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  #1  
Old July 13th, 2011, 07:45 PM
Caige Caige is offline
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What dog food should I get?

Hi there,

I've read a lot of mixed reviews on the internet about every dog food brand out there. I was hoping to get your opinions on good dog food that I could use for my Siberian Husky.

I am currently on Acana, but was wondering if anyone knows if this is a good food or if I should switch to another brand?

Is Performatrin a bad food?

Is Wellness better than Acana?
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  #2  
Old July 13th, 2011, 08:16 PM
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Myka Myka is offline
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Check out www.dogfoodanalysis.com lots of great information on there that is reliable! Personally, my favourite for the dogs is Orijen. It is Canadian made in Alberta, and is grain-free. The info on dog food analysis isn't up to date for Orijen though since Orijen made recent changes to their recipe.

Most grain-free dog foods are pretty good. Looking for a grain-free kibble is the most important first step. Look for named meat products (like chicken, chicken meal, turkey, turkey meal, etc) in the first 3 ingredients. The more meat the better!
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  #3  
Old July 13th, 2011, 09:00 PM
Caige Caige is offline
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Hi Myka,

Thank you for your quick response! I will take a look at that website and see what I like.

Two questions for you, if you dont mind!

1) What do you feed your dog/dogs?

2) I always thought Turkey was bad for dogs.
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  #4  
Old July 13th, 2011, 09:03 PM
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Loki Love Loki Love is offline
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Acana is a great food If your puppers is doing well on it, then I would see no reason to change.
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  #5  
Old July 13th, 2011, 09:13 PM
Caige Caige is offline
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Loki;

I was thinking about changing the food because my Siberian Husky's coat isn't as soft/shiny as it used to be. She's a year and a half old, for the first 8 eight months she was on Performatrin Ultra, then she went to Wellness Core for a 4 months and then is now on Acana.
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  #6  
Old July 14th, 2011, 03:15 AM
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Myka Myka is offline
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1) I feed Orijen kibble, but I also feed Before Grain canned and Urban Carnivore frozen raw foods. I also add Tripett tripe, yogurt, and most importantly fish oil. The canned food is for the Chihuahua because he gets dehydrated from not drinking enough on his own, so he actually gets very little kibble.

2) Turkey is fine for dogs.

Try adding fish oil to your dog's diet. Pick something in a glass bottle (not plastic) that asks to be refrigerated once opened or capsules which don't need refrigeration. Fish oil is high in Omega 3 (please Google benefits, I'm cramped for time) and is also good for skin and coat. It is highly digestible for dogs compared to plant-based oils.

I agree with Loki, if Acana is working stick with it, just try adding the fish oil.
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Ella - Jun '20 - Reg AmStaff
Squeak - '15/16? - Tabby cat (adopted Nov '18)
Streak - '18 - Black cat (adopted Nov '18)
Peewee - Jan '06 - 6.5 lb Chi (adopted May '09)
--------------------
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Myka - Nov '98 to Jan '10 - APBT X
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  #7  
Old July 14th, 2011, 05:54 PM
Choochi Choochi is offline
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Why would you think that Turnkey is bad for dogs?

Acana is a very good food, it is made by the same people who make Orijen (my personal favourite) only it is slightly less rich.

The webiste Myka posted is a must read for any dog owner, I find I keep referring back to it over an over.

Since your dog is already on a good food why not consider adding some oil to her diet to help improve her coat? Some thing like Wild Salmon oil which you can buy in a bottle, Petsmart now carries them, or any other fish oil, even ones made for humans. GNC had a sale on gel caps of fish oils a couple weeks ago and I stocked up Avoid plant based oil supplements, the dogs just don't benefit from those as much and it becomes a bit of a waste of money.
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Old July 14th, 2011, 05:55 PM
Choochi Choochi is offline
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oups, sorry! didn't read Myka just said pretty much the same
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  #9  
Old July 14th, 2011, 09:22 PM
Veesmart Veesmart is offline
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Just curious what the dosage would be if you were adding fish oil liquid to a 3.5 pound chihuahua's diet?
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  #10  
Old July 15th, 2011, 12:22 AM
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Myka Myka is offline
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The average general guidelines for daily maintenance dosing are about 80-120mg Omega 3 per 10lbs body weight depending whose advice you take.

