Dog food Suggestions?

Topics, guidelines and tips for feeding Chow Chows.

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choirlady76
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Dog food Suggestions?

Post by choirlady76 »

Hello! I recently adopted a chowmix from the humane society and they sent me home with purina one for dogs, and I'm wondering if this is a good brand or if there are others you would suggest that you find better? Thanks!
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Red Dragon
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Post by Red Dragon »

That food is decent, I am sure others will steer you away from Purina food. I feed all of mine Purina Pro Plan, that is the next step about the Purina On in quality. Food brand is always an ongoing battle around here. :lol:
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bama
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Post by bama »

Since it is not just about what IS in the commercial dog food, it is also about what is NOT in the dog food.
In addition, manufacturing methods, raw product resources, as well as species appropriate nutritive ingredients.
My recommendation is either Solid Gold brand or Orijens brand dog food. If you search for keywords, "Solid Gold" or "Orijens" you will find indepth conversations about dog food. Solid Gold is a very popular brand with members on this site. While Solid Gold canned food does have it's own manufacturing facility, a draw back for Solid Gold dry-kibble is, it is manufactored at a Menu Foods facility, which opens the door for cross contamination of other foods being processed there. Orijens, has their own manufacturing facility and process Orijens Food ONLY.
I am a fan of Solid Gold, but I am now a greater fan of Orijens, for which I have to order online. But, it is worth it.
No matter what you choose, you will want to stay away from
any commercial dog food that contains, ANY grains, (dogs do not have a genetic need for grain) soy products,
by-products, "meal" made from parts of animals that should be tossed out, meals or meats from rendering plants, or perservatives. Make sure that all ingredients are human grade and of organic origin to avoid harmful hormones and pesticides residuals.
Again, search the archives...
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Zhuyos mom
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Post by Zhuyos mom »

bama wrote:Since it is not just about what IS in the commercial dog food, it is also about what is NOT ... Solid Gold is a very popular brand with members on this site. While Solid Gold canned food does have it's own manufacturing facility, a draw back for Solid Gold dry-kibble is, it is manufactored at a Menu Foods facility, which opens the door for cross contamination of other foods being processed there.
Only the Taurine comes from China - same stuff that is used on energy drinks that some humans drink (Red Bull, Sobe, Vitamin Water). "Menu Foods does not make Solid Gold foods in any of their manufacturing facilities." http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/news/

My chow does beautifully on Solid Gold. There is a sticky thread regarding the foods many on the site feed their chows. http://www.chowchow.org/forum/viewtopic ... c35ed2c3d0

I've spoken to our Solid Gold rep/distributor and feel comfortable with their product.
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Post by Layla »

I am a fan of both Solid Gold & TImberwolf foods & feel that both fit my chows different needs. Milo (my boy) loves the SG & his fur is begining to look very nice with it. Millie (my girl) is prone to allergies & the Timberwolf food suits her well. Her fur is soft & looks beautiful.

TImberwolf has their own manufacturing plant as well. Their website is very informative & helped me become better educated about what to look for in dog foods :D
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Post by bama »

Lou,

Thanks for sharing with me about what your rep said.

When doing my research on Solid Gold dry/kibble, at the time of the huge pet food recall, I read info stating that Menu foods did private labeling for Solid Gold.
Could be, the information has changed, and even better, Solid Gold changed processors? Which I wouldn't doubt.
There were a lot of manufacturers making changes during the pet food recall. No one wanted to be associated with Menu foods.
I will look for the information and see if it is still available as per pre-pet food recall.
I like Solid Gold, a lot, therefore I want to make sure the information I have is current.
I have contacted many companies directly, because yes, I am that *Censored Word*.. :lol:.
When I spoke to Clark, the rep for Orijens USA, he assured me that absolutely nothing came from China. I will call tomorrow and speak with Clark again, as well as, one of the nutritionist and ask them specifically, where all of their amino acids are outsourced.
Inquiring minds want to know...the truth. :lol:

** for those who are wondering what Taurine is...
(Taurine is a beta amino acid assimilated by the liver)

Edited: I forgot to address this...

My furkids have done well on Solid Gold, except for Princess Buttercup. She needs the lower ash level and acidity that is in Orijens, because she has such a tendency to develope crystals in her urine and have UTI's.
I've been able to control the problem, because most of what PB eats is homemade. But, recently I haven't been able to make their food, so they've been getting more kibble.
Solid Gold is great for Colonel and Molly, but PB is a real challenge. :roll:
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Post by bama »

>>>
Only the Taurine comes from China - same stuff that is used on energy drinks that some humans drink (Red Bull, Sobe, Vitamin Water). "Menu Foods does not make Solid Gold foods in any of their manufacturing facilities." http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/news/ <<<

Lou,
After reading your post, I grew concerned that maybe I missed something with my Orijens research.
So, I made the phone call to Orijens and spoke with their nutritionist. He told me that NO ingredients, including taurine were resourced directely or indirectly from China.
The only taurine in Orijens is the naturally occurring taurine found in the chicken meat and fish.
According to him, taurine as an additive would have to come from China, since they are the only ones who produce it.
But, again stressed that Orijens adds no taurine, nor any ingredients from China.
************************************************************

So, as I understand it, if a commercial bag of dog food lists "taurine" separately, it is an additional ingredient and not naturally occurring, then it comes from China.
I didn't know this and was happy to learn about it.
I have been searching for the information on Solid Gold's processing methods pre- pet food recall days, but I can't find anything now.

