I was wanting to know about some better dog foods... are there any major retail stores that carry the brands you guys feed with the better ingredients and less fillers like ground corn meal? (Innova, Eagle Pack, etc)?
I went to the pet store in town (they sell small animals, but not dogs or cats) and looked at the dog food just to see if I could find something better than at wal-mart or the grocery store. They had the usual Purina, Iams, Science Diet, etc. which I know are rip-offs and basically the same as dirt-cheap dry food. They also had Eukaneuba and Natural Choice ( I think that's what it was... it was something "Choice"...Natural Choice, Healthy Choice, something like that)... are these also bad foods?
Right now I alternate between raw feeding and dry dog food. They'll have the dry food one day, raw meat the next day, etc.
I had been cooking meat that I give them until recently. I just wanted to know the pros and cons of giving a dog cooked meat vs. raw meat? Is it actually better for them to eat raw meat? Are there any dangers of disease, parasites, etc. from them eating raw meat? All the meat I feed them comes from my grandparents' livestock slaughters, occassionally I will give them meat I bought at the grocery store, and I always keep it in the freezer for a few days before thawing it and giving it to them.
I might switch to an all-raw diet unless it's a bad idea, or if I can't find a place nearby to buy a good quality dog food. I don't own credit cards and so ordering online isn't really something I can do, unless there's a place that will accept money orders.
(edit) I just searched the store locator that jess4116 posted in the "food confused" thread. "No results found" on all three
so it looks like I will have to look at brands besides Innova, Canide and Eagle Pack
I went to the pet store in town (they sell small animals, but not dogs or cats) and looked at the dog food just to see if I could find something better than at wal-mart or the grocery store. They had the usual Purina, Iams, Science Diet, etc. which I know are rip-offs and basically the same as dirt-cheap dry food. They also had Eukaneuba and Natural Choice ( I think that's what it was... it was something "Choice"...Natural Choice, Healthy Choice, something like that)... are these also bad foods?
Right now I alternate between raw feeding and dry dog food. They'll have the dry food one day, raw meat the next day, etc.
I had been cooking meat that I give them until recently. I just wanted to know the pros and cons of giving a dog cooked meat vs. raw meat? Is it actually better for them to eat raw meat? Are there any dangers of disease, parasites, etc. from them eating raw meat? All the meat I feed them comes from my grandparents' livestock slaughters, occassionally I will give them meat I bought at the grocery store, and I always keep it in the freezer for a few days before thawing it and giving it to them.
I might switch to an all-raw diet unless it's a bad idea, or if I can't find a place nearby to buy a good quality dog food. I don't own credit cards and so ordering online isn't really something I can do, unless there's a place that will accept money orders.
(edit) I just searched the store locator that jess4116 posted in the "food confused" thread. "No results found" on all three
so it looks like I will have to look at brands besides Innova, Canide and Eagle Pack