What does "good food" really mean?

[Tabitha]

Ya know Tabitha, the funny thing is, I sort of agree with the point that Ferg is making.

Yes, there were a few points I did agree on with him on as well, but (just in my opinion) I didn't agree with the overall point of the the post. No offense to Ferg, it's just different people with different mind sets and opinions.

 

[Bradt9881]

Brad, I was having a discussion about dog food with someone I know the other day. He feels what I'm feeding my dogs is dumb and just a bunch of sales gimmicks. "We eat hot dogs and cheep stuff and we'er not dying from it!" I asked him how good of shape he was in from the junk food, he had no answer because he's in horrible shape and very overweight.

I can see a bit of both sides of it. Dogs are not like cats, they are omnivores and can eat plant material. But the majority of their diet needs to be protein, and plant protein is not complete in all the needed amino acids for people or dogs.

 

[Greenepony]

I can see a bit of both sides of it. Dogs are not like cats, they are omnivores and can eat plant material. But the majority of their diet needs to be protein, and plant protein is not complete in all the needed amino acids for people or dogs.

Through a combination of different protein sources (brown rice, pea, hemp, chia, etc) it is possible to get complete amino acids, you have to be *very* careful about it and often resort to supplements. Just FYI.

 

[Mignarda]

I can see a bit of both sides of it. Dogs are not like cats, they are omnivores and can eat plant material. But the majority of their diet needs to be protein, and plant protein is not complete in all the needed amino acids for people or dogs.

It's certainly much easier to get protein from animal sources. Wild gorillas pretty much live on leaves and bark, but they have to spend most of their lives just eating in order to sustain themselves, and in so doing, they do great harm to their environment.

 

[tofu pup]

...and plant protein is not complete in all the needed amino acids for people or dogs.

err... that's just not true.

A single non-animal food (like lentils) may not contain all essential amino acids, as a piece of steak does. Different plant foods contain different amino acids, but none are "left out" entirely. And very few people eat just one food by itself, meal after meal, forever. They eat lentils (which contain certain amino acids), rice (which contains other amino acids), and asparagus (ditto). They eat oatmeal, soy milk, and a banana. And on, and on, and on.

I haven't eaten animal protein since 2007, and am about as healthy as a 28-year-old can be. (My doctor is thrilled with my "numbers" and I run 20 miles/week through the Spring, Summer, and Fall - those are about the best indicators I can offer.) If there are amino acids that I'm missing, I don't seem to miss them much.

OK, off the human-nutrition soapbox...

 

[BarbV]

Of all the questions I get at my store, the number one is what should I feed my dog!

Everytime I get asked this I just want to pull my hair out! Bottom line is that there is no 100% answer.

So what I tell my customers is this: if your pup is a healthy weight, shiny coat, no obvious signs of itching or allergies, healthy stool, no vomiting, etc. - then whatever you are feeding is working for your dog. Yes, even if you are feeding Dog Chow! If it works, don't change it!

But if your dog is showing any kinds of issues, then there are dietary choices and supplements available. And there are a variety of choices out there. Our job is to work the customers to try to narrow down what issues the pup may have. Sometimes, that means we recommend a trip to the vet (e.g. if we suspect hypothyroidism). We can support that, but a vet visit is first. We do educate about protein allergies and do suggest often that they consider another protein source or a limited ingredient diet.

The difficulty, of course, is assessing whether or not your dog could do better. Some of the symptoms that we look for is a dog that is constantly hungry (common with grocery brands), or the coat is dandruffy or less shiny that could be, or dog is licking obsessively. In these cases, we would often steer the customer away from chicken proteins and encourage the introduction of less common proteins, or encourage a more efficient and effective food - generally a grain free diet.

I'm not saying that grain fee, or grocery, or raw food or anything else is bad or good.

I'm just saying know your dog. And if it works, don't fix it. And if don't, then look for options!

 

[The Quahog]

A few months ago I posted that I "hated" Purina Pro Plan because I didn't like some of the ingredients. So I switched the dogs to Wellness which is a fantastic food... for most dogs, but shelties don't seem to be 'most dogs'. I've heard, not only here, but in other articles and websites that it's common for shelties not to tolerate the food for some reason or another. Since I switched them to it my dogs have had soft stools, explosive diarrhea, horrible breath, eye allergies, and skin irritation.

