Dog Food Coupons

[AllieMackie]

To each their own, I say. I may disagree with what you're feeding your dogs, but you may disagree with one of my training practices (as an example). We all do our stuff different, but as long as each dog's well-being is being thought of, I'm fine with it.

I was mostly suggesting Cali Natural to FZC due to the better ingredients, being able to feed less and the allergy formula being one of the best out there. It also may be unavailable near her, I don't know.

 

[AGonzalez]

Here's my stance on it. I'm not going to name names but Smokey had issues with food. He had been fed who knows what (meaning any store brand that was on sale) until I got him. I fed him Purina Dog Chow for awhile, then switched up to a premium food. It was ok but it was too expensive for my budget, so we made the switch again in July 2008 to Diamond Naturals. In August of 2008 he developed the tumor he had. All the while the Diamond Naturals caused extreme gastric disturbance...explosive and uncontrollable diarrhea. This was not only in Smokey but in Lily as well.

Fast forward 6 months and Smokey had to be put down due to the tumor that showed up. Lily still had the diarrhea part with the DN food. We got Lacey in January and I weaned her onto DN...with results of explosive diarrhea also. This is half a year on one dog and 2 months on the other and I'm tired of cleaning up explosive dog poo...

So, now I'm moving and hubby cut our budget for dog food back considerably. I won't even mention what I'm feeding because some of you are going to have a coronary and flame me to death, but I will mention that all the explosive diarrhea ceased within 2 days of switching the food. My yard is no longer a diarrhea slip and slide that can only be cleaned up with a garden hose...I can clean it up within 5 minutes and it's all firm and small amounts. I can also let them sleep in my room without being awakened by the horrendous dog fart/diarrhea smell and I no longer have to get up at 2 AM to clean up runny poo.

Now for the funny part. In the trash can I keep their food in, there was maybe 2 cups left of the Diamond Naturals. So I figured over the course of 2 days it wouldn't hurt to feed it out...boy was I ever wrong. I had diarrhea on my carpeted stairs where poor Lacey tried to race down and make it to the door and failed. This was literally 1/8th of what they are fed in a day mass wise (I.e. I feed both of them 4 cups a day and it was half a cup a day at the most) Oh and yes I do feed that much without copious amounts of poop...I have growing puppies.

Moral of the story...what works for your dog might not work for mine, your dog might look horrible on a cheap food or it might look better. I'm aware of the ingredients, but I can't argue with the results. Lily looks wonderful and I've seen no coat change in her, Lacey has gained a considerable amount of weight in a healthy fashion...she's still lean looking but she's finally gaining some.

So all in all, you feed what you want and if someone is educated about what they are feeding and chooses to feed it because it's the right thing for their dog...so be it.

 

[Dekka]

Why would you stay on food for that long that caused explosive diarrhea? Just wondering.

There are cheap alternatives that are not chalk full of carcinogens (grain yes, cancer causing agents no, maybe you are feeding one of those, I don't know).

 

[Criosphynx]

I have zero issues with what people feed. Like I said before...Have at it.

I have issues with people saying they feed som'thing they really don't and visa versa.

Especially if that person is a breeder selling puppies.

Like som'one mentioned earlier tho, if my dog had diarhea only on premium foods and not an grocer food. I'd be at my vet trying to find out why, the results are just not enough for me. I want to know why, and how to fix it.

 

[Dekka]

Some of the cheap foods have 'stool hardeners' built in. So they don't have much chance at having diarrhea. Its like feeding kayopectate every meal and then being excited that the food is creating firm stool. Its not the quality of the food, its the poop enhancers LOL.

 

[AGonzalez]

I'm not feeding a Purina product if that's what you're asking. What I'm feeding hasn't ever been recalled that I've found either and it still has meat as it's first ingredient, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper.

