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Nutrition
I have been studying dog food for some time now, and I have some opinions on the subject. Keep in mind, that these are just my opinions. I don't have scientific studies to back all my beliefs. Here are some general things that I think about dog food......... Steve
1. You can buy any kind of food, for any price that is approved by AAFCO and your dog will probably be OK.
2. Some dog foods have better ingredients in them than others. Even though the results of feeding foods with better ingredients will not usually be seen right away, I think you will have a healthier dog in years to come when you feed better food.
3. Better ingredients cost more. You can buy a 20 pound bag of dog food for $10 and you can buy a 20 pound bag of dog food that costs $40 They are both AAFCO approved, but if you read the labels, you will probably find that the cheap one is mostly corn, and the expensive one has more meat, and probably NO corn.
4. Dog food makers (and human food makers) are getting very sneaky when they make the list of ingredients. Most people now know that the ingredient listed first, is the ingredient that there is the most of in the product. This is now manipulated in various ways, so you don't get the true picture.
For instance, if a label says the ingredients are.....Chicken, brown rice, and various vitamins, you could tell that there is more chicken in the food than brown rice. In other words, a higher percentage of meat than grain.
What if the label says the ingredients are.....Chicken, brown rice, white rice, corn meal, barley flour and various vitamins? All we now know is that there is more chicken than brown rice, more chicken than white rice, more chicken than corn meal, and more chicken than barley flour. The percentage of meat to grain is not at all clear
5. The most expensive dog foods aren't necessarily the best, but price is a pretty good indicator of quality. There are a couple of brands that are quite expensive, and yet are low quality, so beware. You can't rely totally on how much a dog likes a kind of food either. Some of the lowest quality foods can taste the best to dogs. Dog food makers can spray a coating on the outside of the dry food. This coating is there to make the dogs like it. Without it, they would probably not like the food at all. That is the reason why people sometimes buy expensive dog food, and then get upset when their dog doesn't appear to like it as well as a cheap brand. It isn't the food itself, just the coating that they like. A dog would eat sawdust with chicken fat sprayed on it.
6. Feeding better quality food doesn't necessarily cost a lot more. Dogs will eat less of a quality food, and not constantly act like they are starving. If feeding quality food keeps the dog healthier, and prevents a vet visit down the road....... well, I'll put it this way, you can buy a lot of pretty expensive dog food for the price of a vet visit!
7. Read the labels! Don't be fooled by pretty pictures of vegetables on the bag. There is probably just a minuscule amount of them actually in the food. If a dog food has things in it you wouldn't want to feed your dog, don't buy it. I was looking at raw hide chews in a store. (I try to only buy only American made chews) I actually saw it written as a warning on a chew bone from China that if you touch the chew with your hand, you should immediately go and wash with soap and water. Is this really something you want to feed your dog?
8. If you are getting a puppy from us, we would like to talk to you about food before you come and pick up the puppy. A puppy's food shouldn't be changed abruptly. We feed our puppies what we feel are quality foods, but if you have a specific brand of a quality food that you know you will be feeding your puppy, and it isn't what we use, we will purchase some, and get her ready for the change in foods. The puppy will already be making lots of changes, and she doesn't need a digestive problem (nor do you) when she is first coming to her new home.
Which kinds do puppies actually like? What they like best is home-made food. The trouble is that most people don't want to take the time and effort to figure out how to prepare a balanced dog diet. It is also time consuming, and generally more work than cooking for people. Second best is canned dog food. If you can afford to feed a good quality canned food to your dog, that is the best choice for most people. One can of good quality food costs between $1.25 and $3 and a puppy may eat 3/4 to a whole can a day. Don't listen to people who say that dry dog food "cleans their teeth". That makes about as much sense as eating crackers instead of brushing your teeth.
Why is canned dog food better than dry? Think about the processing. Dry dog food often contains chicken meal. OK, that is a good ingredient, but what happens? First chicken is dried into meal. Then it is re-moistened with the other ingredients in the food. Then it is dried again. Talk about processed food. Is that chicken still as good as it was at first? I doubt it.
Is there a compromise? Sure. Mix some quality dry food into the canned, and it will go a lot farther. Your puppy will still like it almost as much, and you will save some money.
There is a dog food analysis website that lists almost all the dog foods out there, and rates them. When you look at it, I think you need to keep in mind a few things.
1.The dog foods that rate 6 stars seem a little extreme to me. I don't recomend them. That goes for the dry food, and the cans.
2. Many people seem to think Hills Science Diet is one of the best foods. I wonder why? (hint----if you are looking for it on the dog food analysis website, look under 1 star.)
3. The only grocery store I know of that sells anything besides 1 star foods in this area is Woodman's. They sell several good quality foods.
