[estesbubba]

Peyton is 6 months old today and has been on Iams Proactive and doing fine. From this forum and other research it seems more natural foods are preferable. What are the pros and cons to switching her? We also have 2 11 year old cockers and I wonder if I should switch them too if I do change? It would be nice to have everyone on the same food.

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Bentley's Mom]

I would say if it isn't broke don't fix it. The best food for your dogs are the one they do well on. Sometimes trying to find another food they do well on is a very difficult endeavor.

 

[Wyatt's mommy]

I agree with Bentleys mom! If he is doing fine than what is the worry?
Both my pups have been on Iams since day one and never had a problem.

 

[Deber]

We use TOTW Lamb (Sierra Mt). I have Biewer Yorkies who really have a hard time with grains. For months we had Kye on Eukanuba and Coops breeder had him on Science Diet. We were buying 3 types of food. Not good for us. So slowly we changed the goldens to TOTW too. It is a good food and able to purchase it locally. I am hoping all our crew keep doing well with it. I like the grain free for my little ones as ear infections have left and itching is gone but another concern was keeping each dog eatting the right food. What a mess for us! Now we have no problem if one goes and eats out of anothers bowl.

 

[Stretchdrive]

I have fed both TOTW, and Fromm with great results!! I am currently feeding Fromm Salmon A' La Veg, since I am able to buy it from a didtributor.

I used to feed some other foods, and thought my old dog was doing well on them, but when I made the switch to a better quality food, there was a huge difference.

 

[Wyatt's mommy]

I have fed both TOTW, and Fromm with great results!! I am currently feeding Fromm Salmon A' La Veg, since I am able to buy it from a didtributor.

I used to feed some other foods, and thought my old dog was doing well on them, but when I made the switch to a better quality food, there was a huge difference.

Just curious if a dog is having no problem and is doing well on their food what would be the "huge" difference by changing it?

 

[CarolinaCasey]

I can understand wanting to have all dogs on the same food. I would want the same thing! I have fed TOTW since we brought our pup home from the breeder. I have nothing but rave reviews for it. I mostly feed the lamb formula but have tried all varieties.

 

[Stretchdrive]

Just curious if a dog is having no problem and is doing well on their food what would be the "huge" difference by changing it?

Better coat, eyes, energy, better muscle, less stool, feeding less, far less shedding ect. There is a difference, at one time I would not have believed it, but I have seen proof.

 

[Sally's Mom]

I am in the category of if it's not broken, don't fix it. Mine eat Wellness because anecdotally there was a corn allergy in my Cookie's mom. Mine have good skin and ears, so I don't feel the need to change anything. However, my rescue beagle lived to be 17 years eating Purina most of her life. I do switch my goldens over to adult food at 4 months.

 

[Wyatt's mommy]

Better coat, eyes, energy, better muscle, less stool, feeding less, far less shedding ect. There is a difference, at one time I would not have believed it, but I have seen proof.

Certain food will make them shed less if they have nothing medically wrong? That's a first Someone can make a mint with that one lol!
I'm in the believer camp if it ain't broke don't try to fix......

 

[Loisiana]

I'm in the you'll never know improvement if you don't look for it camp. I thought my early dogs were doing good on the foods they were on. Until I fed them something different and saw the improvement.

 

[Stretchdrive]

Certain food will make them shed less if they have nothing medically wrong? That's a first Someone can make a mint with that one lol!
I'm in the believer camp if it ain't broke don't try to fix......

LOL! I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one!

p.s. I also feed Raw

 

[Wyatt's mommy]

I am in the category of if it's not broken, don't fix it. Mine eat Wellness because anecdotally there was a corn allergy in my Cookie's mom. Mine have good skin and ears, so I don't feel the need to change anything. However, my rescue beagle lived to be 17 years eating Purina most of her life. I do switch my goldens over to adult food at 4 months.

Cant' get any better than that! 17 years!

 

[Sally's Mom]

I have tried numerous things to decrease shedding... Nothing has worked for me. Plus my intact females do a twice yearly coat blow. The only thing to stop that is hormonal therapy.

 

[estesbubba]

I spoke with my vet and she said while she doesn't hate Iams some of the ingredients have little to be desired. She also said some foods are a little too fancy. I told her I was thinking of Fromm or TOTW and she said go for it with all the dogs, just start out with 10-20% and slowly increase it.

A local store gave me some TOTW samples and the lady said that's what she feeds her dogs. Dogs just had some high prairie in their normal kibble and Peyton chowed hers. She has been hesitating and eating slow lately.

I will say that the cockers have had ear infections, itching, and chew their paws occasionally throughout their lives. While no health problems it seems this could be from the ingredients in Iams. I'll keep an eye on them and see how they do on TOTW.

Lady at the store says she frequently switches TOTW formulas to mix it up with her dogs.

 

[estesbubba]

Forgot to add it does smell more wild!

 

[Wyatt's mommy]

I believe it all depends on how the dog can handle "any" brand of food. If there is no issue there is no harm. It might be just as harmful to switch the food when there is no issue with the existing. If you must switch.......do so slowly.

 

[Calistar]

It is interesting that most show breeders to whom coat and health are a must choose to stay away from what they call the "grocery store dog foods". Many also include Science Diet in that number. These people are far more knowledgeable than I am and explain their reasoning in detail from a biological content and health perspective. They also avoid all products with wheat and wheat gluten and many of the golden breeders I have talked to prefer grain free foods. My experience has been only in the volume of poop which seems to be lower with these non grocery store foods and the general health of my dog. I had several breeders tell me that you can't just measure the food impact on length of life but quality of life is also a criteria. There are several of the non grocery store foods which are on par with the cost of Science Diet which is a little over a dollar per pound where I live. Many suggested Taste of the Wild as a high quality alternative. My breeder actually uses Life's Abundance for her dogs but it is fifty percent more expensive than TOTW and I am not sure I can make a leap that far in terms of cost. My take is that the grocery store foods may appear to do a good job but likely do not achieve some of the little things in terms of coat health, volume of food digested and volume that is turned to waste, etc. Depending on your criteria there is likely no correct answer particularly if you are looking at a cost benefit analysis. It mainly comes down to what you can afford and finding the best food available in your price range. As in my case, I simply cannot tolerate the incremental expense of Life's Abundance even if there are advantages.

 

[Calistar]

I ran across this link which compare a vast numbe rof dog foods. Some here may find it useful.

Dog Food Reviews by Brand

 

[Wyatt's mommy]

Oh I don't know......I would say eating a type of food for 17 odd years without any problems is a pretty good quality of life for a dog
Reviews are so overated and mostly not factual........look at your travel sites for instance lol! The dog is the true review IMHO.