Large breed dog owners - what do you feed???

[elizavixen]

Ok....I've always been happy with and preached Calif Natural but Indy hasn't been doing so well on it recently. I'm not sure if it is the change in seasons or the #@#$$%@ fleas or the food but I am thinking of switching him to something else. His coat is just dull as ever and it has thinned out. Could be medical and I am going to ask the vet about it when he goes in to get his annual shots (dec.).

I have tried Eagle Pack and Natural Balance and disliked both.

I have access to most everything I believe. The closest place (where I buy the calif natural) sells Innova, Canidae, Artemis, Timberwolf Organics, Solid Gold, and Newmans Own. So a pretty good selection.

Anyone had any success with these or another food? I'd like to stay with the ultra premium foods b/c he is so particular. It also needs to be OK for Maggie to eat (large breed puppy).

[dogangel]

I feed mine Nutro (half kibbles and half the lamb and rice canned foord). I add to this mix Missing Link and K-9 Power (supplements). You can get the Missing Link at the pet store, but you can only get K-9 Power here:
http://www.k9power.com/glow.htm

I swear by this combination. Here are the results (notice the glossy coat):

[honeybears]

dogangel, boy their coats are shiny.

Eliza, stay away from Innova, its a wonderful food, but not good for allergies I know solid gold has an allergy formula, the protien is from fish so it also ahas the good omegas


Was Indy on the Calif natural allergy? I tried that with Jake, wonderful allergy food, only 3 ingreadients but he had a scratch fest after a few days

[elizavixen]

He's on the lamb & rice. He's not really scratching or itching. He is just not looking as good as he normally does. He'd look good if he were any other dog, but for him, he looks bad. He normally has the thickest, shiniest hair ever.

Maggie looks great on it though!

I think I am going to try the Timberwolf Organics Ocean Blue stuff on Indy first. It looks like good stuff. It does have a lot of ingredients but its main stuff is fish, which I guess will be good for his coat.

[nern]

Good luck, I hope it works well for him if you try it.
I've been very happy with Timberwolf and have been feeding it for nearly 3yrs now to both of my dogs.

[ACO]

My big girl has had all kinds of food allergies and she did the same thing on lamb and rice...her coat got dull and started falling out....I put her on Wolf King, Bison and Salmon Meal. It comes in a metallic silver bag that is vaccum sealed. Both my dogs look amazing on it.

[DMikeM]

I have been using Nutro for years. Last time I tried to change I tried Diamond Brand (chicken and rice) and it caused Duncan to have a severe allergic reaction. His eyes swelled up and his coat dried out bad and went very dull.
Nutro Max Lamb and Rice seems to be good for my boys.

[Mary_NH]

I've got Molly on NutroMax and so far so good. But I am slowly switching over from puppy to adult food. I've been doing some reading regarding puppy foods and it's mostly a marketing ploy and can cause large breed pups to grow to quickly. She was fed adult food prior to me adopting her but I had bought up tons of food before she got here.
Molly's problem is weight gain - she needs to. But in nearly 3 weeks she has gained 7 lbs. She should be 45 lbs. but was 30 when we got her.
Her coat looks good too....nice and soft.

[Killerbee2]

I Would feed my large dog "Pedigreye®"(sp?) "For Large Dogs". That food is the only food my dog would eat.

_________________
Killerbee

[kappi]

For all but one dog, they eat Science Diet for sensitive stomach and sensitive skin. I mix the two. For another of my fur kin I feed him a prescription diet called IVD Potato and Rabbit Formula -- he, too, has sensitive skin. Tried the prescription diet from Science Diet, but this other seems to work somewhat better.

[ChronicBlue]

I got Loki on Science Diet Large Breed Advanced. He seems to be doing good on that. I also feed him meaty bones, Lamb, Moose, he loves beef steaks/roasts. basicly anythign without small bones that could get stuck in his thoat, and no Pork!
I also find mixing the dry food with eggs every now n then makes his coat really shiny and soft.

[charmedagain]

My dogs are fed Pedigree canned food aswell as pedigree complete dried i found a webiste that was talking about garlic so i started putting this in there food as Mitzy and Ice's coat started going dully looking now for shepherds and labs there coats should be glossy and smooth.

Well after 3 days of them having garlic in there food they now have there normal healthy shiny coat back and they look good.

Ice suffered really bad gas from the day we got her but since having garlic in her diet this has stopped.

I can not remember the website link but i had copied this of the website so i will Share it here...


The dog's digestive system is short. Therefore, if you want your dog to access the nutrients of a particular plant food, break it down--process it or blend it.

