# What do you feed your poodle!



## Aidan (Mar 4, 2009)

The breeder I got Vega from feeds all her dogs chicken soup and she gave me a weeks worth of food when I brought him home. I've been feeding my shepherd taste of the wild (both by Diamond foods i believe).

Anyhow, I was at the small pet supply store where I buy Pandora's food and the price is a few $'s less for the chicken soup and i get 5lbs more of food so I'm thinking of having them all on chicken soup eventually. Does anyone else have good luck with this food?

I was feeding Pandora the taste of the wild specifically for the high protein content as nothing else has helped her gain weight (previously trying solid gold and blue buffalo wilderness) but she LOVES taste of the wild. I've debated mixing some chicken soup puppy with chicken soup adult for her because I know puppy food would help her gain weight. She's just so active all day.

Anyhow, i think i'll stick with the chicken soup at least for Vega, he loves it! I might just keep him on it until he's 15 months old and switch him to taste of the wild, who knows!


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## maddiek (Nov 3, 2008)

My dogs love the Blue Buffalo.


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## roxy25 (Dec 18, 2008)

We feed Enzo innova adult small bites , he was on puppy innova.


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## starkeeper (Jan 27, 2009)

*Gosh*

I have always fed Nutro dry lamb and rice.

I have ventured to other things but it tends to work for my dogs best (even though there are higher rated foods)


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## Mandycasey'smom (Jan 3, 2009)

I have fed Nutro in the past but with all the lawsuits against them am not interested in them any more. I like Orijen but not good for Casey. I was doing Natures Variety but got up to 46 for 3 weeks for one dog. Mandy the bag would last a month so over 90 a month on dog food.
Right now they are on Oven Baked Traditions fish and doing well though the food does stink. Casey cant eat the high protiens in Taste of the wild and stuff or he piddles all over.


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## gwtwmum2 (Sep 14, 2008)

We are on Taste Of The Wild. The dogs like it and I'm still in the trial period to see if it helps Wrigley's gas. I also serve it with plain yogurt.


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## WonderPup (Oct 26, 2008)

Ditto on Nurto, I used to feed all my dogs and all my mother's dogs, but now.... I'm a little nervous of the company. So many things that the reps that used to come to work and say were proven to be false when they whole recall thing happened. A real shame. 

Anyway I have my dogs on Blue Buff. now, they seem to love it and are doing well. 

I have used the chicken soup food in the past. They liked it but I switched from that to Solid Gold and now to Blue. My cats still eat it though, they like it a lot  It's not a bad food, it;s just difficult to get where I am. I have to mix it with other brands for the cats because I can't always travel to get it. Only two places sell it, one is a feed store that doesn't store their foods all that well, and the other is a petstore that seems to think that if they allow a product to touch their shelves that they must then charge tripple for it. LoL, They are really proud of those shelves.


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## SECRETO (Aug 20, 2008)

starkeeper said:


> I have always fed Nutro dry lamb and rice.
> 
> I have ventured to other things but it tends to work for my dogs best (even though there are higher rated foods)


No offence about what you feed but Nutro suddenly changed there ingrediants after I'd been feeding that food for like 4 yrs. My Pit, Lotus started losing large patches of hair on each side of her rib area's. After $500.00 in vet visit's and the vet thinking maybe she has cancer, I decided to change her food. Sure enough, I found out that Nutro sold to some Candy company out of China or Japan. They had altered the ingredients. My sister's dog began getting sick from the food (weak tummy). They changed to Natura brand foods and so did I......would never by another bag of food of Nutro now. 

I know some dogs are fine eating anything, but I wont touch a Nutro product now. This happened maybe 2 yrs ago now just for the record.


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## SECRETO (Aug 20, 2008)

Forgot to mention I feed Health Wise from Natura. If Im up to spend a little more, then I get Ca Natural. Its also made by Natura.

Natura makes....ennova, evo, karma, health wise and ca natural. In my opinion all great food and a fabulous company. 

