Best Dry Dog Food Brands - Page 1

I have a 1 year old West/Czech Working line German Shepherd whom I've fed TOTW, Purina (mom was in charge at the time -_-), and Evo.
He remains on the thinner side and has a recurring ear infection (I'm checking it out with the vet in 2wks when my money comes in). I've switched formulas and went grain free to see if it was an allergy or something but I can't tell. In addition I can't afford Evo Red Meat's 30aprx bag monthly anymore and was going to switch to

WellnessCORE
SolidGold WolfKing
Merrick's BeforeGrain
or possibly something else (I want him to gain weight, he gets plenty of water and exercise)

I'll post a picture of him later when I get home

Any Suggestions?

I used Acana Ranchlands Grain Free, etc... Excellent food but I was having soft stool issues every couple of months, ears were constantly dirty, dog seemingly grazed a lot, etc....  I switched to Canidae Lamb about 2 weeks ago and have excellent results with it so far.  Ears are clean, dog just about stopped grazing (there's grain in Canidae Lamb), stools are easy to pick up as well.  I got the idea of using Canidae from reading Keith Grossmans post here on PDB.  Link to Canidaes website.... http://www.canidae.com/dogs/lamb-and-rice/dry.html .

You have to do what works for your dog, the so-called best foods may not be best for your pup.   Specific to my pup, the more experience I get with his food requirements, how he responds, etc. - I think he needs the grain.  Canidae has no corn, wheat, soy, grain fractions, fillers (which you definetly want to stay away from), is naturally preserved and reasonably priced.

Good luck.

     

Kirkland Chicken and Rice is good and Kirkland Puppy. Its available at costco and is made by diamond pet foods. $28 for a 40lb bag. They also have a new kind called Natures Domain almost Identical to Taste of the Wild $35 for 35lbs. We have not had any issues with them. Dogs like it and keep weight on. Very good food for the price.

I like Solid Gold... I would try their Mmillenia.. it is for dogs that are more active. Solid Gold also has one called Barking at the Moon... it is a fish based food. It is high calorie and is great for dogs needing to put on weight or ones that are very active.

Kirkland (Costco) also makes a great food. They have a lamb and rice and a chicken and rice formula... both great food. Costco also sells a food called Natures Domain. It is a grain free kibble. They have a turkey/potato formula and a salmon/potato formula. I am currently feeding the Turkey formula.

What kind of ear infections is your dog getting? If it is yeast try cleaning the ears out really well with a 1:1 solution of Bragg apple cider vinegar (I only use the real stuff) and water. You will need to stay on top of this. Feeding a good grain free food helps as well.

Can you consider Raw feeding? It is a very clean, pure and natural diet. Many owners find an improvement in ear infections and the like...

http://k9-instinct.blogspot.com/2012/02/change-your-dogs-life-with-raw-feeding.html

http://k9-instinct.blogspot.com/2012/02/feed-your-dog-raw-for-less-than-1-day.html

DONALD,
It looks like we were commenting at the same time about the Kirkland..

I will also attest to the Kirkland dog food. My dog has eaten only that food since she was weened, fist puppy, then chicken and rice, then lamb (to see if there was a difference for my dog) and now we're back to chicken. I noticed no difference in her coat or stools between the chicken and lamb formulas. She has a beautiful coat, very soft and full, with perfect stools every day. I would recommend it as very reasonably priced for the quality and have no intention of changing my dog's diet because she does SO well on it. She is also the perfect weight, which means I feed her 4 cups a day because of how much exercise she gets.

My favorites are Orijen, Acana, and NOW! Grain Free puppy.
For my 7 year old  with ear issues, he does best on the Wellness Core.
I have also used Fromm, EVO , and solid gold, with decent results but my favorites are above.
For ear issues I stronly recommend Zymox, it works wonders.

   

A vet tech who works for a repro specialist said that breeding dogs should not eat flax seed or rosemary.  Rosemary excites the nerves.  So, may be not good for dogs who have or might have seizures???