# what do you feed your GSD with ?????



## herno1 (Sep 10, 2008)

I'm feeding mine with pedigree but thanks to some people's choice, i'm thinking in change it.
But before i do it i would like to know everyone's opinion in this.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

This would be better off in the "feeding our puppy" section. Hopefully a moderator will see it soon and move it.

That said, I feed Canidae ALS to all my dogs, from my puppy to my 10yo.


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## Kayla's Dad (Jul 2, 2007)

Right now I feeding Lancer Nutro High Energy which is what his breeder uses.

Thinking about trying a switch to Taste of the Wild when we run down on the current supply/after the next bag which is what I feed Kayla.


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## mastercabman (Jun 11, 2007)

WHOPPER W/CHEESE! 
They also like pizza,hot dogs,KFC,WENDY'S,and on special occasion i take them to DQ!











jUST KIDDING! 
I feed them PURINA ONE.


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## Powell (Oct 13, 2006)

I was feeding Jolene Precise Foundation and have her over to Taste of the Wild. I DO see a difference in the coat, and Precise is good, but it costs the same as the super top brands. 


Powell


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

I feed Taste of the Wild Prairie.


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## VectorSketcher (Jul 20, 2008)

I too use Canidae ALS for my pup and my adult dog, they love it, and it agrees with their systems. I also have been adding some Sea Pet Fish Oil to their diet.


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## gabbysmom (Sep 6, 2007)

Ok, I personally cannot afford to feed my 2 dogs (10 cups a day total) the MOST expensive foods, but I try to give them the very best that I can. Since you said you've been on Pedigree, I honestly would try Purina One. It's also a grocery store brand, but a step up from Pedigree. I buy ProPlan when I can find it on sale, but Gabby does great on Purina One sensitive systems, and she has severe skin allergies that are no trouble at all on that food. It's very high in Omega 3's and makes her coat beautiful. She also loves it because she thinks she's getting to eat kitty food because it smells like fish and has little bites of kibble. But be warned, it can give them fishy breath!


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## kelso (Jan 22, 2007)

herno1,

Here is a site that rates some of the dog foods out there. It isn't the be all end all (for example most of the 6 star foods you probably wouldn't want to feed a small puppy anyway as they are higher in protein)
But at least it is some info, or a start. But some people do not like the way they rate things, so take it with a grain of salt!
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

All the dogs are different in what they do well on. 

Good Luck finding what works for you and your dog!

I feed RAW and Taste of the Wild Kibble.


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## KCandMace (Apr 8, 2008)

Mine started off one a German brand of puppy kibble. We switched them to Solid Gold Wolfcub but one didn't do well on it so we switched them to Canidae ALS. When we went through 60lbs of that we switched to 100% raw for them.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

I fed purina one for a while - made my dog fat and I only saved a few bucks a month. Now the 7 y/o female and the puppy both eat canidae. I've also fed wellness and thought they did well on it, especially my male who's no longer with us. Luther had allergies and couldn't digest chicken, he did very well on wellness (pun intended)


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

One thing to keep in mind - you will feed LESS of a high quality food so the cost could be similar.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: Lauri & The GangOne thing to keep in mind - you will feed LESS of a high quality food so the cost could be similar.


Or it could in fact be CHEAPER to feed a better kibble. Because you could literally only need to feed HALF as much.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

Currently we feed Taste of the Wild and rotate between their three formulas (Prairie, Wetlands, Fish).

In the past we have had very good luck with Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, and Canidae ALS.

A good site for researching and reviewing dog foods is: 
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php/cat/1


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I feed RAW and they get Taste of the Wild ~ one or two times a week, rotating pacific stream, and prairie~usually when it is raining (I feed RAW outside)or I forgot to pull something from the freezer..


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## GSDOwner2008 (Jan 19, 2008)

We feed Natural Balance, feeding Orijen and Solid Gold was so expensive!


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## roxy84 (Jun 23, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: kelso
> (for example most of the 6 star foods you probably wouldn't want to feed a small puppy anyway as they are higher in protein)


higher protein hasnt been shown to be a culprit, but those higher protein foods are above the 1.5% calcium that many recommend for a growing large breed pup. the only grain free food i would ever feed a gsd pup is orijen large breed puppy. most of the other grain free (including Taste of the Wild) are 2%+ calcium levels.


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## vmarie08 (Sep 17, 2008)

Ours eats Nutro High Energy also.We left her with a friend for a week who has a boxer and thats what he eats.She was eating purina puppy chow @ the time and after that week she wouldn't go near it.she had been eating the boxers food the entire week and she literally doubled in size.Its a good brand if you can afford $33 for a 20lb bag.It usually lasts her two and a half weeks.Otherwise I would stick to the purina one.


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## trmiv (Jul 31, 2008)

We started him on Canidae ALS, but when they changed formulas we looked for a new food. Eventually we settled on Wellness lamb (the green bag). He did great during the switch from Canidae to Wellness, but once he went full Wellness he's had soft stools on and off. It's been about a month since he went full Wellness and the stools aren't any better, so now I'm considering switching again. Ronan is 8.5 months old, is that too early to switch to a food like Taste of the Wild since it has greater than 2% calcium?


