[TomN]

Originally Posted by sheltieluver4

Hi yall, i have a question, is expensive dog food better than the cheap genaric kind? {i know i spelled that wrong srry} Cause we r getting a new sheltie puppy soon and i want to spoil her but i want good tasting dog food 4 her not boring kind, maybe i should taste the dog food lol just kidding

Better in what way?

Many dogs will react differently to different feeds, expensive or not. Plenty of dogs out there that may not tolerate some of the expensive holistic feeds out there. And I'm sure you will find some owners that will swear by the cheap grocery chain foods. Find a good premium food that you can afford and that your dog likes and does well on and stick with it. Research dog food ingredients and read ingredient labels before you buy. To put a blanket statement that the more expensive the feed the better is not necessarily true.

[tmch]

Hi, If you really want to spoil your friend I would strongly suggest miss autumns barkery dog food. I havebeen feeding my 2 boston's all three types for close to a year know and they have never been healthyer. My vet told me that this food is the best on the market. This company will send you a free sample if you go to their web site.The food actually looks like real food. they do not have a dry yet but they are working on it. This is truly people food made for dogs.If you try it and like it tell others because there is so much junk out there we really need to identify the good ones for our pet sake.

lisa

[jaytuk]

Originally Posted by sheltieluver4

Yeah ok its just that some dogs get boreded out with the same food, i really like purina brands, what do yall think about that

I usually use purina to feed my dog. Seems to work just fine.

[Cesare Borgia]

If more expensive is better than by all rights, Science Diet should be right at the top of the list...........

[boon4376]

Originally Posted by tmch

Hi, If you really want to spoil your friend I would strongly suggest miss autumns barkery dog food. I havebeen feeding my 2 boston's all three types for close to a year know and they have never been healthyer. My vet told me that this food is the best on the market.

There isnt much protein in that stuff... 8-11% and no added vitamins or minerals, are you feeding your dogs anything else?

this stuff correct? http://www.missautumnsbarkery.com/products.php

I'd be worried that my dogs were deficient in many nutrients and vitamins with such a small variety of ingredients and no supplemental vitamins listed.

And at $5.00 and $6.00 a jar it would be MUCH cheaper to buy a food processor and turkey breast rice peas and carrots at the grocery store.. You could make and package 10 jars yourself in a matter of an hour for less than $10.00.. you could also add things that are lacking in those ingredients.

[RonE]

Boon, tmch blew in here 4/27/09, posted a single spam message (which wasn't deleted because there were no links or redirects) and then disappeared forever.

I wouldn't waste a lot of time agonizing over the quality of Miss Autmen's Bakery Dog Food.

A note to spammer wannabees: This thread seems to be a magnet for spammers and the moderators tend to watch it closely. You and your posts will normally disappear before anybody has had a chance to read them and line to buy your product.

[boon4376]

Originally Posted by RonE

Boon, tmch blew in here 4/27/09, posted a single spam message (which wasn't deleted because there were no links or redirects) and then disappeared forever.

Damn i should have caught that

[SaveStrayDogs]

I don't know what makes a dog food cheap and what expensive.
But if we compare two foods with different prices we could see big differences on the ingredient list too.
For example:
ForPals Med.Breed Adult - 15kg/40-45euros:
Chicken meat meal(min26%), rice(min26%), corn, sugar beet, refined chicken oil, oats, whole egg powder, herring meal, dried brewers yeast, whole linseed, salmon oil, yucca extract, minerals, mannan and fructo-oligosaccharides, glucosamine sulphate, MSM, chondroitin sulphate, green tea extract, grape seed extract, vitamins(the explain all the vitamin levels in the company brochure).

Royal Canin Medium Breed Adult 15kg/60euros:
Dehydrated poultry meat, wheat flour, maize flour, maize, wheat, animal fats, hydrolysed animal proteins, dehydrated pork protein, beet pulp, fish oil, soya oil, yeasts, minerals, yeast extract (source of manno-oligo-saccharides), egg powder.

