What dog food

[musho3210]

i just dont see how dogs can be considered carnivores, there digestive track is longer than those of a carnivourous animal, they are known the chemically break down nutrients from vegetables (albiet not as much but some either way), they naturally eat veges in the wild, not just to throw up but to actually eat it since they dont find a tasty turkey every 8 hours, like fish they can go on for weeks without there meat, especially in winter, and when that happens they subsitute vegetables for it, so the dog can go on for a few weeks on vegetables alone i would say that they can absorb nutrients from it. I wouldnt call them true omnivores or carnivores, but there more like in between. And look at there teeth, in the back they have sort of half molars and half sharp teeth. Carnivores have all sharp teeth, some of the dog teeth in the back are equipped to eat veges. Dogs have evolved, they have been domesticated for hundreds and hundreds of years, we have been feeding them veges all the time, surely after all these years they are able to slowly evolve there digestive track to take in all these veges we have always been feeding them.

Ok yes, i understand the raw diet is that of closest to the dogs ancestors in the wild. But should we be treating them like there ancestors after hundreds of years of evolution? They are hunters in the wild, one of my dogs at home is a complete wuss!! Running away from a squirrul! Surely that can show you the difference between a domesticated and wild dog.

I dont know if anyone has done it yet but read the wikipedia article i copied down.

 

[Linariel]

Most of the stuff in our prepared food can be broken down chemically to the same stuff in raw meat. And we wonder why some dogs get bad reps when we teach them to eat blood and raw meat. Amazing.

I just want to point out that letting a dog eat raw meat does not promote, cause, or encourage aggression.

Just like cats that have caught and killed mice are not more inclined to bite a person.

For example, my uncle has a farm with cattle, and he used to feed his dog leftovers from the butchers, when one of the cows went in. The dog was still just fine around the cows, never bit or attacked one of them. So just because he was eating beef, doesn't mean he knew that attacking a cow would get him what he was used to for dinner.

The whole 'taste for blood' thing is a myth-albeit an understandable one. But dogs have been eating raw meat and blood for a long time before there was commercial pet food, and honestly it doesn't change their temperament.

 

[Dangerdoll]

So if you recomend raw why sit here and dispute it?? And if a person is feeding their dog a quality food, and they should be, raw is generally cheaper. If one can not afford to feed a dog quality food they IMO should not have one, just like a person who can not afford to take care of fish corectly should not have them (i.e. little kids and bettas in a cup it just isn't right to the animal). If a person decides not to feed raw after knowing the facts, well I just hope it is because they feel it is best for their dog and that they have looked into all options. I use to swear by diamond (untill my vet told me my male was alergic to the chicken in it, which he eats 3 times a week with no problem now), and he switched me to nutro (he gets a kick back for this just like all vets who sell food out of the office). After the recall I started to research alternative foods, and after a lot of eewww groossss on my part decided that I wanted the best for my dogs. And have saved enough money that I went and bought some really pretty corals just this week.


P.S. Sorry for two posts in a row but multi-quote never works right for me, I'm sure it's user error.

I kinda take offense to this post. For one, I disagree with your "opinion" that anyone who feeds their dogs a low quality food, should not have one. People feed their dogs what they feel is best and of what they can afford. Who is even to say what quality is better than another?? In essence, I feel that you are saying if you can't afford to feed the dog a 40 dollar a week meal, you shouldn't own one. How about those that can afford 30 dollars? Come on, this is just ridiculous. You are saying you used to feed your dogs bagged food up until the recall and since the recall have only fed them a raw diet and things are just splendid. Well, this recall isn't one that happened 20 years ago, nor 10 or 5. It happened WEEKS ago so how can you sit there and preach that this is the next best thing for the dogs since rawhide?? Yeah, the few weeks you have fed them, things might have changed for the better or whatever, yes, you might have read a lot of stuff but the experience is not there. For the record, I do not believe in feeding raw as a full diet for dogs because of the high content of proteins and such AS recommended as well by my vet.

 

[Blueiz]

To clarify:

Why I do commend the raw food diet, not all can afford it, nor do they choose to do it.

So if you recomend raw why sit here and dispute it??

commend and reccomend are two seperate words...

Blue

(check the link in my sig)

 

[musho3210]

well im sorry if this thread has become an arguing site for people, to let everyone know i bough buffalo blue puppy food for the dogs. I will soon start feeding them it once i finish there old food (eukanuba, my mom wouldnt let me not use it, plus i checked if there was any wheat gluten and there wasnt). I'll keep you all updated, if they dont like blue buffalo i will try to get my hands on some innova.

