I'm curious as to what type of food everyone has tried for their dog, good and bad
When I first got Faye, my eldest Chi, I was miffed as to what the best food was that I should feed her (though I finally figured out what worked best as of a few months ago).
When I first started out, I was clueless; there are no really good websites that discuss the quality of brands. So I essentially just tried every brand/method I could over two years until I found what worked.
Mayhaps if everyone shares what type of food (kibble or otherwise) they feed their pup and if the diet did or did not work, whether or not the food was good, etc., new pup owners might be able to gather a number of ideas as to what they could feed their dog. This includes treats too!
Here's what I've tried, plus what it was like and if it was successful or not:
1. Bil-Jac: bleh!!!! bad stuff!! I regret ever giving this to my pup, though she wasn't on it long at all. I was new and naive Too much grain product, too soft for their teeth, just not good ingredients.
2. Eagle Pack Holistic: made one of my Chi's sick, so I dumped this food.
3. Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul: Pretty good food, but my eldest was not eating as much as she should. It's full of good ingredients.
4. Wellness: Made my youngest sick for some reason. I gave them the lamb kibble, and it didn't work out.
5. Wellness 95% Beef/Chicken/Venison (canned): I always keep this on hand! It's 95% meat, and I use it to mix their vitamins and pro-biotics in. They like all of the flavors except for Venison, for some reason. It's pretty good stuff in terms of canned food.
6. Fromme's canned food: This stuff is gross. It's essentially liquid with a few pieces of carrot and a couple tiny pieces of meat in it. Totally not worth the price and just not good, hell it's all liquid!!
7. Artemis: Best kibble for my babies so far! It has a great ingredient list, it hasn't hurt my babies bellies, and they really seem to like the taste!
8. The Honest Kitchen Dehydrated Raw Pet Food: OMG this stuff is scary. It's green and looks like ground alfalfa in the bag. You rehydrate it in warm water...to make liquidy green mush that smells like grass. My dogs would NOT TOUCH THIS. Hell I was afraid to touch it!! The store owner went on and on about how great it was, but if you can get a dog to eat it...congratulations.
9. Whole Life dehydrated 100% meat treats in Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Liver, Salmon: My dogs looove these! They aren't too keen on Salmon or Turkey, but they love Chicken and Beef.
10. Daily Dream Treats, All Chicken: Another treat my babies love, and another healthy treat.
11. Greenies: are bad!! If you don't know it yet, don't feed your dogs these, because they are not good for them.
12. N-bones: What I replaced Greenies with! These are great, good for the pups and fully digestible. They love all the flavors (I believe there is regular, bbq, and mint). Unless you like bbq dog breath, I'd avoid that one ush:
13. Wildside Salmon treats for dogs: My dogs hated them, though it's just freeze dried salmon. I just think they don't care for salmon.
14. Dr. Harvey's Veg-to-Bowl: I just bought this and haven't tried it yet. I make my baby's food now, and have to dice up and cook veggies constantly to mix with their meat. This is supposed to save time, as it is a huge mix of veggies and herbs, chopped up, that just have to be steeped back to life. I'll post later as to how it turns out.
15. Cooked food diet: This is what works best for my babies, in combination with their Artemis kibble. I use organic ground Turkey, Chicken, Beef, Lamb, and Veal or cut-up versions of those, cooked, and combined with a veggie combination of carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, zucchini, etc. Veggies are pre-boiled a bit after they are chopped to soften them, then combined with the meat once it is close to be finished cooking. Sometimes I'll make a gravy with a lil bit of organic flour and beef or chicken stock. Sometimes I'll add brown rice or barley, but not much. They love it, and they are happy and healthy on this diet
16. Animal Essentials Plant Enzymes and Pro-biotics: It has really helped my babies and their bellies! Aids digestion, and I use it in their food everyday. Haven't had a throw up incident in a long time!
17. Babara's Canine Cafe Treats: My dogs have never eaten these, and I absolutely have no clue why. I do know that they have shortening in them, which I don't think is too good for them, so I just stopped buying from this brand. They are actually local to me, in Charlotte NC, so they are in an abundance here.
18. Gourmutt's Bakery: They love these! I've gotten them both carob frosted cookies and their absolute favorite treat, the Peanut Butter cups!! They go crazy for these things!!
19. Kool Dog Kafe treats: My babies love the brownies and the donuts, but not the pretzels.
20. Beggin' Strips: Not good for your dog, but Faye loved them. I stopped giving them to her after a few weeks and just cooked small bits of bacon and gave her pieces instead. At least I know the bacon is just bacon!
That's it for me for now, but we're always trying new treats and such, plus I switch their kibble flavors out from time to time. What about you guys?
