I LOVE Chewy! They have a good selection of foods, toys, treats, etc. I used Victor, I think the Sport one, when I had a BC/Akita/Husky mix that was super high energy.
I adopted my little guy just about eight years ago. The volunteer at the shelter cautioned us that he was fed Science Diet and may have diarrhea if we switched food without phasing it in. That was the only warning I needed - he’s had nothing but Science Diet ever since. It’s been a blessing. That dog’s stools are about like cold Play-Doh. Very easy to keep track of and pick up.
I see nothing wrong with purchasing something that works for your pet and your budget. As long as your friend is healthy, buy whatever works for you, even if from a grocery store.
Our dog had some urinary issues as a pup, so the vet recommended (and prescribed) a food from Royal Canin (we call it “Royal Pain-in”) that is formulated for dogs with this condition. It’s expensive as hell, so we blend it with a large bag of the Kirkland Salmon/Sweet potato from Costco, which extends things substantially (yes, the vet OK’d doing this). He likes his food and eagerly eats it all as provided, and turns all that food into firm little logs for easy pick-up.
Oh, another vote for Chewy - they have the Royal Canin for much less than the pet store.
I don’t think canned/wet food causes as much consternation as low-quality dry food. AFAIK even the least expensive canned food still has meat protein as the first named ingredient.
My dog isn’t quite this bad, but my ex’s poodle would come running from the other end of the house if I made any noise he associated with a walk. Fiddle with the poop bags? Dog comes running. Pick up the leash? Dog comes running. Say any form of the word “walk”? Guided missile from anywhere in the structure. I remember us visiting the in-laws once. I told them I was going to take the dog for a walk. They’d just seen him sacked out with my still-sleeping ex and told me that would be a challenge. I picked up his leash and gave it a small shake, which made them laugh - until he came running from around the corner.
True. The other cats in the family eat Purina One.
The issue is though that other brands have versions for cats with sensitive stomachs, and Friskies doesn’t. (Strangely enough, she’s NOT picky when it comes to people food. If I’m eating it, she wants it, and she’s been known to reach out and grab it off of my plate. Her particular favorite? French fries.)
That’s the type I use for my setters who are very high energy canines. ^5
Just a reminder, as StusBlus mentioned above, if you’re going to change your dog’s food make sure to phase it in. If you make a cold turkey switch over, they’ll have loose poops for sure.
The answer is somewhat a function of the history of the pet food market. But of course marketing and appealing to owners wanting only “the best.”
Modern dry pet food was really dominated by the application of the extrusion technology that Ralston Purina used to make Chex to dog food in the '50s, creating Purina dog chow, which dominated the market from the early '60s on. They were initially fairly low cost products and often relatively low protein with lots of what some would today characterize as filler.
In the '70s a few companies created more “premium” products and the marketing approach was to go by way of breeders and veterinarians. At that point at least these companies intentionally kept their kibble out of the grocery stores. They went light on advertising to the consumer and instead heavily detailed the breeders and veterinarians. Breeders would get big discounts to use the product and to pass on coupons (and recommendation) to the purchasers of the products. Vets could sell high end product not available in the grocery store (some not available even in the pet stores) and have some additional revenue stream. It is as true for veterinary medicine as for human medicine: detailing works.
If you wanted the kibble that the breeder had the puppy on and/or that the detailed vet was talking up, you had to go to the pet store. Until more recent years those products were not available in the grocery store. Some still are not.
As to which nutrition plan is “best” for dogs … hell, you think there is going to be more universal consensus there than there is for human nutrition?
Here at least is what the Ohio State University School of Veterinary Medicine states:
For a long time with my greyhounds and the whippets we used Kirkland’s grain-free (as our vet thought grain-free might help some skin issues one of the greyhounds was having). An advantage was that it was more nutritionally dense, less volume needed. Then our vet put one of the greyhounds on a prescription joint diet so we went with Chewy.com. The regular home delivery was nice. They are all gone now and our new pup (a Miniature American Shepherd) came to us on Purina Puppy Chow (I am sure because of a breeder incentive program) and for now we are continuing it. It seems fine. See how inertia works? It’s “chicken and rice” but also contains corn gluten and wheat. I’ll set up a Chewy order at some point …
Reading some posts here … I wonder if any pet actually ever starved themselves into undernutrition because they “wouldn’t eat” a particular brand of nutritionally complete pet food that was consistently offered to them with no other alternative.
to be fair, humans can exist for a long time on a steady diet of junk food but eventually it catches up with us.
