what dog food do you use, and why?

[Ando]

Agreed, Dekka. If you look at a coyote, wolf, or fox scat- you will see lots of seeds and plant material as well as fur and perhaps some bones. I highly doubt that those wild canines ate those fruits and grasses on accident. And like you said, they DO eat green tripe in the wild which offers already processed plant and fruit material. Dogs are opportunistic carnivores- meaning they will eat meat when they get the chance, but are designed to be able to thrive off of other food sources as well when meat is not available.

That said, I feed Great Life dog food- made with free range chicken and vegetables (it is a grain and potato free freeze-dried raw kibble). Raw food was far too expensive to feed. And after hearing about a dog who choked and died on a piece of bitty meat- I am just not comfortable with it anymore. Freeze dried kibble is definitely the cost effective, safer way to go.

 

[Whisper]

I rotate between EVO and TOTW. I also occasionally give raw. I wish I could give them mainly raw but there are a few circumstances that make that unlikely.

 

[Renee750il]

Raw meat, bones, and organs because that is what their bodies are designed to eat and digest.

NEVER any fruits, veggies, nuts, grains or any plants whatsoever because they cannot properly digest nor extract nutrients from them in the natural state. If they can't in the natural state, it proves that they have no nutritional need for them.

Fila have been found in their original environment that not only live, but thrive on a diet with very little meat available, eating mostly fruits and vegetables.

 

[Dekka]

Just so you know, I know of dogs who died catching sticks, jumping off couches etc. ANYTHING can kill in a fluke accident. Meat is less likely to cause choking than kibble really. Not saying either is likely. I can see a chunk of bone, its hard and irregular if your dog doesn't chew properly. But soft meat should slide down.

 

[ihartgonzo]

I feed Primal pre-made raw... duck, chicken, beef, lamb & quail. They also get rmb's, tripe, and fish supplementally.

When I have to feed kibble (out of town or in a rush) I have a back-up bag of Acana Provincials Grasslands. It's made with free-range lamb, duck, and fish and it's grain free.

Just so you know, I know of dogs who died catching sticks, jumping off couches etc. ANYTHING can kill in a fluke accident. Meat is less likely to cause choking than kibble really. Not saying either is likely. I can see a chunk of bone, its hard and irregular if your dog doesn't chew properly. But soft meat should slide down.

For serious.

And let's not forget about the COUNTLESS dogs who have bloated because of kibble... accidents happen. If you supervise your dogs and feed them meat/rmb's that are the size of their head, it's super unlikely that they will choke.

 

[Gypsydals]

I feed raw, Mostly chicken, then pork with some beef and turkey. Seasonal meats include goose, venison and some fish (I admit it I'm greedy when it comes to the fish LOL). Both boys also get yogurt or cottage cheese a couple of times a week. In addition Ivan also gets veggies and fruits. As far as price it varies from month to month.

 

[Ando]

"Just so you know, I know of dogs who died catching sticks, jumping off couches etc. ANYTHING can kill in a fluke accident. Meat is less likely to cause choking than kibble really. Not saying either is likely. I can see a chunk of bone, its hard and irregular if your dog doesn't chew properly. But soft meat should slide down."

I understand. But bloat in dogs is usually caused by negligent feeding practices- where with raw a dog can gulp down something before you can grab it and there could be horrible consequences.

But heck, I've even heard of a dog who choked and died on kibble. So when you think about it- nothing is really safe. But I feed something that I feel comfortable with, which is what matters.

 

[lamposproject]

We use dog foods like Pedigree and Alpo for both our house and guard dogs. It's the guard dogs' favorite, but not really for the house dogs because they like "fish".

 

[Jules]

Welcome to the forum, lampo!

There is a lot of great information about dog food in this section of the forum and you will get to know that a lot of people feel strongly about feeding their dogs the best food possible by their means. A great resource is this website: The dog food project

A lot of us had no idea about dog food when we got here first, so please don't take it the wrong way when I say that Pedigree and Alpo aren't great foods for your dogs, but maybe you will get intrigued by reading the information to try something new!

Welcome to the forum!

 

[SizzleDog]

But bloat in dogs is usually caused by negligent feeding practices

What would those "negligent feeding practices" be? Bloat/GDV can be attributed to many things - both environmental and genetic. I don't think it's accurate to say most cases are caused by "negligent feeding practices."

FWIW, Revy gets Fromm and the other dogs (Kaylee, Ronin, Ada) get Barking at the Moon. Though this month they'll also be tearing through a bag of EVO RM, since Natura provided us with a free bag - and I'm never one to turn down good food.

 

[Grab]

Everyone here eats TOTW. Usually the fish formula but this time they're eating the bison formula.

I feed it because it is one of the few foods Aesop likes and that doesn't affect his digestive system in an unpleasant way. They also look great on it..no dry skin, full and shiny coats, etc.

ETA that they get raw meals once in awhile as well

 

[Claybuster]

Abady Granulars (Classic, Basic, or Maintenance and Stress).
Why? Because they know what their doing when it comes to dog food. The focus is not sales appeal but what works best for the dog.

Maintenance and Stress

Charlie

 

[dobesgalore]

raw here

 

[Chewbecca]

Right now we're feeding Ophie Stella & Chewy's pre-made raw.
But that could very well change in the future.
We'll see.

 

[bnwalker2]

I feed mostly raw. When I do need to feed kibble for whatever reason, I feed Solid Gold

 

[PlottMom]

Raw here, mostly, but since I'm poor I supplement occasionally with some grain-free kibble - Taste of the Wild for Daisy (altho she gets virtually NO kibble because she just doesn't do well on anything other than raw...), EVO red meat for Autumn when she's doing a lot of hiking/swimming, and EVO Chicken & Turkey for Liz, as she needs the calories but doesn't do so well on the Red Meat formula.

I feed raw because I feel like it's the best thing for my dogs, I guess, and the kibbles I do because they're healthy ones, and it's hard to travel with raw

 

[nikkiluvsu15]

Right now I'm feeding Acana Grasslands in the morning and RAW at night.

I love it because Harleigh loves it (which isn't surprising) and I love the ingredients. I'm fixin' to go full RAW though, so that'll be her dog food!

 

[RawFedDogs]

Naturally I feed prey model raw. To answer other posts, I can feed PMR a lot cheaper than I can get Taste of the Wild. Also I never found a reason I couldn't feed raw even when traveling.

 

[ihartgonzo]

I'm feeding Stella & Chewy's as of now... Duck Duck Goose formula! I like the company, and the dogs looove it. Fozzie's coat feels amazing.

Fozzie got violently ill from a batch of Lamb Primal. And this dog has never gotten sick, in his life. He has the stomach of a vulture or something, so that really scared me. I'm trying Nature's Variety next but it's more expensive than S & C.

 

[yanya]

Several years back, before I learned how to read a label, I fed my dogs Purina Little Bites. Found out that "Whole grain corn" was the main ingredient in my pointy toothed furkid's food, not to mention the difference between "X" and "X Meal"... point is, not very good food.

I've been feeding Innova ever since, though I've been thinking of switching to EVO... or another dog food entirely depending on how P&G handle Natura.