half pit eats the same food we were already feeding our mini schnauzer. Nature's Recipe. We get the largest bag about every 5 weeks. They both like it quite a bit. They get wet food very rarely for a treat because I don't want it messing with their teeth. I've also heard Blue Buffalo is good.

The general rule is if you can buy it at the grocery store, you shouldn't feed it to your dog.

penguin44 · June 2014

Forgot to say that when our dogs have stomach issues they go on a boiled chicken and rice diet. Then we transition them back to normal food gradually when their stool starts looking normal.

CamiSelene · June 2014

We give our fur babies Actrium (spelled "Actr1um").... it can be found at Walmart and was ranked quite high in good quality food by a veterinarian website.

d2va · June 2014

og Food Brands

Premium*- brands that have no corn, by-products, or other “fillers”. These brands generally have a reputation for good quality.

Acana
Addiction
Applaws
Artemis
Avoderm
Blue Buffalo
By Nature
California Naturals
Canidae
Castor and Pollux
Chicken Soup
Earthborn
Fromm
Go!
Halo
Hill's Ideal Balance
Holistque Selects
Honest Kitchen
Innova
Instinct
Natural Balance
Nature’s Variety
Now!
Organix
Orijen
Merrick/Whole Earth Farms/ BG
Pepperdogz
Pinnacle
Primal
Solid Gold
Stella and Chewy's
Taste of the Wild
Timberwolf
Wellness
Ziwi Peak

Acceptable* - These foods contain corn, by-products, or other lower quality ingredients in small to moderate amounts.

Authority
Eagle Pack
Bil Jac
Eukanuba
Iams
Nature’s Recipe
Nutro
Royal Canin
Science Diet - Nature’s Best
Purina Pro Plan & ONE beyOnd
Wysong

Poor*- These foods contain mostly corn, wheat, and by products. These brands also contain artificial colors and preservatives. These foods contain more bad stuff than good.

Alpo
Beneful
Beef N More
Ceasar
Chef Michaels
Evangers
Gravy Train
Kibbles and Bits
Nutrish
Mighty Dog
Pedigree
Purina Dog Chow
Purina ONE
Science Diet
Pedigree, iams, or any dog food that you can get at a supermarket is garbage.

I have an American bulldog. I feel her Merrick grain free ( any of the flavors except chicken)

foods by category:

jdluvr06 · June 2014

@d2va where did you find that list if you don't mind me asking? Do they also have a list of cat foods. I need to find new food for my cats because they've been having some tummy issues.

ScoutF · June 2014

@wandajune6 I mentioned this in another thread this morning, but I'd take the dog to the vet pretty quickly to get tested for worms. Our puppy came from a shelter (and a shitty one at that) and she had two different kinds of worms and a parasite. She was on antibiotics from October to the end of January. I hope this isn't the case with yours.

We feed our two Blue Buffalo for puppies, but we just switched to a different formula. The blue package gives Loki horrible gas. Hopefully the lamb and oatmeal will be better.

FiancB · June 2014

I skimmed. It looks like d2va posted a pretty good general list. Good rules of thumbs: if you can buy it at the grocery store, it's crap. If it contains the words "meal" or "by-product", it's crap. If corn is in there, it's crap. If meat isn't one of the first two ingredients, it's crap. If it has cutesy shapes or colors, it's crap. Pedigree is some of the worst crap you can buy.

I have heard good things about Blue Buffalo but it wasn't so popular when I had dogs. I mostly fed Natural Balance. I tried Nutro once, a good food, but my dog was allergic and her face blew up like a balloon. So even with quality foods there can be some trial and error.

And thanks for rescuing, especially a pitbull!

Sugargirl1019 · June 2014

We feed Raider Royal Canin for Shih Tzus!

We started him on Blue Buffalo, but he had the loosest, god-awful-smelling poppies in the world, like 3-4 times a day. Also very dry flaky skin and hair falling out. So we switched to Royal Canin. His poopies are solid and not smelly and he goes about 3 times but at least they are small! His hair is so much better - healthy coat, soft and shiny and less dandruff.

