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What brand of kibble do you feed your dog?

My dog, a shepherd mix, decided last week that she doesn't like the brand of kibble I've been feeding her for a year or so. Not unusual, I know, but there's so many brands available and so much competition, I was wondering what other medium-sized dog owners would recommend. I like to vary the protein, and she's never had any problems switching between proteins/flavors within the same brand, so maybe a brand that makes a variety of flavors, high quality, nothing from China, and preferably grain free. Any suggestions?

This is what she looked like as a puppy (not her, but close). The eyebrows spread upwards as she grew and now she looks like she's surprised all the time.

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by Anonymousreply 57June 22, 2018 3:24 PM

No Kibble for my girl, only the bits. I hand pick all the bits for her

by Anonymousreply 1November 23, 2015 6:16 PM

As my mother said, "When you get hungry enough, you'll eat it."

by Anonymousreply 2November 23, 2015 7:00 PM

I usually switch their kibble up once in a while. No particular reason, just like to try different things. Currently, my 2 medium sizes dogs are eating Eagle Pack. I get mine from Chewey.com They have good prices and you get a discount if you use their autoship service.

by Anonymousreply 3November 23, 2015 7:03 PM

I buy Sam's brand and my dog likes it just fine and is healthy as a horse.

by Anonymousreply 4November 23, 2015 7:06 PM

Two vets told me the best quality dog and cat food is Wellness. I feed my pets Wellness and they are never sick.

by Anonymousreply 5November 23, 2015 7:08 PM

You feed your dog canned food too, don't you?

by Anonymousreply 6November 23, 2015 7:10 PM

Health Extension

by Anonymousreply 7November 23, 2015 7:22 PM

They may have changed the formula. Also, beware of anything that once was a good product but now that Proctor & Gamble have bought, has been reduced to pure crap. Look for something made in the USA (though they don't have regulations for pet food, at least it won't have a lot of plastic dust that the imports are rumored to have these days). I was a volunteer at a shelter for a long time - the rule of thumb for food was "the better you feed your pet, the less you pay your vet." I found that to be very true with all my animals.

by Anonymousreply 8November 23, 2015 7:38 PM

Thanks for the replies! Never heard of Eagle Pack, I'll check that one out, R3. R4, I won't eat the crap the Walton family sells, and I won't subject my pooch to it either. I've heard horror stories about brand names that Walmart/Sam's sells, specifically that they pressure the manufacturers on price so hard that manufacturers have taken to producing the same-branded items for Walmart with substantially lower quality ingredients to meet the price point.

I'm familiar with Wellness, R5, but I'm always wary of what a vet recommends, especially if they sell it themselves. My vet sells Hills and always recommends it, but their quality is pretty poor from what I've read, and I found out that he gets a kickback from Hills to push it. I'll do some research on Wellness, though.

I don't feed her canned on a regular basis, R6. She loves Stella & Chewy's frozen raw, which she gets for supper. I also buy the freeze-dried Stella's for convenient travel. In a pinch, I bought a couple of cans of something I can't remember when we were on vacation last Summer. She ate it, but got the runs, reminding me of a valuable lesson.

R8, your rule of thumb is totally correct. It always amazes me how when i was little we fed the dog pretty much anything, and they seemed to live a long, healthy life. I adopted my previous dog when he was 5 and he only lived to be 11.5; the vet said that many of the issues he suffered from were a direct result of the food his first pet parent fed him. I've really gotten into the quality, ingredients and manufacturing process, and I'm shocked with the crap on the market. Supermarket brands are just trash, and you really have to watch the stuff at Costco (tainted with Chinese who-knows-what).

