What Brand Of Dog Food Do You Feed Your Greyhounds - Revisited

[Guest Energy11]

KIBBLE: (all five)

 

Mix of Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul Senior and Chicken Soup Lite kibble ... 1/2-1/2 mix.

 

Boys: mixing in Chicken Soup Senior canned with either canned spinach or string beans, plain yogurt and pumpkin. With a tablespoon of Olive Oil.

 

Girls: Mixing in Purina One Chicken or Turkey and Rice canned, with all of the above, EXCEPT cari, who doesn't like veggies or pumpkin!

 

**I have to mix the senior and light, as my dogs run a bit heavier. They aren't really into long walks, although we try walking every, or everyother day ... good for them to get out of their pens. The ARE all seniors, 8-10.5.

 

ALL of their treats are low fat or lite, Mr. Barkeys Veggie Treats, Just Veggin' by Mother Hubbard, Couch Potato Lite by Mother Hubbard, and Wellness Yogurt bars.

 

They eat better than we do :-))

Edited January 30, 2011 by Energy11

[Guest mountain4greys]

Kirkland Lamb and Rice kibble, mixed with either yogurt or pumpkin. Kirkland jerky treats, or Nutro biscuits. Very little on the treats.

[Guest Energy11]

Kirkland Lamb and Rice kibble, mixed with either yogurt or pumpkin. Kirkland jerky treats, or Nutro biscuits. Very little on the treats.

 

BOY, I WISH I had a Costco closer than 1.5 hours away!!!!! I love their food and treats, and they are reasonable! Just NOT worth the gas, at these prices, to drive to the one "closest" to us! :-(

[SarahsBlackPack]

Both of mine get the Costco brand dog food. I get the Chicken, Rice and Veggie and there canned dog food too.

[cleptogrey]

so after reading about all of the success w/ kirkland's kibble i decided to give it a try. felix always gets itchy w/ chicken based foods, annie can eat just about anything so i bought lamb and rice. tried to introduce it really slowly- 1/3 c at a time, 3 days inbetween adding another 1/3 c.

 

well, farts galore(added probiotics) and of course included rice in w/ the transition. frozen cow plops in the yard and halitosis! so it's been almost 2 weeks and back to hollistic select duck and oatmeal- no rice, no probiotics, 4 squirts of fish oil daily and the house isn't smelly,our dogs can lick us again and cleanup is a sinch...just chisle the poop out of the ice!

[Guest tysmom]

couldn't vote because ours are not listed

 

we use taste of the wild Bison flavor

and Merrick can food as add in.

 

Our local Tractor supply just started carrying Merrick and that is cool .. they love it.

deb

[Guest momto3hounds]

I feed 1/2 Orijen senior for my almost 11 years old Greyhound, 1/2 Orijen adult for my almost 6 years old Greyhound and my almost 5 years old Borzoi.

The other half is homemade diet that I supplement with " Balanceit vitamins".

They are doing great with the Orijen. My Borzoi just had blood work done for her dental and it came perfectly normal

[Time4ANap]

We have tried many of the "better" foods. Over the last 2 years we've fed Iams(this is what he was on when he came to us, but his coat was flaky and dull, and he had wicked gas), Eagle Pack, Blue Buffalo, and 3 varieties of TOTW. In every case, on the richer foods, it's like there's a tolerance level that is reached and the Big D appears - out of control until the food is changed. We just went through it with TOTW which we had excellent resuts on for months until blowout diarrhea appeared for weeks . Note - we are not blaming the food as being a problem, it's more like Rocket can't tolerate the richer foods after a while. I am still a huge TOTW fan, it just doesn't work for Rocket.

 

He is now on Precise Foundation which has chicken in it, but is more of a "basic" food.. We've avoided chicken in the past due to bad experiences with some other chicken and duck based foods that we sampled. It has been 3 weeks and he is doing great on it. This is the "house" food at the boarding facility we use, and they have had great luck using it with their own greyhounds. Surprisingly, his coat seems even softer than it did on TOTW. So far, it is looking like it might be a very good food for him. Only time will tell for sure though.

[Guest manawatugal]

We only got our 5 year old grey today and we are going to give him Nutrience Active for breakfast and K9 Naturals a NZ raw meat and veg product for dinner plus a chicken neck or two as he seems to enjoy them. He also will be getting a tablespoon of flax seed oil in his dinner too. He is black and his coat is a bit dull and dandruffy so hopefully that will clear up.

[Guest Profgumby]

Our first Grey was on Nutro Naturals when we got her but our second wss kind of meh about eating it. And we went to Wellness but both dogs got pudding poos and paint peeling gas. We settled with Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul, Large Breed formula. the issues both dogs had pretty much cleared up once on the Chicken Soup kibble. (The gas remained, but not as bad, till we stopped adding yougurt to the girls food once a day. But that is another story) Chicken Soup and Kirkland are both Diamond products. In all the looking I did the upper end products from Diamond always rated high here. I would have gone to using Kirkland but the nearest Costco is a mere 3 hours away so.....

