Which Is The Best Quality Dog Food?

[loveyrdog]

Hi I would love your feedback on Quality dog food that you have tried and would currently recommend?

I like to change foods occasionally

I have used Artermis ,Raw of the wild and at the moment Ivorycoat

which has been excellent for my beautiful golden retriever,

So we would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions

thanks :)

I have also posted a thread on pet insurance

Do you recommend any?

Edited January 26, 2016 by loveyrdog

[westiemum]

The usual answer you will get here is that the best food for your dog is the one he/she does best on. If you do a search there are plenty of threads discussing dog food will come up. Some people are dry food feeders and their dogs do well on it - both supermarket types and more upmarket. Others like me are predominantly raw feeders - my westies think I'm trying to poison them if they get dry food. Not at all happy.

I'm also wondering why you wish to change if your dog is doing well on Ivorycoat?

Edited January 26, 2016 by westiemum

[loveyrdog]

I just like to change foods every few months or so

I always add either tuna sardines chicken necks & mixed veg

or apple banana carrot zucchini yogurt etc

What raw foods do you feed?

[Staffyluv]

I personally feed Vets All Natural (VAN) - I either make it up myself or I do buy the premade stuff (because it is easy when I'm busy)..

I also feed: Turkey necks, chicken frames, yoghurt, eggs, sardines, other bones as well. I also use kibble when I have foster dogs here (but Zig rarely eats it when he is on his own). My kibble of choice and the one they seem to do well on is Earthborn Holistic - I three of the range: Primitive, Ocean Catch and the other fish one (can't recall the name).

I am another that believes the best food for your dog, is the food they do best on - we don't really change anything here, other than the flavour of the kibble.

[westiemum]

Coastal Catch is the other one - its grain-free - and is the one my westies only eat under sufferance.

[westiemum]

As to raw feeding, I feed bones, a wonderful raw mix that is made locally from Adelaide Dog with rice or veg (fresh or frozen), tinned mackerel and sardines from Woolies, chicken necks and frames, yoghurt, eggs, halved turkey necks, other meats on special. My guys dance for their raw and are very disappointed if i've forgotten to defrost and they have to have dry food - the long faces are priceless!!!

"Aw Mum do I have to"?

[Willem]

IMO the impact of 'quality dog food' on a healthy diet is overestimated - you can feed the best and most expensive food and ruin the whole healthy diet by feeding too much, too many treats, unhealthy treats, food not meant for a dog, sweats...sugar...etc....etc.

I feed a variety of kibble with and average to good rated quality as a basis, 2-3 turkey neck a week and brisket bones...sometimes rice with lam and / or egg...plus meat balls as treats for training, sometimes I use her favorite kibble as treats. Feeding in training (treats) can count for 50% of the food ratio.

[loveyrdog]

I personally feed Vets All Natural (VAN) - I either make it up myself or I do buy the premade stuff (because it is easy when I'm busy)..

I also feed: Turkey necks, chicken frames, yoghurt, eggs, sardines, other bones as well. I also use kibble when I have foster dogs here (but Zig rarely eats it when he is on his own). My kibble of choice and the one they seem to do well on is Earthborn Holistic - I three of the range: Primitive, Ocean Catch and the other fish one (can't recall the name).

I am another that believes the best food for your dog, is the food they do best on - we don't really change anything here, other than the flavour of the kibble.

Thanks I had a look at vans website I hadnt heard of it before

so you can just add kangaroo or the above etc

So it has grains

which is another topic

grains or grain free

There are so many for and against

with all the information out there

it can be confusing for dog owners like me

that are just looking for the best for there loved dog

[Dogsfevr]

Most grain diets will still have other ingredients that can be an issue .

The answer is simply what suits your dog not what the human thinks it should have .

If your dog is doing great on what its being feed then don't change it.

We don't chop & change diets here if its suits the dog that is what it gets .

