Best Dog Food List

[Euro]

I bought it from the white dog bone company and it's called Carna 4. It's expensive but not as expensive as those recalls and sleepless nights worrying. Like they told me 99% of all dog foods have vitamin additives from China. You have to ask because they don't put it on the label. It has to say no ingredients from China on the label. My dogs liked it right away and had no problem with the switch. The White Dog Bone Company has all the ingredients listed on their website.

[Lindzorz]

Originally Posted by Lindzorz

I would take Pedigree, Pro Plan, Eukanuba, and Science Diet off the list. I haven't done heavy researching into all of those choices, but anything involved with Pedigree, Purina, etc. I would just avoid. Even if it's supposedly a 'higher quality' line of the food. I looked at the ingredients on a bag of either Purina or Pedigree formulated for dogs with kidney problems (I can only assume it came from a vet's office) and I was shocked and horrified. One ingredient, for example, was known to cause liver issues. I've also heard Science Diet is, oddly enough, bad news.

I currently feed Nilla Canidae. I was entertaining the thought of trying Canine Caviar, but since she and my husband's big guy both share a 44# bag, I will probably stick to that for now. xD Employment woes!

... but anyway. Dog Food Advisor is one of my best friends on the Internet, and I whole - heartedly agree that you should use that resource!

My original post is what I was referring to. Not making a personal attack on anyone.

[Euro]

I wasn't calling anyone's dog food choice bad, I was simply relating my dogfood
experience with recalls on the dog food I was using. I decided I wanted to find out
why all these recalls with supposedly good dog food and found out about them having
trouble with ingredients from China. Then I found a dog food that has no ingredients from
China and am now happy with that. I love my little ones so much ,I couldn't stand the worry about dog food and what to feed them. Personally I am feeling a lot less stressed about my choice.

[LuvTaycieGirl]

Originally Posted by Lindzorz

I was referring to what I posted earlier, which was some kind of Purina or Pedigree designed for kidney function that was full of corn and an ingredient that was very hard on the liver. I don't think that all vets pay much attention to what they're prescribing food - wise. I was saying that I had heard things about Science Diet being of a lesser quality, and looking at the ingredients of the most basic form, I have to agree. What you suggested was a little bit better. It wasn't a personal attack on you and your dog food choice -- I was just contributing my opinion on this topic, which is what I thought this lady wanted. I used to work at a dog and cat boutique and the boss lady had a firey passion against Science Diet, and she does a lot of researching into what products to carry, so I figured it'd be best to assume it was kind of lack luster. Sorry to offend. I haven't fed it before, so I have no firsthand experience.

I don't think you offended anyone! Many here have had lots of experiences with different foods. I know I have! Before Taycie got so sick, I tried MANY of the 5 and 6 star rated foods. I fell into the trap of Dr. Google. I believed everything on the internet. But.. no matter how they rated.. she never thrived. We may have gone a month or two but then old issues always reared their ugly head.. and we were back a square one.

Bottom line, every dog will thrive on something different, and there is more so much more to dog nutrition then what the back of the bag says.

I Home cook for Taycie, for medical reasons. I did a Consultation with BCVN. There is not much out there on the market that she will thrive on. If I went with the recommendations listed on a certain website it would do so much more harm then good.

Bottom line.. For me.. if I was able to feed Taycie Over the counter dog food these would be the questions I would be asking:

My main questions would be:
1.Quality Control/procedures of the company.
2. Testing. Who formulates these diets? Are they tested? I don't want my dog to be the guinea pig.
3. Who is creating these Recipes? What do they test these recipes for?
4. Who Formulates the recipes? Do they have a Nutritionist on staff?

If I was to feed dog food.. that's what I would be researching for. And.. I pay to ask the true experts.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Lindzorz

I was referring to what I posted earlier, which was some kind of Purina or Pedigree designed for kidney function that was full of corn and an ingredient that was very hard on the liver. I don't think that all vets pay much attention to what they're prescribing food - wise. I was saying that I had heard things about Science Diet being of a lesser quality, and looking at the ingredients of the most basic form, I have to agree. What you suggested was a little bit better. It wasn't a personal attack on you and your dog food choice -- I was just contributing my opinion on this topic, which is what I thought this lady wanted. I used to work at a dog and cat boutique and the boss lady had a firey passion against Science Diet, and she does a lot of researching into what products to carry, so I figured it'd be best to assume it was kind of lack luster. Sorry to offend. I haven't fed it before, so I have no firsthand experience.