Edited March 6, 2011 by Profgumby

[seeh2o]

Updating my answer to: as of a month ago I feed raw. The changes, even within 3 weeks, were staggering. So long as they are doing well on it and I can afford it, I won't be going back to kibble.

[mrsmcd7]

My dog was on Purina Dog Chow at the rescue, and I have kept him on it because he seems to be fine on it. I figure, don't fix it if it ain't broken, right? He occasionally has a loose stool, but it's after an hour-long walk, and the vet said that's normal for most dogs. Any opinions on that? Anyone else's dog's stools get looser toward the end of the walk?

Thanks,

Kathy

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

I really hate Purina Dog Chow because it has artificial colors and lots of crappy ingredients. I've had foster dogs on it before and have never been happy with stool and coat quality while they were on it. The dogs all seemed to get pudding poop on it.

 

 

We feed Eukanuba right now. We used to feed top end foods like Fromm, Wellness, California Natural, etc. but my Zipp wouldn't touch them. He was losing weight and we were worried but the vet said his bloodwork and exam were normal. We switched to Eukanuba and he starting eating again! Their stools are fine, their coats look amazing, and I'm a happy mom.

[HoundHeavenAZ]

I fed canidae and cooked chicken/turkey for several years until getting my epi boy last fall. Our vet wanted to limit him to Natural Balance Venison and Sweet Potatoes and cooked beef and veggies. To simplify things I started feeding my girl the same menu. I also bake treats for them made with sweet potato, banana, liver, eggs and their shells and old fashioned oats. The results have been awesome - no gas and poop that rolls downhill! Oh, they also get chicken feet and beef rib bones for their sparkly teeth

[Guest greyhound515]

Daphne, my last Grey got a mix of Nature's Recipe and Nature's Variety-both excellent foods. Her tummy was always kind of a problem and we were always able to go with my home-cooked chicken and rice (or pasts, which was her favorite-any size or shape noodle!) mixed with some chicken broth and veggies. Lots of plain yogurt (she has some gas and big D issues off & on first 2 years or so-we resolved this by treats of white bread, Milk Bones and pumpkin) mixed with food.

 

Diva, my current hound gets a mix of Nutro-about 50/50 Large Breed Lamb & Rice and Ultra Large Breed. This food was way too rich for Daph and her tummy would not tolerate it. Diva was on Beneful at the track, ann while dogs adore the food it is NOT what I would call optimal nutrition. I used to work for Nutro and stand by this food. It works for us and my cats get it too (Weight Management because they are tubs and eat like vultures!) Our vet says Purina One is pretty good-I always check to see what first five ingredients are and I am kind of fussy about what they eat. Last year or two I have been giving cats a bit of Purina One as well, to stretch budget...2/3 Nutro and 1/3 Purina. If I make fish for us, the cats & dog get it as well, same with chicken & steak. If I am traveling with dog, she gets a little of what I have had for dinner or bacon cheese burger(s).

 

I have used Solid Gold and DIck Van Patten Fish and Sweet Potato (which Daph did quite well on). ALso another friend whose dog had tummy troubles did greyt on SOlid Gold-I believe the WOlf King, which is a fish based food-Daph always loved fish and I made it without fats or salt/pepper so she could join in the meal.

 

Sam in FL

[Guest greenejungle]

I feed Precise Foundation. When I got V she had horrible diarrhea and I switched around awhile until I was able to find the right kibble for her. 2 years later and she still is doing fine. I also feed her flash boiled chicken breast trimmings to her and her best friend our Cardigan Welsh Corgi. She is our 3rd Grey we've owned and the previous 2 ate AVO Chicken and Sensible Choice.

 

I only feed foods made by the company that has their name on their bag. About 30% of the foods in the premium market are made by Diamond and an unknown percent are made by other co-packers. I feel the companies that have their own plants have better control of the ingredients used and better quality control. I am not saying that feeding co-packed foods is a bad thing just my personal choice. Having your own plant is very expensive and some companies get their start having their food made by someone else until their sales volume is high enough to justify their own plant.

[Guest carhound]

For the TL;DNR crowd

 

Camshaft is not doing well at all on Kirkland Lamb and Rice. Those of you that tried it and could not get it to work what did you try next. There's so much out there and while I know each hound is different it would be nice to hear some opinions.

