dog food

Dyan the people from eaglepack are going to have to pay you comissions soon []

Abbysdad-i'm not having a go at you,but you guys literally have loads and loads of super duper premium foods to choose from,how do you know your dog wouldnt do 'better' on one of those.We have a grand total of THREE decent foods to choose from [:@] Purina being one of the popular ones,it jusnt doesnt make sense that someone from the US with all of your choices feeds something that is popular here,most folk dont have a choice as there is no variety,but you guys do. Take advantage of all the wonderful foods you have at your disposal,i bet if you lived here you would be yearning for all of your choices again,just coz your dog didnt do well on the handful of premium foods you tried,doesnt mean he wont do well on the dozens and dozens of others available to you. Having said that,if you're comfortable feeding Purina and you're positive your dog is thriving and couldnt do better on the other foods then then thats ok too []

Darn,gotta drive the kids to school,i wanted to explain further to try and justify what i have said above. Look forward to discussing this further with you []

Dyan the people from eaglepack are going to have to pay you comissions soon []
 
Ha, its funny you say that because lately everytime I post I think, "you know, you sound like a broken record, or that you work for Eagle!!"   But I believe in what I am writing I guess that is why!

Ozzie72, I've tried probably 10 or 12 different dog foods, sorry if that was not clear, I have found 1 or 2 that work for her and they are both the intermediate ones.  I've decided I am done experimenting with my dog just because I feel guilty about what I was feeding, apparently the ingredients list means more to me than to her.

i dont think anyone should have to try every single dog food out there until they find the "best" one.  if abbysdad has one that works well thats just fine.  i think testing more and more food just in case there might be a "better" one out there would be kind of ridiculous.  especially if you have a good one already like abbysdad does.  personally, i plan to start by carefully choosing a mid-grade dog food and supplementing with healthy tablescraps and treats.  thats my plan so far but i am still learning. 

personally, i plan to start by carefully choosing a mid-grade dog food and supplementing with healthy tablescraps and treats.

Why mid-grade? Why not start with a high-grade food? [sm=happy.gif]

because im not rich

My sister in law just got a gorgeous golden doodle puppy as a surprise from her husband after the sad sudden death of their beloved golden retriever last month.  I quickly fell in love when I visited them today.  What an excellent adorable puppy he got her.  I guess their former groomer breeds them.  Anway, I of coursed asked what they are where feeding the puppies and they told me Diamond.  The vet quickly recommend they switch immedately and not to even do a transition because thank god he follows the news and knew it wasn't the safest choice right now for the dog.  I was just surprised that this groomer said she wasn't aware of a problem with the Diamond foods. 

i havnt even heard of that brand whats wrong with it?

because im not rich

Hi...Did  you know that feeding a premium food is not more expensive? In fact is is LESS expensive for a number of reasons...#1 being that you feed LESS of it because it's more nutritious all-around and more dense with protein . You are under the misconception that it is expensive because you are paying the price upfront instead of over a period of time.

Just so you can actually see where your view isn't accurate... here is a typical senario.

Which food costs more ?? Paying $40 ONCE every month and a half for a super premium dogfood or paying $20/wk for supermarket quality dogfood ? It's simple math really.  Even if  you spent $20 every 2 wks for the same amount of supermarket food , which would be the better deal ?? $40 for high quality nutritious food or $40 for poor quality food ??  Don't forget to factor in the costs for food related illnesses and conditions along w/the over the counter remedies, supplements, vet bills and medications over time that you will most undoubtedly incur by feeding the cheaper quality food. 

Does that make any sense to you now ?  What people keep forgetting here is not just the difference between feeding high quality and low quality foods and prices. The fact is that poor, low quality foods are full of DANGEROUS and UNHEALTHY ingredients. POISONS, TOXINS, PESTICIDES, CANCEROUS MEAT, DISEASED GRAINS. You don't care that your dog is ingesting these ??  Am I missing something here ?? WHY on earth no matter how good you 'think' your dog is doing on  it... would you WANT to intentionally keep feeding it food that has ingredients that have been proven to cause cancer, tumors, dental hygiene problems, skin and coat problems, arthritis, bone and joint disorders, intestinal and kidney disorders and diseases etc ? ? Geez.... is that not ENOUGH to give you any concern ?? Or are you just all keeping your fingers crossed that you'll be lucky enough to be the one whos dog doesn't come down with some serious medical problem.  Sorry.. but that is like playing Russian Roulette w/your dog's life. I can't see how a responsible owner would do that. " Let's keep feeding Fido crap, he's not showing any signs of anything bad ... yet ".  God I cringe at the thought.

