What Brand Of Commercial Dry Food To Feed?

[Staff'n'Toller]

As I keep indicating, you get what you pay for...and I'd rather pay more for a better quality product than use something of a lesser quality just b/c it's a few bucks cheaper.  My dogs are worth the extra money for their food...

Everyone can see that you are very passionate and informed about feeding BARF Vs. kibble, but I would take offence to that comment.

Not everyone has endless money or time to spend on their dogs food...people who feed a super premium kibble should not be made to feel bad because they have time constraints.

People who choose to feed a premium or at least good brand of food should not be made to feel bad because they cannot afford to feed the super premium stuff.

When you are feeding BARF correctly i.e. no mince, it can get expensive for mulitple dogs especially when you are talking organic fruits and vegies, I agree with you it's the best, but it isn't always easy for Joe Citizen.

I would rather someone who wasn't sure they could get a complete and balanced BARF diet going for their dog choose a 'good' dry food instead.

We are all on different salaries with different monetary constraints.

Everyone has different views, I would never touch Pal can food but have seen many 14yr old dogs die of old age who have only ever eaten the stuff.

I also would never consider buying from a Pet Shop that supported some of the biggest puppy farms and BYB's in Australia. The day a certain Pet Shop chain dies will be a great day for puppies, kittens and rabbits everywhere.

Please don't assume that food companies that test on animals are evil. I have personally been to the Masterfoods Factory and seen the cattery up there, where the cats live in a massive building with a huge play area, own sleeping quaters, cleaner conditions than your average house and if they aren't getting along with each other communaly then the unhappy ones are rehomed.

The 'oldies' are even rehomed to live out their days in relative comfort!!

The Hills factory in the US openly invites any Veterinary staff from anywhere in the world to go and visit their kennels. I have seen the ground plans they are basically designed for the dogs to reduce stress, they are given exercise and environmental enrichment and we are welcome to visit any time to see the dogs, and take them out for a game of fetch.

Mel.

Edited January 29, 2006 by StaffordsRule

[greentea]

I totally agree with what StaffordsRule said.

For my dogs, a BARF diet hasn't been as successful as I had hoped, in fact they have done a lot better on the cooked home made meals I prepare. It is not a cost issue for me because we only buy organic meat/dairy/veges/fruit for us anyway so it doesn't cost much more to feed the dogs- they are pretty tiny after all!

The meals I give them change every now and then, but basicaly I cook fresh chicken with spinach, carrot and rice.

Or I cook lamb with veges and rice. I also make up a smelly meal that they love, it is eggs, sardines and lamb mince cooked up together like scrambled eggs.

I give them raw bones for their teeth.

When they go to day-care I pack a small handful of Royal Canin each as a snack while they are there.

I have tried a dry food diet on its own, I have tried a totally raw food diet and I have tried the Barf patties as well.

My dogs are in great health and the vet says their teeth are perfect. I will not be told that I am not feeding them the best diet possible, for these two it IS the best diet as they do best on this diet.

My MIL has a 16 year old Westie who has eaten Pal tinned food his whole life, and a Scottie who died 2 years ago aged 16. Same diet.

Every dog is different and they are like humans, some have allergies and other things that affect how they digest their food. I am happy and confident with the diet I have chosen for my dogs.

[cavNrott]

.

Edited May 8, 2009 by cavNrott

[Gone Grey]

Just copied from the website - can't be bothered typing from the bag!

Natural Balance

Premium Ingredients

Rice, Australian lamb, corn gluten meal, tallow, Omega MagicTM essential oil blend, oat bran, FOS, yucca extract, sodium HMP, natural flavours, vitamins A D3 E K3 B1 B2 B3 B5 B6 B12, Folic Acid, Biotin, Copper (from Sulphate), Copper Chelate, Zinc (from Sulphate), Zinc Chelate, Manganese (from Oxide), Manganese Chelate, Iron (from Sulphate), Iron Chelate, Selenium, Iodine, and Calcium. Product protected by natural mixed tocopherols and rosemary extract.

Nutritional Analysis

Protein (%min) 20

Fat (%min) 7

Fibre (%max) 6

Ash (%max) 6

Moisture (%max) 8

Ca:P Ratio 1.1-1.5-1.0

Metabolisable Energy 295

[gareth]

If you are able Anne, you would benefit from going along to the Pet and animal expo this weekend. The Aakyda people had a stall there last time I remember.

I am finding the Optimum range made by Waltham to be excellent and very good value.

[cavNrott]

.

Edited May 8, 2009 by cavNrott

[gareth]

I remember buying a supply of it and it was called Aakyda natural nurse or something, that was a few years back. Pretty sure it is the same mob, but every time I try to pull up the Aakyda website my computer freezes.

I'm going to the expo, so will do some investigating.

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Ahem, I work in an animal shelter, earning a whopping $11.50 per hour. Or $24K per year...not exactly wealthy, am I?

I still think my dogs are worth buying the best quality foods! My DH and I are vegetarian, hardly eat out or buy take away, and spend very little on ourselves in general...apart from running two family-sized cars, having a mortgage on a block of land, we live fairly simply and still manage to eat well ourselves.

I don't think that spending $20 or thereabouts on kibble (a 2.2 kg bag) is expensive. I went to the butcher today and spent about $22 on RMBs, and I don't think that's expensive either. That will feed THREE DOGS for at least three weeks - hardly a budget-breaker IMO.

