Healthy dog food

[Augusta]

Thanks Labs

[setterguy]

Funny story about dog's and their diets. We had a mutt growing up, she was my dog until I left home then she became my dads shadow. Went everywhere with him, to work, in the car, everywhere. Well when she is about 13 she has some routine blood work done and the vet comes in and says to my dad "I can't believe it, but all of her test results are in the normal range, very rare for a dog this old, whatever you are feeding her, keep doing it." My dad replies, well you just saved me a trip to the doctor, because she eats whatever I'm eating. From cheeseburgers to ice cream cones, if he ate one so did she. She ended up living till she was 17. I know its not the best but it always makes me chuckle because me and my mom always gave him such a hard time for giving her "people" food.

[SlamNFish]

If you go on the canidae web site they have a store locator for your area just type in your zip code and hit go, it will give you a list of the nearest stores to you.

Like i said earlier i feed my labs canidae als and they do very well on it. It has several meat meals in the first four or five ingredients. Which i personally like for my canids.

Canidae also has a buyer program if you contact customer service and ask for there buyer card and coupons,after 12 bags the 13th is free. You get a card to fill out and you save your upc's off the bags then after 12 bags submit it to your retailer for the free bag. Hope this helps!

[Augusta]

Thanks Slam, went on their HSOforum and found a dealer close to me. Looks like I will start feeding Canidae.

[MNpurple]

If you go to Google and do a search for "dog food reviews" the first HSOforum brought up is a review site of hundreds and hundreds of foods giving anywhere from a 1-6 star rating. All but the worst have reviews and explanations of their ratings. It pointed out a few interesting things such as the controversy of beet pulp, various fillers, and other controversdial ingredients. It takes some searching to find your food but its a pretty good site. For example, on Nutrisource, they did not recommend because of the inclusion of beet pulp and way to many grains after the first meat ingredient, and the second meat ingredient did not appear until #11. My dog seems to like it, although I am trying a brand called Premium Edge and she really likes that.

[Tom7227]

I recently switched to Native dog food. The coat on my 10 year old Brit has never looked this good. It was a bit of a chore getting the right amount and some loose stools during the transition, but the dogs like it and I am happy. $33 for 40 lbs but a special order at Chuck and Don's.

[deerhuntr8]

After a little research and some suggestions from you guys, I will be going with the Cannidae also. I just got my puppy 3 days ago and the breeders have been feeding him Maxximum Nutrition from Walmart. I am going to switch him off of that and we are good to go.

[Johnny_Namakan]

I feed my lab Pro Plan beef and rice. Last week when I was at the feed wharehouse buying another bag I noticed a new brand that I have never heard of called EVO. The owner told me it is a perfromance dog food and it costs $48 for a 28lb bag. Wow! He said it is very high in fat and protein, forgot the exact numbers. He also toldme that Pro Plan has a performace dog food as well for only $5 more a bag than the regular Pro Plan. I think this Fall I might try some of this. I don't think it's something yu want to feed them all year, unless they have a metabolism like a squirrel.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

I listened when my vet told me he see's a lot of old dogs raised on PDC. Mine was on it from puppy to 4 years old with no problems. Last year I switched to Purina One for no other reason than peer presure from internet boards like this one. It works just fine too but is not as easy to find in the same recipe every time. Buy whatever makes you feel comfortable.

[tealitup]

I also did some research and looked at Cannidae - in fact, I am switching over from NutriSource now. I looked at the ingredients and they actually look the same except for the beet pulp.

But, it is $2.00 cheaper per bag and we get one free after buying 12. Along with Labs4Me saying it was a good food made up my mind. My pup absolutely loves the stuff (its new- what do you expect).

[basslake]

I feed my lab Science Diet and he is an owsome pheasant& duck dog lives in the house and gets exercised every day.why science diet i have know idea just what i picked up dont think it really matters

[kgpcr4]

I feed Pruina Pro Plan and its been just fine.

[SlamNFish]

I hope everyone that switches foods gives the time to do it gradually so you don't make the dog get an upset stomach.

Ive tried almost all the brands mentioned here with my labs and have given each one a serious try. Ive found Canidae A.L.S to work the best for my dogs. Several others they ate grass like a cow. On canidae they get very excited about eating they drool a puddle on the floor before i can give them there food.

Everyone has there own opinions on whats best for there dogs and thats great. But ive tried several brands and Canidae ALS is the one my dogs are doing the best on.When i'm on a hunting trip and there working everyday i feed at the end of the day so by morning they can empty there bowels before hunting hard and then mid day they get a Snack of a few canidae biscuits to boost there energy level. They have hunted hard for a few days in row and always have shown good recovery on this food. Good luck on the food. Ive been up and down the dog food scale and it can be frustrating sometimes so i'm just trying to help from my experiences with dog food. My dogs have been on this food now for 1 year and i don't plan on switching this time. I hope this helps but really it's up to you! Good Luck.