Health Extension is another brand I've never heard of, R7. I'll look for some information on that brand, too.

by Anonymousreply 9November 23, 2015 9:37 PM

Actually R9, Costco's Kirkland Premium Nature's Domain is very good and highly recommended and not produced in China. Orijen is about the highest rated dry dog food but it's ridiculously expensive, like $100 for 40 pounds.

by Anonymousreply 10November 23, 2015 9:45 PM

WELLNESS all the way! Wet and dry mixed together.

by Anonymousreply 11November 23, 2015 9:47 PM

R5 here. My vet does not sell Wellness. I fed two stray cats for three years and finally caught them and took them to the vet. He said he couldn't believe how healthy they were, no sign of gum disease etc. I told him I've been feeding them Wellness and he said it was the highest quality pet food available.

by Anonymousreply 12November 23, 2015 9:49 PM

I feed my girl Nutro Ultra which I leave in her bowl all the time and I cook a chicken, vegetable, rice and oatmeal mix a couple of times per week. I make peanut butter cookies for her every week. She is spoiled rotten and I love it.

by Anonymousreply 13November 23, 2015 9:51 PM

Nothing but nachos & cheese steaks for my champ

by Anonymousreply 14November 23, 2015 9:54 PM

Blue Buffalo

by Anonymousreply 15November 23, 2015 9:56 PM

R8) Very true about changing food formulation. I am going through this with a geriatric cat. There was one item he ate and they've reworked the formula. I'm orderring remaining stock of the old stuff on-line, at significant expense. OP, good luck.

by Anonymousreply 16November 23, 2015 10:07 PM

Lean chicken breast, rice and broccoli.

by Anonymousreply 17November 23, 2015 10:09 PM

If you don't mind paying a bit more, I can highly recommend Acana. My dog (who BTW looks a lot like the one in OP's photo) has a very delicate digestive system and it took a *long* time to play with different kinds of kibble to find the right one which he liked and which kept his stool firm. Since he's an older guy (11 years old), he's on Acana Chicken Light and is in great shape for his age.

by Anonymousreply 18November 23, 2015 10:48 PM

Another vote for blue buffalo mixed with high quality canned food .

by Anonymousreply 19November 23, 2015 11:00 PM

What's "kibble"?

by Anonymousreply 20November 23, 2015 11:27 PM

Kibble = Soylent Brown

by Anonymousreply 21November 23, 2015 11:28 PM

Like R5, I feed my cocker spaniel Wellness brand food.

by Anonymousreply 22November 23, 2015 11:34 PM

I buy either chicken soup for the dog lover's soul or taste of the wild. I order online from Petflow- free shipping and much better pricing than locally available. It's usually here in a day or two and I can get good yreats and toys at the same time.

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by Anonymousreply 23November 23, 2015 11:47 PM

I feed my lab Nature's Instinct. It's grain free and they have a freeze-dried raw option too. It's the only food she can tolerate.

by Anonymousreply 24November 24, 2015 12:06 AM

Blue Buffalo Life Extension formulas

by Anonymousreply 25November 24, 2015 12:07 AM

My girl gets Merrick

by Anonymousreply 26November 24, 2015 12:46 AM

R26: is that made from elephant parts?

by Anonymousreply 27November 24, 2015 12:54 AM

Datalounge turned me on to Blue Buffalo in 2009 and it was vastly superior to Science Diet Z (basically cardboard).

by Anonymousreply 28November 24, 2015 12:56 AM

only mackerel entrails and ritz crackers for him

by Anonymousreply 29November 24, 2015 1:14 AM

My kids (Frenchies) have been on Wellness, Stella and Chewy's, and currently Orijins grain free. I do mix in organic chicken, turkey or beef that I braise with veges (green beans,carrot,peas,squash,zucchini and/or pumpkin). I would recommend all of these brands.

by Anonymousreply 30November 24, 2015 1:22 AM

Purina One

by Anonymousreply 31November 24, 2015 2:33 AM

One of the great things about WELLNESS is the kibble comes in a variety of flavors as well as mixes for different size and age dogs.

by Anonymousreply 32November 24, 2015 3:18 AM

I have a Scottie/Schnauzer mix and a little Poodle/Chihuahua/Anyone's Guess mix, both a little over a year old. I feed them FROMM 4-STAR kibble, with a little raw goats milk poured over, and at dinner, I mash up Small Batch turkey sliders with it. That's what they were being fed when I adopted them a few months ago, and I wasn't going to rock the boat.

