Beneful Problems

I am sorry, but life and health is not a black and white situation, but many shades of grey. If you feed a dog or a person a good diet, you minimize risks of health problems, not totally eliminate.....Nothing totally eliminates disease, that I know of

 
Some of us here get the idea that some think so---feed your dog Euk, SD, purina (and in some cases nutro or Eagle pack) and your dog is doomed to a short life filled with horrible coats, yeast infections, allergies, etc, etc.  But feed it premium and those things will not happen.  Their dogs are the picture of health while the rest of us have these poor pitiful looking dogs.
 
I have noticed that not a single person who has tried premium, raw or homecooked  and it didn't work for their dogs has ever put it down or called it crap because it didn't work for them.  But it is reverse for many of the premium feeders.  They put down what we feed, call it crap, tell us it can't be working for our dogs because it didn't work for theirs, or they read such and such about it.  And in some cases the put downs has been on foods like nutro and even Eagle Pack.  Not all premium feeders are like this.  I think some do know that not every food is for every dog and what works for mine might not work for theirs, what works for theirs might not work for mine.

Some people are so passionate that they forget they fed purina once too... and their dogs did fine. If they think their dogs do better on different foods, then great!

At least here you can get both sides of the story... that certainly isn't the case everywhere. Its also funny to see how each forum seems to have a different favorite food, and least favorite food, and how the strong opinions of a few can REALLY influence the dynamics and beliefs of the rest of the board.

There's balance here, believe it or not, and I like it a lot, its very conducive to learning, if you can stick around long enough...

I firmly maintain that NO ONE knows if a food is "working" for their dogs. You can only tell if it doesn't work. Period. 
 
I just don't get why anyone would feed the so-called "lower" quality foods. Even if you, for some reason, don't believe they are inferior in nutrition to other foods, why would you want to pick up those huge poops?  

My dogs poop size isn't really any different on any of the foods I've tried. They've been hard, dry and crumbly, which is actually harder to pick up and takes longer for the dogs to get out, but as long as the volume fits in a regular sandwich bag (what I carry at the dog park), it doesn't matter to me. I'd rather have my kids comfortable than straining... so that is how I judge poop.

Some people are so passionate that they forget they fed purina once too... and their dogs did fine.

 
I get the point here, but I just wanted to say that I've never fed Purina, or any "grocery" brands. I did feed Science Diet, Iams (does that count as a "grocery" brand, since you can get it at the grocery store? [&:]), Eukanuba, etc., and yes, I thought my dog was doing fine. Why'd I start researching dog foods? I'm not sure. Boredom or curiosity, I guess. I remember picking up a book in a discount store, called something like The Consumer's Guide to Dog Food, and I think that really got me thinking, though I'd already learned a bit about ingredients before that.
 
But guess what? I found out after I switched that she WAS smelly and gunky on those foods. I honestly didn't know. I thought that's how dogs were. "Dog breath," "dog smell," why do these terms exist if they're not the norm? Big, stinky poops..hey, that's a dog for you! But I don't look back and think "Oh, I didn't know any better..it wasn't my fault!" It WAS my fault for not knowing better. Ignorance isn't an excuse.
 
And no, I'm not saying every dog who eats any food I don't like is smelly, gunky, with huge smelly poops. I'm sure some actually do well on whatever food. Cherokee's not one of them, and that's why she will never, ever eat Pedigree or Dog Chow.

And no, I'm not saying every dog who eats any food I don't like is smelly, gunky, with huge smelly poops. I'm sure some actually do well on whatever food. Cherokee's not one of them, and that's why she will never, ever eat Pedigree or Dog Chow.

 
You need to feed what works for your dog, numerous people including myself and many people on this board had the opposite experience, dogs doing well on the so called lesser foods, then trying the so called premium foods with disaster results, gunky eyes, runny poops, itching and hot spots etc. Again these foods may work for some dogs and if they do, great but they don't necessarily work for all dogs.

ORIGINAL: abbysdad

And no, I'm not saying every dog who eats any food I don't like is smelly, gunky, with huge smelly poops. I'm sure some actually do well on whatever food. Cherokee's not one of them, and that's why she will never, ever eat Pedigree or Dog Chow.

