Dog food -YOUR OPINION!!-?

i have had my puppy on orijen puppy from the day i got him at eight weeks old ... he actually arrived with a 30 pound bag (pup was 2 pounds) so he has ate that food exclusively from the day i got him and he is almost 9 months now ... in the entire time i have had him he has not had diarrhea or vomited once so i think the food agrees with him, he seems to enjoy it when i put it down, and his coat is very soft and shiny ... i think it is a good food ... he finally finished the 30 pound bag and i have been getting "samples" of orijen puppy from my local pet store and cuz he is so small, one sample bag lasts almost a month !!! so he is eating high quality food for free :O) bonus of having a tiny dog :O)

My dog currently eats Natural Balance. She has several food allergies and this one works. I've also used Taste of the Wild, Premium Edge, Chicken Soup and would not hesitate to use those foods again with a different dog. All of those except the Natural Balance are available at feed store type retailers and will not cost an arm and a leg. At Wal-mart, one of the better foods is Newmans Own. I also do some home cooking so about half her meals are homecooked (recipe formed by a veterinary nutritionist) and half are the Natural Balance. She lovvves the homecooking. She definitely eats the Natural Balance but I'm not sure a picky dog would find that super appetizing.

Also Natural Balance recently recalled some foods as it is made in a plant that produced some other brands that may have had salmonella in them. I personally am not put off by this as from I can tell, they're just being very proactive. And I'd rather have a company that can take this proactive approach, than some of those companies that refuse to recall food until several dogs have died. Happy food searching!

I feed my Lab" Wellness Core Grain Free". I buy the biggest bag from Petco (My Petsmart doesn't carry the right formula) for about 50 bucks and it lasts her about a month or so. I used to feed Purina Puppy Chow, but after reading the ingredients (and being disgusted by it) i decided that Wellness was a much better/healthier choice even if it is more expensive. I never feed wet food because of the damage it can do to the teeth after a period of time. Have you ruled out allergies in your Toy Poodle? Certain ingredients in her food could be whats making her sick a lot as well as if you're switching foods quickly and frequently. You should usually take about a week to switch from one food to another, gradually feeding less of the old and more of the new.

Thats my opinion. :] Any questions just ask.

I found the same truths *here* when it comes to dog foods and what the big box stores offer. This is a "dawning" not a black hole opening up to swallow you.

First, I found the lesser known locally owned and operated pet food store and headed there. That's where the really fine pet foods can be found and usually they come equipped with a dedicated and knowledgeable owner to help guide you in your choices. I much prefer the locally owned feed store to any 'big box' pet supply warehouse, hands down ~ it's the people and the better choices.

I have a diabetic dog who needs to be on a low carb diet so he eats Taste Of The Wild. I have been happy with this brand though it's produced by Diamond, whom I'm not a fan of. New low-carb foods are making the scene so he'll be making a change down the road.

My little dogs LOVE their Orijen. *I* love Orijen ~ a fantastic food that goes a long, long way for it's cost. I initially began feeding Orijen only when traveling with the little dogs, but have been so completely pleased that I made the change at home, too. It's very costly, but for small dogs it goes such a long, long way that it really ends up being highly comparable to lesser-costing brands.

When I first realized there were better brands of food out there, I simply searched on one ("Canidae") and got a list of places where I could buy it ~ that's how I found my local dog-food store and the well-informed people who run it. I'll never go back to the big-box stores ~ for dog food products.

My own opinion is for years no one new about the ingredients in dog foods. No ones dog lived less eating Alpo. The way I look at it its like us eating tv dinners all the time. Filled with fillers, artificial colors etc. Now people are getting on this health kick wanting organic, healthy etc etc ..... so they want their dogs to eat as well as they do.

To be honest my dog eats better than I do. I do try to feed a high quality food which you can get at Petco. Petsmart, most privately owned pet stores, also Pedigree actually is slowly changing they way the make their dog food along with a few other dog food companies. The problem is most of the recalls are the high quality foods.

I currently feed my dog Fromm dry kibble grain free and as a treat I give her Wysong which she loves I call it her crack because she goes nuts for it. What I like about Fromm it is a high quality family owned dog food business. Never been recalled, and its affordable. I purchase a couple of different bags to mix it up a bit since my dog does get bored eating the same flavor all the time. One day I give her one flavor and the next day another.

I have tried the raw food diet with my dog but she did not do well on it as my other dog did so I just don't do it.

Also with a high quality food like Blue Buffalo, Nutro, Taste of the Wild over a few months your dog should shed less, and poop less. They won't have that need to eat as much either because they are getting the nutrition they need. Grain free is a popular since most dogs seem to do better one it since they have stomach issues, skin issues or other allergies.

