After some time without a dog, I jumped back in. I've got a 10 month old black lab. Very active dog that loves to work. My previous dog of 8 years was fed J/D for half of his life due to joint problems. That stuff really works.
I'm currently feeding him Simply Right High Performance from SAMs. If that's not a good food for him, could you guys give me some advice of good foods and where to find them.
I've got a tractor supply close to my house. Co-op a little further. Of course I go to SAMs. But we don't go to walmart for fear of getting shot or shooting someone. Thanks.

Taste Of The Wild is what I feed my labs. A little pricey but well worth the money in my opinion. I order it from Amazon.com at $46 a bag no tax free shipping and they set it on your door step.

What mr. Jim said or the high protein river run from the co-op. Purple or red bag can't remember which

Always used purina and did fine. Couple of dogs recently had skin problems and one was vomiting after eating frequently, switched to taste of the wild and all problems cleared up and dogs just look better.

There is a lot of misconception in the world of dog food. Pet owner's are swamped with all these claims about natural, and wholesome, and meat as the first ingredient. It is all nothing more than a marketing ploy. Most all pet foods contain animal based proteins as the first ingredient due to what's called "grain splitting". They separate out the corn, wheat, rice, etc. so that technically meat/animal product is the highest percentage, but actually grains are the highest amount. Stick to a premium food such as Hill's, Purina, Pedigree, Royal Canin,etc and you will be fine. There is a huge misunderstanding about pet nutrition out there when it comes to consumers and the pet food industry makes billions off of it due to clever marketing and playing people's emotions.

Proof is in the pudding. You can call it marketing all you want but when skin allergies go away immediately with grain free food it makes me a believer. I even tried to go back to Purina Pro Plan but the allergies returned immediately.Back on TOTW and they are gone again. Coats look awesome too.

In general, like everything else, you get what you pay for with dog food. I own 9 working dogs. Two German Shepard ppds and 7 bird dogs. There is a major difference between the cheap food and premium brands. You will feed twice as much of the cheap stuff to satisfy the dog's appetite and then most of it goes straight through them. I've found the most economical way to feed a kennel/ house full of dogs is the best I can afford

I've found the most economical way to feed a kennel/ house full of dogs is the best I can afford [/quote]

Great way to put it.

Been feeding innova for 8+ years to both my dogs with very good results. Little pricey at $50 a bag,but you get what you pay for.

Showtime is hard to beat

All I know is my Lab went from keeping me up all night scaratching to hardly scratching at all when I switched him to a 5 star grain free food.

laidback, you misunderstood me. Wasn't calling TOTW out, they are probably one of the few true holistics out there. Case in point Blue Buffalo has just been sued by Purina for false advertising and unjust enrichment over their grain free/ by-product free claims. It's a cut throat business. If your dog has a condition that needs to be managed by a veterinary prescription diet that's another ball of yarn completely.

I agree that there is a lot of claims that probably aren't true but marketing ploys. I fed Purina Pro Plan for several years without many problems but my oldest lab developed allergies so I switched to TOTW. All her problems went away and my dogs coats look great. I have a litter of pups thay should whep with a couple of weeks and I just ordered a bag of Blue Buffalo Puppy chow for large breed dogs. I hope it's as good as they advertise. I would have stayed with TOTW but they do not have a puppy chow for large breeds. I agree with you that the dog food business is cutthroat.

From what I have been told from veterinarians that have been in business for a long time, 30 years ago food allergies were unheard of. Was it because they weren't there, they didn't know to suspect food, or that the client didn't complain about an itching, scratching dog? Who knows, likely all three. Now days, I'd venture that over half of the dogs that are presented with dermatological problems are related to food. Is it due to the composition of food these days, genetics, environmental factors, etc?? Don't really know, but many dogs have good results from switching to a specialty diet (ie grain free, novel protein, etc.). In my limited experience, I do know that skin problems are among the most frustrating cases from both a veterinarian and a pet owner's perspectives.

Every person that I recommended switching to grain free, and there have been many, saw immediate results. Like I said before I went back to Purina and the problems returned and when I switched back to TOTW they were gone in less than a day.

Been feeding TOTW Venison/Bison for not quite a year. As already said, my lab and mutt's coats improved greatly. They eat half as much and poop half as much, which offsets the cost of something cheaper. I get it through amazon like laidback. It's on my doorstep in about 3-4 days. Feeding 2 dogs a 30lb bag feeds a month last I looked at my order history on amazon.

3toe, did I read that right, you feed 2 dogs on 1 30lb sack a month?

Thanks

I get about a month out of a 30 pound bag in he summer and a little less in the winter for 2 dogs but they are small squirrel dogs.

Thanks Charlie, I'll have to try a bag of that.

I tried pro plan it sucked. Go to dogfoodadvisor.com they rate all dog food and you want to stick with a 4 or 5 star food. We use Victor it's high protein and very reasonable