What to feed my dog?

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Heartbroken

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I recently adopted a dog from the local shelter. She's a lab mix, about 8 years old, and a real sweetheart though a total goofball. Her name is Katie.
My last dog, Mattie, was the best dog in the whole world. She was a lab/husky mix and lived 14 years. I always felt bad, believing that feeding her commercial dog food contributed to her health problems toward the end of her life.
So when I took Katie in for her first vet appointment last week, I asked about recipes for home-made dog food.
The vet assistant was kind, but a bit patronizing and spent a lot of time explaining to me that commercial dog food is best, and it's the only way to make sure the dog is getting all the nutrients they need. I could tell her mind was made up, so just smiled and nodded.
But the more I think about it, the more I think that's a load of hooey.
How many hundreds of years did we have dogs before there was such a thing as commercial dog food?
Even as a kid I remember our dog being fed the scraps from our suppers, including the bones. We didn't buy dog food.
The dogs survived, didn't they? Why should burnt little crunchy nuggets of who knows what be necessary?
So for now, I'm doing research, (home-made dog food recipes on the web range from odd to complicated!) and in the meantime I'm using a dry dog food that is supposed to be grain and dye free, and I'm mixing in an equal amount of home-canned venison or chicken, pumpkin, and sometimes an egg. Katie actually won't eat just the dry food alone.
What do y'all feed your dogs?
Do you believe in commercial dog food, or do you make your own?
Any advice, natural food recipes, experiences?
I'd appreciate the input - and I think Katie will too!
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I use k-9 Rage it's a 24%P -20%F All meat based, my chicken's lay enough eggs that they get 1-2 cracked on their dog food. I also get beef and deer bones from the meat processor and give them to them. I have a extra chest freezer just for the bones in the barn. When I get them i get a lot.
 
@Heartbroken funny weird ain't it? Our vet told us if it has a blue buffalo on it don't use it. LOL I don't.
I forget what kibble we buy but it is not easy to switch kibbles, definite upset tummy on both critters when I didn't do it slowly enough.
These days I've been buying a medium container size of chicken livers and giblets, cook it 45-60 minutes, then give a small amount to kitty and larger amount to dog's kibble, adding some of the cooking liquid to the dog's kibble too. I haven't taken the time to make our own dog or cat food yet.
 
zoomzoom said:
Myself, I used Purina One for my dog. She stayed fit, strong and muscular for 15 years.
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Sorry. I used to feed my dogs Purina as well, but I learned this past week that Purina is part of the evil Nestle company.

I worked down wind from the Purina plant in Denver when I was teaching, about a mile from the plant. The stench was horrible and there are stories about the food that it is not good. There have been attempts by citizens to get the plant relocated. If you drive through Denver on I-70, the plant is about a mile east of I-25, on the south side of the highway, York Street exit.

This story is very recent: PUBLISHED: May 29, 2024 at 12:01 p.m. | UPDATED: May 29, 2024 at 5:11 p.m.

https://www.denverpost.com/2024/05/29/purina-plant-denver-bad-smell-odor-lawsuit/

Two residents who live near the Nestle-Purina Petcare plant in north Denver filed a proposed class action lawsuit in federal court this week over the rancid smell they say infiltrates nearby homes, parks, libraries, schools and businesses.

Plaintiffs Robert Fields and Lorena Ortiz allege the “noxious odors” emanating from the pet food plant are so strong they cannot plan outdoor events and that other neighbors have filed complaints with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to report the smell makes them gag and their eyes water.

In their complaint, Fields and Ortiz cited health department employees’ findings of odors that exceeded state standards.

The lawsuit quoted a complaint by two neighborhood residents who said, “I would describe the smell as rancid. It’s like someone barfed in your backyard and then it baked in the sun and then you put a fan on the smell to keep it circulating.”

The complaint was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court of Colorado, and the lawyers who brought the lawsuit say more than 50 other neighbors have contacted their firms to document noxious odors. The plaintiffs are asking for a judge to declare the Purina plant a nuisance for failing to properly maintain and operate the facility so that odors are controlled, and to fault the company for negligence. They also are asking for an unspecified amount in financial damages.

Purina first operated its plant in Denver in 1930 and for 42 years produced primarily livestock feed. It transitioned to a pet food factory in 1972, according to the Nestle website. The plant on York Street abuts Interstate 70 and is next to the Elyria-Swansea and Globeville neighborhoods.

Lorie Westhoff, a Nestle-Purina spokeswoman, said the company does not comment on litigation, but added in an email, “Throughout this time, we have remained committed to being the best neighbor we can be, and that won’t change.”

The lawsuit says that, on some days, the stench wafts up to a mile from the factory’s location, affecting up to 2,000 households.

The company has failed to install the necessary equipment that could capture, control and mitigate odors, despite years of complaints from city residents, the lawsuit alleges.

A Jan. 31 complaint cited in the lawsuit says, “At least once a week… the smell is so strong it makes you gag.” And one from August 2022, says, “Purina is releasing something so toxic it’s making our eyes water over a mile away.”

Employees from the state health department measured air quality around the Valdez Library, which is across I-70 from the plant, in November 2021 and found two exceedances of state air quality standards, according to the lawsuit.

Another state report describes “a stronger than usual odor in the vicinity of 47th and Gaylord,” and tests showed the stench exceeded state standards, according to the lawsuit.
 
