Small breed? Small Bites?

[natural curl]

OK, anothr dog food thread!

To start, Sara really makes sense:
"I feed differently than most people do. I have 5 or 6 types of dog food around at any given time, and they get a different kind every meal... Makes it more interesting for them, and I avoid sensitivities due to never having anything different."

But with only one 11-pound dog I am not sure I want to keep 5 or 6 bags of food around. It will eventually get stale, and then there's the storage problem. So what does everyone think would be the top 2 or 3 choices; kibble, but still some variety. And if I open a can how much should I feed?

No one has mentioned what you sometimes see on the bag: Small Bites and/or Small Breed. Is that a consideration? I have always purchased small but does it matter?

 

[DeafDogs]

I dont feed small bites, except for the one food I buy that's amazing for toy breeds. I always put water on their dry food, but I dont soak it very long, as alot of foods that I feed are preserved with vitamin C and apparently it's not good to soak that.

I didn't want to shock their systems so when I started doing this, I used one dry food as a base, then mixed it with something every meal (half base food, half food 1, next meal would be half base, half food 2 etc.) I started with 3 dry foods, and Merrick canned food (they have TONS of flavours!)

I quit mixing in a base food after a couple of weeks, then I would add a new food into the rotation whenever I was low on one food.

Here's a list of the foods I use:

Dry
Orijen
Acana
Horizon Legacy
Horizon Amicus
Fromm
Merrick 5 Star Entrees
Before Grain
GO
NOW
First Mate
Addiction
Blue Wilderness
These foods I used to feed, but will no longer as they're manufactured by Diamond, and I wont use them anymore:
Taste of the Wild
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul
Natural Balance

Canned
Merrick 5 Star Entrees
Fromm
Addiction
Tripette
Blue's Stew

Dehydrated
Addiction
The Honest Kitchen
Canisource
K9 Natural

plus I feed raw chicken legs, wings, necks, backs (I feed them the bony cuts, as it's really good for their teeth!) Beef Oxtails and ribs, Whole fish (after being frozen for at least 2 weeks)

As to amounts, I feed Boo about 1/4 to 1/3 of a can when feeding canned, Mouse doesn't get canned, she gets the dehydrated raw, about 1/4 cup before water. They get about 1/4 cup of dry food. Mostly I just adjust feeding by what they look like. If they're starting to get a layer of fat, I cut back, if they're starting to look skinny, I give more.

By no means do you have to feed as much a variety as I do. Just a couple of different dry and canned foods will help them not get a sensitive stomach.

Dogs are scavengers, and for 40 000 years or more, they ate whatever we ate, and whatever they hunted up for themselves. Dog food has only been around for the last 70 or so years, and while I still feed it as I like the convenience, I do feel that dogs need a variety. Every food will have something different, so by feeding different foods, they will get more of what they need (IMO), and wont get a sensitive tummy from eating the same thing day after day.

 

[natural curl]

Thanks Sara!
I already have a food list printed from an eaarlier post by you to take to the pet store. Now that I know that small bites are not essential I have more options.

I am taking note of Diamond brands. Are you avoiding them because of salmonella recalls? I am not too alarmed as long as dogs did not get harmed. People: wash your hands, kitchen counters and everything. That goes for raw chicken too.

Our store has Canidae on sale this week and I notice that is made by Diamond too.

 

[DeafDogs]

Nope, I'm avoiding them because this is their second serious recall, and no matter what they say, there were dogs affected by the recall. Their plant is also disgustingly dirty, according to the recent FDA report. They have a really crappy quality assurance program too. I'm afraid that something will happen even worse than this. So I will never feed Diamond foods again.