Am I crazy

5158 Views 54 Replies 22 Participants Last post by Jax08, Nov 10, 2010

dhfitch

Discussion Starter · Nov 5, 2010

When I was growing up my parents bought 50bl bags of Alpo dog food to feed our dogs. We didn't have shepherds (sans one shepherd/lab mix who terrified me as a small child) or any other fancy dog. Just mutts most of which just wondered onto the farm and took up residence. A few months ago I took in a husky, who reminded me how much I missed having a dog. I was almost in tears when the owner was found, and the place at the foot of my bed was once again empty.

Thus, my puppy search began. After some breed research, and my wife insisting not a husky, we decided on a shepherd. After visiting shelters and breeder we finally found Reagan, and immediately took him to the vet. I was still under the impression that the standard way to feed a dog was to buy a bag of Purina or Alpo and tuck it in a large water tight container where it would serve as a source of nourishment to your canine companion for several months. But, out of curiosity, I asked the vet what food she would suggest. Our vet, in not so many words, said Science Diet was the way to go. I thought to myself 'this food cost twice as much but the dog cost infinitely more than any other dog I had as a child, and i love my new pup so what the heck'.

Recently it came to my attention that Science Diet is a terrible food source, and descent dog food cost a lot. By my math, I could just feed Reagan a boneless chicken breast in the morning and some flank steak at night and pay about the same money (which is becoming a very serious consideration). Now I'm not a rich man, but I want what is best for my dog. And I have to say I'm a little skeptical of all these premium dog foods, after all some of my parents dog are still alive and quite happy almost two decades later (the ones who have passed, met ends other than poor food quality). The whole time they've been eating food that apparently should have my parents up on animal cruelty charges.

Now don't misread me I believe my pup is worth the $100+ cost of premium food, i'm just blown away by it. I haven't owned a dog in ten years, is this a new thing, or am i just too back woods to know about it? What should I feed my puppy and what should the cost be? What do you feed your dog? Has anyone else ever thought the same thing?

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Vinnie

· #21 · Nov 5, 2010

DJEtzel said:
I feel like you're trying to neutralize a possible arguement.

I will however, take the compliment and run. Haha, thank you.

Now, would I do that?

I see a lot of people ask questions on here that never get answered because we all get so easily side tracked.

dhfitch said:
When I was growing up my parents bought 50bl bags of Alpo dog food to feed our dogs. ............

I haven't owned a dog in ten years, is this a new thing, or am i just too back woods to know about it? What should I feed my puppy and what should the cost be? What do you feed your dog? Has anyone else ever thought the same thing?

I remember Purina being one of the only dog kibbles available. Then came Iams. Everyone thought that was the greatest food.

Now there is so much to choose from it is hard to know which one is the best for your dog. I do still feed a high quality commercial kibble but I'm honestly thinking that home cooked or raw is the best way to go. I kind of feel like it's a full circle kind of thing. It's what my parents use to feed and people fed prior to the development of commercial kibble.

What should you feed your puppy? Only thing I can say is do your research and find a well-balanced diet that provides him/her all the nutrition they need.

Here's a site that might be helpful: Dog Food Reviews - Main Index - Powered by ReviewPost

Or if you're interested in home cooked or a raw diet check out our special forum sections for more information on those.

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LisaT

· #22 · Nov 5, 2010

dhfitch said:
.....Now don't misread me I believe my pup is worth the $100+ cost of premium food, i'm just blown away by it. I haven't owned a dog in ten years, is this a new thing, or am i just too back woods to know about it? What should I feed my puppy and what should the cost be? What do you feed your dog? Has anyone else ever thought the same thing?

it's also true that cheap food is getting cheaper. Dog food is a dumping ground for the waste in the processing of all our other food. The genetically engineered corn that isn't allow for humans to eat because it can create allergies, is allowed to go into dog food. Meat nowadays is raised in an incredibly unhealthy environment and weight gained in unnatural ways, and the worst of the worst typically goes into the cheaper foods and many of the expensive foods with commercials (i.e. SD, Euk, etc.). All of our food sources have changed, and so have the food sources for dog food.

