Dog Food

I've been doing a lot of research into equine nutrition that last couple months. I didn't even know what I was feeding or why I was feeding what I was. Well, I've become smarter about my horse, but I've gotten to thinking... What about my dog?

My dad is in charge of feeding the dogs. He buys the cheapest food he can and dumps it into their bowls once a day. Well... Research has shown this isn't the best method, and I'm not feeding the best food.

So, let's talk dog food! What do you feed? Tell me about dog health and nutrition! Recommendations?

My dog is a five-ish year old pit bull cross. I don't know exactly; she's a rescue I got as an adult. She's around 60 pounds in weight and isn't extremely active. She has her moments, but she's content to lay around as well. She keeps weight very easily!

I like to use this analogy about dog food-
Set a twinkie and an apple out.
Both will fill your belly and stave off the hunger, but which one is most beneficial?
(This is not directed at you personally, I've had this conversation with many many people and am just repeating what I usually say )

The twinkie, actually two or three because that is how much it takes to fill you up, are full of junk, perservatives, fillers and things you can't even pronounce. Some of the ingredients...well... are just scary to think about.
That's your average run of the mill cheap junky food.

The apple.... usually just one will satisfy your body and there are so many good nutritional components in an apple (or other healthy fruit, the apple is just an example) that your body absorbs way more of it and there is nothing scary in an apple. (usually)
A little closer to a quality dog food product.

Taste buds aside (because a twinkie can be tasty, in a very artificial kind of way) which would you rather nourish your body with?

A quality pet food is quite a bit different than a junky one....not only for the ingredients and nutritional value, but you generally feed quite a bit less and because most of the ingredients are absorbed and utilized so much better, there is way less waste... or poop.
All the junk and fillers in a junky food go through a dog pretty fast and right out the back end and do nothing but take up space. Literally.

Ever try to potty train a puppy on a junky food? LOL
Switch the little pup over to a quality and house training generally goes better because there is less need to potty constantly.

I know, I know but you are saying... a "quality" dog food costs more.
Yes it does.
But, if you have to feed five cups of brand "Junk-O-Kibble" but only 1 to 2 cups of brand "Quality Kibble" which twenty pound bag of dog food will last longer?
In the end you end up paying about the same because you buy the quality food less often.

Anyway, that's my quicky answer about pet foods.

Cute dog by the way.

I feed a raw prey model diet. 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% organ.

I get a meat based dry food that is manufactured by our local co-op. Basically, it's a balanced diet of 27% protein and 11% fat.

But, ours are working dogs that often run 50+ miles a week and we have about 15 dogs...so raw (which is ideal) isn't really feasible due to cost of meat.

Thank y'all!

Lockwood, that's what everyone's said! You feed less nice food than you do junk food, so you end up paying roughly the same. I'm all for it.

Nikelodeon: That's interesting! Probably not something I could consider, but where does one buy bone and organ meat? And what kind of meat do you feed?

Smrobs: Meat based dry food would probably be the way I have to go too. Just gotta find a good one locally...

There's lots of stuff on the internet about the subject! I started researching brands and eventually settled on nutromax naturals. It's not the cadillac of doggie nutrition, but it did have a lot less fillets in it! It also fit my budget as an 18 year old feeding a 130 rottie!

Read the label, just like a human label the first things on the list are the main Ingredients. Steer clear of corn and grain listed first! Look for meat products to be the main ingredient.

I also here Costco brand dog food is excellent and reasonably priced! Haven't tried it myself but I watched a few dogs on it, they were all very sleek and shiny!

Like I said, research on the internet! You'll find tons, I didn't when I was researching 7 years ago.
Posted via Mobile Device

I also second the Costco brand dog food. Known of some show dog breeders that swear by it. I have been very satisfied the Diamond Naturals, when I had working dogs I fed the high performance/high protein. Now my dogs are fat, lazy and out of work and I feed the lamb and rice formula:)

Whatever you choose, don't use purina, my old dog was on purina which I heard is really good for older dogs and all of a sudden he got sick and was pucking everywhere and I took him to the vet and his kidneys and liver were shutting down due to the food. Apparently over 200 dogs have died from it. So I went to the store to buy a different brand and all the purina was on sale

I have a Bull Mastiff and per the norm for that breed.. lots of allergies. He's on a grain-free dog food, I forget which right now as we've gone through SO many before finding one that agreed with him.

As far as Purina... my neighbor asked me to dogsit their puppy whom they free-feed Purina Puppy Chow. I was quite concerned as my dog will inhale ANYTHING, literally. So I was worried about keeping Poochie from porking out on Purina Puppy Chow but still have it available for the puppy. Boy was that a waste of my time... I forgot to pick up the dish when she walked away once and he went over, sniffed and deemed it INEDIBLE! Her dish sat on the floor, full of that crap all weekend and he didn't eat a single piece.

Certainly no Purina then! After some internet research, I'm leaning towards Taste of the Wild. I was personally recommended to me, seems to get great reviews, and is available at TSC. (No Costco around here. Meh.) It's a little expensive, but I'm feeding only one dog with the metabolism of a slug.

The research continues.