Oh, I just bought a bag of Health Wise the other day and there was a nice notice on the bag. It was just saying they now get all there products with in the US and will not be using any other county for ingredient sources. 
Thanks Natura!! lol


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## tangerineman (Nov 26, 2008)

Here's a dog food review link that might be useful: 

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php


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## pagan-poodle (Sep 30, 2008)

Iv never heard of those foods,maybe its because im in the uk.
I was feeding butchers meat(tinned food)
And mixer biscuits.
The new puppy has been fed on James welbeloved puppy dried so i guess hel stay on that for a while until hes settled i dont like a all dried diet if i can help it,I also feed chicken i get a chicken and roast it for the cats and dog they love it


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## roxy25 (Dec 18, 2008)

pagan-poodle said:


> Iv never heard of those foods,maybe its because im in the uk.
> I was feeding butchers meat(tinned food)
> And mixer biscuits.
> The new puppy has been fed on James welbeloved puppy dried so i guess hel stay on that for a while until hes settled i dont like a all dried diet if i can help it,I also feed chicken i get a chicken and roast it for the cats and dog they love it


Yeah you guys have different food there lol , the only one I know you have is royal canin which is CRAP ! not unless you buy the vet line which cost so much money its not even funny.

Becareful with wet food , wet food is not really good for dogs Both my teacher who are vets told the whole class that. I was probably not in class when one of them said why so I will ask them through email. 

Also it creates tartar faster on dogs than the dry food.


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## pagan-poodle (Sep 30, 2008)

Ok i didnt know that i thought that a all dried diet was bad for the bladder and internal organs?
Let me know im interested about knowing about why wet foods are not good.
yes the royal canin isnt too good and it is expensive,the vet line my cats were on when they were ill and yes it cost a lot


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## Pamela (Sep 9, 2008)

we are feeding chicken soup for a few months now and they love it and are doing great!


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## WonderPup (Oct 26, 2008)

tangerineman said:


> Here's a dog food review link that might be useful:
> 
> http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php



I love these types of links 

I didnt know that about the nutro formula change, they need to post signs about this kind of thing. In the grand scheme of things there are certainly worse things to feed your dog's. Wish dog food companies would be more honest about what they are doing and why. Quite a few of them seem to try and be sneaky sometimes... even in what ingredients are listed on their bags. 

This type of conversation always makes me want to go back and explore raw diets again.... Must... Resist.... I just don't have the time to make sure that everything is perfectly balanced the way it needs to be. That would certainly be a recipe trouble. :mmph:


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## pagan-poodle (Sep 30, 2008)

I found this article was a interesting read  kind of puts you off really

http://www.epinions.com/pets-review-372D-4A67673-3A086C52-prod4


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## Poodle Lover (Mar 24, 2008)

Another great site for everyhting you ever wanted to know about dog food is: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/. The woman who runs the site Sabine, is a dog nutritionist and is extremely knowledgeable. I know a man who had her do a consultation for his Havanese and is incredible happy. She had him fill out some lengthy questionaires about him and his dog and his analysis was only $22.ooto $25.00 can't remember and he is thrilled. She makes recommendations depending on whether you want to feed what's available through pet supplies, raw or homecooked and I think it's more like $47 per dog if you do your own home cooking, supplementing or raw feeding. Any way, according to her, it's much better to feed good quality canned food than kibble. Check out the site, it's a wealth of info.


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## Yorkiecrazy (Jun 17, 2008)

I have been feeding Wellness dry and canned about a year now and have been happy with.


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## Yorkiecrazy (Jun 17, 2008)

roxy25 said:


> Yeah you guys have different food there lol , the only one I know you have is royal canin which is CRAP ! not unless you buy the vet line which cost so much money its not even funny.
> 
> Becareful with wet food , wet food is not really good for dogs Both my teacher who are vets told the whole class that. I was probably not in class when one of them said why so I will ask them through email.
> 
> Also it creates tartar faster on dogs than the dry food.


