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What do you feed your dogs and why? I am not happy with what we have been feeding our dog and my mom just got a puppy and is wondering about food. We cant go broke right now with food but we want good quality. We are using Nutro weight management right now...
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Timberwolf is a great food. They have a grain free fish based diet now too. We feed RAW and Orjen, we are super happy with Orjen - Jen found a store where if you buy more than $50 worth the shipping is free! Check it out:
http://www.k9cuisine.com/
Thank you! I am getting ideas of what to look into. My mom is doing Science Diet
Brad, I hope you know I expect you to school Chad on Sunday!!
Does anyone know anything about the Chicken Soup brand for the dog?
I will prepare some documentation and a PowerPoint for Chad.
Chicken Soup is a good food too - I don't think it's grain free tho. It is holistic tho.
LMAO!!! Should I bring the laser pointer? OMG I want to see Hilo with a laser pointer!!!!
My mom bought the Chicken Soup, it is MUCH better than Science Diet and an ok price. Im just glad she changed. Not her puppy of 2 days is eating better than mine!!
If you are going to feed kibble, I highly recommend Orijen puppy (grain free). If that is not available in your area, you might want to find something that doesn't cost you in shipping - in which case I'd feed California Natural puppy, or Innova Puppy. The last two are made by Natura, and is widely available at better health food stores and are very reasonably priced, IMO.
Be careful with grain free that doesn't explicitly state it is for puppies. Puppies need a proper mix of calcium/phosphorus. Too much can cause serious skeletal problems later and cause them to grow too fast.
If you are feeding kibble to a large breed dog, I also suggest you add a little canned food with the kibble. Dogs can bloat as early as 6 mos of age and according to studies, adding canned to a kibble meal may reduce the risk of bloat by 42%.
That's a great point about the puppy food (and the other points of course) - Orjen makes a grain free puppy kibble.
WOW. I knew I came to the right place!
Thank you all!
So we made the switch to Orijen! They love the food! Sasha is acting starved though...we gave her 2 cups and she wants Niko's food. We have not had them eat out of separate bowls before so this will be a challenge.
How much do you feed your dog (size and weight and activity?)
The lady at the doggie daycare stated when we asked about the fish oil to give them canola or olive oil and it does the exact same thing...any comments?
Thx again for the schooling!!!!
She may just be really stoked for the food - I'm sure it tastes batter to her!
Hilo (60#) gets 1.5 cups 3 times a day (large breed puppy kibble)
Ahi (45#) gets 1 cup 2 times a day
All Oils have a complex blend of fats that help people and dogs - fish oil has the highest concentrate and the widest range of good fatty acids. Most oils will help a dogs coat tho, but not all will provide the same mix of good fatty acids. That's why it's best to switch between oils. Omega fatty acids help brain function, skin, heart and a lot of other things in humans and dogs.
Be careful with allergies when giving other oils.
I too made the switch to Orijen. Moto loves it!!! His stool is already better looking (I never thought I would type that). His eyes no longer get crusty.
I am so happy with the results that I am now transitioning my cats to Orijen too.
They are SO Happy with the change. They have never sat and ate all their food without walking away! They suck it down in less than a few minutes and are licking the bottom of the bowl. I think you all are their heroes!
Will they get adapted to eating less food? I feel like I am starving them and dont want to overfeed them...
I wouldn't worry to much about it, as long as they don't look too thin they are fine - and keep in mind the typical American's idea of a healthy dog is an over weight dog (not saying you have that view - I'm just saying don't compare to the average dog).
On some level, some may suggest, it's a good idea to keep your pups hungry, because they will probably be more obedient. It will also help to strengthen you "alpha" status because you are the (food) provider and if they are hungry they will probably be more interested in making you happy so they can get food. The old saying in training (old school training) is "A hungry dog is an obedient dog".
Ditto what Brad said.
I like to keep Tasha just a smidget under her low-end weight (she weighs 69 pounds and the vet said 70-75 is a good weight). Like us, it helps guard against diabetes, heart disease, and joint issues. Tasha could stand to drop another pound, IMO.
If you feel terribly guilty, give them fresh or canned green beans - just a little - with their food. It'll help fill them up without adding the weight. I suspect that your crew is simply enjoying the new food. You can switch between the original formula and the fish formula every so often without ever upsetting tummies if you like - as long as they don't have a problem with fish. Or, you can add a little canned food from time to time. Just be sure to reduce the amount of kibble. You can even add a couple tablespoons of cottage cheese or yogurt here and there, even tidbits of leftover cooked chicken or steak (no sauce or spice, no onions). Keeps it different. A little sardine, mackeral, and canned salmon are other options for the occasional add-on. Just never feed tuna.