When I first got Faye, my eldest Chi, I was miffed as to what the best food was that I should feed her (though I finally figured out what worked best as of a few months ago).
When I first started out, I was clueless; there are no really good websites that discuss the quality of brands. So I essentially just tried every brand/method I could over two years until I found what worked.
Mayhaps if everyone shares what type of food (kibble or otherwise) they feed their pup and if the diet did or did not work, whether or not the food was good, etc., new pup owners might be able to gather a number of ideas as to what they could feed their dog. This includes treats too!
Here's what I've tried, plus what it was like and if it was successful or not:
1. Bil-Jac: bleh!!!! bad stuff!! I regret ever giving this to my pup, though she wasn't on it long at all. I was new and naive Too much grain product, too soft for their teeth, just not good ingredients.
2. Eagle Pack Holistic: made one of my Chi's sick, so I dumped this food.
3. Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul: Pretty good food, but my eldest was not eating as much as she should. It's full of good ingredients.
4. Wellness: Made my youngest sick for some reason. I gave them the lamb kibble, and it didn't work out.
5. Wellness 95% Beef/Chicken/Venison (canned): I always keep this on hand! It's 95% meat, and I use it to mix their vitamins and pro-biotics in. They like all of the flavors except for Venison, for some reason. It's pretty good stuff in terms of canned food.
6. Fromme's canned food: This stuff is gross. It's essentially liquid with a few pieces of carrot and a couple tiny pieces of meat in it. Totally not worth the price and just not good, hell it's all liquid!!
7. Artemis: Best kibble for my babies so far! It has a great ingredient list, it hasn't hurt my babies bellies, and they really seem to like the taste!
8. The Honest Kitchen Dehydrated Raw Pet Food: OMG this stuff is scary. It's green and looks like ground alfalfa in the bag. You rehydrate it in warm water...to make liquidy green mush that smells like grass. My dogs would NOT TOUCH THIS. Hell I was afraid to touch it!! The store owner went on and on about how great it was, but if you can get a dog to eat it...congratulations.
9. Whole Life dehydrated 100% meat treats in Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Liver, Salmon: My dogs looove these! They aren't too keen on Salmon or Turkey, but they love Chicken and Beef.
10. Daily Dream Treats, All Chicken: Another treat my babies love, and another healthy treat.
11. Greenies: are bad!! If you don't know it yet, don't feed your dogs these, because they are not good for them.
12. N-bones: What I replaced Greenies with! These are great, good for the pups and fully digestible. They love all the flavors (I believe there is regular, bbq, and mint). Unless you like bbq dog breath, I'd avoid that one ush:
13. Wildside Salmon treats for dogs: My dogs hated them, though it's just freeze dried salmon. I just think they don't care for salmon.
14. Dr. Harvey's Veg-to-Bowl: I just bought this and haven't tried it yet. I make my baby's food now, and have to dice up and cook veggies constantly to mix with their meat. This is supposed to save time, as it is a huge mix of veggies and herbs, chopped up, that just have to be steeped back to life. I'll post later as to how it turns out.
15. Cooked food diet: This is what works best for my babies, in combination with their Artemis kibble. I use organic ground Turkey, Chicken, Beef, Lamb, and Veal or cut-up versions of those, cooked, and combined with a veggie combination of carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, zucchini, etc. Veggies are pre-boiled a bit after they are chopped to soften them, then combined with the meat once it is close to be finished cooking. Sometimes I'll make a gravy with a lil bit of organic flour and beef or chicken stock. Sometimes I'll add brown rice or barley, but not much. They love it, and they are happy and healthy on this diet
16. Animal Essentials Plant Enzymes and Pro-biotics: It has really helped my babies and their bellies! Aids digestion, and I use it in their food everyday. Haven't had a throw up incident in a long time!
17. Babara's Canine Cafe Treats: My dogs have never eaten these, and I absolutely have no clue why. I do know that they have shortening in them, which I don't think is too good for them, so I just stopped buying from this brand. They are actually local to me, in Charlotte NC, so they are in an abundance here.
18. Gourmutt's Bakery: They love these! I've gotten them both carob frosted cookies and their absolute favorite treat, the Peanut Butter cups!! They go crazy for these things!!
19. Kool Dog Kafe treats: My babies love the brownies and the donuts, but not the pretzels.
20. Beggin' Strips: Not good for your dog, but Faye loved them. I stopped giving them to her after a few weeks and just cooked small bits of bacon and gave her pieces instead. At least I know the bacon is just bacon!
That's it for me for now, but we're always trying new treats and such, plus I switch their kibble flavors out from time to time. What about you guys?