I would also like to know why canned isn't good. Interesting!


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## Luna09 (Mar 17, 2009)

So I have been feed my 3 moth old girl Nutro max, I heard it was supposed to be really good?? Now I am confused. Do you guys think I should switch my food.?? Thanks

Abe


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## starkeeper (Jan 27, 2009)

*So help me.....*

all my dogs do best on Nutro. Best in digestion, poop appearance, overall happiness.

When I have tried switching to Wellness, Kirkland, Halo, Natural Balance.....we have problems pop up (either throwing up or huge smelly poop).


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## spoofan (Dec 11, 2008)

I am seriously considering switching Gunther to this food:
http://www.westcoastcaninelife.com/

The owner of the company has a yellow lab,that is 17 years old...only ever ate this food.
My daughter is feeding it to her spoo Stella and it completely resolved her digestive issues...and gas.


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## tangerineman (Nov 26, 2008)

starkeeper said:


> all my dogs do best on Nutro. Best in digestion, poop appearance, overall happiness.
> 
> When I have tried switching to Wellness, Kirkland, Halo, Natural Balance.....we have problems pop up (either throwing up or huge smelly poop).


That's good to read. I just switched 5-month old Sammy to Nutro Max Mini Chunks (he's a Toy). The local store I purchased it from only carries good quality foods and this was one of them.

We tried him with a couple of sample packets of 'Oven Baked' but he wasn't taking to them. I put down a bowl of Nutro as well, and that was the one he went for. He's quite happy with it. (is it t.m.i. to say that it also turned his #2s a colour that makes them easier to find on the lawn...and while I'm at it, I'd say he poops less with the Nutro, compared to the MediCal he was eating)


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## roxy25 (Dec 18, 2008)

starkeeper said:


> all my dogs do best on Nutro. Best in digestion, poop appearance, overall happiness.
> 
> When I have tried switching to Wellness, Kirkland, Halo, Natural Balance.....we have problems pop up (either throwing up or huge smelly poop).


When switching dog food you have to mix old with the new if your dogs have sensitive stomachs . also a real trial on a dog food takes 8 weeks. What most dog owners do is switch food then see bad signs and switch back that will do a number on a dogs GI tract. 

My cats will have nasty smelly diarrhea when we switch their food. Enzo gets diarrhea if we switch the food also. His GI is sensitive. 

I always look at ingredients first when choosing a dog food. 

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/dogfoods.html


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## roxy25 (Dec 18, 2008)

spoofan said:


> I am seriously considering switching Gunther to this food:
> http://www.westcoastcaninelife.com/
> 
> The owner of the company has a yellow lab,that is 17 years old...only ever ate this food.
> My daughter is feeding it to her spoo Stella and it completely resolved her digestive issues...and gas.


 I always see new dog foods but I never buy them until I can see if its available close to me. I only have 1 natural pet food store near me. The rest are far. The food at the shop down town have good food but I think its pricey there. They sell raw food diets also.

I also just saw the price of that food............130 bucks for 15lbs lol $hit I rather make my own dog food at that point !


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## SECRETO (Aug 20, 2008)

There is no way Nutro is better then Natural Balance or Wellness. The listed ingredients on the bag say it all. 

I have been there are fed Nutro and my dogs poop less, eat less and dont lose there hair now that I dont feed Nutro. I have heard way to many complains from previous consumer's about Nutro to even recommend it now. Its really to bad...it priced well and used to be a decent food to feed.


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## roxy25 (Dec 18, 2008)

SECRETO said:


> There is no way Nutro is better then Natural Balance or Wellness. The listed ingredients on the bag say it all.


I agree 

I found this if anyone is interested cheaper than the WCCL http://www.boneappetitrawfood.com/weborder.html

I might get into this kind of raw diet one day but I need to do lots of reading first. 

I found this also 
http://www.timberwolforganics.com/


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## shaneyraepage (Oct 18, 2008)

We originally started Chief on INNOVA as a puppy, but he eventually grew tired of it. 

