Best Dog Food?

[Agglet]

I have a beagle and two coonhounds and feed them mostly Acana. Really anything but the cheapest crap will be fine as long as your dog doesn't have any allergies and digests the stuff. Dogs will happily eat trash and I've seen one of my coonhounds eat a horse turd and a couple of rocks. I only buy the expensive stuff because my one coonhound (not the rock eater) had allergies to wheat. Since there is no way in hell I can keep them from stealing each other's food all the dogs get the good stuff. One thing that is noticeable is that none of the dogs have that
dog stink to them and their coats are shiny.

[Paintzapper]

As someone who use to sell dogfood to people for 3 years and had this question nearly every day, I will give you my most honest answer.; it depends on the dog and your primary goals. Dogs can handle an omnivorous diet, but still need protein as a primary ingredient. I'm not beholden to any company at all as I have seen hundreds of dogs suffer on the "best" foods but thrive on a slightly "inferior" brand.

You also have so many options with dry, wet, raw, ect that you have to pick what you want to deal with yourself. Keep in mind that if you do wet/raw you need to give them something to chew on or brush their teeth.

90% of the time, it's not down to the best brand its down to the best ingredients that your dog is capable of digesting. If you have a pure bread or purpose bread dog you will have more issues than a standard mutt like I had.

If you are looking for a better coat and skin or are worried about digestive or allergies, quality proteins like lamb, salmon, duck, and bison will provide better results than chicken, beef, and the typical cornmeal based foods.

So my suggestion to you, read the ingredients on the bag and compare what is immediately available to you. This is important because each region or even county will have different options available to them. Personally, I look for the primary protein(s) as the first ingredient(s). Then easier to digest grains or starches like sweet potato, potato, brown rice, barley, and oatmeal are great options. Noted each dog will digest proteins and carbs differently and sometimes you will need to try some out.

If you want some good brands to start looking at here are some to check out. Again, read the ingredients, compare, and determine what is best with what is available to you.

• Blue Buffalo (more of a lean to the wilderness and basics versions than their standard mix)
• Bil-Jac (it's different, but good for dogs with sensitive gums)
• CANIDAE (more of a lean to the pure versions than their standard mix)
• Diamond (more of a lean to the naturals variety)
• Halo
• Instinct (not my favorite, but a decent option)
• Natural Balance (I usually point people to this food for generic allergies as they have limited ingredient stuff)
• Rachael Ray Nutrish (this is the best stuff I have seen at typical grocery stores if you have no other pet supply options)
• Solid Gold (this is one of my go to options for good food for picky dogs)
• Taste of the Wild (The fish options are really good for sensitive stomachs and skin)
• Wellness (lean towards the Simple variety, then the standard stuff. I rarely recommend CORE unless the dog is super active)

But if you want what I would feed my dog, I would probably pick solid gold, wellness, or Taste of the Wild in that order.

[Paintzapper]

BrickHaus CORE is usually high protein/high energy output food, but offers some quality food that isn't garbage. Your dog is active and will be fine with this food. I don't recommend CORE to people with purely indoor dogs that only go in the back yard to potty.

[BrickHaus]

We looked, and we are currently giving her puppy bland which only comes in core. After the current bag she is on runs out we will try the adult wellness non core brand.

And shes fairly active. An inside dog, but we walk her every day, and my wife runs with her a few miles a day. Either way, I really appreciate the knowledge.

[BLachance75]

BrickHaus we give one of our dogs Wellness Complete Health. I'd say she is moderately active. We walk her and she gets chased around by our other dog.

[coyote]

I took a pole. 100 percent of the responders said "bacon".

[mueller]

"Best dog food" is like "best paintball gun" or "best car" IMO - the topic has lost some relevancy as the overall quality across market has risen over past few decades.

Long as you're not buying the economy cheap stuff, YMMV but you're generally going to do just fine and you should find what best suits your personal situation. The quality is priced in fairly efficiently.