What brand food do you feed your dog and WHY?

[kremsh]

I feed mine Beneful but was giving them everything I could get on sale cheap with coupons before. One of my pits developed a severe itching problem to the point of losing her fur she itched it so much. She was diagnosed with sarcoptic mites at one point but now they think it may have been flea allergies but food allergy wasn't ruled out either especially since I was feeding her whatever I got cheap. Had a long talk with the vet and he recommended that I not switch food on her anymore and told him I was feeding Beneful and he didn't have a problem with that food so that's what I'm sticking to now. I also have to give her benedryl 3x daily from now on but she's doing really well now so I'd be afraid to switch again.

[Riann216]

I feed a mixture of Wellness Core and Instinct to my dog. I have found that the Wellness is really good quality and the core is grain free. The Instict (nature's variety) is awesome but gets too expensive, so I mix the two together.

Someone posted about not being able to find local dog food. Try k9cuisine.com. They have free shipping if you order over $50 and usually a really good promotion for a free bag of food or dog treats or something with any order. I've had really great service with them - only 1 time I had a problem with a bag arriving and it was going to expire in about 2 weeks. The next day they sent the Fedex man to pick it up and replaced it for me super quickly.

[nicellis0325]

Purina has Animal Digest in it???EWWW that's sick!! I am so sorry I ever gave that to my dogs!! They eat Natural Balance now...Shame on any of the who are feeding your dogs Purina!! ewwwwwww

[kval07]

Originally Posted by nicellis0325 Purina has Animal Digest in it???EWWW that's sick!! I am so sorry I ever gave that to my dogs!! They eat Natural Balance now...Shame on any of the who are feeding your dogs Purina!! ewwwwwww

I actually had to google that one...

Be prepared to be grossed out when I explain to you what this product really is! According to AAFCO (The term AAFCO stands for the Association of American Feed Control Officials; they provide regulatory guidelines for the manufacturing of pet foods) standards, Animal Digest is

“Animal Digest - material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and un-decomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed.”
Yuck!
Another expert has described Animal Digest as “a cooked-down broth which can be made from unspecified parts of unspecified animals.” The animals can be collected from almost any source. There is no control set in place over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: “4-D animals” (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying before slaughter), goats, pigs,sheep, horses, rats, euthanized at animal shelters, restaurant and supermarket waste, road kill, etc.

[justagirlnamedStormy]

Originally Posted by nicellis0325 Purina has Animal Digest in it???EWWW that's sick!! I am so sorry I ever gave that to my dogs!! They eat Natural Balance now...Shame on any of the who are feeding your dogs Purina!! ewwwwwww

When I first heard of "animal digest" I thought it meant animal poop.

However I'm not too sure the reality is much better:

Animal Digest is a common ingredient used in pet foods. As defined by the AAFCO, Material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed.
A cooked-down broth made from specified or unspecified parts of animals (depending on the type of digest used). If the source is unspecified (e.g. "Animal" or "Poultry", the animals used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: "4-D animals" (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant and supermarket refuse and so on[citation needed].
FDA: Digests, which are materials treated with heat, enzymes and/or acids to form concentrated natural flavors. Only a small amount of a "chicken digest" is needed to produce a "Chicken Flavored Cat Food," even though no actual chicken is added to the fo

Taken from wikipedia. Animal digest - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Merczilla]

Shipping is not an option for me. I'm in Alaska, so ordering large, bulk items just is cost prohibitive. I was looking into ordering a case of Nestle chocolate syrup (12 bottles, 18 lbs or so) because it doesn't have corn syrup in it. Fred's wanted to charge me $52+ for shipping by UPS. lol Meijer will send it for $7.95. Anyhoo.

