Huh? Kibble?

I second what Tamara said about quantities; whatever you feed, go with the guidelines and adjust.

Finding out about food is a whole new world. Sooo many choices that read like Greek when you first look at them. When I first got Spip, I thought I was feeding something good and, after reading around forums, switched her too.

I do not buy food at Petsmart but I just had a quick look around their website. Out of what they offer, I would probably go either to the Blue Buffalo or to Nature's Recipes. I know Avoderm has gotten good reviews by some people on the board and probably a couple of others too. I feed mine Natural Balance and Solid Gold in rotation (you find both at PetCo). I do not have access to some others brands like Canidae or Innova but if I did, I would add them to my choices.

 Here's a great place to start learning about dog food and ingredients: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

Like all similar websites it does have some biases, but I find it to be a lot more objective than a lot of comparable sites I've seen. Don't worry that you're a "bad dog owner" - as long as your dog is happy and healthy and clean and has food water shelter and attention then you're doing just fine.   You might be pleasantly surprised by "upgrading" the dry dog food you're feeding, though, and/or supplementing it with some fresh or home-cooked foods! I know my dog really benefited when I steadily "upgraded" his diet - we went from Science Diet to Newman's Own to Nutro Natural Choice to Royal Canin to Timberwolf Organics, which he's happily eating now.

I don't delve too deep into all the 50-cent words on the dog food ingredients list, because for me the ones that count are the ones that I already know what they mean. Lamb. Chicken. Duck. Beef. And I know the very basic info that corn and soy are generally worse for dogs than rice or oats, so when there are grains in dog  food I like to see rice or oats, not corn and soy.  That's all I really need to know. Lots of meat in specific forms (not "animal" or "meat"--that is so creepy I don't even like to think about it, it's like mystery meat), if there are grains they should be in the form of rice or oats.

PetSmart does sell Blue Buffalo and Avoderm. PetCo sells Natural Balance (that's what I feed). And that's pretty much it as far as good quality foods sold in those stores (which again sort of blows my mind--these places are supposed to be "superstores" but the majority of pet foods found there can be found just as easily at Wal-Mart). Other foods can be found at smaller "mom n pop" pet stores as well as some natural foods grocers (I get my Natural Balance through my food co-op).

 For amounts, check the recommended feedings on the back of the bag and then feed a little bit less than that. I've found those recommendations are usually a little too much. But it depends on the activity level and metabolism of each individual dog. So you will probably have to adjust either up and down based on how your dog is looking after a couple of weeks. For a moderately-active 50 lb. dog for most of the foods we've been discussing, you'll be starting them off somewhere in the 1.5-2.5 cups per day range.
 

Canidae is often sold at animal feed stores or Agway. If you can find it, that would be my first choice, and it only costs around $0.75/pound. You can't beat the value.  A lot of the higher-end foods are sold at feed stores or Agways.

As far as ingredients, the first step is to avoid any food that lists a "by-product" or "meat meal". As others have said, this is really mystery meat. Then avoid "artificial color" or "artificial flavor". This will eliminate a lot of the grocery store brands.

 I was in Wegmans yesterday and saw that they are carrying Pet Promise. Of all the brands they sell, this is probably the only one I would consider buying.

I thought I was doing good purchasing the more expensive stuff you find at vet clinics.  .... I found out I was wrong here at idog and have been grateful for it.

My favorites have been Solid Gold - Barking At The Moon, and recently found Instinct which the girls really, really like (picky eaters) and then I was SHOCKED that they loved Canidae (I couldn't get either of those where I lived before).   They've never before tried to get into a bag of dry food and they did with Canidae.  So, I must say, kudos to them! 

Logan will eat anything... but he goes RAW.  Anyway, kibble, definitely they are not all created equal.

Oh, yes and I forgot for canned I like Evangers.  If i weren't a vegetarian, I'd investigate eating it! lol It's hand canned in their own plant (this came in handy during the pet food recalls).

... we definitely don't want anyone to call AC on ya, feed those dogs would ya? 

You guys are the best!  And, very informative!

I think I have decided on Blue Buffalo, the Lamb and Rice meal.  What do you all think?

Sooner, I live in the Oklahoma City area, the only place I know around here is PetSmart.  There is a Bethany Feed Store that sells Canidae.  Sooner, do you ever take your dog(s) to the Paw Park?
 

houndlove

(I'm probably the only vegetarian in Pittsburgh with a freezer full of chicken wings, beef liver and marrow bones currently!).

