Dog Food?

[Doodlesville]

I spent several hours researching food the other day
i cant get the food i was feeding when i lived in VA ,now im in NC
we have decided on Chicken soup for the puppy lovers soul, does anyone have any opinions on this food?
I am aware that it is made by diamond, and that 2yrs ago they had issues, however it seems they have straightened their act up to date, the igrediants are top of the line
what do you think?
any experiences?
what do you feed and why?
input appreciated

[Lucky Me]

I did not sell all of Tuesday's pups until 3 1/2 months old & they started growing fast.(this was about Jan 0
I was using Canidae, but had a pup that had a problem with it & I was really concerned about the quick growth thing.
I too research & found that Chicken Soup had a large breed puppy formula & had excellent ingredients.
Well this also caused problems for him & I ended up using Nutro Natural Choice Lg breed puppy as it agreed with him. I gave the people the rest of the bag with him & went back to Chicken soup.
I liked it, but when all my pups were gone, went back to the Canedae as they have the breeder program.
After what I went through after the formula change.....I really like Natural Balance Original Ultra, but admit to slipping in some "Taste of the Wild" Buffallo & Venison to up the protein the last part of Tuesday's recent pregnancy.
I sure would not want your feed bill !! Do you buy by the pallet?
Also had to come back and add.....
Our little feed store in town really caters to dog and cats. For a little store, they have an impressive selection of dog food. Canidae used to be the biggest display of upper quality dog food. Lately I have noticed that Chicken soup's display is larger....hmmmmm

[Doodlesville]

Actually i am buying by the pallet this month i got a great price (appx 30.00 large bag)
for chicken soup

I think im confused, why didnt you stick with chicken soup? canidae has had alot of recalls i just dont trust them at all
Nutro as well although the Nutro ultra looked good as well
I have downsized considerably, Its doubtful i will be raising Labradoodle much longer, our breeding program is goin in another direction
I have a couple of F1 Labradoodles i am thinking of finding a new home which will be my last 2 i have

[Lucky Me]

Nancy..
I bought the chicken soup for the pups to try & find something equivilent to Canidae as it was causing severe diarehha in the one pup, & I was really concerned about the quick growth in them. Didn't quite feel right about the "all life stage" thing.
This all happened right before all the recalls....it was a great product before they screwed it up. Besides, with the breeder program, the 6th bag is free.
Tuesday got really ill with the switch in the formula they did.
I bought Calif. Natural as quite a few people here reccomended it, but it bothered her too.
Then some more people here recommended the Natural Balance and Bingo! all better!
I was so frustrated....I just listened to the folks on the form with dogs with sensitive tummies & went from there..
You could go broke experimenting different dog foods!

[Doodlesville]

You could go broke experimenting different dog foods!

Boy you got that right
Im getting the chicken soup at a pretty reasonable price and it looks great, it has oatmeal so it should help with digestion, with food switch its always going to be bad i guess,
i guess its just a wait and see,
im starting the new ones on it when they start eating
the 8weeks old pups they are having issues, but its to be expected, will have to give it a couple of weeks and give them pineapple and sweet potatoe till the switch is complete i guess
thanks

[rabidpecan]

I don't have extensive experience, but I've been through three types already....Blue Seal (gave her a loose stool), Nutro Natural and now I'm feeding her Innova. I'm not sure what the prices are in the States, but I found that Nutro and Innova around here are about the same price, and she doesn't have to eat quite as much of the Innova, so that's why I feed her that.

As for the Chicken Soup one, I asked at the local pet store and she said it was perfectly fine, but again, as far as I could tell you'd have to feed them higher quantities of the Chicken Soup than the Innova, so the costs seem to equal out in the end.

[Doodlesville]

hmm, feed them more?
our dogs are on free choice,,havent noticed increased eating
thank you so much for your insight
Innova is NOT somthing i can afford unfortunately

[rabidpecan]

Oh, well, I just feed them according to the guide on the back of the bag. I have no idea how much she'd eat if I just let her eat as much as she wanted. But yeah, Innova is expensive. I look forward to when I can switch her to adult foods, because I've heard that the Kirklands food at Costco is actually not too bad, but they don't carry puppy food. At least not around here. It's obviously not the best, but I think it wouldn't hurt to switch her back and forth between Kirklands and something else to give her some variety and save some money.