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The vet took her off Purina One Pro Plan and put her on Hills Science Diet Prescription Diet, duck and potato. The dog has allergies and requires special food. That is not the fault of Purina. The vet wanted to change the protein.
 
Even as a kid I remember our dog being fed the scraps from our suppers, including the bones. We didn't buy dog food. The dogs survived, didn't they?

I remember seeing that as a kid too. But I don't remember having a dog live even 10 years back then. Yes they survived but for how long?

But to answer your question, we feed our little one's Hill's Science Diet Healthy Weight formular. They are dachshund & love to eat & get overweight easily. As far as longevity, unless something "odd" happens (cancer, etc) they live 15 plus years. We have had 3 that lived 18 years, which is rare for the breed. Do we give them the odd human food treat every now & then, yes but they don't normally eat people food.

Something else I believe helps your dog live longer is regular teeth cleanings. To often people neglect that & they get infections that spread to other parts of the body.
 
We've always had lots of dogs- at one point 6, now have three. I've tried lots of feeds, and when the children were little we would have leftovers that they were given also.
I was a veterinary nurse in another life, and my boss used to say it wasn't an issue giving dogs leftovers if you ate well, ie vegetables, so long as they had meat also. Anyway I have settled on a very affordable supermarket brand bag of dried meal. They are energetic, have good coats and never any diarrhea. I get huge bones from my butchers a few times a year, and boil up chicken carcasses or butchers trimming occasionally also to mix in. All my dogs have lived to old age, between 13 and 16, and other than neutering and the odd thing like stitches, never go to vets, so I think its working.
 
We feed our dogs Taste Of The Wild. We never feed our dogs table scraps or other "people" food, but we do feed them meat trimmings. They also get an egg twice a day and when I'm trapping I cut up beaver and muskrat carcass for them. They also get the fat when I'm fleshing hides. When we butcher a beef they always run off with the legs and drag them around for weeks.
 
The lady feeds her animals taste of the wild too. But she also feeds them raw veggie scraps like carrot peels, the butt ends of cucumbers, chopped up broccoli stalks, cauliflower pieces, etc. and they get apple slices, blueberries, melon and other fruits too. She is pretty particular about what she gives them and how much and buys a lot of discount produce just for those dogs. Of course they also get a variety of wild meats from anything dumb enough to enter the compound.
 
I use to make my own dog food. I would visit the butcher and get scraps of any meat, in a big pot cook it up, do not overcook, just blanch, add cooked rice and veggies. Once cooled put it in portion sized containers or freezer baggies and throw it in the freezer, which makes about a two or three-week supply. My dogs very seldom had health or digestion issues other than stupid injuries. Vet's would ask what I fed my dogs as their coats were immaculate. My dogs loved it.
 
Son was telling me a story about our "granddog", Bodhi today. Son goes thru a drive thru pinon coffee place most mornings, and they have a vegan dog biscuit they give to dogs that are in the car. Bodhi got all happy and took it the first time. Then spit it out on the floor. Now he won't even take it from the lady, he knows better.
 
We feed a dry kibble but they get a lot of table scraps. Carrots, cooked or raw, squash skins, sweet potato skins, pieces of lunch meat when I make a sandwich, slices of sweet pepper, fat and trimmings of our steaks or pork chops, pieces of apple and banana. Sometimes I buy Fresh Pet from Walmart.
 
Interesting thread, feeding critters is as personal as feeding kids!

I fed Purina Pro Plan, and then Purina One for years. Then a couple years ago I noticed all 3 dogs were losing weight and their coats were looking rough. Around that same time my husband (who cleans the dog yard) made the comment that there was so much more poop in the yard than usual. I guessed that Purina must have changed their formula, either due to the rising cost of ingredients or unavailability or something.

We switched to a "local-ish" dog food recommended by my feedstore. It's also half the price of Purina. The dogs loved it! It is free of all the corns, starches, and additives etc. They gained their weight back and their coats are beautiful.

Also, like Amish, they get eggs and some scraps in their food as well. The "commercial" dog food is the base of their diet.

Also, @Heartbroken, if your former dog lived to be 14 years old on commercial food, it couldn't have been all bad.

We all do the best we can with what we have available.
 
I fed my previous German shepherd homemade dogfood to start because I thought it would be better for her. I gave her raw meat , mixed with veg and rice. She ended up with a rice allergy so I had to switch to grain free dog food. She ultimately only lived to 10 years old because of this , she kept having skin problems and I had to keep giving her steroids and antibiotics to clear it up. So be careful what you feed them. My current dogs get dog food , all the stuff from the butchered animals we don't eat like hearts and livers, eggs, leftovers
nobody has any food allergies and they all seem ok
I do rotate dog food. I buy some cheap stuff and some more expensive stuff so they don't eat junk all the time
 
The longest lived, healthiest dogs I’ve had were fed bottom of the barrel kibble. When fancier dog food became more common we started doing that and the results were not great. Probably has nothing to do with the food, but was enough to make me decide to not become too crazy over it. We used to do 4health at tractor supply but one GSD has some skin allergies so we go with purina one for both dogs. And they get random meat on top and whatever leftovers are about to go bad. They are doing fine with it, and allergies are gone except they both have the habit of dunking their entire heads into the stream every day, and the water in the ears seems to be causing ear infections.
 
I make my pups homemade human grade food and add Nutro kibbles to it.

They do get the occasional table scrap, but we are prety good about what that is.
 
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