is any thing good enough?

[Damien]

Hi there I have been reading a lot of posts about differant foods and I have to ask what if any is the best food to feed our Boxers? I've been feeding Xander Royal Canin and all seems to be fine with the exception of a little diarrea now and then but I think this is caused by the amount of treats he gets in a day. Here are some of the ingredients for Royal Canin starting w/chicken meal,brown rice,brewers rice, corn gluten meal, chicken fat(naturally preserved with mixed tocopherois),beet pulp(sugar removed), chicken, natural chicken flavor and lamb meal. Now this brand was recomended by our breeder and pet smart. However I am not reading anything good about brewers rice,corn and beet pulp. Any suggestions?

Damien & Xander
Flashy Fawn w/Black mask
09/30/05

 

[courtney323]

Hi there I have been reading a lot of posts about differant foods and I have to ask what if any is the best food to feed our Boxers? I've been feeding Xander Royal Canin and all seems to be fine with the exception of a little diarrea now and then but I think this is caused by the amount of treats he gets in a day. Here are some of the ingredients for Royal Canin starting w/chicken meal,brown rice,brewers rice, corn gluten meal, chicken fat(naturally preserved with mixed tocopherois),beet pulp(sugar removed), chicken, natural chicken flavor and lamb meal. Now this brand was recomended by our breeder and pet smart. However I am not reading anything good about brewers rice,corn and beet pulp. Any suggestions?

Probably the best thing you can feed your Boxers is a natural raw diet. But, if you are asking about dry dog food, there are many great foods out there! Sorry to say that Royal Canin is not one of them (for the reasons you mentioned: corn, brewers rice, beet pulp, etc...). If you are set on sticking with Royal Canin, their Sensible Choice Formula is the best they have to offer, IMO.

Any of the below foods are a lot better, in terms of quality:

Innova
Canidae
Chicken Soup
California Natural
Wellness
Solid Gold
Natural Balance Ultra
Merrick

 

[gmacleod]

There are plenty of good foods out there. But they do not contain waste products like brewers rice, corn of any description (but especially in gluten meal form), beet pulp or other junk products.

Look for foods that contain meat - lots of it. Even the very best of the best dry dog foods that it is possible to get contain less than 50% meat products. That's NOT GREAT - canines should be eating diets that are 70% meat products, or better.. You won't find anyting quite that good - but note that the worst of the worst has about 4% meat products. For feeding a carnivore! So it's very important to choose something with as much meat as you can possibly get. And no junk ingredients - some of the ingredients that go into dog food are better used to produce biodiesel fuel...

You aren't likely to find high quality dog foods in big chain pet stores. With rare exceptions, they carry the low end foods that they can shift in bulk. Take a look in feed stores and smaller pet stores instead. Or look online at some of the manufacturer websites - they have store locators, and sometimes online stores too.

There are plenty of great choices out there. Some of the very best ones are Timberwolf Organics, Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Innova, Merrick, and Fromms Four Star. There are quite a few others of good quality around also, if none of those happen to suit.