I had never heard of FROMM (I hadn't had a dog in almost 10 years), but my long-time vet gave it a thumbs-up when I told her what I was feeding them, so that was good enough for me. It is nice to be able to switch up flavors. I think there are six or seven flavors in the 4-Star line. We've tried three so far, and they've loved them all. People frequently comment on how shiny and beautiful the Scottie/Schnauzer's black coat is -- she gleams!

by Anonymousreply 33November 24, 2015 4:27 AM

The breeder I am getting my puppy from (Sunday !!!) wants me to feed him Canidae Life Stages kibble and says it was Consumer Reports number one dog food. I think you can get it grain free also. I fed my last dog Wellnes and Merrick and he didn't like either but he was very finicky about his food.

by Anonymousreply 34November 24, 2015 4:27 AM

Darwin raw dog food. Yoghurt. Some of those baby food mashed vegetables. Soft boiled eggs.

by Anonymousreply 35November 24, 2015 4:47 AM

Blue Basics limited ingredient grain-free. Chicken breast and pumpkin (for assistance with pooping). For an old Lhasa with mega-skin allergies. Just another queeny dog!🐕

by Anonymousreply 36November 24, 2015 4:50 AM

You all treat your pets so well. Can't help but think of Darfur Orphan reading this. I don't have a pet now, my building won't allow it. Growing up, we had a family dog, a blue terrier and setter mix. He ate Gaines Burger with whatever we ate mixed in. He lived to be 17. Never sick, just got old.

by Anonymousreply 37November 24, 2015 4:54 AM

R37, the key to what you said is a mixed breed. Purebreds have so many issues--hence all the special foods, endless trips to the vet, etc. I read an article with pics a couple years ago about how certain breeds have changed over the last 100 years due to cosmetic and vanity breeding: shorter faces, shorter legs to create more compact, cuter "pets". Even some of the larger breeds have been affected.

by Anonymousreply 38November 24, 2015 5:01 AM

Yes CANIDAE Life Stages was ranked #1 by Consumer Reports for 2015 (according to my pup's breeder) and they have CANIDAE Pure that is grain-free.

That is true R38 that some mixed breeds are healthier. I had two Pekingese when I was young and the breed was starting to have breathing difficulties even then. They were bred by irresponsible people to make their noses even shorter because somebody thought they were "cuter" that way. That is so cruel to cause a dog to suffer because of how you want it to look. It makes me angry just thinking about it.

There are breeders of purebreds who focus on health and temperament and truly try to better the breed through that and health-testing. Those are the only people who should be allowed to breed dogs.

by Anonymousreply 39November 24, 2015 5:16 AM

Inbreeding by the Amish has killed off any possibility of having a healthy Airedale here in the Midwest. You have to pay through the nose up front to ensure you get a healthy puppy from an established breeder. Otherwise, you spend $200 per month on dog food per month and make best friends with your veterinarian.

by Anonymousreply 40November 24, 2015 8:14 PM

Freshly baked 19 month old toddlers of course.

by Anonymousreply 41November 24, 2015 11:12 PM

Any recs for a good canned dog food for a four year old, active Terrier/Maltese mix?

by Anonymousreply 42June 21, 2018 2:15 AM

Blue Buffalo Healthy Weight Large Breed.

Isn't Beneful supposed to be the worst?

by Anonymousreply 43June 21, 2018 2:21 AM

What's kibble?

by Anonymousreply 44June 21, 2018 2:23 AM

I don't feed my dog kibble. I used to feed him Nature's Variety frozen raw from when he was a puppy until a couple of years ago when he decided he didn't like it anymore.

Now I feed him Honest Kitchen Grain Free. He gets beef at breakfast, turkey at lunch, and chicken for dinner.

I work from home, so it's easy to feed him three times a day. He only weighs nine pounds, but feeding him the Honest Kitchen twice a day was too much food for him at once, and he would throw up after breakfast (he gets about 350 calories a day.)

Splitting it into three meals a day solved the problem. He's been doing really well on this food, which is the only dog food in America that is allowed by the FDA to call itself Human Grade. Nothing in it comes from China, and I feel like the closest I can get to making all of his food from scratch, and I don't have to worry about mineral balances.

