What are you feeding your dogs? (clean, teeth, rescue, allergies)

[spritle]

our 3 boxers eat taste of the wild

[B K R]

I was looking at the Sam's Club inhouse brand Member's Mark dog food. The had a Lamb & Rice and a Chicken based food. The ingridient list seemed to be good as most of the items listed first were not grains. From a pricing point these looked to 20-30% cheaper than the comparable products from IAMS/Purina branded item and Member's mark mostly had similar or better % composition.

Has anyone tried these.

[Creek Hollow]

I've switched to Primal Raw. I use the grind mix and supplement.

Kibble at night and I rotate through Earthborn Holistic, Wellness Core, Wellness Ocean, Acana, Natural Balance, and Orijen. The only reason I still keep kibble in the mix is for vacays. If we're not home for any reason I want the ease of kibble.

[elston]

The vet/kennel that we use for vacations feeds "Natures Variety, Prairie" and since we go away for a month once a year.....it will make it easier on our dogs....to have them on the same diet....(last year we took in all their food.....but since we pay for theirs as part of the fee.....this will now be easier and cheaper.

And I must say they have been on the new stuff long enough to have used 15 lbs of the kibble....And The Girls Look Wonderful.....sleek and glossy coats!

[Annie3468]

Oh dear, I thought Science Diet was supposed to be a good dog food, that's what the vet sent home with the new puppy package when we decided to keep an abandoned puppy our daughter found a year and a half ago. It's not cheap either! I used to buy Iams lamb & rice formula for around $20bucks for a 20lb bag and it seemed fine for Gizzmo (our 14yo), but the Science Diet is about twice that! Like a "dope" I've been buying the Science Diet They would probably eat anything, but Sadie is a larger dog and I wanted to keep the "poop" to a minimum
Is the "Prairie" food really better for them? Do they sell it at Pet Smart or Tractor Supply?

[skel1977]

door to door salesmen

[elston]

Originally Posted by Annie3468

Oh dear, I thought Science Diet was supposed to be a good dog food, that's what the vet sent home with the new puppy package when we decided to keep an abandoned puppy our daughter found a year and a half ago. It's not cheap either! I used to buy Iams lamb & rice formula for around $20bucks for a 20lb bag and it seemed fine for Gizzmo (our 14yo), but the Science Diet is about twice that! Like a "dope" I've been buying the Science Diet They would probably eat anything, but Sadie is a larger dog and I wanted to keep the "poop" to a minimum
Is the "Prairie" food really better for them? Do they sell it at Pet Smart or Tractor Supply?

Annie..... (First....your dogs are both adorable.)

I am far from an expert on dog nutrition.....and I am not being humble....I am not at all an expert. I love dogs and have had dogs over the past 60 years. Way back years ago.....when I was a kid.....we fed the dogs pretty much with table scraps..augmented with a can of Rival Dog Food..in those days my parents had a hard time feeding us....never mind "Laddie".

Most of the time I fed Supermarket foods to my dogs....and thought I was doing well by them, and didnt know any better. Recently I had a dog who in her geriatric years developed many digestive problems along with end of life diseases.....and I had to fix her steamed ground chicken and rice. By that time I had the other one on "Nutro" which was several notches up from what she had been getting.

Then I got a new rescue pup and she came with Science Diet and I also saw that on the shelf at our favorite vet. So we switched to a Science Diet house and I felt proud that I was feeding my dogs a "Premium diet". NOT.... as I started reading I found that Science Diet is really loaded with corn (indigestible to most dogs).....hence the very large poops I had started noticing.....and I hate to say it but the lack luster coat. I asked the vet and she didnt really recommend any brand; I asked her what she fed her golden....and she said Purina One......and said....."Its Up To You! My dog looks good on Purina ..... so thats what I feed her....but its up to you.....look at your dog.....read the labels and go with your philosophy...organic or raw or grain or no grain"

That was not really helpful but it was liberating.....I read labels and threads and talked to dog owners and finally settled on "Prairie"....partly because it is what they feed the dogs where I board them for a month each year.....and I liked their promo materials and explainations. My dogs look great; I can really see a difference now they have switch over. I feed them the kibble with about a Table spoon of canned Prairie food on it.

NOW someone else on this thread said Prairie was "terrible" food and a terrible company.....but I am going with my own sense and I am watching my dogs and their coat and poops and energy and appetite tell me that its the best I have ever fed my dogs....its not cheap....but not the most expensive either. They have dealers and you can track them down on line.....but....I bet the other brands mentioned in this thread are as good, maybe better.....I go back to the original vets permission to find what seems to work for my dogs and to trust them and my own judgement....and to read labels.

[Annie3468]

Thanks Elston for the information, I will certainly start reading lables! I am embarrassed to admit that I never even looked at the lable By the way, I am looking to buy some beach-front property in Kentcky if you have some

[elston]

Originally Posted by Annie3468

Thanks Elston for the information, I will certainly start reading lables! I am embarrassed to admit that I never even looked at the lable By the way, I am looking to buy some beach-front property in Kentcky if you have some

Annie.....remember sudden changes in diet can cause digestive upset....it is always best to slowly introduce the new food....mixed with the old food.....I do a very slow taper. Don't thow away the old food.....start with 2/3 old 1/3 new and over a week or a couple of weeks increase the proportion of new to old. I had a big bag of the old Science Diet.....and am still mixing some of it in.....but at this point a very little of the old and mostly all new.

[Dusty Rhodes]

We have two German Shepherd Dogs, the little one, Jorja, is the daughter of Dreifus, our large male. Jorja weighs 75lbs. Both of their coats are sleek and silky. We have a 2.5 acre clearing out of our 11.26 acres of woods w/creek. At least 4 times a day we run them with frisbees and tennisball sized bouncy rubber balls than come with the "Chuck-it" a nice ball throwing device will launch the ball over125 yds. We also have one genuine rescue mutt-puppy, Leilu by name, linage is indeterminant, she is small, maybe 40 lbs and can, with head held high, walk under either of the two Shepherds. We have a regional agricultural co-op down here, Southern States, by name. The co-op prides itself on quality foods for all types of critters, seeds, plants, fertilizers. Their dog food, aptly named "Complete" is all we have ever fed our dogs, Dreifus is huge, he is the exactly the upper end of what is allowable for a purebred German Shepherd Dog (working dog background) His coat is sleek, his eyes clear, and he has more energy than most dogs half his size. Oh yeah, almost forgot, I hunt. Therefore, all the dogs get deer scrap and bones. I got three deer this last season, by mid-spring, there will be nothing left except what is in the freezer.