Expensive versus cheap dog food.

 If, by nutritionally balanced, you mean that it has similar percentages of protein, fats, and carbohydrates, you are right.  The BIG difference is the quality of the proteins (meat versus corn).  Most of the lower quality foods (and many that claim to be quality foods like Science Diet, Royal Canin and Nutro) depend on corn, not as a carbohydrate, but as a protein source.  They split ingredients (rice, rice bran, rice flower) so that when you combine them there is more rice than meat.  They use generic terms like "animal fat" and "meat meal" so that you never precisely what it is and you can bet your bottom dollar that it isn't good or they would specify what it is.  They usually don't contain fruits and vegetables as the higher quality foods do.  They use by-products (which are not all bad but if it is the good stuff they add parentheses to tell you) and most of the times there are no parentheses.  Most of them have no omega 3 fatty acids.  They use chemical preservatives.  Salt and sugar are high on the lists.  They use food coloring and almost never use chelated minerals.  So you can feed your dog Purina and he may live to a ripe old age, but he probably won't be in optimum health and he will be the exception.   People can live on doughnuts, pop-tarts, fried chicken, ice cream, candy, apple pie and McDonalds hamburgers too but it will catch up with them eventually. And as for quoting a veterinarian as an expert on dog nutrition, they almost all recommend Science Diet.  That destroys their credibility.  The very fact that they all agree on it proves how wrong they are.  Have you ever known any group of experts on any subject to agree completely???

We fed our late Dakota Science Diet all his life. The day we had to put him down was the worst day of my life! He seemed to be fine the day prior and was acting pretty normal (except that he had soft stool for a few days but we thought it was due to him having a bone as this was common with him). The next morning my Mom called me at home at 6:00 AM and said he collapsed and he couldn't get up; I rushed to her house (luckily only 10 minutes away) and rushed him to the vet's. He was dehydrated (although he was drinking water) and low blood pressure. He spent the day at the vet's and was doing better but around 2:30 that afternoon, he started going downhill…long story short, the vet was to preform emergency surgery right then to see what was going on as she suspected it might be related to his spleen & if she needed to take it out, he was already prepared for surgery; when she opened him up, both his liver and spleen were covered in tumours…she guessed at about 200. She was amazed that he was even walking with all of the tumours.

Was it the food?? Who knows but a breeder I spoke to recommended Taste of the Wild and said Science Diet was garbage as Iams. The GSD pup that we'll be bringing home in a couple of months will be put on this (TOTW).

Has anyone had any experience with this food or opinions? My husband did some research and was impressed with the ingredient listing.

http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/

http://hubpages.com/hub/Taste-of-the-Wild-High-Prairie-Canine-Formula-with-Roasted-Bison--Roasted-Venison-Dog-Food-Review

I would NOT put a large breed pup on any grain free food.  I've looked at TOTW for my gsds and the kcals are incredibly low compared to what they are eating now.  I'd have to feed MUCH more.

I feed Blue and some raw.  They have a nice large breed puppy.  Innova is another food I've used and recommended.

And yeah, Blue is 48.99 here for a 30 lb bag.  Adult is 46.99.  Sigh.  And I'm feeding SIX of the beasts!

glenmar

I would NOT put a large breed pup on any grain free food.  I've looked at TOTW for my gsds and the kcals are incredibly low compared to what they are eating now.  I'd have to feed MUCH more.

I feed Blue and some raw.  They have a nice large breed puppy.  Innova is another food I've used and recommended.

And yeah, Blue is 48.99 here for a 30 lb bag.  Adult is 46.99.  Sigh.  And I'm feeding SIX of the beasts!

Thanks for the advice Glenda! The breeder that told me about TOTW did also say she feeds raw with her GSDs.
I do, however, need to confirm with the breeder we went with of what she feeds the dogs and the pups.

I don't think we have Blue here in Canada…at least I've not seen it.

I would suggest another food by that manufacturer, but Diamond makes TOTW and there is not another product that they make that I would even consider.  Diamond is one of the companies that I'm not comfortable with.  One of many.

Blue is primarily sold in PetsMart and Tractor Supply.  A number of "alternative" pet stores will carry it if you do NOT have a PS in your area.

I've used Innova.  I've heard good things about Solid Gold, but never tried it myself.

