Joseph asks…
What is your opinion on Holistic Select dry dog food?
We just got our first family pet.Early xmas present to my daughters ages 7 & 3:) Rocky will be 12 weeks on Dec.10,2012.He is 75% chihuahua and 25% pom (so is what we were told by previous owner)He doesnt seem to want any dog food.Will not eat wet food but runs to me everytime i cook or my daughters are eating.I was told that previois owners fed him water and chicken and milk at night.I dont give him milk.I always have water readily available for my lil guy.Today we purchased a bag of Holistic select for small & mini breeds anchovy,sardine & chicken meal.Guy at pet supply store reccommended it.What are some opinions you all sweet people may have?good choice?why,why not?all and any advice is greatly welcome:) thnx in advance.
Lol…I just now realized I posted this in cats .Oops…:p
vti answers:
It’s good stuff. If you take a look at the ingredients you’ll see real named meats, no by-products. It’s also free of corn and wheat. It’s got a good amount of protein as well. These are some of the things I look for in a food. I prefer a grain free food personally but this one’s really not bad at all. Puppies or dogs in a new home often lose their appetite for a day or two, while they adjust. So for the first day or two, if he doesn’t take kibble, I’d not worry. After that you’ll have to be a little more stubborn in getting him to eat, as you probably realize chicken’s not a complete diet..lol. Enjoy your pooch!
Jenny asks…
Best dog food?
I have a question to all of the Eagle, holistic, organic, raw dog food promoters out there.
My dogs are large breed dogs. They have been fed Purina Pro Plan their entire lives. They are 14 years old. Never have I had skin, allergy, GI, coat or any other diet associated problems with my dogs. Their annual bloodwork is completely normal.
So why do you look down on Purina Pro Plan and other brands of this type of dog food? Why when you say you now feed your dog‘s this expensive diets that all of their problems, like GI, coat, skin, allergies, etc…all cleared up? I mean that’s great. But why look down on someone who has never had to change foods and their dogs are past normal life expectancy and still healthy and very active dogs?
And no i’m not talking about Ol Roy, Kibbles and Bits and those types of foods. I’m talking about affordable quality brands of dog food that the average person can afford to feed their dogs.
grandmothers would be a different story. but i think cat food might be better. maybe special kitty? it’s higher in protein.
i never said ol roy and other brands like there were ok. i’m saying yes those are awful. but there are far more dogs that do well on higher end brands like pro plan than one’s that aren’t doing well on it. if you want to pay tons of money for your dog food fine. i don’t care what you feed your dog as long as it’s NOT ol roy.
didn’t anyone “get” the question?
vti answers:
Dog food is such a personal thing to so many people. I know that sounds nuts, but just look at how defensive some people get, when you suggest their dog is pooping red and farting battery acid because of their multicolored corn-based chow, instead of “they were born that way”, etc.
That being said, I don’t think you’ll ever, ever be able to get a definitive answer as to what the best diet is. It should vary a bit from breed to breed… I mean, I know they are all the same animal but some need more calcium than others for their giant bones and some have really mutated skulls (such as pugs), which could make choking more of a hazard with a raw diet. Then of course, it also depends on where you live and what is available.
I feed raw, and I don’t pay a ton. Actually I pay less per week than someone who is feeding their dog Science Diet would. My dog’s main sources of food are currently chicken and turkey necks (for the cartilage and the fun-factor), whole chicken that I help him massacre (he’s still a baby right now), very small amounts of appropriate vegetables that I pulp, and some dried kelp powder. It’s really not expensive at all, as I already said. It sounds stupid, but I’m glad to do it and he loves it. And it only takes a few minutes. I think he likes having variety, as well.
I just don’t want to waste my money paying people to make me dried out food that is lacking the whole nutrients and enzymes that my dog benefits best from. I also, having worked with animals and dogs in particular for a long time, have seen enough dogs with chronic skin problems, ear infections, and other “mystery” problems that the vet has no cure for (how can they cure a corn allergy while still recommending Science Diet? The food is made with a common allergen as one of the main ingredients!). I just don’t want that for my dog, so I choose to feed raw.
As far as looking down on you, I don’t think anyone has the right to do that because you are keeping your pets healthy, and I don’t think it matters what means you manage to do that, as long as it happens. You know your dogs are healthy, and you will just have to take comfort in that fact when people call you a bad owner. It’s what keeps me doing the right thing for my dog when people look down on me or say I am crazy!