4. PET SUPPLIES PLUS has, in my opinion, the best selection of premium dog foods in the Fox Valley. I don't know about other areas.
5. We are feeding miniature dachshunds, not great danes. They don't eat THAT much. Your dog is worth the cost of at least a 3 star food.
6. HOW MUCH DOES IT ACTUALLY COST TO FEED A PREMIUM PUPPY FOOD? I will make this really easy for you. You don't even have to go to a petstore. Actually you don't have to move from where you are right now to get your dog started on a premium food. Go to http://www.dogfooddirect.com If you live in Wisconsin or nearby states the shipping charges are very reasonable. Find NutriSource Small or Medium Breed Puppy Food. This is a 3 star food that I think is pretty good. Order it, and you can feed your puppy for aprox. 35 cents a day. If you went with what I think is probably the best quality puppy food there is--Wellness Super5Mix Puppy Food---the cost would be about 47 cents a day.
6.There are lots of 3 star foods that I think are good. I would not hesitate to feed my dogs a 3 star food.
7. Study the comments made about a food you are thinking about using. They give hints about how good the ingredients listed are, and also which ingredients shouldn't be in a dog food at all.
8. As near as I can tell, there is no perfect food. You will have to make at least some compromises on what you want in a dog food.
9. Here are some really good puppy foods. They are all rated 5 stars.There are many more good ones out there too. The same companies also make canned food that is excellent.
Chicken Soup For The Puppy Lover's Soul I really hate the name of this puppy food, and I didn't try it for quite a while just because of the name. I have listed it first in spite of the name, because the ingredients in it are just great, and it isn't quite as expensive as some of the others. That is a winning combination.
Wellness Super5Mix Puppy Food These next three are all really good
formulas. You couldn't go wrong with
any of them.
Innova Puppy Food Dry
Merrick Puppy Plate
9. Don't be discouraged if you---- study the foods, find one that you think is really great, spend more money on a bag of dog food that you ever believed you would, take it home expecting your dog to think it is the greatest thing that he/she has ever eaten, and your dog takes one sniff and looks at you like "Why would I eat that?" Your dog just might really like the new food, but you can't count on it. The best way to introduce a new food (do as I say here, not as I do) is to mix a small portion with your dogs current food, and gradually increase it until he/she is getting all new food.
There are two links below. The first has listings of almost all dogfoods available. The foods are rated with 1-6 stars. The other link is to a site with strong opinions on puppy food.
1. You can buy any kind of food, for any price that is approved by AAFCO and your dog will probably be OK.
2. Some dog foods have better ingredients in them than others. Even though the results of feeding foods with better ingredients will not usually be seen right away, I think you will have a healthier dog in years to come when you feed better food.
3. Better ingredients cost more. You can buy a 20 pound bag of dog food for $10 and you can buy a 20 pound bag of dog food that costs $40 They are both AAFCO approved, but if you read the labels, you will probably find that the cheap one is mostly corn, and the expensive one has more meat, and probably NO corn.
4. Dog food makers (and human food makers) are getting very sneaky when they make the list of ingredients. Most people now know that the ingredient listed first, is the ingredient that there is the most of in the product. This is now manipulated in various ways, so you don't get the true picture.
For instance, if a label says the ingredients are.....Chicken, brown rice, and various vitamins, you could tell that there is more chicken in the food than brown rice. In other words, a higher percentage of meat than grain.
What if the label says the ingredients are.....Chicken, brown rice, white rice, corn meal, barley flour and various vitamins? All we now know is that there is more chicken than brown rice, more chicken than white rice, more chicken than corn meal, and more chicken than barley flour. The percentage of meat to grain is not at all clear
5. The most expensive dog foods aren't necessarily the best, but price is a pretty good indicator of quality. There are a couple of brands that are quite expensive, and yet are low quality, so beware. You can't rely totally on how much a dog likes a kind of food either. Some of the lowest quality foods can taste the best to dogs. Dog food makers can spray a coating on the outside of the dry food. This coating is there to make the dogs like it. Without it, they would probably not like the food at all. That is the reason why people sometimes buy expensive dog food, and then get upset when their dog doesn't appear to like it as well as a cheap brand. It isn't the food itself, just the coating that they like. A dog would eat sawdust with chicken fat sprayed on it.
6. Feeding better quality food doesn't necessarily cost a lot more. Dogs will eat less of a quality food, and not constantly act like they are starving. If feeding quality food keeps the dog healthier, and prevents a vet visit down the road....... well, I'll put it this way, you can buy a lot of pretty expensive dog food for the price of a vet visit!
