[Ashley W]

I’ve been doing some research and have found that canned food seems to be better than dry food. Any opinions would be great 🙂
I have a 25 lb 7 year old male neutered Mullin’s Feist and a 32 lbs 4-5 year old female spayed mixed breed (he is ideal, she is overweight). I’m looking to feed them a better food. Currently they are eating Purina One Smart Blend dry.

[Anonymous]

If you soak dry food overnight in water in the fridg (2-3 day batch) it is okay as a base, then add a spoonful of chopped cooked chicken breast, lean meat or chicken liver.
Occasional canned food as a topper instead. Maybe a little dry kibble as a treat now and then.
It’s all good.
My senior does well on Wysong Senior. My other dogs (one with allergies) does best on Nutrisca Salmon and Chickpea.

Don’t free feed…..see General Guidelines for tips : http://www.homeovet.net/dynamic/php/downloads/dog-c8470f2c75dbe4b683205c3919ee2310/dog_diet_complete.pdf
Hope this helps.
Oh, and brush their teeth once a day, see Youtube for how to videos.

This has been what works for me.

[C4D]

Hi Ashley,

Soaking kibble is better than feeding dry kibble, but canned and fresh is still better since it’s less processed. I have several big dogs so I do a combination of canned/kibble/warm water for 1 meal and fresh cooked/premix or raw for the other due to the cost factor. Red is correct, if you free feed you can’t control portion size of each dog.

[Ashley W]

I do not free feed my dogs. They get fed once in the evening when I get off work. Does anyone recommend a good canned food for mature dogs?

[Anonymous]

I use Nutrisca Salmon and Chickpea canned food as a topper, but I don’t think I would use just canned food….some people do. It just looks too greasy to me. I have used Newman Organics too, available at the supermarket or Chewy.com, among other places.

I find that different foods (kibble, canned, fresh, homemade, or a combination) agree with different dogs….trial and error to find out what will work best for an individual dog.

[Yorkieville]

Hi, Ashley.
I feed my 3.5# Yorkie canned food. Dr. Karen Becker has a video, and she discusses the best foods for dogs.
#1 Raw
#2 Excellent Quality Canned
#3 Dehydrated Raw

Last on the list is Dry Food.
“Many pet owners mistakenly believe dry food cleans their dog’s or cat’s teeth. That’s a myth. Dry, crunchy kibble doesn’t clean your pet’s teeth any better than granola or crackers clean yours. ”

I’ve had Yorkie’s for 34 years. It wasn’t until my late Yorkie’s, Sweet Sydney and my precious little Kia, were older, that I learned the best food for them was canned.

My Yorkie is 16 months old now & has the cleanest white teeth.

[C4D]

Hi Ashley,

Yorkieville is correct, the fresher, the better. Of course when you have over 200 lbs of dogs @ your house, you have to adjust. If you choose canned, just look for lower fat content, if that’s a concern. Also, splitting food into 2 meals is better overall for their metabolism.

[Yorkieville]

Hi, Ashley.
CD4 is correct, splitting the food into 2 meals is much better. Since my Yorkie is 3.5#s, we split her meals into 3. She does okay if we split her meals into two, but is far more energetic on 3 meals.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Ashley W:
What’s your budget? I feed canned foods in a price range from 99 cents to $4.50/can; grain free and grain inclusive. I also have to watch my dog’s weight during hotter months so I might be able to give you some foods to check out.

[Ashley W]

The budget isn’t really a concern. I wish I had the time to do the raw food but I don’t even cook for myself anymore. I’ve just been doing research on dry food and what I’ve found makes me sick. I want something that is going to be good for them. I’ve had dogs my entire life and I’ve always fed them pedigree. I know… I know… I’m just looking for the best option.

[Anonymous]

Did you check out Wysong?

[Bobby dog]

I used to feed Bobby Pedigree too! I feed about half kibble, topped with either canned, frozen/FD commercial raw, or fresh foods, and he gets home cooked meals one day a week. So we’re all over the place.

I will post a list for you when I get on my PC. I’ll give you all brands I have fed and note which ones are lower fat for your pup with weight issues.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Ashley:
My dog is six, can eat anything, and has no health issues other than a tendency to gain weight during hot weather months. For canned foods I only take brands, ingredients, calories, proteins, and GA’s into consideration. I feed whatever recipe fits the bill regardless of what is on the label, puppy, small/large breed, Sr., etc. I try to feed foods with a fat to protein ratio of 50% or less; equal calories coming from fat and protein or more from protein than fat. For example, a recipe that is 4% fat and 8% protein would be ideal for him, 7% fat – 8% protein not so much. Some of the f-p ratios I feed can be up to 70% which is okay at this time since I rotate foods.

