Dog food? best/worst people have so many opinions,how do you know whats right for your dog?

I have two dogue de bordeauxs, Tried Inova not bad but my male has skin problems so I switched to avoderm which is baked and supposed to be healthy for their skin."didn't help much after 4 months So..I switched to nutura, which helped with the skin problem but they didn't like it . any suggestions

Dog food? best/worst people have so many opinions,how do you know whats right for your dog?
There is no one best dog food for every dog. In fact, my nutrition professor in vet school says (and rightly so) that dogs should not be on the same type of food their whole lives. But in general, I personally feel a well researched raw diet is the best.





That being said, low or no grain diets seem to work best for the most dogs. These include Innova EVO, Nature's Variety, A Taste of the Wild, Wellness CORE (all grain free), Chicken Soup, Canidae, California Natural, Merrick, some of the Natural Balance line (are low grain).





For the skin problems, I recommend a source of omega 3 fatty acids, such as fish oil, as well as a vitamin E supplement. 400 IUE of vitamin E a day plus 2-4 fish oil capsules (depending on the dose of omega 3s) will be very helpful. Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil on their food every other day as well.





Edit: basically a raw diet (especially the whole prey model) uses what the domestic dog, cat, ferret, etc came from as a model for their diet as kibbled diets have only been around about 60 years or so. Before that, people fed their dogs table scraps and raw meat and whatever food the animal could catch. So the whole prey model basically recreates that by feeding about 10% organ meat and mostly raw meaty bones, like chicken quarters, pork and lamb necks, turkey wings, beef spinous processes, etc plus organ meat like liver, stomach (green tripe or gizzards), kidney, heart, etc. It takes a good couple months of research to look at all the sites on raw feeding, but I certainly save money at the vet (they don't have skin issues except the husky/Rottie mix, who has constant ear infections because of an old ear injury left his ear clamped to the side of his head) and my dogs never need dental cleanings. You can google "raw prey model diet" and you'll turn up some sites, but see these sites for more details:





http://www.leerburg.com/feedingdogs.htm


http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html


http://www.rawdogranch.com/
Reply:Thanks for the nice note. Just FYI, lamb meal has been shown by 2 studies in the Journal of Animal Science to be one of the least bioavailable animal protein sources. Rotate between the Canidae lamb %26amp; rice and some of the other foods suggested. Good luck! Report It

Reply:California Natural is good for skin. Also Wellness
Reply:try to feed them food that is natural or organic that doesnt have alot of preservatives or animal byproducts which is like junk food to them isnt bad but in the long run will hurt.
Reply:You really have to educate yourself, find a food that works for you and stick with it.


Your breed tends to be "yeasty" which causes skin and ear disorders, I would make SURE that whatever you feed them has NO CORN as this feeds yeast.


I feed my bunch Canidae All Life Stage, very good protien sources, fish oil, live enzyme activity. Plus they get Raw whatever I have for them three or four times a week.
Reply:I'm a big fan of Alpo.


You put it in the frying pan with a white wine sauce.


For a side, add a baked potato with fish food.





Delicious. Absolutely delicious.
Reply:Try using a rice type dog food if your dog has skin problems.There allergic and the rice base dog food is better for them. I use it with mine and they don't seem to have a problem with the taste. But I can say I never tasted it either.
Reply:Have you tried mixing in a little wet food (I assume you are trying just dry). My husky mix and pug were both the same with innova. Great food, but they didn't like it. I found a wet food they went nuts over (Iams) and mix a little in with the dry food. I moosh a spoonful of the Iams with a little water in their bowls. Then I pour in the dry food and mix it all up. They really scarf it down now and it doesn't take much time. Might be worth a try with the nutura.
Reply:I would ask your vet, some pets need a hydrolyzed protein diet or a novel protein diet to help with food allergies.
Reply:All commercial dog foods provide 100% of what most dogs need but each has its own sales gimmick including some adding oils for skin. While a dog with dry skin (almost always inherited) may need some supplements, most dog foods that use this sales gimmick do not have enough to make a difference. This may be a good case to try a food supplement such as fish or linseed oil but the brand you use doesn't matter (that is, providing the dog likes it!).
Reply:i feed solid gold. my mastiff and rhodesian ridgeback like it. i tried the avoderm, one liked it, the other did not. innova, the store closed that sold it, so i turned to solid gold. the info i got out of the whole dog journal was great. we will try new foods that are..worthy..when they come out. a new one, wellness core seems to be good, but my mastiff does not like, and she is picky....too picky...but, she is my kid...i will keep her happy. if you have not tried solid gold, try it. see what it does, if it does not work for you, try canidae or something similar. good luck...you have great choice in dogs...