Dog Food

Discussion in Pets started by Flaming_Dorito • Mar 14, 2017.

  1. Flaming_Dorito

    Flaming_DoritoNew Member

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    Is it worth buying expensive dog food for my dog. I read an article that says all dog food is the same. Have you noticed and improvements in your dog from feeding it more expensive food?
     
  2. janemariesayed

    janemariesayedActive Member

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    More expensive food should mean that the food is of a better quality than the cheaper. If you buy cheap cornflakes, for example, you can taste the difference from that of a more quality brand. Your dog will still be okay and get his nutrients from the cheaper food but may live longer if you were to get the more expensive brands.
     
  3. Alexandoy

    AlexandoyWell-Known Member

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    I agree that dog food is expensive that’s why we shifted to cooked food for our 3 dogs. However, dog food is a complete meal that includes regulating the digestive system so the feces of the dog has good texture. For that matter, we give dog food to our dogs for breakfast just to regulate their waste matter. But for other meals, we feed our dogs boiled fish or meat. Aside from being cheap, cooked food assures us of the fresh ingredients.
     
  4. naruto100

    naruto100Active Member

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    Even I have noticed that sometimes dog food is quite expensive. Though we are not having any pet, but my uncle is having one. One day I went with him for buying such food and yes they were quite costly. I wonder if it is because of quality or brand. I have no more experience than that.
     
  5. Shine_Spirit

    Shine_SpiritActive Member

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    Depending on the type of food that the dog should eat, the prices may be rerally expensive (dogs with some intolerance or some other type of specific problem, for example).

    Some prices may be much higher than we expected.
     
  6. janemariesayed

    janemariesayedActive Member

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    @Alexandoy@Alexandoy It is a good idea to give them the complete food once a day to ensure they get their full recommended diet. I do the same with my dogs. They prefer cooked food though and they sometimes turn their nose up at the complete food. When they have done this I cook up a bit of rice and throw in a couple of handfuls of the complete food. That way they think they are getting homemade yumminess so it is a way to trick them into getting what they need.

    My puppy went through a phase of only wanting the food out of a tin. So I mixed the biscuits with water and then put the mush in a tin, then fed him from that tin. He then thought he was getting the tinned food, so I won that battle. :D
     
    #6Apr 26, 2017
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 26, 2017
  7. Natasha0717

    Natasha0717Active Member

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    @Alexandoy@Alexandoy When my doggies were still alive (my 2 Angels) - I also cooked for them every night. They hated dog food, one would eat maybe a little of it, but my other little guy (Chihuahua-mix) simply refused. He would rather starve than eat store-bought dog food. (Except for the occasional "Little Champions" packets, he would eat that once a week if I was lucky.) So I would mostly cook them chicken and steak. Sure, it wasn't cheap. But then again, neither was dog food that your dogs hate! And trying bag after bag and failing, well, that's just money being thrown away. I would just feed it to the outside animals/wildlife, but then I finally smartened up and just cooked for my dogs instead of wasting money trying all different brands of dog food - and failing. :oops:;) I miss them so much.
     
    #7May 23, 2017
    Last edited by a moderator: May 26, 2017
  8. Alexandoy

    AlexandoyWell-Known Member

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    @Natasha0717@Natasha0717 We actually buy meat or fish that is good for 2 days so as to minimize the cooking. For example, boiled chicken wings, we buy 12 pieces and cook it all at the same time. The leftover is kept in the fridge and re-heated in the microwave before serving. Another is pork belly that they love, also boiled. With fish, it is more of fried than boiled. But then, whether fish or meat, boiled or fried, we cook an amount that is good for 2 days or more but not to exceed 3 days to maintain freshness.
     
    #8May 25, 2017
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  9. Jason76

    Jason76Active Member

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    Even if it's, all the same, it doesn't taste the same to certain dogs. In that case, buying cheaper isn't a bargain because - the dog simply won't eat it.

    Anyway, though, there is such a thing as cheaper ingredients in dog food, with stuff like GravyTrain being the lowest quality - hence why it also has the lowest price. Nonetheless, though, some dogs and cats actually love cheaper food. For instance, my cats and dogs love dollar store cat wet cat food.
     
  10. janemariesayed

    janemariesayedActive Member

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    Animals are just like us humans with their taste in food. One may like something while another will turn their nose up at it. I also think it is fair to give my dogs a variety. How boring to feed them the same food every single meal. It is nice to see that the pets on here get some nice food in their diets.

    It was Loopy's 7th Birthday last week. (my avatar pic) and of course, I had to get a cake. It had to be plain vanilla because dogs can't eat chocolate but they, well, all three of us enjoyed eating the cake together. My dogs often get a spoonful of natural yoghurt and honey as well at breakfast. It is really good for them and they love it.

    As I live on my own with my dogs, I still quite often make a roast dinner on a Sunday. I share it with the dogs too, meat, veg and gravy and if I have pudding they get a little of that too!
     
  11. wallet

    walletActive Member

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    I have noticed that the dog food is quite expensive and I don't think there are any differences in brands, maybe only the price is different. Your dog will be ok and I don't think it would live longer if you will buy more expensive food!
    It just depends on what you will buy for your dog to eat from the beginning!
     
  12. FergusMacLeod

    FergusMacLeodMember

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    I do believe that there is some difference between the expensive dog food and less expensive food. But also I am not sure how much it really affects dogs. Anyway I think that the best option is to maybe combine the leftovers of your food, bones and stuff like that, and some less expensive food.
     
  13. morgoodie

    morgoodieActive Member

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    I have not tried expensive or special dog food with the dog I have now. When I had my other dog, I tried the grain free dog food and found that he didn't have as much issues with gas as he did when he was on regular dog food. When I had my cats, the one had to be on a prescription cat food because of his problems with crystals in his urine. It was expensive but I found that it lasted me much longer than the store bought cat food. I think that sometimes a higher price for higher quality pet food can be beneficial to your pet.
     
  14. littlewitch66

    littlewitch66Active Member

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    I do not like dog food with lots of different colours as I find it is usually of poor quality and when I fed one of my now deceased older dogs on one of these brands he suffered from a skin allergy. I usually buy a hypo allergenic food for dogs with sensitive stomachs as they seem to keep them well balanced and healthy.
     
  15. iamawriter

    iamawriterActive Member

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    I have realised that the pedigree what I was feeding our pet has resulted in her losing her coat. I have stopped this and now she is on natural food. We buy chicken feet and cook them. We mix them with the soup along with rice. She loves to eat it. She is also given supplements such as cod liver capsules and sunflower oil

    Recently I have started her on FurGlow hoping that she will get back her lost coat.
     
  16. larryl332

    larryl332Active Member

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    I remember going shopping when I was a kid for the dog food and there were about three brands and types to choose from, and now it seems there are entire stores full. I like it, but they can get quite expensive too.