Just What I Need...

[BustopherJones]

I have mentioned in the past that I mix Pedigree canned dog food with Annie's and Missy's dry food (a mixture of IVD and Innova). Yesterday, during the dogs' quarterly visit to the vet, the vet instructed us to take the dogs off Pedigree immediately, and to switch to Innova canned food. It seems that the newer formulations of Pedigree can cause a dog to become hyperactive.

 

Just what I need: a 2-year-old Border Collie with hyperactivity...

[DanaElizabeth]

Does this also apply to dry dog food? My dogs prefer Pedigree.

[Cheri McDonald]

Pedigree was purchased a few years back by masterfoods (M&M's). It is not what it used to be. You couldn't give me gorcery store brand foods to feed my dogs. There are lots of good foods out there and plenty of post here on the subject too. Dana you need to post us some pictures of your Laddie and Victoria.

[punkrockbc]

Good for your vet, if anything most vets would recommend switching their kibble to SD/Iams

 

I work at a feed store, there are lots of good canned foods that are cheaper than Innova, if that is a concern for you. Canidae canned is much cheaper. Personally, I dislike canned foods... just, the smell and how messy it is to handle, not to mention the fact that it's basically very expensive water! If you want to add good meat protein and keep a good weight on your BC's, definitely look into homecooked/raw diets. You can buy pre-made raw with pulped veggies and supplements right inside (good brands are Primal, Steve's Real Food, Natural Instinct, and Farmore, etc) and just give your dogs a meal of that a day. Gonzo has gotten to a great weight and he's much happier, healthier, and has better stamina and he's less "hyper" since switching him to half raw.

[sea4th]

I know one of the vets who was used for those pedigree commercials a few years back. One of the perks of being in this commercial was a year's worth of pedigree. To make a long story short, this vet eventually took her dogs off of the Pedigree, even though there was a garage stacked with bags and boxes of this food. Doesn't surprise me. She donated the remainder to a rescue.

 

I just picked up a rescue border collie girl who had been fed Pedigree most of her life. Her coat was shiny, yes, but she also had an extremely greasy feel to her---something else I've noticed about dogs on Pedigree. I call it a Pedigree coat. She is in a new home now, and her coat still shines, but is no longer greasy. It's now coming in soft and clean feeling. She's being fed more than better. She is being fed "good" now.

 

When I picked this dog up, they gave me more than half of a large bag of Pedigree. She never had another mouthful of that stuff since I took her. I pitched the bag. They gave me a lot of canned Pedigree. I am donating those cans to the city kennel.

 

So, does this give you my opinion of Pedigree? There is a lot better out there.

[RaisingRiver]

There is a lot better and while 'better brands' may cost more, your dogs eats less and poops less. So you're not really spending that much more.

 

I don't feed my dogs canned. Don't see the point - seems just like a human thing to do.

 

My dogs are currently on Blue Buffalo (avail at Petsmart) and were previously (prior to joining these boards) Nutro.

[Meg's mum]

Meg's first food was Pedigree coming from her breeder, but now I rotate her through foods which seems to work for her really well. The only two dry foods that she consistently likes are Precise Adult and Nutro mini bites. Oddly enough the cat has the same brand preferences. She seems to scratch less, and have more consistent poop on these brands as well, but that just may be a figment of my imagination.

[Shawna]

I fed Pedigree years ago but stopped when the dogs started having continual diarrhea. I switched and used the new brand for four years before my dogs started having other troubles. They all had to pee every twenty minutes or so, and were licking themselves far more than normal. Mom's dogs were doing the same thing so we knew it had to be the food since she fed the same thing I did. We took the worst one to the vet for tests and the vet said that there was no infection or anything, just that the urine was too concentrated which we thought was weird because the dog drank insane amounts of water and peed equally huge amounts.

 

My sister-in-law was having allergy trouble with her shepherd and started feeding the Innova and her dog was getting better. After reading a book she recommended, we switched to the Innova as well.

 

All the dogs are completely better now with the exception of the one who had the worst time of it and even she has improved dramatically. They have only been on the Innova a month, we saw an unmistakeable difference in them within the first two weeks while they were still getting a half and half mix. As an added bonus, our mini Aussie, who has stunk like dirty socks since she was a year old, doesn't stink anymore. She's seven and is acting like a puppy!

 

Also, you know the unmistakable smell of canned food when you open it, the Innova doesn't smell like that, it actually smells kind of tasty. Not that I'm ready to try it.

 

(I used the canned food for giving out glucosimine suppliment to three of the eight dogs that reside here.)

