we feed luna innova Evo because of 2 reasons ...1 she is a picky eater and its the first one we found she actually liked after going through 4 other kinds of foods and 2 quality is great no grains are used which is great because of her skin allergies.

lucky loves wellness. he always cleans his bowl Ü.

I dont think there is anything wrong with feeding Purina One or pro plan- my breeder had Rocky on it when he was a pup, but then I learned about foods with better ingredients- BUT please do not be mistaken- ALL dry foods contain preservatives! They have to- even natural foods. One of the main reasons I dont feed commercial brands is because of the preservatives (BHA mainly, known to cause cancer), corn, and by-products (which some will say dogs in the "wild" who survived on their owns would eat every part and that the foods with a whole protein source actually have more water than protein) but just wanted to clarify that Purina one actually DOES have perservatives. The only difference is that Purina uses artificial perservatives (such as ethoxyquin, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)) to lessen the cost and continue being mass produced where as natural foods have natural preservatives (Tocopherols (vitamin E) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) are the most common natural preservatives). Some believe that health problems can occur in dogs that are fed artificial preservatives because the FDA has received many consumer reports in the last 9 years (even those it has been used in food for over 30). Obviously determing which food is best for your dog it is your choice, but I choose not to wait for the continued research on the artificial preservatives.

Although vitamins C and E can both be used as preservatives, they arent as effective as the artificial preservatives so it is important for those who are feeding natural foods to use within 6 months (which I dont think is a problem for many as long as you arent buying huge bags, we always buy the smallest bags available).

This article is awesome! I encourage everyone interested in food to take a look: http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/pets/95

Particularly:
Standard commercial diets—the "name" brands. They are adequate in most cases for most normal, healthy, young to middle-aged animals, but they are not optimum. They are merely adequate. These products are reasonably well researched, but quality comes second to price and palatability. They are made to be competitive and are usually loaded with chemicals. An average age thirty-pound dog eating this food regularly will consume nine pounds of chemicals a year!

Top shelf lines. These products, including Science Diet and Iams, feature higher-quality ingredients but still have artificial preservatives and other chemical additives. I place some "natural" products in this category because they are made with inferior ingredients such as "wheat flour" (a euphemism for white flour). If the product is made with whole grain, it will say "ground whole wheat" or "whole-wheat flour." There are, unfortunately a number of low-quality products that come with high-sounding names.

Another thing that I want to mention is that vets dont actually learn about food nutrition in school, Science Diet sponsors much of their research and is a large part of many vets offices business. I hope people do their own research into what is best for their dog.

I totally agree and my vet told me the same thing.

Top shelf lines. These products, including Science Diet and Iams, feature higher-quality ingredients but still have artificial preservatives and other chemical additives. I place some "natural" products in this category because they are made with inferior ingredients such as "wheat flour" (a euphemism for white flour). If the product is made with whole grain, it will say "ground whole wheat" or "whole-wheat flour." There are, unfortunately a number of low-quality products that come with high-sounding names.[/QUOTE]

Brooke, thank you for sharing all of this informative information. Very impressive. I have been using Royal Canin for about 2 years now and am becoming rather suspicious that the high fat count is causing some repeated digestive problems that I am having here with 3 of my babies.
I would like to try switching foods but not sure which to switch too.

May I ask what food you are feeding your little guy ? I do not like all of these chemical preservatives either. In the days before all of these many brands of dog food there was basically on Purina for dry foods. I cookeda fresh beef hamburgerfor my Yorkie every single day for the 17 1/2 years that he was with usand he never had a single illness until the very end when he passed away. My dogs here are all young, the oldest is 6 years and they always seem to be having one problem or another. Diareaha, throwing up, and then HGE. Vet recommends switching to Purina One, but I am not sure Iwant to do that. Thanks again :confused: :confused:

My vet told me the same thing also...with some offices it is Science diet and with others Eukanuba.

Picky eater
 

Gosh I thought I was the only one with a picky eater ;) Pepperann is so picky if you are eating steak she sits there like please give me a bite... but when you cut her a piece there better not be any steak sauce on it or she will not have. she will not eat bread. but she sure will eat deer. she loves it. any way back to the thread she mainly eats Pedigree from walmart. and on this can i am reading made with real chicken, beef, liver, fish, citrus pectin, dried yam, onion powder, bay leaves, garlic powder. mmmmmmm sounds good enough for me.. and of course you have the poultry and meat BY products (which i would hate to know what that is) veg. oil, trace minerals, and several vitamin supplemnts. i do not see any corn products but it could be one of those big words. she will not eat some of the pedigree products like the sliced beef. she likes the combo. its funny right on the can it says Developed with Vets
recommended by Top Breeders..so that is what PepperAnn's main food source is. and i have not had any problems with over weight or pooping she poops twice to three times daily and thats within 24 hrs not 12. any way it works for us...take care...... :aimeeyork

I feed Nutro Max because my breeder had started them on it. When I came here people also told me it was a good food for dogs.

