If you HAD to buy from a Pet Store, I would suggest:
Origen (rated #1 and they tried to make it as natural as possible)
or
Wellness (holistic food. great choice too)
Otherwise, I would suggest feeding Raw.
Raw is the MOST natural of ALL foods.
Dogs & Cats are biologically designed to eat raw meats. They have for thousands of years.
It saved my dog's life.
I feed mine Blue Ridge Beef
EDIT:
to the post below:
How do you think dogs survived before we stuck our hands into their diet, and started filling their foods with artificial things that are hardly beneficial at all?
* It's like feeding your child a meal replacement bar. You wouldn't want to feed your child meal replacement bars for the rest of their life!!! That's exactly what we've done to dogs. Sure, they can survive off of dry kibble, but they wont THRIVE.
In comparison, the amount of time we have been feeding our pets a kibble based diet, is very small to the time they spent eating the way nature intended.
Why do you think most dog brands are now trying to make their kibble, based on "real" and "uncooked" meats?
Because they are slowly recognizing that this is truly benefiting them, more so than what we had been feeding them before, resulting in harm or even death.
My dog (Yorkie) was hospitalized, lost his hair - almost entirely bald, and was lethargic. The Vets couldn't find what was wrong with him. Vet bills stacked up WAY high. I tried every "#1 brand" there was on the market from Origen to Wellness, etc ..... and NOTHING worked.
Finally, at my whits end, I bought Blue Ridge Beef - Raw Food for Cats and Dogs.
I have done an EXTENSIVE amount of research, and after years of being a skeptic myself, I finally tried it. Within 2 weeks, ALL of his hair grew back, he was more vibrant, he doesn't have sugar drops, and he just seems so much happier and healthier, and just a completely different dog.
All dogs are different. Some might *look* like they are doing well on dry kibble. Others might not have as strong of a GI Tract and show physical signs that dry kibble isn't enough.
Either way, results speak for themself.
* EDIT 2 *
Blue Ridge Beef is just the name of the company. They have SO much to offer, from beef, chicken, turkey, quail, rabbit, etc. To organ meats such as liver. They have an entire list of a large variety of different meats.
Rather than paying $8, just do research yourself.
A Raw diet should primarily consist of 80% meat 10% organ 10% bone.
They ground these portions up together to make a generally balanced diet. Id recommend adding fish oil every now and then.
All negative speculation on feeding raw is due to a lack of education.
Seeing as how the people below assumed Blue Ridge Beef meant that they must not sell anything but beef, proves my point in that they make negative assumptions, when they havenf even done the research.
PetSmart sells brands such as Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Simply Nourish, and Nutro that are all good brands to feed your pets, they are on the higher end of dog food. This means that you do pay more but you can feed your animals less. I believe it is like 5 cups of Purina is like 3 cups of Blue Buffalo, or somewhere very close to that. Make sure that meat is the first ingredient. Some dogs, like mine, can't do red meat since their skin is sensitive so you can try salmon; all brands should have a salmon flavor. Also when feeding your dog a new food do it over 10 days. 10% new and 90% old on the first, 20% new and 80% on the second, and so on until the tenth day and all the new food is being fed.
I work for PetSmart so I can only tell you what brands they have. Petco should have very similar ones if not identical, except for Simply Nourish which is only sold at PetSmart.
I use the blue buffalo grain free dog food from petsmart/ petco. Its a better grade that many others. Your dog requires less food becausebit is not a bag of fillers.I have an english bulldog with a very sensitive stomach and skin. It works very well for her. Her coat is gorgeous. Before iswitched to blue buffalo I was using natures recipe. She really liked it. She is a big girl so I keep an eye on her weight. Substituted half of her " cookies" for the day with carrots and ice cubes...ice doesnt really count but its fun watching her hide it in the couch and get mad when she cant find it lol.what kind of dog you have is also something to consider. Some breeds do better on different foods. Like a baby its sometimes trial and error. The stores also have great vitamins for dogs. Good luck :)
I work in PetSmart stores so I could only tell you about what they carry there. There are a couple of good brands carried by PetSmart. I recommend Nutro Ultra or Natural Choice because it contains no corn, no wheat and no soy protein. These ingredients are difficult to digest and can cause digestive upset like vomiting and gas. I like Nutro Ultra because it is made from a super food blend which provides your dog with natural sources of protein, omega fatty acids, fibre, vitamins and minerals, antioxidants etc. It is made from predominantly whole ingredients so that the nutritionally value is not as affected as it is with more processed foods.
All Nutro products are made in Nutro owned factories in the US. Unlike other companies, Nutro does not outsource the buying of ingredients or the production of its foods. This makes for superior quality control with over 600 quality checks per day at each facility.
