What Do You Feed Your Dogs?

[Jill]

Recently, we changed what we're feeding most of our dogs. Winston has been on and continues to be on Hills Prescription Diet U/D Canned Food (which he loves, thankfully).

Our other dogs have free-access to Nutro Natural Choice dry food most hours of the day. For the dogs' dinner, we have changed from a little canned dog food over to home cooking. We cook whole grain brown rice in chicken stock and water, and mix in cooked lean meat. About 3 to 1 rice to meat. They love it and it's with the vet's approval.

We have four shih-tzu (Winston is one of them), a blue merle collie, and a lab x chow mix.

What about you all?

 

[Steph_D]

I have 6 dogs. My 2 in the house, sheltie and shepherd mix, get Nature's Recipe Healthy Skin Formula. My old grannies, 11 year old beagle mix and 10 year old bassett hound, also get Nature's Recipe. The only difference for them is they get it soaked because they don't have much teeth left. My 2 big dogs, shepherd mix and golden retriever, get a local brand from the feed store mixed with soaked beet pulp.

I used to feed the inside dogs free choice until I got Casper, the sheltie. Now I have to feed them pretty early in the day to prevent his night time accidents and cut off all food, except for the occasional treat, after around 5 pm.

 

[liltnt]

I raised Pis on the nutro natual choice but have moved her over to the nutro Ultra weight management with some veggies, Usually she gets green beans. I am watching her weight although I still think she has her girlish figure.

 

[mad for mini's]

I have 6 dogs ranging in age from 2 years to 7 years and sizes from Scottish Terrier to Great Dane and all of them get Diamond brand Lamb Meal and Rice dry only . I like it because it has no corn and no by products. The no corn really cuts down on doggy waste and I just can't see feeding them by products. Yuck ! My Scottie and Great Dane are in the house and usually have food in their bowls all the time , the rest are outside and get fed in the afternoon. They all are in great condition and love the food.

 

[Marty]

Hey Jill,

I had been raising Pup-Zilla AKA AMY on Nutro Puppy but we had to change back to Purina Pro Plan Puppy for Large Breeds that the breeder originally had her on. The Nutro was not agreeing with her and she did not like to eat it. As skinny as she is, I couldn't have her protesting.

I leave the Purina Pro Plan out all the time, free choice. She likes the taste.

Then in the evening I am also cooking her home made food.

I boil a boneless chicken breast for her and add cooked rice for her dinner.

I buy the boneless chicken breasts in a bag at Walmart in the frozen food case. One bag lasts a week.

I think I'm doing it for me as much as for her. I miss not having an army to feed around here.

 

[CyndiD]

I have fed the same dog food for years...Iams...puppy for the puppies and mini chunks for the adults. I will sometimes make a broth for them in the winter, just for a little variation. But they all eat it, have good coats and good "poo"...so I stay with it.

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[jayne]

My good old girls (11 year old aussie, 12 year old golden/border collie mix) have had Kirkland dry food from day one. They have done great on it. I understand that it is made by Diamond and is a good food. They each get 1 1/2 cups twice a day. The golden mix weighs about 58 pounds and the aussie is a bit chubby at 68 pounds.

Both of them like a little wet in their dry food, and every since all that canned food recall, I have not trusted it, so I make my own food for them too. I usually boil up a chicken carcass (after I cut off all the breasts and legs and thighs for us to eat) take off all the mean, and then add veggies and rice and keep it kind of soupy. I mix about 1/4 cup of this mixture with their dry food. They love it and I feel so much better about what they're eating. I actually put this wet food in a plastic pitcher so it doesn't take up much in the fridge.

Jayne

 

[drivin*me*buggy]

Everyone here gets Canidae, from 10 week old Tug, 2 year old Timber and 14+ yr old Poss'm, They get it with a splash of water on it. They make an all life stages formula that I have used for 2+ years now.

Tug's breeder had him on Purina puppy large breed, but it was too corn based for me. He is growing beautifully on the Canidae, like a weed, gangly and goofy,we go to the vet tomorrow. We'll see what the vet thinks.

Canidae has good quality ingredients, you don't have to feed a ton and it makes for smaller poopies

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Plus these guys get what my 3 yr old son drops at mealtimes plus they love to snack on baby carrots

: That's how I am getting baby Tug back to bed after his early AM pee trip

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Angie

 

[MooreAcres]

I have a Rottweiler/Golden Retriever cross. She's just over a year old. She started out on Pedigree and Beneful (which in my opinion are crappy foods, junk foods). I started working with dogs (doggie daycare/boarding) when my girl was about 4-5 months old. I learned so much including what should and should NOT be in the food we feed our favorite canines. Keeleigh was immediately switched to Merrick Puppy Plate. She loved it and she seemed much more healthy overall. Once she reached her first birthday, she graduated to "adult" food, Merrick Grammies Pot Pie. Recently I switched her to Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken and Rice. On the EP she seems to have a firmer stool and a shinnier coat (although shes always been extremely shiny).

