Is all dog food bad? What the heck do I feed my dogs then?!?

[dainerra]

I've heard of giving chicken feet to dogs but we try not to give any chicken products to ours... The other day I found the dachshunds literally eating a chicken alive, it must flown over the fence or something, but I found it with it's back/rump raw and chewed up, and it's shoulder chewed up. It was breathing still so I just put it out of it's misery as quickly and as humanely as I could. Why didn't my dogs just kill it? That's so cruel... To make it go through that.. I came back from shopping with mom and cousin and I saw it running away from my dogs.. I don't understand how they could just let it live while they torture it :/ It was one of the scariest things I've ever seen, I cried a bit too.

stay away from the nature shows then - eating their prey alive is pretty much a given in the animal kingdom. It's not "cruel" to them, animals don't think that way. They catch something and start chewing on it.

 

[SleepyOwl]

NOTE: I do not mean to single any one person out with this reply. These sorts of notions (ie. poor people shouldn't own animals, people who feed xyz shouldn't own animals, breeders who don't perform every genetic test possible are irresponsible and shouldn't be allowed animals, etc) are deeply disturbing ideas to me personally, but seem to be more cultural (and really along sharp economic divides at that) than individual.


I fed my ACD Old Roy lamb and rice when we were going through a particularly tough financial spot. Lamb meal, then rice are the first two ingredients, which ended up actually being better than the first ingredients on her previously fed, more expensive food (chicken meal, yellow corn). She had better energy and poops on Old Roy lamb and rice compared to previously fed brands (and actually, she more recently did terribly on one of the expensive, grain-free foods..Taste of the Wild). I certainly wouldn't have appreciated someone telling me I have to hand over a then five year-old shelter dog who was adopted at age three and took years of intensive work to get her over several serious issues, and had bonded extremely closely to us and we to her because...we had to feed her comprably to how we ourselves had to eat at the time. We give our dog lots of exercise, training, affection, and stimulation. I have known plenty of people who keep their dog locked in crates designed to look like furniture and who pay for other people to interact with their animals. They did feed them expensive food though. Is food a good indicator of overall affection and husbandry in our society? Who would have actually taken our dog if she was to be removed from us for being fed Old Roy? She was due for euthanasia at the shelter...but maybe death would have been better than food of an inferior quality?

Not long after that was one of the larger dog food recalls. Expensive, even organic, foods were on that list. People who had previously declared on forums that, "not feeding your dogs these brands is animal cruelty"...were strangely silent after that.

I do hope to one day feed my animals (pets and meat animals) home-raised and prepared food, and I think if you are able to do that, that is just awesome. I'm not cool with maligning people based on economic realities and limitations.

I feed raw, but if we could no longer get much of the meat free, and finances got tighter, we would have to go to back to affordable commercial pet food. It is much more important that pets are in loving homes, than that they have optimal everything. It always drives me crazy when "they" say if you can't afford thousands of dollars of vet bills, don't have a pet.

Yeah, instead of rescuing that dog in the shelter that is about to be put down, leave it there to die, because if it gets hurt or sick someday, I can't afford thousands (or sometimes even hundreds) to fix it. I just don't get that.


Just like people though, if it is possible to look long term, it still would probably be cheaper feeding meat in the long run.... less vet bills, dental work, ect. Of course, I still haven't convinced myself of this for us though, as we really should be eating at least mostly organic food, cutting out all sugar, ect, and we don't, because we just can't afford organic, and the sugar and things are just too hard.

Maybe they should take my kids away because I let them have candy, and they don't eat enough veggies.

A big reason that I feel comfortable encouraging people about feeding raw, is because it is possible for it to be even cheaper than buying commercial food, if you know where to look (and have the resources near you). Not only that, but you are using food that would otherwise be thrown out...

 

[SleepyOwl]

That ol roy you were feeding does sound way better than any ol roy I have seen. I do think that if at all possible, buy your cats and dog where the first couple ingredients are NOT corn. Especially with cats.

 

[Moochie]

stay away from the nature shows then - eating their prey alive is pretty much a given in the animal kingdom. It's not "cruel" to them, animals don't think that way. They catch something and start chewing on it.

I haven't watched T.V. since The Walking Dead stopped playing. I actually love nature shows :] Of course animals don't think that way, they don't have people minds.. I'm still looking for a healthier alternative to factory made dog treats though.
As for the raw food diet, I don't think my family [mom and I] have the money for that... Lucky's blood test was $168 too.. I think that's a bit ridiculous but okay.. Whatever is best. Still cheaper than vets outside of the base.

 

[michickenwrangler]

A plug for the "EarthBorn" dog food.

