Best natural dog kibble

[judyperalta]

Hello, so iam super overwhelmed with what dogfood to feed my Belgian malinois,
I’m unable to do raw at this time and only looking for dry kibble recommendations,

She’s currently on grain free natures recipe that I got recommended by a friend but she has zero grain allergies, so I’m looking for a grain friendly dog food,

Not into cheap made food like Iams, o’l Roy (Walmart, Costco etc) no Purina foods, mainly looking for better quality, first ingredient being meat, no corn, wheat or soy,

I’ve heard of open farm, the honest kitchen, and carna4 I believe it’s called, which is $$$ (I’m in B.C Canada so it’s $100-$180) for all those brands I listed, which isn’t in my price range, unless their is no other choice.

Just wondering if their is other brands similar to those listed above for a better price, I’ve tried to do countless research, but I get overwhelmed easily,

And thought maybe this place could help,

From
Overwhelmed dog mom trying her best!

 

[sevilodorf]

@judyperalta It sounds like you’ve fallen for some myths about dog food you may need to unlearn. I recommend these:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DogFood/wiki/index/start/

https://www.reddit.com/r/DogFood/wiki/index/ingredients/

https://www.reddit.com/r/DogFood/wiki/index/fillers/

https://www.reddit.com/r/DogFood/wiki/index/byproducts/

 

[bailey2017]

@sevilodorf These are definitely good reads, OP. It can be very easy to get overwhelmed with all the false information out there, especially considering how vehemently some people despise good brands like Purina

 

[jerseyrob]

@bailey2017 My vet recommends Purina Pro Plan

 

[empire101]

@bailey2017 I belong to a breed specific group on social media and some members act like Purina is poison.

All I know is that my dog had terrible GI issues for his first year (caused by a chicken allergy that his first vet failed to diagnose). His new vet recommended Purina ProPlan with a different protein, which fixed his GI issues.

 

[kurtschultz]

@judyperalta I was like you until my otherwise gorgeous 9 year old beloved boy dog dropped dead over the course of a day from a heart issue. After that I decided to trust the actual experts and feed only wsava recommended foods. I’ve rotated between Purina Pro Plan, Iams, and Royal Canin, and feel like my dogs do best actually on the Iams, which is half the price of Royal Canin. I think the advantage of RC is that I read somewhere that they actually stockpile samples of all ingredients used to make each batch of food in case there is a QC issue they need to investigate.

 

[cuzim]

@kurtschultz I’m so sorry about your pup.

 

[tdselector]

@kurtschultz If you're ok with answering this, I'm curious what food you'd been feeding, when you had the dog with the heart issue.

 

[kurtschultz]

@tdselector I had been both preparing home-cooked food, and also various boutique brands like Honest Kitchen and Halo, also Kirkland Organic kibble, always choosing grain-free because I thought grains used in pet food were contaminated by mycotoxins. I really thought this was gonna be my longest-lived dog ever, but sadly no. Since then I’ve had several friends with dogs making it to 16,17,18 years old and when I ask them what they fed their dog the answer was always “just Purina.” I think another tipping point to me was seeing people’s paranoia around Covid science and realizing I had been doing the same type of paranoia around dog food. Still, this was partly inspired by living through the China/ melamine tragedy.

 

[pagiel]

@judyperalta Purina pro plan sensitive stomach has no corn, wheat, or soy while also meeting WSAVA guidelines. It’s heavily researched and science based. There’s a version for large breeds.

 

[jcob]

@pagiel Are you sure about that? I wanna switch my dog to PRO PLAN® Small and Mini Sensitive Skin Salmon Dry Dog Food, the one with the dachshund picture on the bag (as I have a small breed dog) and this is the ingredients list: High quality salmon (including head, bone, meat) (20%), Rice (18%), Dried salmon protein, Corn protein meal, Corn, Animal fats, Soya meal, Dried beet pulp, Corn starch, Minerals, Dried vegetable fibre, Soybean oil, Corn grits, Digest, Yeast, Dried egg, Fish oil.

It sure seems like there is corn and soy unlike what you say. I'm still going to make the switch and transition slowly and hope she does well on it after being on Rx diet for 4 months.

 

[sevilodorf]

@jcob Where are you located?

 

[jcob]

@sevilodorf Southeast Europe but outside of EU if that matters

 

[sevilodorf]

@jcob Ahh I thought that might be the case. Unfortunately this is a jurisdictional difference. In North America and I think also the UK the diet is a bit different

 

[jcob]

@sevilodorf Well that's a shame that they're not using the same formula worldwide. Should I stay away from it or still go for it hoping they did some research on this formula as well?

 

[sevilodorf]

@jcob This formula is different from its counterparts in other parts of the world, but it absolutely benefits from the same research and expertise as everywhere else. It is totally safe to feed!

The differences could be something like supply chain (not all ingredients are available at similar price points at the same frequency everywhere) or just in audience (consumers in one place have a specific need/demand not seen in another place).

 

[jcob]

@sevilodorf That's great to hear. Thanks a lot!

 

[troypop28]

@pagiel Tons of people commenting about Purina sensitive salmon. Another vote for that. I hate that I have to support nestle but it too has been a game changer for my chronic diarrhea dog (that plus forti-flora or proviable - I buy whichever is on better sale)

 

[whatotherpeoplecallme]

@troypop28 My dog eats it, too.

 

[motorcyclemichael]

@judyperalta The thing with all that marketing and the scare tactics is to make you the consumer feel good but it doesn’t necessarily make your dog feel good. This sub has been eye opening for me as a former boutique brand feeder