Erin

 

[minisaremighty]

We switched to Nutro Natural Choice earlier in the year (right before the news of the contaminated dog foods). Our min pin was getting sick twice a day, like clockwork. We switched to Diamond Maintenance and no more vomiting. :aktion033:

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

I am one of those "bad pet owners" our dogs are free fed pedigree puppy and always have been for years it worked for us with all our dogs from our bully to our pits and the small dogs

I realize many don't agree with it but like I said it is what suits them and what works for us they are healthy and look good per the vet

 

[Sonya]

My dogs eat Hills Science Diet Dry . Brutus requires it as it is a prescrip food, he has IBS. It was just easier to feed it to Radar too and since he's a little on the chuncky side (the food is w/d...intented for overweight dogs, even though Brutus isn't overweight), it helps control Radars weight. They love it which my vet finds odd, since every dog he knows won't touch it without the can mixed in. I do not feed free choice, the get measured cups.

 

[Jill]

Sounds like all of us have some lucky dogs

Lisa, do you feed the puppy pedigree to adult dogs, or do you mean you start them on puppy and then they graduate to adult?

One feed our dogs all loved but we stopped using because I thought it may be too rich for the shih-tzu's is Bil-Jac. But, it's a lot easier for them to all eat the same dry food right now.

 

[tifflunn]

Storm ( english mastiff) eats Pedigree- came home with it from the breeder- tried switching 2x - he wouldn't do it. :bgrin

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I have no idea how you afford to have dogs-

Mine have meat, and dry bread, that really is it.

They scrounge bread (of all things- poor starving babies) at the Barn and they , of course, eat horse poop as if it were manna from heaven.

I think I should bag the stuff up and sell it, my dogs are fit, healthy and strong and, in a breed prone to bloat, bloat free.

I guess what it comes down to is, whatever you feed, find something that suits your dogs and, whatever you are told, stick to it.

I am not sure I would ever want to put myself at the mercy of a big company making pet food ever again, though.

 

[Jill]

I have no idea how you afford to have dogs-

Oh, it's actually really cheap to feed them what I am now cooking. Bag of rice makes 20 or so cups and is $1.29, the lean meat we get at about $3.50/pound on sale (and freeze it).

HORSES... Now those are what's actually expensive :bgrin

 

[Marty]

Jill and Rabbit:

I never heard of feeding bread to dogs before.

What kind of meat exactly do you get for your dogs?

When Hus and the boys went racing on Saturday nights, Tracey and I used to have a "girls night". I'd paint our toenails, do bubble baths, and get a rib eye steak for me and Tracey as a treat once a week. One for her, one for me..........yum!

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

Lisa, do you feed the puppy pedigree to adult dogs, or do you mean you start them on puppy and then they graduate to adult?

No jill they all get puppy food always. We have Chi's now the pit and the bully we lost to old age and some of them are young (less then a year) and a couple are older they really don't eat alot of food and they do better on the puppy chow so that is what they get.

Of course add snacks and whatever we are eating to the list to

I have to free feed as I have alot of dogs and I need food to be a total non issue in the house especially when raven was a toddler and always walking around with snacks so we never have dog fights over food if one is eating the other will just share or wait since they know the food will always be there

 

[Jill]

Marty --

I don't feed bread to mine, but am feeding whole grain brown rice I cook in chicken stock and water.

For the meat, I feed them chicken breasts, browned ground turkey, or lean beef roast. Cook everything well done and the "recipe" is like 3 parts rice to 1 part meat. You can mix in veggies, also, like green beans. I am not much of a cook (H cooks for us usually), but I cook good enough for the doggies :bgrin

During the day, all but Winston have free access to the kibble, too.

Jill

PS I have heard pork is not good for dogs -- I don't know if it's true but am not feeding it to mine just in case.

ALSO, I wonder if I put the chicken stock, water, raw chicken and uncooked rice in the crock pot, would it cook okay?

 

[Sterling]

My Boxer and Cane Corso get Canidae All Life Stages formula, along with Canidae cans every now and then. I also cook for them, chicken gizzards with broth, chicken fillets, steak, ground beef, scrambled eggs and as a treat they get plain yogurt in their kibble snack. Back before the dog food scare happened they were on Nutro Natural with an occasional Pedigree can. Since I started cooking for them I am really enjoying how they just totally immerse themselves in their meals!

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