Dog food

[portageman]

We just brought home our brand new Llewellin English Setter. She has been great so far. We have been feeding her Purina Pro Plan and have had no problems. I looked at the nutritional info on the label and it seems fine. I am just curious what everybody else is feeding their dogs.

[RosoRiverRat]

I've really been happy with Iams.

[goose89]

Canidae here.

[Jameson]

Eukanuba Sporting

[kentuck_ike]

Where did you get your Llewellin? I am getting one in June. We feed our dogs Native

[portageman]

We got her from High Fly'n Kennels in Elko. They were fantastic.

[jigging-matt]

Science Diet, Lamb and rice blend.

[gspman]

Purina Pro Plan Performance.

[Ralph Wiggum]

We've been using Purina Pro Plan (large breed puppy food) for almost a year and it's been good for our pup.

[kentuck_ike]

We are getting ours there, too. We got one last year as well, Carla & Greg are great people. Are you going to attend any training seminars?

[CJH]

Another vote for Eukenuba. Its been great!

[crothmeier]

Straight up Purina Dog Chow.

[lenny7]

NutriSource Large Breed Puppy for my lab. I'll be transitioning to an adult NutriSource with the next bag I buy. High quality, Minnesota-made, and makes for good, solid turds.

[Tony Holland]

I was on NutriSource, but I think my lab is allergic to some of the grain he was shedding terribly and his coat was losing some of its sparkle.

I switched to "Taste of the Wild" Big change to an all natural food with no grain but his turd size has been cut in half and his coat and shedding is much better.

Call of the wild is rated a six out of six stars on dog food anaylysis dot com

Cost is 39.00 for a 35 lb bag i believe.

[lenny7]

I switched to "Call of the Wild" Big change to an all natural food with no grain but his turd size has been cut in half and his coat and shedding is much better.

I assume you mean "Taste of the Wild"

I was looking at a bag of that stuff over the weekend. It looks like a great ingredient list for not much more than I'm paying now. NutriSource costs me about $1 a pound.

I'm happy with NutriSource, and my dog seems to be too, but you know how it is...always wondering if there's something better to get.

At the other extreme, after I looked at the bag of TotW I found a bag of a food called "Doggie Bag" that was only $12 or $13 for a 40lb. bag! Top two ingredients were wheat middlings and corn meal. I think wheat middlings is a euphemism for floor sweepings. Recommended feeding amount was twice what I'm feeding now (4.5 to 7.75 cups/day for a 50 to 75lb dog, as I recall). I wonder if there could be a worse dog food.

[Sportfish1850]

We were using Purina Pro Plan for large breed puppies for our German Short Hair pups but recently switched to Kirkland puppy food available only at Costco.

Chicken and Rice mix. Recipe is virtually identical to several of the premium brand chicken/rice foods but the cost is about 50% less. 20lb puppy bag for about $11. With two dogs that's substantical savings with no sacrifice in quality.

Our dogs are doing great on it, energy level is high, coat is shiny etc but I must admit the change of food did cause some extra gas at first but its improving now they are used to it.

I researched it on several web sites that review pet foods and the Kirkland brand was classified as "by far the least expensive brand of good quality dry dog food".

[Tony Holland]

I edited my post i did mean Taste of the Wild......

I have heard very good things about the kirkland brand also, same as diamond i believe.

[Woollman99]

When looking for a good healthy pet food, read the label and ingredients closely. You should look for pet food that:

1. Is natural healthy - contains natural ingredients with NO artificial addititves or preservatives.

2. Has quality proteins - contains chicken and fish meals with no animal by-products for maximum protein availability. Avoid items that list/contain "by-products". Also products that list "whole chicken" is not any better than chicken meal. Whole chicken is approx 85% water. Meal is rendered from the animal tissue and has the water removed in processing.

3. Has whole grains - contains rice, oats and barley with no corn, wheat or soy for maximum digestibility and smaller stools. Corn, wheat and soy is usually positioned as "fillers".

4. Begins with a meat/meal product and not a grain on the ingredient listing.

4. Has natural antioxidants.

5. Has chelated minerals.

6. Has Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.

I feed my dog Native and been very happy with the food and results. Native is made by Kent Feeds (Iowa). The brand is not easily found--I have my local Tractor Supply store special order it for me. I also believe RFG distributes the product, so if any shops are a customer of RFG, they should be able to get the brand. Native comes in various stages---each stage contains higher levels/ratios of fats and proteins, but the same base ingredients. During the off season, I feed my dog Native 1. During the hunting season, I move him up to Native 3. For what its worth, Native is one of the official pet food sponsors of Pheasants Forever.

Another similar brand of Native is called Haven Naturals (made by Kent). It is found in many local grocery stores in the Mpls area (except Rainbow Foods). This is another quality pet food I would recommend highly.

Many of the larger brands have cheapened their product (over the last few years) and are not the same quality as they used to be. They are charging more for the product, but have added by-products, corns, flours and fillers.

Net net, while natural pet foods cost more, they will likely save money over time due to needing to eat/feed less, may suffer fewer illnesses (potentially reducing vet expenditures), have smaller firmer stools and may shed less.

Woollman

[paceman]

We are feeding Iams. Pretty happy with the results.....

[NELS-BELLS]

Purina Pro Plan, adult, Chicken and Rice. We have a 2 yr old Black Lab. Tried the lamb but she didn't like it.

[Cooter]

My lab turns 1 in a couple weeks, have been using Purina large breed puppy - no complaints. Probably will make the switch to the above mentioned Purina adult chicken and rice.

[Down2Earth]

Diamond Naturals lamb and rice. during hunting season Diamond Naturals extreme athlete.

[portageman]

Picking up your puppy in June? You must be getting a Suzy pup. She is a great looking dog. Our pup is from the Bella/King litter.

I dont plan on doing any trainging seminars, but I am having Greg do the intro to bird and gun in July or August.

[FCspringer]

PRO PLAN performance and adult.

[kentuck_ike]

Yep, we are getting a Suzy pup. We thought about the Bella/King litter, but the time was better for Suzy's litter. I am a brittany guy, and have been to some training with Greg & he got me to try a Llewellin for my daughter. Hope everything goes well for you.