Best Dog Food

At Petsmart, there's often Blue Buffalo. Sometimes, they carry By Nature and Avoderm. Nutro Natural or Nutro Ultra would be a definite step up, and I believe that Bil Jac produces pretty good results for some folks. As far as the little stores go, some of them probably carry some very nice foods.

Look at dogfoodproject.com for info on ingredients, and how to read labels. 

The small local stores usually have the best brands. Some that I think are really good- Innova, Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Eagle Pack Holistic, Fromm, California Natural, Nature's Variety and Orijen.

My choices for food at Petsmart are- Blue Buffalo, Nutro Ultra, ByNature and Avoderm.

Do you have a healthfood store near you? A lot of times they carry holistic brands of pet foods. I get PetGuard Lifespan from our hfs.

I rotate a lot and give a lot of variety.  My 3 dogs all seem to do quite well this way.  Kibbles/canned which I use:  Nature's Variety (all prairie flavors), Petguard Lifespan, California Natural (Lamb/Rice), Solid Gold BATM, etc. 

Raw: From time to time they get a chicken wing or beef leg bone. 

Premixes:  Usually sojo's with cooked or raw ground beef/turkey/chicken.

Cooked:  Strombeck recipes/dogiebag.com with beef/turkey/chicken.

Generally I switch around every 3 months or so.  

Good luck with the food game!  I just recommend reading labels, finding one that looks good and giving it a try wiht your dog.  Keep a notebook on which food it was, what date started and how the dog looks.  that way you'll remember which ones worked/didn't and why.

:)

Tiffani

I'm a big fan of Canidae if you can find that by you. If you go to their website you can put in your zip code to see if it's sold near you. It's a fair price for the amount you get and quality ingredients imo. 

I second Canidae. I've had Odie on it for 3 years now and his coat is sooooo soft, his skin is healthy, and his eyes ansd teeth are bright and clean. Seriously, people tell me once a week how soft Odie is and they ask him what food I give him. Canidae is usually sold at healthfood places or speciality pet stores but if you can find it, it's worth it!

I really like Wellness.  My Shih Tzu has dry skin.  He also hated lamb and rice.  He really likes the Wellness Fish and Sweet Potato.  I also give him Cod Liver Oil and Vitamin C this combination for him seems to be working.

Try going to the websites of the brands that have been listed on here and enter your zip code and you can find out what is available in your area.

We feed Canidae, too.  They like the kibble and cans, although they prefer the chicken vs. the chiken, lamb mix.  Also, I cook for them, and recently added Innova canned to the rotation.  Before Canidae we fed Royal Canin Maxi GSD formula kibble, mainly.  Now, it's a treat once in a while. 

AM feed: kibble mixed with canned or home cooked.

PM feed: canned or home cooked, 2-3 times a week some fish, sardines, mackerel, or salmon.  Once a week they'll get a tub of cottage cheese - they LOVE it!!!

 Thanks for the advice I will look into Canidae; however, there aren't too many health food stores here. 

Wellness

I'm a big fan of Orijen (and my dog is too!) I have to order it online, though, or drive a couple hours to get it. I feed Orijen 6 Fish primarily, but I also switch in Natural Balance and Blue Buffalo every so often. Canidae doesn't seem to agree with my dogs stomach, but I've heard mostly positive things about it.

I have been doing alot of research on the subject of dog food. I have recently started my dog on Chicken Soup for the puppy lover's soul. There is an adult version also. The main thing with Iams, Purina, & Science Diet is that they use corn products in there formulas. Lots of dogs are allergic and that could be the cause of your skin problem. Good luck, I hope you find a better dog food.

Update,  Well I went to the pet store today.  Spoke with a lady and she recommended Nutro Max, I didn't get it and went with Natural Balance instead.  Tracker just scarfed it up.  He liked it much better then Science Diet Lamb and Rice.  Has anyone fed Natural Balance by *** Van Patten's.  Hopefully I see so changes in his skin in a few weeks.  I will also begin supplementing his food with vitamin E or fish oil.