Best dog food for the money?

juice it up

mgorvi said:
I dump a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup on my dogs food after long days in the field when she's so tired she doesn't eat enough. I think it helps. It has some potassium in it and maybe it gets her ready for the next day. She eats grain free food because she has some skin allergies in the summer and it really helps. Taste of the Wild bison puppy food year round. 1.5 year old dog.
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it is pretty common for dogs that have had a hard, especially several days in the field to be too tired to eat, you hit it, as dogs eat by smell and like us are a sucker for a free meal, changing the smell will wake them up enough usually to get them to eat, no eat, no hunt the next day, you did it, trick em'

cheers
 
Just a point of interest make the change slowly blending the new with old for a good transition. My food is Diamond high energy sporting dog formula . I am sure most don't put it in the class of the others mentioned but my English Pointer is like a ball of muscle wrapped in skin ,pure athlete. Breeding accounts for a lot of that also but I work and exercise him most every day till I get tired !:10sign:
 
I checked out the dog food advisor website. Interesting. I noticed Pro Plan was rated very low. I was surprised by that. I fed it for awhile. Too expensive around here. Victor was rated pretty high and is not too expensive.
 
dog food

akp said:
I checked out the dog food advisor website. Interesting. I noticed Pro Plan was rated very low. I was surprised by that. I fed it for awhile. Too expensive around here. Victor was rated pretty high and is not too expensive.
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my opinion is that most dogs do well on nearly all of it, some have troubles on all of it but that's kinda rare. the website doesn't like chemicals nor corn for the most part. the above dog food while ok is expensive, but you are paying a horrible price for large corp. overhead. learn to read the dog food label and i think you will get your eyes open. high protein is in most all of them, must be cheap, fat is expensive but that is what you need if you are working your dog. also understand that say, if they list chicken or some parts there of, that order in the list is what is important, even then it might be mostly beaks, eyelid, toe nails, combs etc. probably not chicken breast.

cheers
 
Yes, the better formulations describe what the form of protein in the food are composed of meat, meal, etc... The dog food advisor blog does a pretty good job of explaining what the manufacturers can and cannot get away with in these regards. It's worth checking out. I stay away from grain formulations like corn, wheat, soy and find that my dogs have done much better health wise over all. The grain formulations in most dog foods are animal feed grade which is allowed to contain significant amounts of pesticide residue, not good for animal longevity and immune system health.
 
quality

huntsem said:
Yes, the better formulations describe what the form of protein in the food are composed of meat, meal, etc... The dog food advisor blog does a pretty good job of explaining what the manufacturers can and cannot get away with in these regards. It's worth checking out. I stay away from grain formulations like corn, wheat, soy and find that my dogs have done much better health wise over all. The grain formulations in most dog foods are animal feed grade which is allowed to contain significant amounts of pesticide residue, not good for animal longevity and immune system health.
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most of the people making the stuff go out of their way to make sure you don't know very much as to what (quality) goes into their product. a number of years ago diamond brand bought a train load of moldy corn on the cheap and used it in their dog food, killed a bunch of dogs and they paid out several million dollars to settle. don't believe they are the only one's out their either, i currently use their stuff and have off and on for years. frankly i have never been able to see the difference between corn base and other grains but fat will show up in the field. that's fer sur. one time or the other i have been all over the map on feed, with several hundred mfg. out there, they all can't be the best, beware and watch you mutt

cheers
 
The issue I have with Diamond is they keep having recalls.

I've fed Pro Plan Performance for a long time, and even though it's loaded with corn, the dogs have always done great on it and I don't think they've ever had a recall.
Having said that, it's gotten way to expensive for what you're getting. The bags get smaller while the price goes up.
As soon as I'm out, I'm going to give Dr. Tim's dog food a try.
(Google Dr. Tim's, lots of good reading on his site)
It's not available locally, but sites like chewy.com and Petflow deliver for free.
The price per pound is comparable to PP but better ingredients (IMO).
 
Duckdog17 said:
The issue I have with Diamond is they keep having recalls.

I've fed Pro Plan Performance for a long time, and even though it's loaded with corn, the dogs have always done great on it and I don't think they've ever had a recall.
Having said that, it's gotten way to expensive for what you're getting. The bags get smaller while the price goes up.
As soon as I'm out, I'm going to give Dr. Tim's dog food a try.
(Google Dr. Tim's, lots of good reading on his site)
It's not available locally, but sites like chewy.com and Petflow deliver for free.
The price per pound is comparable to PP but better ingredients (IMO).
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You might consider trying NutriSource. About the same price as Dr. Tim's and a 4-star rating. I've been feeding it for 4 years and very happy with it. It's made in Minnesota.
 
Duckdog17 said:
DZ, that does look like a pretty good feed.
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I feed the Adult Formula year round, even during hunting season and field trial season. I tried the performance formulas and they were a little too much for my two spayed female Brittanys (one is 4 the other 10). They put on some weight even during the hunting season. So I went strictly to the Adult and adjust the portion based on the amount of exercise they are getting. Their energy levels seem just fine. My 4 year old, that I'm getting ready for a national field trial next month, just ran about 7 miles this morning in a little over 30 minutes. I follow on my bicycle so I get my cardio in also. :)
 
Food

At the end of a long hunting day and after the main course, for dessert I either go with one of those oatmeal creme cookies from hostess or an ice cream sandwich from blue bunny. She really looks forward to that.
 
whatever brand you decide to go with, I highly recommend Chewy.com. their prices are good and they ship fast (and free for any order over $49)! I haven't had to use their customer service, but it sounds like it is top notch as well.



Just placed an order actually. I for the life of me can not get my dogs stools to firm up and get him to gain weight at the same time. I have been adding pumpkin to his meals, but I am getting sick of that and once hunting season starts in a few weeks I don't want to have to mess with that at camp. I am going to try some grain free stuff with a little higher protein and fat level. Hopefully he will have the energy he needs and be able to keep some weight on without making soft, hard to clean up messes in the yard.
 
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Food

I've had good luck with the grain free and firm stools. My pup also gets some Dannon Greek yogurt a few times a week. I think it's good for her gut and she really loves it. She especially likes the blueberry and the banana flavors. I'm feeding taste of the wild with good results. I also feed cooked carrots and broccoli. She just loves cooked vegetables.
 
You're all lucky that SHADOW is not a member anymore, you would have an ear full on this topic:D:D:D
 
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