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What does everyone feed their dogs?


Aroura

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Guest Anonymous

Gizmo...I'm definately going to check the back of the bag. I was always told that it was a good dog food, so I never bothered checking. Both my dogs were fed that prior to me getting them so I never switched. But thanks for the info.

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Guest Anonymous

My breeder told me that science diet is one of the worst foods to use... animal byproducts, and pesticides... of course she also told me that alot of other top brands are a poor food as well, but she was definatly agenst science diet. I have never personally used it as we have used Iams since I was able to move Hazel off puppy chow and the former brand the breeder was using (ah here is the pamphlet... it's call National and looks like rabbit pellets) I have heard bad things about Iams as well... but until I hear what...? Plus Hazel looks great, her adult coat is comming in so shinny and fine, it's a joy to pet her! (unless of course she's found something to roll in! :D )

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Guest Anonymous

I feed my two Queensland Heelers Nutro adult formula in the green bag. Generally as a rule, if you can purchase a dog food from a gorcery store, IE: Frys, Safeway, Albertsons ( supermarkets) then it most likely had ingredients that you dont want your dogs eating. They use a lot of by products and a lot of grains to fill thier foods to make them 'cheaper' for grocery stores. You want to stay away from foods that contain a high amount of grains because dogs are carniverous and they are used to very complex diets, or at least they are supposed to. Nutro has little to no by products and they use rice which is better than grains. Also, it may seem like spoiling your dog to give it 'human foods' but just like us they need a variety of foods to stay healthy. So it isnt a bad thing to splurge every other day, and give them healthy alternatives to thier regular food. Such as oatmeal, cottage cheese, eggs, red meats, fresh fruits and veggies, and other fresh natural foods. You can experiment to decide what your dog preffers, but ususally giving small portions of these types of food can help you dog lead a longer a healthier life. :D Of course these are just my opinions. But my dogs have food out all of the time, eat moderalty, and enjoy that specaial treat a couple times a week. Thanks for listening.

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YES, Mei Mei, I, too, cook for my dogs and feed them OMH Wellness. I have become very conscientious about what I'm feeding my critters. I did try the BARF diet on one of my little allergy dogs and she became horribly ill from salmonella, so you are right to be concerned about handling raw meat. Granted, many dogs do fine on it, but many do not. Unfortunately, mine didn't. I thought I was the only person here feeding Wellness and supplementing with COOKED food. :D

Not to be a real downer, but Eukanuba, despite it's high price, is not any better, nutritionally, than many of the cheaper store brand foods. We call it "high priced garbage." Sorry. :(

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[quote name='Mei-Mei']I feel so lonely!
Am I the only person who feeds her dogs meat, bones and vegetables? I'm not talking about leftovers, I cook meals especially for them. Usually I throw in a cup or two of Eukanuba. I didn't like the BARF diet because I'm kinda funny about raw meat, so I adapted the diet and my dogs have done quite well on it. I wouldn't recommend it though, because it's darned expensive.[/quote]

I used to cook for Tessa when she was younger, she grew up on home cooked meals until I couldn't find the time to cook anymore. Also there was so much controversy about raw vs cooked meat and how much meat they should actually be eating, balancing the food, getting all the nutrients and etc etc etc that I switched to commercial food for an easy way out!!!
I do want to change my dogs diet so they are getting a better diet with more meat, but its extremely difficult with the budget I'm on, being 19 and currently job hunting I'm rather broke at the best of times and spend a majority of my pay on my dogs as it is.
I considered cutting out the wet food from their diet completely and just feeding a premium quality dry food, thinking that may be cheaper... until I looked at the price of the better quality food!!!! No way I could afford that with the amount my two dogs eat.
Well, after alot of thought I've decided I'll still feed the normal PAL dry food, as they seem to be going well on that, but rather than feeding commercial wet food, which contains meat as the prime ingredient, yet is still packed with unessissary fillers etc, rather, I will feed a variety of chicken necks, chicken wings, chicken legs, liver and fish heads, as well as dry food. All raw, as Tessa has always done well on it and I'm a strong believer of raw foods (if it suits your dog). All human grade food, fresh, nutritious and working out probably less than feeding canned food.
I will also add yoghurt and cod liver oil to their diet, fresh fruit and veg and apple cider vinager to their drinking water.

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Aroura, here is something you might not have considered when looking at labels. I noticed you said you couldn't really afford a "premium" brand with the amounts of food your dogs eat. Do you free feed? Meaning do you just leave food available at all times? I found out that, if you compare the feeding recommendations on the labels of food, often the recommendations of cheaper food... the feeding amount... can be up to FOUR times more than is recommended for a higher quality food. So actually, if you feed the recommended amounts, you might actually not have to spend much more to feed a higher quality food. Most of the cheaper foods and many of the self proclaimed "quality" brands use a lot of fillers, so it takes much more of that food to get any nutrition at all. Make sense? I don't know what food is available where you are, but, where I am, it really doesn't cost me that much more to buy a high quality food IF I feed it correctly and don't just leave it out.