I think it’s fantastic that your dogs are both 14 years old and in good health. But remember that George Burns lived to be really old while constantly smoking cigars. I would not advocate cigar smoking in humans based on his experience. I would also not advocate feeding purina to dogs based on yours, but that is only because I have witnessed many, many dogs on Purina (it’s popular around here, because the reps are mainly dealing with the breeders around here by giving them free food to recommend it) that have serious deficiencies and problems that could have been avoided.
There is nothing black-and-white about dog nutrition, just as is with human nutrition. The scientific community and the general public are learning new things about pet health all the time. Just look at how far the standards for care of so many exotic pets have come in the last few years!! Books on pet health and wellbeing are constantly being updated and republished to include new findings.
For myself, I prefer to keep on top of what the latest CONFIRMED findings are (as opposed to heresay), try to ignore anything a commercial tells me because it translates to “give us your money”, and to also use my common sense a bit. My common sense tells me that, since a dog can suffer serious consequences from eating whole kernel corn, pounding the corn into dust and extruding it may make it go through safely enough but it probably isn’t going to do anything to make my dog more healthy.
Everyone who answers your question is going to give you their own personal POV on this (hopefully you don’t get too many trolls on such a sensitive topic!) but you are also going to be likely fed a bunch of myths.
I would like to dispell the ones I most commonly hear, to help you filter a bit:
“Your dog is going to die from salmonella”. Wrong. Ask the person telling you that how many dogs they have actually known to be treated for salmonella poisoning (and it doesn’t count if it’s their cousin’s nephew’s friend’s aunt). Dogs have a shorter digestive tract than humans, and it is much more acidic. If their tract isn’t backed up (such as by indigestibles and fillers like the ones found in the crappy brands of dog food you mentioned) then the salmonella is taken care of and causes no ill-effect. In fact, properly raw-fed dogs have all of the pure and unaltered enzymes to break things down better. Those enzymes are destroyed when meat is cooked. Besides, dogs lick their own butts. Salmonella can often be found in kibble!
“Bone will tear through your dog’s guts and kill her”. No. Dogs are designed to eat big chunks of meat and broken off bits of raw bone on a regular basis. They actually utilize raw bone for the calcium and minerals. Their stomach acid rounds off any pointed areas before it even attacks the smooth surfaces, naturally, because there is more available outer surface space exposed on a splintered piece of bone. I can’t remember offhand how long this takes in a dog, but I remember that it takes approximately 2 minutes for a healthy ferret (not a dog, but another carnivore that gets fed kibble) stomach to turn a bone splinter into a polished rounded pebble. When the bone leaves the dog’s gut, it’s normally not even recognizable. I still squish my dog’s poo because I’m collecting his puppy teeth, lol, and teeth are the only bones he has ever pooped out.
“Kibble is better for their teeth”. Not true, unless you are comparing kibble to wet food. Kibble that contains carbohydrate grains is “plaque-food”. As the carbs mix with the saliva, they contribute a great deal to the goo that builds up on the teeth and feeds the bad bacteria. Dog teeth were made for tearing chunks, not chewing food. I brush my dog’s teeth, since his life expectancy as a poodle is really long and I know their teeth are notoriously bad. Toothbrushing is more effective at cleaning teeth than any kibble.
“Raw eggs are toxic to dogs”. Raw egg whites, fed alone, bind to biotin and make it impossible to absorb. BUT raw egg yellows actually contain more than enough biotin to make up for the difference, plus the eggshells are a great source of minerals and are also very digestible. They’re about as dangerous to a dog’s gums as cornflakes are to people gums n_n
Sorry this is so long-winded but I could go on like this for hours, because it’s one of those things that drive me crazy! I hate that the industry has taken it upon themselves to spend millions convincing people that natural and healthy things are bad.
One last suggestion… I would suggest that you read any scholarly information and/or books you can get on the subject of raw or natural feeding. I haven’t seen any books published on why kibble is better than raw. It’s easier to spread misinformation without your name printed on the cover. Not to say all books are correct… I just feel that if raw was so dangerous, someone with scientific proof would come out and write a book to stop all of us poor consumers from preparing human-grade meats, vegetables, and safe oils just to kill our pets!
Sharon asks…
Dog Food?!?!?