Oh and why I stayed on it? Well didn't you just say that you have to give it time on some of these foods when you go from cheap to a premium food, or even a food higher in protein? That's what my vet said and said that as long as they don't lose weight, don't stress they'll even out...they never lost weight, but the poo wasn't right. I actually had a vet that was pet food saavy, which is odd for here.
Also, Smokey was the one that had the most incidents with the diarrhea...where the tumor was might have been causing part of that, we're not sure, but the vet believed it had grown into his bowels...I do know that Lily had it frequently but not anything like he did and since she's a garbage gut and will eat anything someone hands to her...it was negligible at first as to whether or not it was the food...oddly enough it cleared up immediately so I can attribute that to the food and more than likely Smokeys bowel issues at the beginning.
Lacey never adjusted to it whatsoever. From the vomit inspection in my car when I brought her home (she threw up all over my truck, bleh) whatever she was fed had corn in it...no clue on what it was though.

No hard evidence there, but I can clearly see what's working for mine and what's not.

 

[Dekka]

Poo thats not right.. isn't the same as explosive poo. Explosive poo is a health risk.

Some foods there is hard evidence. But people still say that if their dogs have shiny coats and firm poop feeding diseased animals, carcinogens and pentobarbitol is working for them.

 

[Criosphynx]

I guess I've been lucky. I've done every brand from iams on up to raw. Im on my 6th dog now.

Only puking I've had has been on raw. Emma yacked once and Scooter once...they had trouble with bones. Once each.When I switched smaller/whole prey. No issues. ever.

The dogs have been on tons of different brands/varieties. I've never had an issue. At all. In fact when I adopt a dog they give you a small 6-8 bag of science diet that I mix in rather than throw away. No problems there either.

Som'times I mix in. Usually I don't. Just a clean switch.
Maybe theres som'thing in your guys water

 

[Dekka]

OMG speaking of puking. Dekka pukes up ALL kibble and then needs to re eat. Ewwww. It takes a lot more re eating if there are grains in the kibble.

If I feed her one or two kibbles at a time she doesn't puke up non grain kibble.

She almost never pukes on raw (unless she steals Dash's and eats more than she can hold)

 

[Criosphynx]

OMG speaking of puking. Dekka pukes up ALL kibble and then needs to re eat. Ewwww. It takes a lot more re eating if there are grains in the kibble.

If I feed her one or two kibbles at a time she doesn't puke up non grain kibble.

She almost never pukes on raw (unless she steals Dash's and eats more than she can hold)

When Emma yacked up the raw she left it there for me (I was asleep) when I went to clean it up she dove on it and chow'd most of it back down before I could stop her.

I think I might have gotten a portion size wrong that time, I was very new at it then.

They keep pork/beef bones down fine..it was poultry they didn't like those couple times.

 

[Fran101]

Thanks for the coupons I like to use them when im buying food for the shelter dogs (sorry.. i dont have the $ to buy premium foods for them, and food is better than no food!)

As for my dogs. Kenyas old owners and the shelter fed her kibbles and bits.. which is probably the worst food IMAGINABLE in my opinion. She looked horrible, dry itchy coat, cow pile stools, ect..
so i switched her to better food and she seemed WORSE!! i was like OMG! and then i waited.. my vet said that it was going to look worse before it got better, i waited a while for her body to get used to the better, richer, food and she did get A LOT BETTER!
.. eventually, we discovered she had food allergies. the solid gold helped with most of her problems, and it worked well for us other than she was itchy a lot, so we switched to raw and now shes doing awesome no itching!
it turned out, she is allergic to grains (corn, wheat ect..) which it turns out is very common in dogs, kenyas allergies are just BAD. (itching, bald spots, ect.)

Honesty, i wish i had gone straight to raw. Premium foods are too expensive for my taste, but i do buy a bag of Solid gold that i keep around just in case of emergency (hurricane ect..) if we cant do raw.

Nutrition is more important to some people than it is to others. I was raised in a home where WE only ate organic food, so it seemed natural to not feed my dogs food that had by products ect... . I do beleive nutrition makes a HUGE diffrence in dogs overall health, but i dont beleive that what a person feeds=how much they love their dogs.


just my 2cents

 

[SizzleDog]

How do you know the dogs might not have lived longer or looked even better had they been on something else?

How do you know the dogs would have done better on something else? It goes both ways.

Why would you stay on food for that long that caused explosive diarrhea? Just wondering.

