My dogs lived off of Kibbles N' Bits for the longest time when they were with my mom. Now that I'm on my own and have a newpuppy, I want to feed them the best food. I've hear stuff about Pedigree and Iams butIfigured Eukanuba would be the healthiest since they pretty much sponser the Eukanuba Cup...I think.

Is Eukanuba really the healthiest dog food?

If not, what is? I was wondeirng, if it IS different from Eukanuba, what proof is there that the other brand is "better"?

I know you can't go on just what a dogwill scarf down cuz my dogsloves KNB but I read it was like giving Snickers and McDonalds to a kid everyday.

No its not. They are a large company and sponser a large dog show. Iams, purina, and pedagree are also constant dog show sponsers.

It is a middle of the run food. There are many better. Many dogs do well off of it, whenit came on the market it was the best of the best, but no longer.

If you want to know how good a food is, just read the ingredients.

Well I just need to know what the best kind would be. I mean I don't want to have to go around reading theback of dog bags. If someone can just give me an example of dog foods that are better that would be great.

I feed Wysong and raw, but everyone has their own opinion on this.

The #1 ingredient should be meat, not meat meal or meat by-products. A lot of people say that any corn is bad, buy Wysong (a research-oriented company) says otherwise...
http://www.wysong.net/cornsoy.shtml
I haven't taken the time to do my own research on the subject yet...

***Edited By: otterpopmg on 10/27/2006 11:57:10 AM***
Reason: edit

I would say the best is Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul. That's just my opinion though..

Sadly, that food isn't availble to me, so we feed Eagle Pack, which is another good food.

I recommend Innova, Wellness, Natural Balance, and Chicken Soup for Dog Lovers.

You will not find these in the grocery store. You need to go to small hometown pet supply shops.

ROYAL CANINE is one of the best dry foods out there! I will not feed my dogs any other dry dog food. I've done my research. It is quite expensive, but well worth it.

See I wouldn't feed my dogs royal canine if you paid me.

There is no 'what is best' you need to read the lables, research, and figure out what works best for your dogs. Its a bit of trial and error and once you find what works for your dogs stick with it. What works for my dogs, Riley's dogs can not eat. What Riley feeds would drive me to distraction trying to keep my dogs somewhat clean.

No one can point and tell you to feed this. You ahve to make those first few steps. I'm sorry, but the easy path isen't always the best path. It took me about a year to find a food that worked for my GSD with alergies, and now he only has to deal with the basics of the seasons.

Umm please do more research before trying to 'help' people..

"The #1 ingredient should be meat, not meat meal or meat by-products."

Meat meal would be beyond sketch.. Chicken meal is actually better than chicken. Chicken meal is chicken without water weight and therefore there is more meat in that food. If it is chicken alone, the ingredients that come after there are more of in a bag that that chicken alone since the water weight will dissipate.

Royal canin isn't the best food. It's got sketch ingredients of its own. It falls down with iams and eukanuba for quality.

It’s all a matter of opinion to what is the best food out there. Stay away from labels that say “by-product”. You really get what you pay for. Wal-Mart sells Old Roy and that is the worst food ever! There really is no nutrition in that diet. I feel that Iams and Eukanuba have gone down hill since they were bought out and went to grocery stores.

Look at the pets coat and overall appearance. Dogs that are fed a “bad” diet usually have poor coat quality. It will look not so thrifty and have lots of skin flakes. They also have a lot of stools. A “good” diet the dog’s coat will be bright and shiny not so flaking. (Some flakes are normal).

At our clinic we recommend Science Diet. I for one think they are a good brand and they sure stick to their products. If you buy a bag and your pet will not eat it, they will refund 100% of your money no questions asked. Growing up we feed our dogs Purina and I feel that company makes a pretty good product.

From http://www.wysong.net/controversies/fresh_meats_vs.shtml...
Meals are made through grinding, cooking, and then drying meats into a granular powder. This task is performed by processors, apart from the pet food plant. The meals are then binned, stored, and trucked to the pet food manufacturer. The pet food manufacturer then stores the ingredient in bins until added to the formula. It is then cooked again during pet food processing, dried again and then put into its final package and stored some more.

The problem with meat meals is that they're processed. You *should* try to feed your dog the least processed food possible. (Sorry, not trying to promote Wysong, but they do have good articles about pet food.)

