Dog food- how to choose

[Rachel]

We just got a new dog, a 7 year old beagle mix. He is probably 10 pounds overweight but otherwise in good health.

 

What do we need to look for in a food? The humane society feeds Science Diet and sent us home with a bag. It is not the senior formula so I assume we at least need to switch to a senior formula but other than that I'm lost.

 

ETA he hasn't eaten well since we got him Saturday, he seems happy but we aren't sure if he just isn't used to his new routine or if it's the food.

Edited May 16, 2016 by Rach

[Pawz4me]

Dog food can be a controversial topic.  Everybody's got an opinion on what constitutes a "good' food.

 

IMO senior formulas are just marketing gimmicks.  I'd look for some all-life-stages foods and try a few different small bags and see what he seems to like and do well on.  Most beagles aren't anywhere near picky eaters. ;)  But it's not uncommon for a newly adopted dog to not want to eat for a few days.  They're nervous and stressed, and that can take a toll even on a beagle's appetite.  If you've been serving his food dry you might try putting a little warm water over it.  it'll make it smell stronger and may trigger his appetite. 

 

ETA:  Since he needs to lose weight you'll want to pay attention to the calories per cup of whatever food you feed him.  Don't just go by serving size/number of cups you feed because the difference in calories per cup between brands or even flavors within the same brand can be huge.  A good tip to help a dog lose weight is to reduce kibble a bit and add in some unsalted green beans.  Most dogs love them but they have very few calories.  Beagles tend to be easy keepers -- don't count on him needing anywhere near the amount of food recommended on the bag!

Edited May 16, 2016 by Pawz4me

[Lanny]

Congrats on the new dog and bless you for giving him a new home!   Science Diet is as I recall, expensive.  I had an elderly Old English Sheepdog and fed her an IAMS Special Diet food, during her last years in Texas and here in Colombia.  

 

Suggestion: Take it easy on the quantity of  food for the first few days or week. Do not overfeed. Let him settle down.

 

My guess is that you do not need to buy a special food for overweight dogs, but just need to limit the amount of calories he is getting, related to his size and how much exercise he gets.

 

We fed Purina Dog Chow and different Purina foods for years.  Good foods, but our dogs got bored with Purina foods and every year or two, we had to switch to a different Purina food, to get them interested again.

 

Then, economic downturn and we had to feed a less expensive food.  We tried different foods, including store brands.  Then, my SIL suggested NutreCan, which is made by Solla here in Colombia. Much lower cost and our dogs do not get bored with it.  Possibly you can find NutreCan in the stores there (the packages have English on them, in addition to Spanish, which leads me to believe they are exporting to an English speaking country).

 

If not NutreCan, there are *many* good foods on the market.   One thing is that if/when you change the food for a dog, you should do it gradually, over a week or two so their stomach doesn't get upset.

 

GL with your new dog! 

Edited May 16, 2016 by Lanny

[MercyA]

I'd probably start by looking at the five- and four-star foods at dogfoodadvisor. 

 

I personally wouldn't buy more Science Diet because of their history of cruel animal testing.   :(

 

Congratulations again on your new family member!  :party:

[TammyS]

I'm not really into expensive dog foods.  I've been feeding Pedigree for 20 years and my dogs have done just fine on it.  Our last dog died at 15.  Our current dog still acts like a puppy at 10, and she's a breed not known for longevity.

 

If the dog is overweight, I would do this:  1. Wait until the dog settles in and you have  good feel for it's eating habits.  2. Feed just enough food that the dog can finish in about 10 minutes, or until the dog loses interest.  Any eating after that point is just boredom eating and the food should be put away.  Take doggy for some walks or play fetch.  3. If you want to give treats or use treats for rewards/training, that's fine.  Just do it out of the daily ration.  Dry doggie kibble is really easy that way.

[Journey]

my JRT hated the Wellness weight control! I even returned it because it was expensive and she wouldn't touch it. I went back to the Earthborne Holistic. She loves that.

[Spy Car]

So called "senior" formulas increase the carbohydrate load (which is already way too high in commercial kibbles) and cut back on essential proteins and fats. So the nutritional result is one starves the oldster for vital nutrients. It is madness.

 

To "read" nutrition labels is a type of detective work, and there are many games played by manufactures to mislead customers, but the bottom-line is if one is going to feed commercial food (which is not the optimal choice) one should look for a formula that maximizes animal proteins and fats. In the Guaranteed Analysis the percentage of animal proteins should be over 30% (beware that incomplete plant proteins from corn-gluten meal, peas, other legumes, etc. are counted towards protein in the GA) and about 20% fat. the fewer carbohydrates, the better.

