[tang0m0m]

I must think back each time I go to buy dog food and see isle upon isle of food! Well, over a forty year period of owning dogs, I have found that whatever your dog likes and does well on is the best food for that dog! Designer foods, designer dogs... just a gimmick to separate you and your money! Just saying that just because it costs more doesn't mean it is better! Be an informed consumer and do your research.

 

[kafkabeetle]

I must think back each time I go to buy dog food and see isle upon isle of food! Well, over a forty year period of owning dogs, I have found that whatever your dog likes and does well on is the best food for that dog! Designer foods, designer dogs... just a gimmick to separate you and your money! Just saying that just because it costs more doesn't mean it is better! Be an informed consumer and do your research.

Is this in response to something? I'm confused.

It is a common sentiment around here that there are overpriced bad foods and affordable good foods...you just have to buy a food with ingredients you're comfortable with, a price you can afford, and that your dog thrives on.

I don't know if I agree that "designer foods" (whatever that means) are necessarily a gimmick but whatever. I'm not even sure I understand what you're trying to say. I mean, there is definitely a difference between Beneful and Orijen and that difference is reflected in their pricing. Orijen IS higher quality so it's not a gimmick. In fact I would say Beneful is the gimmick-- with a name like that you'd think it would be healthy but it's not.

 

[oldhounddog]

In 1952 I was put in charge of feeding our new dog , and beautiful Boxer. My dad told me to make sure the dog was fed on time and my big brother would take care of walks and baths. The dog was half mine and half my brothers and my brother told me the front half was his and I could not pet the dog on the head. Well, since feeding was my responsibility, I asked my dad for permission to pet the dog on the head only when feeding , well , after that it was OK for me to pet our new dog all over from then on... I can remember very clearly going to Publix groc store and the choice was simple ,Gaines or KenL Ration canned dog food for our dog as my dad said not to buy dry food. I can also remember that the dry dog food was in boxes the size of a large box of cereal and there were no bags of dry dog food. Our Boxer did fine on the canned food and some table scraps. I think what the OP was getting at is that years ago choices were few and life was very uncomplicated and we got along just fine, at least that is what I remember..........................

Best , oldhounddog

 

[Goldens&Labs4Me]

Guilty. :OP For years, my dogs did fantastic on Eukanuba. But I thought they needed better, so started the whole dog food roller coaster. Literally, for years. So here recently, been having issues with my senior golden and foods not agreeing with him and was about to pull my hair out. Well, after a lengthy discussion with my vet, I decided to give Eukanuba a try again and I'm glad I did. It hasn't been that long, but there has been no throwing up, no gas, no mushy poop and he is cleaning his bowl. A lot will say there is better out there (and believe me, I have tried many of them) but if Eukanuba is what works for him, Eukanuba it will be. (Praying it is because I am SO done with this roller coaster ride). I've also been a rotator, but it was hard to pinpoint what exactly was going on with him--so if this works, I'm going to leave it alone and will offer different canned food as toppers for variety. He's 10, he's slowing down and he deserves to love supper time.

With that said, I do believe there are many good brands out there (Fromm is one of my favorites)...but if it doesn't work for my dog, it just doesn't work.

 

[tang0m0m]

Sorry, Mom got on here (alzheimers)! Won't happen again!

 

[Jacksons Mom]

Sometimes, I wonder too, if the dog food back then was less contaminated or processed, or whatever. It was a much smaller market, first of all. You also have to take into account that a lot of dogs were being fed table scraps (and not today's table scraps - back then, they were MUCH better than today's crap) as well as some raw bones occasionally. I know my grandpa remembers always throwing his dog a bone or whatever. So you have to wonder if that made any difference. Because, I agree, you hear all the time about how long a dog lived, etc, from older relatives. Then again, you also have to wonder... but how WELL were they doing? A dog "doing well" can mean so many things to different people. I've seen folks say their dog is in great health and doing well... then all I see is an over-weight dog, who smells like dog when you pet them, sheds like insane amounts of fur, has rank nasty breath and disgusting teeth, and can barely take a 10 min walk without passing out. So I think a lot can depend on genetics, exercise, environment, lifestyle, etc, and it's too hard to say "well this dog ate x food and lived longer than dog who ate y food and had a shorter life" ya know? I do think a lot of foods ARE a gimmick these days.... but that goes for both "high quality" and "low quality". I don't necessarily think five-six different meats in one food, a gazillion fruits, veggies, etc, is completely necessary. But I also don't think dogs will thrive on a diet full of corn, wheat, soy, and by products either. I like a happy medium from a trustworthy company, who doesn't use chemicals such as BHT, ethoxquion (sp?), menadione, etc.

