dog food
http://www.artemiscompany.com/index.asp
I know this person who owns couple pet stores(foods) and he has his own brand.
Any experts~ please check out the site and let me know if this food is good for akita.
I was feeding innova large pup and just switched to taste of wild.
I know this person who owns couple pet stores(foods) and he has his own brand.
Any experts~ please check out the site and let me know if this food is good for akita.
I was feeding innova large pup and just switched to taste of wild.
Comments
I'm not an expert in Akita food but out of curiosity I took at look at the website, my local stores in NorCal don't seem to have this brand. What's interesting is they've taken the Royal Canin approach and offer food based on dog size (There're only a couple of dog food brands that do this) They don't seem to be going after the limited ingredient approach that is gaining popularity these days with breeds that suffer from either grain or protein allergies.
In selecting kibble, I actually prefer manufacturers who have their own facility vs. ones that outsource production. The later are the ones that get recall notices all the time, yet it's tricky to tell who owns their own manufacturing w/out doing some research. Innova is part of the Natura Pet Company, which got bought out by P&G a couple of years ago. I like Natura products. TOTW is manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods, which seem to routinely have recalls on their east coast distribution. Pet Food recall listing can be found at:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/newpetfoodrecalls/#Dog
ps. Dogfoodadvisor has rated most of these brands
I can easly find Royal Canine in my town, but the breeder which i got the puppy from told me that its a good food but not perfect for akita. What do you think?
Dogfoodadvisor's rating explains it contains controversial ingredients
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/royal-canin-maxi-dog-food/
I'll message you separately
Rice is fine, but I also wouldn't go with a kibble that had rice and corn in the first five ingredients.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/all-i-want-for-christmas-is-my-health-back/
"corn gluten meal" in the Giant adult kibble.. gluten is a by product of corn I think? Kids and adult cereal touts no gluten so why should dog's kibble have it?
I don't have issue with grains like rice, but it shouldn't be first ingredient.
Most low end grain inclusive kibble has by products of grains.
I prefer the kibble with grains to have whole grains.
I've fed kibble with grains no issue fromm kibble has grains I'm cool with it. I'm not into the corn since it is usually first ingredient I see corn as a filler.
Rice and potatoes are needed to bind the kibble like poeticdragon wrote though some dogs have sensitivies to potatoes too some dog just fine on kibble with grains..
Saya isn't into plain rice, but she likes sushi with rice eats it no issue.. I shared some it didn't have any spice or sauces just raw fish and rice. Yummy.. only way she would eat rice if it was mixed with ground meat, caned fish or cooked fish.
I made a casserole that is fine for dogs and people it had chicken, green peppers, zucchini, rice, and some cheese, also bit of chicken broth.
Saya and Bella loved it. I had put tiny bit of salt and pepper on my portion when I got it on a plate.
But yea, what everyone posted after my post is way better stated than what I posted
When looking for non meat items, I look for potatoes, brown rice, ect... but I def dont want to see these ingredients as a huge main ingredient. Corn in kibble, though, is pretty much a no-go for me. And personally, I think Toki does best on a high-protein, grain-free kibble, so I'm looking for high quality meats over everything else. Thats why when I looked at Royal Canine I said, nope.
As I mentioned in another thread, we feed raw, but some of the puppies that left us are on kibble. We usually recommend Taste of the wild or Pro Plan - both with salmon (or lamb). I agree with @poeticdragon when it comes to grains - look for rice or potatoes. All of our dogs love rice too. And ocean fish :-) Very Japanese of them. However they all seem to hate supplements based on algae. :-(
I'm not biased towards grain free only, but if your going to feed grain inclusive kibble should be of good quality corn gluten isn't good quality.
No need for more pms please I wasn't trying to cause any fights and I don't mean anything negative by the post I made above.
I used to feed Dink and my past three other dogs beneful and I didn't knew it was bad quality at that time..
When a dog is young you don't see the difference low quality kibble does to a dog.
At age of 11 she slowed down some still went on walks, but stopped playing with toys then age 13 got worse in worse so low energy only reason she got up was to drink, eat and go potty.
At age of 14 I finally convinced mom to switch her to better kibble.
Once dink was switched to better quality ingredient she had much more energy actually wanted to go on walks with us and played with toys once and a while also begged to be petted and massaged too before she would just sleep.
At age of 15 she slowed down some, but was still able to walk around and then when she made it to 16years old her arthritis and pain was too much so we had her put to sleep.
Here's example of a kibble that has grains, but I feel it's good ones.. I feed different formula then this one, but this is from same brand.
three meat sources then grain also no gluten in it like royal canine kibble.
Duck, Chicken Meal, Chicken, (Brown Rice, Pearled Barley, Oatmeal), Menhaden Fish Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Lamb, Potato, Tomato Pomace, Whole Egg, Salmon Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Cheese, Flaxseed, Brewers Dried Yeast, Alfalfa Meal, Carrots, Lettuce, Celery, Lecithin, Chicken Cartilage, Monocalcium Phosphate, Salt, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Chicory Root Extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium Longum, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcous Faecium, Vitamin A, D3, E, B12 Supplements, Choline Chloride, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Biotin, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Carbonate, Manganous Oxide, Copper Oxide, Cobalt Carbonate, Calcium Iodate, Sorbic Acid, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite.
If you feel royal canine is good fine by me I'm just giving my own opinion on things.
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/choosing-dog-food/dog-food-vitamin-mineral-standards/
RE: Nature's Variety raw boost,
All NV dry and canned food and treats that I've checked (except raw frozen) include this ingredient " Montmorillonite Clay". I've seen neutral comments about it on Dogfoodadvisor.com, but one of the boutique pet stores I visit said something about clay absorbing the water and dehydrating the dogs' stomach contents. I kind of doubt clay has that much dehydrating power since the canned food are sitting in juice, but it's made me want to cut back on using their kibble even as training treats.
The mucous-y poop might have to do w/ too much protein, not enough fiber