If i would read only the ingredients i would choose the first one!!!
So,does the price make the difference?

[championlab1]

Originally Posted by LabLady101

Chicken Soup is a good food, but not all lines of Purina are bad. Pro Plan, for instance, is a great food and many champions have been raised on it. Is someone going to tell those breeders that have had years of success only feeding Purina products (including, GASP!, Dog Chow!) that they are all wrong? I'm not going to. Purina has put decades of research into their products and I doubt that the very tiny amount of this Menadione Sodium that's actually in the food (which is a very negligible amount as it's so far down the ingredients list) is harmful. If it were, you would hear of more cases of poisoning and Purina would have to pull all their products from the shelves.

Now, that being said, I believe you just have to feed what works for your individual dog. If your two are doing great on Purina's products, then leave them on them. Depending upon which line you're feeding now, you could possibly go with a higher-end Purina product. However, I do have to stress that you do not want to put your pets on the the "dogfood rollercoaster"- which involves switching from one brand to another to another, never giving your pets a proper period of adjustment to see results in-between. People who get on the rollercoaster seldom ever find their way off or even back to a good point. The end result of the rollercoaster ride is a dog that has reactions to just about everything.

Good luck!

Darcy

Re: your thoughts on purina and menadione.. 1st purina like every other dog food company is 1st and for most interested in the bottom line..$$$..if they werent, 30 yrs ago they would of started a transition to a more grain free approach to there products.. not to single out purina..all the major dog food companies are subsideraries of global food processing companies, and there ingredients are the by products, of the human food grade industry.. enough said on that...
as for the menadione..... consider this.... do they make lead based paint any longer...no.. why.. because the public became concious of the effects to there children, and the poisioning that ran rampet.. forcing class action suits that made it no longer economical for paint companies to produce lead base paints...... asbestos........the same......... how about cigarettes, and the cancer we all know it causes.... tobacco lobbists still have the product on the market, due to extreme fiscal clout... would you have your children smoke, because they can still purchase tobacco.... its really only in the last 5 yrs, that consumers have taken action against dog food companies.. and in time.....these manufacturing companies will remove the menadione from there products....not by ignoring it as you suggest.. rather by the public renouncing these practices, forcing a severe drop in sales from the violators, forcing these companies hands where it hurts.....there pocket books..... so before you dismiss there inclusion of these harmful ingredients understand there only there to optimize profits.....with no concern to you canine companions health... the only onther explaination is incompedence..is that the kind of company you would want to purchase anything from?..

[Dozi]

Originally Posted by sheltieluver4

Hi yall, i have a question, is expensive dog food better than the cheap genaric kind? {i know i spelled that wrong srry} Cause we r getting a new sheltie puppy soon and i want to spoil her but i want good tasting dog food 4 her not boring kind, maybe i should taste the dog food lol just kidding

Yes... I've noticed that more expensive brands keep your dog full for longer and they poop less due to better quality ingredients.
Yes... poop less... cheaper brands make your dog poop more due to the lack of nutrition that can be absorbed out of the food. (meaning less of the food gets absorbed - more gets disposed off by the body - cheaper food has less nutrition and more filler than more expensive brands)

[valleyjays]

If you decide to put your dogs on a high protein/organic diet take into consideration that higher quality foods might have high protein 25%+. If so, feedings should be slightly smaller depending on the percentage. Some brands have over 35% protein.

Though it is expensive, feedings are much smaller due to the higher calories the food impose by it having such high amounts of nutrients and protein the dog can absorb rather turning them into wast. (Evo, wellness, Innova, home made etc.)

There are so many people with inactive dogs (not the dogs fault, the owners) who get fed the same amount on these high quality foods thinking they are doing good for the dog when they are probably hurting it.

Imagine eating a huge steak dinner with green beans and baked potatoes every single day and not burning some calories. Feed your dog accordingly please

ps.. the order of ingredients in the dog food plays a big role of what "really" is in the bag. Especially the first 3. If the meat product is not the first item DONT BUY IT. And it cant be by-product or rice. Venison, Whole Chicken, Beef always first depending on the flavor you buy.

