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Thread: What do you consider a "High Quality " dog food?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    4,368

    What do you consider a "High Quality " dog food?

    Good day all,

    getting ready for my new addition. I have asked my breeder what type of food is recommended and was told what the breeder feeds to puppies. I was surprised to see that this particular brand doesn't rate well on a site I visited "Dog food advisor." I'm going to visit with the breeder this week to see the puppies and am going to be discussing this with them as I want to hear their opinion on this.

    I'm not one to believe everything I read on the internet, but this website does seem to really break down the ingredients of thousands of brands of dog food.

    So, what do you consider a "High Quality" I hear allot of "get the best food you can afford". But I have read reviews on many foods now and "Dog food advisor" rates foods like "Nutrition Plus" which is a superstore brand food, or Kirkland food sold at Costco as good or better than some of the name brand foods that I expected were the benchmarks.



    Thoughts?

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    VI
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    Re: What do you consider a "High Quality " dog food?

    I feed acana pacifica or wild coast. they are both high in protein and fats. My dog is super active and it helps her keep weight on. There are tons of good dog foods out there. I try to avoid anything with grains if possible. I know lots of people who feed the Costco dog food and are happy.
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  4. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
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    Kamloops
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    Re: What do you consider a "High Quality " dog food?

    Depends on how you look at "rate well". I asked the breeder what they recommend as they have more experience in that field than I do and they recommended Nutro for a high energy working dog that I have. Looked on the site you mentioned just now and the mix I have, it rates it a 3.5/5 but doesnt have any negatives listed and says it would recommend this as a food so why the 3.5? My dog is happy healthy and likes the food, clean digestion, never leaves any, good shiny coat and lots of energy, its affordable and locally available. All together it rates high in my books but Im still learning, would there be any benefit to buying a brand costing twice the price, say Acana which that site rates a 5/5, I don't know but I have had dogs in the past that couldn't eat certain brands as they were lethargic and had digestive issues with it so we changed. My dog is my family and my life but she is also a dog, from day one it was only dog food, never a piece of human food and I couldn't be happier, she does not beg, or hoover up dropped food, she does not bother me while eating, she can sleep with her head on my lap while I enjoy a steak. Many people do "supplement" their dogs diet with other foods and that can play a big role in their dogs health as its another variable thats hard to account for. Im not expert just another keyboard on the internet but Im happy with how its working for me so I thought Id share.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
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    424

    Re: What do you consider a "High Quality " dog food?

    The key to a "Good Dog Food" is your dog. We have tried different brands and what we know for sure is you have to watch "house brands" very closely because 'house brands" contract out their manufacture and what was a great food with the previous manufacturer may not be so great when the contract goes elsewhere. Watch your dogs' condition if they start to loose weight or blow coat look to your food first.
    Personally we use Canadian Natural for our working dogs and NOW for our older ones. My working dogs get 1 and 1 1/2 cus a day, my "old" dogs get a cup as well as a couple of recovery "cookies"
    I shoot a "Girly Gun" a lil' ol' 45-70
    "I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and the pig likes it."

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
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    1,041

    Re: What do you consider a "High Quality " dog food?

    I tried the Acana and my dog had digestive issues, I tried to give her the best but wasn't happening. I've since learned she has a pretty sensitive stomach so the cheaper foods that are cut with grain or rice work really well for her stomach problems. Got lucky I guess haha

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Posts
    424

    Re: What do you consider a "High Quality " dog food?

    Like I said, let your dog be your barometer
    I shoot a "Girly Gun" a lil' ol' 45-70
    "I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and the pig likes it."

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Posts
    1,324

    Re: What do you consider a "High Quality " dog food?

    We feed Lean cuts by TRI V foods. It is made in Chilliwack. We also add nupro to it. We also have a pressure cooker and toss in bones, beef, chicken, carrots and rice. Cooks it all up in an hour. We then cut up the meat and mix everything well. My wife then freezes packages of it for their daily breakfast.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    823

    Re: What do you consider a "High Quality " dog food?

    I feed Orijen, Acana and Performatrin Ultra to my hunting dogs. I get these from Total Pet locally.
    I give the Whole Dog Journal a lot more weight than Dog Food Advisor due to their ratings methodology.
    Google the 2017 Whole Dog Journal Approved Dry Dog Food List and a pdf result will come up.

  10. #9
    Pemby_mess Guest

    Re: What do you consider a "High Quality " dog food?

    I think it's important to feed a food that has a meat protein at the top of the ingredient list. Fillers not only put unecessary weight on the dog, but probably aggravate a whole host of other issues like allergies and autoimmune disorders. I avoid corn anywhere in the list. It's worth noting that THE #1 vet brand food has corn as its first ingredient. The vets will sometimes justify it by saying it's better quality food cause it's made in a "lab", or some other such nonsense.

    i've had good luck with Orijen, Accana, Canadian Naturals, and the best value out there being the Kirkland brand. I make slow and low cooked bone/vegetable broth for my dogs to soften their kibble. I figure that probably supplements any thing that gets processed out of even the high quality dry kibble. If the dog looks like it needs to put on weight, I'll feed them a half ration of rice each meal. As grains go, it's fairly benign, and I'd rather buy my own bulk rice than have it pre-mixed into the kibble under a marketed brand.

  11. #10
    Pemby_mess Guest

    Re: What do you consider a "High Quality " dog food?

    Quote Originally Posted by Danny_29 View Post
    I tried the Acana and my dog had digestive issues, I tried to give her the best but wasn't happening. I've since learned she has a pretty sensitive stomach so the cheaper foods that are cut with grain or rice work really well for her stomach problems. Got lucky I guess haha
    sometimes it's the kibble size. That's important too, depending on how inclined your dog is to chewing it's food. I've found Acana to have larger kibble than other comparative high quality brands

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