I do make his treats from scratch - chicken or turkey jerky.

by Anonymousreply 45June 21, 2018 2:26 AM

Kirkland. Highly rated for the past 5 years.

by Anonymousreply 46June 21, 2018 2:31 AM

I ONLY feed him Rachael Ray.

by Anonymousreply 47June 21, 2018 2:41 AM

No kibble for my baby, only bits.

by Anonymousreply 48June 21, 2018 2:43 AM

I have a 13 year old Doberman with a sensitivity to grain, especially corn. I’ve been through a number of dog foods. We started with Canidae, it was all good until Diamond bought the name and started production. Next was Wellness. It didn’t last long, about a year.

During an overnight stay at her uncle’s house, my girl tried Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance. She didn’t even have the massive reaction that we always had when new food is introduced. Easiest switch ever. My brother swears by the venison & sweet potato for his 3 dogs (Doberman, Lab, German SHP). We stick with duck and sweet potato LID (limited ingredient diet). Cleaning up the yard improved considerably for years. Now that we are in her twilight years, we have good days and not so good days. I add pumpkin to all her meals and hope for the best.

by Anonymousreply 49June 21, 2018 2:44 AM

I only feed JUST FOOD FOR DOGS.

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by Anonymousreply 50June 21, 2018 2:46 AM

I feed my dogs Orijen. Super expensive, but I’m willing to make cuts in other areas.

I was feeding them Blue Buffalo, but I suggest everyone research them. Maybe they were good at some point, but the quality isn’t really what they advertise. I’m definitely going to look into the Wellness brand. I’ve never heard of it, but I’m intrigued!

by Anonymousreply 51June 21, 2018 2:53 AM

Vets know nothing about nutrition. Wellness was sold awhile ago and its quality degraded. Orijen kibble is by far the best, tied with the less readily available FORZA 10 (Italian, don't confuse it with that other Italian brand). I used to use Natural Balance (fun fact, developed by actor Dick Van Patten) but I read it went downhill so I buy Dave's from my locally owned pet store. The owner is crazy about Dave's food for pets - go to his web page. Great ingredients.

I have two shih tzus. Small dogs can get stocky if you don't watch it. I give them broccoli, carrots, a teaspoon of yogurt, roast chicken (sometimes I cook it, sometimes I slow cook it) and 1/4 of the Dave's kibble. The vegetables are to make them feel full but not make them fat - it's just a bit of extra food instead of giving them extra kibble. It is really no trouble because once the chicken is cooked and the brocoli is al dente (in the microwave. The carrots are raw) the ingredients last a few days and I don't have to do anything but put the food in their bowls. It's not like I'm feeding a couple of pit bulls - this is not a ton of food. I will also scramble an egg (scramble and then microwave) and split it between them.

by Anonymousreply 52June 21, 2018 2:53 AM

Is it a rescue dog, OP?

by Anonymousreply 53June 21, 2018 3:22 AM

[quote]Vets know nothing about nutrition.

Spot on. My vet recommended Royal Canin out of the blue (we weren't talking about nutrition so I found it rather odd), and when I read the ingredient panel, I was shocked at the predominant use of fillers, meals and by-products.

I agree with those who recommended Orijen and Acana. Another fantastic but expensive brand is Open Farm, and if your dog is sensitive to chicken (the most common allergy), grain and/or potato (numbers two and three, with potato being one of the hardest ingredients to avoid), they have four flavors that are perfect, and if the sensitivity is not to chicken, five.

Blue Buffalo was sold to P&G (IIRC), and was not worth the money regardless; they've joined their compatriots in the grocery store aisle of cardboard-like kibble. Another brand that has a lot of buzz that's inexplicable is Nulo, probably due to their huge marketing budget and corresponding cheap source materials and production methods adding up to dog food best avoided.

The best vet I ever had sadly retired about 10 years ago, and the best piece of advice he gave me when I adopted my second dog was that I could spend it now with good food or later in vet bills, and the better the food, the longer it would be before I saw him.

by Anonymousreply 54June 21, 2018 3:52 AM

Agree with R54. During her formative years, "Blue Buffalo" was our yellow-baby girl's food during her first year.

Peoples and future parents, please know pets are members of your family; they are not accessories. Pets need and deserve the same love, attention, care, engagement, kisses as does any family member. All they know is love.