It's just peoples' opinions. The reality is that dogs thrive on either but there are ingredients in the cheaper foods that some people do not like for whatever reasons. There is absolutely no agreement on what brand is good of the premium brands either; it appears to be something like: "this is what I use so of course the others are junk and this is the best". One really BAD source of information are the dog food comparison web sites as none are scientifically based and all are mere opinion. A veterinary nutritionist is the best source of informaion. BTW: animal bi-products are considered by the experts, ie, vet nutritionists, to be an excellent food source but people deride it because it sounds yucky. Commercial foods are available in supermarkets and premium foods are not; it is as simple as that.
While the last poster said that dogs and cats have eaten raw food for years, domestic animals have been eating dog or cat for a long time as well. I mean that's like saying dogs came for wolves so they are the same thing. It's just not true. It's very easy to miss important dietary needs when you feed a raw diet and you are not familiar with it. It can also be costly and time consuming.
I would recommend a food that does not contain corn and whose first ingredient is not by products. I feed mine Nutro Naturals and they do well on it.The toy breed form get's 4.5 out of 5 stars. Wellness, Blue Buffalo, and the like are good as well. Try to stay away from things you could buy at WalMart, like Pedigree and Beneful (that stuff is garbage!). While vet's push Science Diet and Candidae, they aren't that great either, they just have an inflated price.
That whole theory of dogs eating only meat because that's what they did in the wild is ridiculous.
That was many many years ago and the dogs we have now have very little in common with the dogs of many centuries ago.
Raw is fine, but it takes a very educated dog owner to do it correctly. You can't just stick some raw meat in a dish and call it balanced. Every kind of meat has different nutritional components and feeding all beef won't cover the nutritional requirements of every breed or mix of dog. You need to fully understand the canine nutritional needs to feed raw effectively without compromising your dog future health.
There is no "best" food, especially since so many food manufacturers have listened to dog owners wise in the ways of canine nutrition and are now putting out some fantastic dog foods. Stay away from anything with corn, wheat, soy, by-products and chicken and you will do just fine.
If you are interested in feeding raw, go here and get Monicas booklet on raw feeding for $7.95.
You can be assured of correct information on feed raw from Monica;
We cannot tell you which food is the best because it is a matter of opinion and the food we like may not work well for Your dog. You need to find a food that keeps your dog healthy and stay with it.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
If you HAD to buy from a Pet Store, I would suggest:
Origen (rated #1 and they tried to make it as natural as possible)
or
Wellness (holistic food. great choice too)
Otherwise, I would suggest feeding Raw.
Raw is the MOST natural of ALL foods.
Dogs & Cats are biologically designed to eat raw meats. They have for thousands of years.
It saved my dog's life.
I feed mine Blue Ridge Beef
EDIT:
to the post below:
How do you think dogs survived before we stuck our hands into their diet, and started filling their foods with artificial things that are hardly beneficial at all?
* It's like feeding your child a meal replacement bar. You wouldn't want to feed your child meal replacement bars for the rest of their life!!! That's exactly what we've done to dogs. Sure, they can survive off of dry kibble, but they wont THRIVE.
In comparison, the amount of time we have been feeding our pets a kibble based diet, is very small to the time they spent eating the way nature intended.
Why do you think most dog brands are now trying to make their kibble, based on "real" and "uncooked" meats?
Because they are slowly recognizing that this is truly benefiting them, more so than what we had been feeding them before, resulting in harm or even death.
My dog (Yorkie) was hospitalized, lost his hair - almost entirely bald, and was lethargic. The Vets couldn't find what was wrong with him. Vet bills stacked up WAY high. I tried every "#1 brand" there was on the market from Origen to Wellness, etc ..... and NOTHING worked.
Finally, at my whits end, I bought Blue Ridge Beef - Raw Food for Cats and Dogs.
I have done an EXTENSIVE amount of research, and after years of being a skeptic myself, I finally tried it. Within 2 weeks, ALL of his hair grew back, he was more vibrant, he doesn't have sugar drops, and he just seems so much happier and healthier, and just a completely different dog.
All dogs are different. Some might *look* like they are doing well on dry kibble. Others might not have as strong of a GI Tract and show physical signs that dry kibble isn't enough.
Either way, results speak for themself.
* EDIT 2 *
Blue Ridge Beef is just the name of the company. They have SO much to offer, from beef, chicken, turkey, quail, rabbit, etc. To organ meats such as liver. They have an entire list of a large variety of different meats.
Rather than paying $8, just do research yourself.
A Raw diet should primarily consist of 80% meat 10% organ 10% bone.
They ground these portions up together to make a generally balanced diet. Id recommend adding fish oil every now and then.
All negative speculation on feeding raw is due to a lack of education.
Seeing as how the people below assumed Blue Ridge Beef meant that they must not sell anything but beef, proves my point in that they make negative assumptions, when they havenf even done the research.