We were told he probably had a nutrition deficiency caused by feeding him Blue Buffalo.

d2va · June 2014

jdluvr06 said:
@d2va where did you find that list if you don't mind me asking? Do they also have a list of cat foods. I need to find new food for my cats because they've been having some tummy issues.

You can essentially use the same list for cats. It's a list from a pet nutrition thread that is from something awfu.

food is usually trial and error. Do you feed only dry for the cats?

i have 2 cats and i switch up their dry food all the time but they aren't sensitive at all. I feed the one can of wet food every night.

I alternate between really good food and blah food for the cats because the good food makes them so fat lol. I free feed them.

Also for the OP when you are a feeding a high quality food you can feed less. When it's low grade corn, or is filled with meal by product you actually have to feed them more in order to get the right nutrition.

A lot of people i know with bully breeds really like taste of the wild and blue diamond.

My dog is 80ish pounds all white (hello skin issues! ) and she did not do well on Wellness. She has been on Merrick for pretty much a year if not a bit longer. We figured it could be the chicken as it seems a lot of dogs have issues with it.

Like i said above food is about trial and error. Some foods may not agree with Maury (wonderful name btw) but in time you will find something that is good for him.

Also yay for adopting a bully breed you are awesome in my book.

d2va · June 2014

I feed lily 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups at night. A 25 lb bag will last us a little over a month.

d2va · June 2014

@jdluvr06. Found one for cats

Premium Canned Foods -- These foods are very low in carbohydrates and very high in protein. They also use excellent ingredients (no corn, soy, byproducts, or anything like that). Generally <15% of the calories in these foods come from carbohydrates, which is what your cat is designed to eat.

Blue Buffalo
By Nature (95% Meat formulas)
California Naturals
Chicken Soup
Innova
Innova EVO
Merrick
Nature's Variety Instinct
Solid Gold
Tiki Cat
Wellness
(While technically not “canned”, most of those fancy dehydrated/freeze-dried cat foods that you add water to probably belong here.)

Good Canned Foods -- These foods are mostly a little higher in carbs and a little lower in protein, or they use some lower-quality ingredients in relatively small amounts. But they're still really good foods.

Authority
Avoderm
By Nature Organics
Fresh Pet
Natural Balance
Nature's Variety Prairie
Nutro
Organix
Pinnacle
Purina Pro Plan
Royal Canin
Taste of the Wild

Acceptable Canned Foods -- These foods are mostly still better than dry foods in terms of nutrients, but many of them use byproducts, corn, and soy as protein sources (less digestible). They may also contain other low-quality ingredients. How good these foods are varies A LOT from flavor to flavor. If you want to know which flavors are best, 1) look at the charts (here and here) and choose flavors with the biggest numbers in the protein column and the smallest numbers in the carb column, and 2) read the ingredient labels and pick the flavors with the least gross ingredients. You should also know that most of these "cheaper" canned foods contain significantly more water than the premium foods, which means you may not be saving as much money as you think. For example, if you compare the cost based on calories (instead of ounces), many Fancy Feast flavors are more expensive than Wellness.

By Nature Goldleaf Selects
Fancy Feast
Friskies
9-Lives
Science Diet
Sophisticat
Special Kitty
Whiskas

Next: Dry Foods. (In case you missed this before, CANNED FOOD IS BETTER THAN DRY FOOD FOR CATS.)

Good Dry Foods -- These are the few dry foods that are almost as good as canned food (in terms of being low in carbs and high in protein). If it weren't for the fact that they lack moisture, these would be equivalent to Premium or Good canned foods. These foods are also extremely dense in terms of calories per cup of food, so many cats will eat 1/3-1/2 cups a day or less. In short, you're getting more bang for your buck.
(For example, if you compare the costs based on calories (instead of lbs or kgs), Solid Gold Indigo Moon is cheaper than A LOT of dry foods, including Purina, lots of grocery store crap, and almost every food on the Acceptable list. These foods are expensive by the pound, but they really only cost $6-12 per month to feed an average sized cat.)

