Commercial Foods-The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Tell us what commercial foods have worked for you and which have caused problems; information, questions, warnings and advice on dog food companies, ingredients, brands, and switching foods.
(Recall information now in it's own discussion here in The Food Group)

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Anyone who buys products for this company is taking the life of their pets for granted. Over and over again this company has showed that it cares more for profits then our animals health. BOYCOTT ALL MARS PRODUCTS!!

[Cam & Oski]

Oski came from our breeder on Nutro large puppy. After about 3 weeks he just stopped eating it. He's really picky and will actually spit out treats & food if he doesn't feel like eating it. After much pain including a stint of making his dog food (various incarnations of brown rice/oatmeal, veggies of some sort--found out pretty quickly that he doesn't like asparagus!, & protein (chicken, beef, fish...) cooked with chicken broth) I've finally found a regimen that he will eat without fuss. He gets bored of flavors so I have to change every few weeks: Merrick Wilderness Blend, Merrick Cowboy Cookout, Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Fish, mix in 2 tbsp canned food (Evanger's or Natural Balance), salmon oil (for his coat & a good source of DHEA altho I would think that his brain is pretty developed now since he's 14mo), probiotics & plant enzymes (after we started this he has more formed stools, before it was really hard to pick up because it was so liquid). He likes the flavor/variety & these brands/flavors are highly rated in terms of quality/nutritional requirements in dogfoodanalysis.com :) We've tried California Naturals & Solid Gold which he would like for the first week or so & then just stop eating. Now he'll actually finish his bowl altho it takes him a little over a day to do so--he just grazes all day, he's not really food oriented.

Don't know how picky some of the other doodles are out there but my picky doodle does well on this. Finally!

[Holly Paterniti]

We switched to Merrick Wilderness Blend with Bear and he LOVES it!!! I am soooo happy we switched :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Now that I have successfully switched Jack 's kibble over to Nature's Variety, I of course could not leave well enough alone, but had to begin questioning my choice. "Made in USA" on the bag is all well and good, but do they use ethoxyquin? No statement saying that they do not. Are any of the ingredients imported from China? Does Menu Foods have any part in the production of this food whatsoever? I decided to find out.
And today, I received an e-mail from the company:

Karen,
Thanks for writing! All of our diets are made here in the United States. Our kibble diets are made at a plant in Texas and they do not have any connection with Menu Foods. All of the diets are ethoxyquin free.

All of the sources used in our kibbles come from the US except the venison and lamb come from New Zealand.

Thanks for your interest in Nature's Variety!

Customer Service

Now, unless they are out-and-out lying (in writing), it appears I made a good choice, as far as kibble goes. I will of course continue to monitor and question. But I feel better about my decision to feed Jack Nature's Variety Prairie as his main kibble, and I feel confident in recommending it to others.
And thanks as always to Lynne, for helping me to see the importance of being an advocate for your dog.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Excellent! I am glad you were able to be assured that the food is of a high quality. I hope Jack will continue to eat it and thrive on it.
Now if we all write to ALL the dogfood companies, maybe they will STOP putting all the crap in the food. If these other companies see that we will not buy their food unless it is US made and has no connection to Menu Foods, maybe those greedy b******s will be out of business. As well they should.

[1w14sgrfac7bx]

Wow, gosh there's a group for everything!! Anyway, I have been feeding Prada Orijen puppy for the few months as she's had allergies to Hills Science Diet, Eukanuba and Innova. Now they have recalled all the Orijen cat food and are taking all the Orijen dog food off Australian shelves. I still have some Orijen Puppy but do not know if it's safe to feed her the rest of it even though it hasn't been recalled, and I'm not sure what to feed her now. Her allergy symptoms are whining and scratching about an hour after feeding and at worst, blood and mucus in her stools.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Stellina: Please read through the entire discussion here in the Food Group relating to Allergies. Prada's symptoms are NOT at all in keeping with food allergies, and indicate a completely different problem, which I would suggest you discuss with your vet. The immediate reaction after eating, and the blood in the stools in particular, are not allergy symptoms and really require veterinary care. In addition, it is absolutely impossible that Prada could be allergic to every different type of food made by the companies you mentioned. Food allergies take time to develop. Hills and Eukanuba are crappy foods anyway, but Innova, particularly their EVO grain-free formulas, are among the best commercial foods available for dogs. There may have been one particular ingredient that those three formulas you used had in common that caused a food INTOLERANCE -I promise you, it is NOT an allergy- for Prada.
Food allergies are complicated and much rarer than people understand...1-3 dogs out of 200 have any type of actual food allergy. For more info, read our Allergy section, and i will talk to you more about this later...I'm still at work...but the "allergy" symptoms that Prada showed from the other foods are indicative of a digestive problem, NOT allergy. Talk to you later.