My hope is to have all my furkids on the same kibble, but that may not happen, as they have different nutritional needs.
Started out, Colonel was food bowl aggressive and Princess Buttercup was bowl shy. Molly, an opportunist!
The difficult thing is now that I've gone thru all the effort to train them all to be food bowl friendly with each other, they all want to eat out of the same bowl at the same time. :lol: :lol:
So different foods would mean meal time separation.
I'm so hoping to avoid that, lest they revert back to their former food bowl issues! :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Could be Molly and Colonel will stay on Solid Gold and PB gets fed Orijen, separately.

Thanks for your heads up concerning the taurine, I feel better now. :D

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Post by leisa75 »

I feed both my chows California Natural Lamb and Rice ! ! They love it, there coats are in great condition.. !
Last edited by leisa75 on Sun Nov 15, 2009 1:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by choirlady76 »

Thank you for the great advice, where can I get the solid gold or origens? I've never seen these before!
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Post by bama »

You may be able to find Solid Gold in a local health food store or at some pet supply stores?

I order my Orijens from http://www.k9cuisine.com

Orijens
http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/storeLocator/
http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/about/

Solid Gold
http://www.PetFoodDirect.com
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Post by WildThings »

Another company to consider is Natura (Innova, Evo, California Natural, Health Wise, Mother Nature, Karma). My dogs and cats have been on EVO for sometime now and have done well. Tess still has a few allergy issues, so we are in the process of switching to California Natural because they have a non-chicken variety (Herring and sweet potato). If one of the pet stores in the area would get in the herring and sweet potato cat food, we would switch them also, but thus far, my cats just were not meant to have it (at least that's what I'm starting to think).

Natura does not use wheat gluten or rice gluten in any of there foods, has had outside labs test to ensure no melamine was found in any of their food. The melamine test is now included in the standard test done on the food. There canned food is processed in a Menu Food facility, but is monitored by Natura, and they are now working on building their own canned food facility. No products from China, all organic, natural ingredients.

Just had to throw in my 2 cents.

http://www.naturapet.com/default.asp (info on the company and their brands)
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Re: Dog food Suggestions?

Post by h0n33y »

I understand that there is another thread discussing particularly about "Taste Of The Wild" brand, I finally found a pet store that sells it

OMG OMG I'm so happy...will try to switch to that brand as some of you guys here have tried it and so far the result is good....
will switch as soon as my Holistic Salmon (EaglePack) formula run out I hope my chow's skin and coat condition will get better after I switch to TOTW

my only concern is about the preservative, if I remember it correctly there is someone mentioned the factory recall regarding the preservatives in it, I hope that's not true, I finally found the brand some of you guys recommended. Have contacted Solid Gold distributor in Singapore, and hopefully it will bring good result, I might help by being the Solid Gold sub-distributor in Indonesia, so that other dogs have the good food. I have contacted Wellness in Singapore also....
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Re: Dog food Suggestions?

Post by Zilla »

I posted on another thread A Taste of the Wild.....

I have been feeding my 2 chow chows solid gold since we got them last Dec. They are doing well on it. Their coats are beautiful and the don't scratch like they did with some other brands. But they seem to smell even after getting groomed they are still stinky. I realized that they smell like Doritos (chips). Which got me thinking that their food must be too grainy and starchy. After reading what other brands people are raving about on this site I narrowed my choices down between EVO and Taste of the Wild. The lady at the feed store said that they are both about the same they both comtain lots of protien and fat and no grains at all. EVO was about $12 a bag more so I made my decision to switch to Taste of the Wild. This is my first day mixing a little bit of it in with their solid gold food...both of my doggies seem to like it. I'll keep you all posted on how they do after then completion of the switch over. If I don't like it I'll be trying EVO next :)
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Re: Dog food Suggestions?

Post by h0n33y »

I BELIEVE YOU GUYS FROM AUS EVER HEARD ABOUT NATURE'S GIFT DOG FOOD???

HOW IS IT? I BOUGHT THE CANNED ONE, AND BARBIE LOVES IT VERY MUCH, IT MENTIONED THAT THERE IS NO HARMFUL PRESERVATIVE, FILLERS, MEAT BY PRODUCTS AND ALL....

ALL SEEMS GOOD, BUT THEY DIDN'T MENTIONED EXACTLY WHAT INSIDE....THEY MENTIONED WHAT IS NOT INSIDE, BUT NOT MENTIONING THE INGREDIENTS ITSELF.
IT GET ME A LIL BIT WORRIED
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Re: Dog food Suggestions?

Post by h0n33y »

WOW ITS DEAD...........
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