I am wondering what everybody feeds their GSD, the breeder I got him from suggested IAMS puppy food, and I see that Eukanuba and some other quality dog foods have food geared more to GSDs. I am wondering what has worked best for coat, weight etc.
food
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IMO, both IAMS and Eukanuba are crap. Especially for the money.
Dogs are carnivores, which means their diet should be comprised primarily (and some will argue exclusively) of meat. Many dog foods, IAMS and Eukanuba included, are heavily grain based.
When shopping dog foods you need to learn to read lables. The ingredients listed first in the ingredients list are those that make up the highest percentage of the food. Good foods have meat sources as their primary ingredients and will contain many meat sources in the first several ingredients listed. Poorer quality foods will have lots of grains (corn, wheat, rice, oats) in the first few ingredients.
Some other things are to try to avoid by-products, and that Chicken Meal is better than just Chicken, since meal has had the water removed prior to weighing whereas Chicken is weighed (and thus assigned it's spot on the ingredients list) with the water included. Once the water is removed from Chicken, it's going to move down the list.
For example, Eukanuba's GSD formula's first 10 ingredients:
"Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken By-Product Meal (Natural source of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine), Brewers Rice, Fish meal, Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast,..."
For the same money you can feed:
"Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Herring Meal, Flax Seed, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Chicken,..." More meat based ingredients, less grains, and the grain that is there (rice) is much better than corn.
Also, the "breed specific" foods made by Eukanuba and others are more marketing gimick than anything else. The ingredients are still relatively poor.
Dogs are carnivores, which means their diet should be comprised primarily (and some will argue exclusively) of meat. Many dog foods, IAMS and Eukanuba included, are heavily grain based.
When shopping dog foods you need to learn to read lables. The ingredients listed first in the ingredients list are those that make up the highest percentage of the food. Good foods have meat sources as their primary ingredients and will contain many meat sources in the first several ingredients listed. Poorer quality foods will have lots of grains (corn, wheat, rice, oats) in the first few ingredients.
Some other things are to try to avoid by-products, and that Chicken Meal is better than just Chicken, since meal has had the water removed prior to weighing whereas Chicken is weighed (and thus assigned it's spot on the ingredients list) with the water included. Once the water is removed from Chicken, it's going to move down the list.
For example, Eukanuba's GSD formula's first 10 ingredients:
"Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken By-Product Meal (Natural source of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine), Brewers Rice, Fish meal, Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast,..."
For the same money you can feed:
"Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Herring Meal, Flax Seed, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Chicken,..." More meat based ingredients, less grains, and the grain that is there (rice) is much better than corn.
Also, the "breed specific" foods made by Eukanuba and others are more marketing gimick than anything else. The ingredients are still relatively poor.
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Devin,
If you look through old threads here in the Puppy Feeding section, and mainly down in the Diet & Nutrition section, there is a whole wealth of information on learning how to select a good food, interpret food lables, recommendations for different brands, etc...
If you look through old threads here in the Puppy Feeding section, and mainly down in the Diet & Nutrition section, there is a whole wealth of information on learning how to select a good food, interpret food lables, recommendations for different brands, etc...
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15,138 Posts
I would start with a good to high quality food. I really don't like adding canned food unless I absolutly have to, it is a pain if you travel or if the dog has a house sitter or they go to boarding. With dry food I can have a list, this dog get X number of cups X number of times a day.
Fussy eaters can be created by adding different foods. Raya recently taught me that if it is the correct food for them, you don't need to add a bunch of stuff to get them to eat.
I have used Canidae with mixed results. If you are looking for a good food, try Taste of the Wild, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul and Fromms are good food choices there are several more.
Fussy eaters can be created by adding different foods. Raya recently taught me that if it is the correct food for them, you don't need to add a bunch of stuff to get them to eat.
I have used Canidae with mixed results. If you are looking for a good food, try Taste of the Wild, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul and Fromms are good food choices there are several more.
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