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by Anonymousreply 55June 21, 2018 4:06 AM

You really have to watch if your "go to" food is sold to a corporation. Wellness, Natural Balance, and apparently Blue Buffalo suffered that fate. They'll coast on reputation while the actual ingredients are gum, wood pulp, grains, and some generic chicken, lamb or beef that is legally feet, anus, beak, hoofs and eyeballs. Dave's is still good. Orijen the same. If you are really concerned, cook the damn food yourself.

Vets: my previous dog (died last year) died of chronic kidney failure. I only had her just under six years. My first dog. Adopted her as an adult-bordering senior. Shih tzu. She had very bad teeth, and had had one dental at the ASPCA whose adoption services were holding her, and two with me after I adopted her. Bad teeth can admit bad shit that can cause kidney issues. She needed another dental at the time she died. When my vet brought me the news of her CRF, he also said I had to now feed her Hills Science Diet for Kidney, which, when I opened a can, looked like somebody had thrown up a couple of leaves of spinach and to finish off had squirted out corn diarrhea. I'm sure Hills had added whatever the janitors had scraped off the soles of the workers on the factory floor.

The thinking was, CRF dogs have too much protein in their blood, so let's do a low protein diet. My vet had no idea if a low protein or high protein diet correlated to protein levels in the blood. To compare, if I have a lot of cholesterol, I should knock off high fat food, since our bodies process fat into cholesterol. High cholesterol foods don't = our bodies processing high cholesterol. So I asked - is there a correlation between a low protein diet and lowering protein levels in the blood or is it one of those assumptions? He shrugged. I said - canines need protein - if I deprive her of protein, she'll suffer from a nutritional deficiency, right? He agreed. So for the ensuing six weeks that she survived, I fed her home made food plus a FORZA 10 kibble. Egg, lean turkey meatballs plus green beans. She gobbled it up. A nutritionist friend says it was just her wanting the bonding while dying - she would have eaten anything. I doubt it. If I'd tried to spoon her the Hills Science bullshit, she'd have died miserable. Hand feeding her good food, whatever the outcome , was the right choice. She liked me hand feeding her, and she even liked getting her medicine through a syringe (I used milk to get it down, so it was like nursing for her).

I have two new rescue shih tzus now. I used to LOVE my vet, but over the past year have had the occasion to take these two to Vetcoe vets, who are clearly better than my vet, and these are only volunteers.

With your dogs, just internet yourself to death, talk to people, stay vigilent, use common sense. For me, it's come down to a quarter cup of Dave's kibble, plus human grade homemade food (chicken, veg, yogurt, egg) that is not even expensive.

by Anonymousreply 56June 22, 2018 1:50 AM

One of the great parts of being a pet parent is that everybody has pets; hubby frequently reminds me that even the most evil among us have and love their dogs, posting pictures of them on social media and discussing the joys (and sometimes sorrows) that pets add to our lives. However... when I read people posting accolades for Dave's Pet Food, I'm reminded that Dave himself is among the most despicable of deplorables as a huge Trump supporter. Recall that when Trump signed one of his atrocious executive orders regarding the ACA, Dave was photographed standing behind him in the Oval Office, clapping and smiling for the cameras as millions of people were about to have their healthcare stripped away.

Then, when the people in his local community of Western Massachusetts saw this and responded by staying away from his stores, and there was even chatter of a boycott, he got all indignant and in typical Republican fashion, attempted to blame everyone around him for his personal efforts to undermine affordable healthcare. Given that his company and business relies heavily on liberal Massachusetts, it was foolish of him to cheer as Trump signed away the small business (50+ employees) mandate to provide insurance, particularly in light of the fact that he has personally benefited from Romneycare (which was the ACA before it was Obamacare).

I try to keep politics out of pets because one of the few ways that we as a nation will heal after the debacle of Trump is to find common ground — and we all love our pets — but it's hard to buy a product knowing that part of the revenue that falls to the proprietor will end up working against my own interests. I feel the same about shopping at Home Depot and buying boxes from Uline, and use alternatives whenever possible. I know Dave's is good pet food that, as a company, has strived to make products to answer specific needs, but there are alternatives as good or better than Dave's.

by Anonymousreply 57June 22, 2018 3:24 PM
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