iams

There are different dogs, and different brands. My Chihuahua is tiny and she loves Cesear. This brand is mostly for small dogs. Iams are more for medium. And other uncommon brands they should say for what kind of dog on the pack. And it doesn’t all matter in size, it can also be the taste that the dog doesn’t like. My friends dog is small and used to love Cesear but now he doesn’t, dogs can change. Good Luck!

Iams

what ever you do dont buy canned dog food, i perfer diamond

nutro brand. one that has no chicken byproducts. makes him poop less, which is good because he doesnt poop in the house when im at work all day and he likes it.

Pedigree

neither the first ingredient is corn buy a food with a PROTEIN as the first ingredient they will eat and poop less not to mention its way better for them,avoderm,solid gold are good ones they also are human grade so you could actually eat it with out eating any lips or a-holes so to speak

Instead of shopping by brand, shop by the list of ingredients. Stay away from anything that doesn’t have meat as the first ingredient. Also stay away from anything that lists by-products.

Here’s a good site to help you understand what you are feeding your dog: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=betterproducts

no way iams. go to http://www.iamskills.com/index.shtml and you’ll see why…
just don’t do any colored foods stick to plain brown kibble. colored foods just mean that there is just rawhide and a bunch of artificial flavors.
give your dog a cupfull of dry food and a tablespoon full of wet food. try kirkland brand dog food.

just buy a dog food that doesnt digest fast i cant think of any off the top of my head but if the food takes a long time to digest, the dog wont have to use the bathroom as often.

talk to an employee or a trainer at petsmart or petco and theyll give you suggestions.

Purina sucks and iams mega sucks plus theu test on animals!!! I feed Canidae chicken and rice formula. It’s all natural human grade food
http://www.canidae.com/

I’ve done a lot of research on the “best” dog foods out there, and the main thing you need to look for on the label are no by-products (often are beaks, feet, and other nasty things), and make sure corn is not in the top ingredients. Dogs and cats alike can not digest corn, so it is empty calories. Some great food to go with are Nutro (they make 3 kinds- all by-product and filler free), Natural Balance, Candide and Diamond (cheaper, but look for the one with no by-products). There are others that I can’t think of, but make sure you read the lables. Science Diet, and Iams aren’t that great, basically just expenseive versions of grocery store brands.
When it comes down to it, you will find out what works for your dog. My dogs growing up always had Pedigree, which is the best for grocery store brands, but after doing research, I decided to use a more organic brand for my pup, and she loves it, and is doing very well.
Try an organic, or at least filler/by-product free brand. They really are the best for your puppy.

As you can see everyone has their own opinion about which is best. Keep in mind that animals have different nutritional needs than we do, and sometimes what we think is best based on our needs isn’t best for our pets.
Remember that a lot of what you see and hear is nothing more than creative marketing, or the rantings of those with an agenda with absolutely no foundation of scientific fact.
To be blunt, most dogs will do just fine on any food that meets AFFCO specs. That is why AFFCO exists.
I feed Purina One, and my dogs do just fine on it. (they win in the show ring too) That doesn’t mean that your dogs will or will not do just fine on it. So find out what your dog does good on and forget about what everyone else thinks

Iams and Purina are both terrible foods. I might be wrong, but my guess is that they spend more money on good advertising than their food, which is why more people buy the bad stuff, thinking it’s good. Also stay away from Nutrience.

Natural/Holistic foods – that’s the way to go. The best brands, in my opinion, are Innova Evo and Timberwolf. Other good foods are Wellness, Merrick (wet food), Prairie and, to some extent, Royal Canin. There are many others, but I can’t remember them ALL off of the top of my head.

In my humble opinion….

Iams?
No. (Corn, fillers, byproducts, etc.)

Purina?
No. (Again: corn, fillers, byproducts, etc.)

Natural/holistic dog food, with high meat content, zero or minimal fillers, no byproducts, etc.?
YES! And there are many of these foods to choose from.

(I personally feed my dog alternating meals of Merrick dry kibble and Nature’s Variety raw medallions. Occasionally, I throw some EVO canned food into the mix.)

Also recommended – Grain free dog food –
I really like this Facebook page with a review of several types of grain free dog food
See here: http://www.facebook.com/grainfreedogfood

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I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to pay for food that is just going to go in one end and out the other. I want food that my dog will get maximum nutrition from without having a lot of fillers that just pass right through the dog.

I will fully admit, I used to be a hard-core Iams feeder, both for dogs and cats. If anyone ever mentioned pet food, I was quick to say “Iams is the best”. (My parents still are hard-core Iams feeders, despite my nudging for them to switch.)

Iams is what we always used when I was growing up. When my parents used to breed cocker spaniels, all the dogs were fed Iams, and many of the other breeders we knew fed Iams as well. And of course, the vet said Iams was good, and vets know best! (Which I have now come to learn the majority of vets do NOT know anything about nutrition.)