[Junior]

So much info in this thread my head is spinning. I home cook and buy the occasional bag of Fromm's duck and sweet potato. My fussy girl will munch on this as a snack on occasion.. any thoughts on Fromm's?


Please click my eggies and my hatchies

[valleyjays]

Never heard of Fromms. Home made keeps things simple and best lol :P

[JSporty1]

My dog was being fed Purina One at the humane society. She had nothing but trouble with that food, and we switched her to the Dog Whisperer puppy food once we realized that the problems were mostly due to her food. That was a decent puppy food, and unless anyone has any better puppy-specific ideas, I recommend that for puppies.
Now that she's an adult, she gets Innova EVO red meat large bites. She LOVES it, and she's never been healthier. Her coat is incredibly soft and shiny now, and she's got tons of energy. EVO is pricey, but it's worth knowing that my dog is getting proper nutrition.

[Ludo the Monster]

I've always heard that the more expensive food isn't really more expensive because you feed less.

As with many things: not the case with Ludo. In fact, he eats almost twice as much of Orijen, Blue Buffalo and B.G. as he does when he is fed Iams. Where a 17.5 bag of Iam lasts about three and a half weeks, I am lucky of a 17lb bag of the others lasts a week and a half.

Now, that said, it is worth the added expense to know he isn't getting grains. I hate that he is on a grain diet right now but he will be switching soon.

[ValtheAussie]

My dog doesn't want to eat Iams. He gets Blue Buffalo. He eats the amount that I give him for his age and weight.

[tefobuch]

Wow, great post! Lots of excellent info here. Thanks guys!

Filling for Kongs:
Peanut butter
kibble
carrot
apple/pear
braunswieger
cottage cheese
liver treats
cream cheese to seal openings

One more idea to add to this list. I stuff the kong with yogurt and then freeze it! Lasts much longer, and it's great for teething puppies too. I've also added a variety of fillings to the yogurt such as peanut butter and even experimented with all natural baby food, apple puree, etc.

(Nah, my doggie's not spoiled rotten ....

This would be the "laws" created by AAFCO which is basically a Who's Who of the pet food industry.

How can you truly know what you are reading on the labeling when there is so much that is "misleading". For example, my understanding is that for a product to be labelled "with lamb", it's wet weight has to have a minimum 1%!!! of "lamb product (anyone know what that is?)".

How is it the FDA can spend billions legislating face creams yet we allow the pet food industry to regulate itself? Misleading doesn't come close.

Exactly! Little dumb old me ... took me quite a while to wake up to what really goes on behind the scenes ... it's SHOCKING!!!

Oh btw, "with" has to be 3% min I believe. It's the "flavor" rule ... ie "Lamb flavored yummy-yum doggy food" that has to have just a TRACE of lamb! Anyone know what a "trace" is????!!!

This is a very good site that really digs beneath all the *#@! and explains everything very simply.. I've learned sooooo much from it.
http://www.dogfoodscoop.com/index.html
It's got all the dirt on how to tell a good dog food from the junk just by a quick glance at the label. Also about the "so-called" agencies who ummm "regulate" the pet food industry.

Another thing I found out recently ... ... is that dog food companies can't be forced to recall products. It has to be voluntary!!!!! Has anyone heard that one!!!

[chames]

We had allergy problems with our female Miniature Schnauzer. The vet recommended some Science Diet Ultra for her. A large bag was really expensive... over $80. But we noticed her losing a lot of weight, and becoming lethargic. I did a bunch of investigating on the internet for dog food and found the dog food rating site rated the expensive Science Diet Ultra a 1 out of 6 (with 1 being the lowest rating, and 6 being the highest). Its main reason for the low rating was the food used a lot of fillers including "Powered Cellulose" (otherwise known as sawdust). So expensive isn't always better. Anyway, we switched all 3 of our Miniature Schanuzers to Orijen, and have had good luck since then. Today we switched them to the new Orijen product called Regional Red, which is Orijen's first red meat product.