Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[Skysong]

Look at this absolute goblin ♥

She thinks she runs the house, but she really doesn't :lol:

I got her papers the other day! :D

I've uh. Indirectly taught her that to get food she has to flip the bowl over by feeding her from a wobbler so now she's eating out of a Kong Tiltz. She was flipping her other regular bowls and losing kibble, so I caved and got one of these.

[Siven]

It's official, I'm getting a puppy! She's a blue merle Australian shepherd. I put my deposit down today and it finally feels real. My dog passed away a few years ago (she was also a herding dog) and it's been lonely not hearing paws running down the hallway all the time. An Aussie felt like the perfect choice - I wanted a medium-sized dog that could be relatively active, but can also appreciate an evening of TV and cuddles. I may even get into agility training if it feels right for her.

I've been reading the past few pages and I'm definitely going to look into Victor food. The big three I've been hearing about have been Purina Pro Plan, Hill’s Science Diet and Royal Canin. My cat eats prescription Royal Canin and I know it's a reputable brand, but it's a hefty price point so I'm open to other options.

victor is better then all 3 of those hills is definitely bad

[koala89silly]

Look at this absolute goblin ♥

She thinks she runs the house, but she really doesn't

I got her papers the other day!

I've uh. Indirectly taught her that to get food she has to flip the bowl over by feeding her from a wobbler so now she's eating out of a Kong Tiltz. She was flipping her other regular bowls and losing kibble, so I caved and got one of these.

Aww! She is so cute! What breed is she?

[Seasonal]

Look at this absolute goblin ♥

She thinks she runs the house, but she really doesn't :lol:

I got her papers the other day! :D

I've uh. Indirectly taught her that to get food she has to flip the bowl over by feeding her from a wobbler so now she's eating out of a Kong Tiltz. She was flipping her other regular bowls and losing kibble, so I caved and got one of these.

Aww! She is so cute! What breed is she?

Seconded, she is adorable! Look at those eyes ♥

[Skysong]

She's a border collie pup! She just turned 4 months old a couple days ago!

She gets along well with Lilly, not so much with Thor. So it's small interactions and crate and rotate for a while until we can get them interacting together better than they are ^^"

Few hours in, few hours out. and that cycle continues.

She's got hurdles down pretty good! So agility is a possibility, she loves (outside) water. So maybe dock diving?

There's a dock diving event next mouth a state over and I've been tempted to go but my family I don't get along with is going as well ^^"

[alizia]

It's official, I'm getting a puppy! She's a blue merle Australian shepherd. I put my deposit down today and it finally feels real. My dog passed away a few years ago (she was also a herding dog) and it's been lonely not hearing paws running down the hallway all the time. An Aussie felt like the perfect choice - I wanted a medium-sized dog that could be relatively active, but can also appreciate an evening of TV and cuddles. I may even get into agility training if it feels right for her.

I've been reading the past few pages and I'm definitely going to look into Victor food. The big three I've been hearing about have been Purina Pro Plan, Hill’s Science Diet and Royal Canin. My cat eats prescription Royal Canin and I know it's a reputable brand, but it's a hefty price point so I'm open to other options.

Congrats on your new puppy! Share pictures when you get her!!
My 7 month old afghan hound puppy is on Purina Pro Plan and thriving. I started it upon recommendation from others in the show ring and I highly recommend it! He is developing beautifully and full of energy. I do know that PPP is quite expensive though, so Purina One might be a good option to look at. It is almost as popular as PPP in the show circuit.
I'll also mention that my family has a very poorly bred pomeranian (she has just about every health issue possible) and Hills is the only food she has done well on. Either way, Purina Pro Plan, Hill’s Science Diet and Royal Canin are WSAVA approved, so they're all safe picks.

I see Victor being recommended, but here are the reasons I don't like Victor:
They do not meet the guidelines for WSAVA. They do not employ a board certified canine nutritionist or DCVAN. Their nutritionist Michael Keith really isn't qualified to formulate a food (does not have the minimum of a PhD and has no team with experience). They do not do AAFCO feeding trials nor do they formulate to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles. Their diets are "formulated to meet" which means formulation is determined via laboratory rather than feeding to animals. There is no peer-reviewed research. It's associated with DCM cases.

It is a popular brand but they spend a LOT more on pretty marketing than research, which they can certainly afford but interestingly opt not to. I'm not saying it's the worst out there, but there's a suspicious lack of scientific research so I personally wouldn't consider it.

My boy at 4 months for tax. :D

[Siven]

It's official, I'm getting a puppy! She's a blue merle Australian shepherd. I put my deposit down today and it finally feels real. My dog passed away a few years ago (she was also a herding dog) and it's been lonely not hearing paws running down the hallway all the time. An Aussie felt like the perfect choice - I wanted a medium-sized dog that could be relatively active, but can also appreciate an evening of TV and cuddles. I may even get into agility training if it feels right for her.

