Interesting- Dog Food

[DukesMommy]

IMO- there must be something to say for the better quality food because my first Yorkie had all kinds of problems, his coat was funky, his eyes watered all the time, he was constantly scratching no matter what I tried. And I had no idea food could be a problem, the vet never said I should try something different when I told them what he ate.
After being on YT and asking about foods and his problems I switched his food and the first one I tried solved all the problems. His coat is so much softer and shiny and his eyes are never watery.
And I can't thank all the people here enough who helped me pick a better food.

[chloesMama]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but I will have to respectfully disagree with both the vet ,the reporter, and whoever else thinks feeding by products , corn , gluten , and wheat is acceptable . Your dog may live to a ripe old age but that doesn't mean he has lived his best life and it doesn't mean you have given him the best chance at life.

I strive to feed my family the best food I can. We eat mostly organic , natural healthy foods. Just because a doctor may tell me soda doesn't hurt and sugar is O.K. in moderation , doesn't mean I want to go and feed them soda and sugar for the next 18 years because it meets standards for human consumption. Can they live on it.. yes... will they live the healthest life they can...no.

All dog foods need to meet a certain standard , but that doesn't mean they are a good quality food , it means they meet a minimum standard set. Would you use a medication for yourself or child that only meets the MINIMUM standard ?

There are high quality brands without by products , corn , gluten etc. that are in the same price range as Purina so I don't understand why someone would make the choice to feed a low quality food when a good quality food is avaliable in the same price range .

[DukesMommy]

Originally Posted by chloesMama

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but I will have to respectfully disagree with both the vet ,the reporter, and whoever else thinks feeding by products , corn , gluten , and wheat is acceptable . Your dog may live to a ripe old age but that doesn't mean he has lived his best life and it doesn't mean you have given him the best chance at life.

I strive to feed my family the best food I can. We eat mostly organic , natural healthy foods. Just because a doctor may tell me soda doesn't hurt and sugar is O.K. in moderation , doesn't mean I want to go and feed them soda and sugar for the next 18 years because it meets standards for human consumption. Can they live on it.. yes... will they live the healthest life they can...no.

All dog foods need to meet a certain standard , but that doesn't mean they are a good quality food , it means they meet a minimum standard set. Would you use a medication for yourself or child that only meets the MINIMUM standard ?

There are high quality brands without by products , corn , gluten etc. that are in the same price range as Purina so I don't understand why someone would make the choice to feed a low quality food when a good quality food is avaliable in the same price range .

Good post! And totally agree with the price thing, the natures variety that I get for my two is like 2 dollars more than the stuff I used to buy.

[carmengamble]

The motto "spend more, get more" does not always prove to be true...

With Yorkie's eating less, being a smaller breed, I think most people can afford to spend a few dollars more on their nutrition.

That being said, I have chosen to feed my Yorkie ACANA. It is based out of Alberta, Canada. It is all natural. They also use fresh, regional ingredients.

Not only do I feel better about supporting my country, I feel better about feeding my dog a quality food that will help her flourish!

As a side note: The breeder I am purchasing her from is currently feeding his dogs as well as the puppies Nutro Ultra. I know this is an all natural food as well, but it doesn't rate as high -- they are also owned by Mars (yes, the chocolate bar!) which doesn't make me feel too comfortable either. I recently purchased a 4.5 POUND bag of Nutro Ultra (small breed puppy) for $13.99 (CAD). I then purchased a 5.5 POUND bag of ACANA (small breed puppy) for $13.97. I am getting an entire pound more for nothing! So by spending more, doesn't always mean you are getting more. Do your research! Good luck on your decision!

[carmengamble]

Originally Posted by Britster

yeah, i think the brand name pet foods are ridiculous. i bought jackson this semi-expensive stuff, have tried 3 different "brand name" brands of foods, and he hates them all. he prefers to eat my other dogs food which is just regular purina or kibbles and bits or something of the sort. all my previous dogs lived long and healthy lives and never ate all high quality food.

