Question by raulangelrodriguez: What is the best food for my 8 month old boxer?
I try two feed him good food such as chicken food for the dog (puppy)lovers soul, science diet, and Eukanuba but my dog, seems to like the cheaper food better, like Great choice, puppy chaw and these foods seem to have to much bone meal. What is the best food for my dog? That may tast good for him and dosent cost to much?

Best answer:

Answer by abbyful
The lower-quality foods are often sprayed with fat to make them smell more. (Dogs don’t have a great sense of taste, so they decide what it good to eat by smelling). My dog ate Chicken Soup brand for a while, it’s a good brand, but she wasn’t crazy about it. I switched to Merrick and she seems to like that better.

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On choosing a good dog food:
Read the ingredients on the food you buy. Go with a high quality dog food. A grain should not be in the first couple ingredients ingredient (corn and such are mainly fillers, dogs don’t digest it well). Avoid foods that have a lot of “by products” listed.

Here is an article about byproducts:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=ingrd

And an article on what ingredients to avoid:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

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There is no single food that is “best”. For example, some dogs thrive on grain-free foods, while grain-free is too rich for other dogs. What you want to find is the high-quality food that *your dog* does best on.

I recommend feeding dry food. It’s healthier for the gums and teeth.

Some GOOD foods are :
* Merrick – http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
* Solid Gold – http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/
* Canidae – http://www.canidae.com/
* Timberwolf – http://timberwolforganics.com/
* Orijen – http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/orijen/
* Wellness – http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/
* Chicken Soup brand – http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
* Blue Buffalo – http://www.bluebuff.com/
* Innova – http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp
* Innova EVO – http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp

Or check this website for good foods: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
(I recommend only feeding foods rated 4, 5, or 6 stars. Anything 3 stars or less, I would stay away from.)

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Stay away from grocery stores brands. They are low-quality foods chalk full of fillers, preservatives, dyes, etc.. (Grocery store foods are those like Beneful, Old Roy, Alpo, Pedigree, Purina, etc.)

Beware “premium” foods. “Premium” does not mean good nutritionally, and is not a nutritionally high quality food. It has the same types of ingredients as grocery store foods, just a bit better quality of those not-so-good ingredients. (Premium foods are those like Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, etc..)

Another thing to be wary of: A lot of vets will recommend what they sell in their office. They get profit from the brands they keep on their shelves, that’s why they push it. Truth is, vet schools don’t focus a lot on nutrition. It’s not saying that a vet is a bad vet because he recommends those foods, a lot of vets just are told “this is good food”, so they pass the message along without proper nutrition knowledge. Also, some dog food brands (like Hills) support vet schools, so vets have heard of it from the time they start college, which makes them think it’s good as well.

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Higher quality food may seem more expensive at first, but it evens out. The higher quality the food, the less fillers eaten (and therefore the less poop comes out the other end). Your dog eats more to try to get the nutrition it needs, and most of the food just passes right on through. Also, it will make your animals healthier, so you save money on vet bills in the long run.

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“Big box” petstores like Petco and Petsmart rarely have quality foods. (I do believe that PetCo sells “Solid Gold” brand, which is a quality food, but most of the foods aren’t.)

Also, grocery stores and Walmart aren’t good places to buy food either.

Your best bets for getting quality dog food are:
- small, locally owned petstores
- dog boutiques
- farm supply stores

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When switching foods, do it gradually. I do this over about a two week timespan:
25% food A, 75% food B
50% food A, 50% food B
75% food A, 25% food B
100% food A
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