[tzuwei]

Ive been feeding this food to my Chinese Sharpei (15 yrs old) and my Bulldogs Tooley (now deceased, because of a tooth infection the vet missed until too late. Age 12) and Eliza now aged 9. I have always added Solid Gold sea meal with water to their food for a slightly moist mixture.

My thoughts have always been feed my dogs the best food possible and they would be healthier and happy. I am very discouraged to see the ratings on this food…although considering their longevity am reluctant to change what I’ve been giving them.

At their ages can anyone advise me as to the best food for my canine family?

Thx for any help offered!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi tzuwei –

Hund-n-Flocken has low ratings because it’s very low in protein. Another concern with this food would be that it’s manufactured by Diamond (Solid Gold’s Hund-n-Flocken, Just a Wee Bit, WolfCub and WolfKing are manufactured by Diamond)- Diamond has had numerous recalls over the past year. Being that your dogs are now seniors I’d definitely advise feeding a higher protein food. As dogs age their body’s need for the amino acids provided by protein doesn’t decrease, however their body becomes less efficient at metabolizing protein. For this reason, senior dogs need up to 50% more protein than adult dogs. My senior eats between 45% and 55% protein at each meal. If you want to stick with Solid Gold they have two formulas that look excellent: Sun Dancer (4.5 stars) and Barking at the Moon (5 stars) – neither of these formulas are manufactured by Diamond. If you want to move away from Solid Gold, any of the 4 or 5 star foods would be worth checking out. Feel free to try several brands, feeding only one food isn’t very healthy – dogs need variety. You could also experiment with canned food toppers as another way to add moisture.

[tzuwei]

Thank you Hound Dog Mom! I didn’t mention that I do add adult formulated canned toppers as you suggested…just bought a different brand of the canned called Natural Balance Wild Boar! They seem to like it way better than the SG Adult brand canned. I will definitely buy Barking at the Moon and start mixing it in with the (already purchased) 40lbs of Hunden Flocken until I can ween them off it and switch…unless you have a better suggestion! Once again many many thanks for taking the time to help me – help my canine family! All my best, t

[puppylove]

We have had good results with Solid Gold, but our shihpoo developed yeast, still trying to figure out the problem. The pet food store worker said that Solid Gold had the highest protein value, but after reading this blog, I’ve learned there’s a lot to learn about dog food and the tricks of the industry.

[aussiemom]

What is labeled as chicken meal + depending on the product salmon meal, beef meal etc. are ground items produced at rendering companies. Those rendering companies are not monitored for safety regarding types of animal parts used. They will and do toss any part of an animal into the mix. It was reported that this often includes the packaging in which the parts were shipped to them .Including the styrofoam container + plastic wrapping. All parts of the chicken are included, guts, feet, beaks etc. Once the process is completed to create this toxic mix into meal it is distributed to companies that then add it into dry dog foods. I did read that even some of the best dog food manufacturers do not check on source of meal used.
So when a product is labeled as containing chicken meal it’s not really telling you anything about what’s actually in that product. The problem for dog owners is how to avoid such products. Reading a label that states only ‘chicken meal’ doesn’t tell you from what source that chicken meal was derived.
I have in the past used hund n flocken but the dogs seemed to grow weary of it. Now using Fromm gold mixed with Canidae canned. Is this safe?? Impossible to know.

[theBCnut]

It is important to be able to trust the company that feeds your dog. You should call and ask questions of any company if you are considering their food. If they have terrible customer service or can’t satisfactorily answer your questions, move on. It is easy for a company to know if they get their meal from a USDA inspected plant from USDA inspected animals.

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