If you own a dog, do yourself a favor and check your dog food.

Bonsai Nut

Bonsai Nut

Nuttier than your average Nut
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There is a HUGE difference between good quality and poor quality foods. Do your pet a favor and check out what's in your pet's food. An informed consumer is an empowered consumer:

Dog Food Advisor

Dog foods are not regulated by the USDA - they are considered animal feeds and are regulated by an industry group called AAFCO (American Association for Feed Control Officials). This is why nutritional statements on pet foods are somewhat vague and less informative than the same labels on human foods. The nutritional labeling requirements for dog food are the same as for hog food or any other livestock feed.
 
Been feeding our 4 legged kids Taste of the Wild for years.....It's not the best out there but it is right at the top.

Brian
 
I saw a documentairy about this, and if i can recall correctly we in Europe could even use it for human consumtion because of regulations (which i would not recommend).
 
Over 20 years ago I used to work in the pet food industry. All pet foods have to be safe for human consumption. However Fritos are safe for human consumption, too :) If you want to have fun some day, go compare some super-premium canned cat foods to 100% canned tuna... and tell me which costs more :)

It's all about the quality of ingredients in the ingredient listing. Ignore the nutritional statement, since you can actually build up a pretty reasonable nutritional guarantee with old boot leather and used crank case oil, among other nasty things (I kid you not - one of our nutritional scientists used to horrify us with how he could concoct the nastiest products imaginable while still meeting nutritional guidelines for canines). Just read this, from the ingredient listing of the most popular dry dog food in the USA:

The second ingredient is meat and bone meal, a dry “rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents”.1 Meat and bone meal can have a lower digestibility than most other meat meals. Scientists believe this decreased absorption may be due to the ingredient’s higher ash and lower essential amino acid content.2 What’s worse, this particular item is anonymous. Since there’s no mention of a specific animal, this ingredient could come from almost anywhere: spoiled supermarket meat, roadkill, dead, diseased or dying livestock — even euthanized farm animals. Even though meat and bone meals are still considered protein-rich meat concentrates, we do not consider a generic ingredient like this a quality item.
 
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Wee said:
Been feeding our 4 legged kids Taste of the Wild for years.....It's not the best out there but it is right at the top.

Brian
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Make sure to keep an eye on the nutritional listing, because it can change over time. The Iams of 1995 is not the same company as the Iams of 1999 (when it was sold to Procter & Gamble) or the Iams of 2014 (when Procter & Gamble sold it to Mars). Ingredient listings can change between one production run and another, with no outward notification to pet owners.

The dry food I had been feeding my dogs just changed its formulation, and one of my dogs started refusing to eat it. Only by comparing an old ingredient listing (cut from an old bag) to the new ingredient listing could I see that they had changed the product substantially. This was an "ok" brand on the web site I listed above - ranking 3.5 stars - but they still dropped a lot of quality ingredients and added fillers/grains that they didn't have before.

I took my dog to Petsmart and we did a sniff test on a short list of foods before making a purchasing decision. She gives Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy four paws up!
 
Did I read that here?
Or I heard it at the store....

That Blue Buffalo is owned by a POP company who markets well, but they are no better than the others....the other good ones.

Not that it's bad.

My dog wouldn't eat the "good" stuff, but he eats the stuff from jewel.

And Zukes treats.

And rabbits soon.

Sorce
 
Wee said:
Been feeding our 4 legged kids Taste of the Wild for years.....It's not the best out there but it is right at the top.

Brian
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We switched to TOTW Pasific Stream (lower protein for the bulldogs) years back when we got our Aussie pup. Wanting something that would work for all the dogs in the home.

We spent years doctoring for allergies with our older bulldog. And even had a referral to a specialist. But canceled that appointment when his allergies cleared up. Our main vet passed from cancer had given us a referral yet suggested trying the food first...the woman who came in that took her place we started seeing. Commented she was glad to see the consult with the allergist went well. His feet looked great as did his wrinkles. Thing was...all we did was switch food. She documented that...and made notes to suggest others to try the food. It is grain free and chicken byproduct free. Our last vet fed her dogs this...and suggested we try them all on this brand. Very pleased with the outcome. Most my bulldogs friends feed this...and with similar success.

We rarely need to clean their face wrinkles like we once had to. And never in need of diaper rash ointment for them. So. Yeah...it's a food I recommend for one's looking for dog food.
 
