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?
Each of my three dogs gets a different protein source, such as Canine Caviar kibble. For evening meals, I will add cooked meat, eggs, or canned food. There are several protein sources in Canine Caviar, which means I can rotate it much easier.
My previous dog, Ramses developed an ear hemotoma and the vet told me he was likely allergic to chicken, a plentiful and cheap food source in the U.S. (In Australia dogs develop an allergy to lamb.)
While he was recovering I cooked every chuck roast in my freezer so he was on a steady elimination diet of beef. No problem. I also cooked him some freezer burned pork chops. Also fine. When he got his stitches out the vet said good, no more chicken. Then came the hard part, finding some food and treats without chicken. The food was easier. I put him on a limited ingredient fish based kibble first and boy he loved that. Rotated him to lamb and beef. The treats were the hardest as even those that said beef would have chicken in them too. I became obsessive about reading ingredients and origins. (Nothing from China) Milk Bones are wonderful as they have no protein in them at all. I would buy the little mini ones for tiny dogs and use those as treats so he could have more per day.
Lesson learned. Currently Diana pawPrints is on beef. When I adopted her the rescue gave me some of the food she was on. I read the label. Chicken based garbage. And she had diarrhea and some vomiting. So I gradually switched her over to a beef base puppy and she was fine. At 1 year old I moved her up to the adult beef based. This birthday she will be switching to another protein. Lamb, Fish or Chicken. She will be switching proteins every birthday on a rotational basis. I’m hoping this will prevent any food allergies. Same with the treats. She will get a lamb, chicken or beef-based treat, plus there are the occasional Milk bones and bully sticks. And for special treats she can have a raw rib bone from my local butcher. I also make her treats by buying raw liver (from the same place) and dehydrating until it is completely hard. She loves those and organ meat is a nice supplement treat for her. She’ll also get the occasional cheese but that’s high value and I reserve that for scentwork. I’m hoping in this way I can keep her healthier or at least avoid food sensitivities. I do not avoid grains in her diet but I do avoid corn, lentils, soybeans and other legumes if I can. The legumes seem to give some dogs problems so I make sure if they are in her food they are near the end of the ingredients and not up front. Same with the treats. Her coat is shiny and she’s healthy and doesn’t scratch or shake her head so hopefully she isn’t eating anything that is aggravating an allergy.
I also use a topical flea/heartworm treatment, not an oral one, but that is a whole other story.
I bred Airedales for 15 years along with Standard Poodles – just Standards now and two Norwich so I have always fed a pack. Nevertheless I have always felt dogs need real, quality food so they get mostly meat. Since I can’t get low fat venison, I cook the beef, pork, chicken with kale and other greens, cool and get rid of the fat. I mix with Honest Kitchen or other raw, dehydrated food. They also get hard boiled eggs and raw, meaty beef rib bones.
To be honest, they also get bites of whatever people eat and clean the dishes from dinner predishwasher. After 60 years I am pretty relaxed about food.
I show and breed a litter a year and have a long list of people waiting because the
dogs do so well in Agility, hunting. They have to eat well cause they’re not just
laying around. Also Poodles are not “foodies” like the Norwich and won’t eat if
they don’t like it.
The proof of the diet is in the dogs; They are never sick, they live till 15, 16 17 years
Norwich, late teens or early twenties. Of course it’s not all food. It’s less stress and more fun. They are well trained and live in the house as family.
i wouldn’t feed kibble, or most canned if they paid me. Dog food needs to be regulated but given the state of human food, I’m not holding my breath.
As far as cost is concerned good food is less than vet bills. If you can’t afford to feed a dog well, don’t get one. if you are willing to a little work feeding a dog is not expensive.
Chicken is an inflammatory food. Dogs should not eat, nor should humans. Stick to turkey. It has tone of protein, vitamins and minerals.
Q: How did you choose what you feed your dogs?