My gsds start getting raw meaty bones as pups.  Do ask the breeder for guidance on that.  As young pups, it's pretty generally a distraction tactic to gain myself a few peaceful moments rather than a meal, but my crew eat raw 4-5 nights per week.

Truley

Mine.

Salmon, brewers rice, canola meal, oat meal, fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), salmon meal (natural source of glucosamine), pearled barley, brewers dried yeast, animal digest, salt, potassium chloride, Vitamin E supplement, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), manganese sulfate, niacin, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

 

 

Personally I wouldn't touch that food w/a 10 ft pole.  Brewers rice is a crap filler by-product of the alcohol industry, canola meal is a poor, cheap source of vegetable fat ( dogs need pure quality ANIMAL fat .. ie chicken fat or fish/salmon oil ).  Oatmeal is just another grain that is completely UNNECESSARY in the canine ( CARNIVORE ) diet. Animal Fat.... who the hell knows what that is... it's not even specified and could be anything from toxic tallow to vulture fat, you have no idea WHAT it is or what QUALITY it is.  Barley is another UNNECESSARY grain and one that is found to be highly allergenic for many animals. Animal digest...another questionable ingredient, SALT...an UNNECESSARY and potentially harmful ingredient unless it's pure sea salt and NOT common table salt. Still UNNECESSARY though. And MENADIONE...BANNED in every country but the US because of it's bioaccumulative toxic effects on the liver and kidneys.

This food names a WHOLE FOOD as the first ingredient... after processing the salmon goes to the bottom of the first 5 ingredients. which means you're basically feeding your dog a diet of inferior quality rice by-product, grains (canola meal/oatmeal) and a fish meal loaded with a carcinogen ( ethoxyquin). YUMMM..................NOT. There is absolutely NO quality nutrition in that poor quality excuse for food.

You may find all that UNNECESSARY....but my dog is not yours.

 

Might I just point out that the VERY best food in the world is not so great for the dog it does not work for?

 Gosh.  Well that was friendly.  

Come to think of it.....dogs are not true carnivores.  Cat's are obligate carnivores while dogs are more opportunistic carnivores.

I swore by homecooking for my dogs evening meal.  PITA for me cooking for six freaking gsds, but........then we moved to the deep south, and all of a sudden the homecooked gave them the screaming explosive sh!ts.  Might have been the very best thing for them, but it no longer WORKED for them.

GSD's are known for their sensitives tummies.  Sometimes all of us have to just do what works.

And ignore the naysayers.

glenmar

Sometimes all of us have to just do what works .And ignore the naysayers.

That's what I do.  I feed the best possible diet that works for my dog.  It's really not my busines what anyone else feeds. 

Truley

Mine.

Salmon, brewers rice, canola meal, oat meal, fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), salmon meal (natural source of glucosamine), pearled barley, brewers dried yeast, animal digest, salt, potassium chloride, Vitamin E supplement, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), manganese sulfate, niacin, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

This is Purina's Sensative Skin & Stomache, right? For 2 years this was the *ONLY* food that we found that didn't give Apollo exploding butt (aka: extreme diarrhea). He started off on Purina One. Then we switched to Canidae ALS regular formula and he had firm poops, then they changed their product and he got diarrhea. So, we tried BB, TOTW, Wellness, Iams, Solid Gold, Innova, Orijen.....all gave Apollo nasty diarrhea and death gas, so we kept going back to PSS&S and his poop would firm up and the gas would go away. Then we tried Holistic Select and he gets firm, nice poops- finally! So, we're sticking with it.

Yes it is, and for now it is what works for him. I have to avoid corn,and flaxseed, we tried Canidae but it made him worse, much much worse. TOTW was good but he still does the best on this.

I will be very blunt. I have no time for anyone that touts the perfection of one dog food over another, and then grinds into others because they feed something else and what your doing is considered inferior.

I have a perfect weight, balanced, energetic, in the prime of his life dog, who just happens to have allergies. We know he has low thyroid levels. To keep him off drugs as long possible we use what works. If that disturbs people, to bad.

 

Hey Dawn?  Wanna borrow MY ten foot pole? 

Now now, I was playing nice. But if you have one I know just the place to ...ummmmm, put it.

You won't want it back, trust me on this.