Look for yourself: http://blueridgebeef.com/welcome.html
PetSmart sells brands such as Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Simply Nourish, and Nutro that are all good brands to feed your pets, they are on the higher end of dog food. This means that you do pay more but you can feed your animals less. I believe it is like 5 cups of Purina is like 3 cups of Blue Buffalo, or somewhere very close to that. Make sure that meat is the first ingredient. Some dogs, like mine, can't do red meat since their skin is sensitive so you can try salmon; all brands should have a salmon flavor. Also when feeding your dog a new food do it over 10 days. 10% new and 90% old on the first, 20% new and 80% on the second, and so on until the tenth day and all the new food is being fed.
I work for PetSmart so I can only tell you what brands they have. Petco should have very similar ones if not identical, except for Simply Nourish which is only sold at PetSmart.
Good Luck!
Petco Dog Foods
I use the blue buffalo grain free dog food from petsmart/ petco. Its a better grade that many others. Your dog requires less food becausebit is not a bag of fillers.I have an english bulldog with a very sensitive stomach and skin. It works very well for her. Her coat is gorgeous. Before iswitched to blue buffalo I was using natures recipe. She really liked it. She is a big girl so I keep an eye on her weight. Substituted half of her " cookies" for the day with carrots and ice cubes...ice doesnt really count but its fun watching her hide it in the couch and get mad when she cant find it lol.what kind of dog you have is also something to consider. Some breeds do better on different foods. Like a baby its sometimes trial and error. The stores also have great vitamins for dogs. Good luck :)
I work in PetSmart stores so I could only tell you about what they carry there. There are a couple of good brands carried by PetSmart. I recommend Nutro Ultra or Natural Choice because it contains no corn, no wheat and no soy protein. These ingredients are difficult to digest and can cause digestive upset like vomiting and gas. I like Nutro Ultra because it is made from a super food blend which provides your dog with natural sources of protein, omega fatty acids, fibre, vitamins and minerals, antioxidants etc. It is made from predominantly whole ingredients so that the nutritionally value is not as affected as it is with more processed foods.
All Nutro products are made in Nutro owned factories in the US. Unlike other companies, Nutro does not outsource the buying of ingredients or the production of its foods. This makes for superior quality control with over 600 quality checks per day at each facility.
Hope that helps,
Olivia
Pet Nutrition Specialist
Nutro
It's just peoples' opinions. The reality is that dogs thrive on either but there are ingredients in the cheaper foods that some people do not like for whatever reasons. There is absolutely no agreement on what brand is good of the premium brands either; it appears to be something like: "this is what I use so of course the others are junk and this is the best". One really BAD source of information are the dog food comparison web sites as none are scientifically based and all are mere opinion. A veterinary nutritionist is the best source of informaion. BTW: animal bi-products are considered by the experts, ie, vet nutritionists, to be an excellent food source but people deride it because it sounds yucky. Commercial foods are available in supermarkets and premium foods are not; it is as simple as that.
While the last poster said that dogs and cats have eaten raw food for years, domestic animals have been eating dog or cat for a long time as well. I mean that's like saying dogs came for wolves so they are the same thing. It's just not true. It's very easy to miss important dietary needs when you feed a raw diet and you are not familiar with it. It can also be costly and time consuming.
I would recommend a food that does not contain corn and whose first ingredient is not by products. I feed mine Nutro Naturals and they do well on it.The toy breed form get's 4.5 out of 5 stars. Wellness, Blue Buffalo, and the like are good as well. Try to stay away from things you could buy at WalMart, like Pedigree and Beneful (that stuff is garbage!). While vet's push Science Diet and Candidae, they aren't that great either, they just have an inflated price.
That whole theory of dogs eating only meat because that's what they did in the wild is ridiculous.
That was many many years ago and the dogs we have now have very little in common with the dogs of many centuries ago.
Raw is fine, but it takes a very educated dog owner to do it correctly. You can't just stick some raw meat in a dish and call it balanced. Every kind of meat has different nutritional components and feeding all beef won't cover the nutritional requirements of every breed or mix of dog. You need to fully understand the canine nutritional needs to feed raw effectively without compromising your dog future health.
There is no "best" food, especially since so many food manufacturers have listened to dog owners wise in the ways of canine nutrition and are now putting out some fantastic dog foods. Stay away from anything with corn, wheat, soy, by-products and chicken and you will do just fine.
If you are interested in feeding raw, go here and get Monicas booklet on raw feeding for $7.95.
You can be assured of correct information on feed raw from Monica;
http://www.monicasegal.com/canine-nutritional-book...
I feed Canidae and have for many years. I have 2 dogs with food allergies and Canidae works well with them.
Wellness Core or Innova. Followed by Blue Buffalo.
We cannot tell you which food is the best because it is a matter of opinion and the food we like may not work well for Your dog. You need to find a food that keeps your dog healthy and stay with it.