I feed primarily homecooked. I sometimes supplement with Primal raw, and now I'm experimenting with 1/2 cup of kibble per day, only because my dog needs novel foods, and I'm using just a bit of duck kibble.

DJEtzel

· #23 · Nov 5, 2010

Lisa, do you have any links for preparing homecooked meals the right way? I'm kind of interested in it with Frag's growing allergies. It may help the OP, too.

Is it cheaper for you than feeding a kibble?

Rerun

· #24 · Nov 5, 2010

LisaT, what do you feed exactly (homecooked that is)? Is there a thread or post you've made outlining what you are feeding?

I would be interested in homecooked, but would not even know where to begin.

DJEtzel

· #25 · Nov 5, 2010

Ditto, Rerun.

LisaT

· #26 · Nov 5, 2010 (Edited)

LOL, no, it is definitely NOT cheaper.....Max appears to tolerate only lamb and duck $$$$$

Max's diet isn't balanced enough right now, going through some allergy and fistula issues, so what I do with him is not a good example. (However, even with that, all bloodwork comes back good, and I'm always getting compliments on coat and how good he looks.)

I fed Indy homecooked for about 10 years. I didn't worry a lot about balancing for a couple of reasons. One, I don't believe that kibble is complete or balanced and I didnt' think I could screw her up any more than kibble did. The other is that I do not believe that levels of ingredients are known for optimal health, so I don't have a lot of faith any of the recommended amounts of nutrients - how can you balance something when you have no faith in the numbers? I also figured that if we can raise kids without measuring out their food and balancing ratios, we should be able to do that with dogs. (caveat: puppies require more careful balancing!)

I do believe however in balancing the calcium, phosphorous, and magnesium, and being a bit careful about having sufficient amounts of zinc (somewhat balanced with copper) and A and a handful of other things.

For Indy, I fed pork at night, eggs or salmon in the morning,primarily with steamed veggies and flaxseed, supplements. Indy got lots of supplements, she needed them, no grains. I would have rotated proteins, but those were the only ones she tolerated. And, in the end, she only tolerated pork, but I did supplement with a carefully chosen whey protein for a fuller variety of amino acids.

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Castlemaid

· #27 · Nov 5, 2010

Mac's Mom said:
You're so cute. I was the same way when I was a teenager.

Knowledgeable and educated? Good for you!

Mac's Mom

· #28 · Nov 5, 2010

DJEtzel said:
I'm cute? I don't think that's very appropriate. I'm just wondering what model those percentages are from I know there are a few, but I've never heard of that and fed raw for almost a year.

You can make that point without giving information that might not be accurate that may lead the OP to believe is what is best.

You're right.

Mac's Mom

· #29 · Nov 5, 2010 (Edited)

DH - Sorry about almost derailing your thread with a raw discussion.

You're not crazy, I totally understand what you're saying. For awhile we were feeding purina and didn't think anything of it. Then, like you, I starting hearing an overwhelming amount of opinions about how bad the grocery store brands are for dogs. I wonder if those types of dog foods used to be good and over the years to and maximize profits the manufacturers continually added fillers and other junk. And now we have to pay the big bucks for the good stuff.

You mentioned flank steak & chicken breast. I'm not a nutritionist so I shouldn't have given you the percentages of raw. I found a resource I trust and the actual advised percentages are 50% rmb, 45% mm and 5% organ. Thats just what works for us. But raw versus kibble, raw & kibble and raw diets are highly debated with drastically differing opinions. I just wanted to point out that you'll have to give your dog a balanced diet. I learned the hard way and Mac ended up getting sick.

And to DJetzel-My nieces and nephews get sooo mad at me when I call them cute. Sorry. You're challenging & inquisitive young woman. (I hated being called cute until I was about 30) Again, my apologies.

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LaRen616

· #30 · Nov 5, 2010

Growing up my Mom always fed the family dogs Purina, Iams and Eukanuba, it was cheap and it was convenient because it was at the grocery and she was grocery shopping.