I prefer McDonalds's over regular food, but that doesn't mean I should eat it

[stedmansmommy]

I feel that with dog foods, just like with human foods, there is bad and there is good. Just like McDonalds "junk food" versus cooking something healthy at home or even buying something healthy elsewhere - well, the same goes for our pets food. There is good and then there is the bad AKA "junk food". With humans and pets alike, there are ingredients in foods that we AND our pets can be allergic to, and I know because I deal with this with Tatum. She has horrible allergies and I do have to watch what she eats. Giving her corn and chicken would be a TOTAL disaster. Her having such bad allergies is one HUGE reason why she is on a Grain Free food with no chicken, corn, etc. Well - corn shouldn't even be IN dog food, period.

Sure feeding our babies "any" food will keep them ALIVE....it's food. However, that doesn't mean that "any" food is a GOOD, nutritious food. We as humans could survive on eating McDonalds too, it's food - it will keep us alive - but that doesn't mean that it's the right choice or that it is of good quality - or even more importantly, that it is HEALTHY for us.

In the end it is OUR decision as pet owners what we feed our pets, but I do choose to feed a high quality and nutritious food. One that isn't filled with corn, animal by products, etc. I am cautious as to what I put inside MY body, and I am just as cautious as to what I let my babies put inside theirs

[carmengamble]

Originally Posted by stedmansmommy

I feel that with dog foods, just like with human foods, there is bad and there is good. Just like McDonalds "junk food" versus cooking something healthy at home or even buying something healthy elsewhere - well, the same goes for our pets food. There is good and then there is the bad AKA "junk food". With humans and pets alike, there are ingredients in foods that we AND our pets can be allergic to, and I know because I deal with this with Tatum. She has horrible allergies and I do have to watch what she eats. Giving her corn and chicken would be a TOTAL disaster. Her having such bad allergies is one HUGE reason why she is on a Grain Free food with no chicken, corn, etc. Well - corn shouldn't even be IN dog food, period.

Sure feeding our babies "any" food will keep them ALIVE....it's food. However, that doesn't mean that "any" food is a GOOD, nutritious food. We as humans could survive on eating McDonalds too, it's food - it will keep us alive - but that doesn't mean that it's the right choice or that it is of good quality - or even more importantly, that it is HEALTHY for us.

In the end it is OUR decision as pet owners what we feed our pets, but I do choose to feed a high quality and nutritious food. One that isn't filled with corn, animal by products, etc. I am cautious as to what I put inside MY body, and I am just as cautious as to what I let my babies put inside theirs

Very, very well said! THANK YOU!

[PrincessDiana]

Originally Posted by stedmansmommy

I feel that with dog foods, just like with human foods, there is bad and there is good. Just like McDonalds "junk food" versus cooking something healthy at home or even buying something healthy elsewhere - well, the same goes for our pets food. There is good and then there is the bad AKA "junk food". With humans and pets alike, there are ingredients in foods that we AND our pets can be allergic to, and I know because I deal with this with Tatum. She has horrible allergies and I do have to watch what she eats. Giving her corn and chicken would be a TOTAL disaster. Her having such bad allergies is one HUGE reason why she is on a Grain Free food with no chicken, corn, etc. Well - corn shouldn't even be IN dog food, period.

Sure feeding our babies "any" food will keep them ALIVE....it's food. However, that doesn't mean that "any" food is a GOOD, nutritious food. We as humans could survive on eating McDonalds too, it's food - it will keep us alive - but that doesn't mean that it's the right choice or that it is of good quality - or even more importantly, that it is HEALTHY for us.

In the end it is OUR decision as pet owners what we feed our pets, but I do choose to feed a high quality and nutritious food. One that isn't filled with corn, animal by products, etc. I am cautious as to what I put inside MY body, and I am just as cautious as to what I let my babies put inside theirs

Dittos. You said it girlfriend!

[yorkiepuppie]

Originally Posted by phfgkl

There was a segment on our local news just now, it said you can go in to any grocery store, and as long as the dog food says AFCCO on it, that it's just as good as the organic and every other kind of food out there. He said that people are just wasting their money on all this expensive food. Guess that's why all of our dogs always lived long healthy lives on purina

wasting their money?
it is not a waste of money to get health food for your dog.
it is "not very smart" to save a few pennies and feed crappy dog food to dogs.

yea, they'll survive on crappy food, just like i will survive on McDonalds.
but it is still CRAP!

why would money even be a concern on TINY dogs like yorkies? i try to find the MOST expensive food i can, in hopes that it will be the healthiest for my baby.

