So confused about dog food

[Love Is A GSD]

Hopefully someone can help me with this :]
Okay I feed my dog Orijen and Acana (grain free meat based dry food) and throughout the week he gets something mixed in. Like one day he gets Deli Fresh pet food mixed with it, than the next he gets Nature's Variety freeze dried raw mixed in, then another day he'll get a meat based grain free canned food mixed in (like Before Grain or EVO for example). Well thing is I constantly hear that fresh or moist food is usually better than kibble and that kibble is the most un natural food for a dog. So should I no longer feed the dry? Why or why not? For the people who don't know, deli fresh is fresh refrigerated meat based dog food, some being grain free. I am also not quite ready to feed a full raw diet right now. Thanks!

[Girth]

If your happy and your dog is happy and healthy with what you currently feed I would not worry about what others think.

[AxelsDad]

Every owner will debate food to the end of time. Everyone wants to do the very best things for their furry companions. Go with your gut with food ... if you feel Orijen and Acana are great ... then they are. I currently feed Champion brand to my puppy, and he is doing really great. You sound like you research your foods, so just do what the research is pointing you to do.

FYI - research can be skewed to create any result the testers and interested parties want it to say ... so just watch your dog's energy and health, and that should be the true test if you are feeding correctly.

[Eiros]

Out of all the kibble out there, people here usually highly recommend Orijen and Acana. They are good quality and if your dog is doing well on them there is no reason to switch. Sounds like there is a lot of fun variety in there too!

[PaddyD]

You seem to be feeding your dog VERY WELL. No reason to change.

[BowWowMeow]

I think homemade or raw are better for dogs than highly processed food (like kibble). Same goes for cats and for people. Kibble simply is not as bio-available because of the processing at high heat to make the handy little bite sized pieces.

The deli fresh stuff is ok but it is also processed to make that loaf shape. Same with canned, of course.

When I feed kibble I like to add in lots of fresh food like (and I buy organic whenever possible):

Non-fat or low fat cottage cheese
Non-fat or low-fat, plain, sugar-free yogurt
Raw eggs or scrambled eggs (Rafi gets one raw egg per day)
Canned Tripe (Tripet) I used to add raw tripe but the store stopped carrying it
Canned or fresh salmon or other fish
Fresh ground meat (chicken, beef, etc.)

Rafi eats raw but I don't do DIY raw and instead feed him Bravo. It comes in 10 pound tubes. It's more expensive but I would have to grind everything for him anyway (he can't handle the bones digestively).

I should add that I avoid processed foods as much as possible too.

[Love Is A GSD]

Thank you so much everyone for the replies! I guess you guys are right, I believe it's good food and the dogs are in perfect health so I should probably leave good as is :]

And while I agree the less processed the better, I still have TONS of research to do before I can even consider a home made diet. I don't want to risk my dogs health and do something wrong or not provide the right vitamins/minerals.

[selzer]

Ruth, how much does the ten pound tube cost -- I figure two of them a day would feed my girls.

[doggiedad]

i feed kibble. my dogs kibble is normally
topped with something. i have a long list of things
i top the kibble with. i only use the preminum brands
of kibble and can food. my dog also gets cooked food
and a 4oz raw ground pattie as a topping for his kibble. my dog doesn't like cooked ground beef.

you're feeding your dog well. as long as he is healthy
inside and out i say you're doing the right thing
for your dog.

[CookieTN]

Wet food is more natural and the ingredients are fresher, sometimes better ingredients than their dry counterparts, but it'd be pretty expensive to feed it all the time. You do not have to, your dog will be fine if you don't. I only fed Cookie wet food like once a month, as a treat.
Another reason is that the moisture in wet is nicer on the kidneys, but I would just soak Cookie's kibble in water before giving it to her. For tooth care we fed RMBs whenever possible.
Dry kibble helps a little bit with cleaning teeth, but honestly not much. Not enough to support any argument some might say about wetting it making you lose the tooth care abilities, IMO. Kibble doesn't help clean teeth at all if the dog doesn't chew the food.