everyone has their favorites I guess. I think we're paying about $37 a bag for Kirkland brand which is supposedly made by Diamond pet foods. I think that is the same company that makes Blue
I want to make sure my dogs get something decent, but I don't think I could pay those prices you mentioned
I had my vet recommend costco chicken and rice or lamb and rice. I've been feeding the lamb and rice for over decade. Of course the dogs manage a daily hotdog and a few milk bones also.
"Life is tough, even tougher if your stupid" John Wayne
Mom's Weiner dog on the other hand, I wouldn't dream of feeding it a cooked or raw bone. Damn dog swallows everything without even chewing. Never seen a dog like it before.
Some dogs started late on raw, bone-in, chicken will sometimes be so enthusiastic as to swallow leg quarters whole. 99.99% of the time, if it won't go all the way down (and if it does go all the way down, it's not a problem), they can bring it right back up again (they have amazing control over the muscular movement of their esophagus), and that will cause them to break it down with their teeth and jaws before trying again, but if you're uncomfortable with that risk level, a common cure for this is to give them a whole chicken that they simply cannot swallow whole, no matter how enthusiastic they may be. They are forced then to break them down with their jaws and teeth first, which teaches them that this is how you eat raw meat on the bone instead of swallowing it whole.
I feed Retriever that I get at Tractor Supply. $27 for 50#. I have 3 hard working labs from 1 year old to 13. 3 cups a day and they work hard and look great. Most of the high end expensive brands make the owners feel much better than the dogs.
Mine do just fine on these. I used to be able to get the Pedigree in 50-55 pound bags for this price not so long ago. We divy a 22 ounce can of wet food three ways mixed in.
We “free feed” our 2 dogs and have always free fed our previous dogs. I keep food in their bowls and they only eat when they are hungry. Typically they eat in the morning after they go out and again in the evening usually AFTER we have dinner. 😂
Free feeding has never been a problem for us. We don’t have any problems with them being overweight or overeating and never have had those issues when free feeding any of our dogs.
Does anyone else free feed or do you only put food in their bowl when it’s time to eat?
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I free fed my last two dogs and both kept lean and fit. Our dog now will get a little porky if allowed to eat as much as he wants so gets fed once per day.
Our preferred food went up to about $90 per 30lb bag last year, so we switched our dogs over to this. One pup has some allergies, so he gets a 60/40 mix of this and his expensive food, but he likes this Member's Mark food better. Runs $1.43/lb.
Never feed your dog grain free food. Links to heart issues and death. Look into this. We had one of our goldens on grain free food due to stomach issues and she died very young with heart attack. There is a bunch of testing and info out there on how bad a grain free diet for dogs really is
Correct!
Certain dog food has been killing lots of dogs.
The FDA has a report on the brands and types of dog food that are causing the heart condition in dogs.
Probably more should read this report to see if their dog food is on the list. I hope they do.
The cause of death cannot be the absence of grain, since that's an insignificant to nonexistent part of a natural canine diet. It's likely that they are substituting something for grain which is causing the problem.
Folks have been feeding dogs a raw meat and bone diet forever, without problems. In fact, dogs thrive on it. Most add some organ meat to it (like liver), however, to make sure all bases are covered.
The cause of death cannot be the absence of grain, since that's an insignificant to nonexistent part of a natural canine diet. It's likely that they are substituting something for grain which is causing the problem.
Folks have been feeding dogs a raw meat and bone diet forever, without problems. In fact, dogs thrive on it. Most add some organ meat to it (like liver), however, to make sure all bases are covered.
I think it is either peas or potatoes that are causing the problem. Taurine should be high up on the ingredients list.
The cause of death cannot be the absence of grain, since that's an insignificant to nonexistent part of a natural canine diet. It's likely that they are substituting something for grain which is causing the problem.
Folks have been feeding dogs a raw meat and bone diet forever, without problems. In fact, dogs thrive on it. Most add some organ meat to it (like liver), however, to make sure all bases are covered.
I think it is either peas or potatoes that are causing the problem. Taurine should be high up on the ingredients list.
If I keep my two shorthairs separated, I can free feed my old one and he stays ribs showing no matter what. His pup (they’re 6 and 4), if I free feed him will eat everything he can as fast as he can and get fat as a tick.
My daughter formulates high end pet food for a living. My dogs get the Kirkland Lamb and Rice. She makes her own dog food and freezes it. My dogs are too busy eating something dead they found on the farm to wait for that stuff. Between spilled fish food and other odds and ends, they don’t eat much dog food.
Now, if the dam fish food would just not go up, I’d be happy to pay whatever for dog food. The last truckload was $40K. Jeebus. That stings.
I got a puppy two weeks ago and started her on puppy chow from the co-op. It's called Red Flannel which is made by Purina. Supposedly the same puppy chow without the advertising dollars. Our last lab was fed the same co-op branded food for 14 years with no issues. I'm interested in the raw meat diet though. It just makes sense to me. Meat, bones and probably a little forage.
The new puppy is a black labrador and mastiff mix. She's 13 weeks old, eating a couple cups of dry food a day and growing rapidly. I've been free feeding her and it has worked fine so far. She eats several times a day and always leaves food in the bowl. Quite the contrast to the last lab. We fed her once at daylight, she ate as fast as she could and stayed hungry all day. She did learn to leave a "snack" in the bowl and ate it at dinnertime.
How did all those dogs ever survive back before boutique/craft dog food? It's a racket.
Hell, dog food itself has only been around for about a hundred years, or a little more. It was a new concept when it first appeared. Folks gave dogs bones and other leftovers before that.
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