Always better to do your own research then to just believe and go with some ones opinion.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Lindzorz

I was referring to what I posted earlier, which was some kind of Purina or Pedigree designed for kidney function that was full of corn and an ingredient that was very hard on the liver. I don't think that all vets pay much attention to what they're prescribing food - wise. I was saying that I had heard things about Science Diet being of a lesser quality, and looking at the ingredients of the most basic form, I have to agree. What you suggested was a little bit better. It wasn't a personal attack on you and your dog food choice -- I was just contributing my opinion on this topic, which is what I thought this lady wanted. I used to work at a dog and cat boutique and the boss lady had a firey passion against Science Diet, and she does a lot of researching into what products to carry, so I figured it'd be best to assume it was kind of lack luster. Sorry to offend. I haven't fed it before, so I have no firsthand experience.

So...essentially she was doing what some here in this thread accuse vets of doing...making money off of holistic foods while trashing Science Diet. This is part of the marketing ploys that the holistic companies have put out there...their ingredients are superior yet there is no concern about quality control, hence all of the insane amounts of recalls.

Actually, your one post did call foods crap and I believe you meant Science Diet....the bottom line I feed my dogs the foods that you believe are less than but I don't get up every day fearing a recall. While I realize it can happen to any company, I believe the companies I choose to use have better quality controls in place than most.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by LuvTaycieGirl

I don't think you offended anyone! Many here have had lots of experiences with different foods. I know I have! Before Taycie got so sick, I tried MANY of the 5 and 6 star rated foods. I fell into the trap of Dr. Google. I believed everything on the internet. But.. no matter how they rated.. she never thrived. We may have gone a month or two but then old issues always reared their ugly head.. and we were back a square one.

Bottom line, every dog will thrive on something different, and there is more so much more to dog nutrition then what the back of the bag says.

I Home cook for Taycie, for medical reasons. I did a Consultation with BCVN. There is not much out there on the market that she will thrive on. If I went with the recommendations listed on a certain website it would do so much more harm then good.

Bottom line.. For me.. if I was able to feed Taycie Over the counter dog food these would be the questions I would be asking:

My main questions would be:
1.Quality Control/procedures of the company.
2. Testing. Who formulates these diets? Are they tested? I don't want my dog to be the guinea pig.
3. Who is creating these Recipes? What do they test these recipes for?
4. Who Formulates the recipes? Do they have a Nutritionist on staff?

If I was to feed dog food.. that's what I would be researching for. And.. I pay to ask the true experts.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Lindzorz

My original post is what I was referring to. Not making a personal attack on anyone.

I don't think you meant to attack anyone. I do think you meant to say that Hill's is crap food along with the others that you lumped in your original post. The bottom line is that we all choose what to feed our pups and what works for one may not work for another.

For some time, people have been bad mouthing reputable companies and no one wanted to go out on a limb and say anything. I decided to stop ignoring it. It bothered me immensely to see people with very sick dogs coming here and saying that their vet had suggested they feed an RX diet and they were afraid of it just because of the marketing ploys of the holistic companies. So....I stand up for them now .. main reason is to save dogs' lives..NOT to argue about food. I felt strongly that people needed to really understand that vets are NOT trying to make money off of the backs of dead animals...the RX foods they sell are to save them!

Let me add that the vets are the ones who see all of the sick and dying dogs that have eaten foods from companies that did not have good quality control. So....they do have a vested interest and it is not about money...Let's face it, they make a lot of money off of sick and dying dogs...so if they were so greedy they would be selling foods from less than reputable companies.

[Deb1]

What ever "brand' you choose should have protein as their main ingredient. I prefer a grain free food because I don't think grain belongs in dog food. Good luck in your search as it is so hard to find the right food that works for every dog. Once you find it.....stay with it!

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Deb1

What ever "brand' you choose should have protein as their main ingredient. I prefer a grain free food because I don't think grain belongs in dog food. Good luck in your search as it is so hard to find the right food that works for every dog. Once you find it.....stay with it!

I use the grain free Hill's Ideal balance...but I don't buy into the grain thing. I use it because the kibble is smaller than the Ideal Balane with grains. I don't think they are as harmful as we have been made to believe. I also think we have to be careful with protein...it is always important to keep up with vetting and know that your pups don't have any medical conditions. Blanket statements just don't work because some pups need more or less protein than others.

[LilAnnCamp]

I just wanted to add.

When I worked at a vet office. We carried 3 different foods. YES, 3 bc all dogs are different. We made 10% off the food. We made 1 buck for every 10. We had to do inventory every week. We kept low stock bc often we would have to switch up the dogs food for whatever reason. Then, we usually ordered every week or so. We also were responsible for calling and chatting with the companies if dogs had problems with a specific food so in the end they are under budget with handling food.
There are tons of good foods out there and tons of bad.

[Deb1]

Ladyjane, I fed my first yorkie Science Diet for 10 years and she did well on it, until she passes of unknown causes. I am not saying it was the food because we don't know what made her so ill. She could not keep any food down. I just am very cautious of "what" is put in dog foods. I also don't think very high amounts of protein is good for yorkies. There needs to be a balance of healthy ingredients. We all want what is best for our precious, yorkies!

[Lindzorz]

I'm sorry you feel that way, ladyjane, but I did mean the Purina. I really, really did. I'm not sure why I'm under fire here for sharing my opinion, because I am just trying to help someone make an informed decision on which dog food to feed. I don't know why this has become somewhat of an argument.

I did do research into Science Diet, and while the grain free is somewhat better, the base form has a high volume of corn, biproduct, and a couple other questionable ingredients in it. A lot of people have pets that have an allergic reaction to it, but I am sure that can happen with most any grain free (I assume that is happening with the base line).

I'm not a nutritionist, but I do know that you don't want corn, grains (except rice -- I am okay with rice because it helps digestion), or animal biproducts. I'm not claiming to be perfect or that I believe in a completely holistic pet care process, because I really don't. That's why I don't work their anymore, because I am not completely holistic. The deal with grains is that it can develop or aggravate food allergies in dogs. Most of the time if they have food allergies, they are to wheat, soy, etc. I'm not saying every dog with food allergies is, but it is the more common reason.
I do feel that ingredients are also important with quality control and what have you. Would I personally feed the base form of Science Diet? No. Am I condemning people who do? Of course not! It just wouldn't be first on my list of those choices.
BB is supposed to be pretty nice. ^^

[Lindzorz]

Do not work there.**

Ooh! Typos. :-P

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Lindzorz

I'm sorry you feel that way, ladyjane, but I did mean the Purina. I really, really did. I'm not sure why I'm under fire here for sharing my opinion, because I am just trying to help someone make an informed decision on which dog food to feed. I don't know why this has become somewhat of an argument.

I did do research into Science Diet, and while the grain free is somewhat better, the base form has a high volume of corn, biproduct, and a couple other questionable ingredients in it. A lot of people have pets that have an allergic reaction to it, but I am sure that can happen with most any grain free (I assume that is happening with the base line).

I'm not a nutritionist, but I do know that you don't want corn, grains (except rice -- I am okay with rice because it helps digestion), or animal biproducts. I'm not claiming to be perfect or that I believe in a completely holistic pet care process, because I really don't. That's why I don't work their anymore, because I am not completely holistic. The deal with grains is that it can develop or aggravate food allergies in dogs. Most of the time if they have food allergies, they are to wheat, soy, etc. I'm not saying every dog with food allergies is, but it is the more common reason.
I do feel that ingredients are also important with quality control and what have you. Would I personally feed the base form of Science Diet? No. Am I condemning people who do? Of course not! It just wouldn't be first on my list of those choices.
BB is supposed to be pretty nice. ^^

You are first of all not under fire. I simply voiced my disapproval of calling a dog food "crap". I have said that I did not think you meant to attack anyone.
I also, have to say, that I don't agree about Purina. I have used Purina RX foods many, many times without a problem.

Not sure why you are disappointed. I don't agree with your thoughts on food..and you don't agree with mine. I don't research...research is done by the experts and I am not one. I am merely a pet owner who is feeding what I believe is safest and healthiest for my pets. That is it..nothing more to it.