Dog Food - I need some first hand advice?

Try doing dogfood research here: www.dogfoodproject.com

The key things to look for in a high quality dog food are:

named meat sources as the first 2+ (dry food) to first several (wet food) ingredients

if grains are used, they should be used judiciously and not as a primary source of protein. I'd want to see no corn and prefer no wheat.

avoid unnamed meat sources and any meat 'by-product'

there is more - but if your dog food meets the above standards, it most likely meets the rest of the key standards as well.

Skip the Royal Canin, Science Diet, Iams. A Yorkie eats next to nothing, so the cost of food is minimal even with truly "expensive" foods. Plus, dogs eat much less of the higher quality foods. I spend less than $80 a month feeding 3 large breeds and a toy breed. Does your pitbull NEED the performance food? Diamond also makes Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul...it's a MUCH better food for both of your dogs-Higher quality ingredients, and only about $3 a bag (for the biggest-it's 30 or 35 pounds) more than the regular Diamond. Diamond Naturals would be a decent food that both could eat. To keep them from each other's food (if you feed different foods), simply feed them in separate rooms with a closed door between them. If I were to recommend an inexpensive food that both could eat, I'd go with the Chicken Soup (if they don't carry it already, anyplace that carried Diamond can get it for you). My dogs eat California Naturals, made by Natura, who also makes Healthwise and Innova. Those three, in my opinion, are the best foods out there. Some other good foods for both dogs: Wellness Super5mix, Merrick, some of the Solid Gold varieties, Prairie, Canidae All Life Stages. If you feel that the Pitbull needs the extra calories from the Diamond Performance, you could feed that the the small dog, as well. It's at the high end of what I would feed a small dog for protein (30%), but should work out fine, except that I would monitor weight closely. I searched high and low for a food that all 4 of my dogs could tolerate, because feeding separate foods is a huge pain to me.

Burns and Wellbeloved is mostly rice. They may list the lamb or "lamb meal" as the first ingredient but when they list "lamb" they're counting the wet weight of the lamb before they take the water out of it. Lamb is about 60% water and they can count that water weight in their claims that it's 32% lamb. The "meal" product is counted as dried but it's twice-cooked "high-mileage" meat. Even if their claims were on a dry matter basis and not nutritionally bludgeoned by the machines, a quality food should be more than 70% meat. These are not even one-third at best.

Your dog doesn't need the carbohydrates and starch in the abundance found in rice. Feed him some meat and bones. You can easily adjust the amount of fat he gets by trimming off fat and skin or leaving it on. His soft stools are probably from too much fat. Besides all the rice and barley, the Wellbeloved has an untold amount of fat. A lot of the fat comes from the linseed and the named ingredient "lamb fat." One of the worst things about the latter is that it can come from animals that weren't slaughtered -- in other words from dead, diseased and dying animals.

Your dog should eat meat. Feed him something you can recognize is meat. Don't cook it and leave the bones in so he gets the right amounts of calcium and phosphorous. If you feed him too much muscle meat and not enough bone, his stools may be soft, and he'll lack the calcium he needs which can cause problems in the longer term.

All I can tell you is this: If it's not broke...then don't fix it" and" No one dog food is a fit for every dog". Meaning the Burns sounds like it was working for you. At 10 mos old, he is a gangly teen. My Aussie did the same thing. I was feeding a huge amount of a great quality food (Natural Balance) to keep even modest weight on him and it was a struggle. He was like one of those annoying boys who could eat and eat and eat and not gain weight! The he hit maturity and now is plump.

I would go back to the Burns. The Wellbeloved is definitely not a fit for your dog. I've owned my own feed and pet store and was a sales rep for a pet food distribution company. There are many good foods out on the market but the thing to remember is that you are not the one who eats it. You will get many people here talking at you and telling you what is best and why and some if it will be good advice and some not so good, but ultimately YOUR dog is the one who will have the final say.

I used Blue Buffalo and that is a holistic dog food and it was to rich for her. I use eukanuba. That stopped with the gassy problems and the runny poops. Sometimes a dog food might be to rich for them. I have a 4 month old puppy (great Dane) She has a sensitive stomach. Plus look and find out what protien levels the puppy should have because NOT ALL dogs need a high protien dog food. Great danes are not to have puppy food because most are high levels of protein. I would look up the breed really not the dog food and than look at what dog food from there

Good luck! I have read more rubbish responding to your type of question than to almost any other. Most dog owners have a food that they consider THE best - and to them everything else is rubbish. As a dog owner for the last 45 years [always 2 or 3 dogs] i have probably tried out every food on the market and i have seen little difference as far as the dogs were concerned. We only feed our dogs dry food and always have. With our current 3 (9.5yrs, 4.5yrs & 3yrs) we use 3 different brands of food - chosen by the dogs themselves by trial and error. We feed them what they have decided they liked best. We ARE careful about quantity though and by observation of their condition have arrived at the ideal amount for each for optimum condition.

I went through exactly the same thing with my Ridgeback; he was raised on Burns and was extremely skinny. Eventually I changed him to Arden Grange Performance, which put weight on him really nicely! (His age might also have had something to do with it, as dogs do tend fill out as they get older.)

Perhaps also consider changing back to feeding him 3 smaller meals per day.

one of my dogs have a sensitive stomach similar to your puppy. she has gotten better with age, but whenever her food was change her poop was very runny. you can either go back to the original (may not work though) or call your vet up and ask for a prescription of Hills prescription diet I/D (just say i/d dog food to the vet). this food is designed for dogs with sensitive stomachs and is made to be mixed with the new food. you slowly add less and less to their food till they don't need anymore.

I don't know your food. I have coon hounds and Pitts and they are on Bluebuffalo and Diamond lamb and rice. I am very pleased with their muscle and stamina.

Try holistic dog foods, they are the best foods for your dog. Like Evo, Innova, Blue Buffalo, and Earthborn. I feed my dogs earthborn and they do great with it. You could also try raw feeding.

http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/

http://www.rawfeddogs.net/Recipe/List