Our 8 lb Chihuahua gets 1-300mg capsule over 3 days. I imagine your little guy would take one capsule per week. If you make the piercing in the capsule quite small the drops that come out are small too, so it would be easy to spread the capsule out over a week. Try to feed an even number of drops per day, but you don't have to be perfect.

I use the Jaimeson Wild Salmon Oil capsules made for humans. They go on sale at London Drugs every once in awhile for 40% off so I stock up, and find them to be quite reasonably priced this way. I pierce the capsule with the point of a knife (split it a bit), and I store the open capsule in the fridge. Each capsule has 300mg Omega 3 (180mg EPA, 120mg DHA).
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Ella - Jun '20 - Reg AmStaff
Squeak - '15/16? - Tabby cat (adopted Nov '18)
Streak - '18 - Black cat (adopted Nov '18)
Peewee - Jan '06 - 6.5 lb Chi (adopted May '09)
--------------------
Roxy - Feb '05 to May '20 AmStaff (adopted Jul '11)
Myka - Nov '98 to Jan '10 - APBT X
Lacy - Sep '92 to Jul '03 - Sheltie

Last edited by Myka; July 15th, 2011 at 12:59 AM.
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  #11  
Old August 31st, 2011, 07:49 AM
petlover84 petlover84 is offline
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I'm using acana and got no problem with it.
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  #12  
Old August 31st, 2011, 07:52 AM
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Marty11 Marty11 is offline
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One of my dogs is on Acana, and does better than Orijen.
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  #13  
Old September 1st, 2011, 11:56 PM
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flipgirl4 flipgirl4 is offline
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I feed my dog Canine Life muffins. i buy the premix and add meat, oil, eggs, a green veggie, an orange veggie, an apple, and either raspberries, blueberries, and cranberries. Or I buy them already made by two locaL women if I get lazy. i used to feed her raw but her alt was elevated and it was suggested that i switch back to the muffins.
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  #14  
Old September 3rd, 2011, 07:49 AM
kmoose kmoose is offline
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Acana is a great food, it is part of our rotation. However, our dog (contrary to what others may experience) does not do well on the grain free foods. Remember that a lot of them substitute potatos for grains and I suspect the Acana grain free may have been rather potato heavy. We also noticed her coat was less shiny and a little rougher (plus she actually shed) on the Acana grain free, but nice, soft and no shedding on the regular Acana.

As long as the grains are "good grains" that help digestion - eg: oats, barley - and not bad grains that just spike their glycemic index - corn, wheat - your dogs should be fine on either grain free or high quality grain inclusive.

We also feed Canidae as part of the rotation. It seems to agree with our dog the best, but Acana is also very good (just the regular adult Acana - the Blue Bag).

We've also fed TLC with decent results (the internet order one) but we noticed a higher poop count and i have an issue with the their business practices giving kickbacks to breeders who tie their health guarantee to feeding TLC. My breeder does not do that, but the breeders get a kickback for every bag you buy, so the health guarantee tie in basically means breeders get free food. No better than Hills or Royal Canin giving kickbacks to vets, IMO.

We tried Royal Canin as per vet's advice and it worked fantastic for a while, but the dog eventually just turned her nose up at it.

The Performatrin in my opinion does not stack up for the price they are charging. It is a decent food but for the same money you can get Wellness, Merrick, etc. For less you can get the regular Acana or Canidae ALS. Performatrin ultra seems like a good food but overpriceed for what you get, in other words (but since PetValu sells it, that itsn't a surprise, given they are generally more expensive than their competitors on everything anyway)

So currently she is finishing a bag of Canidae ALS - a great food at a very good price. Next we are planning on giving Merrick a go as friends with a goldendoodle from the same breeder have great luck with it. Then back to the Acana....you get the idea. Bark and Fitz' free bag doesn't depend on brand loyalty like other places, so we just rotate among what is on their shelves. My dog has an iron stomach so it doesn't seem to matter to her.
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