Is Eagle Pack Holistic Select a good brand of dog food? If it isn`t why didn`t you like it? Here in Australia you dont have all those brands like Blue Buffalow, Solid Gold, Wellness and what ever you get there. We have Eagle pack(holistic Select aswell), Innova(very exspensive though cost $40 for 3kg, $85 for 7kg and $125 for 15kg, same goes for Innova EVO), California Natural(i think would also be exspensive), Natural Balance(can only get online), Nutro, Orijen(only onilne), Science Diet, Eukanuba, Royal Cannin, Advance and all that rubbish! So if anyone has any comments about the following dog food brands i have mentioned that would be cool! Thankyou, all answers appreciated.
vti answers:
Yes, Eagle Pack Holistic Select is good food. I don’t like the original Eagle Pack line because there’s a lot of fillers, but the Holistic Select line is high-quality; high meat content, and not many fillers. A good choice for feeding your dog.
Http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/HS_Dog.html
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showcat.php?cat=all&stype=1&si=eagle+pack+holistic
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Sandra asks…
what are your thoughts on Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural dog food.?
Earthborn Holistic Grain Free Primitive Natural dog food: this is the food i have been using for my dogs. is it a good food? is there a better one out there? one of my dogs is medium sized, very active, and very difficult to keep in good weight (the vet has ruled out any medical reasons for the weight issues. he thinks she just has a high metabolism from how active she is) this food seems to do an ok job of keeping her weight on but is there a better one out there? she is a picky eater so the food needs to be really palatable for her. i dont have the time or resorces to feed a raw diet so i am looking to find out if this dry dog food is good or if there is another better one out there that i should try.
i understand that everyone has their own opinion on what dog food is best and i will probly get a different answer from everyone that responds. all opinions are welcome and please give your reasoning behind your opinion of the dog food i am using and/or the one you reccomend. thanks
vti answers:
Earthborn Primitive is an above average dog food. The only problem I have with it is that it includes quite a bit of potato. Potato does have the potential of decreasing your dogs ability to absorb nutrients. The problem with potatoes is they contain lectins. Lectins bind with the tiny hairs/villi on the intestinal wall. This decreases the ability to absorb nutrients. I’m not saying that this is the cause of your dog’s weight problem, as there could be many reasons for it. But it wouldn’t hurt to improve digestion to the best of your dog’s ability so she can get the most out of her food. Also kibble is not very digestible, even good quality ones. You can improve that by adding water to it, by adding digestive enzymes and as well as probiotics. It would also be a good idea to add some raw apple cider vinegar to her food. This improves digestion by lowering the ph of the food which makes it more digestible. Feeding some potato here and there is probably fine, but its the eating it day after day when you start to see damage to the intestines. (Grains and soy also contain lectins and damage the intestines the same way). You may want to rotate foods so she’s not eating lectin containing foods everyday. Sweat potatoes, yams, peas are a better choice. Tapioca is often used in grain free foods but its pretty high glycemic so I don’t think its all that great either. Some really good potato & grain free dog foods are EVO Weight Management and Wysong Epigen 90. Also Nutrisca and Great Life Grain Free. Great Life does use tapioca but its still pretty good and would be fine to use in a rotation.
I also have a very lean dog who is a picky eater. Her weight problem only really resolved as she got a little older and her activity level reduced. By the time she was 4 she finally filled out nicely. She is still pretty lean but her ribs are no longer showing. You can also add some canned food to the kibble or a raw or cooked egg or meats. Nothing wrong with some extra calories for a lean dog. Also a lean dog can handel a higher fat diet, which may help with the problem. And fat is a much better way for a dog to gain weight then a high carb food but you don’t want to overdo it. I wouldn’t go and add a bunch of bacon grease or anything like that. Just look for a food that is a little higher in fat, and is going to be balanced.
Chris asks…
Holistic Blend dog food for my Pom Cross?
My dog is 2 years old and really active! He is very fit. I have him on now dog food (small breed). The bag is about 35 $ and somebody recommended Holistic Blend from the health food store for just 17 $. But that food is not grain based and also higher on protein.
The price is not only better, my dog likes it better too. So, now I am not sure, if this brand is actually good for him. Honestly I have no clue, how to choose.
I don’t want him to get fat, I want healthy looking long hair, easy on his stomach and be energetic.
So what is the best?
vti answers:
I looked up Holistic Blend, and the ingredient label looks great. I don’t know anything about the company or their manufacturing practices, but on the surface it looks like a good food.
Now is a great brand with good ingredients and quality. There is no real way to say what is ‘best’ because all dogs are unique. A food is only as good as how well your dog does on it. These days rotation dog food is recommended, so if the new food is working for you, keep up with it.
To help you judge for yourself if a food is good or not, check out www.dogfoodproject.com.
Some other good dog food brands include Orijen, Fromm, Natures Logic, and Honest Kitchen. Also consider a raw meat diet, whether home prepared or store bought. In my opinion, ‘the best’ food is the one that most closely mimics nature.
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