The other day, I happened to go into a pet supply store that I had never been in before, and was looking at their collection of leashes, toys, treat bags, and, of course, food, when I overheard a conversation between a couple who were in the store with their new puppy. I had crossed paths with them several times, and had smiled at and ogled the puppy each time, but they both had frowns on and were looking only at the products as they walked up and down the food aisles. Finally, they flagged down a store employee. Throwing up her hands, the woman said, “You don’t sell the food that breeder told us to get! We don’t know what to get! It’s too much!”
Unfortunately, I had to go; as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t stay to hear what the store clerk told the couple.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. If you knew nothing – how would you know what to buy, where to start?
Pet supply store or veterinary clinic employees: I’d love to hear from you. How do you advise people who are looking for food and don’t know what to buy?
Dog owners: How did you choose what you feed?
I’ll go first:
I feed my dogs dry foods from three different companies, mostly. I tend to buy similar formulas – a chicken-based, “all life stages” food – from each of the three companies that I am familiar with and feel good about, and I usually switch which company’s product I buy with every single bag. Why chicken? I am not a huge fan of beef or lamb, as dog foods made with these tend to be lower in protein and higher in ash than high-quality chicken-based foods. And I don’t like the smell of fish-based foods – but more importantly, fish-based foods tend to be volatile (they go rancid quickly, especially at our summer temperatures, even indoors).
Dry food is not all they eat, though. I don’t make a big point of it, but if there are healthy leftovers from the family table that I feel like they would enjoy, they get those.
Also, if a dog food company sends me samples of something new, I often feed that to my dogs, whether it’s a canned, frozen, or dehydrated diet. I’m curious to see what different products look and smell like, how the dogs like it (how palatable it is) and how it comes out the other end (how digestible it is).
Neither Otto nor Woody is sensitive to any particular food ingredient, and neither seems to have digestive trouble if there is a spike or a dip in the amount of fat or protein they get. I’m lucky! Nevertheless, I go with the three main foods I feed because they are all in the same approximate ballpark in terms of protein and fat levels. One food has 25% protein and14% fat; the next has 23% protein and 13% fat, and the last has 26% protein and 15% fat. These levels seem to maintain my dogs at a healthy weight, coat, and energy level with a reasonably sized portion.
So, that’s us. I’ll repeat the question:
How did you choose what you feed your dogs? If you advise others about diet, what do you ask them about their dogs? How would you recommend that other people choose their dogs’ foods?
I feed Stella and Chewys raw patties to my two dogs A husky and GSD Also feed them each a half can of sardines daily to up their omega threes and a lightly cooked pastured egg They get raw chicken livers occasionally and steamed broccoli which by the way they love. Started this after reading Brown book the Ancestral diet of dogs
I am shocked that you feed your dog kibble. From what I have read over the years in WDJ, kibble would be the last choice I would expect you to make. My cardigan Corgi eats raw from three manufacturers. I rotate brands and proteins. Her treats are single ingredient freeze dried tripe, duck, beef. Still hoping WDJ will rate raw foods.
This is a little off topic perhaps. I feed Holisitic Select chicken or the anchovy salmon as part of the diet for my Golden. I noticed in February’s issue that the brand is no longer on your list of preferred brands. I used to also feed the lamb, but it now has peas as the 3rd ingredient, and I do avoid food with legumes. Would you tell me why Holistic Select is not longer on your preferred list? Thank you!
What are the recommendations from veterinary nutritionist? Are they agreement? If not why?
With the price of Kroger chicken often hovering near $1/lb in my area (Las Vegas), I feed my gorgeous 4-year-old Siberian Husky a raw thigh every morning. In the evening, he gets a scoop of Victor Hi-Pro, a quality kibble at a reasonable price, when ordered online in a 40-lb bag. I mix that with a couple of ounces of whole milk and/or a couple of tbs. of canned dog food, just to increase palatability for my picky eater. Plenty of high-quality protein for a budget price.
I fed Nature’s Logic for yrs because I liked that they didn’t sorce the added vitamins and minerals from China. A few months ago I came across a family owned company in TX called Muenster Milling Co. I liked that they bought, when possible, all their ingredients from their local farmers. One of the owners even ate nothing but their dog food for 30 days. All 3 of my dogs are 75-80 lbs and my 15 yr old has had pancreatitis so she has to have a food less than 12% fat. Nature’s Logic did not have a food for her. Munster’s Milling did. Their pork is 10% fat. Nature’s Logic is more expensive and if I switch I will go back to it but for now the dogs and I are happy with our family owned company’s food. They also offer free shipping over $49.
I recently adopted my dog (labrador retriever) and she had been digging on her face after she would eat and chewed her paws incessantly and her eyes will run. I had her allergy tested and she is allergic to many environmental things but as far as food she is allergic to chicken, salmon, rice, oats, corn and tomato. So it has been challenging finding a new food. I am testing out Essence limited ingredients diet right now and will probably alternate with other foods such as Zignature limited ingredients and Earthborn. I am also going to try Stella & Chewy as a topper and also feed her canned from Essence, Weruva . She also gets veggies and a few blueberries with each meal or as a treat. She has been on a weight reduction plan (was 81 now 67), so it has been easy to feed kibble for training treats and putting it in food toys, but further in the future, I’d like to feed more non-kibble foods. Thank you for your article and all the comments.
O feed my dog “the farmers dog” food because it looks and smells like real food.
I wish you guys would do an article on appropriate diets for puppies — especially large-breed puppies. It seems that most puppy foods out there are too high in protein and CA:ph levels for big, fast-growing pups. There are so many opinions out there, and most manufacturers don’t even include CA:ph ratios in the guaranteed analysis on their labels. Thanks for all your wonderful information!
I am a owner/handler/breeder of Champion Polish sheepdogs, and an avid reader of WDJ. I look forward to the new food issues every year. After a lot of research on foods and to see what my dogs and puppies have done well eating, I have used Nutri Source successfully for many years as the foundation of my dogs’ diet. I did feed grain free but went back to grain and saw no allergic reaction, even though we do have some other allergies. I change up protein sources but I don’t buy chicken. I also will occasionally rotate brands, but always come back to Nutri Source. I add veggies and Stella & Chewy’s and raw bones to improve the quality of what they eat. The only problem I have ever had is feeding any of the big 3 that are recommended by vets. Treats are mostly kibble but also some high-end freeze-dried liver treats.