Lately, we have been giving him ROYAL CANIN Mini 30, supposedly formulated for poodles. :EYEROLL:

It's Chicken-based, and he absolutely loves it! He eats better than ever before.


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## colivsostar (Apr 14, 2009)

*New puppy..which food*

I am new to the forum. I have a 6 year old miniature poodle and on Sunday we will be bringing home an 8 week old standard poodle female puppy. 

I went to Petsmart and since my miniature has been on Ultra for small breeds, and I have not had problems with weight or skin or stomach, I thought I would get the puppy Ultra. 

A lady at the store told me that Ultra was not good for a puppy since it contained 3 different proteins,(Salmon, Chicken and Lamb) and for a puppy I should stick with a food that is primarily made with 1 protein. 

I would like to have both my dogs eating the same brand eventually in case they get into each others food. 

The breeder weans the puppy with, Purina Puppy Chow Soft and Crunchy in the blue bag Dry mixed with pedigree puppy canned lamb and rice or chicken and rice. I know this is not what I want for her. She has her adult dogs on Good Life Recipe, chicken.

I will say that I did start TJ out as a puppy with Eukanuba, since I liked the size of the kibble and then went with the Ultra. Now there are so many to choose from. 

Any suggestions? Do you mix a puppy's dry kibble with cottage cheese? 

Thank you.


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## jester's mom (Nov 25, 2008)

starkeeper said:


> all my dogs do best on Nutro. Best in digestion, poop appearance, overall happiness.
> 
> When I have tried switching to Wellness, Kirkland, Halo, Natural Balance.....we have problems pop up (either throwing up or huge smelly poop).



I have to say, I have been looking at the different foods since I got my spoos and tried a couple, Nutro being one, but wasn't crazy about it...... SOOO, I again have been perusing the dog foods and decided to try Natural Balance three weeks ago. I started slowly switching all my dogs over to it and finally got them straight on it and have had LOTS of trouble with it. ALL of my dogs now have loose stools and my Doberman is passing gas like you wouldn't believe, and she never has had a gas problem since I got her. I have put them all back onto 50/50 of it with their old food they were eating (which I had good firm stools and no gas) except for Grace who has refused to eat the Natural Balance since last week. Even on 50/50 they still have loose stools, except for Grace now since she won't even eat it, and I am not sure if I am going to be able to use the food up. I hate to waist the money and I know it is put down as a good food, with a 4 out of 5 grade, but WOW, I have never had such problems with stools and gas like I do now. So, to say the least, Natural Balance is off the future menu, which is too bad as it is a good quality food and at a store I go to all the time.

I am going to try Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul, I have to go out of my way to get it but I hope that works better. I really want to get them on a higher quality food, but not if I am going to have stool and gas problems.


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## Purple Poodle (May 5, 2008)

I really liked Nutro until they sold the company, messed everything up from quality to price.  So now I feed Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice and everyone does great on it. 

I started Fran on Taste of The Wild: High Prairie and it helped her with her pregnancy and kept her milk up really well.

The puppies are now eating a mix of Diamond Naturals Small Breed Puppy and Lamb & Rice. They have firm poops and shiny coats.

Taste of The Wild just came available in my area and I love it, I hope I can switch all of my dogs once we get down to just 7. (we currently have 14)


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## creativeparti (Mar 9, 2009)

im going to be feeding my poodle on aurtarky when i get him in 6 days


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## Tyler (Mar 9, 2009)

*Aw crap....*

My dogs have been on Nutro lamb and rice their whole lives, and because of this thread, I've jumped up and done some research. Now I find this:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/06/pet_food_recalls98.html

Great. Now what?:mmph:


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## Aidan (Mar 4, 2009)

My parents were dead set on Nutro for the longest time. I finally got them to switch to Blue Buffalo but they kept running out of the lamb and rice so they went back to Nutro.

I then found out about Diamond Naturals, the same company that makes taste of the wild and chicken soup i believe. It's a cheaper food found in most feed stores, i believe it's about $30 for 40-50lbs or so so he feeds that now.

