Shadows Mom Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Around here we have limited types of foods to feed our animals. Regular store brands, Iams, Hagen Nutrience, stuff from the vets office (which is over priced as heck.. $50 for 8 lbs!) and Royal Canin. Not really sure which is the best to be feeding Shadow. At present the breeder feeds her a mix of purina puppy chow and big red puppy. Thinking of going with Royal Canin, but could use your input too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyoBC Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Sorry I haven't seen or fed Royal Canin before. But if you read what's in it and it looks pretty good then I would go with that over Iams, Hills, and brands like that. NEVER feed Eukanuba!! Sorry I'm not more help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg+Whiley Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Hey, with my puppy, I was told just to make sure that whatever food I choose, it has some kind of meat listed as the first ingredient. Since you are in Canada, you can get a free bag of Purina One. It has meat as the first and rice as the second, then corn. http://www.purina.ca/products/purinaone/de...page=getStarted I like that or Pedegree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobcmom Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 This is a topic with which many people have strong opions. Personally, I've had 3 bcs and a bc mix (all rescues) on Purina Pro Plan. I've seen them go from various stages of dull coats and condition to shiney sleek coats and energetic dogs. There has been a noticable improvement in about two weeks. It is also nice to know that Pro Plan has not been on any of the recall lists. One owner's thoughts and experience. mobcmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Personally I would choose Royal Canin over Purina, even over Pro Plan, which is the only Purina product I would use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 I will NEVER feed Purina again after finding out that they put dead, dying, diseased and roadkill animals in their foods. Not to mention the beaks, feathers and feet! Plus keep in mind that filler things like corn, wheat and other grains are NOT a dog's natural diet, so why feed them?? Even if they say that they are using them as protein, we can all do better by our dogs than purina. There are far superior dog foods out there. The first three ingredients should really be meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobcmom Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 I dissagree with everything Beth G said and I don't know where that information come from. My expereince has been totally different. I have only had happy healthy dogs on Pro Plan, but that is what I ment about differing opions on the topic. It makes for an intresting discussion. mobcmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadows Mom Posted June 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 I knew it would be controversial hehe, but every opinion helps! Guess I should go look at the ingredients and see which is best. I get a HUGE deal of the Nutrience foods, but I'm pretty sure its corn meal based -.- Aww well. I'll go take a look! Thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiga's_mom Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 You want to stay away from corn, by-products and fillers. Tiga is allergic to corn and a lot of other things so we do have him on food from the vet. I'm in NB so I know your concern about options for food. The stuff from the vet may be more expensive, but in the long run it's not really. You have to feed less of it because there is more food in it and less fillers. You'll also notice smaller stools as well. Best thing is to read the ingrediants like others have said and make sure there's lots of meat, no corn, no fillers or by-products. I was also reluctant to feed the more expensive stuff at first because I didn't know too much about it all, but now I would never feed anything that I can buy at a grocery store or Wal-Mart or anywhere like that. I buy at the vet or at a pet food store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixie_Girl Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 I feed purina pro lamb and rice. Dogs are all plenty healthy. They also get raw meat and bones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 I dissagree with everything Beth G said and I don't know where that information come from. My expereince has been totally different. I have only had happy healthy dogs on Pro Plan, but that is what I ment about differing opions on the topic. It makes for an intresting discussion. mobcmom Many dog food companies do use "downer" animals and spare parts in their foods. If you want a dog food that doesn't you need to find one that uses human grade ingredients. Are downer animals and spare parts bad? Some. Mad Cow Disease likely developed by feeding downer cows back to cows. You just don't know what the cows have and if that could be passed on to whatever eats them. Are beaks and feet bad? I personally don't think so because they are a source of nutrients like calcium. If you gave your dog a whole chicken it would probably chew up and eat the head and feet. People get upset when beaks and feet are used because sometimes, to keep costs down, the spare parts make up the majority of the animal protein source, reducing the quality of the food. Beth is also right that grain is not a good thing to feed dogs. It's not even a good thing to feed people. Yes, some animals can survive and even live long lives on grain based foods, but many can't and most can do better on a more natural diet. Think of feeding a grain based diet to a dog like feeding a kid lots of cookies and candy with a bit of meat and a few fruits, veges and a good multivitamin. If the kid doesn't consume too many calories and is active he will likely be healthy enough, but wouldn't you rather feed your child foods like fish and lots of fruits and veges? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadows Mom Posted June 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 I've been feeding our mutt of this Royal Canin food that has chicken, beef, fish and fish meal, veggies and blue berries in it and WOW she loves it. Its sold at a local feed store, which is good as I'm very sceptical of buying grocery store brands. I've asked my vet to cut us a deal on Medi-Cal, as she makes ~$5000 off us a year LOL (we have just a few pets... down to 20 ish now, was closer to 200 at one point, tho they were mostly mice) she's said she'll think about it. The vets here stopped selling Hill's after the huge pet food recall, so I can only get Medi-Cal there. I think I'm going to be one of those over protective puppy mommies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becki's Boys Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 I have both Star and Jack on Canidae. They both do great on it and their coats are really soft and shiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadows Mom Posted June 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Hrm, here is the link to the ingedrients of the Royal Canin puppy food I was thinking of. It has corn gluten, but no actual corn, lots of meat products tho! What do you guys think? Turns out this is the company that makes Medi-Cal as well, the ingredients are similar, but the price of the Medi-Cal is almost $40 more per bag, as the vets here like to make a killing on their food. -.- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 MoBc Mom- It's ok if you don't agree with me, really. And I'm not downing you. But alot of vet's are paid to sell the "vet" foods. Doesn't mean it is good for your dog. Almost all have grains in them. All I'm saying is that a dog's natural diet does not include grains. There is alot of research that can be done on it(even on this board) and then you can come to your own conclusion. Just let me say that I don't understand why they call them "people grade" ingredients. Are we better and more deserving than our dog's of a healthy diet? Sorry guys- I'm just very passionate about this issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadows Mom Posted June 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 I sure hope my 'pets' eat better than I do! Never understood that whole "people food" line... unless they mean McDonalds or some crap that I wouldn't let my babies eat LOL, no no no must keep my kids healthy! (My kids = my 'pets') Thats why I made this post, want to make sure I'm making a good decision on her food. Need her to be a happy, healthy, energetic little ball of fuzz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie_Dog Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 I don't know where you live, exactly, but there's a Global Pet Foods (holistic foods) in Charlottetown: Global Pet Foods 405 University Ave. Charlottetown, PEI C1A 4N7 (University Ave. and Belvedere Ave.) Contact: Linda Tel.: 902-368-1326 If you already know that and can't get to it (too far away, maybe), I would go with Royal Canin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexie Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 There are lots of opinions about different feeds and they are generally based on personal experience or the experience of others. If you do some searching in the board archives, you can find some threads that point to articles that teach you how to read the labels. This is what I did. You might also want to look at some of the articles about raw feeding and homemade feed. Then you want to think about what you think will work for you. Go out and read some labels, look at some recipes, consider the opinions. Then decide what you think in your gut will be the best choice for your dog. Give it a try. See how it works _for your dog_. If the results aren't what you want or it isn't working for you, go try again. I think most of the more experienced people here will agree with this. Some dogs do well on food that others think really low quality. Some thrive on raw. Some have sensitivities that make it really difficult to find the right food. Some owners have time and a feel to be able to make balanced homemade food. Some people just want the convenience of a ready made kibble. Some do a combination. I am planning to do a combination, probably with Acana and a homemade cooked food. The logic behind raw doesn't work for me but I respect that a lot of people here have dogs that thrive on it. I may try it some day if the other plans don't work for my dog. Whatever you try, if something doesn't seem right to you, trust your gut no matter how good a choice people say it is. It might not be the right choice for your dog or for your life. Good luck finding something that works for your pup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc4pack Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Ultimately what you feed does depend on you, your dog/s, your finances, your level of comfort and convenience. http://www.dogaware.com Take a look through and you'll find a ton of good info and links no matter if you decide on kibble, homecooked, raw, kibble with fresh... under 'Dog Feeding Info'. There's also some info on other things too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobcmom Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Beth G. - Thank you for the note. I have tried to do a lot of reading, talk to many people, get many opinions, and look at results. I've usually found the answer is some where in the middle. I just had a hard time reconciling some of the information you listed. I know this can be a hot topic. I think the bottom line is that everyone wants to do what is best for their dogs and there differing options on what is best. Many of the other bc owners I know, use the brands mentioned in the thread and there are differing options as to what is a “premium” food… (but that is another discussion). I also agree with bexire, the “right choice” depends on many things and continuing to research and listen is always a good plan. mobcmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BustopherJones Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Not being an "expert" (sorry, I still can't resist the temptation), I go by what my vet recommends. Her top choices for commercial foods are Innova, Merrick, and Royal Canin; so those are what my dogs eat (in addition to the prescription foods, which are also from Royal Canin). Based on this, I would presume that Royal Canin would be a good choice. As for Purina...not in my house... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sifreynir Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Am no expert either. We can only ever go with what we feel is right. i have had alot of input from my friend who has a staffordshire bull terrier and she did alot of research into what exactly went into mass produced pet foods. Its quite sickening. I won't buy anything made by Proctor and Gamble and they make Iams. Do a search on the net for Iams and see what you come up with. I signed a pledge long ago to not purchase from this company until they stopped certain practises....aparently they haven't stopped. Generally I follow this rule...I won't feed my children or my pets anything that I wouldn't eat myself. I feed my pets (both the cats and the dog) Burns pet food. I know this isn't availabel outside the UK, but I feel there should be an equivilent food available in the US. When I look at the ingredients on Burns food...whilst the food itself doesn't look very appetising to me, in another form I would most likely eat it. The food works out cheaper than most other pet foods and in the long run it also helps save on vets fees because of its holistic approach to feeding. I would suggest researching for yourself and finding your comfort level. You may find something your conscience loves but your doggies digestive system can't stand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelb'smum Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 We feed a mix between the Costco brand Chicken and Veggie (its highly rated I guess?) and ummm.... Nurto lamb and rice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelb'smum Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Not being an "expert" (sorry, I still can't resist the temptation), I go by what my vet recommends. Her top choices for commercial foods are Innova, Merrick, and Royal Canin; so those are what my dogs eat (in addition to the prescription foods, which are also from Royal Canin). Based on this, I would presume that Royal Canin would be a good choice. As for Purina...not in my house... Where is your vet!?! I love them already ....*my* vet says I should feed...(blech) Science Diet.... (blech again) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shatchp Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Champion Pet Foods puts out a premium kibble called Orijen...they're based in Canada somewhere. No grain, and all high quality ingredients. Might be helpful... http://championpetfoods.com/orijen/products/adult.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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