What do you think of this dog food??

Salmon as the first ingredient is misleading since it's basically chicken.  I avoid corn, wheat soy, grain glutens and grain fragments.  from me.  Sorry.  My crew have been eating Taste of the Wild and do very well on it.  For Health is a less costly brand by the same manufacturer, but good ingredients.  I am not a big fan of Diamond who makes both of these foods, but, I've gotta say that these two are outstanding.  I *think* that For Health is exclusive to Tractor Supply.

Oh, and I prefer a NAMED animal fat....this leaves  it wide open and they can use whatever they feel like tossing into the mix and some dogs may have sensitivities to some proteins/fats.

 Our problem is.....when we got Ruby her owners were feeding her Purina Healthy Morsels.....we were going to get some to help transition her over to something a lot better. Well in our stores we couldn't find it so we bought a small bag of Purina One Beyond.....well I noticed with it that Ruby has bad gas so we bought some Natures Balance........she won't eat the Natures Balance.....even bought a different flavor of it because that's what I've read but she won't eat that either. She will eat the Purina One Beyond. The problem is I know it's not the best food for her and would love to switch to something better but can't afford to keep buying bags of food for her to try and not like.

Any suggestions?

erica1989

that said - many companies will send you sample bags of food if you request them!

 You beat me to it, Erica! All the pet stores I've gone to, excluding Petco or Petsmart, always have samples of different dog foods.

 Thank you all for your opinions and your advice. I found a link where you can get free samples of dog food mailed to you.........just pay shipping and handling. So we are going to try that.

Ummmm, that link might be a scam.  Maybe not, but just check it out carefully.

I'm going to agree that a healthy dog will not starve him/herself.  In our house, bowls are on the floor for a max of 15 minutes.  House rule.  However, in reality, the bowls are empty in far less time.  But, the point being, here is you food....eat it or loose it and you wont' get anything else until your next regular feeding time.  I wouldn't feed my human kids ice cream for every meal just because they'll eat it.....why do the equivilent with my dogs?

Anyway, we have the 15 minute rule here too, but I do try to stay away from plain kibbles. If I have to feed dry food (rarely) I add a little "something" like yogurt or pumpkin or canned food and some warm water to spice it up. The trick is that YOU decide what goes in the bowl before it hits the floor.

 That's the site I am talking about..........glad someone else knows about it. I think what some of our issue here is this............the people that we got her from fed her human food.........we don't do that here. So I think she is going to be stubborn about this issue. If I put down what I want her to eat and she don't eat............how long do I let her go without eating............meaning days?

Now, see, my dogs often get human food in their bowls. In fact, their particular brand, The Honest Kitchen, is made from all human-grade ingredients. There's nothing wrong with giving dogs something that you'd eat - in fact, it happens all the time here, especially if I make too much for my hubs and I. However, we generally eat healthy things like lean cuts of meat and veggies. Pirate LOVES steamed asparagus :)

BUT with that said, we go back to one of my main rules of life...you get what you get, and you don't throw a fit. What's in your bowl is what's in there and you aren't getting something else. Sometimes, though, if you've got a particularly bright dog, you've got to stack the odds in your favor. Make it something they WANT to eat. For Pirate, it had to become a habit to clean his bowl - so I had to start with putting REALLY YUMMY STUFF in there. Now it's a habit for him to clean his bowl - I could throw a bowl of dry kibbles in front of him and he'd eat it.

Agreed that there is absolutely nothing wrong with "people food" so long as it is HEALTHY people food and not processed, chemical laden stuff.  I actually cook.  I don't use the premade sauces, or entrees so whatever I serve my humans, my dogs can eat, unless it contains onion.  I don't allow ham simply because I don't like all the stuff that's in ham, but we will occassionally have some.  The dogs do not.  And, its random when they might get a bit of something from our table.

I used to homecook for my dogs.  One meal of kibble, one meal of homecooked each day. However, when we moved to the Deep South, homecooked was causing screaming diaheria, so we stopped that.  They do get at least one raw meal every week, pretty typically chicken, and the occassional bit of leftover whatever, but like Meg, they are expected to eat what is in their bowl or they just do without.

That said, I wouldn't let a dog go without a meal for more than 3 days, but, it's the rare dog who will push the envelope that far.

 Teaching your dog to eat

This works well for picky eaters. I, however, leave the bowl down for 15 minutes rather then 5 seconds as stated in the article. 

Keep in mind, the 'grocery store' foods have added flavorings and such. The higher end kibble usually doesn't.

 15 minutes, LOL! Tootsie, has it gone in about 5 minutes or less.

joyfullmom2

............the people that we got her from fed her human food

   Jessie gets a home cooked meal daily, and dry food for her other meals. She eats the dry food as eagerly as the cooked. Perhaps the issue with your dog is that she's adjusting to a new home and may be nervous and reluctant to eat something different than what she's used to having. The gas she's experiencing is probably from changing her food too soon; you're supposed to take about a week to change foods. Giving her a probiotic should help the gas. If she's eating the Purina One Beyond, I'd leave her on it for awhile, then try switching her to something better in a few months.