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)

[Lake Girl, Lizette]

Hi Food Groupers,
Well, I broke down and bought Merrick even though I knew that was not the canned food choice I wanted for Molly. I tried the Stew with organic chicken and she went nuts over it. I added a spoon full to her dry kibble and she even licked the bowl. I had cooked her chicken breast with veggies two days ago and she walked away from the bowl. So, I went to the Country Feed Store and grabbed a can of Merrick. The ingredients seemed ok when I read them, but I would have preferred Wellness, Eagle, or Evo. Has anyone else tried Merrick? I know they have a rendering plant on the facility and that is why I refused to buy it but the organic chicken stew ingredients looked good...it smelled like homemade stew when I opened it? Have a great weekend everyone!!!

[Cam & Oski]

I tried a lot of different brands with Oski (I call him my picky poodle when it comes to eating) before we ended up with Merrick (Cowboy Cookout & Wilderness Blend) & Natural Balance. He just didn't really like the other equally good quality brands (Solid Gold, California Naturals, Innova,...) but he loves the taste of these & I mix in a tbsp of Evangers canned food.

[Susan]

Anyone feeding Eagle Pack? I think I am going to try this. Lola has not had good results on Natural Balance (horrible gas)even though she likes it. Since we are picking up our new addition, Tucker, next weekend, I want to have a good food that they both can eat. Lola ate Canidae for a long time, but since the formula change her coat was not as nice as before. I switched to Natural Balance for the past few months and am not happy with it either!

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Susan, Natural Balance was part of those big recalls of 2007. They were buying rice protein &/or wheat gluten from Menu Foods. This is an ongoing issue with companies that buy ingredients from China.

Eagle Pack was not part of the 2007 recalls and I think other's here on DK use it. I would check the ingredients carefully and make sure they are using real meat not meal and low fillers like rice and corn. There are many sites where you can research the brand further, most listed in these pages. You can also call or email the company itself to ask questions. If they don't want to answer them, go elsewhere. These commercial dogfood companies need to answer to us if they can't or won't disclose ingredients or show up on a recall list. They now know that the "profit at any cost" mentality is over.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I know that Shannon of IDOG RRR swears by Eagle Pack for her allergic doodle, and I think Clark also recommended it at one point.

[Lisa]

well currently we have angel on Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy but from what i have read these past 8 or so pages they have a vitamin K issue. scary stuff. i want to change it but not sure to what. she was originally on iams puppy from the breeder but i heard it was crap so that is why i switched. she eats her stool and that is what made me change it the first time. she still eats her stool and i have tried adding different things to the food to see if that will help to no avail. she eats about 3 cups 2X a day of food. she is 10 months old and weighs around 50 lbs or more. it's been a few months since her last weigh in. is this too much food? she has big stools as well and occasionally has gas. we also give her dog biscuits but i know it's not the best brands. we are in ontario canada so i know sometimes it's hard to find certain brands listed here then in the states. if someone can point me in the right direction that would be great. we are almost out of the nutro so if i can switch now before the holidays and stores closing it would be great. what should i be looking for as the fillers? what should i be avoiding? i know by products are a no-no.
thanks

