Food question

[buckleypup]

I have a beagle puppy. We've been feeding him Iams, but I don't know if that's the best thing for him. I know that what you feed dogs has a lot to do with their health, but I'm having a hard time finding any unbiased information on what dog foods are best. Any thoughts or suggestions?

[mudpuppy]

I think the general consensus is that dogs do best when fed a balanced diet that is prepared fresh at home from real meat, organs, bones, and vegetables. However, since most of us are incapable of making such a balanced diet, pick a high-quality balanced food. Dogs don't digest grains very well, so any food you pick should have meat as its first ingredient. The best commercially available foods are Solid Gold, Innova, Eaglepack, Natural Balance, Wellness, Nutro, and Pinnacle. I personally feed my dogs a mixture of Solid Gold and Nutro, and I supplement with home-made fresh food whenever I have time. Any brand sold cheaply in your grocery store should be avoided like the plague. They are mostly grains and chock-full of potentially carcinogenic preservatives. You may think the good brands are "too expensive", but think of the savings in vet bills.

[buckleypup]

Thanks for the response! Can I get any of those foods at someplace like PetCo or Petsmart? I know there are foods you can buy from your vet, but I'd rather not have to make a separate trip to the vet every time I need a bag of dog food. Why do you mix the foods? I've heard of people mixing wet and dry food. Is that what you do?

[mudpuppy]

Petsmart sells Nutro; I've never been in a Petco. I buy my dog food at a small independent pet store near my house that sells a good selection of foods. You can also buy most of these brands by mail order over the internet.

[RedCoyote]

I feed my dog Nutro Max with a supplement every time of boiled hamburger and rice. I also sometimes add egg to the hamburger/rice mixture. It might seem expensive, but I have great results...my dog is very healthy, and if the supplemental food is fed as less than 1/3 of the total meal, then she will remain so.

Oh, and just as an FYI, if your dog has an upset tummy (diarrhea) boiled hamburger and rice only is recommended as it is very bland. But they can't live on it.

Yes, they sell Nutro at Petco...I've found that both Petco and Petsmart sell basically the same things.

[Squawksx3]

Great advice... just stay away from dog food with cornmeal in them. I feed mine Science Diet :)

[DiegoDog]

I'm canadaian, I feed mine Technical or Nutram, not Iams

[bisquik]

Most of the major commercial brands are primarily corn, and ones the vet sells really aren't much better. Sure, they are the "perfect" balance of what a dog needs, but that is achieved with chemicals and cheap butcher's leftovers. I tried Purina and Science Diet with my dog, and he was stinky and pooped alot and ate a lot, mainly due to the high concentration of corn, which is has no health benefits and is just empty calories. I feed Canidae, and swear by it cause my dog runs like a well-oiled machine on it. But it is hard to find, and all the foods mudpuppy recommended are great. I just prefer to feed my dog natural food, with human grade meat as a primary ingredient and no fillers. All the ones mudpuppy mentioned are very digestible, natural, and easy to find. I don't know their websites, but go to www.canidae.com, they give all the benefits of investing in a quality natural food. And remember, cheaper per bag doesn't always mean cheaper in the end, because a dog will need to consume more of a lower quality food. Good luck!

[opokki]

I use Timberwolf Organics.

Natural Balance and Natural Blend can be found at Petco too.

[rosybug]

hi buckleypup,
You mentioned Iams, i don,t know if it is good food or not ,but about 2 month ago was a demonstration against Iams catfood in Knoxville, tennessee, because Iams laboratories keep cats in small cages for up to six years.They even remove the cats vocal cords , so the laboratory staff doesn,t need to listen to all that meowing.Has anybody else heard about that? I will never buy Iams products again!!!