[Jac]

I'm still trying to find the right food too...I keep going back to Canidae because that is what my dogs will consistently eat and do well on...but they have loose stools and I really want to switch again. I tried Purina, but my dogs got really bad breath and SBDs! They loved it but it seemed that we were feeding a lot more, so I don't know if it was much of a savings.
Nancy, you have a lot of dogs to feed, have you considered getting a distributorship for dog food so that you can buy it more reasonably? I am looking into that.

[Doodlesville]

Originally Posted by rabidpecan

I look forward to when I can switch her to adult foods, because I've heard that the Kirklands food at Costco is actually not too bad, but they don't carry puppy food. At least not around here. It's obviously not the best, but I think it wouldn't hurt to switch her back and forth between Kirklands and something else to give her some variety and save some money.

WHat size is she? standard? age? I recommend switching to a low fat low protein diet around 4-5mths, that way it helps with growth
Innova is a 5star food, costco food is a 2star i think
chicken soup for the pup lovers soul is made by the same co but a really high quality food, and its affordable
made by the same company too

[Doodlesville]

Originally Posted by Jac

I'm still trying to find the right food too...I keep going back to Canidae because that is what my dogs will consistently eat and do well on...but they have loose stools and I really want to switch again. I tried Purina, but my dogs got really bad breath and SBDs! They loved it but it seemed that we were feeding a lot more, so I don't know if it was much of a savings.
Nancy, you have a lot of dogs to feed, have you considered getting a distributorship for dog food so that you can buy it more reasonably? I am looking into that.

Yes i actually can do that NOW with Verus, but not sure i can do it right now, we are still thinking, im pretty happy with the price im paying for chicken soup now, and the guy is kinda giving me a discount pallet price,
living in the country i can afford for it to get ruined by mice or rats getting into the feed room ya know

[Jac]

I was, once again, trying to find the right dog food...when I ran across this article, which I think is excellent. It is rather long, but good info! What I like is the author's comments about feeding dogs healthy all the time, not just during whelp or show or whatever...and I like that he admits to giving bad advice early in his career and that he now understands that not all dogs need the same things...
http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/bestfood.html

[Doodlesville]

Innova is a wonderful food as well

You used chicken soup?

Our pups and dogs are doing well so far on the food, and im thrilled thus far

[KingstonTodd]

Whenever the topic of pet food ingredients come up I like to post this http://leda.law.harvard.edu/leda/dat...Patrick06.html. Its very dense but those brave enough to read it, it has some shocking information.

I recommend Blue Bullalo to my clients. I do this because it has deboned chicken #1, and chicken meal #2. I ldo like chicken meal as an ingredient, since is it chicken meat, organs and bone, and that is what I feed my adults, except in raw form. I think we all know that meat byproduct is a big no-no.

[anny51]

I've been relying heavily on the: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

to judge puppy foods.....does anyone have any views on how reliable it is....I'm beginning to think it's impartiality depends on the views of the individual reviewers. Charlie is, at present, on Nutra Gold (3*) but I've been recommended Royal Canin (2*) and Purina (1*). Orijen has just become available over here....that is 6* but they don't recommend the puppy formula for puppies cos of the very high protein content ....aaahh At 8 mths he's still a puppy, but is he still susceptible to problems due to too much protein, or do you reckon the 'too fast growth' is more due to general overfeeding than to too much protein? I'm loath to switch around at random as he's got a slightly sensitive tum, and I can't get the brands I see recommended a lot on the forum such as Canidae, Chicken soup etc....NZ only seems to import the less recommended ones!!

Even if you decide to do a raw or home-cooked diet it's a minefield of diffeent opinions and 'proven scientific theories'.....every time I think I've made a decision I'm suddenly plagued by doubts. The funny thing is, our 2 oldest dogs (coming up to 10) have been consistently fed on supermarket food and the only problem they've ever had is their teeth cos they won't chew recreationally, but the vet always comments on how healthy they are

Thanks for the link Todd.. the bit I've read so far is very interesting...I can see it'll take me several sessions to get thro it.....what i've seen so far makes your hair stand on end at this rate the dogs will be dining on organic fresh foods while I live on beans on toast to finance it!!