The dogs are the new horses. How to feed them?

[Jhein12]

[QUOTE=threedogpack;7504589]
One more thought here. Dogs aren’t actually carnivores, they are omnivores which means IF they were out being all feral and such, they would scavenge as much, or more, than hunt. JHein12 and most on this forum (including myself), are in all probability, not Veterinary Nutritionists so that should be taken into account as well. Most big dog food companies spend thousands of dollars each year on research and development and employ scientists. There is something worthwhile there.

Dogs are a hardy species mostly, so they will probably handle whatever you decide to feed them, but it might not be optimal and from the OP, it seems like s/he wants to understand how to feed this dog well.

trots off to find a less contentious subject[/QUOTE]

Also, if those scientists were so intelligent and work hard to develop a food that is the best for our dogs, how come they include artificial dyes in foods like Beneful? Dyes have no nutritional merit for dogs or humans. Same with sugar, dogs don’t have use for it. If there is nutritious value to be gained from sugar, dyes, artificial preservatives, and the like please let me know since I obviously don’t know how to research it myself.

[tinah]

I fed diamond working dog, I think. Might be called sporting dog or high protien, or something along those lines. I had them on the lamb and rice, but I got tired of feeding premium food to critters that ate chicken poop whenever they could get it. In my area it’s about $28 for a 50 lb bag. My sister says in Austin it’s priced up there with blue buffalo. I’m probably 40 miles from the nearest pet food speciality store, so I’m limited to what I can get at the feed store or Walmart.

[mommy_peanut]

Here’s a couple article for you
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=459

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1659+1661&aid=668

http://www.peteducation.com/category.cfm?c=2+1659

One thing to keep in mind when choosing what to feed your dog, is how efficiently it’s body is utilizing the food. If you find you’re cleaning up quite a few (larger sized) piles each day, you may want to rethink what your feeding.
If a (healthy) dog is being fed a food it’s body can use, they should only have 1-3 smaller poops a day.

[betsyk]

Another supporter of letting the people with the advanced degrees in animal nutrition do the job they are trained to do, and choosing the option that works best for my dog. We tried the super-duper-expensive-best-rated-stuff-on-earth and my older dog had gas that would clear a room and made her obviously very unhappy. Next attempt gave her unrelenting diarrhea. About a hundred dollars later, we were back to something like Chicken Soup, not the best and not the worst in the store, but it agreed with her (and us).

[Justa_Bob]

Gah. I learned a lot from this board about nutrition and my misconceptions. And now, months later and too much research later – I want to just throw up my hands. It has been an ugly odyssey. There are more theories for fringe ideas than there is science and logic supporting them. Remember that as you wade in - there are lots of theories for some of what people are claiming as facts.

Everyone has their own opinion - find where you are comfortable and you will be fine as long as you don’t become a slave to a particular set of dog food dogma. Observe what works for you dog.

-Do search for recalls before you buy any brand
-Some of the websites are not as objective as they want to seem
-Look at your particular dog - the newer high protein, grain free does not benefit all dogs
-The big companies are not always the enemy
-Dogs are omnivores

Pretty much any biz can throw up a shingle and start selling dog food. I think some of the new, spendy brands are just marketing of a poor product and some are really great products.

Raw - its a very personal choice. I consulted a dog nutritionist and was extremely upset that they were just shilling the raw diet. Hook line and sinker. I am also a scientist by training and some of the nutritionist’s logic was bad science. Raw is okay for some, but it should not be the holy grail for any nutritionist. There are pros and cons and no one should just consider all the pros or all the cons. And because the dog and wolf share 99% DNA does not mean that dogs should eat raw. DNA does not work that way…anyone who has taken a basic cell biology class in freshman year can pull apart that logic. Gene expression anyone?

Some of the back to nature thinking is also bad science. There are more theories swirling around than good science supporting it. Especially all the controversy about carbohydrates. It reminds me of when fat was the big no-no in human diets and everyone went to fanatical extremes to cut it out of diets and now science is showing that fat is not the enemy. Carbs in dog food is not the enemy.

Good luck!

[threedogpack]

Justa Bob and betsyk, you are both awesome!