And like already mentioned most people who get fixiated on grain free feed crappy treats & other stuff so it really defeats the purpose

[loveyrdog]

As to raw feeding, I feed bones, a wonderful raw mix that is made locally from Adelaide Dog with rice or veg (fresh or frozen), tinned mackerel and sardines from Woolies, chicken necks and frames, yoghurt, eggs, halved turkey necks, other meats on special. My guys dance for their raw and are very disappointed if i've forgotten to defrost and they have to have dry food - the long faces are priceless!!!

"Aw Mum do I have to"?

Thanks I tried chicken wings and carcasses but they splintered and caused bloody poo s

I havent had turkey necks so will try that

not sure about whats in pet mince at butchers might be too fatty

so i might give some of everyones suggestions a try

and see how we go

[YippeeGirl]

Our adult dogs are all fed Wellness Core. Our male has a sensitive stomach and can be hard to keep weight on. We tried him on Black Hawk and most recently, the grain free flavour from Meals For Mutts, and he dropped condition on both. Never had any issues with the Wellness Core. They maintain a nice weight with only a small amount of dry compared to what I was feeding with other brands, and their coats are always gleaming.

Their kibble is supplemented with roo meat, and they get roo tails a couple times a week. Sometimes they might also get chicken necks or chicken frames to munch on. For rewards, especially during training, they get the K9 Naturals frozen green tripe, and they also get the freeze dried/air dried treats from K9 Naturals and ZiwiPeak.

[silentchild]

I feed raw. In the mornings RMBs mainly turkey necks or a variety of other meats or non-weight bearing bones, and offal, as well as K9 Natural or Ziwipeak at dinner. I also very occasionally supplement with eggs, sardines, yogurt, fresh fruit and veg.

[tdierikx]

My dogs do just as well on Supercoat or Bonnie as they do on Nutro or Royal Canin... only their poos are larger when they get the cheaper kibble.

I'm lucky that none of mine have any allergies, and that they will eat anything put in front of them. My old girl was nearly 16 when she passed in July last year, rarely saw a vet for anything right up until her last day... not a bad innings for a large breed dog IMHO.

I'm a firm believer in feeding whatever your dog does well on... and not buying into the hype regarding what is "best". Truth is that what may be amazing for one dog might not be as great for the next...

T.

[Taliecat]

My allergy prone boy is currently on Meals for mutts fish based after black hawk stopped agreeing with him.

He's doing really well on it so far! In less than a week his coat has stopped it's mad shedding.

[Canisbellum]

Jonah has allergies and he was on BlackHawk for a long time along with yoghurt, sardines and vegetables. I have in the last 4 or 5months tried Canidae grain free, meals for mutts grain free and BlackHawk grain free. There was a marginal improvement in his ears and coat on Canidae and his coat looked a bit worse on the other 2. The Canidae is horribly expensive so he is going back to the standard BlackHawk. Going to re introduce pro biotics as his ears didn't seem to build up so much gunk when he had it before

[Rascalmyshadow]

We have tried many different foods at the moment we use Canidae bison dry,natures goodness tinned plus raw bones, sardines and the odd treats, so far all five dogs are doing exceptionally well on this.

[sas]

Whilst I appreciate the term "What your dog does best on" it's not actually factual. What you feed now relates to your dogs health 5-10 years down the track. There are many dogs on low quality kibbles with lovely glossy coats, good poos and good weight and in reality this isn't what is best for the dog long term. I can outline why the dog has all those attributes and it's not because of quality ingredients.

My suggestion is to really research ingredients so when you look at an ingredient label you know what it means. My ideal is to find high quality kibbles (if you don't want to feed raw) that your dog tolerates well as some super premium kibbles may be too rich for some sensative tummies.

http://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/ will be able to help you understand the good from the bad and why although there are many resources out there to help you learn about what each ingredient is and how that relates to your dogs food and health. Good luck in your journey of knowledge.

My personal favs are Canidae, they are great ingredient wise and also $ wise as you feed less than lower quality kibbles therefore you're not buying new bags all the time.

Edited January 26, 2016 by sas

[sas]

I personally feed Vets All Natural (VAN) - I either make it up myself or I do buy the premade stuff (because it is easy when I'm busy)..