[Lunar]

My dad always buys pedigree and I have been BEGGING him for years to stop. When I was living there I would go out and buy different food. I'm going to send him all this info and try again, if he hasn't switched yet. (Any ideas on how to convince an old, stubborn man to change??)

[Shawna]

Tell him to read the book "Food Pets Die For" by Ann N. Martin. Somethings you just can't help but be sickened by.

[CoRayBee]

Originally posted by Lunar:

Any ideas on how to convince an old, stubborn man to change??

 

Keep plugging at it!! If I can convince MY hardheaded father to switch from Purina Dog Chow (not to mention stopping the yearly vaccines) anyone can do it. Patience is the key!

[Dixie_Girl]

Well, start convincing me! Cheyenne has been on Pedigree since I took her off the bottle. It was the only one she would eat. Jackson was also on Pedigree but was switched to Purina ONE for more protein/fat content.

 

Okay, y'all, educate me!!!!

[Beth G]

How is that Purna One anyhow. Is that a good or junk dogfood?

[Anda]

I just bought a small bag (4 lb) of Purina One - Adult Dog Total Nutrition - Lamb & Rice formula -yesterday and my ever moody Ouzo seems to like it. It's a Miracle!

I am tired of swiching his foods, he never seems to like one long enough. First ingredient is Lamb.

I hope he will continue to enjoy it.

[Leigha]

I feed purina one to my dogs even though it is a grocery store dog food. I kept forgetting to get their dog food from the feed store. I live in a small town and have few choices to get dog food from. My skinny GSD who you could ALWAYS see ribs is now looking like a normal dog. I can now take him out in public with out worrying someone going to accuse me of neglect. So I personally am happy about. We are going to start raising meat animals and then they will be switched to raw.

[punkrockbc]

"(Any ideas on how to convince an old, stubborn man to change??)"

 

You could always offer to buy his kibble for a month, a high quality brand that will make a difference yet is still affordable. He should see the difference just in a month!

 

We had a Rottie from rescue, he had hip dysplasia when we rescued him as a 2 year-old! He was owned by a construction worker, who allowed him to roam around and - shockingly - he was rolled over by a huge truck! The sick, sick man refused to take him to a vet, he kenneled him and let him "heal" on his own. When we got him, he hopped around on his hind legs. It was so pitiful! He was fed Pedigree and Gravy Train, he smelled and his coat was disgusting... not to mention his teeth. =x We put him on Nutro, and saw huge improvement, in everything. Within a few years, it was getting worse. Our holistic vet recommended Solid Gold kibble, and a Solid Gold joint supplement. That alone gave him 3 more years of health and happiness!

 

I've absolutely seen what good food can do for a dog, even with Gonzo. He is healthier than he has ever been at almost 5, since switching him to raw and supplementing that with Innova. Of course, grocery store kibbles could work for certain dogs. But isn't it common sense that the better the ingredients, the better the health of the dog? Dogs are built to digest meat proteins; Pedigree and Purina, with insignificant and poor amounts of meat protein and loads of corn/wheat/soy/grossness, just is not natural for a healthy dog to live off of IMHO. If your dog is healthy on whatever, that's great! =) But it would not hurt to try "better" brands (assuming no special health conditions are involved).

[Anda]

I honestly try last weekend to find some of the brands I've read about on this forum, went to Petco (small selection) and PetSmart (larger selection, still none of the brands I was looking for). I could go to a smaller petstore that I believe might carry less comercial dog food brands, but it won't be until the five bags of diferent types are gone :)Luckely I never buy large bags, since I am still trying to find the "right" one

I might try Nutro, I have a friend that feeds her Saint Bernard Nutro and she swears by it.

[MrsPalmer]

When I had dogs, I used to feed Eukanuba only then switched to purina one lamb and rice. I found them both very good.

 

Has anyone ever heard the stories/rumors about Hill's Science diet both dog and cat food causing illnesses?

I know of many people who lost pets to strange illnesses and that's what they were feeding them. Diabeties and heart problems.

Anyone familiar with this??

[2 Devils]

You can also look at the websites for the dog foods you are interested in and see where they sell it around you.

 

Plus there are stores out there that will ship the dog food. Pet Food Direct will ship food and I loved it.

[Kyrasmom]

I don't get my dog food from PetCo or PetSmart type stores. I go to the local feed store (where they have stuff for livestock) and that's usually where I find Canidae or Solid Gold or Wellness Formula, along with countless others.

 

If you do a search online, for example at www.canidae.com, they'll provide retailers.

