Dog Community

Dog Food Poll

sierra2002

Posted : 3/22/2006 7:41:31 PM

So Billy's thread of "kinder and gentler nutrition postings" got me thinking.
It would be interesting to see who actually has fed the "substandard" foods to their dogs. I expect that most of us have educated ourself and formed our own opinions when our eyes were opened to the realities of dog food manufacturers, and have switched to a "higher quality" dog food.

But who has, once upon a time, fed Ol' Roy? or Purina? Or something similar.
I don't want this thread to turn into anything ugly, but I'm sure there are others who have once fed their dogs what most of us call bad food. I'm not ashamed to say that I have fed this stuff - I'm glad that I know enough now to understand the dog food label and make a more informed decision, rather than basing it on "good for life" commercials.

Sierra has consumed the following brands in her lifetime:
Ol' Roy (dry, moist, and canned)
Purina (dry)
Pedigree (dry and canned)
Iams (dry and canned)
Actrium (another wal-mart brand) (dry & canned)
Kibbles & Bits (dry)

All of these foods, with the exception of Purina and Iams, were only fed on a one-time basis. I was testing foods to see which ones she liked most, and all (except purina) were the smallest bags that the manufacturer makes. A couple of the bags apparently tasted bad to Sierra, and were donated to the local shelter.

Sierra now enjoys her homecooked meals [

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Does anyone else wanna confess?

cindy w.

Posted : 3/22/2006 7:47:55 PM

Darci started out with science diet, proplan, iams, natural balance.

sooner

Posted : 3/22/2006 7:50:56 PM

Before coming here I fed Purina One Sensitive Systems for years to my two older girls. To be perfectly honest, I'm still looking for a super-premium that they do as well on. It seems like every food we've tried has one problem or another with them. So the search continues. I haven't seems any harmful effects from feeding it... they're 12 and 9 and have been to the vet maybe once a year every year of their lives. Not endorsing Purina, but I can honestly say they did well on it and switching was only for my piece of mind. *whispers* and I fed Ol' Roy when money was tight sometimes. shhhhh [

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jennie_c_d

Posted : 3/22/2006 7:56:19 PM

Emma's vet convinced me that I should feed her dog food, when she broke out in demodex the first time. They said that what I was feeding her was inferior and making her sick (I was cooking for her). I asked the vet techs. I asked the vets. I asked friends and family. Across the board, I was told that Pedigree is a wonderful food, and should agree well with Emma. I went out and bought a small bag of Pedigree and some cans. She LOVED it. About a month later, her skin was SOOOOOO awful. She'd lost almost all of her hair, and she was bright red and her skin was sloughing off in big chunks. I took her to the vet, and they told me she had "allergies" and prescribed an antihystamine and said to give her fish oil. They said it was unrelated to food, but I didn't believe them. I switched her to Solid Gold HunchenFlocken. She cleared right up.

cakana

Posted : 3/22/2006 7:57:01 PM

When I met my husband, he was feeding both of his dogs Kibbles & Bits. I didn't give it a thought. When we rescued Sassy, she had so many allergy problems, I started doing research and put her on Kirkland's Lamb & Rice, thinking that would help. It didn't. Last spring we put her on Natural Balance Duck & Potato and that helped a little. I'm currently cooking pork & buckwheat for her to try to figure out if she has food allergies. Buffy seems to do fine on any food we give her, but she eats better now that I'm in charge of buying the food. She's 11 and has only been to the vet for vaccinations (and last year for swelling in her leg).

glenmar

Posted : 3/22/2006 8:07:47 PM

Well, for years I too was on the Pedigree/Purina.

