Beneful Dry Dog Food

[Benny]

Benny has always been a picky eater. We started off with purina dry dog food (puppy and then adult) and we noticed he didn't eat much when we switched to adult… so we switched to kibbles and bits wholesome melody, he liked it more, but i still thought he should be eating more... We recently switched to Beneful, and he loves it... he finishes his bowl every time I set it out.

[tanza]

Glad that he is eating, but really there are much better foods out there. If you look at what goes into Beneful, almost all the different ones, first ingredient is Yellow corn and the second is ground corn meal…. corn is just a filler, it has no value in a dog diet and mostly just goes right through them. Many, many Basenjis has developed food allergies to corn and it can happen over time... I used to use many years ago IAMS (3 listed ingredient is corn) and it took my Kristii two years to develop corn allergies.. and they were really bad to the point that she would rip the hair out from between the pads in her feet...
Dogs don't need grains, meat and veggies/fruits, but mostly meat. Foods like California Natural (meat and rice), Evo (95 % meat), Natural Balance Duck and Potato, Fish and Potato, etc... are much better choices.

I think that you could find a better quality food that might cost you more to purchase, but you will feed less because they will use the food instead of just "pooping" it away...

There are many threads about foods on the Forum and many sites to compare different foods.

[Schouiffy]

+1 with Tanza having the grain free and meat first foods did wonders for my dog. She is on Orijen.

[sharronhurlbut]

Imo, you can do better for your b's with something less filled with grains.
If you want some help, many of us are here to help you.
This food shouldn't be sold to dogs, IMO.

[nobarkus]

@sharronhurlbut:

Imo, you can do better for your b's with something less filled with grains.
If you want some help, many of us are here to help you.
This food shouldn't be sold to dogs, IMO.

Neither should Science Diet, but the vets push it because of $.

[tanza]

@nobarkus:

Neither should Science Diet, but the vets push it because of $.

Well, more then that, many Vets were never really educated in feeding pets… and many of them now days have learned different... While I agree about using Science Diet and Euk/IAMS there are some prescription foods they make that do work for many dogs... as with everything, it is a give and take....

Here is one good site for comparing foods
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

[Terry]

We are now using Eukanuba Naturally Wild - the kids love it, esp. the turkey and the venison, and seem to be doing very well on it.

Terry

[nobarkus]

@tanza:

Well, more then that, many Vets were never really educated in feeding pets… and many of them now days have learned different... While I agree about using Science Diet and Euk/IAMS there are some prescription foods they make that do work for many dogs... as with everything, it is a give and take....

Here is one good site for comparing foods
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

The SD prescription diets never worked for any of my dogs or cats and the ingredients are still pretty bad. Many vets don't want to learn beyond what they were taught in the college classroom. Just like many western doctors it easier to give out the drugs. You have to find a vet that's holistic or at least has one on their staff.

[wizard]

Here's a surprise … the last time I took my beastie in to the vet he actually talked to me about feeding a raw meat diet !

[Basenjimamma]

Wow, Wizard, that is a new one. I have a vet that don't know enough about the raw diet to support it, but he has a partner that highly recommends it..so I have my three dogs on raw and they are thriving for sure..
At least try to go for food that has meat as the first and preferably second item on the ingredients list, then if it is grainfree, even better. It is more expensive upfront, but they end up eating less, waste less and feeling much better on it, so vet bills might potentially be less over time..and who doesn't want that?

[nobarkus]

@wizard:

Here's a surprise … the last time I took my beastie in to the vet he actually talked to me about feeding a raw meat diet !

Wow, that is a surprise. That's good as there are some that want to look beyond the drugs. Is the vet young?

[tanza]

I think that many of us are finding that more and more Vets had been looking at food studies… especially with all the specialist now.... in years past you were pretty hard pressed to find specialist in different areas.

[nobarkus]

I'm trying to remember if it was in early 90's I happened upon Dr. Pitcairn's Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. I thought there's some good info in there and since my tri at the time was about 16 I wanted to help her feel as good as possible. She was always a free feeder and lived on grocery store dry food all it's life (75-92) and lived to be 17-1/2. I rarely took her to the vet, mostly for teeth cleaning. What I do now and with my last 2 is brushing the teeth as my first it was not something people did back then that at least I knew of.

[Benny]

I am going to give the potato and duck a try… i found a good deal on it... http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/product_detail.asp?pf%5Fid=201119712&dept_id=1

24% cashback if you go to the site via bing.com/cashback if anyone else is interested.

[Basenjimamma]

Sounds like a good plan, and yes if you can get it at a good price, great..

[tanza]

@Benny:

I am going to give the potato and duck a try… i found a good deal on it... http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/product_detail.asp?pf%5Fid=201119712&dept_id=1

24% cashback if you go to the site via bing.com/cashback if anyone else is interested.

Good for you…. good choice too!!!!

[Patty]

Going back to corn - as well as allergies this also can cause hyperactivity and in my opinion should be avoided at all cost.

I'm always pleased to see a raw meat diet being recommended. Although theveterinary practice I go to sells and recommends complete feed, my own vet who is a dog breeder is a great fan of natural diets (raw meat and biscuit)

[nobarkus]

Corn like regular potatoes are very high on the glycemic index meaning they are high in sugar. Brown rice, pumpkin or yams would be a better choice.

[tanza]

But brown rice is harder to digest, so usually I do a mix of white and brown

[Vicki]

I agree that Beneful isn't a good choice.
Many of the commercial store-bought dog foods are sprayed with lard or fat. Also, grocery store dog foods contain by-products that no one should want to give their animals.

I agree about Science Diet.

I've used Wellness brand for decades. I'm pleased with the product. It is a little pricey, but the trade off is less vet visits, good skin and coat, clean teeth (none of my dogs have needed their teeth cleaned), and they like the food.