imported_Snickers Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Until now, we have been feeding my 5 month old yellow Lab/Beagle mix puppy dry dog food. Today we bough Snickers some canned dog food and some kind of meat. Is any other food okay for Snickers? ~*~*~*~Starz~*~*~*~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDG Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 you will only know by looking at the labels and checking the individual ingredients. just like with dry foods, there are horrible canned foods as well as really great ones. overall canned foods are more expensive than dry on a daily feeding cost basis, but they have far less preservatives since the canning process itself is a method of sterilizing and preserving. what kind of meat did you buy? human grade (which is generally okay but needs to be balanced with calcium), or a ground mix especially for pets? there are also good and bad ones. there are many ways of feeding a dog, dry food, canned food, home cooked or raw, or a mix of some or all of them. it's up to you and what you feel comfortable with, and of course mostly what your dog does well on. i used to feed dry with some canned as an "extra" but gave up on the canned since it's just another preprocessed product. these days i feed about 2/3 dry and 1/3 homemade, using any meat, vegetables, fruits, grains etc. that i also use for cooking "people meals". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kendalyn Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 There are almost as many ways to feed your dog as there are dog owners! You really have to find the way that is best for you and your dog. There are some really knowledgable people on here about dog food so you're in the right place for your questions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajiesMom Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 TDG - Should it be in the same feeding? Or can it be in a different meal of the day? TIA! "What kind of meat did you buy? human grade (which is generally okay but needs to be balanced with calcium)" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDG Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 i feed it in the same meal, mixed in. :) i know my dog probably doesn't care what he eats when, but i tend to give yogurt, oatmeal, fruit etc. in the morning (just because that's when i eat them too, yogurt with fresh fruits is a nice breakfast :)), and meats, vegetables etc. in the evening. it doesn't really matter though. some people say feed kibble and "people food" in different meals because they digest at different rates, but the same would hold true when a dog eats "prey" in the wild. the partially digested stomach content, organs, muscle meat, bones, cartilage and skin of prey animals digests at different rates as well. my experience is no stomach upsets and pretty uniform, firm stools. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briards Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 stay away from tins and cans of all sorts! those are the worst food you can feed, they contain 90% water and in the 10% of 'something there' they cotnain at least 30-40% preservatives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDG Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 [quote name='briards']stay away from tins and cans of all sorts! those are the worst food you can feed, they contain 90% water and in the 10% of 'something there' they cotnain at least 30-40% preservatives[/quote] that is actually a pretty incorrect statement. i wonder where you got those numbers from. canned foods tend to contain a lot less preservatives (even the cheaper brands!!!) than dry foods, simply because the canning process sterilizes the food and results in a vacuum sealed environment, so preservatives aren't necessary. they also contain less flavorings because there is no need to disguise large amounts of grains as something "interesting" - the meaty consistency, whatever it contains, smells a lot more appealing all by itself already. moisture content ranges from about 74% in the high-quality products to about 82% in poor quality grovery store brands, but the average hovers at around 78% with both high and low quality products represented. canned foods (even the low-quality ones) tend to contain fresher, higher-quality ingredients than dry dog food. they almost always have a higher percentage of "real meat" than kibble (limited to a maximum of about 50% simply because otherwise the processing equipment clogs up). if someone is uneducated enough to feed their dog one of the poorer quality brands (which is sadly the majority of dog owners, those who aren't exactly dog enthusiasts), feeding a canned product is more likely to keep their pet healthy overall than feeding the kibble. poor quality kibble is loaded with bone meal (which often has high amounts of heavy metal contamination), poor quality fats like recycled restaurant grease, colorings, chemical additives and preservatives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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