Nutritional Dog Food

[tnkinhunting]

I want to know if there is a dry dog food that is "good" for my dogs that produces less feces? Don't laugh,

some foods seem to produce a tremendous amount of feces while others produce nice and dry feces and less quanity. I have small dogs and this is not a big problem but I have considered it and thought I would throw it out for discussion. Nutrition is my primary concern. I don't feed anything but dry dog food with a daily treat. I am currently feeding Kibbles 'N Bits - Wholesome Medley.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Most store bought brands stink when it comes to nutritional value. Iams or Purina One are the best you are going to get.

Eukenuba and Nutro are "human grade" foods (meaning you could eat them if the economy gets that bad!) My dog got nothing but Nutro until last spring. A medical condition has forced me to feed only Iams LowResidual-Vet only formula.

 

[amyquilt]

We found Natures Menu by Evolve at Tractor Supply. Just so happens it was on clearance because they don't sell much of it. BUT I bought all they had because after 3 days, I knew it was for us. Our dogs LOVE it. It contains no grains (meaning less feces). Since we bought all our local TSC had, we will now have to order on the internet, but that's fine because the dogs love it so much and do so well on it. We use both the baked (dry) and the canned. We only put about 1 teaspoon of canned on their dry, just for a treat but they love the baked(dry) so much, we use it as treats.

here's a couple of links for it:

http://www.nationalpetpharmacy.com/...m_mmc=YAHOO-_-NONBRAND-_-Dogs-_-nature_s_menu

http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/...bmit (SMX-NSO)&cm_ite=DDI Link&cm_cat=k115513


It's not cheap, but it's worth every penny, IMO.

Until we found this, we have always fed our pets Science Diet.

 

[tnkinhunting]

Hey, thanks for the links! I appreciate the info and will see what I can find.

 

[Bex]

The best food that I recommend (though expensive) is Blue Buffalo.

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

Have you considered going RAW? About all my dogs poop out is the white chalky stuff left of the bones, mind you I have very large breeds that stay outdoor so I leave meat on the bone. Small dogs do well with RAW chicken necks just give him a cleanable floor or outdoor area to eat it. Contact a processing plant to find out if you can get cases of them, I pay about 45 cents a pound for them. Add squash and greens to it some days.

Failing that find a dog food that is made of meat and some vegys. Grains are not a canine feed, but they are cheap and filling so they are used in less expensive feeds, and go right through the dog mostly. Green and orange vegys are used to get the vitamins in the natural feeds, or the less natural ones just add them as a powder.

The best dry dog foods around here are consdiered 'Biologically correct' and say so on the label, meaning they have no grain.

 

[texasgirl]

If you can't or don't want to do the raw diet (which is my first suggestion!) then I really really like EVO. It's a great dog food, IMO.

 

[Anny]

The higher the quality of the food the less poop there will be. Honestly. Because the higher quality food have less filler (aka crap that doesn't need to be in the food but is put in the food to take up space)

Also with higher quality food you can feed your dog less food because it has more per serving.

Kibbles 'N Bits is a pretty low quality food so your dogs will thank you for the up grade! You'll notice them having better skin and less gas in no time.
Make sure you switch the food slowly (mixing the new food with the old) little dog can be picky eater so make sure they arn't picking out the old food.

A few of the higher quality foods that I think are worth looking into include

Innova
Natural Balance
Wellness
Solid Gold
Canidae
Pinnacle
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul
Blue Buffalo
Newman's Own
Merrick
Nature's Variety
Back to Basics
California Natural
Eagle Pack Holistic
Flint River Ranch
Go Natural
Avoderm
Nutro Ultra


Most of the higher quality food will not be at your feed store or grocery store, you'll have to find an actual pet store that carries them. But trust me it's worth it.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Quote:
Anny's right. These are some of the best out there. I don't believe that any of these were on the Pet Food Recall lists from a few years back. I have fed Solid Gold,Canidae(both too expensive for me), Blue Buffalo (she didn't like) and Nutro Ultra until we switched for medical reasons. Nutro is readily available at Petsmart as is Blue Buffalo. I had to get Solid Gold and Canidae at the health food store in town.

 

[tnkinhunting]

We have a Pets Smart here so I will visit and pick one - before I use up all the Kibbles N Bits and mix like you all suggested. With the three dogs it seems like I am forever cleaning up poo!

I always thought the more expensive dog food was the same just more expensive. Never too old to learn a thing or two! Thanks everyone!