What do you feed your dog? And when?

[Kerrsa]

My dog is currently eating Instinct Small Breed dry kibble with the raw boost pellets but it can sometimes be difficult to find. Most big box pet stores have the brand but not all carry the small breed version or the raw boost version. A general store type, like a Walmart or target doesn't carry it at all.   I normally just order it from amazon because it's cheaper but to do that, I need to have somewhere it can be mailed to, which would be difficult while traveling. A 4-pound bag typically lasts 2-3 weeks. 

Would it be worth it to switch out to something easier to find while I'm still in the planning stage?  Or do you just carry an extra bag so you have time to locate a place that sells what your dog eats?

 

[TrainChaser]

I would suggest e-mailing the company that produces it. Compliment them on the quality and how much your dog likes it. Explain that you travel a lot with your dog and you would like to know where you could buy it where you'll be (area or states). BE SPECIFIC that you want THAT particular food, or they'll just give you a list of stores that carry any of their products.

 

[Willy]

Coco gets Actrium dry kibble from Wal-Mart and a good chunk of whatever I cook. Goin' on her 16th year and still spry, so can't be all that bad for her. ..Willy.

 

[BobBski]

I have 2, 8 year old, chihuahuas and they eat 1/3 cup dry Iams puppy chow a day. 1/2 in the morning, 1/2 in the evening. I feed them by hand while I eat breakfast and supper...their food up on the table. They think WE are eating the same thing lol

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I feed mine whole earth farms.  I mix a half a cup of dry food with a can twice a day.  It costs more than I'd like but it's just the first food I found that seemed to fix his skin issues and that he likes.  

When I rescued him he was missing patches of fur all over his body.  Vet suggested trying different brand foods after we ruled out some of the common reasons like fleas and mites. Purina which i've always used in the past gave him the runs,  Alpo and pedigree gave him unbearable gas, then tried Blue Buffalo which he wouldn't eat unless he was starving, then tried a brand called Avoderm which has avocado in it and supposedly great for a dogs skin, he wasn't thrilled about that either and would just pick at it.  Finally found the Whole Earth Farms brand which he loves and all his skin issues resolved shortly after switching to it.  They sell it at Petco and Amazon so it's pretty readily available for when I travel.

 

[Richard]

Purina Beyond has a line called Simply 9. It comes in 2 recipes: chicken and lamb. I mix them togetner in a bowl and offer it each time i eat, being mindful of her daily recommended intake.

On a side note, my dog rarely eats by herself, but she'll eat when I'm eating if she's hungry. She doesn't always eat when i do, but she seems to prefer eating with me rather than eating on her own. A dog breeder told me that's consistant with 'pack mentality' behavior.

 

[steamjam1]

Border Collie.. 3 year old girlie... Purina Beyond grain free. I switched to this because she was having red spots on her belly and constantly itched for a while... Went grain free. I didn't know dogs could get allergies.. But since the switch.. No problems..

 

[cyndi]

Find small locally owned pet supply stores. They carry most of the better brands of food and they're everywhere ..

Stumpy gets a variety of Frommes limited ingredient mixed with Stella and Chewey's meal mixers

 

[jimindenver]

5 dogs ago when premium dog foods were first hitting vets shelves, I asked one what she fed her dogs. The answer was the same as my family had always used, Purina Dog Chow. My dogs have done well on it but the last three all developed liver issues on Purina senior. It's scary to read what the companies do to the pet food, that's where pink slime came from in the first place. I had forgotten about dealing with this as I consider another dog.

 

[Almost There]

5 dogs ago when premium dog foods were first hitting vets shelves, I asked one what she fed her dogs. The answer was the same as my family had always used, Purina Dog Chow. My dogs have done well on it but the last three all developed liver issues on Purina senior. It's scary to read what the companies do to the pet food, that's where pink slime came from in the first place. I had forgotten about dealing with this as I consider another dog.

There's a reason the Vet used Purina - and not because of the cost.

If you do some digging you'll find that Purina is one of the largest contributors to funding at Vet Colleges across the nation and that they have a very aggressive sales campaign for veterinarians. it's akin to the pharmaceutical companies aggressive sales methods in doctors offices.

There's a very good forum out there specifically for dog owners, they even  have a scoring system for dog foods - http://www.dogforum.net/vagreys-dog-food-scoring/

I highly recommend that anyone seriously interested in seeing that their dog gets the best nutrition you can afford to give them, check it out.

When I was on the road with my last 2 dogs, I used a brand that wasn't readily available. I had the 800 number for the company on speed dial and would call them to check out where I was headed and find a supplier. I also made sure that I had at least 3 to 4 weeks supply in stock at any one time so that I never had to substitute their food.

 

[TrainChaser]

Read the label.  I don't care what you think is in it -- read the label.

The first ingredient should be a named meat (chicken, beef, lamb, emu, etc).  If the first few  ingredients (especially) are corn, soy or wheat, you can immediately write it off as garbage.  That's what I feed my chickens and ducts, not my dog or cats.  And, both the corn and soy are GMO.  Most of the dog/cat foods in the supermarkets fall into this category.  Corn and wheat are often allergens, causing skin and digestive problems.