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

trmiv,

Any chance it is overfeeding that it is causing the soft stools rather than the food itself? 

There are some folks that DO feed TOTW to puppies and say they have had NO problems. And there are others that will NOT feed a food that high in calcuim to puppies. You just need to decide for yourself if you are comfortable feeding a higher calcuim food to a puppy.


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## trmiv (Jul 31, 2008)

I don't think it's overfeeding. The bag recommends 2-2.5 cups for his weight, + 25% for being a puppy. So 2.5 to 3 1/4 cups. He's currently eating about 2.5 cups a day. He's actually getting less Wellness than he did Canidae, and he never had an issue with the old canidae formula, and was fine with 50/50 canidae and wellness. It wasn't until he went full wellness that he started getting soft stools off and on. I'm now trying him on the chicken version to see if it was the protein source. If that doesn't do it, I may try a food switch, maybe Chicken Soup (great price!), or Eagle Pack. 

I'll probably wait for him to be at least a year old before I try the TOTW, it's not far off.


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## CookieTN (Sep 14, 2008)

Cookie gets Diamond Adult. For now. I know it's not a top quality food, but it's better than other foods like Purina.
I'd like to feed her Taste of the Wild or something like it. When we can afford it. Better yet, I'd love to feed her raw. My other dog gets raw because I can afford to buy meat for a small dog, but not both dogs.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Raw meat and bones.


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## HarleyGirl52874 (Jun 16, 2006)

I feed Breeders Choice Avoderm Chicken, and have been very happy with it. And for us it was something that all 3 do very well on. Thankfully!


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## gagsd (Apr 24, 2003)

When I was in college (both the first time and the second) my dogs ate Purina ONE or Exceed lamb and rice. I just could not afford the better foods. My dogs actually did very well on it, no skin problems, firm stools etc. And they LOVED it!

I tried Nutro for awhile, but Dingo and Cobi had the itchies.

Natural Balance did a good job and the dogs and I were happy.
They are currently on Wellness Chicken and unless the price goes up dramatically, will stay on that or NB.

They also get raw bones and table scraps, yogurt, green beans, leftover hamburgers, etc. I did total raw for awhile and was very, very pleased with the results but found it hard to feed multiple dogs raw from a logistical point, especially during the summer.


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## HarleyGirl52874 (Jun 16, 2006)

My ex boss uses Purina One lamb and rice with his aussies, and they are beautiful! Nice firm poos no skin problems.


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## Goofy (Sep 27, 2008)

I am using eukanuba large puppy breed and goofy doesn't seem to like it. So might try switching to somehting else tonight, so I can start mixing it. Seems like Wild is the popular choice.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

I like Taste of the Wild, but IMO it is not suitable for young puppies. I know some people have fed it to pups with good results, but commonly accepted wisdom is the calicum levels are too high for growing pups.


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## elviraglass (Mar 8, 2007)

I feed mine Nature's Recipe. It doesn't have the by-products, fillers, etc. 

While at Petsmart yesterday, I bumped into the manager and he remarked about Max and how beautiful his coat was. We ended up talking about food, etc and he told me about how, corn is being imported from China right now because of a shortage here in the U.S.. Various brands of dog food contain corn, so I know I won't have to worry about that because Nature's Recipe does not contain corn.

I realize that there is a possibility of the info I got from this manager not being accurate but I wouldn't be surprised since we seem to important many other things from China. My dogs love this food and there are far less digestive issues since I have been using it.

Of course there are other great brands out there










Elvi


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

we feed Wellness kibble and canned.
in the kibble we'll mix in:
100% ground beef (raw)
cooked boneless and
skinless chicken breast or thighs.
brown rice and chicken (mainly when sick)
quinoa.
brown rice.
fish.
Wellness can.
plain-organic yogurt


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## momtoduke (Sep 29, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: herno1I'm feeding mine with pedigree but thanks to some people's choice, i'm thinking in change it.
> But before i do it i would like to know everyone's opinion in this.


I feed duke pedigree now, but have ordered him pinnacle because he has something going on with his skin at the moment that is driving me crazy and him crazy! it is very expensive and i for one cant afford it but fiqure i will try it to see if it gets his skin back to normal and if so then i will use it for a couple of months and then try to work on something else with him! 

I have always fed my dogs pedigree and my pom is 13 years old and my dog dusty that we lost to cancer died when he was 12 but he also ate it his whole life! i think duke just has an allergy to it is all and if it werent for that that is what he would be eating!


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## trudy (Aug 25, 2008)

Tonight I'm adding prime rib, (see stories) but I add different things depending on what I have had for dinner and how things go but often add canned little cesars, 1 tbls. each, and either same amount yogurt or cottage cheese. I also add canned pumpkin if needed


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

a bowl. 

Sorry, everytime I see "what do you feed your GSD with ?" I want to say that.


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## thor wgsd (Jun 18, 2008)

my hands?









I have fed RAW since learning about it here about 4 months ago and I and he loves it.

-thomas-


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