Good foods, bad foods, what to believe?

[micc1]

I didn't think I would be writing about questions about foods...housebreaking, flea products, barking - but foods? Thought I had that sewn up. Then I happened to go on one of the links (dogfoodanalysis I think) and I don't know if the foods I've used were even mentioned. I found another link, and of course the foods I've used (except Blue, and I only used a bit of that - wet food - as a Thanksgiving treat) were absolutely trashed by people, although others praised them. It's hard to find anything really objective. Someone writes in saying "Ignore the manipulative people on this site who rated this poorly" and someone else writes in and says "Vets don't know anything, they recommend this because the companies pay them"...most of the people on the site say "Don't buy any food from Petsmart, Petco, supermarkets or vets" - well where the heck does that leave us? "Small independents" - what IS that? I know of no "small independent" pet store that sells these other foods - and of course even the top-rated brand (Orijen) had people who said it was terrible for dogs...anyway, when I got Sargie, they gave me Eukanuba small breed puppy kibble (and a couple cans of the wet, which he would never eat) - took him forever to take to it and he still isn't thrilled with it, but he eats it. He also gets small pieces of chicken and cheese or bits of turkey or a little bit of cottage cheese once in a while...anyway, he is just about out of puppyhood (Happy Birthday Sargie, Dec. 23rd!) and I purchased Royal Canin Yorkshire 28, which I was going to start using when the Eukanuba is gone, thinking that it would be even better, and now I read how "terrible" all of these foods are.

Does anyone know of an objective, reliable web site that rates all the foods? It seems to me that the site I used, which rates them based on whoever types in a review (including the fanatics who type in things like"Anyone who would feed their dog Iams... or any of these commercial products doesn't even deserve to own a dog" or "If you use [whatever brand] you are killing your dog" or the equally unhelpful "my dog will only eat [whatever] so it's the best brand in the universe") isn't very objective, i.e., truth may not be the result...is there any factual truth available in this arena???

[Yorkieluv]

Here's a good link: http://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1

In general, it's best to stay away from foods that contain by-products...Also, stay away from foods that contain BHA/BHT/ethoxyquuin, as these preservatives have been shown to be carcinogenic...

[chachi]

Another place you can get the better foods at is the feed stores

[SarahandElisha]

My general rule is to look for a food with as few ingredients as possible. If I wouldn't eat it or don't know what it is, it shouldn't be in my dog's food. The main (first listed ingredient) should be meat, and there should be a high quality grain such as rice. I avoid corn or other known allegens, and stay away from filler.

In general www.dogfoodanalysis.com is a great resource.

[abbie's mom]

....you could just go back to basics. A species-appropriate prey model diet .

[Ellie May]

LOL, I know how you feel. There are so many different opinions out there. I just settled on something that I'm comfortable with (homecooked). I do not have any websites to recommend, so I'm not much help. I would recommend looking up each ingredient in your dog's food individually because then people aren't saying a particular brand of food is bad. The real question is, are all of these ingredients good or safe for my dog?

Vets do not know much of anything about nutrition unless they have studied it themselves. Very little of that is taught in vet school. Even Ellie's vet says to look online because she knows next to nothing about it. After all, she is a vet, not a nutritionist. MyFairLacy (a member here) is in vet school and she has said that she gets good discounts on Hill's food and some stuff for free. They also have to sit through seminars put on by Hills and Purina, so that is why vets recommend them.

[BamaFan121s]

Originally Posted by SarahandElisha

In general www.dogfoodanalysis.com is a great resource.

I agree, it does have some great info, but the info on that site is based on the sole opinion of the site editors...you can only take that for what it's worth--one opinion.

