What's your favorite dog food? - Page 5

http://www.costco.com/Kirkland-Signature%e2%84%a2-Nature%27s-Domain%e2%84%a2-USDA-Organic-Chicken-%2526-Pea-Formula-Dry-Dog-Food-30lb-Bag.product.100155729.html

I have fed everything...and I have to admit nothing compares to Orijen, as far as kibble. However, when feeding more than one dog, you can buy raw in bulk from good sources and accomplish the same or better results. For one dog, I'd pay for Orijen, as they eat about a third less than other kibbles, and you often can't find raw ingredients of the same quality for the same price. If you're paying $60 for a 30lb bag of something else grain free and decent quality, and switch to Orijen adult (around $70ish) for a 28.6lb bag, the Orijen will last longer, almost guaranteed. I can feed my APBT 2 cups of Orijen or 3.5 cups of just about anything else. But it depends on the dog's individual metabolism, too. But when you're in multiple large dog territory and have to resort to chest freezers anyway, well, no sense in paying Orijen prices at that point. Raw it is.

I'm not sure how I feel about feeding less food. My dogs have seemed to be more content when they had full stomachs .  Feeding less is a good selling point for Origen, but I just don't know how it would work for Bev; she's one of those really eager eaters.  I don't know why I wanted to fix something that wasn't broken, she did great on Eukanuba for a fraction of the price of Honest Kitchen. Maybe it will pay off in the long run (or I will think it did).

I do believe that Jenni and Blitzen are both right. More fights have been started over dog food than "my dog is better than your dog".  I get the biggest bang for my buck with 4 Health performance from Tractor Supply or Victor Performance, these are both about $1 lb. I prefer to feed as much raw meat as I can, and over the years I have come to believe dogs have a marvelous digestion system if we don't shock it.

With common sense I can add or switch from kibble to raw or combine the two with no problems. Most of the dogs being fed on the planet are not being physically stressed and a good quality maintenance diet causes less problems than trying to get the optimum amount of nutrition in them. If I only had one or two dogs I would probably pay for the insurance and convenience of a high cost and high quality diet for my own piece of mind.

It does seem that for every good looking dog on a high dollar diet, there is a good looking dog on corn and soy diet. If we require high performance, very high performance, about 5000 Kcalories a day then the raw really moves to the front of a short line. 

If we would all eat as well as we feed our dogs we would not have nearly the health problem we have now. A lot of people still take most of their meals handed throu a window.

I am in the chest freezer class.

Blitzen, with all due respect, I can almost promise you the Capri kids are on par or would trounce Bev in the "I'll eat it in .2 secs if the dang thing isn't nailed down."   Insane food drive is their MO which is part of my quest for the perfect food since not eating it has never been a concern, lol. Anyway, my point is they don't really seem to miss the cup of food, and they actually seem just as satisfied (though with food drive like that, who can tell? They eat 5 cups as fast as 2, lol) as with foods with more carbs. Orijen is VERY meat heavy- think of the Atkins principle- eat fewer carbs, crave them less. I don't want to feed a dog 6+ cups of kibble per day, especially those that tend to expand, which is another thing I like about Orijen; soak it. It falls apart eventually but it stays the exact same size and bubbles don't escape from it. I have done many pseudo-bloat tests on various kibbles. 

For my bigger dogs, I worry more about bloat when they're scarfing huge quantities of kibble, so feeding less, to me, is not just a financial bonus but a health bonus as well.  I guess I never thought of is to much as less food, per se, but less bulk. 40 lbs is 40 lbs but that doesn't mean a cup of one kibble is equal to a cup of another. Orijen is so dense, it just seems to be more filling for my dogs who I can actually notice a difference in appetite. 

I don't think grain vs. no grain is as big of a deal as some make it out to be, rather, I think the quality of the ingredients, whatever they may be, is more important in preventing disease. I'd rather feed my dogs something without rice, due to arsenic, something without potato (cooked at high temps, anyway) do to acrylamides (sp?), but beyond that, I don't think a bit of oats, barley,  or (gasp) even corn in moderation is the worst thing in the world, as compared to a cheap grain free made from diseased, contaminated meat, high in toxic chemicals. 

Take TOTW- super popular due to being grain free and cheap. I would rather feed something like Fromm, even a grain-inclusive Fromm, or another small family company food than TOTW due to quality of ingredients. I would rather feed Orijen than either, not because I think dogs need that level of nutrition every day, but because I definitely think "cleaner" foods are healthier, ie, less heavy metal contamination, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, etc. Point being, if the same clean ingredients comprised a lower priced kibble that wasn't quite as nutritionally supercharged, sure, I'd feed it. But I don't see anyone else using the same quality ingredients in a lower powered kibble as Champion does. 

RE: Nature's Domain. I have a Costco membership and have fed Nature's Domain in the past. Remember, last I checked anyway, Nature's Domain was Diamond, nearly identical to TOTW and Diamond Naturals grain free lines. They do fine on the food. Again, it's (for me) about purity and sources of ingredients, not just snobbery against certain ingredients. I'm curious about the sourcing of the organic one you listed. That's new. Awfully carb-heavy, tons of legumes, little meat, but still intriguing that they're breaking into the organic market. Capri had her largest litter ever on the salmon formula, and hardly even blew her coat afterwards. She looked fantastic. What I disliked was the water consumption. Very high sodium in that food. Never before have I had dogs waking me in the middle of the night just to get a drink. 

LOL, I think we should have a doggy speed eating contest. I think we are lucky that our dogs eat like they are on death row. I hear about so many picky GSD's so I'm not complaining that Bev dives right in. I've had one picky GSD, he would go for days without eating, but I never gave in and added anything to tempt him. Sooner or later he ate.

I guess I'll stick with the Honest Kitchen for now .

Jen:  which organic kibble was listed?  I must have missed it.  I am all for organic, the Natural Planet Organic kibble seemed too high in salt content or something and my guys just sucked up the water which always concerns me.  Not a good feature; 

OK:  found the organic Natures Domain chicken.  Will look more into that.  Thx  Nan

A little tid bit:  A friend has fed the Now Salmon (or Go) and oatmeal for several years;  well her boy almost 11 years old is near kidney failure;  her girl at 6 was diagnoised with mammary cancer has had some mammary tumors removed and is now 7 years old..?  (PETCUREAN)

Does that not make you think twice about what  you are feeding?

The costco organic seems a bit high in carbs;  which usually means lower meat content but grain free.  325/Kcal cup seems low to me?? 

Nan, there is no way to know why those dogs have cancer. Is it in their genes? The environment? Are there toxins in their water? Are they over-vaccinated? Does their owner religiously use fertilizer/weed killer on the lawn? Just no way to know. 

o.k Nans... I also feed Orijen 6 fish beside the raw food diet. Also when feeding green tripe I will look for only gras fed animals and not corn and grain fed animals! 

as a farmer I know that most beef from feedlots especailly from the US have always hormone implant in their ear as soon as they come in the feed lots and of course they are also on antibiotic all of them to avoid any sickness.....

chicken is even worse, they have to grow too fast and are pumped with antibiotic and hormone feed! I am sure that most people never think about those things....but this is an other topic for it selve I guess.

Back to the dogs I still think raw is the best plus some kibble (Orijen and Nature Domain from Costco much cheaper then Orijen).

Green Tripe is one of the best for the dogs Green tripe is loaded with Lactobacillus Acidophilus.

there are many article to read about feeding Green fresh stinky tripe!

and my puppies I will also feew raw grounded mix plus Orijen larg breed puppy but I would switch to adult kibble at 4 to 5 months, never would feed the puppy kibble up to one year old any kibble.