If i am running a shelter and running out of money with starving dogs that weigh an average of 70-80 lbs. maybe i will feed them CRAPPY FOOD! like most commercial foods! (those foods are made with maximum profits in mind, therefore, cheapest ingredients they can get their greedy hands on)

vets like doctors, are not nutritionists. they prescribe pills, not diets!

i strongly and completely disagree with you for making the recommendation to have people feed "cheaper" food. yorkies deserve top quality foods. it's ok if you want to eat mcdonalds. i do. but i will not give my baby anything less than the best quality foods!

[PrincessDiana]

Originally Posted by phfgkl

...and as long as the dog food says AFCCO on it, that it's just as good as the organic and every other kind of food out there. He said that people are just wasting their money on all this expensive food.

Originally Posted by phfgkl

Hummm, have you ever looked at the more expensive purina brands? They don't all have corn as their first ingredient.

Why would you "waste your money" on the "expensive" Purina when it's "just as good"? This doesn't make any sense.

[PrincessDiana]

Originally Posted by Britster

yeah, i think the brand name pet foods are ridiculous. i bought jackson this semi-expensive stuff, have tried 3 different "brand name" brands of foods, and he hates them all. he prefers to eat my other dogs food which is just regular purina or kibbles and bits or something of the sort. all my previous dogs lived long and healthy lives and never ate all high quality food.

I would just like to point out that the reason your dog prefers the cheap stuff is because it's sprayed with fat and other "flavoring" to make it more appealing and disguise the fact that it would otherwise taste like cardboard. It's the same thing with McDonalds!

But hey... whatever works for you is great.

[chestermama]

Purina has by products in it hooves, feet, udders and Im sure bha, bht and corn, wheat. I prefer also not to feed my dog udders and feet. Dog food chould also be aafco rated no doubt. Purina also has filler in their food and more filler more poop.

[Roxybella]

I am new to this site and I must admit that I too am afraid to say what I was feeding my dog because of many posts telling people what they thought was better. We have had labs mostly but recently my daughter wanted to cute little dog. We did give into her and she received Roxy for her birthday. We did do research on this breed and this website did help alot on determining the decision. One of our labs was overweight and at 4 years of age we discovered that she was dietbetic. She lived to be 12 years old. So for 8.5 years we gave her a insulin twice a day and changed her diet. That was a wake up call for us. We were young and really did not understand the equality of the pet foods. We were told by the vet to feed her purina pro plan. So we did get her the food and she stayed on it for the duration of her life. In the beginning before we started with the pro plan we switched alot of food trying to regulate her sugar. Once we started Pro plan it really did regulate her sugar and she only had one reaction since pro plan. Which was awesome considering it sometimes twice a week. Her sugar was checked regularly by our vet and so were her organs and like I said she lived a long fulfilled healthy life with what she was dealing with.
I am not saying that its the best food out there, But everyone has the right to find a good quality food for their pet that works for them without made to feel they aren't doing the best for their pet.
When we brought Roxy home in Nov 08 she was 10 weeks old and the breeder had her on royal canine and so that's what I went and kept her on it. I know I will get alot of ridicule for this but that is what I thought was good for her. I don't give our dogs any dog treats. We do reward with fruit or veggies and they love them.

Dawn

[phfgkl]

I did find a very good article lastnight, and purina pro plan is good, and also Purina is AAFCO for whoever said something about that. This is what a diet and canine nutritionalist says
en.allexperts.com/q/Dog-Food-Canine-3799/2008/10/best-dogfood-small-breed.htm

[phfgkl]

Also, here, I'm asking this nicely, go pick this apart for me, this is a purina pro plan, and this is the one I'm going to buy, so please, look over the ingredients, and tell me what's so bad, as I don't see anything. Thanks
Natural Salmon and Brown Rice Formula - Products - Purina® Pro Plan®