The general words 'meat' and 'animal' are huge warning signs, because it means ANY kind of meat, including euthanized animals, roadkill, spoiled supermarket meat, DDD animals (dead, diseased, dying).  The word 'digest' means a slurry of body parts that really don't have much/any nutrient value.

Most of the well-known pet food companies are owned by human-food companies:  Nestles [Purina, Friskies], Mars [Iams, Eukanuba, Whiskas, Pedigree, Royal Canin] , Colgate-Palmolive [Hills/Science Diet], Del Monte [GravyBones, Snausages, Kitten Li'l Nibbles], Smuckers [Meow Mix, Milk-Bone, Pup-Peroni and Kibbles 'n Bits].  All of those companies produce garbage, and the unloading of that garbage costs them a lot of money; now they 'transfer' a lot of that stuff into the pet foods, profiting from their garbage.

I usually use and refer the reviews from the Dog Food Advisor, listed alphabetically.  The ingredients listed in red may have issues, so just move down the page and see what they say about them.
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/brand/

And if you decide to change foods, make the change gradual -- abrupt food changes can cause diarrhea, the absolute LAST THING you need in a van!

 

[gcal]

My dog is currently eating Instinct Small Breed dry kibble with the raw boost pellets but it can sometimes be difficult to find. Most big box pet stores have the brand but not all carry the small breed version or the raw boost version. A general store type, like a Walmart or target doesn't carry it at all.   I normally just order it from amazon because it's cheaper but to do that, I need to have somewhere it can be mailed to, which would be difficult while traveling. A 4-pound bag typically lasts 2-3 weeks. 

Would it be worth it to switch out to something easier to find while I'm still in the planning stage?  Or do you just carry an extra bag so you have time to locate a place that sells what your dog eats?

Purina whenever the Jehovahs Witnesses run out.

Oh, my, that's going to be censored.

 

[DrJean]

My vet is happy with my latest selection of Rachel Ray's Nutrish. My standard poodle likes small bites... and though he won't eat the same thing two days in a row (he eats 3x a day)...he likes this. Very picky eater. He also gets Perdue chicken short cuts (pre cooked organic ). I also have a purina dry to switch to... just got him off kibbles and bits, which was all he would eat dry before...in between his meat meals.

He didn't like the Royal Canin for Poodles (good thing, it's too expensive!)

I'm not on the road in a van yet, but "travel" all the time with my service dog. Being in hurricane territory I also always keep an extra bag of food. He'll eat canned if he must, but won't touch it if it's leftover. I won't give him anything that was poisoned years ago... killed my first service dog and almost killed my replacement (Iams, Blue). I still don't trust those companies, and especially not China who puts poison even in our baby food cans... oh but I went ot. sorry.

 

[TrainChaser]

Ducts? Sorry, I didn't proofread very well, did I?

DUCKS.

 

[MrNoodly]

There's a difference between what you believe you need to feed your dog and what your dog would be perfectly happy and healthy eating. Dogs have much lower standards, because they aren't suckers for advertising, and they don't suffer from anxiety and guilt over whether they're doing it right.

I fed my Jack Russell table scraps and ordinary dry and canned dog food. He lived seventeen years, didn't get fat, wasn't undernourished.

 

[ArtW]

I've been using Taste of the Wild, and happy to see it scores high on the dog food advisor site, better than Blue buffalo in fact

 

[Sameer]

There's a difference between what you believe you need to feed your dog and what your dog would be perfectly happy and healthy eating. Dogs have much lower standards, because they aren't suckers for advertising, and they don't suffer from anxiety and guilt over whether they're doing it right.

I fed my Jack Russell table scraps and ordinary dry and canned dog food. He lived seventeen years, didn't get fat, wasn't undernourished.

You are a very wise man!
All a dog needs is a nutritious meal with good protein. Me and Mr. Pico laugh out loud at the millions of dollars that the pet food companies are making with nothing more than hype. When I had my little ranch all the goats and chickens ate Purina brand. So does Mr. Pico......Spend that Money!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DrJean]

The fruits and vegetables of green beans, carrots and broccoli are great for dogs, btw!

 

[DrJean]

Toxic food -- I'd add in apple seeds (arsenic)

[img=500x647]http://cdn4.caninejournal.com/wp-co...o-feed-your-dog-infographic-500x647.jpg[/img]Don't feed your dog these

 

[TooManyDogs]

I didn't click on your link, DrJean but I know my vet will feed cat food to their canine patients to get them to eat. I've asked one of them about grapes, etc and she said it's dependent on each individual dog. When I'm having fruits, i often share with my dogs. They love watermelon.

I feed the Tractor Supply brand (it's made by Mars, the company that makes Pedigree) dry food and some additional protein (often what I'm having for dinner). There's usually a pot of chicken broth on the stove top for them.