I don't feed RAW. At least not yet. I do plan to at some point and the Anatolians do get raw meaty bones and organs whenever we get them, but in the mean time I try to feed them high quality food. I have been so worried lately about another recall of dog food. It seems every few months, one brand or another is getting recalled, usually due to Alfatoxin in the grains. I think one good way to avoid this is to get a dog food that's grain-free. But then I started wondering where dog food companies get their meat. Does it come from China? Is it dog meat (yes, this is legal but not widely practiced in this country)? I am probably going to switch to Taste of The Wild so I contacted them to get more info and was pleased with what I learned. This is an Email I got from Taste of The Wild today. I think I am going to start changing them over now. They are currently on 4-Health but I believe TOTW is a better food. "Our foods are manufactured in three facilities, all in the United States. One is located in California, one in Missouri and one in South Carolina. We use some ingredients that are not USA sourced, like flaxseed and barley, both which originate in Canada and lamb meal from New Zealand, potato protein from Germany and dried chicory root from Belgium. There are ingredients that are critical to our formulations (i.e. folic acid, taurine, vitamin C) that can only be sourced out of China. Our choice is to either include these ingredients or manufacturer our foods without them, which would not be in the best interest of your pet, in our view. Some pet food companies are making "China-Free" claims despite the facts I've outlined above. They accomplish this by utilizing a loophole in European law. European laws allow for ingredients purchased outside their continent, then reprocessed in Europe, to be labeled with European origin. We could likewise hide behind that loophole in the law, and tell you what you want to hear, but choose not to for obvious reasons. I'd rather you not feed our foods than to tell you they are China-free, when they are not. Food safety is our #1 priority and it shows in the amount of new business we get from word of mouth-friends and neighbors talking to one another, recommending our foods. "
The two foods you mention, are both or one is made by Diamond, who is also now making Natural Balance dog and cat food, the Dick Van Patten Brand also, Proctor and Gamble bought out , oh, boy I think Candidae, claims can be made , but, find out who the manufacturer is.
I feed my 3 dogs (2 German Shepherds and one 14 year old beagle) & 2 cats Taste of the Wild and am very happy with it. It is a high quality, grain free food which all of the animals love. Taste of the Wild is a top rated, 6 star food on Dog Food Analysis
I feed 100% prey model raw because of the ingredients in kibble. Its just super cooked until all nutrition is lost, so then tons of artificial junk is added. And, by law commercial companies can change formulas/ingredients without showing it on the bags. You can look at preymodelraw.com and get tons more info on starting raw as well as all the huge benefits.
I have absolutely no doubt that Raw prey-model is the very best diet you can give a dog. But depending on where you live and accessibility, it's not for everyone. I do hope to get my dogs on it eventually, but for now I'll feed them the best kibble I can afford and supplement it with meat, bone and organs whenever I can.
My dogs get home cooked because I know exactly what is in it. Nothing goes into my dog food that I wouldn't eat myself. I run cost comparisons frequently. Home cooked, real meat costs the same as the super premium dog foods, which are the only ones I would trust to feed to my dogs. The price of meat just went up pretty steeply, but so has the price of the top quality dog foods. Still costs the same. With home cooked (or raw feeding) the dogs eat a very small amount compared to what you would feed of a mid grade dog kibble. There are no fillers in home prepared dog food and every ingredient is top quality and therefore good nutrition. I am feeding one Welsh Springer and 5 Papillons. Bigger dogs eat more, but they eat more kibble too, so it still costs the same. The dogs just finished a tub of catfish with brown rice and zucchini. I just took out a tub of ground beef, apple, and yam. I watch the sales closely and swoop in whenever there is something I can use in dog food. Yams have been on sale for the holidays. I bought 60 pounds of yams. I usually buy 80-100 pounds of pumpkin, but they never got cheap this year. I do grow all the fruit and many of the veggies that go into the dog food, and that does help to cut costs quite a bit. Those fruits and veggies are expensive. If I find a good deal on meat, I buy 60-80 pounds of it. The dogs are starting to get some home raised meat and I've just started raising rabbits that will be used mostly for dog food. In the spring, they will get some home raised chicken. They are already eating homer raised duck and goose.
A balanced raw diet would be best but sometimes just isn't an option. All you can do is the best you can do right now. I just started feeding the 4 health to my dogs an cats and they do seem to be doing well on it. Diamonds lower end is not great but they do make some pretty decent higher end food. I have also had good luck with the Chicken Soup dog food and cat food. As well as Fromm foods ( I think this one is manufatured in WI) frommfamily.com/ I don't know where you are located but this is a very good food and I have yet to hear anything bad about it
OB - why are you feeding grains and veggies? No need, and more work for you. A welshie? Nice, I don't see many of them!
Yes, The Welsh Springer was imported from Wales. Several best of breeds, made the cut in the group most shows. Came from hunting lines and was hunted over as well as shown. Bred once to a dog imported from Sweden. 2 pups. The dog finished with all majors and is used as a hunting dog. Great temperaments. I've never seen a dog better with kids than this Welsh Springer. She'll be 16 years old this spring. Still healthy and lively. We will have to agree to disagree on what makes a healthy diet for dogs.
