Ok, so what does everyone think of Canidae? Have you ever heard that it can be bad for GSDs? Do you believe it?

can you get eukanuba?

Someone in my club swears by eukenuba. Put their imported puppy on puppy formula, had severe pano at 6 monhts, took it off and pano decreased, put it back on, bingo - Pano again.

Candidae is fine, so are the Eagle Pack Holistics, Chicken Soup, Solid Gold, Wellness, Innova, California Natural, Natural Balance, etc.

Raw diets commercially available are K9 Kravings and Omas Pride - have had samples of these and dogs love them.

I thoroughly agree that consistancy in a good diet is extremely important - changing foods around constantly is asking for problems. Had some conversations with a vet/genetics prof from UP Vet school and he said screwing around with foods in formative in utero adn growth stages can cause alot of wierd problems.

I fed Candiae for almost 5 yrs. They changed the formula earlier this year and most people I know including myself have had to change foods due to the change. Company denies it, says must be a bad batch, yet I know of at least 10 people who have also had to change their dogs from it. I put mine back on back to basics dog food. They're doing well again, not losing hair and shine is back. The one male I have that has allergies (whole reason for feeding canidae to all!) is now on RAW.

I have rotated between 3 foods for almost a year now, and Gypsy is doing just fine. The reason I started was because she just wasn't eating like she used to. I thought the food was stale, so I threw it out and got a new, smaller bag. She still wasn't eating as well as she should, so I switched to a different food. Bingo, she was eating again. Then, about 2 months later, she stopped eating as well again. I switched to a different food and again she started eating better. Now, I just rotate between those three, before she starts acting like she doesn't want to eat, and haven't had the first problem.

In my opinion, Hills and the IAMS (which also manufactures Eukanuba) are crap. You could be getting a number of better foods for the same price you're paying for them. Purina is also crap, and dogs on it produce a lot of afterproducts, but if your dog does fine on it, as far as not having any major health issues, and you choose to continue feeding it regardless of the land mines you have to pick up, fine.

Originally posted by Kristen Cabe:
In my opinion, Hills and the IAMS (which also manufactures Eukanuba) are crap. You could be getting a number of better foods for the same price you're paying for them. Purina is also crap, and dogs on it produce a lot of afterproducts, but if your dog does fine on it, as far as not having any major health issues, and you choose to continue feeding it regardless of the land mines you have to pick up, fine. DITTO, so no Eukanuba in my house. If I changed them from Canidae, it would be to another holistic kibble, but not crappy food.

I have been feeding Purina ONE chicken and rice for large breeds. Luke, my 11 month old male GSD loves it, it has not made him go alot and produce more stools, niether are they messy. Originally I had contemplated going to a RAW diet but there has been no reason to do that as he loves this and it has the vet's reccomendation. He is around 87 lbs now, having put on about 4 lbs in the last month. He does put down 5 full cups a day and gets ALOT of exercise though.

Kristen & Carolina,
(and anyone else that would like to join in)

Questions about the food, as I have already read all past posts regarding the issue as well...

I just adopted a rescue Golden. Previous owner said he was on the "clean-up crew" and she basically fed her dogs Purina. After reading all the posts, I would like to get him on something better and healthier. He is 2 yrs old, 93lbs, and we need to get 15-20 off him before his back legs give out. (Prev owner is ill and was not able to exercise him or care for him anymore)

He's really not eating much right now - still going through the adjustment stage and missing his old home. I did buy a small bag of Purina to at least feed him what he was used to but want to gradually switch him over (figure his insides are going through enough right now). I bought some Chicken Soup and mixed it in with the dry. He wasn't interested at the time but I noticed the dish was empty when I got home yesterday so he must've had a feast during the day.

My question is, out of all the brands you all have mentioned, which one(s) is 1. good quality, 2. good for a Goldens coat, and 3. reasonably affordable? I don't have a problem spending more on the food, just want to make sure I'm getting what I'm paying for. I read Ed's list also, and it seems like there are 8-10 to choose from.

Also, we only have 1 local store that carries CS, Calif Nat, Canidae, Royal Canin, Solid Gold, etc. Do you all know of a good source on-line where I could order the food, or should I stick with the local store? (Chicken Soup was $1.40/can o thers were $2+/can)

Thanks for your help. This new guy is a total lovebug and really coming along in such a short time. Just want to give him the best life I can and have him around for a long time. Thanks again!

When I was feeding Canidae, had a pet that was overweight. Didn't realize she had gotten as big as she had. Dropped 30lbs in about 4 months feeding exactly 1c/day.

The Super High Premium foods/Holistic kibbles that I recommend are:

Innova
Wellness
Canidae
Solid Gold
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul
California Natural
Flint River

In no particular order, just happened to list them that way, but they are all great food and will give your dog a gorgeous coat, less shedding and pooping. You also feed less since they are very rich. I may have also missed one or two so if anyone else can think of another super high premium food please speak! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Royal Canin is not as good as people think, and for the money they charge you for it, you can feed something a whole lot better. My friend just stopped feeding her shepherds Royal Canin cause they were shedding a LOT and itching like crazy, and she is not the only person who has told me this about RC.