Have been feeding Purina One for over a decade- last 3 dogs that died in this house were 15, 16 & 15. Currently we have another 15 year old meaner-than-a snake ACD that is showing every sign of living forever along with another 13 year old and a 10 year old. I think we are just fine with grocery store food.
Don’t forget that many dog owners recommend a raw diet. The woman who owns the walking/daycare company we use is a huge advocate of it. We’ve dabbled with it but have never made it our pups’ primary diet simply because of the inconvenience not only of obtaining the organ meats and such, but also the time/money in actually making the mash (depending on what’s in it, it’s best to make a fresh batch every day). The owner sources the majority of her ingredients from a farm in NY State. She drives out there once a month to pick it up and she has a fridge dedicated to storage.
I think it’s a great if you have the time and money to do something like that, but alas, most people, including myself, don’'t. That’s where kibble comes in.
And that has to do with what you quoted in what way?
Is the implication that you believe the Ohio State University veterinary medicine site is wrong and that by definition something containing corn is junk food? Or that by definition something with the name Purina is? Or what?
There is possibly as much woo regarding canine nutrition as there among those who promote various human dietary approaches and fads. And it is not wrong to accept something for your pet because it seems to make sense to you despite the lack of any evidence, or at least that which the actual veterinary medicine expert organizations would consider evidence. Those who become evangelical about those beliefs, or judgmental of those who do not share them, they cross into the mockable space. One is not a better dog owner because you spend more time and/or money on your dog’s food. As with ourselves, you want to go paleo, vegan, organic, low-carb, raw food, whatever … you have your reasons, go at and enjoy.
Me, I find it if nothing else amusing when a family is sure to buy their dog only some all-natural super premium food while their kids suck down Gatorade and such.
Ergo, the “My pet eats better than I do” scenario.
I could say the same thing about our dogs at various times. For all intents and purposes they’re our “kids”. Their needs, in many instances, are put before our own.
Over the last 20,000 years or so of dog ownership, they’ve had kibble for only a little.
We do it in a weird way in the US. This got driven home to us when we took care of a guide dog breeder from Australia. He ate our food, but his usual diet at home was large chunks of kangaroo given at irregular intervals. (Road kill, I’d suspect.) He did just fine on that, which was probably a more natural diet for dogs.
Here’s the thing - dogs have been domesticated for a friggin’ long time. They’ve lived basically off of the scraps of their humans for large parts of it. For these last several thousands of years that what was a “natural diet” for them. That does not mean that it was a balanced, complete, or ideal diet for them. Dog food rather than human scrap remains is relatively recent … and so is dogs living significantly longer than they used to.
(Bolding mine.)
“Natural” ≠ “healthier” at least not necessarily. But yes it is “weird” for dogs to live as long as they do now.
My little fellow gets Orijen at about $3 per pound and does great with it. He is only ten pounds so doesn’t eat very much.
And looking some stuff up for kicks - some more traditional dog foods:
Another traditional dog food -
Dogs have not been wolves for a long time.
I feed my dog Fromm. It’s a bit pricey, but I want her to live a little longer yet.
One thing about feeding your dog pricier food is that it is better for their weight. When I was feeding her grocery brand stuff, I would just fill up her bowl and let her eat her fill. Now that I am paying a lil bit more, I measure her food out quite carefully, and she has lost some of the weight that my vet kept complaining about.
Table scraps are usually going to be the fattier bits, which is hard on their pancreas, and may contain spices or other ingredients that could be poisonous to your dog. Probably fine if you are only expecting your dog to live 6-7 years.
My anecdote is of a 12 year old silky terrier that had started to slow down and show her age, which we took to be perfectly normal at the time. Another dog in the household had constant stomach upsets and the vet advised a switch from supermarket brands to a premium brand so we did it for both dogs. Not only did the younger dog’s stomach troubles resolve, but the older dog developed a new lease on life - she became playful and energetic again, and remained that way until her death at 17.
I’ve bought premium pet foods ever since.