Bonsai Nut said:
Make sure to keep an eye on the nutritional listing, because it can change over time. The Iams of 1995 is not the same company as the Iams of 1999 (when it was sold to Procter & Gamble) or the Iams of 2014 (when Procter & Gamble sold it to Mars). Ingredient listings can change between one production run and another, with no outward notification to pet owners.

The dry food I had been feeding my dogs just changed its formulation, and one of my dogs started refusing to eat it. Only by comparing an old ingredient listing (cut from an old bag) to the new ingredient listing could I see that they had changed the product substantially. This was an "ok" brand on the web site I listed above - ranking 3.5 stars - but they still dropped a lot of quality ingredients and added fillers/grains that they didn't have before.

I took my dog to Petsmart and we did a sniff test on a short list of foods before making a purchasing decision. She gives Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy four paws up!
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We was feeding that...prior to TOTW. The recall had our aussie breeder concerned of us offering it to her. Which is why we switched by recommendation of our vet. I still think it's a good decent food. But,not for dogs with allergies.
 
Thanks for the link, I had done the research a number of years ago and am glad to see that our two brands are still 4 star rated. We use a mix of Nutro Ultra, and Chicken Soup for the dog lovers soul. Using only one food, you run the risk of some sort of deficiency, so we just mix two.
 
Thanks for sharing this info. I've owned an independent feed and pet supply for 35 years and I can assure you that pet food marketing is designed to be misleading. For example, many brands list "real Chicken" or "Fresh lamb" as their first ingredient. What most consumers don't realize is that ingredients are listed in order by weight, regardless of how much of that weight is water, so a dog food with a first ingredient of lamb meal actually contains much more lamb than the one listing "lamb" as its first ingredient.
Many once good foods have been bought out by large corporations, Mars and P&G in particular and the quality has suffered while price went up.
Taste of the Wild is my best seller and a great value for a high quality grain free food. It is made by Diamond which also makes several other high quality/value brands like Premium Edge and Diamond Natural as well as private labeling all of Costco's brands. Canidae is also a great food although they recently hired former Nutro marketing people and have changed for the worse. Blue Buffalo is decent quality but greatly overpriced due to the huge national advertising they base their brand on. Victor is also an up and coming brand with high quality and value. It is very popular with Bully Breed owners. Natural Balance is also an excellent food but since they were also bought out the price has risen greatly while the bag size has decreased.
 
All our dogs prefer the cheapest junk dog food money can buy....We only know that because once or twice when we ran out of TOTW we had to pick up a cheap bag at Wally World. I guess it's about like humans eating at Mickey D's...Taste good but not good for you. TOTW is the only food our Pom can eat and not throw-up some of it back up, her stomach has always been weak.

Good dog is not cheap but look at these eyes and tell me he doesn't deserve the best....?
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Brian
 
@PaulH never heard of Victor...will ask my bulldog group if they heard of it. With the great success of finally getting through the allergy thing...I doubt I would try another unless stated some point I notice a difference in the dogs health/allergies.
 
Wee said:
All our dogs prefer the cheapest junk dog food money can buy....We only know that because once or twice when we ran out of TOTW we had to pick up a cheap bag at Wally World. I guess it's about like humans eating at Mickey D's...Taste good but not good for you. TOTW is the only food our Pom can eat and not throw-up some of it back up, her stomach has always been weak.

Good dog is not cheap but look at these eyes and tell me he doesn't deserve the best....?
DSC04656.JPG



Brian
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You feed your dogs Thong Of The Week? You sick bastard!
 
My senior Bulldog that thrives on TOTW...
2016-01-22 10.27.03.jpg his poor feet were always a mess before switching foods. And his white side of his face raw in the wrinkles. Not so anymore...that ranks that food up pretty high in my standards. No matter it's only a 4 star rating. Glad my breeder for this girl threw a fit over our feeding her what the bulldogs were on.
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And my favorite of her as a pup...with our other bulldog Sarge. (Who is my heart...he has made me his entire universe by being a mommas boy.)
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The one we use is Nature's recipe- puppy-lamb meal and rice... We were not going to pay $60+ per bag for food to feed an animal that would be just as happy eating the ass out of a 3 month old dead cow... And we were not going to feed him Chinese made cyanide laced rat poison either... Seemed like a good middle ground. Duke sure has been healthy! Cannot say a bad word about it... Combines fresh and meal...
 
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Darlene....Your Aussie is absolutely adorable....I have a soft spot for merles.

Brian
 
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