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hi Lisa, I used Nutro products for 18 years before switching recently because of changes in Nutro's ownership & formulas. In 1990, when I started using Nutro for my poodle puppy, it was the top of the line premium food you could buy, and my poodle thrived on it for 15 of her 16 years. Jack seemed to be doing well on it, too. Then I found out about changes; for one thing, Nutro was recently bought out by Mars, Inc., and if there's anyone you don't want involved in the production of your dog's food, it's the Mars company, which has had more recalls than your puppy has had poops. They recently made major changes in several of their formulas, but did not change the packaging, because the law gives them 6 months to do that (they get to use up the old bags, dontcha know, wouldn't want to waste anything) so your dog is most likely eating something quite different from what you think you are feeding her based on what the label tells you. And there is the vitamin K issue you mentioned. I would definitely switch.
6 cups of kibble a day is way too much for a 50# dog. She should be getting about a cup and a half 2x a day. At 10 months, I would just switch her directly to adult food, she's old enough and doesn't need the extra calories. And I would forget the "large breed" stuff, too. It's difficult to recommend a particular formula because I don't know what's in the current formula you're feeding as far as the main protein & carb sources. Jack was on a lamb & rice formula, and he also loves fish, so I looked for formulas among some of the better brands that had either lamb or salmon along with brown rice. There are several ratings systems that you can refer to as far as what brands are better quality, or you can use the recommendations of others here. Some brands with good reputations among other members are Innova, Solid Gold, Canidae, Eagle Pack, Wellness, Nature's Variety, Natural Balance, Orijen, Evangers, Merrick, Taste of the Wild, and Blue Buffalo. You can read the labels and see if there are any that match up with Angel's current food in terms of the main ingredients (i.e. chicken & rice, duck & potato, or whatever it may be.) I find that some rice in the first few ingredients helps a lot with having smaller, firmer poops, particularly if Angel eats mainly kibble without any homecooked food. Sometimes, your decision may have to be made by such practical issues as whether the food is sold in relatively small packages so that you don't have to buy 40# of something that doesn't work for you. That's one of the things I had to do while trying to transition my picky fussy monster. I ended up using Nature's Variety, which is nice because it's designed so that you can rotate among the different types, so your dog doesn't have to eat the same boring food day after week after month, etc. Sorry this is so long. What kibble to feed seems to be the major issue for everyone on dog forums these days. Start by adding some of the new kibble in with the old, and increasing the amount of new while decreasing the old each day until after a week, you are feeding only the new. Expect some minor diarrhea initially as she adjusts. And please don't hesitate to ask questions, we are all in this together! Let us know how it goes.

[Lisa]

the food angel is on is the puppy and the first two ingred are chicken meal and ground rice. so i assume the better food to be on would be just straight chicken/fish/lamb and brown rice? what about corn? or do i avoid that? i want to get the food today and get her off this nutro. thanks everyone, without you i would have still kept angel on this crap food.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You want to avoid corn & wheat as the grains...better choices are brown rice, barley, and oatmeal.
Nature's Variety sells a chicken and brown rice formula which my good friend feeds her dog & she loves it; Amy (Izzy & Tucker) is using it, too. You might try that if you can get it, or any of the above brands in a chicken & rice formula. The better brands (which are listeed above) do not usually put corn or wheat in the kibble. Good luck!

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Isn't it amazing that the only way we know about all this is from each other? Commercial Dogfood companies have been pulling the wool over our eyes for far too long. I am convinved that by us taking the feeding of our dogs into our own hands we are extending their lives and keeping them healthy. My proof is my nine year old Bijon. Cody was fed Alpo, Mighty Dog and Beneful for the first 7 years of his life. He was arthritic, fat and had terrible tear stains. Since I have had him and started homecooking he has NONE of these symptoms or aliments. He is a puppy again. He runs around with the doodles as though he were 2 years old. No tear staining, no bile spittle and no stiff legs. He is at a healthy weight and lost the roundness of his belly. A higher protein and less filler diet is doing this. Regardless of the brainwashing, a dog will not live a long and healthy life eating nothing but kibble and crap ingredients their entire lives. Their diets have to include fresh ingredients like meat, fish, fruits and veggies; just like ours do.

[cocoincanada]

How can we find out if there's ethoxyquin in the food? Would it be marked on the bag, disguised in another ingredient? Is there any way to find out without contacting the company and asking directly?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Some companies will print a statement on the package that there is no ethoxyquin used, or put it on their websites. I e-mailed Nature's Variety with this & other questions, and received a good reply, which is posted in this forum. As Lynne has said, if a company refuses to answer any questions you have, by phone or e-mail, they do not deserve your business.
PS: Ethoxyquin is primarily a concern in formulas containing fish, as it is used as a preservative for fish in particular. But these days, some of us are questioning EVERYTHING.