But I also can't understand why anyone would choose to feed their dog on any food that's first (and therefore most prolific ingredient) is rice...dogs don't need to eat cereals or grains...but they're in dog food b/c they're much cheaper than meat. I would HAPPILY buy an Australian-made kibble if any Aussie company could make a comparable product for the money, but they either can't or won't. So my money stays with the superior quality of the USA-made DVPNBOF and perhaps my next bag will be Eagle Pack Holistic...just to see the difference.

OK, so my ethics and my choices are different to yours. I can live with the choices I make b/c I know that as much as humanly possible, I am not contributing to animal suffering. That is important to me, in that I don't make a huge distinction between the life of a dog and the life of a cow or sheep or pig...they're all equally valuable to me. And each deserves to have a life that is as free from suffering/pain/cruelty as possible. But I can understand that my values are not shared by everyone and that too is fine. We each make our choices based upon what we know and what we seek to know.

[bloss344]

Here is the link to the Natural Balance website in Victoria. http://www.balancepetfoods.com.au/

It looks like the Aakyda is now called Vivace.

If you live within their delivery area they will drop off some samples for you to try. I think I got several sample packs of various dry food, a couple of tins and I think a small packet of treats. Unfortunately my boy has dreadful intolerances and I ended up chickening out in trying them and gave them to my neighbour instead.

Once they have your name, address and phone number they do tend to phone every so often to see if you want to order. They finally understood that 'my dog has intolerances' meant that I wasn't going to order.

[augustus]

HI - just looking through the site and came across your query on food - we've just come onto the site and was asking initially about leg problems in our dogue de bordeaux - however! Another topic we that has driven us positively insane has been what to feed him. Being what is called a "giant" breed we have had to find a food he likes, is reasonably priced and has all the nourishment our pup needs since he grows so fast and his bones are so soft....at the end of the day, as other people have told you - how long is a piece of string? Everyone has had a different opinion of what we should feed him when we asked the same question over and over again because our boy just refused to eat dog balls! But at the end of the day from trying everything from Puppy Pal to Eukanuba to Innova NONE of which our pup would eat no matter how we camouflaged it with "treats" from the stove top - in a last ditch effort we went for the Science Diet at a hundred bucks a bag - and guess what? Augustus eats it like it's prime rib! It's either the most flavoursome dry dog food on the market or our dogue - true to name who's cost the earth - only likes the expensive stuff! Whatever- we persevered 'til we found one he likes and has everything in it a giant breed needs - and it's recommended by and I believe only generally available from Vets and Pet stores - haven't seen a bag leap out at us from Woollies at a bargain price thus far! Hope your decision is easier and not as expensive! As long as you've got a healthy fit dog I guess we'll feed them what we have to...

[Clyde]

if you scroll down on this part of the forum I have a poll on the best kibble!

Seems supercoat and eagle pack to be the more popular

Supercoat is only popular because it is affordable, not because it is a quality kibble.

[KitKat]

Augustus...if you are interested keep an eye out for both Royal Canin (perhaps easier to find) and Eagle Pack...both have a giant breed range Most of the others i think only do the small, medium and or large breed ranges...but the RC and EP have a range for the giant breeds as well ;)

[Clyde]

My friends Dogue 'Matilda' is doing really well on the Royal Canin. She too, would hardly eat anything and then finally wolfed down the RC. Seems that they aren't 'piggy' eaters....Matilda didnt start eating properly for about two months.

I bought a bag of the RC to try on my guys and they LOVE it. Financial constraints have put them back on IAMS, but Im keen to get back to RC asap. Although my dogs will eat anything.

[sugar]

Supercoat has listed first ingredient as Meat not rice or cereal. For a budget dry food, I don't think you can bag the stuff. My dogs look great on it, and the dollar is not an issue. However they do get lots of raw bones, mince and vegies.

[Guest LittlePixie]

Supercoat has listed first ingredient as Meat not rice or cereal.

Is it meat or just by-products? I can't remember and can't find a list of the ingredients on the web. Except for a site in Singapore and I'm not sure if it's the same product as we have.

[KitKat]

As to meat etc being the 'first' ingredient...a lot will depend on if they weight the meat mulch wet or dried...eg if they weigh it wet it will of course be heavier, then they dry it and it gets mulched in with the rest of the mix. If they weigh it dried it will of course weigh a lot less, and then it's just mulched in with the rest...

Not that i'm knocking Supercoat...just saying the first ingredient isn't always the thing to trust

[Harley11]

I have a toy dog (pomeranian) and i feed him Royal Canin,,the occasional bone and sometimes cooked chicken.He also has pigs ears for chewing treats and small dog treats on occasion.I try not to give him to many other foods as the vets and Royal Canin dry food says that its is a full meal to feed them on that,,but i feel it can be a bit boring to just give him that all the time.

His Royal Canin is about $27 a bag,but it does last him for about 4-6 weeks or so,,so works out cheap really.But he is a small dog,so wont eat or cost as much as a large dog

[Sayreovi]

I have recently started to feed my dogs Eagle Pack and they are starting to look great.....not that they didnt before just they look great now haha

I feed them Supercoat when money is tight and havent had any issues with it.

When you get to the premium/super premium foods the bigger you buy the better in the long run.