Over the years I have owned dogs, I have switched from ProPlan to Diamond to EarthBorn. I recently obtained a Great Dane from my friend who had been fed on some grocery store brand. Going on EarthBorn has made her coat sleeker and she has filled out a bit (not fat, but no longer skinny). She was at the vet today and the vet said she looked good.

My old Lab/Husky, 13 yrs old had blood work done at the vet's office. The vet said her liver levels were the best she has been at in 2 years. The ONLY thing I have done differently is switch from Diamond Senior to EarthBorn in the last 6 months. The dogs also love the taste of EarthBorn and eat it much more eagerly than they did Diamond.

My dogs also do get some table scraps, usually in the form of grass-fed beef or foreage-fed goat meat and bones from those same animals.

And for the record, Diamond is considered one of the better dog foods out there too. I switched to EarthBorn because our feed store began offering it and has a frequent buyer program for it where you get a free bag every 10 bags you buy. Having a Great Dane means we go through dog food pretty quickly. With the free bag every 10 weeks, it works out to cost about the same as Diamond did and I figured it was a better food. Also the bags have a slider top like a Ziploc bag and they make excellent trash bags when the dog food is gone.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Moochie, walk it off. Life lesson: Politicians, vegans, and animal rights activists tell lies to try to manipulate people into doing as they want. What they want is often not good for you and not one of those 3 types are the place to get advice about what to eat.

 

[naturalfeddogs]

NOTE: I do not mean to single any one person out with this reply. These sorts of notions (ie. poor people shouldn't own animals, people who feed xyz shouldn't own animals, breeders who don't perform every genetic test possible are irresponsible and shouldn't be allowed animals, etc) are deeply disturbing ideas to me personally, but seem to be more cultural (and really along sharp economic divides at that) than individual.


I fed my ACD Old Roy lamb and rice when we were going through a particularly tough financial spot. Lamb meal, then rice are the first two ingredients, which ended up actually being better than the first ingredients on her previously fed, more expensive food (chicken meal, yellow corn). She had better energy and poops on Old Roy lamb and rice compared to previously fed brands (and actually, she more recently did terribly on one of the expensive, grain-free foods..Taste of the Wild). I certainly wouldn't have appreciated someone telling me I have to hand over a then five year-old shelter dog who was adopted at age three and took years of intensive work to get her over several serious issues, and had bonded extremely closely to us and we to her because...we had to feed her comprably to how we ourselves had to eat at the time. We give our dog lots of exercise, training, affection, and stimulation. I have known plenty of people who keep their dog locked in crates designed to look like furniture and who pay for other people to interact with their animals. They did feed them expensive food though. Is food a good indicator of overall affection and husbandry in our society? Who would have actually taken our dog if she was to be removed from us for being fed Old Roy? She was due for euthanasia at the shelter...but maybe death would have been better than food of an inferior quality?

Not long after that was one of the larger dog food recalls. Expensive, even organic, foods were on that list. People who had previously declared on forums that, "not feeding your dogs these brands is animal cruelty"...were strangely silent after that.

I do hope to one day feed my animals (pets and meat animals) home-raised and prepared food, and I think if you are able to do that, that is just awesome. I'm not cool with maligning people based on economic realities and limitations.

No one is putting anyone down for it, just that there are better quality foods out there for a budget than Ol Roy. There can be recalls on ANY kibble of any quality, as they are all commercially made by man with artificial ingredients and preservatives. I don't care if it's the most expensive kibble out there - it's prone to recalls.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

For those of you doing the raw diet, do you have any tips for making it cost effective? I am feeding Merrick duck right now and am having the best results I have had so far with digestion, coat, and no allergies but would be very interested in trying a raw diet. But, it seems like it may be cost probative. How are you doing it?

 

[Kevin565]

Moochie, walk it off. Life lesson: Politicians, vegans, and animal rights activists tell lies to try to manipulate people into doing as they want. What they want is often not good for you and not one of those 3 types are the place to get advice about what to eat.

I don't think that's a fair evaluation. I'm a vegan and I've never tried to "convert" anyone to vegan ways. I personally would never feed my dogs a vegetarian or vegan diet. Their bodies were never designed for that. Just because I don't eat meat doesn't mean I would ever deprive them of that.

 

[Kevin565]

For those of you doing the raw diet, do you have any tips for making it cost effective? I am feeding Merrick duck right now and am having the best results I have had so far with digestion, coat, and no allergies but would be very interested in trying a raw diet. But, it seems like it may be cost probative. How are you doing it?

The best way I've found is to just network with local butcher shops,farmers,and hunters. Local people seem to be more willing to work out a deal when it comes to selling their meat.