[Adina P]

I agree with Karen--if she has blood in her stools...there may be something deeper going on. Has she had her stools checked? Has she been checked by a vet for these symptoms? I would look at the ingredients of all the foods (just in case) and see which ones they have in common.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Stellina, I also agree with Karen and Adina, blood in stool should be checked out by a vet. There could be some underlying problem that has nothing to do with the food. The blood, the whining and scratching after eating could also indicate an obstruction, I would suggest you contact a vet and bring a sample with you.

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Yet another facet we must be aware of in food selections... So by now we all know that we need to keep current on recalls, 'almost' recalls (as in those companies that are clearly getting complaints, but it has not hit the public), ingredients, ingredient changes (which we may or may not be aware of), who really owns the product, where it is manufactured, where the ingredients sourced from, any shady business (like meat rendering plants on the property) and so much more. Yes we are getting better at all the premarket investigative work, but our job is getting a bit more challenging. Now we have to consider what happens to that product in the 'after' production stage. The latest in this scenario is the purported reaction when ingredients are subjected to irradiation as in the current orijen situation in Australia (if you are not familar with this, I am NOT saying any ill of Orijen, just sharing what appears to be going on based on the reports I have read of this - I actually really like both Orijen and ACANA) or even in the past - such as Petco who have had issues with rodent infestation and traces of the chemicals to eliminate them showing up in foods stored in their warehouse (and more).

So I am thinking now what? (hmm for legal let me clarify... this is only an opinion, I am unable to verify such conditions and state for certain how these situations come to be) IF a condition develops in the after production stage based
on shipping, import regulations, storage, etc... we cannot really point fingers at a manufacturer can we? I mean if Petco stores their food - all brands in a rodent infested warehouse and uses rat poisoning that may seep into the food that problem is no longer the fault of ABC pet food, right? I liken this in the world of human food to getting seafood at a restaurant where it may have become contaminated after any number of potential violations like handling, temperature, etc... As shared in Nestle's book Pet Food Politics, it is down right scary how closely linked issues with our pet food and our own food are.

As I always remind myself, knowledge is power and we should never settle when we think we have learned what there is to know. The information changes as much as our thirst to acquire more. Sometimes it seems overwhelming, but I try to not make knee jerk decisions and base them in being as informed as possible while still maintaining a life. Today I am starting my day just feeling very grateful that we can share this information with no geographical limitations so that we each are not burdened with trying to keep up with it all. Many, many thanks to all who make this happen. Thanks for letting me go on this morning. Blessings ~ Dianne

[Dave Tracy Hoffman]

we use Blue Buffalo. No by products,very holistic and pure bluebuff.com very good for any allergies and sensitive tummy's. Redgies coat is beautiful as well. Please read their story on the web site. Tracy Hoffman

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

As I was reading the different comments, it seems that Costco makes a good quality less expensive kibble. After reading this discusion, I decided to switch my guys from Nutro lamb and rice and we have tried several things recently (Dick Van Patten being one). They love the Kirkland but they are asking for more and more food - especially our Springer who NEVER overeats. The recommended amounts for their weight is the same so....... One of our biggest concerns is general availability when we travel. We have an RV but there is only so much storage for dog food for three dogs. Is anyone else using Kirkland? Have you noticed that the dogs want more than the recommended amount? Also one of the big dogs has loose stools and they are all going more. Doesn't sound like this one is the one for us but..... Any suggestions?