[bubba]

I started feeding Zeus and Dante a dog food brand Diamond Hi-Energy. I never looked at the ratings until now and they suck at a #1 review. They have been doing well on the food and seem okay with it. My dad has his chocolate lab Ace on this food and i liked the way his coat and size shined with it. But now i am having doubts to this food because of ratings and everyone else seems to be using Canidae with their loved ones on here. Diamond is great on price and the 50 lb bag lasts almost two weeks with me feeding them once in the morning and evening at 2 1/2 cups. What should i do? keep them on this food or consider changing?

 

[Nexu]

Its a tough question because it depends on if you can afford the extra money or not.  To some extent dog food is like a lot of things, you get what you pay for.

I did a fairly thorough study of dog foods and prices and canidae is about the cheapest that is a 5* rated dog food.  How much do you pay for Diamond, about $25 for a 50lb bag?  I think I get canidae for about $27-28 for a 40lb bag.  So the price difference will be noticeable.

I'm also a fan of rotating dog foods.  I'll probably keep Lola on canidae for 4-5 months and then switch.  One of my good friends has been feeding her lab the same exact Iams for almost 8 years and the dog is doing great.  Who knows  :?

 

[Flutterby]

I've been feeding Natural Choice.. its $34-37 for a 44lb bag.. I want to switch to Canidae really bad but boyfiend won't go for it.. He's too caught up on the Nutro thing (darn food reps!  :evil: )...

 

[bubba]

I pay $20 for Diamond which comes in a 50 lb bag. Zeus has gained the weight that he should have had before this food. Stupid me fed him Pedigree which was not good for him at all. He didnt have any muscle mass at all to him. But after feeding him 4 bags of Diamond his legs arent skinny any more and he is lean with awesome muscle tone. The same goes with Dante.

 

[samsonsmom]

Check out this list..It's pretty thorough..What I recomend is getthe best food you can without breaking the bank..Print it, take it with you when you food shop, so you can compare prices....

http://www.boxerforums.com/modules.php? ... opic&t=659

Also check this out if you are interested in mail order, some people on here use this
www.petfooddirect.com

 

[tootsie]

Here is what's in The Diamond Hi Energy food that you are feeding. There is chicken by-product meal in there which is basically a cheap protein source, and is also less digestible than chicken meal. They also use ground corn as a protein source, which obviously is not as nutritious as a good meat source protein. They also use meat meal which can come from mammal tissues, hair, hoof, horn hide trimmings, manure, (yes you read correctly). The thing with the meat meal is that when they say "meat", unless it is specifically stated as chicken, beef etc..., it can be coming from any mammal: pigs, goats, horses, rabbits, rendered animals from shelters, and yes even animals found on the road.  
It does not contain any artificial preservatives, like BHA, BHT, and Ethoxyquin which are linked to cancers, so that is a plus.
It's hard to tell someone whether to change foods. I think you just need to really look at the ingredients and understand what is actually going into that bag and then ask yourself if you are comfortable feeding that to your pet.  :wink:

 

[Docsmom]

I have recently switched to Solid Gold, Barking at the Moon.  Its expensive but I am super pleased with this food.  I previously had them on Nutro.  

I like SG because it does not have grain in it.  They seem to enjoy the food, and whats more important is that the level of gas in the house has lessened.  (and thats good for EVERYONE)

Instead of grains it has potatos and lots of protein.  By the way it gets 6 stars on that rating system.

 

[Barbs2Ks]

All of the 6* rated dog foods say they are high in protein and they do not recommend for puppies.  Kiah is 9 months so I am going to wait awhile to use those.  Right now she is on Solid Gold Wolf King which I believe is rated 4* and she is doing very well on it.

 

[JessiesMom]

My sister has been feeding Maggie Beneful for years and she has the shiniest coat ive ever seen and hardly sheds...

I've been feeding Canidae and Nutro to Jessie and shes a shedding machine, and she has loose stool with Nutro, and her coat is not shiny...

But I will stick with Canidae and Nutro because they are better quality foods...

 

[JeepKuntry]

You may want to look at Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul.  I believe it's rated a 5 and it's a little cheaper than Canidae.  Both are quality foods.  I don't know anybody that sells Solid Gold around here.

 

[bubba]

I appreciate it guys. I think the next bag i buy i will change to something better for them after your suggestions, yall were right about the halti so i think i am going to do the same with the food. I just dont have the money to break the bank if u know what i mean. I am so glad i found this site cause  u all have been so helpful. But how should i change the food on them because i know im not supposed to just stop feeding them Diamond and start just feeding them whatever. So should i start by going ahead and buying a better quality food and maybe feed it to them in the morning and feed them the Diamond in the evening until i run out of it or what?

 

[Flutterby]

Use what food you have now and slowly (over a week or so) replace the old with the new (mixing it together and what not)... When I switched foods, I just jumped from one to the other.. Toby's stomach can handle it for some reason but the other guys can't...

 

[boxerlove]

We use Bil-Jac.  www.billjac.com  It was recommended by our vet and it is the first food (after 5 years of trying) that our female boxer can eat.  She LOVES to eat now, before no matter what food we tried (at least 12 different brands) she would just not really want to eat and if she did she would be sick at least several times a week (all the food would still be solid when she got sick).  The Bil-Jac disolves almost instantly and after a year on it she has only been sick twice (that was more nerves).  It is one of the more expensive foods but has some great ingredients.  If you check out their website they will send you a nice sized sample and coupons.  Ziggi has been on it since he was a couple months old, first puppy food and then large breed formula and has had no issues with coat, etc.

 

[Nexu]

[quote="JeepKuntry\";p=\"9931":vjudbr2t]You may want to look at Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul.

 

[bubba]

i am going to go find canidae food for my babies and i was wondering which does ur dog prefer lamb meal and rice, chicken and rice  or do u feed them all stages?

 

[tootsie]

Right now I am feeding Canidae - All stages. No problems so far.... :wink: