Dog food?

what is the best and healthyest dog food for dogs?

Depends what your doing with your dog. All mine get Nutro brand;)

My weight pullers use to get Blue Diamond but its really pricey.

^^^blue and i got a 2yr old rotti

I work at a pet food store, so... here goes.

For most dogs (especially working dogs and high-energy dogs) it's best to put them on a grain-free food such as Fromm, Taste of the Wild, etc. as they contain no grains (which are pretty hard on them for digesting) and no by-products (eyes/feet/beaks of animals) and no fillers (corn, wheat, soy) and their main energy when eating this food will be coming from proteins (usually meats or meat meal) and vegetables.

However, for small dogs (besides Boston Terriers) and lower-energy dogs holistic foods are better because they aren't as rich. There are brands such as Chicken
Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul (which comes in four formulas) and Pure Vita, among others, since they also contain no by-products or fillers, but do contain some grain and are therefore lighter and easier on the livers of smaller dogs since there is slightly less protein and fats.

+2 on the grain free

the most important thing is to avoid any potential allergy problems. lots of cheaper foods have corn and other grains that many dogs have allergies to.

If you go to dog forums you'll see all sorts of arguments about what the best way is, e.g. raw, canidae (the list goes on forever)

my 2 yo rottie is on Wellness CORE, and is doing fantastic.

I breed American Bullys and i feed my dogs kirkland which is costco brand and they all excel on these foods i use the puppy food and mix it 50 50 for adults

I need to find a formula that is for very active dogs. My dachshund never stops, he is very muscular, but a little bit too lean. Right now he eats Royal Canine for Dachshunds. Any suggestions?

I have a paper study done on different dog foods...

Innova is a really good food but very pricey if you have large dogs. Plus with my German Shepard mix he had the WORST toots ever. Stinky as all get out. The second on the list was Blue Buffalo. We just switched our dogs over to Taste of the Wild. We are slowly mixing it right now but they seem to be taking it very well. (taste of the wild was not in the study)

The reason for our switch is that our German Shepard mix...who is turning 3 is starting to go through his "change". He is starting to thicken up and become an adult so to speak. We wanted to make sure that he had all the protien that he needed for this transition. Litterally we are seeing his face and body change so much every day. Freaks me out. No more goofey tall...big headed dog. :tears: Awww....who am I kidding...he is still cute as a button.

This is a great site to use when deciding which brand to use http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/5-star Look for something without fillers, corn, by-products, ANY dies, etc. Science Diet is no better than Purina from Wal-Mart so don't waste your money on it. I've had this discussion with my vet and she did eventually say they get paid to sell it/recommend it and she knows it's crap.

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Originally Posted by Swingline0.0.1

I need to find a formula that is for very active dogs. My dachshund never stops, he is very muscular, but a little bit too lean. Right now he eats Royal Canine for Dachshunds. Any suggestions?

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Royal Canin looks really good and they have all the special things wrote all over the bag, and that it's recommend by vets, etc etc etc. Bottom line, if it's recommended by vets be leery of the product. Vets have a lot of say so when it comes to pets and with that comes companies that are trying to make money using the venue of high status specialists. Royal Canin isn't terrible, but for the price you could get something much better. I'm guessing you feed Adult Mini, they don't have it for each breed on this site, but here is a break down. Anything with corn in it isn't worth buying IMO. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/5-star [sorry it won't link directly to the page you'll have to click on it, it's on the 3 star page] Like I said for the money you are spending on that food you could get some high quality food, probably for less.

I'm really happy with my Diamond large breed lamb and rice, it rates 4 stars on that site and Athena really filled out on it. They have a small breed lamb and rice formula. From what I've found it's the best price for a quality dog food. I pay $36 for a 40 pound bag, less than $1 a pound, you can't beat that! Diamond can be found at most farm stores, and for MUCH less than other places. I was paying over $50 for a 35 pound holistic brand before, I was happy to switch to Diamond especially when Athena started filling out!

I also feed my cats Diamond, they have lost weight and love it! Even Mr. Fatty McFattington has lost a couple pounds! :gj:

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

I also feed my cats Diamond, they have lost weight and love it! Even Mr. Fatty McFattington has lost a couple pounds! :gj:

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Really?! I need to find this food then. I hope they sell it here in Canada. I'm struggling to get the cats' weights down on Chicken Soup Adult Light, which is the lightest formula I can find around here...

