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Originally Posted by Britster  Wow, great post! 
Well, I think it's a never ending battle when it comes to dog food. Often when we think we've found a wonderful food, something goes wrong. Back in the day, I believe dogs were just fed human food. Now I don't know what the average lifespan of a dog was back in the 1800's so I guess we don't really know HOW healthy they were. Commercial dog food, AKA Purina, was introduced in the 1950's. I believe England had some kind of dog food earlier though. But the concept of dog kibble is actually fairly new. I had some of my grandparents dogs, etc, that lived to be over 15 surviving off of Kibbles n' Bits and table scraps so it does make me wonder sometimes.... is all this really worth it? But I feel more comfortable feeding my dog a "higher quality" food than just some grocery store brands. Is there a difference? I think there is. Maybe it's all a scam, who knows.
I personally believe that a dog kibble food should contain lots of meat and a good amount of protein. I really like for the first 2-3 ingredients to contain meat, so I know there's a significant amount in it. I know dogs would naturally eat a lot of meat in the wild and like to stand by that now, even in my 12lb Yorkie.
Like you said, the most convenient is kibble, IMO. I like it because it's easy... I hardly homecook for myself, let alone my dog, LOL. Raw scares me... I don't disagree with it, but me... I don't like dealing with raw meat personally. I wouldn't care if Jackson ate it, I just don't wanna mess with it.
Jackson mainly eats his kibble (NV Instinct - 35% protein) and at dinnertime, I usually mix in Merrick's Before Grain canned food (which is 100% turkey, water for processing). BUT, with that said... he's a pretty active, muscular, atheltic dog and I think he needs the protein. I don't know... it's just what I feel comfortable with. I really never thought I'd care this much about my dogs nutrition (more than I care about my own!) but it's been interesting studying up on canine nutrition and after trying multiple foods, Instinct has been what's worked best for us. I'm thinking of trying Acana next.  |
i know, i feel the same way. you are completely right about some dogs living a long healthy life eating even low quality kibble, it does also make me sometimes think if i am way over reacting about what i should be feeding my dogs. but like you said, it's what each of us are 'comfortable' with, that really is the key.
i am NOT comfortable with any of the diets, that's why i am frustrated. and i know that part of my discomfort comes from lack of understanding/knowledge about dog nutrition.
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Originally Posted by RachelandSadie i know right. i was doing so great with NV raw and loved it, then i read about detenurization and that their meats were not USDA approved for "human consuption" and i'm finding bone chips in it and worried Sadie will choke or get it stuck in her digestive tract. so now  NV raw and i'm going to have to go back to home made raw...or some other raw. i'm a raw feeder to the end no kibbles for me. but i don't always trust even the raw foods because of the dangers of bad meats and rotten/bad veggies nad because of keeping it fresher and not gaining bacteria.
what to do now? |
when i first started feeding raw, i also started with NV. after that i switched to primal, which i liked, but i wanted to try something new with milu so i switched again to stella and chewy's.
i like priaml and stella and chewy's better than NV, the nuggets look better than the NV nuggets.
there is a organic brand pre-made raw (Paw Naturaw) i would try next once i finish the stella and chewy bag. from the reviews i read, it seems like it's even better quality than primal and stella and chewy.
the honest kitchen also has raw dehydrated food, and they seem like a real 'honest' (LOL) dog food comopany.
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Originally Posted by xoxodoglover89 Food is such a fiasco! If it's not one thing that's an issue, it's another!
Well what works best for Sasha is a "high quality", high protein grain-free kibble mixed with a dab of homecooked. I use 4 different kibbles and rotate the protein source after every bag. This has worked the absolute best for Sasha. She used to be such a picky eater & sometimes wouldn't eat for a day when I knew she was hungry. Grain-free was apparently the way to go for her.
I did try raw with her at one point. She loved it for about 2 weeks and then refused to eat it completely. I even tried switching the flavors and still a no go. I'm not sure if I would've continued feeding it even if she did like it. I wasn't completely educated on the topic and was only giving her the NV raw (which is having problems now lately anyways).
This diet is what works best for Sasha and I'm pleased with the results. Her coat looks great...shiny & extremely soft. Her appetite is great & she looks forward to her meals now. |
i wasn't too educated on the topic before i just started feeding raw either, but then milu's poop really convinced me that it's a healthier diet.
i am glad you found something sasha enjoys eating. part of the reason this is such a big deal for me is because my milu is just so picky and doesn't like to eat. she would run away from me when she knows i am preparing her food, and that makes me sad that she hates her dog food that much!