I know this was directed at Acamp, but I'll turn it around... Kaylee had explosive diarrhea on CalNat. But it's "better" than what I'm feeding now (with great results)... should I have stayed with it? There seems to be a double standard here - if the food is "bad", stop feeding it if you have problems. If the food is "good", any problems you have must be detox.

Here's a dog that has eaten Pro Plan her whole life. How old do you think she is? Here's a hint... people were amazed her age last year, and she's still alive this year - with no serious health problems. And remember, we're talking about Dobermans here - not a breed that lives very long, in the grand scheme of things.

I would also like to mention that many dobe people (as evidenced by another forum specifically for dobes) feed Pro Plan and actually have better results with it than with the premium brands. There have been scores of Doberman people who have initially felt very leery of feeding PP, but have been amazed at how good their dogs do on it.

As for raw. I don't think many people realize that meat prices vary greatly by region. Where I live, you cannot get meat - any meat - for under $1.89/lb. And that's for chicken legs. If you want beef, be prepared to pay over $2.50/lb for it. There is no 50 cent, 75 cent, 89 cent per pound meat around here. We have very few butchers, and their prices are higher than the big box stores! And if we're really talking about chemicals... the "cheap meat" (at least around here) is from animals that were loaded up with antibiotics, growth horomones, and other lovely chemicals since the day they were born. If you want "clean" meat... be prepared to pay astronomical sums. A package of two horomone-free, antibiotic-free chicken breasts costs about $9.00 here. If you want to purchase a whole cow and have it slaughtered for you... be prepared to pay $800-$1100. Even if I wanted to feed raw, I could never afford it.

 

[Dekka]

No if its explosive you risk dehydration. If its just loose or nasty then yes stick with it. Or try another non poison filled kibble. No one says you HAVE to go to a crap food when a good one doesn't work.

That first dog looks lumpy and squidgy. So is that due to old age? Or what? Looks pretty old to me..is it really young?

Yes it could work both ways. But really you are telling me that a diet of 4D meats (which is the ONLY kind that goes into pro plan) floor sweepings and fillers is giving these dogs a longer life than they would have with out those things?

 

[Fran101]

ive actually heard alot of breeders, and people that show dogs that use Pro plan with great results. My boyfriends golden is co owned and shown and is on pro plan, his coat is BEAUTIFUL. kenya is allergic to the stuff

im not saying its the best food in the world. im saying it works for some people, all dogs are diffrent.

 

[Fran101]

That first dog looks lumpy and squidgy. So is that due to old age? Or what? Looks pretty old to me..is it really young?

I dont think calling anybodys dog lumpy or squidgy is really necessary...

 

[SizzleDog]

That first dog looks lumpy and squidgy. So is that due to old age? Or what? Looks pretty old to me..is it really young?

Actually, all three photos are of the same dog. She's 14 years old, and don't you dare try to tell me that's young for a dobe. I'd be a bit lumpy too if I was a 14 year old Doberman.

 

[Dekka]

LOL it does look lumpy and squidgy. If people want to say a dog looks fantastic well to me that dog looks not fantastic in the first pic. If my dog was lumpy I would be ok if people said so.

Of course the coats are shiny. Pores excrete wastes. If you feed high levels of not so digestible fats they are exuded from the pores.

 

[Fran101]

Actually, all three photos are of the same dog. She's 14 years old, and don't you dare try to tell me that's young for a dobe. I'd be a bit lumpy too if I was a 14 year old Doberman.

holy crap that is awesome!! every place I look says dobermans live to be less than 12. and she doesnt even look old! she is totally a demi moore lol i hope they found that dog a doggy ashton

 

[Dekka]

Oh to me the first couple of pics the dog looks every one of those years (that is a good age though) the last pic the dog looks better. (lol I thought you were going to say the dog looks young)

I was amazed at Reds older girl for condition and an older age. To me that dog looked shiny and healthy and younger than she is.

I fed Alex pro plan and his coat gleamed. He lived to be 10 which is good for a giant breed (well cross). But he died of immune failure issues. (which makes sense)

 

[SizzleDog]

Show me a 14 year old Doberman that's not a bit lumpy. I anxiously await your photo.

The point I was trying to make is that that particular bitch looks very good for her age, especially for a breed that's lucky to make it to 9-10.