What dog food do you use?

[Naughtius]

What kind of food do all of you dog owners have your dogs on? I once had my Golden on an all raw diet but stopped because it was so time consuming to shop for and prepare the meals. Now I’m feeding him Orijen kibble. Although it’s expensive, it has great ingredients. I’ve read that the 2011 bags of Orijen now include citric acid to as a preservative and it’s been causing digestion problems with some dogs. If that’s the case, I might switch back to a raw diet.

[NonTocareLeTete]

I use the Costco stuff. I read somewhere that it's actually pretty high-quality, but I'm sure it's not compared to all-raw. I'm just afraid I'm not committed enough to get three dogs on all-raw. I barely remember to feed myself half the time...

[Naughtius]

I was using the costco food for a while too. It's actually much better than the big name foods you might buy like Science Diet or Purina. The only problem was the my dog's poops were way too loose. I've switched to Orijen and it's been great.

[xiaojuan]

I feed my dogs Orijen because it's been great for my beagle. Back when I used to feed her Science Diet, she used to jump and run around like some crazy toddler on a sugar high, and even though she ate a lot of that crap, she always looked emaciated and grungy. But, ever since she started on Orijen, she's started to look healthier and her coat is beautiful. Her energy levels throughout the day have also balanced out significantly.

For some time before, I also fed them Acana, which I believe is produced by the same company as Orijen. It's not bad, and it's definitely cheaper than Orijen.

I just went shopping for dog food, and I discovered some pet stores beginning to stock a new brand called Now! http://www.petcurean.com/index.php?page_id=179 It's grain-free and it has some good looking ingredients. Its quality at first glance seemed comparable to Orijen.

[mooku]

Sadie is on Costco Kirkland stuff right now, it's actually not too bad, except it makes her food like twice as much as her old food. In the US I had her on Innova which was a decent high grade dog food. I went with the Costco mainly because I had to get her food before she got out of quarantine and I refuse to give her science diet or random taiwan branded dog food that I have no idea what's in it. I'll have to check out Orijen, or consider doing raw in the future, I don't really have the ability to do it now.

[Icon]

Guys, remember you can buy already mixed raw now: http://www.barftaiwan.com

I am using now VF brand, because the kibble is small and tha cats find it palatable. Their version for senior dog is OKish, but Toto and Bobby get it as a treat, not main. We were using Origen, but suddenly the cats did not like it anymore. Also a bit of Chicken soup for the dog/cat lovers soul.

[Naughtius]

The main problem I had with Kirkland Signature food was that it had beet pulp which is used as a filler like grains and corn are. Although it's not as bad as those. I was reading all the ingredients of the foods in Pet Stop last night. All of the big brands had corn, wheat, rice, brewer's rice, corn meal....as primary ingredients. It amazes me that people still buy those foods. Thanks for the barf info, I had no idea that they were selling it in Taiwan now.

[mooku]

The main problem I had with Kirkland Signature food was that it had beet pulp which is used as a filler like grains and corn are. Although it's not as bad as those. I was reading all the ingredients of the foods in Pet Stop last night. All of the big brands had corn, wheat, rice, brewer's rice, corn meal....as primary ingredients. It amazes me that people still buy those foods. Thanks for the barf info, I had no idea that they were selling it in Taiwan now.

Yeah, I'm a fan of dogfoodanalysis.com that gives a general idea of the quality based on the order of ingredients. One thing I was completely surprised by with the Costco food is it actually lists the percentage of the major ingredients on the package. In the US, nothing has percentages, and all the companies play games by splitting ingredients up ie: 10% meat, 9% corn, 9% other corn, 9% corny corn. I don't know if this is some kind of regulation that is specific to Taiwan because of stricter food laws or what.

The Costco kirkland Adult Chicken ingredients are roughly as such; Chicken 18.5%, Chicken meal 18.5%, Whole grain brown rice 18.5%, cracked pearl barley 16.5%, Chicken fat 6.5%, Egg product 6.5%, Beet pulp, 4%, potatoes 2.5%, fish meal 2%, flaxseed 2%. The other two kirkland foods lamb and senior didn't seem to have as high a ratio of meat to grain as the plain chicken formula. It's still about a third brown rice, which I'm not a huge fan of but I'm thinking maybe supplementing her diet with more meat/eggs. I am happy that it has no corn it it though. Unfortunately I'm vegetarian so I don't have any random meat around the house to give her.

[Naughtius]

Yeah, I'm a fan of dogfoodanalysis.com that gives a general idea of the quality based on the order of ingredients. One thing I was completely surprised by with the Costco food is it actually lists the percentage of the major ingredients on the package. In the US, nothing has percentages, and all the companies play games by splitting ingredients up ie: 10% meat, 9% corn, 9% other corn, 9% corny corn. I don't know if this is some kind of regulation that is specific to Taiwan because of stricter food laws or what.

The Costco kirkland Adult Chicken ingredients are roughly as such; Chicken 18.5%, Chicken meal 18.5%, Whole grain brown rice 18.5%, cracked pearl barley 16.5%, Chicken fat 6.5%, Egg product 6.5%, Beet pulp, 4%, potatoes 2.5%, fish meal 2%, flaxseed 2%. The other two kirkland foods lamb and senior didn't seem to have as high a ratio of meat to grain as the plain chicken formula. It's still about a third brown rice, which I'm not a huge fan of but I'm thinking maybe supplementing her diet with more meat/eggs. I am happy that it has no corn it it though. Unfortunately I'm vegetarian so I don't have any random meat around the house to give her.

We could also do without the cracked pearl barley. One thing you have to look out for is the wording of the meat. If it says "fresh" chicken or maybe just "chicken", it could mean that it was 18.5% before it was dehydrated. So, in fact it is much less. Chicken meal is definitely already dehydrated, so you're getting what you pay for.

[Belgian Pie]

My dogs eat Optipro (lamb, rice) ... they like it and have beautiful poo ... sometimes I mix in a few raw chicken pieces ... or a little Icelandic cod liver (expensive) and sprinkle it with some of the left-over cod oil ... once in a while I add a sunny-side up egg ...

I feed them twice a day ...

A fifth of a banana a day, I eat the rest ... they are really crazy about it ...

I also give them some boiled pig skin when available at my lunchbox place ... they go nuts when I bring it ...

BTW, high protein foods are for puppies mostly ... a dog is an omnivore ... needs meat protein but not only that ...

My dogs are shipshape ... and don't complain about the food