My vet gave me a bag of Science Diet as part of my puppy package... the #1 ingredient was a corn product. Needless to say, I didn't use it.

i tried my dogs on the royal canin. they always had loose stools on it. i switched several more times until i found the natural balance. you have to find a food that works well with your dogs. and one that they will eat. the food that i feed my dogs, was reccomended by my vet. it is not what they have for sale in their office. just one of the things that make you go hhmmm.....

The hardest thing about picking a dog food is the ingredients don't tell you anyhting becasue they can say anything they want to make it sound good. There are so many holes in this process. Working in a vet clinic, I see dogs that look good eating the crappiest of the crappiest and then some die way before they should. Some dogs just so well on certain brands then others.
It really comes down to the breed, exercise and coat type. Like for example the lab will do better on a fish based diet because of where it originates from.
Eukanuba is not a bad choice, it could be worse, like dog chow, eww.

Royal Canin - blah!! Chicken Soup - yay!

Science diet is terrible.

Wysong is blowing smoke, whoever said they disagree with corn being bad...
Corn is a filler. A cheap one. It goes in one hole and out the other.

Since when has chicken meal become a bad thing?

And Science Diet is crap that vets try to push off on people because they are paid to do so. They either don't care or aren't educating themselves enough about a holistic diet.

Maywoo... Old Roy is purina, just bagged under the Walmart name.

I just try and stay away from all the corn, and rice fillers and buy foods with more meats for my kids.. Some they like, some they don't.
My guys are high energy so I like a higher protein around 30%.

If they were less active it would be much lower..


I hated Science Diet, they don't have it anymore, but used to have Ethoxiquin in it.. Spelling??


***Edited By: LuvsTalMen on 10/27/2006 7:32:29 PM***
Reason: added

Contrary to popular belief OL'ROY is not PURINA, though there does not appear to be much difference in the two (DOG CHOW, that is.)


OL' ROY
Company Information:
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Bentonville, Arkansas 72716-8611
Website: http://www.walmart.com
Phone: 1-800-WAL-MART
Email: Mail Form

Product is manufactured for Wal-Mart by Doane Pet Care, the leading manufacturer of private label dry pet food.

Availability:
- Wal Mart Stores (Store


Ol' Roy - Premium

Ingredients:
Ground yellow corn, meat and bone meal, ground whole wheat, soybean meal, wheat middlings, animal fat (preserved with BHA and citric acid), chicken by-product meal, rice, animal digest, salt, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, choline chloride, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, vitamin E supplement, niacin, copper sulafate, manganous oxide, vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, menadione sodium bisulfite (complex source of vitamin K), calcium iodate, vitamin D3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, cobalt carbonate, folic acid, sodium selenite

Guaranteed Analysis
Protein: 22%
Fat: 9%
Fiber: 4%
Moisture: 12%



PURINA

Loc: Los Angeles, CA Purina Dog Chow / Puppy Chow (Nestle)


Company Information:
Parent Company: Nestle, http://www.nestle.com
Manufacturer: Nestle Purina PetCare, Checkerboard Square, St. Louis, MO 63164
Website: http://www.purina.com | www.dogchow.com & www.puppychow.com
Phone: 1-800-225-2270
Email: Mail Form

Availability:
- Internet ordering
- Grocery Stores, Pet Stores

Purina - Dog Chow Complete Nutrition Formula

Ingredients:
Ground yellow corn, poultry by-product meal, corn gluten meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), brewers rice, soybean meal, dicalcium phosphate, animal digest, calcium carbonate, malted barley flour, salt, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, DL-Methionine, added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2), manganese sulfate, manganese proteinate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, brewers dried yeast, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, copper proteinate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite

Guaranteed Analysis
Protein: 21%
Fat: 10%
Fiber: 4.5%
Moisture: 12%

Calories
433 Kcal/cup

Other Nutrient Guarantees
Calcium: min 1%
Phosphorus: min 0.8%

FROM: http://forums.dogfoodproject.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=dogfood&Number=32023&Searchpage=2&Main=32023&Words=purina&topic=&Search=true#Post32023

Whats the difference? The ingredients listed on both is not fit for a rat... let alone our beloved companion animals.

Oh, by all means I agree!