[kaelinem]

I have two dogs right now, one being a German Shep. mix and the other being a Chihuahua mix. The Shep is a little over a year old and the Chihuahua is a few months old.

I had my Shep stable on Purina One for Sensitive Systems, as she has a rather sensitive stomach. She looked beautiful, a healthy coat, healthy body, nice teeth. Her bowel movements were finally normal and she stopped throwing up from whatever they had been feeding her at the shelter I adopted her from.

A friend of mine told me to try Purina Dog Chow, that it was cheaper and about the same thing as the Sensitive System Purina that my Shep was on...but she's gone down hill enormously...her coat is rough, she doesn't eat routinely anymore, she's underweight and her teeth aren't near as good as they were a month ago.

When I adopted the Chihuahua I was feeding him Iams Puppy Chow, better than the cheap canned cat food he was originally getting from his previous owner, but not what I want him on anymore after researching the product more...once he saw what the big dog was eating anyway though he REFUSED to eat his own food, he wants what the big dog gets. I surely don't want him eating what's making my Shep worse off though! Besides, it's not for puppies.

So I'm looking into foods that are ok for dogs of all ages and all breeds so they can eat together. I like the idea that in the wild these dogs wouldn't have a choice between puppy food and senior food, toy breed food and large breed food...ITS ALL THE SAME IN NATURE, no choices. I came across the following brands that say their food is good for dogs of all ages and size, the only thing that would need to be adjusted is the amount fed. What do you think of these? Which of the following is best and is there better?

Canidae
Natura - Karma
Natural Balance
Pinnacle

[Motebi]

If you have a dog with a sensitive stomach I would go with "Pinnacle Duck and Potato". I used to feed that for a while before I switched to a raw diet and the dogs seemed to be doing well on it. Any of the foods you asked about are better than Purina.

[RRM_Mom08]

Anything is better then that Purina crap.. Have you tried this site it gives some good reviews about dog food out there on the market

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

[kaelinem]

Hm, thanks, though I've looked on a few lists now and Pinnacle doesn't seem to be anything WONDERFUL...thanks for the link RRM, it's a list I've bookmarked and can help me choose from a 5 or 6 star food. =P I'll combined this with the Whole Dog Journal's list of approved foods and try to choose from that.

[Motebi]

I mentioned Pinnacle, because I don't like all those grain-laden foods and because my dogs did real well on it. At the time I also had one dog with a very sensitive stomach and he didn't have any problems/issues while being on that particular brand. My preference now is a species appropriate diet and that's RAW.

[Mycathinks hesadog]

I've had good results w/ Nat. Balance products and am currently feeding Canidae. I still use the NB food rolls as treats/supplement to kibble. No real particular reason for me to switch from NB kibble to Canidae other than to vary diet. I mean who wants to eat the same food forever.

Although if I remember correctly I believe canidae got a better review from dogfood analysis than NB, but I'm not sure.

[BoxMeIn21]

Originally Posted by Motebi

I mentioned Pinnacle, because I don't like all those grain-laden foods and because my dogs did real well on it. At the time I also had one dog with a very sensitive stomach and he didn't have any problems/issues while being on that particular brand. My preference now is a species appropriate diet and that's RAW.

Word. Pinnacle is LOADS better than anything Purina will ever put on the shelf.

I like Natural Balance. Other good foods are Timberwolf, Orijen, Blue Instinct, Wellness Core, Solid Gold BATM, Evangers, Go! Natural...the list is endless.

[BullieCrazy]

My dogs do well on canidae, I too occassionally get the NB rolls for treats, (works well to cut them up into sliced wedges and freeze in a ziplock bag).

[Laurelin]

We had some problems with our sensitive stomach dog on Canidae. He's now on California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato as his stomach does much much better on a food with a short ingredient list.

So for a while we had everyone on that, but when we got Summer, she wouldn't touch it (of course!). So she started getting CN Chicken and Rice with canned EVO on the side...

Nik went through some health problems where she wouldn't eat, so we had to find whatever she'd eat which turned out to be Merrick.

Then recently, I switched Summer over to Innova EVO red meat and she loves it! And now two of the other dogs have decided that they really like the EVO as well. Beau loves it too, but it's just too hard on his tummy.

Basically it all comes down to seeing what works best for your dogs. Maybe you'll be more lucky than me and find one everyone does well on!

[Max'sHuman]

Natural Balance is a good food. I have fed both the Duck & Potato and the Fish & Potato formula and Max did well on both. I still give the canned NB to supplement his kibble (OK, it's all about taste, no real health reason) b/c it's grain free and more affordable than other canned brands.

[RRM_Mom08]

It seems that Natures variety Instinct and Taste of the wild are for all ages/breeds