Dog Food

[Sugars_Kentucky_Mama]

Have another question. How about the dog food, Science Diet, for puppies, is that a good dog food? My vet gave me a free sample, and I am thinking about trying it on my little one. What do you all think about this particular food. Is it a good one?? Thanks !!

[blueboys]

we have science ovwer in the uk and hills science rather expensive here but most dogs are fed on it and seem to be doing alright:)

[Tammylyn]

Hi Rhonda! Good morning, me Tammylyn here of course, LOL!
Its a great food, but can be pricey....Ya know, my hero Dr Glass and I have talked this one over many times...he assures me that Pedigree and Purina are great foods too. One of my cats, "Lewis" of "Lewis and Clark"...lol, gets bladder stones. When he first had them Dr Glass had me use Prescripton diet for a few weeks, until all stones passed...then he said really I could use Purina UT formula and have just as much luck...I have, no more stones..I use Purina puppy chow for the pups, and have switched from Pedigree Large Breed since loosing Bruno to Pedigree Dog Chow...they all love it and it's priced not too high and not too low. I have never had any issues with anyone getting sick or turning their noses up at it...I think most of your top OTC foods are fine, but don't hesitate to ask your vet if you trust 'em, now some vets will push for expensive food that they sell at the clinic...just compare ingrediants and you will be shocked at how similar they are to top commercial brands like Pedigree and Purina...also with these 2, never and recalls or scary issues in the media. Even the rescues I have worked with use the Purina 1 formulas....Sasha I suppliment with frozed green beans because she can pork up so easily and raids trashes etc...fills her but has no calories and frozen because low sodium. Good luck, and I hope this helps!
Take care!
Tammy:D

[Working Dog]

Avoid Hills, Purina, Eukanuba, Iams, etc.

Read this.

http://dogfoods.angelfire.com/

[Sugars_Kentucky_Mama]

So, Tammylyn, you think it's ok to feed my little Sugar the Purina Puppy Chow??

[Working Dog]

Sugars Kentucky Mama,
I hope you don't mind since you were not asking me but I would like say something. The following is a list of ingredients of Puppy Chow:
Ingredients
Whole grain corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), barley, animal digest, calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, fish oil, salt, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, DL-Methionine, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, brewers dried yeast, manganese proteinate, added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2), niacin, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.
S-4001

Now compare those ingredients with the below information and ask yourself do YOU want YOUR dog eating this crap (Puppy Chow).:confused:

The following is a list of ingredients that you should try to avoid when purchasing dog food, and the reasons why:

1) By-products. By-products are what is left over after the processing plants remove what meat is fit for human consumption and send it to the grocery stores. By products can contain anything from chicken heads and feet, to cow hooves and horns, fur, feathers, blood, skin, bone, feces, and even dirt and sawdust from the floors. By-products can also include innards, such as intestines and other organs that we do not eat. These can be very nutritious for our dogs if handled in the same manner than the human grade meats are, but by-products are not kept fresh, since they are considered unfit for human consumption, and in some cases have even been known to sit in containers for 5 days or more before being picked up from the meat plant and taken to the dog food rendering plant.

2) Corn in any form, including “ground yellow corn,” “corn meal,” and “corn gluten meal.” Corn is what is known as a ‘filler,’ and it serves one primary purpose in pet food – to make the animal feel full. It also contains some protein, so many dog food manufacturers use it to help raise the protein content in their food. However, dogs and cats cannot digest corn and utilize the protein it contains, so it basically just passes right through the digestive system and you get the privilege of cleaning it up when it comes out the other end. It also makes dogs hyper, because it is a carbohydrate. Dogs do not get their usable energy from carbs like people do; they get it from protein and fat. Some dogs are also allergic to corn, so just avoid any foods that contain any form of corn in their ingredients listing and you'll be doing your dog and yourself a big favor.

3) ‘Generic,’ unidentified ingredients like “animal fat,” “animal digest,” and “meat meal” or "poultry meal" – you have no idea what these could contain (and you don’t want to know). Instead, you want to look for things that are more specific, like “chicken fat” and “chicken meal,” that way you know exactly what is in the food.

4) Chemical preservatives such as "ethoxyquin," “BHA,” “BHT,” and “propylene glycol (which is also found in antifreeze, body lotions, hair gels, perfumes, bubble bath, shampoo, smoke machines, and paint). Chemical preservatives make the food last longer than natural preservatives, but every single one of them has been proven to cause liver and kidney failure, cancer, or other life-threatening diseases in test animals. Pet food manufacturers will tell you that in small quantities, the preservatives are safe, and they probably are, but if you stop and think about it, your dog will be ingesting small quantities of these preservatives every day over his entire life span. They can then build up to toxic levels inside his body and that’s when they become deadly. You want food that’s been naturally preserved. “Mixed tocopherols” is a natural preservative.

5) Brewer's Rice. White rice or brown rice are both okay, but brewer's rice is not. Why? Brewer's rice refers to the tiny pieces of broken rice that remain after the milling process is complete. These particles are so tiny that they will pass through a sieve with a 1.4 mm round perforation. Look on a ruler to see how small that is. Each mark between the inch marks is about 1 mm. Brewer's rice, like brewer's yeast, is a by-product of the beer making industry, and is used as another filler in dog food, and has very little nutrition, if any at all.

6) Soy, in any form. Soy is another filler, like corn. It's used as a protein source as well, but again, dogs are unable to utilize proteins from plant sources, and some dogs are allergic to it.

