Food advice

[shellbeme]

My favorite is Fromm, but it doesn't work for everyone. If you take a look at their ingredient list, you'll find a ton of whole foods listed instead of some meal and then a couple grains and then a bunch of stuff that no one really knows how to pronounce. That being said, sometimes the whole list of foods they use don't settle well with dogs that have food sensitivities-no one dog food is best for everyone. Still, they are my favorite, I like the four star line.

I like Nutri Source-but it does cost more than fromm (around here anyway)

The other brands I favor are not standard kibble. There are many kibble brands that are good-but they all have some reason I am displeased with them. (I'm really harsh on manufacturers though) These include:

Blue Buffalo (Overpriced)
Canine Caviar (Overpriced)
Acana/Orijen (they are starting to cut corners and putting more plant, less meat)
Merrick (I want to love them but it will take a while, they have had a rough past-however they are 100% USA from what I understand, and that is important to me)
Wellness (Overpriced and some of their products were being made at the nasty diamond plant-dunno if that is still the case)
Natural Balance (Totally NOT overpriced buy they have questionable sources for their ingredients )

For me, Fromm is still overpriced but I think it has the best ingredients comparied to the others I have seen, and the best price comparison.

But just because it works for me doesn't mean it will work for you-you'll eventually find your brand. There are other good and perfectly acceptable brands out there, but I haven't looked over all of them enough to have a definate opinion.

As for protein level, I, personally do not know the answer to that, but what I do know is that most people seem to prefer to keep protein under 30% and in fact closer to 25-28 or so. So, when you start looking at premium kibble, it can be difficult at times to find something that falls into this.

I love the website www.dogfoodadvisor.com you can sign up for recall alerts and it gives you and idea of where to start in kibble. The reviews are mostly based on ingredients-and there is so much more to dog food then what websites like these present to us so dont' get too carried away with 'omg omg I have to get a 5 star brand food!' but, it is a starting point.

[Snuggle's Mom]

Blue Buffalo is the choice for our two; Snuggles and Chrissy. And yes, it is expensive, but well worth the money since they are both doing so well on it and have no issues. There are many choices to choose from but as someone else posted, be careful with the protein values since foods with higher protein tends to put on weight.

[kaeco510]

Thank you everyone for the advice! I did check out dogfoodadvisor.com but to be honest I wasn't 100% what I should be looking for. I still have a little while before Sadie reaches the end of her current bag of food so I have time to figure it out :-) thanks again!


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[AshleyAndSophiePup]

Originally Posted by kaeco510

Thank you everyone for the advice! I did check out dogfoodadvisor.com but to be honest I wasn't 100% what I should be looking for. I still have a little while before Sadie reaches the end of her current bag of food so I have time to figure it out :-) thanks again!


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Now would be a good time to switch foods, since you still have some of the bag left to gradually mix the new food in.

The dog food advisor was great, I didn't search too much on the website, I just signed up for recall emails. And every time I get one of those emails I think "wow, I'm glad Sophie isn't on that food!" Most good is recalled due to "possible salmonella contamination" it's good to just know what food not to get for her


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[Bailey&Me]

I just remembered a thread I had posted a while back : How To Choose a Good Dog Food

It contains links to two great videos by Dr. Becker in which she talks about dog food choices. I found these videos to be extremely informative so do check them out if you get a chance!

[kaeco510]

Thank you! I will def check out the videos etc today :-)


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[LoveLucy]

Lucy is on Natural Balance, but only because she has digestive issues and needs the limited ingredients formulas. She eats the Duck and Potato and and am trying to rotate with either Potato and Rabbit and/or Sweet Potato and Fish. It is so reasonably priced it almost makes me suspicious, but it works for Lucy. If Sadie likes the flavor of duck, I highly recommend the Natural Balance treat rolls--they have the duck and potato in the roll. I could almost guarantee Sadie will love them. Lucy goes nuts as soon as she sees them. They sell little trial size rolls for $1.99 at Petco. The great thing is you can cuts these in pieces as small as you would like. They are perfect for training. Not that Lucy is really getting trained, but she's doing quite well at training ME to give her treats.