A: I read recommendations from the Whole Dog Journal, Dr. Karen Becker, and reputable sources. My dog’s vet does not recommend feeding grain-free kibbles, but I still feed them to my dog. My dog is a 6-year old rescue from Butte County. He was in foster care for 18 months before we adopted him so there is no telling what he ate then. He is a very picky eater so his diet has changed multiple times since I adopted him almost two years ago. I used to cook all his meals with fresh meat and poultry, fresh veggies and some whole grains. I use Balance IT’s recipes and supplement. He often turns his little nose away from the food and refuse to eat it. A month ago I started feeding him kibbles for lunch and home cooked meals for dinner to cut down on the prep work. I buy the smallest bag of kibbles and keep it in the fridge so it won’t go rancid too rapidly. I switch brands and protein with each purchase. The usual brands are Orijen, Instinct, Acana, and a few others. At times, he is so picky that unless I hand feed him, he won’t touch his food. Overall, he is a very healthy dog and not overweight. He zoomies around the yard and throughout the house.
Q: If you advise others about diet, what do you ask them about their dogs?
A: Good question… If the opportunity comes up, I would ask about the dog’s age, activity level, general health and whether the owner has done any research.
Q: How would you recommend that other people choose their dogs’ foods?
A: I always recommend that they do research from reputable sources such as the WDJ. Commercials and ads can be misleading. At the pet stores I see what others buy for their dogs and sometimes it is all I can do to remain silent.
Thank you for all your wonderful articles and photos in the WDJ!
PS Each dog also get a piece of kangaroo tail each day. And IF I am out of Kangaroo meat, they get some “tuna for cats’ instead
I do NOT feed commercial dry, “complete” dog food.
I have in the past — with mixed results. There was one that was purported to be he food htey fed the Antarcitic Huskies. it was OK. When we first moved to a rural town I fed my dogs “Bonnie” dry food, made with Kangaroo meat. Over the years I my dogs were losing condition, and having bowel upsets. It was then I discovered that Bonnie had been bought out by a USA company, and the formula changed several times. Though they still lead consumers to understand that it was stiil made from Kangaroo — label had a small addition (“with”) and I suspect that it was mostly abattoir rubbish.
So now they again get raw Kangaroo meat, with some cooked cereal grain and pulse, as well as supplements and whatever veggies are going cheap.
They are doing brilliantly again
There’s no dry food in this house. My 4 very small dogs also get food from three different companies, but not the same as yours: The Farmer’s Dog, Just Food For Dogs, and Tolliver’s Kitchen. The last one is me, retired veterinarian. I make either the beef or chicken recipes in my crockpot, with the nutritional supplements from Just Food For Dogs. My belief is that dogs (or cats) that eat only dry food are always a bit on the dehydrated side. Look at how much water your dog has to drink to process all those “crackers.” Because my dogs’ food is moist, they drink very little water. I think they would look at me in disgust if I offered them dry food. Remember: dry food was originally made for human convenience, NOT for canine health.
It would be interesting and knowledgeable to have WDJ comment on Volhard Dog Nutrition. It is in the raw diet category but appears to be very well balanced. Apart from being relatively expensive, It seems to provide one of the best nutritious options out there. Nevertheless, I never see it mentioned as an alternative to other quality dog foods on the market. How many of your readers are using it?
First I heard of it. Daughter about to get a puppy and I know she will feed kibble. Looking for best there is in kibble.
I am so thankful for WDJ!! You have helped tremendously in dog food choices over the years with our many different breeds. At the moment, we have two puppy mill survivors who were so malnourished we were frightened just having to pick them up. When they first arrived we fed them organic Paul Newman Chicken and their PN Beef. They wouldn’t touch anything else. As time progressed, we went to raw. All different kinds of raw made by many companies. Lately, I have felt they were not terribly excited about “supper time” so decided it was time for a change. WDJ recommend Honest Kitchen’s new human grade pate. We got the variety pack and they love it! They will be on this for a few months, then it will be time to switch again. They are beautiful, happy, still a little crazy, and well fed. My husband says. Along with their own HK, they get our good food and WE get the leftovers! Lol Oh so true, tho. Still fed by hand as dishes are still an issue! Thanks Nancy, we love you, all your articles, stories and dogs!!!