 

Nutritionally dense food is good. Senior "food" is the opposite of nutritionally dense food. With nutritionally dense (high calorie) food, one just feeds less food. Eating less food (in quantity) does your dog a blessing. Passing huge amounts of food (especially unnatural amounts of carbohydrates) is very taxing no a dogs system. When a dog is fed adequate fats they lean out and have sustained energy, because fat burning (not carb burning) is natural and most efficient for canines.

 

While a nutritionally dense food will cost more per pound, one feeds a lot less. The health will be better. There will a lot less waste passing through, so less clean up.

 

A balanced raw diet (PMR style) is optimal. A senior diet is the worst. A nutritionally dense commercial food is the best option if you're feeding kibble (just feed less).

 

That's my opinion.

 

Bill

Edited May 16, 2016 by Spy Car

[Butter]

We went with what the vet recommended when I asked because my dog wasn't really eating her food.  They recommended two brands as options.  I got the one that happened to be on sale when I went to the pet store.  Dog's been happy on it.  It's not cheap, but then she eats less of it in a day than she ate (well, mostly wasted) of the cheaper stuff.

[zimom]

http://www.reviews.com/dog-food/

 

Here is another site that reviews dog foods.  I have one dog on Orijen and another on Fromm.  I believe in feeding my dogs well.  Good nutrition hopefully means a healthier dog, less vet bills, a dog that will be with us for a long time.  

 

I've watched a lot of dog foods go through recalls, too many are made from just cr@p I don't want to eat so why would I give it to my dog.  Raw is not an option for the amount of traveling we do and one is a service dog that is frequently around young children.  

 

It is important to realize generally you will feed much less of a higher quality/higher priced food so ultimately it will cost about the same per day.  

[Rachel]

Thanks for all the tips. Our dog visited the vet today. He has a yeast infection in his ears and between his toes plus signs of an airborne allergy (possibly pollen). We are going to leave his food alone until those two issues are resolved.

 

He is 40 pounds right now, we think 30 pounds would be a healthy weight although the vet says 35, so we will see. We have cut back his portion size and we aren't giving more than a treat or two a day. He got lots of treats at the shelter.m which probably didn't help his weight at all. He is also getting walked more regularly which should help.

[Guest]

Do you have an indpendently run dog food store locally? I have gotten a lot of help from our store. It is small and they only carry good dog food. They are usually very helpful and can give you advice from seeing your dog and for your environment, etc.

[Guest]

my JRT hated the Wellness weight control! I even returned it because it was expensive and she wouldn't touch it. I went back to the Earthborne Holistic. She loves that.

We love Earthborn! I have never heard of anyone else using it, but I think it is great and our 4 very different dogs all tolerate it very well.

[Rachel]

Do you have an indpendently run dog food store locally? I have gotten a lot of help from our store. It is small and they only carry good dog food. They are usually very helpful and can give you advice from seeing your dog and for your environment, etc.

We do. They mostly specialize in horse feed for Thoroughbreds but they carry dog food too. I'll stop by this week, good idea, I had forgotten about them.

[MercyA]

Thanks for all the tips. Our dog visited the vet today. He has a yeast infection in his ears and between his toes plus signs of an airborne allergy (possibly pollen). We are going to leave his food alone until those two issues are resolved.

 

He is 40 pounds right now, we think 30 pounds would be a healthy weight although the vet says 35, so we will see. We have cut back his portion size and we aren't giving more than a treat or two a day. He got lots of treats at the shelter.m which probably didn't help his weight at all. He is also getting walked more regularly which should help.

 

Poor guy, yeast infections can be really itchy! My previous dog had inhalant and food allergies and was prone to yeast infections. High-quality food (Wellness Venison) and frequent baths with Malaseb shampoo really helped. It's sometimes difficult to tell the difference between fungal and bacterial skin infections without doing a skin scraping, and Malaseb takes care of both.

 

If your dog is allergic to pollen, you may want to wipe off his feet with a damp washcloth when he comes in after a walk (be sure to dry them too--dampness won't help a yeast infection!).

 

Bless you for adopting him. You are doing a good thing, and I'm sure he'll repay you with lots of love.  :001_wub:

[melmichigan]

I like this calculator, regardless of breed, to give you a pretty accurate range.  I feed nutrient dense, grain-free food based on weight and activity levels.

 

Yeast infection can sometimes be related to a high carbohydrate diet.  You might want to evaluate and change his food rather than wait.

Edited May 17, 2016 by melmichigan

[Ausmumof3]

Beagles are prone to obesity so you are going to want to take that into consideration.