<Snip>
I never had this problem with Pro Plan, they were all healthy, I just thought I should do better for them.

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ARGGGHH!
Ok, as this one has touched a deep nerve with me, I'm going to ignore the very sound advice on my signature and jump in. I almost wish I could get permission to repost this post on my website.
Whenever I see a new client I always ask, of course, what they are feeding. And if, say, a seven year old dog is doing well- good weight, good coat, no allergies, good stools, good appetite, and is on a decent food like Purina, Beneful, Pedigree, I would NEVER suggest that they 'upgrade' to something better with 'better ingredients.' And I wish the busybodies would stop doing that as well. Now, if you are starting out with a puppy - sure, we can discuss the relative merits of foods. If there is any sort of problem, of course, 'upgrading' food is the ultimate in natural, holistic health improvement.
But this idea that people whose dogs are doing just fine have to keep searching for the Utopian absolutely best possible food is alarmist and harmful. This poster's experiences are a perfect example of the problems that such 'advice' can provoke.

 

[Lightplum]

ARGGGHH!
Ok, as this one has touched a deep nerve with me, I'm going to ignore the very sound advice on my signature and jump in. I almost wish I could get permission to repost this post on my website.
Whenever I see a new client I always ask, of course, what they are feeding. And if, say, a seven year old dog is doing well- good weight, good coat, no allergies, good stools, good appetite, and is on a decent food like Purina, Beneful, Pedigree, I would NEVER suggest that they 'upgrade' to something better with 'better ingredients.' And I wish the busybodies would stop doing that as well. Now, if you are starting out with a puppy - sure, we can discuss the relative merits of foods. If there is any sort of problem, of course, 'upgrading' food is the ultimate in natural, holistic health improvement.
But this idea that people whose dogs are doing just fine have to keep searching for the Utopian absolutely best possible food is alarmist and harmful. This poster's experiences are a perfect example of the problems that such 'advice' can provoke.

Ahhh the old adage if it aint broke...dont fix it!

Seriously though I feed half of mine Eukanuba performance and the other half blue buffalo..Although here is where I switch it up mine are cooked for. The kibble is treated like a starch in their diet. I do every meal a protein ie chicken, beef, fish or egg and a veggie usually greenbeans but I will do carrots, and sweet potato on occasion if I have extra lying around. It works for my dogs. Ive been feeding this way for 13 years now..So I dont switch up the kibble but I do the other parts of their meal..

 

[Tabitha]

But this idea that people whose dogs are doing just fine have to keep searching for the Utopian absolutely best possible food is alarmist and harmful. This poster's experiences are a perfect example of the problems that such 'advice' can provoke.

Well, considering I want to do the best for my dogs and I was hearing left and right (at the time) that the Purina dog food was NOT a good brand, I decided it would be in my dog's best interest to switch them to a higher quality food. I wasn't worried about what I could see in their fiscal health, that was fine, it was what I couldn't see and didn't know that worried me (ie their organs). I know now that it probably wasn't the best decision I ever made to switch and that this particular food (Wellness) isn't right for them, but I wouldn't say that I was acting as an alarmist. I worry, yes, who wouldn't. My dogs mean the world to me. I'm just trying to be the best owner and care giver I can be.

 

[Cyllian]

I feed meat and then acana as well to my dogs. We took this action because our first sheltie died quite young. We felt it may have been some of the food we were feeding not that it was bad but not great either.

Jester though is sort of picky he doesn't care for raw. He has to have it cooked. He will eat acana but would rather have cooked meat. He will go for several days not eating if the food isn't to his liking. Loses weight so he may be a bit coddled I suppose but at least he will eat. he weighs in at a robust 17 pounds for a just shy of 15 inches. We worry when he drops weight.

Fox is far less picky but blue buffalo didn't agree with him again with explosions so to speak.

I know mom's gsd can not tolerate corn. For that matter I can not tolerate whole corn myself. It causes me to be very uncomfortable.

Since I have stomach issues I can completely understand if a dog would not want to eat something that upset their stomach all the time. Not sure if that is coddling or not. Keeping food inside my body once eaten well until utilized I consider a plus. I think the same way for animals. They can't eat it toss their cookies all the time or it just runs through them probably isn't really helping. Not to mention the mess it might make.