I've been reading the past few pages and I'm definitely going to look into Victor food. The big three I've been hearing about have been Purina Pro Plan, Hill’s Science Diet and Royal Canin. My cat eats prescription Royal Canin and I know it's a reputable brand, but it's a hefty price point so I'm open to other options.

Congrats on your new puppy! Share pictures when you get her!!
My 7 month old afghan hound puppy is on Purina Pro Plan and thriving. I started it upon recommendation from others in the show ring and I highly recommend it! He is developing beautifully and full of energy. I do know that PPP is quite expensive though, so Purina One might be a good option to look at. It is almost as popular as PPP in the show circuit.
I'll also mention that my family has a very poorly bred pomeranian (she has just about every health issue possible) and Hills is the only food she has done well on. Either way, Purina Pro Plan, Hill’s Science Diet and Royal Canin are WSAVA approved, so they're all safe picks.

I see Victor being recommended, but here are the reasons I don't like Victor:
They do not meet the guidelines for WSAVA. They do not employ a board certified canine nutritionist or DCVAN. Their nutritionist Michael Keith really isn't qualified to formulate a food (does not have the minimum of a PhD and has no team with experience). They do not do AAFCO feeding trials nor do they formulate to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles. Their diets are "formulated to meet" which means formulation is determined via laboratory rather than feeding to animals. There is no peer-reviewed research. It's associated with DCM cases.

It is a popular brand but they spend a LOT more on pretty marketing than research, which they can certainly afford but interestingly opt not to. I'm not saying it's the worst out there, but there's a suspicious lack of scientific research so I personally wouldn't consider it.

My boy at 4 months for tax.

But also, just because dog food is WSAVA is approved doesn't mean its good. A dog nutritionist I spoke to said that once a company creates food and gets it WSAVA approved, they can basically call all their food from then on WSAVA approved because it's never checked again. Even if it's garbage.

[alizia]

But also, just because dog food is WSAVA is approved doesn't mean its good. A dog nutritionist I spoke to said that once a company creates food and gets it WSAVA approved, they can basically call all their food from then on WSAVA approved because it's never checked again. Even if it's garbage.

“WSAVA approved” wasn’t the right choice of words there, my mistake. The correct phrasing is “meets WSAVA guidelines.” The nutritionist your spoke of completely made up their argument because there is no such thing as WSAVA approval. Nor do they "check" on any particular food or brand.

WSAVA does not “approve” any brands or companies. They provide recommendations on what consumers should consider and ask a company when looking to purchase pet foods. Those recommendations are not specific to any brand or company. Having a qualified companion animal nutritionist, or several, on staff, and doing feeding trials, are some of those things to consider— there are few brands outside of the ‘Big 5’ that do that, and those that do are often cutting corners elsewhere.

I (personally) would not feed any food that doesn’t meet these guidelines. All of Victor's red flags that I listed could absolutely be disproved or remedied by presenting scientific research, but they for some reason choose not to. Victor is big enough to afford extensive feeding trials, the evaluation of a qualified nutritionist, and more in depth research for peer-review, so why don't they? Just my personal take; I know Victor is popular, but consumer opinions do not mean anything to me without scientific backing from qualified professionals.

[ChunkyChad]

Hi, do you guys happen to know any diet dog food thats good for weight loss and is affordable?

For context my senior dog was seen by the vet recently and she needs to lose weight, she recommended a couple of brands however they're like the brands sold at the vet shops and are very expensive and it would be nice to find a somewhat cheaper alternative. My vet wants her to lose 10lbs minimum, ands she is not able to move very much from severe arthritis so her food is our main strategy for lowering her weight. Other than that my dog has very little problems with changing food and likes pretty much anything, she has no allergies and no sensitivities. She is suspected of possibly having pancreatitis by my vet but we are working with her on a plan for that to be on the safe side.

[Skysong]

Hi, do you guys happen to know any diet dog food thats good for weight loss and is affordable?

For context my senior dog was seen by the vet recently and she needs to lose weight, she recommended a couple of brands however they're like the brands sold at the vet shops and are very expensive and it would be nice to find a somewhat cheaper alternative. My vet wants her to lose 10lbs minimum, ands she is not able to move very much from severe arthritis so her food is our main strategy for lowering her weight. Other than that my dog has very little problems with changing food and likes pretty much anything, she has no allergies and no sensitivities. She is suspected of possibly having pancreatitis by my vet but we are working with her on a plan for that to be on the safe side.

First your signature is horrifying :lol: :lol: :lol:

Second

Purina One has a healthy weight formula, Purina Pro Plan has a vet diet for overweight management, PruBalance (the walmart brand) is what I feed my dogs, it has a healthy weight formula that isn't super expensive, Authority has weight management food as well.

A lot of brands have a healthy weight style food. ^^

This one is specifically what I feed my dogs