You need to feed what works for your dog, numerous people including myself and many people on this board had the opposite experience, dogs doing well on the so called lesser foods, then trying the so called premium foods with disaster results, gunky eyes, runny poops, itching and hot spots etc. Again these foods may work for some dogs and if they do, great but they don't necessarily work for all dogs.

I have never met anyone that went to a premium food and their dog was worse than on the junk food.  I am assuming that if they tried one food and their dog didn't do well on it, that they at least they tried one or two more before going back to the junk food.  That's like someone eating McDonalds every day, and then  they decide to eat a healthy diet and have a shrimp salad with all wholesome ingredients, and get sick because they are allergic to shrimp. They then immediately  switch back to McDonalds because they didn't do well on the better food. 

ORIGINAL: chelsea_b

Some people are so passionate that they forget they fed purina once too... and their dogs did fine.

I get the point here, but I just wanted to say that I've never fed Purina, or any "grocery" brands. I did feed Science Diet, Iams (does that count as a "grocery" brand, since you can get it at the grocery store? [&:]), Eukanuba, etc., and yes, I thought my dog was doing fine. Why'd I start researching dog foods? I'm not sure. Boredom or curiosity, I guess. I remember picking up a book in a discount store, called something like The Consumer's Guide to Dog Food, and I think that really got me thinking, though I'd already learned a bit about ingredients before that.

But guess what? I found out after I switched that she WAS smelly and gunky on those foods. I honestly didn't know. I thought that's how dogs were. "Dog breath," "dog smell," why do these terms exist if they're not the norm? Big, stinky poops..hey, that's a dog for you! But I don't look back and think "Oh, I didn't know any better..it wasn't my fault!" It WAS my fault for not knowing better. Ignorance isn't an excuse.

And no, I'm not saying every dog who eats any food I don't like is smelly, gunky, with huge smelly poops. I'm sure some actually do well on whatever food. Cherokee's not one of them, and that's why she will never, ever eat Pedigree or Dog Chow.

 
I used to feed Purina(Puppy Chow, Dog Chow and Purina One) and Pedigree and I thought my dogs were doing fine on it until I switched them to Nutro Natural then to Canidae and my Boston Terriers are on Innova Evo with the occasional Nature's Variety Prairie Raw. I noticed how much nicer their coats became, they didn't have a "doggy smell" to them, Shiloh's hot spots went away and poop patrol is easier(and I do have pics of poops belonging to my dogs and poops belonging to my friends dog who is fed Beneful if you want to see the difference []). The interesting thing is back in the days, I never fed "premium" food because I honestly believed they all worked the same so why should I pay more money for them? I began to read the nutrition board on I-Dog out of curiosity and after reading various things about ingredients and how it can actually be cheaper in the long run to feed a higher quality food, I decided to give it a whirl and I'm glad I did.

I do not think this statement can hold true today. I think most people know their dog stinks, is over weight, has lousy fur, smelly ears, bad breath,etc. Maybe they just chose not to spend the money taking it to the vet. Two of my three goldens sleep in the bed with me and I wold not have a smelly dog or one with bad breath or oily fur on my bed making it stink.

I think you do the majoriy to folks an injstice by caliming they think their foul smelling, greasy, oily, brown toothed, dog is healthy.

 
 
go talk to people at the dog park and the petstore. You would be shocked. People truly believe that dogs are supposed to be smelly in between frequent baths, are supposed to constantly emit gas (how many dog fart jokes have you heard?), are supposed to have bad breath, and they have no concept of what a dog in fit condition looks like (as I know since I get lots of "do you feed that dog?" comments). 

Oh wow, what a place. I have to totally agree with some of the posts here.

Many dogs look *fine* IF you don't have anything to compare them to, but put them up against dogs that are fed the better foods that have good muscle tone, no odor, clear bright eyes, great teeth, and awesome coats and those other dogs suddenly look awful. They can't keep up with the other dogs energy levels either.

And since we have to give our dogs vaccines, flea and heartworm preventatives and other toxic substances we should do everything possible to keep their immune systems strong and healthy, and the single most important thing we can do is to make sure that what goes into their mouths 2-3 times a day every day is the healthiest possible thing we can find.

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

go talk to people at the dog park and the petstore. You would be shocked. People truly believe that dogs are supposed to be smelly in between frequent baths, are supposed to constantly emit gas (how many dog fart jokes have you heard?), are supposed to have bad breath, and they have no concept of what a dog in fit condition looks like (as I know since I get lots of "do you feed that dog?" comments). 