I always fed kibble and only give wet food as a treat. This is because the wet food actually stick to their gums, teeth which especially with the little guys can make them have teeth issues since they are the most prone to dental issues. The kibbles help clean their teeth. Keeping the plaque off.

When you change a dog food suddenly, instead of slowly crossing the dog over then your dog can experience illness such as you describe.

To me a premium dog food has little to no filler and good quality meats in it. Not by-products.

I have one dog with environmental as well as food allergies so until now we have been feeding her salmon and sweet potato but since there's been a massive recall we have switched over to a Canadian brand (made in Canada) called Nature's Harvest grain free duck and potato. It's available only at Global Pet Foods which does not sell low end pet foods. Their house brand is of excellent quality but about 30% less than name brands. What that also means is both my dogs eat it because I'm not buying two different foods. It contains duck meat as a first ingredient and contains no soy, corn, wheat. We also feed dry food only.

Your dog can be picky if you allow it. YOU choose a quality food consisting of good ingredients for a small breed dog. You're the one who knows what's best for the dog. No healthy dog will starve itself for too long when food is made available on a regular basis.

We also do not offer any crappy treats and never anything that will interfere with their meals. We offer them only freeze dried liver pieces or dehydrated sweet potatoes. I make the sweet potato treats myself in the oven. The freeze dried liver pieces that I get are Benny Bully's (or our Canadian Nature's Harvest). They are straight meat, no additives and no grains. They're low in fat and calories and I haven't met a dog or cat yet that doesn't like them. Plus they're brittle so you can snap them into smaller pieces for cats and small dogs.

As for the sweet potatoes, I slice them lengthwise 1/4" thick. I lay them on a baking sheet on parchment paper. I bake them for an hour or so at 350F then I turn the oven down to 250. After an hour I flip the sweet potatoes over and bake them for another hour. They should be moist and chewy, not crispy. My dogs go absolutely mad for them. They're natural, healthy, and high in fibre.

Also, everything I feed my dogs is approved by my vet.

If you're in the US, you can shop at Pet Smart or Petco. I would recommend Wellness, Orijen, Royal Canin, Innova, Fromm, and Natural Balance. Stay away from anything made by Diamond including Taste of the Wild and Nature's Domain.

I think the best you can give your dog is raw food, there are special raw food sellers and the bigger animal stores should have those to (or google on it)

Raw food is the natural food for a dog, it's diffrent from the "normal" wetfood, because the "normal" wetfood contains lots of stuf a dog doesn't need and also simply a lot of water.

There is also high quality dry food, you should check the ingredients if you want to make a choice, the less grain is in it, the better it is for your dog.

However I mix it with my dog at home. She is a good eater and she eats what is left of our diner ( a little) and we add some dog food to it, one day dray quality food, and the next day raw dog food.

Raw dog food is often available frozen, so it's easier to keep it. Since you don't want me to google it for you. You should try google on it, there are a lot of online shops that sell those kind of foods.

Quality dry food is most often available at the pets-doctors place if he is a good pet-doctor!

I used to feed my puppy Pedigree Professional Range Weaning Food(found at a pet store or at your vet's) which worked really well for him.

But people freaked me out saying not to feed Pedigree. I knew about Pedigree not being good but majority of dogs in my country live off of that and they're fine.

So I switched him to Royal Canin(which is considered the best dog food in my country). It's utter bullsh*t. My puppy looked 10 times healthier when he was on pedigree. After switching him to RC he became scrawny. Now he's all chubby again and full of energy.

I spoke to my vet about switching him over to homecooked food. But she told me that it was necessary to give him at least one meal of a complete dog food.

In my country, all you get is Pedigree, Royal Canin, Eukanuba and a new local brand called Drools.

So I'm switching my puppy back to the Pedigree Professional Range by next week.

As the above poster said, people didn't care what was in the dog food until recently and btw almost ALL brands of HIGH QUALITY dog food have been recalled. But I couldn't find Pedigree in the 2012 Food Recall List. But I'd recommend the Professional Range more than the one we find in department stores.

Anyway, gonna ask the vet before i make an official switch. So you might want to do the same

The best place to look is local family owned pet food stores. Some good brands include ZiwiPeak, Orijen, Acana, Nature's Variety Instinct.

I personally don't feed any processed crap passed off as "dog food". I feed my dogs a raw diet and they are thriving.

Pretty demanding for someone looking for people to do the legwork for you, aintcha? Most pet stores carry high quality, grain-free diets. What my dogs do well on has absolutely no bearing on what your dog will do well on. Picky eaters are created by owners who try to cater to their descriminating palates, and if you haven't isolated the ingredients your dog may be sensitive to, there's still no guarantee she will do well on a better diet. Start with grain-free, single source protein diets and start eliminating what may be causing the problem