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)

[Mallory]

We feed our Doodle Canidae All Life Stages Formula. There are three others from Ramen's litter that eat the same brand as well as the mother.

All Natural Holistic Benefits
Four Human Grade Meat Meals: Chicken, Turkey, Lamb, & Fish
All Natural, Human Grade, Holistic Pet Food
Natural Ingredients Plus Essential Vitamins & Amino Acid Chelated Minerals
Naturally Preserved Herbal Formulation
Excellent Palatability - Dogs Love CANIDAE®
Contains Skin & Coat Conditioners to Maintain a Health Luxurious Coat
Balanced Omega 6 & 3 Fatty Acids
Wholesome Nutritional Brown Rice & Diversified Carbohydrates
Superior Digestibility
Guaranteed Viable Micro-Organisms
Guaranteed Enzyme Activity to Help Break Down Cellulose
Made the CANIDAE® Way with Superior Quality: No Corn, Wheat, Soy, Grain Fractions or Fillers and Naturally Preserved

They have also just released Grain Free Products

[fergie11]

I am now feeding my puppy Taste of the Wild. I'm experimenting with different flavors of Fromm on Fergie. Lucy was on Natural Abundance when I got her and her stools were very very soft. Grain Free is working for her. Fergie is not on the grain-free version from Fromm but the others. All are corn and wheat free. I make all of there dog treats. Fergie's coat is pretty dry and I'm hoping to get that a little better. I've only been doing this for a couple of weeks but will keep you posted. Lucy is just a puppy but eventually I'm sure they'll both eat the same. If she need to stay grain free then I'll try that on Fergie too and see how she does. She's got a pretty good digestive system. I think she'd be OK on most any good quality dog food. I worry about the long-term effects of the commercial foods and this is why I've switched over to the premium companies. I hope I'm not kidding myself with these. I'm very interested in what people have to say.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I don't think you're kidding yourself; I really believe that a good diet can help keep our dogs healthier and happier. I don't believe that diet is the answer to everything, like you see on some of the fanatical alternative health websites, but it certainly plays a part. Feeding fresh foods is probably the best way to go, but for many of us, it isn't a realistic option on a day to day basis. So we do the best we can to at least choose the most nutritious, least harmful commercial foods that we can. I do try to add eggs, fish, etc. to Jack's meals as often as possible. For Fergie's coat, try giving EFA's (Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids) in the form of fish (or plant) oil capsules or added to her food. Jackdoodle gets evening primrose oil capsules, and they help a lot.
When I got my last dog, Nutro was the best, most expensive food you could buy, and I had to go to a Feed store to get it. Prior to that, I had been buying dog food in the grocery store, that "moist" stuff that came in little individual packets and looked like hamburgers or beef made out of Playdoh, lol. That dog barely made it to 13, and died of some severe liver problems. So I went out of my way to get better food for my poodle; and she lived 16 exceptionally healthy years on the Nutro. Now we know that Nutro is not a good choice, and there are much better options, so again, I am trying to do better for Jack.
When you look at all the products, all the books & magazine articles, and all the interest in forums on this topic, I think it says something about the fact that lots of us are searching for better ways to feed our dogs. The world has changed, and the old ways aren't good enough anymore. I have a favorite saying that I got from an Oprah Winfrey show that applies to a lot of situations..."when you know better, you do better." I think we are doing better for these dogs we love.

[15n7bdtjw45wa]

I am so confused...I am definately going to change food...probably to Nature's variety because I have a 10 mo old Aussie Labradoodle and a 5 yr old Toy Fox Terrier and if it is good for all ages and stages that would be best. There has been some discussion in older posts about how many times a day to feed....I feed twice a day but one thing I am not sure of is how much do I need to be feeding my doodle...I am feeding 1/2 cup twice a day...right now he weighs about 20 pounds (he's a small doodle)...is that enough and is it better to feed more once a day or divide it?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Carrie, I personally think it's better to feed twice a day. Use the feeding amount guidelines on the package for each dog's weight, but start at the lower end of the guideline...i.e. if it says one to one and a half cups per day, start with one cup, so half a cup twice a day. If your dogs clean their bowls and look for more, and they're on the lean side, you can adjust the amount upwards.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Mitzi came to us having been fed Royal Canin. She was not doing well on it so we switched her to Nutro. After that we switched to Natural Balance and are sticking with it. It is grain free, says it is an allergy formula and Natural Balance claims to "donate to local animal charities"an added benefit.

We use both their canned and kibble, mixing a small amount of the canned with the kibble. Right now we have the sweet potato and fish formula, it really smells fishy, too. Yuk! But she is eating it.

We were told to stay away from corn and wheat because of soft stools and that a lot of dogs are supposedly allergic to corn and wheat. . She is fine with the food she is currently on.

In the past we had used Pedigree Kibble and canned and on occassion used Alpo. We had standard poodles that really were not fussy about food and seemed to enjoy whatever we gave them. However, two of our poodles developed different kinds of cancer. We really do not know if it was food related, but after last year's food scare we are being much more diligent about what we feed our furry family.


I hope this is of some help.

[Cindy and Mandy]

I feed Mandy Blue Buffalo Lg breed puppy, dry. She seems to be doing well on it. Does anyone have anything about this feed they would like to share with me? Is Chicken Soup better?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Cindy, you can do a search here for "Blue Buffalo" to get info; it's discussed in several different discussions. Here's what came up when I did it:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topic/search?g...

Here's what came up for "Chicken Soup:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topic/search?g...

The dog food analysis website, which is one source you can use to evaluate a food, gives them both four stars.
It is a good resource, but no one source has all the answers.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
There's also no reason you can't alternate between the two. If mandy likes the BB and is doing well on it, but you would like another option, or some variety for her, try a small bag of the CS, and once she's adjusted to the new food, you can alternate between them.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

I could be an allergy to something in one or both of the foods. My Bijon, Cody, had this problem for years with various commercial foods. Since I started homecooking (2 years now) he does not get it anymore.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Amanda, I'm not so sure it's related to the food; what is causing you to relate it? Has there been a time when Quinn did not have this problem? If so, what was he eating then?
The experience that Lynne had with Cody's problem improving most likely has to do with mucus production having decreased with the improvement in diet. It is not a symptom that is normally associated with allergies. Quinn may also just have a tendency to produce more mucus, and it is possible that it is associated with some particular ingredient, but the only way you would know would be to do some controlled food trials. Just switching brands won't help. The Food and Allergies discussion here in The Food Group has info on how to do a controlled food trial, but it does involve quite a bit of work, and as Lynne says, homecooking. The other food-related thing I would suggest is to try a completely grain-free food like Innova EVO or TOTW; the Canidae does have rice, oats, and barley, which are high quality grains, but are the most likely culprits if there is an issue with food related to this.
If it were me, i would have the vet take a look at Quinn's eyes first to rule out any kind of infection or other physiological problem.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If Quinn didn't have this problem with the EVO, I would stay with that...it's a very good quality kibble. You can always alternate it with fresh foods, other grain-free brands, & the Merrick, if he does well on that, to add some variety.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

I agree with Karen. I saw very quick turn around with Cody, too. That is why I always thought it was food related. Adding fresh foods to the Evo should keep it in check.