Kibbel&bits

[Guest MyCody]

I once read that you may as well feed the dog the bag itself as it has as much good nutrition as the Ol Roy food, I would not feed that either.

 

Now as for the Kibbles and Bits, before I had greyhounds the last dogs I had were a sheltie and a mongrel I picked up on the street. I fed them K&B and Mighty Dog which are both considered "bad" food, and I hate to say it but the sheltie lived to be 21 and the mongrel 20.

 

I now feed Pro Plan SELECTS, which is grain free, hate the shredded stuff, and Alpo canned. Two cups kibble, 1/4 can Alpo twice a day. Leah is 76, JJ is 82 lbs.

[Trudy]

I now feed Pro Plan SELECTS, which is grain free, hate the shredded stuff, and Alpo canned. Two cups kibble, 1/4 can Alpo twice a day. Leah is 76, JJ is 82 lbs.

 

Pro Plan Selects is not a grain free kibble.

[Guest Swifthounds]

IMHO: ol roy & kibbles/bits = yuck.

 

IMHO: ol roy & kibbles/bits=garbage

 

Kibble = garbage. Sometimes, though, it's the best you can do.

[beledi]

Yep... good thread!

 

To ME, your dogs are what you feed them, and their health shows this as well. I have a friend with two 13.5 yr old girls, with few health problems, and she does feed, and has always fed, high end food.

 

I won't even buy mine Milkbone, so needless to say, my opinions of Ole Roy and Kibbles N Bits are not good ones :-( I, personally, feed only A+grade food.

 

Now, there is a WONDERFUL food, reasonably priced, called Kirkland. You get it at Costco, and not ONLY it is reasonably priced, BUT, it is extremely high quality food! IF I had a Costco anywhere near me, this is what I would feed, but, alas, I don't.

 

Rather than feed any of your pups "junky" food, why not try the Kirkland? I have also heard PetSmart's Authority brand food is an "ok," food as well. Good luck with your new Grey, and your other babies, too!

Wish we had a Costco in town!

[Guest mbfilby]

Besides the low nutritional value of Ol' Roy products, I would not trust them to not poison your dogs. For small mix breed dogs, Kibbles N Bits may be fine, but will not supply a greyhound with the nutritional values they need.

 

We feed Purina One with mix ins, our dogs do well on it, and the cost is low. I know others who feed a blend of Purina One and Dog Chow to stretch the dollar. Iams is a decent low cost food as well. I know a winning show dog that eats pedigree.

[DevilDog]

I currently feed my dog becca Ol' roy skin&coat she likes it alright I guess. I am thinking of kibble & bit food because she really liked that. Shes a Terrier mix. We also have a chihuahua named Ella. They eat once maybe twice a day I put about a cup of food a day in their bowl. But will a greyhound need much more then a cup a day....is wholesome medly by kibble & bits an ok food for them? I am brand new to this breed so need the advice.....thanks

 

 

Amber from Arkansas

 

Hi Amber-

 

A lot of the responses here are varied and maybe a bit confusing. Basically, Ol' Roy and Kibbles & Bits are NOT good quality foods. Take a look at the ingredients on the bag. Corn (not good for dogs), soybean meal, bone meal, corn syrup, salt, hydrochloric acid...!! It's like feeding your dog candy every day. It's simply not healthy.

 

With that said, not all of us can afford higher quality dog food. However, being educated on the subject, and looking at the ingredients on the bag, can help you find something a little better. Foods that are still inexpensive but better are Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul and Diamond Naturals. I fed my boy Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice for a long time- you can't beat the price!! Do a little research and see what's out there in your budget.

 

And to answer your question about greyhounds, yes, a greyhound will eat more than one cup of food a day. Each greyhound is different, but they can eat anywhere from 2-6+ cups per day.

 

Something that no one's mentioned... if you are on a tight budget, is adding another dog, especially a large one who could eat a lot, a good idea for you at this time? Just my opinion. However, if you are feeding Ol' Roy because you simply didn't realize it was a low quality food, and you can afford something better, than by all means, carry on.

 

Hope this helps~

[mychip1]

Not going to throw myself into the specific food discussion....I just want to say, since you are new to the breed, that they are pretty sensitive characters - and a lot of foods will lead to diahreah, which obviously does no one any good! You actually may need to try a few different foods (giving each a little bit of time as any change can impact their system) before you find the one that works for your dog.

 

Don't feel bad that people have been pretty definitive in their views on the foods you are considering. Everyone just tries to offer the best advice they have. The fact that your other dogs have been fine on it means that it has worked for you. My point is just to caution you that the greys are a bit unique.

[Guest Swifthounds]

My point is just to caution you that the greys are a bit unique.

 

To the extent that this is true, it's a function of the racing greyhound's particular environmental factors and not something inherent in the greyhound breed itself. Too often, digestive upset is attributed to greyhounds having "sensitive" systems that can't handle certain foods. When you look at the greyhound's experience with food, any greyhound that was raised to race (whether or not it made it to schooling or a track) was raised on a diet that was predominantly meat based with some kibble and other carbs added in. When they go from that diet to any kibble diet, they're going from eating mostly meat with some carbs to mostly carbs with some meat. Dogs can survive on carbs, but they have digestive systems designed to digest meat. When greyhounds are switched from a meat based diet to a carb based diet, that shift is huge, usually cold-turkey and necessarily causes digestive upset. To a large extent that will sort itself out over time, but often not in a few weeks.