Mr. Fatty McFattington :rofl::rofl: :O

Currently I'm feeding Merrick - Before Grain to both my 15lb Shih Tzu and my 65lb Texas Blue Lacy. I'm very pleased with the results for both. My Shih Tzu's skin problems have cleared up and it has enough protein in it to keep my extremely active Lacy going.

But as soon as I have my baby, I'm switching back to homemade raw. I was extremely skeptical at first, but was amazed at the results. Both my dogs breath and teeth were amazing and both pooped only once a day. But sadly, my husband hates dealing with raw meat and I didn't think it was fair to force that on him.

But again, I'm pretty happy with Merrick. Its a bit expensive, but totally worth it.

I use a dehydrated raw food called Honest Kitchen. I add boiled chicken to it to give a bit more bulk. I wont ever go back to processed kibble food after the results I have seen in my dogs. Skin and coat is amazing and a whole slew of health issues have vanished. I have a 11 yr old boston that would projectile vomit after she ate since she was a puppy. Vets couldnt figure it out. So they put her on meds from a pharmacy that were very pricy for 9 years so she could hold her food down. Started the raw and it all went away. Hasnt been on meds since. Have another dog that had hot spot problems they vanished with the raw. They dont poop as much either.

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Originally Posted by Alexandra V

Really?! I need to find this food then. I hope they sell it here in Canada. I'm struggling to get the cats' weights down on Chicken Soup Adult Light, which is the lightest formula I can find around here...

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A lot of people make the mistake of using a "light" food to help control an animals weight. You don't need a light food (they usually have a lot of fillers to make an animal think its full, but they just end up pooping more). Do portion control on your regular food, its a lot safer and better for the animal.

Or.. have your cat get a tapeworm and make all the vets think he has cancer. (That actually happened to me.. ugh). He'll drop half his body weight in 4 months! HATE TAPEWORMS. Now I'm going to de-worm my indoor only cats 1x a year :/

i get blue buffalo for mine


but the vet said there are so many different types of dog food whatever you feed him as long as he has energy a good coat and looks healthy then the food is fine!

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Originally Posted by Alexandra V

Really?! I need to find this food then. I hope they sell it here in Canada. I'm struggling to get the cats' weights down on Chicken Soup Adult Light, which is the lightest formula I can find around here...

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They actually have a bunch of dealers in Canada! http://www.diamondpet.com/dealer_locator/ I'm really happy with it, and they do poop a lot less! They are eating the Indoor Cat formula, it has red trim. They have a purple bag that is maintenance, but it's crap, it's got all the fillers, corn, and what not for people that want the name but not the quality :confused:

He lost TWO pounds on that food, and he was only eating it for about a month-1 bag. We are on the second month, but I think he's still losing, just slower now. The girls and the other male even slimmed down within the first month. I think only 1/2 to 1 pound, but they weren't overweight, just a little fluffy. When I took Stuart to the vet last year I got in trouble for how fat he was! :oops: :P I forgot to say, that it's really hard for me to switch food because Stuart has such a sensitive stomach, and Diamond is the only food I've found that he could handle switching to that was lower fat/calories. I've tried several Nutros, Wellness something, Evo, and Science Diet-I know it's crap, but I was desperate. He had NO problems switching to Diamond, no throwing up, no loose stools, no skin problems, nothing!

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

Mr. Fatty McFattington :rofl::rofl: :O

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:rofl: His real name is Stuart, but his nick name fits him to a T, see :P
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...Stuart/002.jpg

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Originally Posted by cinderbird

Or.. have your cat get a tapeworm and make all the vets think he has cancer. (That actually happened to me.. ugh). He'll drop half his body weight in 4 months! HATE TAPEWORMS. Now I'm going to de-worm my indoor only cats 1x a year :/

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Ugh that would be awful. Our vet gives all our cats de-wormer at their yearly check up. I thought that was a normal thing for vets to do, but after talking to people I guess not. I'm thankful they do it, because I wouldn't have thought about giving inside cats de-wormer.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Depends what your doing with your dog. All mine get Nutro brand;)

My weight pullers use to get Blue Diamond but its really pricey.

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how pricy is it?