To the OP, I understand just what you mean! I actually just posted something similar in another thread. I was once made to feel like I was poisoning my dogs be feeding anything less than a home prepared or 5 start product--against my better judgement, I bought into it and tried feeding only the 'premium' foods to my crew. A few costly vet bills and malnourished dogs later and I finally snapped out of buying into that propoganda, kicked my own butt a few times and started doing what I thought was best for my dogs.
I now feed a mixure of home cooked with kibble (not the 5 star kibble either) and supplement their diets as well. But that is what I have found works best for mine--yours may be different. I
f you are wondering how you can tell what is best for them, the best tool you can use to judge the quality if the dogs itself and how it is contributing to their overall health, weight/fat ratio, eyes, coat, skin, teeth, etc etc.
Hopefully you have a vet you can TRUST. As you mentioned, I see so many comments about how 'vets only recommend a certain food because they are getting paid to' or 'vets don't really know what is best for our pets' and these are some of the scariest, most bizarre statements to me. Alls I can say is, if this is the way anyone feels about their vet, it's time to find a new one! I'm sure it is the case from time to time....but I can't convince myself that is the case 90% of the time.
In regards to the 'I'm not eating anything if I don't know what every ingredient is and neither is my dog' argument... I'm thinking there are alot of hungry people in this world. As I type this, I'm drinking a Diet Pepsi which contains potassium benzoate and phenylalanine--no clue what in the heck that is! And don't get me started on the by-products that are in the hot dogs I chow down on every 4h of July! A dog food that only uses quality meat--ha, that's a good one. I have a mental picture of a pristine kitchen and a white-clad chef w/ a French accent cutting up only the finest, juiciest chicken breast to prepared for a bag of dog food... <sigh>
Long story short...I understand your frustration. Don't get caught up in the endless circle of 'reasoning' to try to find the perfect, ideal, flaw free well balanced diet, that everyone across the board is going to agree on and approve of for your pooch because it doesn't exist. There are always going to be pros and cons to any suggested food and those who praise it and criticize it. Figure out what your dog needs from a food and if your dog isn't getting that out of what they are eating, supplement what is missing. Try a few things and evaluate the results yourself. The end result of a 'good diet' should be a healthy, happy dog. When you find something that yeilds those results, then you have found a 'good food.'

[Yorkieluv]

Haha! Those were some good analogies, BamaFan! LOL I like those and the majority of the times it's so true!

I don't eat any processed meats including hot dogs, sausage, pepperoni, lunch meats, etc. I don't drink cokes or anything that may contain artificial sweeteners, I don't drink caffeine etc. I try to really only eat foods that I know are supposed to be healthy with the occassion ice cream!! or treat LOL I've even cut out all white things...and now buy the whole wheat versions. Brown rice instead of white rice, whole wheat pasta instead of white pasta, wheat flour instead of white flour.
I know not everyone is like that, but I just wanted to point out that there are people who try to watch every food that goes into their bodies and so therefore want their dogs to eat like that too.

[BamaFan121s]

Originally Posted by Yorkieluv

I know not everyone is like that, but I just wanted to point out that there are people who try to watch every food that goes into their bodies and so therefore want their dogs to eat like that too.

Oh you are right, there are some who are that careful about what they eat and I admit that ideally, we should probably all be more selective. But I think those individuals who can honestly say they do that consistantly, without exception are few and far between...

[diva pup]

Originally Posted by BamaFan121s

I agree, it does have some great info, but the info on that site is based on the sole opinion of the site editors...you can only take that for what it's worth--one opinion.

To the OP, I understand just what you mean! I actually just posted something similar in another thread. I was once made to feel like I was poisoning my dogs be feeding anything less than a home prepared or 5 start product--against my better judgement, I bought into it and tried feeding only the 'premium' foods to my crew.

Ok Misty now you have got me thinking and a little freaked out LOL...I HAVE to know what premium food you fed and what happened with the malnourishment, what did the vet say etc etc etc . In other words tell me EVERYTHING!!

[BamaFan121s]

Originally Posted by diva pup

Ok Misty now you have got me thinking and a little freaked out LOL...I HAVE to know what premium food you fed and what happened with the malnourishment, what did the vet say etc etc etc . In other words tell me EVERYTHING!!

Oh geez, this could get long...keep in mind, this was just what happened to mine. And, do you want the Yorkie side, or the Hound Side?

