I don't do a very good job of proof reading this late at night - title should read - What are you feeding your dogs?
I am trying Taste of the Wild, Venison, Buffalo. No grain, looks like a very good food. We will see how my new litter of hopefuls do.
Showcase Cockers
Becky Rapoport
Hi, I feed BilJac dry and frozen. I saw the Taste of the Wild, let us know how that works out. I have bloodhounds and rottweilers. I have to worry about bloat, and so far BilJac is the only food that has passed the non-swelling in water test.
I swear by Blue Buffalo brand - I feed the dry - the ingredients are top notch and my show dogs look great - they dont have to eat much of it to look that way, either - and, the poop is very manageable - It's not much cheaper than the Eagle Pack, here in Texas it's about 48.00 for 35 lbs. and, even with the economy, I have not even thought of changing.
I've been feeding Nutro Natural Choice Lamb & Rice for many years and all my dogs look great. But recently I read that the dog food is under investigation because the company has had so many complaints of dogs with digestive upsets. I bought a bag of Taste of the Wild and several of the dogs got the runs. This week I bought a bag of Before Grain made by Merrick. We'll see how the dogs do on that. For my wet food, I pressure cook a chicken & veggies every day and mix it in with the dry. I pressure cook for 2 hours so I can feed bones & all.
I fed Eagle for 15yrs, but switched my dogs to PreyModelRaw after hearing that Eagle had been bought out. Seems that a group of investors bought the company after the Menu Foods Debacle/Recall because none of Eagles products to include canned were involved (Eagle has its own facilities for canning etc). I personally see buyouts as the bell tolling for a company, instead of quality of product being the primary reason concern, suddenly profit and shares are the driving force, corners are cut and for a while the built reputation of the company is what keeps things going, then you have more choices of product, then you can buy it any where (think Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba).
I recommend grain-free foods to my puppy-people who don't want to do raw, such as Orejen or Evo. Back in the day I used to cook a stew daily for the dogs for mixing in with their kibble, found it a lot cheaper than canned and I knew for sure what was in it.
We have been feeding Healthwise made by Natura for a couple of years now. We have a good sized population of Akitas varying in ages from 4 months to 12+ years. One old rescue is perhaps 13+ but that's based on the vets' guess. This food has a very small list of ingredients and it's holistic. Just as important, it smells good. Depending on the retailer, the Healthwise is a reasonable price. Natura offers a 12/1 rebate also for what has been a food that has kept our dogs in good weight, with good quality coats, not too much stool and in optimum health from teenagers to the old guys. The puppy food works nicely for mommies and well, puppies. LOL. When I feel the dogs need a little variety change, I add in a small amount of EVO, California Natural or Innova which are all made by the Natura company.
My breeder recommended Science Diet and it's been great.
I feed raw. I have tried several frozen commercially made raw diets and my dogs didn't like it. Now I buy a dehydrated raw diet (for balance) and mix that with lean hamburger bought at Sam's Club. My little Chin have unusually clean teeth and I do not mess with brushing them. I also put a little dental rinse in their water bowls.
Linda Braun
northern VA
Thanks for posting that Linda - I've been considering changing my crew to raw, but wanted to be sure I was doing it correctly. Your method takes all the guess work out feeding raw.