My recipe that I've been feeding my dogs:
5 cups rice (white and brown....brown is hard to find in big bags here)
2 cups oatmeal
1 can peas
1 can potatoes
3 cans pink salmon
whatever leftover veggies or whatever may be in the fridge

That's the basic recipe. I throw in whatever else strikes my fancy, be it a can of carrots, etc. The dogs love it. Been having some loose stool problems, but I think that's resolving. When you go through a 50lb bag a week at least, it adds up fast. Didn't mean to end up with 4 Saints, but well, sh** happens. lol

[kval07]

The Dog Food Project - Ingredients to avoid

The Dog Food Project - Dog Food Label Information 101

The Dog Food Project - Identifying better products

The Dog Food Project - Where the Money goes

[motherofmolly]

Originally Posted by Merczilla Shipping is not an option for me. I'm in Alaska, so ordering large, bulk items just is cost prohibitive. I was looking into ordering a case of Nestle chocolate syrup (12 bottles, 18 lbs or so) because it doesn't have corn syrup in it. Fred's wanted to charge me $52+ for shipping by UPS. lol Meijer will send it for $7.95. Anyhoo. My recipe that I've been feeding my dogs: 5 cups rice (white and brown....brown is hard to find in big bags here) 2 cups oatmeal 1 can peas 1 can potatoes 3 cans pink salmon whatever leftover veggies or whatever may be in the fridge That's the basic recipe. I throw in whatever else strikes my fancy, be it a can of carrots, etc. The dogs love it. Been having some loose stool problems, but I think that's resolving. When you go through a 50lb bag a week at least, it adds up fast. Didn't mean to end up with 4 Saints, but well, sh** happens. lol

good recipe!...i think my grandma put rice in hers too...i want to say onions too...just because i remember the one time i made it, i was cussing the entire time!....she would make a huge pot (the big black canning jar pot) and take gallon plastic containers and fill them. she would then freeze them. one was always in the fridge. i wish i had her recipe and a bigger freezer, as i would make it for my dogs too....but, i will be writing yours down for when i get that second freezer!

if you think about it, when you find items on sale, you can just add them..i know in the summer, tru value sells the 50lb bag of potatos really cheap w/in store coupon....and i have a friend that owns a small grocery store and all the items of produce he cant sell, he boxes up and gives to my other friend who then shares with me what is good...she gives the rest to her horses.

[NIGHTB1022]

Originally Posted by motherofmolly good recipe!...i think my grandma put rice in hers too...i want to say onions too...just because i remember the one time i made it, i was cussing the entire time!....she would make a huge pot (the big black canning jar pot) and take gallon plastic containers and fill them. she would then freeze them. one was always in the fridge. i wish i had her recipe and a bigger freezer, as i would make it for my dogs too....but, i will be writing yours down for when i get that second freezer! if you think about it, when you find items on sale, you can just add them..i know in the summer, tru value sells the 50lb bag of potatos really cheap w/in store coupon....and i have a friend that owns a small grocery store and all the items of produce he cant sell, he boxes up and gives to my other friend who then shares with me what is good...she gives the rest to her horses.

At one time when my dog was having digestive issues, not from the Purina but from having major surgery, I made his food from potatoes, green beans and chicken, all boiled, until his stomach got better from the anesthesia he had, then graduated him back to Purina.

Onions are toxic to dogs BTW, just to mention it.

Toxic Foods that you should Avoid Giving Your Dog

[NIGHTB1022]

Originally Posted by nicellis0325 Purina has Animal Digest in it???EWWW that's sick!! I am so sorry I ever gave that to my dogs!! They eat Natural Balance now...Shame on any of the who are feeding your dogs Purina!! ewwwwwww

Ummm, that was actually a pretty rude statement you put there, "shame on anyone who is feeding their dog's purina."

Maybe not everyone has deep pockets like you do to feed premium dog food, especially if they have a large breed dog or multiple animals.

It does not mean they love their pet any less or more than anyone else, and just because they can't afford a "premium" dog food doesn't mean they shouldn't be a pet owner either, which is basically what that statement amounted to in my opinion.

I feed my dog Purina because that has been the only food that he was able to adapt to without getting sick all of the time, the premium foods gave him the trots something terrible and horrible gas as well.