His pit bull mix had a horrible skin condition that we knew was allergy related but it cleared up after switching. She also had more solid waste and less of it and he's thrilled with the food. He also doesn't have to drive as far to get it.

If you check local feed stores near you you might be surprised what you find. I randomly walked into a small pet store called Pet Zone and found taste of the wild, ca naturals, wellness core, evo, orijen, all sorts of excellent quality foods, even merrick, which i dont feed regualrly but the dogs love it so I do use it for dog treats!


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## SECRETO (Aug 20, 2008)

With all the reports of sick and dead dogs and my own dog having bad skin irritations while feeding Nutro, I wont touch it...ever! It used to be a decent food but ever since they sold to Mars its been no good. 

No offence to the Nutro die hards, but why would you even chance your pets health and continue to feed a food with so many horror stories. There are better quality foods for almost the same price and not the aweful consumer reports Nutro has.


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## roxy25 (Dec 18, 2008)

jester's mom said:


> I have to say, I have been looking at the different foods since I got my spoos and tried a couple, Nutro being one, but wasn't crazy about it...... SOOO, I again have been perusing the dog foods and decided to try Natural Balance three weeks ago. I started slowly switching all my dogs over to it and finally got them straight on it and have had LOTS of trouble with it. ALL of my dogs now have loose stools and my Doberman is passing gas like you wouldn't believe, and she never has had a gas problem since I got her. I have put them all back onto 50/50 of it with their old food they were eating (which I had good firm stools and no gas) except for Grace who has refused to eat the Natural Balance since last week. Even on 50/50 they still have loose stools, except for Grace now since she won't even eat it, and I am not sure if I am going to be able to use the food up. I hate to waist the money and I know it is put down as a good food, with a 4 out of 5 grade, but WOW, I have never had such problems with stools and gas like I do now. So, to say the least, Natural Balance is off the future menu, which is too bad as it is a good quality food and at a store I go to all the time.
> 
> I am going to try Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul, I have to go out of my way to get it but I hope that works better. I really want to get them on a higher quality food, but not if I am going to have stool and gas problems.


Remeber You can not test a food in one bag... you dogs will experience gas loose stool until they get used to it. It takes 8-16weeks to really test a food ...

Enzo has gas and loose stool if we switch foods but we don't switch back we keep giving it to him. We had this problem when we switch innova puppy to adult he is now gas free and has regular stool.


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## roxy25 (Dec 18, 2008)

SECRETO said:


> With all the reports of sick and dead dogs and my own dog having bad skin irritations while feeding Nutro, I wont touch it...ever! It used to be a decent food but ever since they sold to Mars its been no good.
> 
> No offence to the Nutro die hards, but why would you even chance your pets health and continue to feed a food with so many horror stories. There are better quality foods for almost the same price and not the aweful consumer reports Nutro has.


There are only a few foods in petco and petsmart I would consider buying , this is why I only shop at ma and pa pet shops because they have good food.

My cats are on natural balance we switched them from solid gold and there is less stool to pick up out of the litter and we save money on litter lol

I would love to put them on EVO but I am going to have to buy it wholesale in order for me to afford it.


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## Aidan (Mar 4, 2009)

Petsmart has Blue Buffalo which seems pretty decent but I've seen a lot of good foods at Petco, but i just find them cheaper at other places.

Petco actually carries Wellness now, Solid Gold, Blue Buffalo, Natural Balance, the Cesar Millan food which is good quality but sooo over priced. They have others that i've never really heard of before but people have said decent things about: Organix, Halo, Pet Promise, etc...


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## roxy25 (Dec 18, 2008)

Aidan said:


> Petsmart has Blue Buffalo which seems pretty decent but I've seen a lot of good foods at Petco, but i just find them cheaper at other places.
> 
> Petco actually carries Wellness now, Solid Gold, Blue Buffalo, Natural Balance, the Cesar Millan food which is good quality but sooo over priced. They have others that i've never really heard of before but people have said decent things about: Organix, Halo, Pet Promise, etc...