It wasn’t until I got my most recent dog that I started learning about canine nutrition. The owner of my dog’s sire steered me in the right direction on food and pointed out some of the things I should look for that are good and also what to avoid. Now I’ve become obsessed with what my dog eats, and have spent many hours upon hours researching dog food ingredients.

By the way – have you tried cooking for your dog? it’s easy, it’s fun, it’s healthy and you have control over your dog’s diet!
A great free recipes book can be found here – http://www.naturaldogfood.college.edu.pe/
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Below the double line is my general information on how to choose a good dog food:
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Read the ingredients on the food you buy. Go with a high quality dog food.

Here is my “short list” of rules when I am looking at dog ingredients:
1) When I chose a dog food, I chose one high meat content. I want to see preferably at least 2-3 out of the top 5 ingredients be meat or meat meal (first ingredient must be!).
2) I want to see higher quality grains, such as barley, brown rice, and oatmeal, instead of seeing wheat and corn. Or an alternative starch/carbohydrate such as potatoes or sweet potatoes.
(grain free dog food, remember?)
3) I don’t want to see any byproducts.
4) I don’t want to see a lot of fillers.
5) I don’t want to see preservatives that are believed to be carcinogens (BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin).
6) I don’t want to see artificial colorings such as the Red, Blue, and Yellow dyes.
7) I don’t want to see added sugars (sugar, corn syrup).
I don’t want to see mystery meats (meats identified only as “meat” or “poultry”.)

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There is no food that is the *best*, different individual dog may thrive on different foods. What is best for one may not be the best for the next. And just because a food is good quality, it doesn’t mean it will jive the best for your dog.

What you want to find is the high-quality food that *your dog* does best on.

Here are some examples of high quality foods:
(You can compare prices – Here)
* Artemis – http://www.artemiscompany.com/
* California Natural – http://www.naturapet.com/brands/california-natural.asp
* Canidae – http://www.canidae.com/
* Chicken Soup – http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
* EVO – http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp
* Fromm – http://www.frommfamily.com/
* Innova – http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp
* Merrick – http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
* Nature’s Variety – http://www.naturesvariety.com/
* Orijen – http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/products/
* Solid Gold – http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/
* Taste of the Wild – http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/
* Timberwolf Organics – http://timberwolforganics.com/
* Wellness – http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/

Or check this website for good foods
(I recommend only feeding foods rated 4, 5, or 6 stars. Anything 3 stars or less, I would stay away from.)

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Stay away from grocery stores brands. They are low-quality foods chalk full of fillers, preservatives, dyes, etc.. (Grocery store foods are those like Beneful, Old Roy, Alpo, Pedigree, etc.)

Beware “premium” foods. “Premium” does not always mean good nutritionally, and is not a nutritionally high quality food. Most of these foods have the same types of ingredients as grocery store foods, just a bit better quality of those not-so-good ingredients. (Premium foods are those like Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, etc..)

Another thing to be wary of: A lot of vets will recommend what they sell in their office. They get profit from the brands they keep on their shelves, that’s why they push it. Truth is, vet schools don’t focus a lot on nutrition. It’s not saying that a vet is a bad vet because he recommends those foods, a lot of vets just are told “this is good food”, so they pass the message along without proper nutrition knowledge. Also, some dog food brands (like Hills) support vet schools, so vets have heard of it from the time they start college, which makes them think it’s good as well.

Hills company, the makers of Science Diet, are heavily involved in vet schools. “Hill’s scientists author more than 50 research papers and textbook chapters each year and teach at leading schools of veterinary medicine” (Source of quoted section: http://www.hillsvet.com/zSkin_2/company_info/company_info_general.jsp?JSESSIONID=HMz2B3Jn3hv0rnSoxCobfbBhOec35ODG7yh5t3P0vcvhOtzRlQ9M!598359213!167846923!7005!8005&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302026072&bmUID=1196192566575 )

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Higher quality food may seem more expensive at first, but it evens out. The higher quality the food, the less fillers eaten (and therefore the less poop comes out the other end). Your dog eats more to try to get the nutrition it needs, and most of the food just passes right on through. Also, it will make your animals healthier, so you save money on vet bills in the long run.

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“Big box” petstores like Petco and Petsmart rarely have quality foods. (I do believe that PetCo sells “Solid Gold” and “Natural Balance” brands and Petsmart sells “Blue Buffallo”, which are all quality foods, but most of the foods aren’t.)

Also, grocery stores and Walmart aren’t good places to buy food either.

Your best bets for getting quality dog food are:
- small, locally owned petstores
- dog boutiques
- farm supply stores

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When switching foods, do it gradually. I do this over about a two week timespan:
25% food A, 75% food B
50% food A, 50% food B
75% food A, 25% food B
100% food A
.