It is true that the ancestors of dogs (wolves, jackals and wild dogs) are mostly carnivorous, but domestic dogs that we have today are very different from their ancestors.

Dogs do still need a largely meat based diet, however their digestive systems have changed over time (due to the types of food they have been fed over the generations of domestication, quite often table scraps, or 'human' food) to be able to digest and use nutrients from other sources (such as vegetables and grains) so they could be considered Omnivorous like humans. This is convenient for us as giving a dog (especially a larger breed) a diet consisting solely of meat and animal parts would be expensive, messy and time consuming.

You can feed your dog a grain free diet, however it will still contain a filler of some kind (most commonly potato/sweet potato) which is still not meat.
Also you will still need to feed your dog some kind of vegetable to ensure they get the proper balance of nutrition (wolves and such get the extra 'plant matter' by eating the contents of their prey's stomach. Even BARF (which many people feed because of the argument that ‘dogs are carnivores) is not a fully meat diet, usually containing a mix of vegetables and berries to provide a fully balanced diet.

Finally you need to consider the difference in lifestyle of our house pet dogs and their carnivorous ancestors. Generally a house dog will have a couple of short/medium walks a day and spend most of their time lounging, playing or sleeping whereas a wolves etc. will spend most of the day roaming and hunting for food, often having to defend their territory and travel multiple miles a day. Our house dogs get fed routinely at least once or twice a day whereas wild dogs will often ‘fast’ for as long as 2 weeks after binging on fresh raw meat in order to allow their digestive system to fully digest and recover from the meal. Therefore the protein and energy needs of our house dogs are far less than their wild cousins.

Of course, if you own a team of sled dogs and live in an area where it is easy for you to kill fresh, clean meat for them, I would strongly encourage you to feed a high protein kibble and supplement with raw meat due to their active and demanding lifestyle. However if you own a Chihuahua or Shih-Tzu that will spend most of his day sitting by your side, or trotting around the house with you at a slow and steady pace can you really say that this dog will need or even be capable of fully using a high protein diet?

Yes it is not natural for dogs to eat grains, however it is also not natural for humans to drink cow’s milk or use dairy products, (which is why many people are lactose intolerant to some degree) but we have grown to rely on them quite heavily as a source of calcium.

I do agree that a grain free diet could quite possibly be better for a lot of dogs than one with (even high quality) grains... however for most people it is financially not possible whereas finding a good quality food that contains some high quality grains is possible, and can still allow a dog to lead a long and very healthy life.

@CyaNide27- The website given by michael9413 (post #will give you a decent review, it is quite a famous and very useful, easy to understand site. Also if you look through the reviews of other foods given in this thread you should be able to determine if it is a good food or not for yourself. Perhaps you could try putting your own analysis of the food for other people to see. If you have any difficulties with certain ingredients try looking them up on Wikipedia, if you are still stuck you can post up and others can help with the analysis.
Also expensive brands are not always good (but cheap brands, unless very new are pretty much always bad). Always always look at the ingredients and nutritional content no matter what price the food is.

This post has been edited by Divas: Jun 11 2010, 04:54 PM

Check the stool of your dogs after you feed them.
Undigestable Example :whole corn kernels, whole peanuts and oranges.
It will pass thru undigested.

If your dog can digest fully their food, the stool should be firm and solid.
Dogs also need intestine bacteria to aid digestion.
Low fat Cottage cheese, low fat yogurt or Yakult can be given in appropriate amounts once every 3-4 days.

One more thing, If your dog is a strict kibble eater, consider toothbrushing at least once a week before it is too late to save them.

This post has been edited by mecharojak: Jun 11 2010, 05:30 PM

hi, u can go to wonderland pet shop II in tg tokong, it's after gurney traffic, shop is on the left side before the balai bomba. You can see cages of cats outside. They sell Orijen and some other brands.

Just went to Wonderland Pet Shop II today, they just started selling Go! Natural. Got 3 flavors ("Chicken, Fruit & Vegetable", "Salmon & Oatmeal", "Duck"). They even giving away free samples. I took duck and salmon samples. This is really good news for me.

This post has been edited by sherly: Jun 12 2010, 09:50 PM

Those of you who're looking for Canidae in Penang, i just bought one pack from Wonderland petshop in Jelutong. They only have the All Life Stages one, and they're selling the loose pack (1kg) at RM25, and the 15kg pack at RM233 after 10% off. They also bring in the 2kg pack but its currently out of stock.

HTHs those of you who're looking!

Ok, this is the list of Penang Pet Shops I have visited and I will list some of the good dog food brands I found :

Toby's Pet Shop (Air Itam) : Taste of The Wild, Addiction
Wonderland Pet Shop II (Tg Tokong) : Orijen, Canidae, Go! Natural, Acana, California Natural (i think I saw Artemis there before, but not sure if they still have it)
CTY Aquarium : Orijen.
Loving Dog 'R' Us (infront of Gurney) : Natural Balance.

This post has been edited by sherly: Jun 13 2010, 05:00 PM

Eagle Pack Puppy Chicken & Oat Bran Formula

Ingredients:
Chicken Meal, Ground Yellow Corn, Ground Brown Rice, Pork Meal, Corn Germ Meal (Dry Milled), Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid), Anchovy & Sardine Meal, Brewers Dried Yeast, Wheat Germ Meal, Dried Egg Product, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Air-Dried Peas, Dried Carrots, Inulin, DL-Methionine, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, d-Pantothenic Acid, Niacin Supplement, Choline Chloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Biotin, Rosemary Extract, Inositol, Dehydrated Kelp, Polysaccharide Complexes (sequestered) of Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Copper and Cobalt, Potassium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecium, B. Subtillus, Bacillus lichenformis, Bacillus coagulins, Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger.


Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein 28%
Fat 17%
Moisture 10%
Fiber 3.5%


Preservatives:
All Eagle Pack Super Premium formulas are naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols, citric acid and rosemary extract.

Extra Information:
This has an excellent mix of ingredients for small and medium breeds. For Large Breeds, switch at 4 months of age to Eagle Pack Natural Formula.


is this ok


my pup loves it so much

Erm, where did you get Eagle Pack from? It has been discontinued here and Singapore for more than a year now.

my mom bought a dog food from econsave.

Do you think it is good? I can't even find the ingredients on it...

bro samquah,

i don think that is good a lot of grain there... no that good food lo... look at the ingredient,
1 Chicken Meal
2 Ground Yellow Corn
3 Ground Brown Rice
4 Pork Meal
5 Corn Germ Meal (Dry Milled)
6 Dried Beet Pulp
7 Chicken Fat (Preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid)
8 Anchovy & Sardine Meal
9 Brewers Dried Yeast
10 Wheat Germ Meal

at least 3 grain there and u got 2 grain at the top 3, does not sounds good...


bro genjo,
skip that those food in super market is not good for pet... try to get it in pet shop instead...

ya i know... but buy d cannot do anything.. at least finish it then buy back the brand he always eat

Anyone here know where can i get Wellness CORE or Go Natural Grain Free Endurance dog food?

Go Natural Grain Free Endurance not in Malaysia

doggyfriend.com.sg sells Wellness

Dear all,

I got one MS...
She got skin sensitive issue...
Currently, i used to give her Eagle Pro dog food (last time called Eagle Pack)...
Variant is chicken...
I plan change to salmon fish because salmon fish good for skin...
But, she not really like it...
Should i keep on with Eagle Pro or got other brands intro to me??

thanks

For sensitive skin, I would recommend the go! Natural Duck formula. You can ask these people if they still have any samples left.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Petcu...35426834?flyingspaghettimonster=ts

They can post it to you, I think - where are you located?

my toy poodle is 6 mths old
previously fed him royal canin veterinary diet hypoallergenic recommended by a vet
now am feeding go! natural salmon
royal canin - nice n very minimal smell stool, delicious as i can see my pup likes it very much
go! natural - darker colour n little bit of smell stool, fur turns darker colour
both are good kibbles

juz want to ask anyone here who knows
is kangaroo meat good for dogs?

nice analysis michael9413. There is a lot of grain in the food (including dreaded corn).

@ genjo - you can always donate the food to a shelter, they always need extra dog food no matter what brand. Alternatively, buy a better food and mix the 2 together if you don't want to 'waste' the food. That way your dog still gets some good food and won't get used to the flavor of junk food too much.

@angel9362 - have you tried slowly switching the food over, giving more salmon and less chicken every meal time. If she still doesn't like it you can stick with the chicken and use a Fish oil suppliment (or Omega oils or Primrose oil) which will i\give you the benefit of fish without the trouble of switching foods.
Also i agree with jtl, go! is a very good food which has been getting great reviews from everyone i know who has tried it.

@jen_jen - why did the vet suggest a hypoallergenic diet for your dog? has he shown signs of food allergies?
Kagaroo meat is as good as any really. Dog foods are starting to use it now as they are running out of 'novel' protein sorces for dogs with hypersensitivity. I generally prefer to stay away from interesting meats unless my dog has some kind of protein related allergy or some other issue that requires them to have a novel protein sorce so that i have a range of options when reqired.

the vet said its good for dogs n the stool has no or little smell which is true
nope, my pup has not showed any signs of food allergies so far
my pup prefers royal canin though, think bcoz of the taste
been told that go! natural has no preservatives and so can only keep for few mths?

Hi all,

I'm a new owner for schnauzer. Recently, I just bought a bag of 13.5kg Arcana puppy dog food. I estimated it would takes around 3months for my puppy to finish the bag of food. However, I found that the dog food attract lotsa ants and maggots growing as well.

Any idea how you guys keep the dog food to prevent this happening?

Thanks.

hi, can give me some guidances..appreciation for sharing with ya

My M.Schnauzer (11 month) currently eat Natural balance (sweet potatoes & salmon) and mixed with Addiction Raw Dehydrated (venison favor)..

1) Addiction almost finish and i want to change differ brand due to Addiction after soak with water (moist) really mess and yellowing MS beard ..and i think to change GO! Natural (salmon favor), is it recommend to feed both salmon favor (N.balance and GO! Natural) or should i choose Go! Natural Duck formula ?

2) My furkid alright with N.Balance and Addiction and i had bought ACANA (puppy chicken favor) before but it's seem not suit him ( poo solid but smelly and he fart a lot )..so i wonder GO! Natural brand suit him or any other recommend kibbles?

3) My MS is a black and silver and i hav no idea his black fur fade look like a brown fur...the groomer had told me that was a puppy fur but he ald 11month...so i wonder is that food caused, any idea?

4) Can dog eat cold thing (i stored fruits in refrigerator and giv him eat while stil cold) ? and a lot of fruit intake (like 3/4 of whole apple) ?

5) i saw previous posted said that poor digestion system result their stool show orange o etc undigested food....yaya, my furkid poo usually show orange n fruit...so yogurt or yakult help (really the human intake yogurt any fruits favor or got dog) ? the proportion to feed?

6) where i can buy GO! Natural (i'm base in Cheras) any nearest pet store offer?