 

Personally, I would not feed Pedegree or Purina One, yes, dogs will be fat and shiny, and some dogs will thrive on it and be healthier than mine perhaps, but I don't like the filler content. We had a dog who lived a healthy life with a beautiful coat on Alpo...but I still wouldn't use it.

 

The better brands use more meat versus filler, they don't have corn or wheat which many dogs don't assimilate well. I feel the foods should feed instead of just fatten.

 

Price wise I feel they're very competitive, you actually feed less in volume, there are IMO health benefits which cut down on long term vet bills, and the poops are better too..given that those also must be attended to.

 

Maria

[Tiga's_mom]

Someone sent me this article. Very disturbing.

 

http://www.rense.com/general70/dead.htm

[Deneen]

I've heard the best line of Nutro is Nutro Ultra (if you are limited to shopping at Petsmart or Petco). Natural Balance is also a better choice at Petsmart/Petco than pretty much anything else. All Purina, Iams, etc. have corn and wheat filler, not to mention by-product meal. When we first adopted Sarah, we had her on Purina Pro Plan puppy because we thought it was good. She had very runny stool. We found out it was full of fillers. We switched her to Nutro puppy (no corn and wheat), and it was much better.

 

As she got older, and I learned more, I found smaller pet food stores in our area that sell premium foods that have no fillers (Solid Gold, Innova, Solid Gold, Canidae, etc.). However, I had to find the right one. We tried Wellness Chicken - Sarah had terrible gas. We tried Solid Gold WolfKing; she lost the nice sheen to her coat. We ended up trying Innova Evo; I love it and Sarah loves it. Both of my dogs eat Innova Evo and do very well. I've learned that just because a food is considered "premium" does not mean every dog will do well on it. However, I will definitely always feed some type of premium food as Sarah is sensitive to fillers.

 

~Kelly Deneen

[Carson Crazies]

Dixie Girl (and others interested in Pedigree/Purina One type products), for what its worth, Pedigree would not be my choice when there are many great foods available. It contains many things that I would rather not feed my dogs (I fed it WAY back when). Basically, when it comes to kibble, it is a good idea to avoid foods that contain: corn, wheat, soy, grain fractions (ie Rice BRAN), preservatives like BHT, by-products, animal digest, etc. You ideally want to look for a kibble that has meat listed in the first few ingredients (and preferably even meat MEAL). Thing is, you won't find the best kibbles in the grocery stores.

 

I would challenge you to pull out your bag, and take a GOOD look at the ingredients. Hold it up and take a look at what this site (and ones like it) say about the ingredients. Here are some links to a good site to start understanding WHAT is in your dogs' food:

 

 

Ingredients to avoid

 

Label Interpretation

 

Identifying Better Foods

 

Just one list of good kibbles:

 

Great Dane Lady

 

Also, I think Bustopher in a previous thread has a nice comprehensive list.

 

Most of these foods have websites, and on the websites they have store locators.

 

As to what kibbles your dog will eat... imagine the difference between offering your child the option of eating green peas or ice cream. Sometimes you just have to take the ice cream away. One of my dogs was particularly food picky. The "put it down for 20 mins, then pick it back up" technique worked wonders for her. You put the food down for the dog for a specified amount of time (15-20 mins) and then pick it back up. If they haven't eaten, try again at dinner time. MOST dogs will eat after a few of these lessons.

 

Good luck in your search!

[Dixie_Girl]

Thanks Laura, this gives me something to work with! Appreciate this. Now to do research on which one!

[BustopherJones]

Also, I think Bustopher in a previous thread has a nice comprehensive list.

Thank you, Laura, for remembering me. The list is as follows:

ACANA

Blue Buffalo

California Natural

Canidae

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul

Dog Lover's Gold

Eagle Pack Holistic Select

Evo

Flint River Ranch

Go! Natural from Petcurean

HealthWise

Innova

Innovative Veterinary Diets (IVD?available from veterinarians only)

Merrick Pet Foods

Natura

Natural Balance Ultra Premium (the Vegetarian Formula is NOT recommended)

Newman's Own Organics

NRG

Prairie from Nature's Variety

Solid Gold

Timberwolf Organics

Wellness from Old Mother Hubbard

Wysong

With respect to canned food, we use it in small amounts ONLY for flavoring, and depend on the dry food for the main nutrition value; but we still want a healthy food for the dogs. Our vet specifically recommends Innova canned, but I am certain there are many others (including some already mentioned in this thread) that are also excellent. As a general observation, however, I would note that very few of the premier canned foods are normally available at the local supermarket.