With our Yorkies, it's a little more tricky because I'm trying to satisfy more than one of them. They were on strictly Purina Pro Plan, Eukanuba and some home cooked for a while and were doing fine with it. Then I found Royal Canin YT and like a moron thought, "How perfect is this!?" and bought some. All was well for a few days, then suddenly one night, Trixie walked into the kitchen, looked right at me and pooped in the floor! Thick, runny, tar like poop. I cleaned it up, noticed she seemed like she wasn't her normal energetic self, took it to be an upset tummy from who knows what and went on. A few hours later, she did the same thing, only this time it was mixed with blood! OK, time for the ER--by this time, it's clear she is NOT feeling well at all. Well, we get there, she is very dehydrated and given fluids by IV. So, that was our one and only time trying RC YT! Tried again a month or so later with Innova and Chicken Soup...same thing happened but with Lexi too this time, add on allergies (paw biting and ear scratching) only this time, thankfully I was more cautious and stepped in before another ER trip was needed. Tried again a week later thinking they just needed to adjust to the new food. Nope, still couldn't do it. So, back to the drawing board. Eventually, I got them on a regimen of Eukanuba, Science Diet and home cooked, Flax Oil supplements and was happy with the results.
When we brought in Chipsie, she wasn't so fond of the mixture, so we changed it up some. I wanted to start giving Glucosamine for coat growth, plus the benefits of it being good for joint health, which Trixie can't handle because she is allergic to shell fish and test have not proven it safe on brood bitches. Soo....as it stands, The three now eat a mixure of mostly home cooked foods, Science Diet Nature's Blend, Eukanuba, Nutro Natural which has the Glucosamine that Trixie CAN handle and flax oil. Chipsie eats the same except no Nutro for her, add the Cosequin Glucosamine. They all 4 have Liquid Oral Care added to their water which has worked wonders for their breath and teeth that even the vet noticed. Since this swap, they seem to have less tearing, I have seen coat improvement, loss of Trixie's excess flab that she picked up from her last litter and they all seem to have so much more energy--even better than before.
THAT is enough to convice me that this is what is right for them....

(cont)

[BamaFan121s]

With our hound, she was on Pedigree Gold when we got her from the breeder. We kept her on that for a while after we brought her home and noticed she seemd to have dry skin...you could see it flaking on her black coat. We'd wanted to change her to something better anyway, so decided to go ahead. We started feeding Origen. She ate it, no problem, but we didn't notice a change in her skin. After she'd been on it a bit, we started noticing that she acted kind of stiff when she moved about. Also started to notice brown spots on the grass, but attributed it to grub worms or something. A blood draw revealed her uric acid levels to go up to a high level. Excess acid was being expelled in her urine (thus the brown spots we discovered) and was storing up in her joints, thus the stiffness. The vet told us it was caused most commonly by a diet consisting of fish, eggs, liver, and green veggies. Well, guess what....no more Origen for her.
So onward to something else...tried Wilderness and Innova and Eukanuba. She ate just enough of them to survive...barely. I kept thinking she would give in and eat them when she got hungry enough, but after she came close to bones poking out and no energy and hair coming out in your hand when she was petted, I said enough was enough. So I started mixing in homecooked food with a bit of science diet that the other dogs were eating at the time. Well that would run right through her and her weight was still too low. We took her in to have her teeth cleaned as her breath was horrible and even I could see they were in bad shape. The vet told me point blank that whatever she was eating was not doing anything for her teeth and if it kept up I could look at having them pulled in a few years.
So, back to the Pedigree Gold (where we started), added with some homecooked, but not as much as before, Flax Oil (which has done wonders for her skin, coat and eyes!), Glucosamine for her joints (Bassets too can get all the help they need there) and a few other dietary supplements and occasional other 'human' foods.
She is healthier than ever now, has a great, thick coat, is energetic, better teeth and is at a healthy weight without excess fat.

So honestly, you can tell me I'm poisoning her by feeding Pedigree until the cows come home for all I care. I am less concerned about what's going in her and more concerned about the end result, which is finally a happy, healthy Flash, Trixie, Lexi and Chipsie...THAT is what matters to me.
But again, this is what I have determined is best for MINE. And it took alot of trying new things and dealing with what those that didn't work dealt us. It won't be what's best for the next dog. But given my experience, I don't think it's safe to assume that any 1 type of food or diet is what should be declared as 'best' for every dog across the board. That is where research and careful consideration for the dogs and their individual needs come into play.

[diva pup]

Thanks for sharing Misty You are right.. do what is best for yours whether it be Pedigree or the all naturals.
The Royal Canin YT is not a good food and has caused many probs from what I have been told. I do home cooked so it is a non issue for me but I was curious as I leave out one of the "naturals" all the time.
Unfortunately I have not found any dry food that mine will consistently eat so in order for them not to starve themselves to prove a point I have done what I needed to do LOL!

[BamaFan121s]

I know just what you mean. I know what 'textbook' and 'black and white' says about the commercial foods out there and I don't like it any better than the next person, but I also know what works for mine and have seen what theory and advice and the preference of others got them when I tried that. It just chaps my hide sometimes for it to be implied that because I don't feed ____, I am "cheap" or I am not doing what is best for my dogs! That is completely absurd! All dogs are not the identical! I'll be the judge of what is best for mine, thank you just the same and would encourage others to to the same thing!

[Yorkieluv]

I've heard of several dogs having problems with the Royal Canin YT as well...