Innova EVO
Nature's Variety Instinct
Orijen
Solid Gold Indigo Moon
Wellness Core

Acceptable Dry Foods-- These foods use good ingredients, but they're too high in carbohydrates and/or too low in protein. Nutritionally, they're not as good as almost any canned food, but you could do a LOT worse. (These are mostly in the range of 25-30% carbohydrates; there are almost no canned foods this high in carbohydrates.)

Acana
Before Grain (Merrick)
Blue Buffalo
California Naturals
Chicken Soup
Halo/Spot's Stew
Felidae
Healthwise
Innova
Nature's Variety Prarie
Pinnacle
Solid Gold Katz-N-Flocken
Taste of the Wild (Rocky Mountain Formula)
Wellness (formulas other than "Core")

Poor Dry Foods -- These aren't quite as bad as the Awful Dry Foods, but they're close. These foods either have decent ingredients but huge amounts of carbohydrates, OR they have awful ingredients and moderate amounts of carbohydrates . Most of these are also really overpriced for what you're getting.

Authority
By Nature
Drs Foster & Smith
Eagle Pack
Eukanuba
Flint River Ranch
Natural Balance
Natural Ultramix
Nutro
Organix
Purina Pro Plan (regular & Selects)
Royal Canin
Taste of the Wild (Canyon River Formula)
Wysong

Awful Dry Foods -- These foods are the Worst Foods for Cats. Awful ingredients, tons of carbs. Many of these contain the minimum amount of protein required to be legally labeled "cat food".

Fancy Feast
Friskies
Iams
Meow Mix
9-Lives
Purina Cat Chow
Purina ONE
Science Diet
Sophisticat
Special Kitty
Tender Vittles
Whiskas

More info on the canned vs. dry thing:
Dry cat foods historically have been very similar to dry dog foods, which means they're loaded with carbs because 1) carbs are a cheap source of calories, and 2) carbs help the kibble stick together in the manufacturing process. Most dogs do just fine on high-carb diets, so ingredient quality is more important in separating good dog food from bad.

Unlike dogs, cats are obligate carnivores, which means they require nutrients that are found ONLY in animal tissue. Cats need tons of protein and have no need for carbohydrates in their diets. There has been a major shift in thinking about this stuff recently. Twenty years ago, vets were taught that dry food was better. Now there's a lot of research to suggest that cats do best on high protein, low carbohydrate foods. This means canned foods. (By the way, dry food does not help clean teeth. That's a myth. The only exception is prescription dental diets (((which happen to be gross and really high in carbs))).)

Canned foods are all very low in carbohydrates and very high in protein. Canned foods also have the added benefit of forcing your cat to consume more water, which is a great bonus because many of the most common cat diseases are improved by increasing water intake (kidney disease, urinary obstruction, urinary crystals, etc.).

wandajune6 · June 2014

You're all awesome! Thank you!

We took Maury to the vet last night and were told that it's likely stress from moving but checked him for worms anyway. He has a mild case and is getting meds for it. He also suggested that we could feed him something better. He suggested Iams or Science diet- but suggested trying a few healthy options.

I previously bought him the exact same Pedigree variety- I brought the empty bag to Target to be certain! He needs canned for his meds but I'm heading to the pet store tonight to buy small bags of a few options ( listed above!) to see what he likes. I'll make sure to mix it with Pedigree too!

He's a few pounds underweight but not as bad as before though the doc said to watch him.

I still don't want a dog but I can't help but fall in love with this one!

climbingsingle · June 2014

We feed our pit Blue Buffalo.

luckya23 · June 2014

I feed my older dog California Natural Low Fat Lamb & Rice - chicken makes her fart like there's no tomorrow!

I feed my younger dog Wellness SuperMix Chicken... We just started on that though, so hopefully it goes well.

I fed my dog who passed away Wellness Senior.

It probably won't do you much good to buy several small bags - you aren't able to tell how they react until a few days after you've commpletely transitioned, so I would only try one small bag per brand/flavor at a time!

What do you know about dog food?

Re: What do you know about dog food?

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