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One more time, lol, which dry dog food are you buying?
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<blockquote data-quote="donna723" data-source="post: 421273" data-attributes="member: 1883"><p>If you want to do a lot of comparison shopping, <a href="http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com" target="_blank">www.dogfoodanalysis.com</a> is a good place to start. They analyze and rate virtually every brand of dog food there is, and you might be surprised to find that some of the most highly advertised brands are pure crappola! I have Bostons and Boxers are subject to a lot of the same issues that Bostons are, skin problems, sensitive stomach, allergies, etc. </p><p> </p><p>You have to read the labels and compare the ingredients. You basically want to find a good, nutritious food where MEAT is the first ingredient listed - not "meat meal" or "meat by-products" - Lord only knows what that is! "By-products" can be chicken feathers and beaks or some other really unspeakabley gross things that you would never want to feed to your dog! You should avoid anything with artificial colors or flavorings, lots of chemical additives and preservatives, and there should be no "fillers". Some brands actually use SAWDUST as a filler ... they might call it something else (like cellulous fiber) but it's still <em>sawdust</em>! And avoid anything with CORN in it like the plague! Virtually all brands of food, treats and biscuits that you can buy in the grocery store have corn in them! Corn is used as a filler in dog foods. Dogs cannot digest corn - it goes right through them and causes massive poops! And corn is a very common allergen in dogs! It can cause skin problems and stomach troubles. If my Ragan were to go back to eating food with corn in it, she would be completely bald and scratching her skin off!</p><p> </p><p>There are a lot of really good foods out there but they're not in the grocery stores and usually they're not in the "big box" pet stores like Petsmart. You'll have better luck if you can find one of the smaller, independent family-owned pet shops. Wellness is a really good brand and they have several different formulas, Merrick is wonderful food if you can find it, Blue Buffalo is good, and Taste of the Wild is also really, really good. Mine have been eating the Taste of the Wild bison & venison formula for about a year now and they're doing great on it! Even Ragan with all her allergies. Taste of the Wild is a very nutritious grain-free food that you can buy in the Tractor Supply stores if there's one near you. There is no one perfect food for all dogs and you may have to experiment a little, but you can buy very small bags if you want to check them out first. You will pay a little more for the premium brands but you will probably find that they actually eat less of the better foods because their nutritional needs are being met with a smaller volume of food, and without all those indigestible fillers, they will have smaller poops too. The ONLY exception I have found to the grocery store and Walmart foods is the Purina Lamb & Rice. I would never give them any kind of Purina as a steady diet, but in a pinch if I can't get to the Tractor Supply store and they're running low on food, they all tolerate the Lamb & Rice very well with no allergy flare ups or stomach troubles. I mix it with their regular food until I can get to the store to get their TOTW.</p><p> </p><p>That dogfoodanalysis site is a big eye-opener. You'll be surprised at how some of the most expensive and highly advertised grocery store brands (Beneful in particular) are nothing but worthless crappola! They always show that big corn cob on their packaging and advertising too, like that's a <em>good</em> thing! It's virtually nothing but artifically colored corn and nasty "by-products" that are pressed into cutesy shapes, then sprayed with artificial flavorings! The dogfoodanalysis site gives it their lowest rating. Some brands actually spray the food with melted lard to make it taste good to dogs! You'd be better off feeding the dog dirt out of the back yard! At least they're probably not allergic to back yard dirt!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="donna723, post: 421273, member: 1883"] If you want to do a lot of comparison shopping, [URL="http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com"]www.dogfoodanalysis.com[/URL] is a good place to start. They analyze and rate virtually every brand of dog food there is, and you might be surprised to find that some of the most highly advertised brands are pure crappola! I have Bostons and Boxers are subject to a lot of the same issues that Bostons are, skin problems, sensitive stomach, allergies, etc. You have to read the labels and compare the ingredients. You basically want to find a good, nutritious food where MEAT is the first ingredient listed - not "meat meal" or "meat by-products" - Lord only knows what that is! "By-products" can be chicken feathers and beaks or some other really unspeakabley gross things that you would never want to feed to your dog! You should avoid anything with artificial colors or flavorings, lots of chemical additives and preservatives, and there should be no "fillers". Some brands actually use SAWDUST as a filler ... they might call it something else (like cellulous fiber) but it's still [I]sawdust[/I]! And avoid anything with CORN in it like the plague! Virtually all brands of food, treats and biscuits that you can buy in the grocery store have corn in them! Corn is used as a filler in dog foods. Dogs cannot digest corn - it goes right through them and causes massive poops! And corn is a very common allergen in dogs! It can cause skin problems and stomach troubles. If my Ragan were to go back to eating food with corn in it, she would be completely bald and scratching her skin off! There are a lot of really good foods out there but they're not in the grocery stores and usually they're not in the "big box" pet stores like Petsmart. You'll have better luck if you can find one of the smaller, independent family-owned pet shops. Wellness is a really good brand and they have several different formulas, Merrick is wonderful food if you can find it, Blue Buffalo is good, and Taste of the Wild is also really, really good. Mine have been eating the Taste of the Wild bison & venison formula for about a year now and they're doing great on it! Even Ragan with all her allergies. Taste of the Wild is a very nutritious grain-free food that you can buy in the Tractor Supply stores if there's one near you. There is no one perfect food for all dogs and you may have to experiment a little, but you can buy very small bags if you want to check them out first. You will pay a little more for the premium brands but you will probably find that they actually eat less of the better foods because their nutritional needs are being met with a smaller volume of food, and without all those indigestible fillers, they will have smaller poops too. The ONLY exception I have found to the grocery store and Walmart foods is the Purina Lamb & Rice. I would never give them any kind of Purina as a steady diet, but in a pinch if I can't get to the Tractor Supply store and they're running low on food, they all tolerate the Lamb & Rice very well with no allergy flare ups or stomach troubles. I mix it with their regular food until I can get to the store to get their TOTW. That dogfoodanalysis site is a big eye-opener. You'll be surprised at how some of the most expensive and highly advertised grocery store brands (Beneful in particular) are nothing but worthless crappola! They always show that big corn cob on their packaging and advertising too, like that's a [I]good[/I] thing! It's virtually nothing but artifically colored corn and nasty "by-products" that are pressed into cutesy shapes, then sprayed with artificial flavorings! The dogfoodanalysis site gives it their lowest rating. Some brands actually spray the food with melted lard to make it taste good to dogs! You'd be better off feeding the dog dirt out of the back yard! At least they're probably not allergic to back yard dirt! [/QUOTE]
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One more time, lol, which dry dog food are you buying?
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