Dog food - Page 4

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul Adult Dog Formula I don't like the barley in this food. Ingredients Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, ocean fish meal, cracked pearled barley, whole grain brown rice, oatmeal, millet, white rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), potatoes, egg product, tomato pomace, duck, salmon, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, choline chloride, dried chicory root, kelp, carrots, peas, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, yucca schidigera extract, L-carnitine, Enterococcus faecieum, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Saccharomyces cerevesiae fermentation solubles, dried Aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

WOOPS - Ugh - sorry - my bad - I was thinking of chicken by-product and chicken meal. This dogfood and Diamond have those...not high quality meat - could definitely get better. Sorry again - my brain always lumps dogfoods with ground yellow corn and/or meat "meal" in the same category - the lower eschelon.

wolfking and solid gold kibble,when feeding kibble.otherwise raw.

For me its a toss up between Timberwolf Organics Wild and Natural Canid Formula and Royal Canin GS24...Still with everything I've read here its a toss up for me but leaning towards Timberwolf...

Check the ingredients. Dogs do not naturally consume grains, legumes, or large quantities of vegetative matter. Additionally dogs do not benefit from bulky feeds. The more volume consumed, the more mileage on the organs to process it. People have long fallen prey to the false assertions of the food industries both human and canine. They would have us believe that we and our dogs require vast quantities of starch to survive. The opposite is true. Another fallacy is that dogs fed raw are susceptible to bacterial infection. I had a couple of dogs years ago that managed to kill and bury a skunk while my back was turned. For the following year the would periodically exhume portions of this unsavory delicacy in various stages of decay for their considerable enjoyment. The canine digestive tract is too acidic for most pathogens to thrive. The only meat that I have seen cause a problem was 1/2 of a 24lb turkey snatched from the counter one Thanksgiving. The thief was sick for two days. There are raw diets that are balanced and supplemented to provide a balanced ration. The best in my opinion remains whole raw meaty bones, organ meats, whole fish, some vegetables(cooked). Soybeans should be avoided. Most grains are at best a cheap filler, at worst are harmful to the dogs metabolism and general health. Meat meals and by products have been maligned by some self appointed experts (WDJ), but are in fact quite acceptable and provide good nutrients when used properly. Best Wishes, Jonah

Jonah, excellent post. Our dogs are scavengers by nature, not true hunters. And wow, they prefer fresh or rotted meat to vegetables, legumes, or grains anytime-I don't care how one prepares or processes them. A dog would be perfectly content to eat decomposing carcasses for the remains of its life and would not bother the garden. Dogs know that muscle, connective tissue, and bone is their best source of natural nutrition, and the most efficient nutrition for them to digest. But, five (5) of mine were in very serious competition for a piece of broccoli the other night! Bob-O

We have to be very careful walking our dogs in areas where your dogs raised on the raw meat diet walk or train. We have to avoid all areas where these dogs deposit their feces. The feces of these dogs contain bacterial matter and parasites which are harmful to other healthy dogs and to other animals! Feces of dogs eating raw meat contain Neospora caninum! If you'd like to learn about Neospora caninum, there are a few websites on the net. In addition, the raw meat diets expose your dog & your family to lethal toxic bacterial food poisoning such as Salmonella, botulism, e-coli through exposure & handling.

Blitzen: I use to feed the Chicken Soup but I couldn't keep weight on my female no matter how much I was feeding her. Now, it's just the opposite since I've switched to Innova EVO. I do like the ingredients better in the EVO than in the Chicken Soup but that's just me.

Uvar, Canids have been eating all sorts of wild caught uncooked uninspected meat for thousands of years. While I would not recommend an immunally compromised dog put directly on an unrestricted raw diet, here in the US the meat is extremely safe. I eat raw meat myself, and have for many years. My wife thinks I'm crazy, but I'm healthier than anyone I know. Dogs are carnivores. Any assertion to the contrary is BS. Numerous disorders both digestive and systemic have been positively linked to kibble. People feed Eukanuba because of good marketing, not nutritional excellence. Uvar, you have shown your reckless nature and enthusiasm for false assertions before on this board. I suggest that you avoid commentary that will further discredit you among GSD enthusiasts. Best Wishes, Jonah

To jdh, First, you need to know that dogs do not need meat in their diet. They do need protein but not in form of meat. The meat you eat may be safe, but the stuff these GDS enthusiasts feed their dogs consists of tripe, honey comb stomach etc, most of it scraped up from the slaughter house floor where it has been dumped on for the day. Although I am a professional, I am nowhere near the profession associated with thousand years ago animals, what they did and what they ate. They probably ate each other. Yes, Eukanuba is by far the best food for dogs, and people who do not feed Eukanuba are often doing it for entirely different reasons as we all know. Have you learned about Neospora caninum?