Switching Feeds - Any Recommendations?

[Amber]

For as long as I can remember, we've fed our dogs feed store-brand "junk" made of who-knows-what.  I've decided that since Maigee is taking care of me, I need to start taking care of her, so I'm trying to research what type/brand of food is best.  Can anyone help me out with pros/cons of feeding dry, canned, moist feeds?  Anyone have a brand they especially like?  Some brands are rare around here because I live in a very rural community.  We don't have a pet store here, just Rural King and Tractor Supply.  When I go to college, we will have a Pet Supplies Plus available as well as a Tractor Supply.  I'm thinking going with a brand that Tractor Supply carries might be best since it is available at home and at school and wouldn't change as much.

My second question is how to go about changing feeds.  I know you aren't supposed to do sudden changes, but how do you go about doing it?

[Amber]

Some research has found that Tractor Supply carries the following brands:

Dry

• Dad's
• 4Health
• Purina
• Blue
• Diamond
• Retriever
• Hill's Science Diet
• Eukanuba
• Nutro
• Iams
• Pedigree
• Kibbles and Bits
• Doggy Bag

(the junk we currently get)

• Taste of the Wild
• Ultra

Canned

• Pedigree
• Retriever
• Cesar
• Hill's Science Diet
• Iams
• Blue
• Nutro

I'm guessing that every store may not have every brand, but I think from this list it looks like they carry most of the major brands.

[hopesclan]

You consider 'Taste of the Wild' junk?

[Nianhel]

I think they meant Doggy Bag was junk.

[hopesclan]

oh.  i was confused. 

[Spectrum]

Taste of the Wild would be my #1 choice. I'm very impressed with it. Second choice would be 4Health, and 3rd choice would be Diamond Naturals (not just plain Diamond). 

I prefer dry to canned just because it's easier, though I do have a bunch of canned 98% meat that I feed Gavroche once in a while (Logan is strictly on kibble for now until I get his stomach issues sorted out).

If I had the freezer space, I would feed all raw.

[PupFashionista]

My girls both have food allergies. We currently get California Natural Lamb and Rice and are having great success with it. (It has no corn and the lamb is easier for Mireille to digest.) I was warned by my vet and other locals to NOT feed Diamond (which I had been feeding since it is made locally) due to it's high salt content. As soon as I stopped feeding it to Mireille, the "nasty problems" went away.

[Spectrum]

Taste of the Wild and 4Health are also made by Diamond. I've not had any problems with Diamond brand foods. They do sometimes get a bad rap because they've had recalls in that past. It seems as if they've learned from their mistakes, though. Logan's breeder feeds Diamond Naturals to all the collies, and Taste of the Wild to the GSD. Logan does not do well on TOTW, but does great on 4Health and Diamond Naturals (as long as I get chicken, and don't accidentally get beef  )

Honestly, a lot of nutritional advice vets give is not good advice at all. For the most part their nutritional education is paid for by Hills, hence why most of them push Science Diet. We have an "educational poster" in our dog exam room saying that corn is great for dogs, courtesy of Hills    Doc about had a fit when I told him Logan and Gavroche get turkey necks. 

[Amber]

Thanks for all of the recommendations everyone!  I'm carefully considering each.  I also realized that I could buy feed at Wal-mart, though I noticed tonight that most of the brands were the same as TSC, without quite as much selection.  They have their own brand, Ol'Roy to choose from as well.

And yes, I meant the Doggy Bag was junk, somehow my comment went on the next line, sorry!)

[Ilghaus]

I haven't looked at a bag of Ol' Roy in years. I know at one time they used a lot of corn by-products and chicken by-products. In case you don't know, corn by-products isn't the corn nuggets but the stalks and cobs and chicken by-products can include feet, beaks, feathers, and whatever is in the digestive track (offal). When looking for a new food always check the ingredients. The first 5 ingredients are the most important as that is the majority of the food.

[Amber]

That is helpful Ilghaus!  I knew that animal by-products were the strange parts we don't usually eat, but I didn't know exactly what corn by-products were - who wants to eat a corn stalk?!  Gross.  I've eaten chicken digestive parts, and they weren't too bad, oh the benefits of living in a foreign country at one point in time 

I'm going to keep researching.  One thing I forgot to mention was that Wal-Mart also carries a few moist food brands, but I forget which ones.  Right now, I think I'm leaning toward dry - at least until I know whether or not I'm living in a dorm.  I think it would be easier to keep it in a bin in my room than canned or moist.

What about mixing canned and dry to make it more appetizing?  Maybe I'm feeding Maigee too much or something, but I've noticed that she has never eaten right away when I put her food down.  She just waits and eats when she feels like it, which is usually hours later (another good reason to go with canned if she does the same with canned, I don't want bugs or mold or her getting sick  ).

[Rovingrebel]

when you start mixing things to make "the food more appetizing" you are treading a slippery slope of creating a picky eater... a horrendous and annoying trait for any SD or SDIT to have. Feed your dog the best food you can afford and feed them based on the weight you want them to be, which may not be the weight they are currently. Also remember the higher the quality food, as a general rule the less you need to feed (they are generally more calorie dense). My Shiloh is 59.8LBS and eats 2 cups a day of Organix by Castor and Pollux. She is fed 1 cup in the morning and one in the evening

[Amber]

What do you mean about making a picky eater?  I guess I don't understand how adding a little canned food is going to make her picky.  If I shouldn't do it, I won't, I guess I'd just prefer a little more explanation so I can understand.

[Rovingrebel]

Decide what you are going to feed her and stick to it. If you are adding canned food to dry in order to entice her to east you are teaching her if she refuses the first offer she will get something better. All she has to do is wait and something better will appear. If she doesn't begin eating with in  a set period of time she needs to learn she will loose out on that meal and will have to wait until the next meal. She will quickly lean to eat what you offer when you offer it or she will be hungry. Same as a picky kid.

[state_of_nowhere]

Truthfully, I don't think moist food or canned food is an appropriate everyday food for a service dog. There will be times you're away from home and carrying a can of food around is something I wouldn't want to do.

My cat LOVES his canned food. I don't blame him. It has real seafood in it. I was giving it to him every night with dry in the morning. Eventually, he stopped eating breakfast and just waited all day to eat the canned food. If you know cats, you know that they are VERY patient animals. He doesn't get the canned food every day anymore. Since becoming sick, I can no longer afford his expensive addiction (haha), and I don't want him to refuse dry foods. He gets it every couple of days now and I mix up the days so it's more like an unexpected treat.