Just some points to ponder... 8)

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Mei Mei... since you asked, LOL :lol:

Expensive does not necessarily mean better quality. Just because a food is high priced is no quarantee that it's not garbage (Science Diet and Eukanuba being some of the worst offenders of duping customers with that tactic, IMO). However, by the same token, quality does not come cheap. It's just a matter of doing homework, finding out what canine nutrition is all about (it can be debated and, of course, I still have a lot to learn) and learning what's REALLY in the food you choose to feed. As far as personal choices go, I really like the OMH Wellness (what I feed mine), 3 Dog Bakery, Solid Gold and am sort of checking out Flint River Ranch (undecided, but looks promising). I used to consider Nutro as an alternative to the Wellness I'm feeding only because Nutro is so much more widely available, but was disappointed to learn of their deceptive advertising and that it also contains sodium pentobarbital (the drug used to euthanize animals). Anyway, that's my $.02 since you asked... :wink:

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[quote name='Horsefeathers!']Mei Mei... since you asked, LOL :lol:

Expensive does not necessarily mean better quality. Just because a food is high priced is no quarantee that it's not garbage (Science Diet and Eukanuba being some of the worst offenders of duping customers with that tactic, IMO). However, by the same token, quality does not come cheap. It's just a matter of doing homework, finding out what canine nutrition is all about (it can be debated and, of course, I still have a lot to learn) and learning what's REALLY in the food you choose to feed. As far as personal choices go, I really like the OMH Wellness (what I feed mine), 3 Dog Bakery, Solid Gold and am sort of checking out Flint River Ranch (undecided, but looks promising). I used to consider Nutro as an alternative to the Wellness I'm feeding only because Nutro is so much more widely available, but was disappointed to learn of their deceptive advertising and that it also contains sodium pentobarbital (the drug used to euthanize animals). Anyway, that's my $.02 since you asked... :wink:[/quote]

No, I don't free feed, I like to keep track of exactly how much my dogs are eating and don't like food sitting around all day. I know exactly what your saying about quality over quantity, before I got an income and could buy my own dog food dad fed Tessa on No Frills (really cheap) dog food. Since I have switched to Pedigree PAL she has cut back by about HALF her food intake without loosing any weight whatsoever!!!
I will, however, have a further look into the price of other brands. What is your oppinion on Iams? or Supercoat? None of the brands you recomended in the above post are available in Australia. Any other oppinions?

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Guest Anonymous

Hey the other day I went to PetsMart to look at the diffrent kinds of dog food and the indgriedets and I really want to try a bag of Bil Jac because I have heard soo many good things about it. And so I flipped over the bag and the first one was chicken by products. I was kinda suprised. Is that the only kind they put out besides puppy and reduced fat? I use Pro Plan now and they just seem to poop so much, other than that I am 100% satisfied. But Pro Plans #1 indgriedent is beef.. so woudn't that be better than by proudcts? Or does it not really matter only that it is not corn.

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[quote name='beagle88']Hey the other day I went to PetsMart to look at the diffrent kinds of dog food and the indgriedets and I really want to try a bag of Bil Jac because I have heard soo many good things about it. And so I flipped over the bag and the first one was chicken by products. I was kinda suprised. Is that the only kind they put out besides puppy and reduced fat? I use Pro Plan now and they just seem to poop so much, other than that I am 100% satisfied. But Pro Plans #1 indgriedent is beef.. so woudn't that be better than by proudcts? Or does it not really matter only that it is not corn.[/quote]
Meat is always better than corn or grains as a prime ingredient, and rice is better than corn. As a rule, chicken or lamb is better for dogs with allergies etc, but beef has more iron in it, as well as fat. I'd stay with the Pro Plan if I were you.

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Just found this site; [url]http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/dept_brands.asp?dept_id=1&prodtypepid=93[/url] worth having a look at, I found it very interesting, especially how Hills has meat as its prime ingredient for the Adult food but not in puppy food. Wonder why that is? I think Hills Science Diet Adult turns out to be best value for money though, I must say Bil Jac does look rather healthy, alot of meat as prime ingredients. Still, it is rather expensive, can't get it here in Australia anyway.
Well, check out the site and let me know what you all think :)

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Went looking through all the shops, vets and petshops today. I think I'll start feeding my dogs Supercoat, its the only food with meat as its prime ingredient under $3 per kg. Next cheapest with meat as a prime ingredient was Pedigree Principal, at $3.45 per kg and the Pro Plan at $3.85 per kg. Brands such as Ekanuba and Science diet came in close to $10 per kg, which is way out of my budget but I will definatly choose Science Diet when I have more money after the lengthy conversation I had with the vet. Another brand I had never heard of before, Nutrience, sounds absolutly great, I've talked my sister into giving me money each month so I can buy it for her Poodle cross. Its about $7 a kg. Has anyone heard of this brand before or had any experiences with it? It sounds choice. For the moment though my dogs are sticking with PAL, with a bargan I cant refuse. I think the shop overstocked and the 15kg bags are going for $13, thats about half price!!!! Anyway, off to town now to buy some dog food!!! I'll let you know how the Nutrience Super Premium dog food turns out :D

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Aroura,
In the uk its pedigree chum complete, everywhere else its pedigree pal, you can buy pal complete over here it is made by pedigree masterfoods
but is another brand, as is Chappie and lots of others.
Tell me can you get advance out there, its a bit more expensive but is in the premium class of dog food, chicken and rice based.
Roo

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Guest Anonymous

Yes..I read it fast though because my mom wanted to use the phone. Its horrible. Why would they do that? Did I miss something or did it tell any of the brands of dog food that does that.. acctually I will go read again.

