Too Confused!

juliefurry

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#1
Ok, I am too confused on the puppy food to buy for my puppy. I have him on Iams now, but after reading about the Iams situation I am going to switch him as soon as this bag is done. My vet recommends Science diet and sent me home with not one but two free 5 pound bags (why two I don't know). I thought about maybe switching him to Science diet but then I heard also that wasn't too good for them. The breeder had him on Diamond's large breed puppy formula, which is impossible for me to find in any pet store. Is there any store bought dog food that would be exceptable for my puppy? All of the foods that you are reccomending for dogs I can not find near us. I am SO confused at what would be best for my puppy. I hate constantly switching his food but I don't want to feed any of my animals Iams anymore after what I saw on the website.
 

Saje

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#2
Ah, Julie. It is a confusing thing.

I don't think anyone here would recommend Science Diet either. Everything I've read says that vets do not learn a lot about nutrition and are often paid to distribute a certain brand.

The most recommended brand of dog food on this site is Innova's EVO www.naturapet.com. I've heard good things about:
Eagle Pack holistic www.eaglepack.com
http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/

There are more. Look for products that are 'made with human grade meat' and organic ingredients.

Use this comparison tool at Innova's site to learn more about dog food ingredients and compare their brand to others.

Also, you can ask your pet store to bring in a product like Innova. Or give them a list and see what they can do
 

bubbatd

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#3
What ever you decide to feed, don't wait until the bag is empty......start adding what you plan to switch to slowly.
 

Saje

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#5
Sorry. Forgot to mention raw! It seems like a lot of work even though I"m thinking about starting it.
 

Saje

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#7
LOL I know! I buy meat for him but not often. LOL I made him REAL shephard's pie last night (and a tofu version for me). Aren't I a good gf? :D

Seriously, I can't find a good brand here. They hardly ever have the Eagle Pack in stock and all the rest is garbage. Steve saw how much I was paying out here for Eagle Pack and other brands and was extremely annoyed that they would charge that much. They do have to ship it a long way as we live at least a 24 hour drive from any major city and those cities aren't close to wear it's manufactured.

Anyway, we figured since this THE place to hunt/fish and I see sales on meat and fish all the time that might be a better way to go. At least I'll know what's going into it.

Now, for the research...
 
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#8
Oh, and Julie, don't be bamboozled by foods that tout "all natural" ingredients. That means absolutely nothing! It can still include ingredients loaded with pesticides, hormones, chemicals, drugs, ad nauseum - just another phrase manufacturers use to fool the consumer.
 

juliefurry

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#9
Well I just went out and bought Mack a 33 lb bag of Eagle Pack Large/giant breed puppy formula. I am going to switch him to that because I can not find any of the other food mentioned to me. As soon as his Iams (eww...yuck...barf) starts running out I am going to switch him to the Eagle Pack brand and keep him on that from now on.
 
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#10
Try buying smaller bags. You shouldn't store the food for longer than 3 months. After that it begins to turn rancid. It also helps if you store it in an airtight container.
 

juliefurry

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#11
I have an airtight container for his food. I originally started out with a small bag of Iams so I only have a little bit left so I have to start switching him pretty soon. I really didn't feed him the Science diet because they gave me regular puppy formula and not large breed. I usually don't buy really big bags but my husband INSISTED that I buy him the big bag of it. I will keeep that in mind if I have the food for more than three months I will dispose of it.
 

juliefurry

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#13
I doubt that I will have to worry about the food going to waste either. He seems to really like the canned food though, I have started giving him that already. He likes the Eagle Pack canned food better than the Iams that I was giving him, he's more eager to dive in and eat it. He can be a pig at time and his appetite is beginning to increase almost a whole cup from when we got him.
 
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#14
What's wrong with Iams? My vet recommend feeding our boxers Purina One Lamb & Rice so that's what they've ate for apx a year and they love it. They have a shiny coat and perfect check-ups at the dr, healthy white teeth and not too bad of breath either - I don't feed Iams but I was curious as to why your not supposed to... I had never heard that before. I did however try that new Iams savory sauce and it made them real sick - I just posted a question on it as a matter of fact.
 

Mordy

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#15
iams, like many other "popular" brands, is a product made from poor quality ingredients. if you want more details, click my signature image below and set some time aside for reading. :)
 
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#16
Mordy nailed it. Read this too: http://www.api4animals.org/79.htm
I will never feed a commercially prepared food to my dogs. It sounds like your kids may have good genetics on their side, 1sweet, but I've fought through enough tooth decay, cancer, endocrind disorders, and digestive issues to have had my fill of that awful stuff!
 

juliefurry

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#17
I decided that I had to switch foods after I went on the eagle pack website (eaglepack.com). I couldn't understand why I fed my dogs Iams when eagle pack was better for them. I wasn't really informed when I started feeding my pets though I figured it was good because the commercial told me. I guess I'll have to investigate stuff more next time I have to decide on something. :rolleyes:
 
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#18
Innova Tool

I used the tool on the innova site to compare
Canidae dry and Innova EVO dry:

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz

What I did not understand was that the Innova DRY contained
turkey separate from turkey meal. Yet, the description they
provided of the turkey doesn't sound like it was, or could be, in
a *dry* form other than as 'turkey meal'.
Can someone help clear this up?
Thanks!
 
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#19
CreatureTeacher said:
Mordy nailed it. Read this too: http://www.api4animals.org/79.htm
I will never feed a commercially prepared food to my dogs. It sounds like your kids may have good genetics on their side, 1sweet, but I've fought through enough tooth decay, cancer, endocrind disorders, and digestive issues to have had my fill of that awful stuff!

Not to mention the skin problems that seem to always catch up with them as they get older, even when they've seemed perfectly healthy their entire lives! I don't ever want another animal of mine to go through that if I can possibly avoid it!
 

juliefurry

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#20
My Mack's skin is SO much better now that I have switched to Eagle Pack! He had really bad dandruff when we got him and now it's gone. I don't know if the food or the brushing and everything but I definetely notice a difference in his skin and coat.
 

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