Good food? not homemade....

Well my Beagle and Cocker Spaniel are on Science Diet. It has worked very well for bopth of them. I know many people on this forum disagree/frown upon it though.

My Chi is on Solid Gold Puppy Chow right now but I do intend to switch her over to Science Diet.

My Daycare Doggies are on Cesear's Large Dog and it works VERY well for all of them. Otherwise though I have heard good things about Purina One too.

~BROCUDPOS~

I feed Blue Buffalo - but I know a lot of people have problems with gas with that food - my dog does not, thankfully! I'm very happy with the results with his coat and his skin problems have totally cleared up. And poop is small =]

I've also used Orijen puppy foods - and I LOVE that. I would highly reccomend that food to anyone. It's a grain free, very allergy friendly, fantastic all around. I would switch Casey, but he's doing so well - I tend to stick with the 'if it's not broken, don't fix it' mentality.

 Orijen is my "desert island' food.  I rotate my dogs' diets, but I always have Orijen on hand.  My dogs have incredible coats, no digestive troubles, and good poops on Orijen.

Other foods on my rotation are EVO and Fromm.

My dogs are small, but one of our members feeds her dog Bugsy Orijen, and he's a BIG dog.  He's got a glorious looking coat, and Orijen seems to be doing well by him.

I have yet to find ingredients in any of the SD forumula's to justify the cost.

I feed Blue Buffalo, but also have used Innova and Solid Gold.  No gas issues here and I've got six GSD's so they can be a potent group.

Orijen. My friend has an overweight Boxer that used to poop mini mountains and he said that the food had made a dramatic difference for the better. Stool is much smaller and instead of 3-4 times a day he's now going once or twice. Boxers are notorious for flatulence and the food has helped quite a bit as well. For a little more money, dehydrated is great too i you don't want to go all raw.

Combo homemade's the best.  Oh, sorry - NOT homemade.  Just kidding. 

What's a good food is like asking "How long is a string?"  One person's "Best Food Ever" is another's "Over My Dead Body" food.  This forum used to have a flame factor warning because the topic was so "hot"!  Thankfully people have learned some tolerance over  the years. 

There's lots of things to consider when looking at narrowing down your choices for food.  First and foremost for me is dog safety.  There are some foods and companies I won't mess with.  They've had too many "oopsies" and not enough action to clean up their acts.  Or an arrogant attitude toward customer service.  I won't use foods with certain ingredients which I doubt the safety of.

Budget is one.  We all want the very best for our dogs but spending thousands a year on food does our dog no good if we bankrupt ourselves and can no longer care for our pets!  LOL  After that, does your dog have any health issues or sensitivities you'd like to address? 

If there's nothing too severe, consider that grain frees can help with itchies and yeast infection issues, formulas for sensitive stomachs can help gas and other digestive issues, and novel proteins can help curtail allergy symptoms.  Some dogs do well with extra probiotics, or particular OFA balances (nutritional oils), or other "extras."

The next thing to think of is personal preferences.  Do you like the idea of feeding a meatier diet?  Do you want to lessen your poop patrol duties?  Do you like reducing doggy odors?  Does one food seem to make your dog a little shinier and deeper colored than another?  Are you interested in supporting certain organic offerings or wish to avoid a certain type of product?  Are there any companies you don't like the idea of giving your business to?

Check out Dog Food 101 for a starting place to increase your ability to wade through the Red Sea of information that's out there.

Good luck!

I will always suggest Orijen if that is a financially viable option.  I know it's not for a lot of people, those with dogs who eat a lot or multi-dog households, but it is an excellent food.  

 Someone mentioned my dog Bugsy - yea he's an XL dog and we use Orjen fish and a  few raw meals each week.  It is expensive and can be hard to find but it's the best kibble I've used AND I am definitely feeding less.  My dog has severe allergies so many of the other options don't work for us but Blue Buffalo is a nice food, I'm off Solid Gold products due to a bad experience with customer service (someone else on here had a bad time with them too). Taste of the Wild is supposed to be nice. Canidae has changed formulas but has some nice grain free options now.  Innova as several very good foods as does California Natural.

I like the grain free, higher protein foods of which there are many and I encourage the addition of fish oil.

Most importantly I need to see some pictures of your dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think grain free foods tend to be easier for dogs to digest. I'm having the same problem you are and I'm feeding Wellness. I just ordered a bag of Fromm Surf & Turf; it's grain free and I have high hopes for this food!

 I feed Eagle Pack Holistic Fish and Tootsie does well with it. Small, firm poops and usually 2x a day. Her coat is gorgeous, but I attribute that to Salmon Oil and Vitamin E, daily. I would love to try the Orijen Fish, but haven't as of yet.

it does depend on the dog. No kibble is as healthy or as easily digested as a fresh wet diet though; and anyone willing to pay $$ for the unhealthy garbage they make Science diet and purina out of needs to get an unbiased observer to take a good long look at their dog and point out the obvious signs of non-optimal health.

mudpuppy

...anyone willing to pay $$ for the unhealthy garbage they make Science diet and purina out of needs to get an unbiased observer to take a good long look at their dog and point out the obvious signs of non-optimal health.

I agree with having another person assess the dog's condition. I've known dogs that eat foods like those and the owners think that their dog is in great condition. What I see is a dog with a greasy coat and a lot of shedding.