Variety is good because it ensures a wide and varied range of nutrients, just as if the dog were feeding in the wild.

Fresh animal protein and fat is still the centerpiece of the dog's diet.
Fresh is superior to frozen which is superior to canned which is superior to powder (e.g., garlic).

Fresh water, good nutrition, exercise, herbs to promote healing from the inside out, and patience are valuable.

Garlic
aids digestion,
is a potent immune system stimulant,
is a potent anti-microbial (parasites),
contains an amino acid derivative, allium. When garlic is consumed, an allinase enzyme that converts allium to allicin is released. Allicin has an antibiotic effect; its antibacterial action is equivalent to one percent that of penicillin.

is also an anti-fungal agent effective against candidiasis, vaginal yeast infections, and most pathogenic fungi,
is good for the heart and colon,
is effective in the treatment of arthritis and circulation problems.

You might make a teaspoon of garlic-roughly a clove--a regular component of your dog's daily diet. While fresh food-processed garlic is best, minced from a jar works well, too. Some people add yogurt to their dog's diets to counterbalance the garlic's anti-microbial effects on the digestive system's good bacteria.

Like i say my lot are doing great since having garlic in there diet..
Mike

[elizavixen]

Well...I switched Indy to Timberwolf Organics Ocean Blue. He seems to like it OK, he doesn't go crazy for it but he didn't do that with calif natural either. He hasn't had any episodes so I guess he's not allergic to anything in the food but I haven't seen any miraculous change in his coat yet. But it hasn't been that long either. My only complaint about it is the kibble is kind of small.

[Samsintentions]

I feed Pedigree as well. The Large Breed Formula. Honestly its the only thing they reallly like, and do well on. I don't particullarly like the ingredients in it. But they are doing wonderfully on it, and they won't eat raw....

[MyPetTherapyDog]

Recent studies show that many commercial pet foods may contribute to pet disease because of their poor nutritional value. But, by reading and understanding the labels, you can decide what is best for your pet.

Did you know commercial pet food also can contain condemned parts of animals that are not fit for humans to eat? These foods may contain moldy or spoiled food that is full of carcinogens. Some pet commercial foods can contain dirt, rocks and even wood shavings.

And, just because the label says there are no preservatives, doesn't mean that its true. If the preservatives are in the food before the pet food manufacturer receives it, they can say it has no preservatives as long as they did not add it.

Try to avoid ingredients called BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytolulene). These are both known to cause liver and kidney disease.

Also be aware of ingredients that have been listed more than once. For example, manufacturers can hide the fact that the main ingredient is sugar, if they split it by calling it high fructose and also corn syrup.

The main thing is to make sure that the first four ingredients that are listed in your pets food are meat products and not grains. Pets are carnivores and get their nutrition from meat. Most grains have little or no nutritional value and your cat or dog cannot digest them very well.



Quality Foods Should Contain:
Superior sources of protein, either whole fresh meats or single source meat meal (ex. chicken meal rather than poultry meal)
A whole-meat source as one of the first two ingredients.
Whole, unprocessed grains, vegetables, and other foods. Nutrients and enzymes are more likely to be found in unprocessed foods.


Quality foods should contain a MINIMUM of the following:
Food fragments - lower-cost by-products of another food manufacturing process, such as brewer's rice and wheat bran...Manufacturers usually include at least one fragment to help lower costs. Beware any food that includes several fragments.
Meat by-products (not handled as carefully as whole meat) - any food that contains meat by-products as the MAJOR protein source indicates a low-quality product.

HIGH-QUALITY FOODS SHOULD NOT CONTAIN:
Fats or proteins named generically (ex. animal fat/poultry fat instead of beef fat/ lamb meal)
Artificial preservatives (BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin)
Artificial colors.
Sweeteners (corn syrup, sucrose, ammoniated glycyrrhizin) to improve unappealing food
Propylene glycol - a toxic substance when consumed in large amounts; added to some "chewy" foods to keep them moist.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&articleid=668

http://www.gooddogmagazine.com/dogfoodcosts.htm

[Michelle Albanese]

I had cocoa on special food as well her coat got very dull we thought she was having an allergy prob Now she eats pedigree and once a week 1/4 tsp of olive oil. She gets more compliments on how shiny and healthy her coat is.

[Samsintentions]

I also feed a brand called Maximum Nutrition, It comes in a black bag. My dogs will not eat it alone. I have to mix it with the Pedigree, but it's about as good as you can get from Wal-Mart.