I feed Chachi and Jewels Royal canin and Lil Caesars. I think I m gonna switch the Royal canin to Chicken Soup though.

no one of them. I cook for her ;)
interesting article:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...lr%3D%26sa%3DN

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...lr%3D%26sa%3DN

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...lr%3D%26sa%3DN

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...lr%3D%26sa%3DN

If you are currently using pet products by any of these companies:

Nestle
Alpo
Ralston Purina
Hills
Waltham (Pedigree)
Proctor & Gamble (Iams & Eukanuba)

We highly suggest you do some serious research on your
own and find out for yourself how they use animals in testing.

http://www.iamscruelty.com/notTested.asp

more

http://www.caringconsumer.com/searchcompany.asp

You don't have mine listed, but we feed Stomper California Natural

Well i tried to ask around and find the best food for my puppy, and I feed him p/d prescription puppy food for now until he turns 12 weeks old and then I will feed him science diet. But do you think that chicken soup is better for him, because I want him to have the best food

Flint River Ranch & Sojourner Farms
 

I feed my Yorkies and my Siamese cats Flint River Ranch - not on the list either. Anyone else using these wonderful natural products? :)

Flint River Ranch uses only wholesome ingredients. They do not use any by-products, commercial meals, products contaminated with chemicals, or any chemical preservative. This does not make them unique, as there are several health foods on the market today that can say the food is essentially human quality. The difference is in the processing. FRR prepares the food and then oven bakes it. This process changes the molecular structure of the starches into an "easier to digest" form. There is less stress to the digestive system and, to my knowledge, this is the only company using this process.

My holistic vet say's the change in a pet's health is almost always noticeable within a short time. The food is very concentrated and highly digestible resulting in less digestive health problems and smaller stools to clean up.

Flint River also is very compact - so you feed a whole lot less than other foods and it costs no more, usually less, to feed than any premium commercial food. :)

And my Yorkies love it - :aimeeyork :aimeeyork When I used to breed Bichons, years ago, I also feed them Science Diet. My Yorkies liked that - until I brought the Flint River home, they knew the good stuff when they got it!!

the Flint River company has never had a "bloat" claim against it. The great manufacturing process that is used prevents this. The oven-baking and "cracked kibbles" only absorb enough moisture to start the digestion process, then they break down. Other meals/products, continue to absorb a great amount of water.

my vet says that nutrition is a major key to unlocking the puzzles of many of the health problems animals have. Many musculoskeletal disorders, digestive complaints, allergies and skin problems can respond to proper nutrition.

I'm also one to point out be careful about what your vet tries to sell you. If he's selling it out his front door, he's making money on it! :confused: Do your own research!!!

If my life as a single mother wasn't so hectic :eek: I might switch the Yorkies food to Sojourner Farms. Does anyone out there use Sojourner Farms?

I used it for awhile when one of my Bichons was ill. But it does take more time than measuring out a scoop of dry dog food.

It's a great product made froma human quality raw grain and supplement mix that you mix at home with water, meat, and vegetables.

My vet :dog: truly believes the best nutrition is wholesome fresh foods prepared at home for your pet. He advocates fresh raw meat and vegetables with added properly prepared carbohydrates. Along with proper supplements. At this point in my schedule I'm lucky if I get a fresh cooked meal everyday for my daughter and I!

Just goes to show you- thats great and all but we were on Flint River for a few months UNTIL I ordered there food (you have to order it from a distributor, one thing I DID NOT like but still let them eat it bc they liked it) we received there normal packaged kibble with THE WRONG kibble inside! I have NO idea what kind of kibble it was, but it was just completely mispackaged! So I opened the second bag thinking they just changed the shape, but no the 2nd package was the same as they usually get, just a lot darker. That made me really suspicious so I posted somewhere else and it turns our someone else had a problem with them also. I called the company I ordered from and they were absolutely not helpful or willing to do anything! I have the 2 bags still sitting there- what a waste of 16 bucks + shipping! The ingredients seem great but apparently they are too small of a company to have certain internal controls. They say "for every rat YOU SEE there are a dozen others that you dont" my point being that if Im the one that happened to get the "faulty" bag after only 3 orders, who knows what else they are doing. We feed Solid Gold wee bits, Nature's variety canned food, and the Nature's Variety Freeze Dried Medallions and they have never eaten better! I used to think they liked their food, but now I know they love this food.

To each is his own- what is best for your dog? None of us have the answers but for my 3 I like to give them a variety (they dont have stomach problems) and I always make sure that they are eating the best possible ingredients.

btw- what some people assume is that dogs need real meat as the first ingredients. What they dont understand is that the meat that we eat has a lot of moisture, and actually although meat meal (chicken meal, lamb meal etc.) may contain ash, it actually provides more nutrients then whole meat sources since chicken/turkey etc is heavier by weight than the other products (so you don't get very much of it). We would all like to think what we eat is also healthy for our dogs, but human and doggy nutrition are very different.

The bottom line again is just to read the labels, ingredients, etc and choose what your dog will EAT most importantly, and what you feel comfortable with.