[tealitup]

I have almost a full bag or NutriSource and a full bag of Canidae - been slowly blending the two - it might take me a month or better to get through them.

[SlamNFish]

Thats fine as long as the dog is ok on nutrisource. No sense wasting the food. My Labs did not do well on nutrisorce when i found that food i was initially excited about it being it was made here in mn. But my dogs didn't do well on it. It could have been the wheat? Some dogs don't tolerate wheat well for some reason.

Canidae doesn't look like it's filled with a bunch of junk and man do the dogs love it.

I might add that whatever works for one dog may not be the best for another, Ive been around hunting dogs my whole life and they are individuals just like us what works for one doesn't mean it will work for all. It's been trial after trail to find a good affordable food for my best buds. I fed proplan performance for along time to my GSP's when i hunt tested dogs and hunted them.And it was ok but one of my males never did well on it.And what bothers me is purina makes so many different foods that are all supposed to great? HMMMMMM.Makes me think?

[311Hemi]

If any of you are looking for more information on foods and ingrediants, you check check out dogfoodproject dot com.

[SlamNFish]

 Originally Posted By: 311Hemi

 Originally Posted By: Lip_Ripper Guy

I have mine on California Natural Lamb and Rice. I switched about 3 weeks ago. She has severe allergies to food, but this doesn't seem to be making it better, so I'm going to switch her to one of the other types after this is gone. I do know that it has taken what used to be a sluggish eater, into a dog that lets me know when its time to eat, and she is done in about 10 seconds. I paid around $40 for a 30# bag.

The dog will need to be on a food for 8-12+ weeks in order to do a proper food trial for allergies. Contrary to what you may think it can take that long to see changes. It is usually recommended to not give treats during a trial as they can be a source of allergy depending on ingredients.

If your current food doesn't work out you may try the Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach as the protein is Salmon/fish based and does not contain other proteins from meat such as chicken/lamb/duck/etc. Many times dogs can be allergic to the protein source and not necessarily grains.....but each dog is different. Mine seems to be affected by protein sources....thus the Salmon/fish based protein has helped.

Your right on there Hemi!!! But on the other post you made about dog food reviews they are not all accurate sites. Some are not screened anyone can say anything they want. But your right on the money with what you are saying every dog is different and it takes time to notice changes!

[311Hemi]

 Originally Posted By: SlamNFish

But on the other post you made about dog food reviews they are not all accurate sites. Some are not screened anyone can say anything they want.

You will have to refresh my memory....

[SlamNFish]

 Originally Posted By: 311Hemi

 Originally Posted By: SlamNFish

But on the other post you made about dog food reviews they are not all accurate sites. Some are not screened anyone can say anything they want.

You will have to refresh my memory....

Sorry Bro, i should have said some of those reviews are not unbiased, anyone can bad mouth any food even companies against companies. I guess you didn't post other site names sorry man!

But i think were on the same page here aboout dog food.

[311Hemi]

 Originally Posted By: SlamNFish

Sorry Bro, i should have said some of those reviews are not unbiased, anyone can bad mouth any food even companies against companies. I guess you didn't post other site names sorry man!

But i think were on the same page here aboout dog food.

No problem....I just wasn't sure what other sites I may have posted because I don't trust any of them (and hoped I didn't reference any!!). The one I posted here I believe has some good information for owners....and does not rate any particular foods (at least that I have seen).

[SlamNFish]

Good deal Hemi.

Ya my labs have shown to be allergic to wheat products.

A buddy of mine has a lab and has had all kinds of skin problems he has been on a product called Nuzymes or something like that?

It has helped her alot! It's a suppliment.

[SlamNFish]

 Originally Posted By: 311Hemi

If any of you are looking for more information on foods and ingrediants, you check check out dogfoodproject dot com.

Thanks Hemi , for the info on the dogfoodproject.com

I read alot of the info and it convinced me even more that i'm feeding a quality food. Good info on that site.

[larryz]

My Lab I got as a pup and the breeder fed NutriSource so I continued feeding that food for about 18 months. After doing a lot of research I decided to switch to Canidae. I then fed her Canidae for about 12 months during which time she got hot spots several times. I decided to switch her back to NutriSource and she has not gotten hot spots since and she just turned 4 years old. She is doing very well on the NutriSource again. So I guess what I am trying to say is not any one food works for all dogs. I know Canidae is a very good food but it did not work for my Lab.

[Hammer Handle]

I feed my dog cheap Fleet Farm Dog Food.

9 years old now...and healthy as an ox.

My last dog lives to 18 on the same food. The longest I have even had a dog.

[deerhuntr8]

I have had dogs live long also. You get what you pay for and I am not going to give my dogs food with a bunch of fillers anymore.