What dog chow do you think is best?

I'm a home-cooked convert. I was feeding my corgi Penny kibble for most of her life, but about a year ago she started to have some troublesome episodes of stomach upsets and stiff joints. She was only 9, but she looked like an old dog and she'd lost a lot of her vitality. She'd get sick and be unable to hold even water down, and no vet could tell me why this was happening. In the end, I got blood tests and x-rays done. It was inconclusive, but the vet said the x-rays showed that her bowels were moving sluggishly. There were loops of gassy intestine and loops of intestine chock-a-block with dense matter. Anyway, he suggested I try cooking her meals and see if that helped her. I put her on a diet of pet mince, mashed vegies and rice. Seeing the way she dived in and devoured it made me realise just how much she didn't like kibble. She's now nearly 11 and the change in her is unbelievable. She's trim, fit and runs around like a 3 year old. Her joints rarely bother her and she hasn't been sick once since she went onto the diet, except for the time she ate cooked bones someone tossed over our fence. I have since researched a lot about dog nutrition and found that kibble does explain all the problems she was having. Dogs don't digest grains or plant matter very well. It slows everything down and it is also bad for arthritis. When I thought about it, I figured meat-flavoured cereal was a stupid thing to be feeding a carnivore. My rabbits like dog food better than my dog does. And I've known horses that love dog food as well.

I'm planning on getting a large breed sometime soon, and that means being aware of bloat and what I can do to minimise risks. After a lot of research, I've come to the conclusion that the best way to avoid bloat is to avoid kibble like the plague and feed a good, balanced wet diet. Plus, it's pretty satisfying to see my dog eating her daily meal with such gusto when she would just pick at kibble no matter what brand I bought her.

These are the brands that I like best:
 
Innova
Healthwise
California Natural
Timberwolf Organics
Natural Balance
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul
Pinnacle
Nature's Variety
 

I'm firmly anti-kibble. Good canine nutrition requires a varied diet of fresh foods that are mostly meat. Kibble is sort of the exact opposite of that principle-- not fresh, not varied, and mostly grains. That said, I do feed some kibble for my own convenience. I think any of the grain-free kibbles are fine choices. My favorite is Timberwolf Organics.
Note that many folks refer to Science Diet as "Science Death" as a commentary on how lousy a food it is.

i feed my dog iams...but sometimes i feel like its more of a supplement than a meal, he tries to survive on human food as much as he can. its gotten to the point where i get down and sniff his food and pretend to eat it so he will think its good stuff and eat it.
 
my dog eats alot of what i eat, i cant help it, i know dogs arent supposed to beg, but darn it, have you ever eaten dog food? i would beg too.
 
i tend to give him bits of raw meat every night while i cook, he gets bits of raw burger, the fatty peices i cut off raw chicken breasts, pretty much everything but pork and fish, which we dont eat anyway. i trick him into eating peas and carrots sometimes, but he doesnt really like vegetables so an all raw food diet wouldnt work for him.
 
but pretty much he eats iams and raw meat, often cooked meat too off my plate. he really likes cottage cheese too. i can see how one would think this isnt the best thing to do, but my dog almost always gets the first and last bite of everything i eat, minus foods with stuff dogs cant eat, chocolate, onions,grapes, etc.though i have been guilty of sneaking him a bite of milk choco.

There is nothing wrong with dogs getting "human foods".  Mine get homecooked meals every nite of the week.....unless I feed them raw.
 
Iams is not a great food.....lots of stuff in it that they don't need and can't use.  For what you pay for Iams, you could likely buy Innova.  Arguably tho, Innova, with the fruits and veggies, may have lots of stuff that they don't need also.  I suspect that there isn't a heck of a lot in Innova that they aren't using since we don't have the HORSE piles we had way back when the vet said to feed purina large breed puppY.......

well, my dog is fairly small and doesnt eat a ton of dog food, so we decided awhile back that the cost of his food didnt matter, i have never heard of innova, where would i find it?
also if theres any more suggestions on a great food for a bird dog (he doesnt hunt but he's hardwired to be one) i would love to know because i worry about him getting enough nutrition from his food since he doesnt eat very much of it.

ok, please don't jump all over me.....but we live in a small town and don't have many choices of places to purchase our pet food.  Where do you find these products?  I usually get the dog's food at Walmart.... right now feeding Purina One which I think might be one of the best one's they carry....is it that bad for them, they really do seem healthy....I'm open for suggestions

Deb1716,

I (starting tomorrow) am feeding my dog Timberwolf Organics Wild and Natural. I feel it might be the safest and healthiest I can find for my dog. The website is...
[linkhttp://www.timberwolforganics.com]Timberwolf Organics-click on me[/link]


you can order it online from their site.
If you want, you can try and locate a store near you (I don't know where you live) by clicking on "where to buy" on their site.

No one SHOULD jump on you. At all. If you don't know about these foods, how can we possibly judge you? It's not our business to judge you anyway, regardless of your dog food knowledge.

Deb...Purina One is excellant. Compare the ingredients with any of hte other name brands and you'll see they are quite similar.
 
My last dog lived to a ripe 13 years old on Purina Pro Plan but I am feeding my current dog Purina One cuz of it's availabilty. Purina makes excellant food.

Yes, please compare products. This tool will help: [linkhttp://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz]http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz[/link]

It allows you to compare up to 4 foods at one time. There are many brands to choose from...it doesn't have every single brand/flavor but has a majority of them.

No one SHOULD jump on you. At all. If you don't know about these foods, how can we possibly judge you? It's not our business to judge you anyway, regardless of your dog food knowledge.

 
That's right!  Figuring out dog foods can be confusing and overwhelming at best, and if you live in an area that these aren't readily available than that makes it even more diffilcult.  Many dogs live long, healthy lives on whatever food their owners can afford, while others may feed top premium foods and have health problems their whole lives.  You never know. 
 
We used to feed Solid Gold until it became very diffilcult to get around here.  Ordering it online wasn't a great option considering the shipping costs.  We switched to Canidae because I could walk into the pet store and buy it.  And, we've also ran out and in a inch got Purina One at the grocery store!  Kato's still alive.  Everyone's lives are different and not everyone can afford the top of the line foods, especially if you have multiple dogs.  Doesn't mean you love your dog less than I do. [] 
 
   

My dogs have been doing terrific on Canidae for about three years now.  I never really knew about "good"  or "bad" dog food until I joined this board and did some research. 
I wish I had known better with past dogs.  Looking back, I can see that I would have had healthier dogs who probably would have lived longer lives.

I use a K9 but my dog hair gone bad now i use for my dogue de bordeaux Class preference and sems to me that my dog doing well. Price is in midlle

[linkhttp://www.guardog.biz/dog-breeds.htm]dog breeds[/link]  [linkhttp://www.guardog.biz/dog-toys.htm]dog toys[/link]  [linkhttp://www.guardog.biz/dog-accessories.htm]dog accessories[/link]
and manny more

Bailey likes to have a bit of wet beniful on top of her food. Currently she is changing from maxximum to Natural Balance for allergies. I still have been putting in a little beniful on top but if she keeps having her skin allergies I will have to stop.

Beniful is pretty bad stuff.  I'm pretty sure that NB has canned in the allergy formulas.  If you've switched to NB for allergies you aren't helping one bit by putting something like beniful on top.