I also feed: Turkey necks, chicken frames, yoghurt, eggs, sardines, other bones as well. I also use kibble when I have foster dogs here (but Zig rarely eats it when he is on his own). My kibble of choice and the one they seem to do well on is Earthborn Holistic - I three of the range: Primitive, Ocean Catch and the other fish one (can't recall the name).

I am another that believes the best food for your dog, is the food they do best on - we don't really change anything here, other than the flavour of the kibble.

Thanks I had a look at vans website I hadnt heard of it before

so you can just add kangaroo or the above etc

So it has grains

which is another topic

grains or grain free

There are so many for and against

with all the information out there

it can be confusing for dog owners like me

that are just looking for the best for there loved dog

Not all grains are evil, there are good grains.

Here's some good grains:

• Oats (Gluten free)
• Brown Rice
• Millet (Gluten free)
• Quinoa (Gluten free)
• Sorghum (Gluten free)

Although listening to others is how we learn more, I think it's also important to take that information and research it further as well meaning people often are recycling info they have heard and some of it gets lost along the way.

[sas]

My dogs do just as well on Supercoat or Bonnie as they do on Nutro or Royal Canin... only their poos are larger when they get the cheaper kibble.

I'm lucky that none of mine have any allergies, and that they will eat anything put in front of them. My old girl was nearly 16 when she passed in July last year, rarely saw a vet for anything right up until her last day... not a bad innings for a large breed dog IMHO.

I'm a firm believer in feeding whatever your dog does well on... and not buying into the hype regarding what is "best". Truth is that what may be amazing for one dog might not be as great for the next...

T.

It's an interesting post!

You know that eating Maccas or 2 minute noodles everyday is not healthy and certainly not appropriate for long term health 5-10 years down the track so you'd also concur that this is true for dogs?

Low quality foods do impact long term health. Although I appreciate your dog was 16 which is a fab innings it's unlikley your dog was on either Supecoat or Bonnie for that entire 16 years. I can also argue there are exceptions similar to how some smokers live long lives.

I think it can be quite damaging to novice dog owners to have them believe 2 minute noodles or maccas is a suitable long term diet for their dog that will create great long term health.

[Willem]

My dogs do just as well on Supercoat or Bonnie as they do on Nutro or Royal Canin... only their poos are larger when they get the cheaper kibble.

I'm lucky that none of mine have any allergies, and that they will eat anything put in front of them. My old girl was nearly 16 when she passed in July last year, rarely saw a vet for anything right up until her last day... not a bad innings for a large breed dog IMHO.

I'm a firm believer in feeding whatever your dog does well on... and not buying into the hype regarding what is "best". Truth is that what may be amazing for one dog might not be as great for the next...

T.

It's an interesting post!

You know that eating Maccas or 2 minute noodles everyday is not healthy and certainly not appropriate for long term health 5-10 years down the track so you'd also concur that this is true for dogs?

Low quality foods do impact long term health. Although I appreciate your dog was 16 which is a fab innings it's unlikley your dog was on either Supecoat or Bonnie for that entire 16 years. I can also argue there are exceptions similar to how some smokers live long lives.

I think it can be quite damaging to novice dog owners to have them believe 2 minute noodles or maccas is a suitable long term diet for their dog that will create great long term health.

it is a little bit tricky comparing healthy diets for real omnivores (humans) with healthy diets for 'omnivores' like dogs. While they are indeed capable of digesting starch / grains etc. which classifies them as omnivores (plus the fact that they can digest fruits etc.), their metabolism / digesting system is clearly more designed for meat hence they are more carnivores than omnivores.

Most dog owners also overlook the correlation between exercise / work and food needs....e.g. not much merit in feeding a 'couch potato' with 'energy boosters'. IMO it is not a good idea to get a dog to depend on just one food source / kibble, also it might be the 'best kibble ever', because I can't see that this food would be the right one for every scenario. That's why I feed a variety of kibble - also cheaper kibble - and 'balance' it with turkey necks, briskets etc.

And nothing wrong with Maccas ...from a nutrient point of view it is actually pretty good - it is the 'dosage' that makes it 'toxic', but that's the case with every food!

Edited January 26, 2016 by Willem