Hi Jaye,
Read all about Diamond Dog Food here...
[linkhttp://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/diamond.asp]http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/diamond.asp[/link]

the diamond plant uses corn - and a bunch of it is growing nasties. The fungus is called aflotoxin (sp?) and it grows on corn and other grains. Has killed over 100 dogs, making others REALLY sick. Requirs emergency treatment.
 
Go to [linkhttp://www.fda.gov]www.fda.gov[/link] or [linkhttp://www.diamondpet.com]www.diamondpet.com[/link] for more info on it. They can't seem to get it all off the shelves and it affects a lot of their line (goes by a variety of names and recipies) in numerous states.

yikes!  and why havnt they taken it off the market?  maybe ill find out when i look at those links you two provided.

The Diamond products that caused a problem IS off the shelves. All the bad bags of Diamond have been off the shelves for months. If any one has any at their house, that is another problem. But if they do and haven't heard about the Diamond recall then they are living in another world anyway.. or their dog is already dead and  they don't need dog food.   Diamond has several formulas that have no corn in it at all.  Diamond is a favorite dog food among many breeders, that is the brand they have had good luck with. Yes, the company screwed up and got lax in their quality control in November,,,something that will cost them dearly as it cost several dogs lives, but the FDA has cleared their company for operations and its not fair to not say that.
 
Which food costs more ?? Paying $40 ONCE a month for a super premium dogfood or paying $20/wk for supermarket quality dogfood ? It's simple math really.  Even if  you spent $20 every 2 wks for the same amount of supermarket food , which would be the better deal ?? $40 for high quality nutritious food or $40 for poor quality food ??  Don't forget to factor in the costs for food related illnesses and conditions along w/the over the counter remedies, supplements, vet bills and medications over time that you will most undoubtedly incur by feeding the cheaper quality food.

End of discussion. Does that make any sense to you now ?
 
Its not the end of the discussion, and its not completely true what you say.  First, as Abbysdad said, he has had the best luck with his dog feeding the midpriced food, that means he is spending less at the vets and on medicine, that is what he is talking about.   Many people are having just as much good luck with Purina than people on this board that are feeding premium food.   Most here are also feeding supplements besides premium food. I don't see any way in the world that anyone can really say AND MEAN that it is less expensive to feed super premium food over the lower. For instance, I just looked up Purina One  Sensative, 3 and 1/3  to 4 cups for up to 100 #, I feed Eagle Pack and my dog is 100# and she gets 5 cups. If you have great luck with Purina One, which many people do, then its is less expensive by far, and add to that the conveniece of getting it and probably coupons to discount it also.   We all have to do what is best and we all have to do what we can afford. If we don't have the means to buy the premium brands then we do the best we can with what we can afford. If that is not working, then  we need to go find something else.

thank you dyan that is really good info   asthefurflies had me until his middle and last statements.... which i thought were pretty rude.... which is why i didnt respond to him.  but you did, and a good job of it!

The cost of feeding 'premium' food to a small dog isn't really expensive, though. Regular price for Natural Balance Ultra Premium at Petco (easy to get, in other words) is $21 for 17 pounds. Even at the top end of their 15-30lb recommendations, it's 1.5 cups a day. So even if there were only 3 cups in a pound (which I'm sure it's more like 4-5), $21 would last for 34 days, making the cost of feeding 62¢ a day.

Purina ONE, normal price, is $18 for 20 pounds at Petco. At the top end of their 21-35lb range, they recommend 2 cups a day. So let's just say 1.75 cups a day to be on the conservative side. Also assume there's 3 cups in a pound as with the NB. That bag will also last 34 days for a total cost of 53¢ a day. So in the end, you're paying about 9¢ a day more for premium food.

If money is really tight, I wouldn't fault anyone for feeding almost any kind of dog food. I'd rather a dog get junk food than no food at all. If, however, you have the extra 9-20¢ a day, splurge, imo.

By the way, this was response to dyan. Can't figure out this board software yet.