[Guest tysmom]

LOL,

I just officially got on this board but that deosnt mean I havent been on other boards

where I have seen food conversations go all out crazy..hence why most of you are breaking out the pop corn and i am giggling..lol

 

Be that as it may I do have an opinion that folows the what ever works for you line.. its much safer that way... but I will say this..

 

Ive recently started to be intruqiued by bil jac and here's why...we currently are using totw bison flavor which my hounds love.. then i was in pet smart

the other day and read the ingredients for bil jac and saw that it say that for a 30 pound bag of food they use 20 pounds of chicken and I am doing a little more research into that with an eye towards switching if it pans out because my hounds LOVE with a capital L chicken..

 

as far as how much.. dont hate me, but recently within the last 6 months I have gone to feeding only once a day. and yes, before anyone gets excited I know the pro's and cons and im doing it anyway.. it works for us.

I am really suing my eyes and intuition as to how they are doing.. and so far there has been zero problems. at least in my house this works for me and mine.. the mornngs where just a real drag nobody really wanted to eat much anyway and if they do I supplement with fresh chicken, that too works for us.

and by the way bil jac in pet smart is really pretty close to what taste of thwe wild is in tractor supply..

so good luck mate!

[mychip1]

My point is just to caution you that the greys are a bit unique.

 

To the extent that this is true, it's a function of the racing greyhound's particular environmental factors and not something inherent in the greyhound breed itself. Too often, digestive upset is attributed to greyhounds having "sensitive" systems that can't handle certain foods. When you look at the greyhound's experience with food, any greyhound that was raised to race (whether or not it made it to schooling or a track) was raised on a diet that was predominantly meat based with some kibble and other carbs added in. When they go from that diet to any kibble diet, they're going from eating mostly meat with some carbs to mostly carbs with some meat. Dogs can survive on carbs, but they have digestive systems designed to digest meat. When greyhounds are switched from a meat based diet to a carb based diet, that shift is huge, usually cold-turkey and necessarily causes digestive upset. To a large extent that will sort itself out over time, but often not in a few weeks.

Fully agree with that clarification.....It would be different if most had been raised by us as puppies and used to such a diet.

[Guest MyCody]

Thanks Trudy, I actually feed Turkey and Barley, don't know why my brain short circuited but not the first time, won't be the last

[Guest irongrl]

We are going to have a foster Greyhound arriving on Thursday. I'm looking at a few different foods, leaning towards Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete.

Another one I looked at was Canidae All Life Stage. Does anyone here feed Canidae? It looks like a good one too.

[robinw]

As others have said, feed the best food you can afford. As for Kibbles and Bits poisoning your dogs...well, before I was introduced to the greyhound world and started to research foods, I had a medium size mixed breed who lived to the ripe old age of 16 on Kibbles and Bits. That's not an endorsement; it's just my way of saying that as far as I know, it didn't harm my dog at all.

Edited October 27, 2010 by robinw

[fourofem]

Food is a hot topic around here. There are those who spend megabucks and those that don't. It boils to what you can afford and what your hound can tolerate. Me? I wouldn't feed Ol' Roy or Kibbles and Bits but not because my five couldn't or wouldn't eat it. Four of my five would eat anything I put down. I fed Iam's Lamb and Rice for years with not one issue. Then I got caught up in the whole "food grading" thing and was convinced I was feeding them junk and switched up. My advice....compare ingredients. There's a good site to check out and I don't have it in front of me right now (maybe someone will step in and give you the link) but it will give you some guidelines. Maybe that will help.

[Guest Energy11]

We are going to have a foster Greyhound arriving on Thursday. I'm looking at a few different foods, leaning towards Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete.

Another one I looked at was Canidae All Life Stage. Does anyone here feed Canidae? It looks like a good one too.

 

I feed a mix of Canidae Platinum and Chicken Soup Senior. I like the combo, and so do the dogs. BOTH ARE GREAT FOODS. I get them through Petflow.com, because I dont' live ANYWHERE near a place that carries them. IF I lived by a Costco, I'd feed the Kirkland, though :-)) It is also an awesome food.

 

Good Luck, and yes, I like Canidae!

[Guest irongrl]

We are going to have a foster Greyhound arriving on Thursday. I'm looking at a few different foods, leaning towards Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete.

Another one I looked at was Canidae All Life Stage. Does anyone here feed Canidae? It looks like a good one too.

 

I feed a mix of Canidae Platinum and Chicken Soup Senior. I like the combo, and so do the dogs. BOTH ARE GREAT FOODS. I get them through Petflow.com, because I dont' live ANYWHERE near a place that carries them. IF I lived by a Costco, I'd feed the Kirkland, though :-)) It is also an awesome food.

 

Good Luck, and yes, I like Canidae!

 

Thanks so much! I have some samples of the Chicken Soup brand. That does look like a good one too.

[Guest greenbottle27]

I am sorta in the market to switch food and I'm not trying to hiajack this thread, I was just wondering if anybody out there feeds Ziwi Peak, imported from New Zealand.

[Guest Ola]

I only got a small bag of Ziwi Peak once to use as treats (we feed a raw diet but sometimes use kibble for treats/training). The dogs were big fans of it and from what I recall the ingredients looked quite good also. That said, since we weren't planning to use it as the main diet I didn't really make a mental note of the list.