Best foods to feed a chow

[chowchow1981]

What is the best type of food to feed your chow chow?

[Victory]

Premium dog foods, wet or dry or both that: contain no corn, no wheat, no gluten, no artificial flavors, no artificial perservatives, no artificial colors. It should contain about 27% protein that is from a good source, lamb and duck are actually the best, venison is also very good. Beef and chicken are okay. Grains in the food should be either rice, brown rice or barley. Real vegies and fruits should contain most of the vitamins and minerals, so you should see things like sweet potatoes, apples, carrorts, blueberries, flax seed etc in the best foods. Most dog foods made commercially contain chicken fat, (for omega oils), but you want a food that says these are preserved with natural tocopherols, sometimes it says, "naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols".

The worst foods are easier to identify, if it is sold in a grocery store, it's not good. This includes all Purina products, Iams, (used to be okay, but now is mostly chicken by products and corn) Beneful, and any other dog food found on grocery store shelves.

Some good brands are Innova, Solid Gold, Merricks, Nutro Naturals, California Naturals. You can do some research starting here:
http://www.consumersearch.com/dog-food? ... 18232209:s

There are many good foods listed on that site, and there are links to other sites with more information. You will need to do some research if your chow is allergic to poultry and/or beef. Many chows do have allergies to certain things, my own boy is allergic to chicken and turkey. Hope this helps some.

[Stella]

I've been feeding my Stella Science Diet Advanced Fitness for the last three years. It was recommended by my vet and she (my furbaby) likes it.

[Blackbear]

Science diet is not what I would call premium quality. If you go to dogfoodadvisor.com it will rank the various dog foods available and you should try to stick to 5 star foods but no less than 4 stars. Salmon is also another good source of protein and we use Taste of The Wild.

[Stella]

I thought the same thing when the vet recommended it, but have had zero issues. She's healthy, happy, energetic, regular, etc. I tried some of the higher end dog foods, Blue Buffalo Wilderness, Wellness, By Nature and she had insta gas, really truly stinky stuff. When I switched, the problem disappeared. Now, of course I don't want to switch to another dog food...

My Remy (may she rest in peace) had a wheat allergy, that was quite a trial.

[Blackbear]

It can be difficult find dog food that is both good quality and accepted by your chow. Sd gave our boy terrible hot spots and was recommended by our vet but I am sure it does not affect all chows this way.

[Jdcell100]

Been feeding my 6 month old blue boy Blu buffalo since we got him at 9 weeks. Great results

[Piff Poff]

I free feed Henry, he gets a mix of two cups of Solid Gold Wolfking and one cup of Orijen adult, it seems to suit him really well, the orijen seems to compliment the Solid Gold.

[Discipula]

I've also been feeding my pup Blue Buffalo grain/gluten free formula, it seems to be good stuff!

[Stella]

This thread has lingered in my brain way too long for me not to do something about it, so I've determined that I'm going to upgrade Stella's diet to Taste of the Wild.

If all goes well, I'll be sure to share the news with everyone