 

 

 

The whole story

 

So we've had our girl for almost two months now. She came to us on Purina Dog Chow and had hookworm and giardia from the kennel. She got a treatment of panacur (six days) and the followup stool test was negative. At this point she was fully moved over to Kirkland Lamb and Rice, we made the switch over the course of a 10-11 days, and she was on 100% kirkland for about a week when she came down with a bad case of the BIG D. Stool test showed hookworm again.

 

The vet gave us Hill’s Prescription Diet I/D and she did great on it. Perfect poops, lots of energy, and she seemed happy and healthy. The vet tried a different dosing schedule with the panacur 3 days, then wait two weeks then another 3 days. We are currently in between the the treatments.

 

She's fully switched back over to Kirkland Lamb and Rice from Hills and from last night to this morning (10 hour period) she pooped 5 TIMES!. She started crying at 4:30 AM to let her out and poop. We switched her back to 50/50 kirkland/hills to make the smaller bag of hills last as we sort out this seemingly apparent food issue.

 

While it could be the hookworms causing this based on the data I've observed I'd like to think that she can't handle the Kirkland food. Those of you that tried Kirkland Lamb and Rice and didn't have it work out what did you eventually end up using? Hills is a bit expensive and from what I understand you need a prescription for it so I don't think it will be an option.

Edited May 19, 2011 by carhound

[Guest Gideon]

i feed kirkland lamb & rice. i don't use canned foods and treats are things we eat: some meat, liverwurst, cheddar cheese, etc.

 

some years back, somebody on the forum posted a great food evaluation article based on ingredients. kirkland (costco brand) came out as better than the solid gold brand i was feeding. my dogs had loose stools on that brand and everything firmed up with kirkland.

 

i think a lot of the boutique brands are too rich for a lot of dogs and are, frankly, way over priced. solid gold was running me near $50 for a 40 lb bag of blue. i get kirkland for $26-27 per bag.

[Guest TDotGreys]

Our food isn't listed. We feed Acana (makers of Orijen) because it's made in Canada, the dogs love it, and it really seems to agree with them. We feed the fish formula.

[RedSquare]

We use TOTW Venison and add some plain yoghurt. Anna seems 'itchy' though. She turns quickly to look at her thigh as though a fly or gnat were bothering her. She doesn't have fleas and we don't use pesticides, so it may be a food issue. Our Spaniel has had way fewer ear issues on this food (allergies), but his skin is really dry and flaky. Hoping to figure this out.

[Guest Dl7265]

Diesel was on Hills oral care (only kibble large enough to keep him from gobbling). However, switched to all natural Muenster Large Chunk. His stool is so much better then on the hills, and his coat is soft as silk. Also it's not over priced like Hills.

[beledi]

can't vote: I don't use any of the dry or canned choices and if I don't check off one of them, it won't accept what I check for treats. You need an "other" choice.

 

I feed a mix of kibble, mostly Origen, sometimes Purina One, with a third "meal" of turkey neck, chicken backs and necks, or marrow bones.

Add ons are really a treat as my girls are not picky about kibble as long as it's not Iams: one can Cesar's split between three dogs, tripe, sardines, tuna, tuna or salmon juice, sometimes leftovers from my previous meal like potatoes, rice or stew. Sometimes a veggie slop with broth and garlic.

Treats vary according to whim and deals at the store -- very rarely commercial treats. Homemade dog biscuits (rare around here!) <img src="http://forum.greytalk.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/lol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="lol.gif" /> Other: chicken livers, stew meat, sardines, popcorn, pizza crust, bread (with butter prefered, thank you very much), garlic toast and of course whatever they steal when I leave the room! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> It's not unusual to find a pizza on top of the TV around here. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/lol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="lol.gif" />

Do you feed the stew meat raw?

[Guest mydenise]

I'm thinking of trying canine caviar. Has anyone tried special needs diet of canine caviar for their grey? This is so hard to find the right formula for our babies.

[Feisty49]

I recently switched to Darford, imported from Canada, on the recommendation of the president of the adoption org through which I adopted Annie. It's a bit expensive but her stools are the most firm they've ever been.

[cleptogrey]

after successfully feeding holistic select(was eagle pac) for 3 years i have changed to NUTRO large breed/lamb and rice.(the change over was right at the begining of the IAMS RECALL) HS said that they did not change their formular, but often their ingredients are not exactly the same, since they are "holistic". well, over the last couple of bags one of the pups has not responded well. i went looking for a moderate priced food, w/ at least 24% protein, 14% fat, protien meal content first(more digestable and higher content than listing a whole protien first) other than a chicken based food, this is what i found at my local feed store. no more stinky poops, significant lesser amount of dog waste(clean up is 1/2 the amount) and far fewer poops on our walks.....! the weight lost during the bout w/ the last bag of HS(stopped feeding it after 2 days since it disagreed w/ him so intensly) has been regained. i shall wait and see what the future holds as they continue to eat NURTO.