I feed both of my dogs and my 3 cats TOTW.

A bag of TOTW for my dogs costs me $39.99 for 30 pounds and it lasts me 2 weeks or a little over 2 weeks.

kiya

· #31 · Nov 5, 2010

Yes I totally understand the dog food delema, years ago my grandmother thought Alpo was the best thing since sliced bread. When I got my own dogs I remember thinking Pedigree was good, then I went to Purina Pro Plan thinking I was feeding a much better food. Well after hours and hours of reading and comparing I decided to switch from Pro Plan to Kirkland a few months ago. I just may step it up to a better food soon because hubby has complained about the doggie farts being horrible, to me they smell better than his farts!

LisaT

· #32 · Nov 5, 2010

Yeah, as an aside, the "cute" thing and the age thing are inappropriate here. It's a passive aggressive way of trying to discount someone's knowledge, which should be argued on its own merit.

Emoore

· #33 · Nov 5, 2010

I will add that as cheap dog food is getting cheaper, the best dog foods are getting better.

I've said before that when I started coming to this board in 2002, the general consensus was that Nutro Natural Choice was some of the best stuff out there. It kind of held the place Orijen does now. Now, well, Orijen is the best and Nutro NC, even Nutro Ultra, are held to be kind of crappy foods.

That's why I don't feel bad for feeding something like 4Health over Orijen. 8 years ago we would have lost our minds over the quality of this stuff. Now we're quibbling about the fact that it has rice listed twice. I just wonder, in another 8 years will we be feeding our dogs filet mignon and champagne?

http://www.tractorsupply.com/content/storeevents/4health_large_breed_formula

DJEtzel

· #34 · Nov 5, 2010

Emoore said:
I just wonder, in another 8 years will we be feeding our dogs filet mignon and champagne?

Frag got three venison steaks for dinner a couple nights ago.

I think this may end up happening.

Mac's Mom

· #35 · Nov 5, 2010

LisaT said:
Yeah, as an aside, the "cute" thing and the age thing are inappropriate here. It's a passive aggressive way of trying to discount someone's knowledge, which should be argued on its own merit.

I don't want to derail the thread again. But you're right. And I personally apologized to her. I thought about it later and realized I sounded just like the people who used to say that to me when I was young (er

.

overtgabby

· #36 · Nov 5, 2010

I am currently feeding my dog Sojos dog food. You mix it with water and raw meat (meat is cheap, because Hubby hunts) It costs between $65-80 for a 40 lb bag, but it makes 200 lbs of food. you can check it out at www.sojos.com. They also have a complete formula that you dont need to add meat to, but that costs alot more.

48496

· #37 · Nov 5, 2010

When people say that their dogs eat less because it's a much higher quality dog food, does this mean you follow the directions on the bag? Or do you feed less than that? Also, what do you think about the Exclusive Large Dog Breed brand from Tractor Supply?

Thanks!

Lilie

· #38 · Nov 5, 2010

Aside from providing a healthy diet for your dog, I found that when I feed a higher quality dog food, my dog has less waste! So when I weigh the higher cost food (small poopers) vs. lower cost food (huge, stinky, sloppy, poopers) I don't mind spending the extra money!

Mac's Mom

· #39 · Nov 5, 2010

Lilie said:
Aside from providing a healthy diet for your dog, I found that when I feed a higher quality dog food, my dog has less waste! So when I weigh the higher cost food (small poopers) vs. lower cost food (huge, stinky, sloppy, poopers) I don't mind spending the extra money!

I noticed that too...about the poop

Also, Mac had a funky smell when I fed him the purina or puppy chow...whatever it was.

A lot of people have said they feel it saves money on vet bills in the long run too.

Emoore

· #40 · Nov 5, 2010

littlebit722 said:
Also, what do you think about the Exclusive Large Dog Breed brand from Tractor Supply?

Are you talking about 4Health Large Breed Adult? If so, it's a good food especially for the money. It's what I feed.

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