Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 Wendy Volhard, Kerry L. Brown. Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog. Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated. 2000 http://tinyurl.com/5946j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 Thanks. This is the Wendy Volhard book I was looking at: Back to basics: The natural diet, a guide to a balanced, home-made dog food, which is the one that's out of print (but if the title is any indication, it might have been good!). By the way, the Holistic guide book is $4-5 cheaper at Amazon (for those who might be thinking of buying it), but I confess I didn't compare shipping charges. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bounce Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 My local abbatoir sells a box of meat scraps for $5. The box is about 2 cubic metres (you can get your arms around it - banana box size)Bones are the same price. My calf is hanging right now but at 2.35lb, I prefer just to buy the big box of awful offal. I guess Mad Cow is good for buying dog meat, if not for the farmers producing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieDog Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 I would feed raw or homecooked, but I can't stand dealing w/ raw meat for myself let alone for the dog. lol Maggie is eating Innova Evo right now and she's doing well - more energy (yea I'm actually happy about that), seems less itchy, nice coat, small poops, etc. It does have a high protien level due to the lack of grains in it, but so far so good on the energy and aggression front (I've heard hi protein may exacerbate aggression issues in some dogs). Someone mentioned earlier that hi protein can cause kidney problems and I have to wonder where they got that...don't wolves and dogs in primitive areas live on hi protein diets w/o much problem? Anyway that's my setup; my parents feed their two dogs, one with epilepsy, Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice w/ safflower oil, oatmeal, and vitamin E added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenalyn Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 Sort of digging this post back up, I had a question. My dogs are currently on Science Diet (yeahh, cringe ). The more I've been reading about nutrition, and the more I look at the ingredients on the back, the more I'm not satisfied with it. However, it's one of the only dog foods I can find that has a low enough amount of protein (around or below 22%) for me to be happy with, but all the preservatives and weird stuff bother me. Is there a better alternative in kibble that contains better ingredients but has lower protein? I can't currently feed RAW or BARF (I'm a minor, live at home, parents wouldn't be too happy at all the strange raw meat in the fridge, or the potential mess, I don't think ) Thanks -Jenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 Solid Gold and Eagle Pack are two I know of that have several products with protein levels at 22% or below, but they are all much to low in fat, IMO (though fat can be added). Here's a link to the Dog Food Project that will allow you to look at some foods and compare percentages: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/ J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoku's mum Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 We have switched Hoku to Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish and he loves it (picky eater) and his persistent eye snots are gone, his coat is shiny and he's doing great on it. It was recommended along with the Duck formula for allergy issues (the eye snots). It's 21% protein. We are very happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 You may want to look into "Artemis" www.artemiscompany.com as well, it's not as low on the protein, however, it is higher on the fat. I think it runs 24/13 - we've seen excellent results on it for about a year now. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenalyn Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 Thanks for all the suggestions! Much better to get a few recommendations than walk into a dog food store and pick out a random food on my limited experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie+Tess&Kipp Posted June 16, 2006 Report Share Posted June 16, 2006 Vegetarian owner here. I can't cope with raw animal parts so sorry, no raw here. If anyone has a completely odor-free way of feeding raw without having to actually look at the raw stuff or touch it, fill me in and I'm THERE. I do manage to make dog biscuits out of eggs, oatmeal, and canned tuna or canned chicken. The dogs freak out with joy over those. I did manage liver, eggs, and oatmeal cookies for a while but the smell was so terrible that even my omnivore husband could not stand it. I used to feed Natural Balance and the dogs did great on that. We moved and I could not get Natural Balance very easily so I switched to Solid Gold. Solid Gold and Eagle Pack are two I know of that have several products with protein levels at 22% or below, but they are all much to low in fat, IMO (though fat can be added).Both dogs lost weight RAPIDLY on Solid Gold to the point where I could feel Tess's backbone stick out inside about 7 days of starting to feed it. I used to feed them each 1 cup of Natural Balance per day, in the morning. On the Solid Gold, Tess needed 2-1/2 cups per day and Kipp needed 2. I went through the kibble so fast I could not really keep up with trips to the feed store. So I switched to Canidae and now we are at about 1-1/2 cups per day per dog and they are doing fine and keeping weight at the right level. I am thinking now that maybe I will just go buy huge amounts of Natural Balance kibble and feed that again. They both really liked it. They like the Canidae just fine but their coats are nothing like they were on the Natural Balance. I wish someone sold it locally, but I'm sure the dogs won't mind a trip to Petsmart or whatever. Well, Tess will do her floor mop imitation but Kipp LOVES the pet store. Allie + Tess & Kipp http://weebordercollie.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted June 17, 2006 Report Share Posted June 17, 2006 Allie, I buy dog food once a month precisely because I have to drive and hour+ to find the foods I like to feed. So I sort of buy it in bulk, but that means you have to be prepared to pay out a big chunk of $$ too. It would be ideal if I could find a place that would deliver not-too-large amounts (as storage is an issue). Does PetsMart carry Natural Balance? I frind they don't carry anything in the way of what I need for my dogs (though they do carry my lovebird's favorite food!). J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerrigan Posted June 17, 2006 Report Share Posted June 17, 2006 PetSmart does not carry Natural Balance and I have only ever found it at Petco. You could probably go to the Natural Balance website and find out who carries it near you. Petco does have a program where if you purchase 200 1bs. of dog food (6 bags of Natural Balance), they will give you a 10% discount on your entire purchase - not just the food itself. You also still get the coupon for 1 free bag (the size you normally buy) for every 10 bags of food you purchase. Petco is also really good about letting you use any other coupons with the the 200 lbs purchase discount - at least mine is. I think they call it a breeder discount and you have to ask for it at the register when paying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie+Tess&Kipp Posted June 17, 2006 Report Share Posted June 17, 2006 The nearest Petco and Petsmart to me are about 5 minutes from each other. It is Petco that carries Natural Balance. I'll be picking some up next Saturday. The Petco has better fish, too (I have a 40-gallon aquarium + a small 5-gallon nursery tank) so I sure don't mind going there. We don't really have storage space here, either, but I'll figure something out. I don't have room for 6 bags--too bad, because that discount sure sounds nice! Ha--I doubt I could even get 6 bags in my CAR! I can't believe all these local places that sell dog food (4 in total) all carry exactly the same foods (all on the WDJ list, too), all within 15 minutes of each other. And none carry the NB. Phooey. Is there some kind of frozen raw diet that is okay? How does the price of feeding something like that compare to kibble, does anyone know? I could probably handle something frozen and pre-prepared. Allie + Tess & Kipp http://weebordercollie.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancy Posted June 17, 2006 Report Share Posted June 17, 2006 OK, I'm old and lazy. I feed Fergie the cheapest lamb and rice food from either PetsMart of PetCo. That said, the cheapest is also the one with the least protein. And, surprisingly, no corm meal. I am an English major and tech editor - I read and compare and contrast all the labels of everything I ever buy. Ferg is a bc/lab mix and weighs at least 50 lbs. She gets 3/4 cup of the kibble morning and evening. She's 10-1/2, has tons of energy and is considered thin by other dog owners and incredibly healthy by our vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy bob Posted June 18, 2006 Report Share Posted June 18, 2006 Could anyone show proof that some dog food contains euthanised pets and their collars? I thought this was just another urban legend but I'm prepared to be educated. Muddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brea78 Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 I started my pup on Nutro and he wouldn't eat it, switched to Canidae and he LOVES it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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