7. Read the labels! Don't be fooled by pretty pictures of vegetables on the bag. There is probably just a minuscule amount of them actually in the food. If a dog food has things in it you wouldn't want to feed your dog, don't buy it. I was looking at raw hide chews in a store. (I try to only buy only American made chews) I actually saw it written as a warning on a chew bone from China that if you touch the chew with your hand, you should immediately go and wash with soap and water. Is this really something you want to feed your dog?
8. If you are getting a puppy from us, we would like to talk to you about food before you come and pick up the puppy. A puppy's food shouldn't be changed abruptly. We feed our puppies what we feel are quality foods, but if you have a specific brand of a quality food that you know you will be feeding your puppy, and it isn't what we use, we will purchase some, and get her ready for the change in foods. The puppy will already be making lots of changes, and she doesn't need a digestive problem (nor do you) when she is first coming to her new home.
Which kinds do puppies actually like? What they like best is home-made food. The trouble is that most people don't want to take the time and effort to figure out how to prepare a balanced dog diet. It is also time consuming, and generally more work than cooking for people. Second best is canned dog food. If you can afford to feed a good quality canned food to your dog, that is the best choice for most people. One can of good quality food costs between $1.25 and $3 and a puppy may eat 3/4 to a whole can a day. Don't listen to people who say that dry dog food "cleans their teeth". That makes about as much sense as eating crackers instead of brushing your teeth.
Why is canned dog food better than dry? Think about the processing. Dry dog food often contains chicken meal. OK, that is a good ingredient, but what happens? First chicken is dried into meal. Then it is re-moistened with the other ingredients in the food. Then it is dried again. Talk about processed food. Is that chicken still as good as it was at first? I doubt it.
Is there a compromise? Sure. Mix some quality dry food into the canned, and it will go a lot farther. Your puppy will still like it almost as much, and you will save some money.
There is a dog food analysis website that lists almost all the dog foods out there, and rates them. When you look at it, I think you need to keep in mind a few things.
1.The dog foods that rate 6 stars seem a little extreme to me. I don't recomend them. That goes for the dry food, and the cans.
2. Many people seem to think Hills Science Diet is one of the best foods. I wonder why? (hint----if you are looking for it on the dog food analysis website, look under 1 star.)
3. The only grocery store I know of that sells anything besides 1 star foods in this area is Woodman's. They sell several good quality foods.
4. PET SUPPLIES PLUS has, in my opinion, the best selection of premium dog foods in the Fox Valley. I don't know about other areas.
5. We are feeding miniature dachshunds, not great danes. They don't eat THAT much. Your dog is worth the cost of at least a 3 star food.
6. HOW MUCH DOES IT ACTUALLY COST TO FEED A PREMIUM PUPPY FOOD? I will make this really easy for you. You don't even have to go to a petstore. Actually you don't have to move from where you are right now to get your dog started on a premium food. Go to http://www.dogfooddirect.com If you live in Wisconsin or nearby states the shipping charges are very reasonable. Find NutriSource Small or Medium Breed Puppy Food. This is a 3 star food that I think is pretty good. Order it, and you can feed your puppy for aprox. 35 cents a day. If you went with what I think is probably the best quality puppy food there is--Wellness Super5Mix Puppy Food---the cost would be about 47 cents a day.
6.There are lots of 3 star foods that I think are good. I would not hesitate to feed my dogs a 3 star food.
7. Study the comments made about a food you are thinking about using. They give hints about how good the ingredients listed are, and also which ingredients shouldn't be in a dog food at all.
8. As near as I can tell, there is no perfect food. You will have to make at least some compromises on what you want in a dog food.
9. Here are some really good puppy foods. They are all rated 5 stars.There are many more good ones out there too. The same companies also make canned food that is excellent.
Chicken Soup For The Puppy Lover's Soul I really hate the name of this puppy food, and I didn't try it for quite a while just because of the name. I have listed it first in spite of the name, because the ingredients in it are just great, and it isn't quite as expensive as some of the others. That is a winning combination.
Wellness Super5Mix Puppy Food These next three are all really good
formulas. You couldn't go wrong with
any of them.
Innova Puppy Food Dry
Merrick Puppy Plate
9. Don't be discouraged if you---- study the foods, find one that you think is really great, spend more money on a bag of dog food that you ever believed you would, take it home expecting your dog to think it is the greatest thing that he/she has ever eaten, and your dog takes one sniff and looks at you like "Why would I eat that?" Your dog just might really like the new food, but you can't count on it. The best way to introduce a new food (do as I say here, not as I do) is to mix a small portion with your dogs current food, and gradually increase it until he/she is getting all new food.
There are two links below. The first has listings of almost all dogfoods available. The foods are rated with 1-6 stars. The other link is to a site with strong opinions on puppy food.
If you can read all of the following link, and still feed anything but premium dog food or homemade food, I would be surprised.