7) Sorghum is another filler, as well as a fiber source. Sorghum is an Old World grass that is cultivated as grain and forage. Sounds like the perfect thing for a dog to be eating, don't you think? To be fair, though, it is an okay source of fiber, and shouldn't cause any allergic reactions or health concerns.

8) Wheat – Wheat is really only an issue if your dog is allergic to it, but wheat also played a big part in the recent pet food recalls, so avoiding it altogether is a good idea. Often, manufacturers will use several wheat ingredients, splitting them up so that it appears that there is less of it in the food. Watch for this!

9) Salt, while found in many dog foods, is an unnecessary ingredient, so if the dog food you choose contains salt, make sure it’s down near the bottom of the list of ingredients, as there is usually a form of sodium in the added vitamins, and you don’t want to be giving your dog too much of it, as too much salt in the dog's diet can cause the same problems that it does in humans.

10) Brewer's yeast. Brewer's yeast is a by-product of the beer making process. After the beer has fermented, it is drained out of the fermenting tank, through a filter, which catches the yeast. Then, the yeast is squeezed to get out all of the liquid that it still contains, and what's left is brewer's yeast. Again, some dogs have a problem with this ingredient and some don't, but watch for skin problems and/or ear infections if your dog food contains brewer's yeast. I, personally, do not like to feed it.

11) Flax is something else that some dogs do not tolerate well. Some dogs have no problem with it whatsoever, but others do. Usually dogs that are sensitive to flax will have soft or loose stools, but it usually does not cause an outright allergic reaction.

12) Mill run or grain fragments - These ingredients are, in a nutshell (pun intended), the shells, hulls, and tiny grain fragments that are too small to be used for anything else and would otherwise be thrown out. They are a filler and a source of fiber in dog foods, and have zero nutritional value.

13) Added flavors or colors. If a food contains sufficient, high quality meat, there really is no need to add "poultry flavor," or "natural chicken flavor" to it. Coloring is added for our benefit, to make the little meat-shaped pieces look more like meat, and the veggie-shaped pieces look more like veggies. Dogs don't care, and many of these colorings can be harmful when ingested over an extended period of time. Just like chemical preservatives, in small quantities, they are relatively (not completely!) harmless, but when fed over the course of a lifetime, they can build up to toxic levels.

14) Synthetic Vitamin K - On a dog food label, this ingredient is listed one of the following ways: menadione sodium bisulfate, menadione sodium bisulfite, menadione dimethylprimidinol sulfate, menadione dimethylprimidinol sulfite or menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite. It can also be listed without the word 'menadione,' but is nearly always classified as a "source of vitamin K activity." Not only is the addition of vitamin K into dog food unnecessary, because dogs manufacture their own vitamin K (much like they manufacture their own vitamin C), but this ingredient is very toxic. For more information on this ingredient, which can be found in MANY pet foods, not only low quality ones, visit The Dog Food Project.

15) Onion - In any form, whether it's onion powder, whole onions, etc. If you see this ingredient on a dog food label, RUN. Onions are very toxic to dogs and can cause anemia and even death. There is NO reason for onion to be put in dog food, but some manufacturers do!

I hope I am not coming off rude I just want you to be able to make a well informed decision.;) I hate to admit this but in college I used to feed my dog Ol' Roy. I feel so bad my dog now that realize what kind of garbage I was fedding him.

[Tammylyn]

Hi all!

I don't think you came across rude at all...there is much controversy with all of this, and I don't bash anyone for their pet diets. My Bruno had a very sensative stomach and got those bad allergic reactions so we tried all kinds of food.....Prescription (very expensive), Science diet--several formulas the sensative stoamch, the skin, etc---Iams--Authority---

Finally, like I said I just sat down with several different vets and we talked about all the foods. They all told me the same thing, that basically Commercial is commercial...some are a little better than others, like Science Diet...and at the time vets even recommended Iams...so go figure...but what they all agreed on was that any commercial is basically the same...yeah there are fillers etc...but they all have them...I have been assured many times that Pedigree and Purina are fine.....and for all the 100's of fancy, expensive and highly recommended foods, Bruno did best on Pedigree Large Breed. My vets here in KY all agree too, Commercial is Commercial....as long as they are getting the "type" of diet for their age...ie, puppies get puppy, senior gets senior...etc. I DON'T MEAN TO SHOUT, BUT I HAVE ALWAYS USED PEDIGREE AND PURINA, ALL DOGS LIVED BEYOND LIFE EXPECTANCY...LARGE BREEDS AVERAGE OF 12 YRS OLD AND NEVER ANY HEALTH ISSUES...but I do take care of my babes, teeth brushings daily, dentals at the vets yearly, interceptor for all bugs, wormed yearly, shots yearly....etc...I know the teeth brushing makes a big difference, as do the dentals...gets all that nasty stuff off the teeth and keeps it from going into their systems...I am sure that there are other foods maybe a little bit better than Pedigree or Purina, but for my kids it's proven itself many times over the years....and I must point out that the recent scandal and horror re dog food in the news....lots of brands many people swore by because of the product list and the name and price....didn't do much for all those poor dead babies, and I am sure what got them was not intended or in the "ingrediant list"...thanks guys, hope I didn't offend anyone. Good Luck!
Tammy:D

[Sugars_Kentucky_Mama]

Thank you Working Dog, and Tammylyn for the input. I just want whats best for my little Sugar, as I am sure you do for your babies. I have watched her, and she is eating the purina puppy chow, but seems to like the sceince diet better. Working Dog, ty for the time it must have taken to submit the information for me. I appreciate it very much that you would take that kind of time for me. Means a lot !! Tammy, you are always a good friend, ty for that !!