Dog food question?

 The most common issue with grocery store brands is that they use a LOT of 'fillers,' things like corn which the dog can not digest.  There is no nutrition to it, it just makes the dog feel full.  It passes right through (we hope!)  Add in preservatives, colorants, and chemicals that may actually be harmful and you have a diet that is far removed from what a "dog in the wild" would eat.  And the natural diet is what the dog body is designed to use: to pull out the nutrients, use to the max, have minimal waste.

I learned a lot about dog food these 2 ways:

1.  Look at this website:   http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

Read some reviews for a 6 star food.  Then read some reviews for a 2 star food.  Quite the eye opener!

2.  The Whole Pet Diet by Andi Brown.  I found this book at my library and read it.  I liked it so much I bought a copy from Amazon.com  She explains so much about what dogs eat and why, which part of the body is helped (organs, bones, etc) and really sheds some light on it.

If you have the stomach for it, you can also read Foods Pets Die For.  I know I couldn't read this sort of book, though.  The way I worked around that was to look at some online glossaries, of what all those terms on the food labels MEAN.  Beef digest? (stomach, intestines, and parts the "dog in the wild" does NOT eat but leaves for the vultures!)   Chicken feet and beaks?  vs.  human grade ingredients?  Oh yes, I knew where I wanted to be from all of that! 

Meagan -- it's a balance we all work towards.  I home cook -- haven't done kibble in many years because it's what works for us.  I tend to have dogs with problems, and I can deal with those most easily by home cooking.

For me the kicker isn't so much what *is* in food as what isn't.  One of the reasons I do what I do is to avoid the bad preservatives that so many foods use (all the grocery store foods, and even a lot of the vet foods and high end foods).  A lot of them are carcinogens (cancer-causing)

But the big deal is you will often have to do what you can afford.  A lot of these foods are very expensive -- so sometimes you make choices -- and you do a little better than you did before.  and often (because of the fillers she spoke about) you feed less of the better foods because there is more 'food' and less 'filler' in them.

Food is also something more folks argue about than almost anything else.   (*smile*)  and .. worry about  (particularly in recent years)

Freedom

The most common issue with grocery store brands is that they use a LOT of 'fillers,' things like corn which the dog can not digest.  There is no nutrition to it, it just makes the dog feel full.  It passes right through (we hope!)   Add in preservatives, colorants, and chemicals that may actually be harmful and you have a diet that is far removed from what a "dog in the wild" would eat.  And the natural diet is what the dog body is designed to use: to pull out the nutrients, use to the max, have minimal waste.   

  They can digest the corn, because it's well cooked. They wouldn't be able to digest raw corn. I don't mind whole corn in a dog food, but don't like corn gluten, ( or any other gluten) because it's a way to boost the amount of protein without using as much meat. As far as what a dog would eat in the wild; our dogs were created by humans and have adjusted over the centuries to what humans fed them. I'm more interested in feeding a diet that meets AAFCO or National Research Council standards that feeding a diet close to what wolves eat.

  To the OP; it's important that a named meat meal, like chicken meal, is the first ingredient in the food. While dogs and cats can digest corn and corn gluten meal, it's not as good as meat for a protein source. Corn or another vegetable sources of protein such as wheat gluten or potato protein do not have all the amino acids necessary to sustain healthy muscle mass, and produce more waste for the kidneys and liver to remove from the bloodstream. Other than that, if you can find a food at the grocery store that your pets do well on, I wouldn't worry. Blue Buffalo and other premium foods are found at pet specialty stores like Petsmart, PetCo, or feed stores, and can be pricey. Another thing to consider; many of these, such as Blue Buffalo, Solid Gold, and Wellness, do not make their own food, while Purina and Iams do. While the ingredients of the premium foods look better,  knowing the company makes its own food may be a plus to you.

calliecritturs

  and often (because of the fillers she spoke about) you feed less of the better foods because there is more 'food' and less 'filler' in them.

That's true, hadn't spelled that out.  And I "like" to think I am spending the money up front on the better food, so I won't have to spend it down the road on vet bills.  

When you get into the research, you learn that dogs (and cats) never had issues with high blood pressure, thyroid disease, cancer, etc. until we started feeding them processed commercial foods, in the 1950's or so.

Even among the good quality foods, I made a change earlier this year from Taste of the Wild (grain free) to Earthborn Holistics (also grain free) and discovered the poops are MUCH smaller!  When you are picking up in the yard from 4 (and previously 5) dogs, and cleaning litter boxes from 9 cats, that is a big deal!

My biggest issue with many brands is that they cost more than some foods that are better for the dog.  I pay less for a food that is made in the USA and contains no corn, wheat, soy, or gluten meal stuff than some people pay for foods loaded with grains made who-knows-where.  Why pay more for less?

For example, Science Diet Canine Large Breed costs $33 for 15lbs of food.  The first three ingredients are fillers/junk (corn, byproduct meal, soybean meal).  I currently pay $42 for 33lbs of food that is made in Wisconsin and the first three ingredients are duck, chicken meal, and chicken.  Why pay $66 for 30lbs of crappy food when I can get 33lbs of good food made semi-locally for $42?

Freedom

When you get into the research, you learn that dogs (and cats) never had issues with high blood pressure, thyroid disease, cancer, etc. until we started feeding them processed commercial foods, in the 1950's or so.

It's also possible that dog owners didn't have the type of veterinary care and diagnostics available today.  Dogs probably had all of those medical problems but they went undiagnosed or untreated. 

 Possible except that is not what research in the vet community indicates.

Liesje, which food is made in Wisconsin, that you use?  Thanks!

Freedom

except that is not what research in the vet community indicates.

You wouldn't happen to have any links to this research by any chance?

JackieG

You wouldn't happen to have any links to this research by any chance?

  I would like to see these too. I agree with Jackie that many of these conditions weren't diagnosed years ago, and that many dogs died without really knowing why, perhaps just passing it off as old age.

Fromm is made in Wisconsin.  I've always liked this food and switched as soon as my local pet store started carrying it.  They gave me an awesome deal when I switched and it's on their frequent feeder plan so I get every 13th bag free.

www.frommfamily.com

The philosophy I have as for as diet a dog should eat is to look to nature.  Nature has provided every species with a diet that it will thrive on.  When man decides he knows better than nature, trouble is the inevitable result.  No, dogs haven't "adjusted" to eating the foods man tries to feed them. The great number of health problems that dogs have today proves that.  To hear some people who say vets were stupid and had no equipment 50 years ago is just their way of not feeling guilty for feeding their dogs a food that causes a variety of health problems.  Those digestive diseases didn't exist to any great degree before kibble and are near epidemic today.  If dogs had "adjusted" to a plant based cereal diet, there would have to be changes to their digestive system.  Those changes never happened.  A domestic dog of today has exactly the same digestive system as a wild wolf.  Wild wolves don't have these problems that our dogs have. 

People refuse to see that because they are told every day in both print and tv media how great this garbage food is.  They see these pictures of these great looking meats and fruits and veggies that are claimed to be in the kibble.  The ingredients in kibble are nothing like that.  They are the refuse from the human food processing plants.  The ingredients bear no resemblance to those pictures.  Dog food companies have wonderful and very efficient merchandising departments.  They have convinced the masses that their plant based cereals are ideal food for our carnivore dogs.  Nothing could be further from the truth.