Dog food question - please don't attack me

I've been wondering this for a while but haven't wanted to ask because I've seen the way some people get attacked on this forum for not feeding their dogs the very best food. So, to preface - it is just a question, please don't lecture me on being a horrible pet owner:

My parents had dogs when I was a kid and they always fed them the cheapest dogfood they could buy - Dad's or Old Roy or something like that. The dogs lived long, healthy lives. One GSD we got when I was 3 and my parents still had him when I left for college, which is a very long life for a GSD and he NEVER had any health problems at all. So here's the question - does it really make that much difference?

I feed Charlie Iams. I know it is not the greatest, nor is it the worst. He just eats sooo much that I really can't always afford some of the higher priced foods and Iams seems like a middle-of-the-road choice. Is there a better food out there that is not so ridiculously expensive and, again, does it really matter?

Canidea seems to be the more reasonably priced of the foods that are of higher quality...

I don't really think food affects life span, and when we say it is healthier we don't always mean they will live longer. What it means is that they are getting most nutrients out of the foods we normally recommend. It's the difference between feeding a kid junk and getting them the right amounts of fruits, veggies, calcium and protein along with all other essential vitamins. Food I think will affect performance of the dog. They get healthier fur and skin, more alert and possibly active, BETTER TEETH and breath and the poop will be firmer and less smelly. I made better teeth all caps because that CAN affect life span or at least quality. My dog's teeth were horrible and they started to hurt when he ate and bled when we played tug. They can get infected and kill a dog. the better foods are more digestible (that's why the poop improves) so you know the dog is sucking all the nutrients out of the food. I noticed when we switched Max's food that the poop turned white the next day. That's because the poop did not contain as much undigested food so I knew that there were no un-needed ingredients in the food, and everything in the food was digested by my dog completely. have you seen Mordy's site? http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=main

I hope that made sense and answered your question a little. I agree Canidae is a very well priced food.

Sometimes the dog will end up eating less of a higher quality food so you may want to keep that in mind to figure in to the cost. I think dogs 'can' and 'may' do well on any food however I think there is more of a garauntee that they will do better on a higher quality food. There are humans who eat McDonalds and other processed foods every day and they are fine however overall if there was a group of McDonalds eaters vs a group of healthy eaters I am positive you would see a difference in overall health--if that makes sense.

All the dogs my family had growing up were outside dogs that ate whatever was cheapest and they were all fairly healthy and led long lives however I'm sure if I would take one of them now and compare them to Wrigley (and had them indoors) I would notice the extra itching, the dullness of coat, the bad breath, the extra poop and other things that often come along with the cheapest food.

Personally I don't want to eat crap food even though I can survive on it so I don't want to give that to my dogs either.

I see you are in Indiana--where's abouts? I'm in Lafayette!

I'm down in Bloomington. How about this nutty weather, huh? I was in Gulf Shores, AL last week, 80 degrees and sunny, and on the drive home we got to Indiana and it was snowing!!! Anyway, thanks for the info!

I've been to the site but haven't had time to read everything on it yet. Thanks for the info. I had never heard of Canidae until I came to this forum so I will check into it.

Yes the weather is sure crazy--yesterday was nice but today not so much! I buy Wrigley Eagle Pack Holistics and I believe it was $22 for not the small bag and not the huge one--maybe 15 lbs? I dunno. It is made here in Indiana too--Mishawaka!

I get a 40 lb bag of Canidae here for $37 so it's not really that expensive at all. I'm not sure how expensive the average dog foods like Iams and Purina and Science Diet are compared to that, but I don't think it could be too much more. The store locator on the site is very helpful too.

Aw, nobody should feel attacked for asking a question. This is how we learn, and your question is a good one. It just shows that you're looking at what is best for your dog.

I found that the best way to know if you're feeding your dog a good quality food is to learn to read labels, ingredient and what you want in your dogs food.

Feeding a low quality food might not shorten a dogs life but does it give him/her a better, healthier life. I think not.

As an example, my family has gone through a major change in our eating habit, it's been about 9 months since the switch. We don't eat junk food and watch our fat/carb/sugar intake and increase fresh foods, a lot more fruits and veggies. I haven't felt this great in all my life and attribute our eating habit to it. Same can be said about dog food, they may live a long life on poor quality food, just like if someone ate fast food all their life, but it doesn't mean that they feel their very best while they are on it. Food for thoughts!

If you have a membership, or know anyone that has membership, to Costco there is a food called Kirkland that is pretty good and it's like $18 for a 40 lb bag. I feed Canidae though and it's about $28 for a 33 lb bag of the chicken meal and rice and we feed two dogs off of it and that lasts about a month or so and might last a little longer but we always buy a bag a month for them.

check out canidae.com and see if there is a store that sells near you.

The kirkland is a step up from Iams, but Canidae woud be even further.

I don't think that feeding a higher quality food necessarily equals a longer life. It may equal a healthier life and I just feel better knowing that I feed a higher quality food. But that's just me.

Good luck.

Well, better food will often mean a healthier, more vital dog for sure. We do feed Canidae now that we're better educated on the subject of canine nutrition, but our dog that passed away last December lived to be 17, and ate Pedigree her entire life, with no health issues until the end. However, she too would have eaten a higher quality diet had we known then what we do now...

Thanks for the advice everybody. I think I am going to switch Charlie to Canidae. There is a store in my town that sells it and it really is pretty much the same price as Iams. One last question - how do you pronounce Canidae? Is it like Canada?

Can-ih-day.

http://www.canidae.com

Yeah, I felt like an idiot the first time I went to buy it. I'd been pronouncing it wrong for a while... >.<

Hee hee. I was talking to one of the girls at work about it because she wants to switch her dog to a better food too and I kept saying "It's like Canada, or Canadeee, or something like that".

The closest I can find in this state is Muncie, and that is 20 minutes away! sheesh. And we don't like driving that far, just for food. But ya Canidae is the cheapest of them.

Canidae is BIG step up. And very reasonably priced. I can't say that I have had good results, but for most it works great.

*we drive an hour to get Canidae*

We are feeding Prism dog food now. It is made by Eagly Pack. Its the best we can get here in my town.