I find that statement absolutely hysterical because I'm also a vegetarian who INSISTS my dogs eat a completely carnivore based diet and have a freezer FULL of raw meat.  My neighbors and friends think I'm bonkers but just because I'm a vegetarian , that has nothing to do with  my wanting to feed my dogs and cats a biologically appropriate diet.   BTW... as far as kibble goes... I buy  either (2) 15# or (1) 30# bag a month to feed 186# of dogs ( collectively) with some raw and canned to supplement.  I spend an avg of $50 every 4 wks on kibble , feeding approx 5.5 cups per day for all 4 dogs. Sheesh... that's less than some people feed ONE average sized dog  of poor quality kibble.

Pirate rotates through the three or so flavors of BB. I tried upgrading to something better/less pricey, but alas, he does the best on BB. He *really* loved the canned BB until it was recalled so I add a tablespoon of this or that canned to up the protien a little. If you get a 'pet perks' or whatever Petsmart's discount card is, they send you coupons every few months.

Mom2Lucy

You guys are the best!  And, very informative!

I think I have decided on Blue Buffalo, the Lamb and Rice meal.  What do you all think?

Sooner, I live in the Oklahoma City area, the only place I know around here is PetSmart.  There is a Bethany Feed Store that sells Canidae.  Sooner, do you ever take your dog(s) to the Paw Park?

I bought Canidae at Bethany Feed Store for a long time, but had a couple of bad experiences that turned me off to them.

I now shop at Britton Feed, 708 W Britton (just west of Broadway Extension), 842-5590. With a couple of exceptions they have every brand mentioned here and then some, and they're extremely nice.

Blue Buffalo has an ok ingredient list but it's overpriced and their company has done some sketchy and strange things..., at Petsmart I would go with that or Royal Canin (since our Petsmarts don't carry some of the other good brands). Petco also has some decent foods, but there are probably better values available at the feed stores.

24Pawsnclaws

houndlove

(I'm probably the only vegetarian in Pittsburgh with a freezer full of chicken wings, beef liver and marrow bones currently!).

 

 

I find that statement absolutely hysterical because I'm also a vegetarian who INSISTS my dogs eat a completely carnivore based diet and have a freezer FULL of raw meat.  My neighbors and friends think I'm bonkers but just because I'm a vegetarian , that has nothing to do with  my wanting to feed my dogs and cats a biologically appropriate diet.   BTW... as far as kibble goes... I buy  either (2) 15# or (1) 30# bag a month to feed 186# of dogs ( collectively) with some raw and canned to supplement.  I spend an avg of $50 every 4 wks on kibble , feeding approx 5.5 cups per day for all 4 dogs. Sheesh... that's less than some people feed ONE average sized dog  of poor quality kibble.

LOL me too!  ... i have a large bag of turkey necks, spleen, muscle meat a bag of raw meaty bones, 15 cans of evangers (chicken/beef) and a huge bag of canidae.  I told my butcher if someone came in and looked at my freezer I'd confuse them!  .... boxes of "morning start" next to the turkey necks!

Yay!! I'm glad I'm far from alone!

DanielleNY

As far as ingredients, the first step is to avoid any food that lists a "by-product" or "meat meal". As others have said, this is really mystery meat. Then avoid "artificial color" or "artificial flavor". This will eliminate a lot of the grocery store brands.

 

OK, I know that by-products garbage.  But, I thot that meat meal was a good thing?  Like chicken meal = the chicken with the moisture removed? 

ladiebug

OK, I know that by-products garbage.  But, I thot that meat meal was a good thing?  Like chicken meal = the chicken with the moisture removed? 

Mom2Lucy

I think I have decided on Blue Buffalo, the Lamb and Rice meal.

I'm glad you finally found something, I'm sure Lucy will love it. I also believed that if you could get it in a grocery store, it wasn't worth buying. (and what I was feeding food worse than Purina, ..mine was Kibbles n Bits)  

Just so you know though, Natural Balance is an awesome food. I've been feeding NB Ultra Premium for about 6 months now, and you wouldn't believe how shiny and healthy the dog's coats look. I get my food at Petco, and it's a healthy food. I honestly don't see why you couldn't get a healthy food a Petsmart? I'm sure they have Blue Buffalo, Natural Balace, ect. there.. They're about the same as Petco I'd think. I don't know if they sell BB, but I've never really looked either. When I was trying to find a food my dogs liked, I had to order online a few times. I'm SO glad I don't have to do that anymore. It's not worth it. They charge you like $8-13 for shipping.

 Also, my food does last quite a long time. I get a 17lb bag for $22, I'd say that last usually about 1 month & 2 weeks.  ..and that's for 3 dogs. My BF's husky (Zero) has also just switched to it too. Zero LOVES it.

From my limited experience, PetCo's top of the line product is Natural Balance, and PetSmart's is Blue Buffalo. PetCo doesn't carry Blue Buffalo and PetSmart doesn't carry NB. That's why we tend to switch back and forth between them. The default food at our house is NB but the closest pet store to my husband's office is PetSmart so if we need food and it's up to him to get it, we go with the BB.