My budget foods are Tractor Supply Company 4Health – Turkey & Sweet Potato, Beef & Veg stews, or Sr. Chicken & Rice recipes, Triumph Puppy or Turkey recipes, BJ’s Earth’s Pride Chicken & Rice, and Wal-Mart Pure Balance Stews.

Here are some brands to check out that I currently feed or have fed:
Blue Buffalo Home-style, by Nature (no 95% recipes), California Natural, Canidae Pure Sky or Foundations, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Eagle Pack, Halo Spot’s Stew or Spot’s Choice recipes, Holistic Select, Hill’s Ideal Balance stews, Lotus, Nature’s Recipe canned or tubs, Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed recipes, Precise, Purina Pro Plan Natural recipes, Purina Beyond, Red Barn stews, Tiki Dog, Wellness – Core, Simple, Complete Health, or Stew recipes, and Weruva Human Style or Dogs in the Kitchen recipes only (Kobe/Kurobuta recipes are canned by Evanger’s).

Low fat recipes; most are available at my local stores. I order Life’s Abundance from their website. Generally I find stews to be higher in protein and lower in fat, but not always. These are between 12-20% fat and below 25% carbs on a dry matter basis using their label info:
Fromm’s Shredded Beef
I and Love and You Stews
Life’s Abundance Turkey & Shrimp or Chic & Crab stews
Nature’s Recipe Pure Essentials LID GF Chic/Broth or GF Lamb/Broth
Nature’s Recipe Pure Essentials tubs LID Duck or LID Venison
Nature’s Recipe tubs GF Chic & Duck in broth or GF Chic & Venison in broth
Nature’s Recipe tubs Chicken in broth or Chic & Turkey in broth
Nature’s Recipe GF Chic & Turkey stew or Chic & Venison Stew
Purina Beyond GF stews
Red Barn Beef Stew
Tiki Dog – Kauai Luau, Lahaina Luau, Maui Luau, or Tonga Luau recipes
Weruva – Marbella Paella, Bed & Breakfast, or Paw Lickin’ Chicken recipes
Wellness Core Weight Management

These are 22-25% fat and below 25% carbs DMB:
Halo Sr. Beef
Merrick Golden Years Medley
Nutro Natural Choice LID Sr.
Precise Holistic Pork w/veg in gravy
Red Barn Chic, Turkey, or Steak & Egg stews
Wal-Mart Pure Balance stews
Wellness Stews

Here are some freeze dried/frozen commercial raw and dehydrated foods I feed. I use the same guidelines for these foods:
I and Love and You dehydrated Turkey (I also want to try the Beef and Chicken)
Nature’s Variety Raw Frozen Beef, Lamb, and Venison
Primal FD Turkey & Sardine, Frozen Venison, and frozen Turkey & Sardine
Stella & Chewy’s FD Chicken

Here is some info you might find helpful:
/choosing-dog-food/canned-or-dry-dog-food/
/dog-feeding-tips/how-much-dog-food/
/canine-nutrition/low-fat-dog-food/
/choosing-dog-food/dry-matter-basis/
/choosing-dog-food/raw-dog-food-fat/
http://www.dogaware.com/diet/freshfoods.html
Carb calculator:
http://www.scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html

[Ashley W]

Wow! Thank you everyone for the advice! I greatly appreciate it! Everyone has been super helpful! I’m going to do a bit more research on the brands you guys listed! Again thank you! I wasn’t expecting such a response!

[Jackie B]

I feed canned food exclusively. The ratings on DFA are ratings for the type of food. So, a 3 star dry food is average for a dry food. A 3 star wet food is average for a wet food. But as you pointed out, there’s some belief that wet food is superior to dry food. I personally prefer it because it has more moisture in it, fewer preservatives than most dry foods (canning is a type of preservation), and my dogs seem to like it better. I also will buy the dehydrated foods (and serve them rehydrated) sometimes. Just my two cents on the matter!

[weezerweeks]

Ashley your YORKIE is soo cute. I also have a yorkie. This is my second one and I only feed canned or sometimes freezedried. He loves weruva but I rotate and give him other canned too.My yorkie weighs 7lbs. I can’t imagine having one that small but she sure is gorgeous.

[Ashley W]

I don’t have a yorkie… I was wondering why everyone was commenting about yorkies. It states in my question that I have a feist and a mixed breed. Where is it showing that I have a yorkie?

[Pitlove]

I think weezer might have thought you were Yorkieville on accident. He/She has a picture of a yorkie as their profile picture.

[weezerweeks]

I’m sorry Asley I meant to address it to yorkieville.

[Author]

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