Dog Information

What is the best brand of dog food for small breeds?

Before I adopt a dog, I want to know which brand of food I should consider getting it. Preferably dry dog food, but if you know good wet ones, feel free to recommend. ----- What do you feed your small dog(s)? How much does the food cost? What is the quantity bought? (# lbs.) If you give your dog several brands; in what order would you rate each's quality? How much does the amount you buy last? A month, two months, 2 weeks?

Public Comments

1. Nutro will give them a really heathy coat, not sure of the price for small dogs because I have two big ones.
2. I feed my Shih Tzu Blue Buffalo small breed. It's in the pink bag and is about $16, I think it's about 7 or 8 lbs? It's the smaller size bag. I also feed her the Blue Buffalo wet food because she is very picky and won't eat just the dry. I have to mix the two together. She gets about a third a can mixed with dry food once a day (at night) and munches on biscuits an snacks occasionally during the day. I think Blue Buffalo is one of the best foods out there.
3. Dry dog food is best - wet food is mainly water and can very easily cause their teeth to soften and/or rot. It's only good to feed if the dog eats the dry food along with it. As far as brand goes you're going to want a brand that has NO corn, NO by-products, LOW grain, and NAMED meat sources. http://www.wikihow.com/Choose-Healthy-Dog-Food I fed Canidae for a while at $9/5lb bag (which lasted about a month with my 18 lb dog.) Now i feed Wellness Ocean at $12/4lb bag (goes a lot quicker - she's only on it to rule out food allergies.)
4. The best food in my opinion is Innova Evo followed closely by Wellness Core. They are completely grain free foods. Dogs do not have the ability to properly digest grains (corn, wheat, rice). You can't get a great food for cheap. You get what you pay for. You have to realize that the recommended by vets or breeders or stores are just because they probably get their food cheap or free from that company and not because they think it is good quality food. Check out this site. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_... It is an unbiased site that rates just about every brand. Many of the brands you may not have heard of because they are Canadian but a lot are sold here in the US. Innova Evo and Wellness Core are the only 6 star foods (their highest rating) common in the US. The ratings will depend on the different types the company offers. Some companies offer foods that have different levels of quality, so they may have 1 star and 2 star foods for example. You can search for any particular type and check out the rating. I wouldn't feed my dog less than a 4 star food. Better food means a longer, healthier, more active life for your dog. I think if you can't afford a decent food, then you can't afford a dog. 1 Star foods- Iams, Science Diet, Beneful, Eukanuba, Kibbles n Bits, Pedigree, Pro Plan, Purina, Purina One, Royal Canin 2 Star foods- Eukanuba, Nutro, Pro Plan, Royal Canin 3 Star foods- Dog Whisperer, Lifes Abundance, Nutro, Royal Canin 4 Star Foods- Innova, Natural Balance, Nutro, Wellness 5 Star Foods- Innova, Wellness 6 Star Foods- Innova, Wellness
5. I feed my dogs only Halo after they became deathly ill on Nutro..and caused many deaths in other animals..www.consumeraffairs.com/nutro ..Halo can only be found at Petco.I feed dry and canned.The bag 18# is $38 and the large can is $4.79.I know it's expensive but very healthy food with lots of fruit and veggie's..If you compare the healthier foods such as Wellness,Solid Gold,Innove you will see that it is only a few extra dollars more than the junk stuff
6. I have a 12 pound dog which I feed IAMs. It is one of the more expensive ones, but for a small dog it is about 12 dollars per month. It is dry food. About 8 pounds per month. I use Purina for the larger dog because of the expense.
7. Quality dog foods are: Innova Solid Gold Canidae Blue Buffalo Merrick Wellness I would not feed any dog only wet food. I feed mine dry kibble with a spoonful of wet mixed in.
8. My advice is Purina. People spend a lot of money on expensive foods, but Purina is just as good and will fulfill your dogs nutritional needs as well as Iams, for instance. I currently have 4 dogs, and they all eat Purina. My oldest is 14 1/2 years. I have had dogs for 26 years. All of them have eaten Purina. I had one 17years just pass last year. Do stay away from generic brands. They lack nutrition. I feed my small breed dogs twice daily, twelve hours apart. They get a 1/2 cup dry with a tablespoon moist mixed in. As for cost, my estimate would be off. I have two large dogs and two small, so I just buy the 50lbs bags. It only last me two weeks. If I had to guess for one small dogs you could get by with 10lbs twice monthly Hope this helps.
9. Please read these links on dog foods..So many are NOT good for your pet..Buy only Holistic dog foods..ones containing no Wheat, gluten's , corn or white rice..All of these items are bad for your dog..We feed our dog Blue Buff dog food. Canidae is the best but we don't have it here..The best dog foods are listed below.In no particular order. We have two dogs one large and one med and a bag lasts us two weeks and it cost 28 dollars. Blue Buffalo Innova,California Natural.........Natura Pet Products, Santa Clara, CA..................(800) 532-7261 Azmira Classic......................Azmira Holistic Animal Care, Tucson, AZ............(800) 497-5665 Back to Basics............................Beowulf Natural Foods Syracuse, NY..................(800) 219-2558 Canidae.......................................Canidae Corp, San Luis Obispo, CA.....................(800) 398-1600 Eagle Pack Holistic Select..........Eagle Pet Products, Inc., Mishawaka, IN............(800) 255-5959 Flint River Ranch,Dry Water, LC.....First River Ranch, Riverside, CA.................(909) 682-5048 Hund-N-Flocken, Millennia...Solid Gold Health Products for pets, El Cajon, CA.....(800) 364-4863 Limited Diets Duck & Potato....Innovative Veterinary Diets, Pittsburg,PA.............(800) 359-4483 Natural Balance Ultra Premium..Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance,Pacoima, CA.(800) 829-4493 Lifespan.........................................
10. We have 4 small breed yorkies they love kibbles and bits it is a dry food it does not contain salmanalia like some dog foods and is not on that raw food diet it comes in 20 and 60 pound sack
11. Solid Gold Barking at the Moon $12.50 4 lbs. Barking at the Moon.Innova EVO,Taste of the Wild 1 month