Melissa Camiel

Posted : 3/22/2006 8:21:36 PM

When jetta was a pup she was VERY picky (she still is, pretty much...) It worried my vets and me that she would eat so little-she would puke all the time too. I ended up switching her foods around to get her to finally like one of them. She has had:

Kasco
Science diet (all different varieties)
Eukanuba
Purina One
Beneful
Nutro (maxx and ultra)

Guess what she liked the best?? Beneful!!LOL

The higher quality kibble I have tried include natural balance, wellness, cal nat, innova, pinnacle, drs foster and smith dry.

griffinej5

Posted : 3/22/2006 8:30:08 PM

My first dog was fed Nutro Natural Choice, and then Nutro Natural Choice Ultra when it came out. She also had some occassional cans of Proplan.

Millie had Nutro Natural Choice Ultra, then Canidae which didn't agree with her, and now she's on Natural Balance.

Max started out on Nutro Natural Choice for large breed puppies which he hated, and it was work to get him to eat. He had some Iams puppy food cans when we needed him to take his dewormer. That was also torture to get him to eat the little bit needed to mix his medicine in. Then he ate Canidae, and for the first time ever he was gobbling up every last bit of food and licking the dish clean afterwards. Now he's on Evo, and i'll possibly switch back to Canidae in about 4-5 months.

Lexi

Posted : 3/22/2006 8:34:38 PM

Romy is usually on Nutro Natural Choice, but I've fed Beneful (due to finances when I broke up with my boyfriend and moved into my own place), and she developed allergies to the food dye in it. She looked like a beat up ol' pit bull with lumps ALL over her. It was awful. Her lips got really fat at one point, too. I've also fed Iams, and she did fine on it. Her coat and skin look prettier with Natural Choice, though.

Lexi

Posted : 3/22/2006 8:36:55 PM

jettasmomma, Romy loved the Beneful, too. Ugh.

tony

Posted : 3/22/2006 8:55:30 PM

I'm another one that feeds Purina One and Pro Plan Sensitive Systems and I have yet to find a premium brand my dogs do as well on.

marlania

Posted : 3/22/2006 8:58:44 PM

When we adopted Brown five years ago, he started out on Pedigree. He would eat like 8 cups of food and still wasn't full. Later, he ate Pro Plan, which he was on forever until I found i-dog. When we adopted Grey, he went through a few prescription diets (ZD and a few varieties of IVD) while trying to get his skin in order. Having just moved here, where the only places to buy stuff are Walmart, Kroger, and the co-op, I had very few choices (in other words, continue

ro Plan or go to Science Diet.) Sometime around this point, I tried Glenda's recipe, and I still continue to cook for them. (And yet I'm still disgusted by liver lol). Then, the co-op stopped carrying Pro Plan so I had to order from a vet. I gave her a list of brands...Wellness, Natural Balance, Chicken Soup, Eagle Pack, etc., and she said she couldn't get them. So onward with the Pro

lan. And then, I ordered Chicken Soup online, which got expensive pretty fast, thanks to the shipping cost. I was already ordering guinea pig food, so shipping was killing me. Finally, by some miracle, I walked into the co-op, and low and behold was a display of Chicken Soup!! They keep very few bags in stock, but I'm still estatic! And now that we're moving, I have to find another source for their food. According to store locators, there's two places that carry it, and one of them even carries the guinea pig food I feed. [sm=dance.gif]

Lauri S.

Posted : 3/22/2006 9:28:10 PM

My dogs all started on the Sams club food - I don't remember the name. They stayed pretty much on that until I switched to raw.

smilee1079

Posted : 3/22/2006 9:34:50 PM

Zoe started on Iams and once I tried to switch her to Purina but she was smarter than me and said no. She loves Innova.

Just something I noticed... all these people who are pro good food really are speaking from experience since it is these same people who are posting on this thread that they did try the bad stuff too. Just goes to show... live, learn and share (what you learn).

leslie__chessies

Posted : 3/22/2006 9:41:52 PM

The pups have eaten...
Nutro Natural Choice mixed with canned Pedigree
Nutro natural Choice mixed with canned Natural Balance
Iams
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul
Canidae