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Guest Anonymous

Oh man! That is just plain horrible, sick, and nasty. I wonder where these plants are and how we could stop them? :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

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Guest Anonymous

Ok.. I have to say one more thing than I will shut up. Re-read the topic title. It says "what does everybody feed their dogs" And.. well now we know. Thank you sashagirl for posting that link.

The hidden world to what we feed our dogs.......what we really are giving our beloved pets every day..........


sorry everybody I just had to say that

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Guest Anonymous

Hey, wait a %$@! minute! I ME ME ME ME I I I have been preaching about this very thing for two months now! About the sodium pentobarbital found in commercial foods. I've posted the links and the research and the exact companies tested that contained the drug. I'm invisible!! Waaaaahhhhhhhhhh! :cry:

I mean, hmmm... imagine that... :o

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Guest Anonymous

I dont want to say that my brand is better than yours.
But, you guys should check out the ingredients of Innova. I believe someone had listed a web site that lists the ingredients for many brands of dog food.
In the [b] Puppy Innova [/b] the first [b]3[/b] ingredients are turkey, chicken and chicken meal(dont know what is considered 'meal').

[b]HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY :D :D :D :D :D [/b][/b]

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Guest Anonymous

I just have to say this about the "pet by products" in pet foods. My father in law just opened a pet crematory in the south just a few months ago and it has been a roaring buisness dispite the negetive thoughts of friends and family. (If you met Royal you would understand that he's always getting these crazy ideas and then some how pulling them off... I can't even begin to tell you of some of them!) He most often cremates pets that people do not want back, and I always thought it was funny that somebody would spend $50 US to have the pet cremated and then not want the ashes back (personally I wouldn't want the ashes, but I wouldn't cremate my pet, I like to put them in our personal graveyard...) I mean I would think they would want something right...... Well now I know why people would want thier pets cremated. This also assures that pets dont' end up in the dump to spred disease. I think the ashes that are not returned do go to the dump, but not as a diseased animal, or something that could potentially carry disease. The county that is across the colombia river from the crematorium has contacted them to contract for cremating the animals they euthenize... and astonishing 900lb of animals... :cry: I often wondered what they did with the animals before my inlaws got into this and to hear that some of our beloved pets go to dog food us just unbarable!!!!! :evil: :evil:
I am not advocating cramations or anything, like I said I prefer to burry my pets, but I would if I had no other option, just to know it was sanitary and that my pet wouldn't make it to dog food...YUCK!!!! :-?

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Roo,
I did look at Advance yesterday, it does seem like a good dog food, but is even more expensive than science diet. I'd love to feed it to my dogs, but it would cost me so much I wouldn't have a spare cent to spend on anything else, like worming tablets, obedience/agility classes, treats, vet visits or even a trip to the movies for myself!!! No doubt, thats what I will be feeding when I have a little more money to spare, but with my two big dogs it does add up a bit. For the meantime I'll have to settle on the next best, affordable thing. Supercoat sounds like the best value for money, with chicken meal as the top ingredient as well as being affordable, more affordable even than some of the brands with something else as the top ingredient. Do you know anything about supercoat?
Underdog,
Chicken Meal is the dry and ground clean combination of flesh and skin with or without bones, but exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails. Much better than by-products.

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Guest Anonymous

[quote name='sashagirl'][url]http://www.fuzzyfaces.com/lfood2.html[/url]

Ok guys, you really have to check out this link. It is full of facts.

Did you know that in some dog foods there is actually remains of euthanized dogs and cats. (I always wondered where they went.) This is definitley a site you will want to check out. :x[/quote]


The majority of the dogs that are euthanized at the animal shelter in Los Angeles, California end up as dog food. Most of the large cities send the dog and cat carcasses to the dog food companies to be used as dog food.

Old Roy (brand dog foods) is listed as one of the top ten dog foods that contain ground up dog meat. Nutro and Pedigree is on the list, too.

There is a good book called, "What your Pets (dogs?) are Dieing to Tell You" ------ something like that.

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[quote name='sashagirl'][url]http://www.fuzzyfaces.com/lfood2.html[/url]

Ok guys, you really have to check out this link. It is full of facts.

Did you know that in some dog foods there is actually remains of euthanized dogs and cats. (I always wondered where they went.) This is definitley a site you will want to check out. :x[/quote]

OMG!!! After reading that I'm not sure what I'll feed my dogs!!! A fresh meat diet is so expensive, don't know if I can afford it, but thats horrible!!!! Wonder if the kangaroo tails they sell here have all those chemicals in them? People dont eat them anyway, so there'd be no need for it, maybe I should feed more of them...

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