DK Doodles Are Eating Good!!! The Food Group's Commercial Food Survey

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Several weeks ago, I asked the Food Group Members to tell me what commercial foods they are currently feeding, as a kind of general recommendation for DK members. Although we have an extremely large and active Commercial Foods section, as well as many other discussions about various foods, nutritional info, supplements, allergy issues and everything else you can imagine, some people evidently have trouble wading through it, or just don't want to be bothered looking, lol. We still constantly see the question posted in the main forum "What kibble should I feed my dog?" I hope this will help.
My fellow group members have really been doing their research, and I was just stunned at the wide variety of premium foods and varied diets their doodles are getting. These are some very well fed pooches!
At the time I started gathering information, we had 186 members in the Group. (I'm proud to say that we now have 196!) I received 49 responses, which is more than a quarter of our group, and I would venture to say covers most of the active members.
Although I asked for just the names of the commercial foods (kibble or canned) that they are feeding, I also got information about extras, supplements, etc. I will break the reponses down into separate posts here, and include that info, too.
Two of our Food Group members, Lynne Fowler and Dianne Carter, have done more to help educate, teach and counsel our members than any one could ever ask or expect. Each of these ladies has very special regimens with regard to feeding their dogs, and that will be posted separately as well.
I am not a statistician, and did not use spreadsheets to organize my info. People left me messages, and I wrote everything down on a big yellow legal pad. Then I shuffled through all my yellow papers and counted how many are feeding this, how many are feeding that, etc. (Many of our Food Group members are rotating or alternating between different commercial foods, which is a very good thing to do, so there is a lot more info than just 49 brand names, lol) Anyway, my point is that this is by no means a scientific survey. However, if you're looking for good food(s) for your doodles, this might be a very good place to start.

If you have questions, Please Visit the Food Group: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup

[Sharon, Boo & Cricket]

You rock, Karen! Thanks for putting all of that info together! Very informative! :)

[Stella]

Thanks Karen, this is really interesting. It must have taken you forever to put it all together. We have looked at Orijen(?sp) and Acana, both being Canadian, for the future if we decide to change food. Both of ours are on Royal Canin, started on it by the breeder and they both do well - but I know there are better foods out there. All of the treats we give are natural without any c***p in them (well, as far as we know anyway)!! (Dogswell, Purebites, Zukes, Bark & Fitz etc). Maybe I should head on over and join the Food Group!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm sure I left some things out. In fact, I know I did; just today I saw "Missing Link" listed as a supplement on one of the responses, and I forgot to include it.
Lots of people also mentioned that they give Dogswell Happy Hips jerky treats...I didn't include that, because we didn't really cover treats, but I should have mentioned it, because it is a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement besides being a treat.
But at least we got the kibble covered, lol! And you should definitely join The Food Group!

[Stella]

It would be great to see a similar study done on treats!!! If anyone ever has the time......

We use Dogswell Mellow Mut - don't know they really work at mellowing them out but he loves them and runs to his blanket as soon as we open the packet!!

[Adina P]

I use Solid Gold for treats only---does that count? Can't recall if I told you.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You didn't, and I'm not sure if that counts, lol. It should, technically.
I was just mentioning the jerky treats because of the G/C supplement. I could do a separate one about treats, although we have lots of discussions about treats in TFG. This was to put it out for everyone who is always asking what kibble to feed, just to get all the recommendations in one place.
But, as long as we're talking about it, lol, Adina- don't you use those pumpkin medallions, too?

[Adina P]

well i bought them once...but I'm cheap when it comes to treats. I can use kibble and my doggies are HAPPY! Heck sprinkle some cheese on a piece of cardboard and they'd worship me =)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Correction to one of my above statements: The Food Group Just Hit 200 Members!!!
Who would have thought dog food could ever be this interesting????

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

WooHoo!

[elyse]

thanks so much for taking the time and doing such a great job. It's interesting to see what we all feed our doodles and this site has been so helpful in educating us about our foods. Now anytime I have a question, I know where to go. This site has helped me make the best choices I can when it comes to feeding my puppy, and I know others feel the same way. So thank you again.

[Lauria Orr]

This is very helpful! Thank you!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thanks, Lauria. This survey is actually over a year old, and there have been some changes in some of these companies since then, as well as changes in many of our FG members' preferences. We're going to work on an updated version soon!