 
My dog is the only dog at the doggie daycare that doesn't stink.  The only time she stinks is when I pick her up from there at the end of the day, because she has the nasty odor of all the other dogs on her.  And the smell is what you would describe as a "doggy" type odor, not poop or pee, she just smells like smelly dog.  I've talked to a lot of the owners there, and I am the only one that I know of that doesn't feed a purina, euk, iams type food.  Often times while I am waiting to either drop her off or pick her up, another persons dog will walk up to me and of course I'll give him a pat or a scratch and a film of grease is left on my hand and my hand smells like dog until I wash it.  And you ahve to hear how their owners rave about what fantastic condition their dog is in!  lol  And not one of the other dachshunds there  has Zoe's soft shiny coat. 

Meet Boots, my Irish Setter-I lost him at age 12 1/2 to bone cancer.  At this time i did not home cook, I did not give any kind of sups, I did not feed him fish. He got Purina Dog Chow and that was it. Now, tell me what is wrong with his coat?  Does it look oily, greasy, scraggly? No.  And he did not smell, have dirty ears or yellow or brown teeth.  Because he was registared (Sir Lancelot's Irish Pride) a friend of my son's who showed dogs put him thru paces and said he was a natural and wanted to show him.  But he was just my buddy and I wanted no part of having him shown.

Meet Boots, my Irish Setter-I lost him at age 12 1/2 to bone cancer.  At this time i did not home cook, I did not give any kind of sups, I did not feed him fish. He got Purina Dog Chow and that was it. Now, tell me what is wrong with his coat?  Does it look oily, greasy, scraggly? No.  And he did not smell, have dirty ears or yellow or brown teeth.

I'm sorry you took that personally, there was no need to. I wasn't saying anything bad about your current goldens or about Boots. He was very pretty. I don't know your dogs, I was stating my experience with dogs that I do know.

No problem at all.  In fact, i was broswing thru my pictures stored on computer and writting that and actually trying to post another picture at the same time you were writing.  I am not really computer savvy and it takes me a little while.  And no, I do not take it as an insult to my dogs in any form or fashion.  Just so much as been said about us "lesser food feeders " not knowing our dog is oily, stinky, smelly earrred, etc and I just wanted to show that picture as his coat does showuup much better than my lighter goldens  I want them to tell me what is wrong with his coat?  Of course you couldn't smell it to know he did not stink,  But Mom, who never al;lowed dogs in the house except rare occasions, would have noticed and said soemthing.  She was always loving and even kissing him.
 
And just for muscle tone, which i do understand isn't so good in the "lesser" food dogs, this below is Lucky, one of my Dad's pointers.  Regretfully i only have a very few rare pictures from those days or i could post more of other dogs.  Since you can't see the muscle definition in the long haired dogs as well (setters, goldens) I will post this picture of my dad's Purina Dog Chow only fed pointer that could hunt from sun up to sun down 7 days a week  In this picture Lis chewing the burs out of Mack's (12 year old setter) coat after they had been on a hunt.

That, and other comments of yours on this subject, made it seem to me like you believe that if we're giving our dogs chemicals in the form of vaccines, flea products, and heartworm preventatives, we might as well not worry so much about their diet. And I guess I was trying to say that I disagree with that. We need to do what we can, and I think every little bit helps.

I agree with you Chelsea in that I also think every bit helps.  I truely do!  
But I have never once said in any of my comments that if you give your dog chemicals in the form of vaccines, flea products and HW preventatives that we don't need to worry about their diet. Again, I am the person that feeds my dog Eagle Pack (which I know is not quite the premium food that some think they feed their dog) I cook her real meat and add veggies and give her eggs and yogurt every day. I also give her probiotics everyday, and talk about all these things all of the time.
I am not arguing for one second that we should feed our dogs crap.  And since I dont really like giving my dog chemicals in the way of HW prevenatives or flea products I sure don't want to give her chemicals in food..for that reason I don't! 
But I am saying that there are many people here saying that by feeding lesser than what they consider premium food, that these people are causing their dogs to get illnesses such as cancer, and I am saying as long as we are giving our dogs these OTHER chemicals in the form of preventatives, that we will never know which chemical (if any) is causing these illnesses. I have never said anything different.