 

[ash]

Innova is a great food Musho, good luck finding it. I personally feed Wellness. To my cats and dogs- They are a small company, they only use meat suitable for human consumption. Raw is a great way to go but it is not for everyone, or every dog. And I too take offense at the implication that I have not done my research for thinking so. Feeding is a personal choice- and there are no definitive answers. While I would rather punch myself in the face than feed Hill's or Iams or Purina, I'm sure that for some dogs those foods are more than adequate. I know a number of people whose dogs have lived long, happy lives on those foods. Could they have perhaps lived a year or two more on another diet? Maybe. But I don't think that their lives were torture because they ate something I wouldn't consider feeding. It's about finding what works for your dog, and yes- feeding the highest quality you can afford. A good diet is as important as good vet care and should be considered part of the cost of owning a dog. Speaking of research- dogs are opportunistic omnivores. While the bulk of their protein needs to come from animal sources, they can digest and do benefit from the inclusion of plant matter such as dark fruits and vegetables (blueberries for example) in their diet. The vegetables included in many commercial diets offer no nutritional value (corn meal for example), and the use of filler has rightfully come under a considerable amount of scrutiny lately. But that doesn't mean that vegetable matter is unnecessary for dogs. Antioxidants are as beneficial for canines as they are for people. Except chocolate of course. Many vegetables afford vitamins and minerals not available in meat. I wonder how well you have actually researched a raw diet if your dogs are not receiving any vegetable matter.

 

[lwooters]

I'm all about the Nutro.

 

[Linariel]

Innova is a great food Musho, good luck finding it. I personally feed Wellness. To my cats and dogs- They are a small company, they only use meat suitable for human consumption. Raw is a great way to go but it is not for everyone, or every dog. And I too take offense at the implication that I have not done my research for thinking so. Feeding is a personal choice- and there are no definitive answers. While I would rather punch myself in the face than feed Hill's or Iams or Purina, I'm sure that for some dogs those foods are more than adequate. I know a number of people whose dogs have lived long, happy lives on those foods. Could they have perhaps lived a year or two more on another diet? Maybe. But I don't think that their lives were torture because they ate something I wouldn't consider feeding. It's about finding what works for your dog, and yes- feeding the highest quality you can afford. A good diet is as important as good vet care and should be considered part of the cost of owning a dog. Speaking of research- dogs are opportunistic omnivores. While the bulk of their protein needs to come from animal sources, they can digest and do benefit from the inclusion of plant matter such as dark fruits and vegetables (blueberries for example) in their diet. The vegetables included in many commercial diets offer no nutritional value (corn meal for example), and the use of filler has rightfully come under a considerable amount of scrutiny lately. But that doesn't mean that vegetable matter is unnecessary for dogs. Antioxidants are as beneficial for canines as they are for people. Except chocolate of course. Many vegetables afford vitamins and minerals not available in meat. I wonder how well you have actually researched a raw diet if your dogs are not receiving any vegetable matter.

Very good posting!

 

[musho3210]

yeah i found innova, its at a little pet store down a few miles from my home. Unfortunatly we found this place AFTER we got the blue buffalo, so i think i'll just stick with the buffalo for now.

A question, is lamb meal any use for the dogs? Thats the second ingrediant in blue buffalo

 

[severum mama]

I have a pomeranian mix that has chronic bouts of colitis. We've spent probably better than $600 at the vet trying to get at the root of the problem, but still it just seems to come and go. We've found that the food that works best for this dog is Wellness Simple Solutions. He still has issues from time to time, but he's done better with this food than with all the other brands we've tried.

Our other two dogs, a shepherd mix and another pomeranian mix, do better with Eagle Pack Holistic Select venison formula. We tried the Wellness brand with them too, and although I believe that it is an excellent brand, these two dogs have much softer stool on Wellness than on Eagle Pack. This brings us back to the point that a lot of this decision process comes down to trial and error- what works for some dogs isn't all that great for others.

And on another point- would I ever consider feeding my dogs Purina or Iams? No. But do I think that people who do are mistreating their animals? Of course not. I'd much rather see a dog living a happy life with a loving owner eating food that I wouldn't choose that its owner can afford, rather than see it end up in an animal shelter.