Switching foods

[Mastiffluv]

Hello to all who read!!!

I just adopted an 11 month old female Mastiff about 2 weeks ago now. She is a big girl. The family I got her from fed her Ol'Roy dog food from wal mart so to prevent diarrhea and upset stomach that is what we bought and planned on switching her properly. Plus she hates the food. I am looking for recommendations to good quality dog food that I am not breaking the bank so to say. I was going to ask the vet but they have their brands that they stick to and every vet is different.

Thanks for looking!

[luckypenny]

Costco's brand dog food is probably a good deal in terms of price/quality. Remember though that high quality foods may cost more but you end up feeding less and most likely won't be going into the vet's for tummy, allergy, etc., issues. In the long run, you may simply just break even or fare better feeding a top quality food.

Here are two good sites where you can learn a great deal about choosing the right foods.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=main (Click on all the links in the left hand column. Especially helpful is the one titled, "Ingredients to avoid.")

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

[reanne]

Be aware that the nice costco food (the grain free...forget what it's called) is not available in all Costcos. Can't get it here on the Island.

Also, some dogs can be switched cold turkey. In our rescue group most of the dogs are switched cold turkey from their junky food onto good food. You could also just stop the crap food, feed a bland diet (rice, boiled meat) for a couple days and gradually mix the good kibble in with that and slowly increase the good kibble content and decrease the rice and boiled meat.

Acana is a nice kibble and is Canadian sourced and made and reasonable for the quality/cost. You don't need to feed as much of it as you do the crap food. But if your costco carries the grain free food that is a good one.

[Melinda]

if you have a pet value around you, they have a food, Performatrin, that is reasonably priced and good quality.
http://www.performatrinultra.com/about/about.htm