 

[Amaryllis]

Sometimes, I wonder too, if the dog food back then was less contaminated or processed, or whatever.

DINGDINGDINGDING! You win a shiny new internets!

That's exactly the truth. 30 years ago, grocery store food like Purina was much better quality than it is today. As food prices have gone up, the dog food companies have started using poorer quality ingredients and more fillers to keep their profit margins the same. If you want to feed your dog the same Purina that you fed your dogs 30 years ago, you have to switch to Wellness.

 

[TerrierDaddy]

I personally don’t know about the statement “whatever your dog likes and does well on is the best food for that dog”, because my one dog used to do fine on a certain grocery store brand for years and he loved it, so I thought it was the best thing for him, until he developed a bunch of problems including allergies and later I realized it was because of the ingredients in the food. It’s just like people I think, we can eat fast food and the problems it causes might not appear until later. My philosophy is find a well-made natural brand that your dog does well on like Natural Balance and if your dog likes it and does well on it like mine, then you know you are giving him long-term trusted nutrition.

 

[saitenyo]

I personally don’t know about the statement “whatever your dog likes and does well on is the best food for that dog”, because my one dog used to do fine on a certain grocery store brand for years and he loved it, so I thought it was the best thing for him, until he developed a bunch of problems including allergies and later I realized it was because of the ingredients in the food. It’s just like people I think, we can eat fast food and the problems it causes might not appear until later. My philosophy is find a well-made natural brand that your dog does well on like Natural Balance and if your dog likes it and does well on it like mine, then you know you are giving him long-term trusted nutrition.

I really agree with this. I view selecting the best food you can as lowering risk of problems down the road (which applies to both people and pets!). Some pets may do fine on the cheapest food out there, and live a long and healthy life, because they were not genetically predisposed to any problems. However you can't always know what problems your pets may develop in the future, so that's where preventative medicine (i.e. feeding a food with quality ingredients that are less likely to cause problems) is very helpful.

 

[Kathyy]

And you would be mistaken. Here is a link to a puppy kibble Purina bag. Meat and bone meal, corn gluten and all the rest. Doctor Dolittle came out in 1967 so this bag is probably about 45 years old.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonliebigstuff/3453179686/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Looking through an enormous website with loads of info on dog care I came across a page about a vet surprised that some dogs fed food generally regarded as low quality looked great while others looked as expected. He learned to ask another question - and what else? Apparently even a little good fresh food boosts a poor quality food results.
http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/nutritioncomments.html

We expected less from pets in the old days. We thought all dogs had grungy teeth, smelled bad and had enormous poop. In my neighborhood dogs died from getting hit by cars, not old age diseases.

It is just consumerism. There are more choices of anything you want to buy than there used to be.

 

[Willowy]

I think that dogs back then got a lot of scraps and raw meat. If you read old kids' books, a lot of them mention people going to the butcher to get meat scraps for their dog, having the dog's horse meat in the fridge (and mixing it up with the humans' ground beef), etc. They mention it in passing, like that was just the way things were, not as examples of excellent dog care. I think kibble was generally regarded as a supplement, not the sole diet.

I could be wrong. . .I wasn't around then . And my parents don't know what their childhood dogs were fed because they had maids who did that kind of thing. But from reading the old kids' books, that's my perception.

 

[wolfsnaps]

I watched the movie Turner and hooch not too long ago. The scene where Turner buys dog food, you see a full aisle of dog products. And they are all by Purina. Now, I am sure Purina paid to show their product in the movie, but back in the 80's there were far less choices. Does that mean they were good choices? No. It just means there was less to pick from. People started educating themselves and learned that we could do better for our animal's nutritional needs. People started their own dog food companies and to distinguish themselves from the top (4?) brands out there, they used better ingredients to stand out.

Its a business so more and more companies started sprouting up, trying to snatch a piece of that billion dollar pie. Consumers are becoming better educated and want certain products (all natural, grain free, etc.) so the business supply our demand.

Look, if a LOT of people demanded that our dog food be purple, they would start making purple dog food. So really, its about education and supply/demand that makes all those choices you see today. back then, people were fine with choosing either Purina, Gravy Train, or Iams. Nowadays, that's not enough.