Yeah blue buffalo looks good I just don't have petsmarts local so I can't buy it , I was eyeying that food for my cats when I was switching them off solid gold. 

petco has an "organic" section I will only stick to that aisle lol
They always seem to have cesars food on sale at my local petco hahaha


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## Yorkiecrazy (Jun 17, 2008)

SECRETO said:


> With all the reports of sick and dead dogs and my own dog having bad skin irritations while feeding Nutro, I wont touch it...ever! It used to be a decent food but ever since they sold to Mars its been no good.
> 
> No offence to the Nutro die hards, but why would you even chance your pets health and continue to feed a food with so many horror stories. There are better quality foods for almost the same price and not the aweful consumer reports Nutro has.


I agree!!


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## starkeeper (Jan 27, 2009)

*How long ago was it sold?*

I wouldn't use it but have had problems with every other food I have tried. Nutro has been the most easily digested food (to this day).

I am game to get 'better' but don't want to keep buying new brands to try!


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## SECRETO (Aug 20, 2008)

starkeeper said:


> I wouldn't use it but have had problems with every other food I have tried. Nutro has been the most easily digested food (to this day).
> 
> I am game to get 'better' but don't want to keep buying new brands to try!


What kind of problems have you had with other foods again? Which ones have you tried now? 

I can tell you that when you change foods, try to stick with something similar to the old. Such as Lamb and rice. Almost every one makes a version of the lamb and rice or chicken and rice. Also, you should very slowly add in little bits of the new food over a 10-15 day period until they are switched. If your experiencing gas, it resolves itself usualy with in a month or so. The gas doesn't bother any dog Ive seen going through a switch. We have to deal with the unpleasant smell. (grab some fabreeze and a bag of charcoal biscuits) lol Seriously though!!! 

I personally like *Health Wise *(what I feed now)California Natural, Natural Balance and Solid Gold. We've used other's but I prefer these opposed to some others.


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## starkeeper (Jan 27, 2009)

*So far I've tried*

Wellness, Kirkland, Halo, Natural Balance.....

Only one formulation of each brand and had either throwing up or messier/stinkier poop from them.

Compact, not too smelly poop is important to me in a dog food for the dogs.

As I try these foods and they don't work....I donate the extra to the animal shelter dogs which makes me feel better but is frustrating!


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## hasta (Feb 25, 2009)

My poodles eat Acana Lamb & Rice and Acana Sport Me at the moment. I used to give them Royal Canin (For Frida spoo Medium Sensible, and miniature Isa Mini Junior), but I wasn't so happy about their little change of ingredients, so I decided to make a change to Acana. 

Also I feed them with raw meat and bones, vegetables and fruits, stomach, fish, chicken necks, liver, heart and so on... And I add daily some extra vitamins and salmon oil to their food.


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## kathyd (Nov 8, 2008)

spoofan said:


> I am seriously considering switching Gunther to this food:
> http://www.westcoastcaninelife.com/
> 
> The owner of the company has a yellow lab,that is 17 years old...only ever ate this food.
> My daughter is feeding it to her spoo Stella and it completely resolved her digestive issues...and gas.


Thanks for posting this link, Spoofan. I think I might look into this since they have a formula that's compatible with raw feeding.

I feed Murphy Horizon Legacy: http://www.horizonpetfood.com/Products/dog_legacy.html in the morning and raw food in the afternoon: http://buddiesnaturalpetfood.ca/ I used to feed Orijen but she had such terrible gas that I switched to the Horizon.

I don't want to completely give up on kibble or something like it because if we have to leave her in a kennel or want to go camping or something, raw food just isn't convenient. That being said, I'm always concious of the fact that kibble and raw food are digested at different rates an I'm careful not to feed them too close together. And although the food you're considering isn't kibble, it is something that I could take to a kennel or on a trip easily.


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