canidae?

[babydungeon]

i have heard so many people recommend this dry kibble for their rottweilers on this forum. i just read a post from ellak about the deal in TX. i'm in zone 5 so it would be about $37 a bag including shipping. my question is, what is in this canidae? i know it's supposed to be for all life stages but do they offer a "puppy" formulated food or one for large breed dogs? is this just one bag of food for every type of dog at any age or what? i know it's supposed to be one of the best foods out there but how do i know which one to order? currently i am feeding my 8 1/2 week old male iams large breed mixed with pedigree w/ calcium. i bought these before i brought the puppy home and before i knew "anything" about rottweilers so please go easy on me, i am an amatuer. i did read this forum alot before i brought him home and still read it everyday. i also am currently reading "the rottweiler handbook" recommended by german vanegas. that is a great book! sorry to get off the subject, please let me know about what type of canidae to try.
thanks, dungeon's daddy

[German Vanegas]

Check Canidae's website at:

http://www.canidae.com/

By the way, IAMS and Pedigree are barely acceptable dog foods. You can do better for your dog with the great variety of super premium dog foods available.

I am glad that you got "The Rottweiler Handbook" from Jean Hustace Walker. Woo Hoooo!!! ;) :)

[rottnvegas]

German, would you put Pedigree and Iams on the same plane considering that Pedigree's number one ingredient is corn while Iams number one ingredient is lamb? Do you think Iams might at least be a hair better than Pedigree? What makes Canidae the choice over Iams? I think my problem with everyone recommending Canidae is that I have four big dogs and it would damn near break me to feed them at about $1 per pound. I feed a food that number one ingredient is Lamb and number two ingredient is rice. It is called Maxximum nutrition and I get it at Wal-mart and it costs me $21 for a 40 lb. bag. My dog's coat glisten and they almost always have a bery firm stool (unless my g/f slips them something that she shouldn't). I would just like to see some scientific, side by side proof that Canidae is a better food. Sometimes people pay $75 for a pair of jeans because they say "Polo" on them. I would be interested if any scientific proof could deem these over priced jeans "better" than a pair of $30 Levis? Do they last longer, or does the consumer feel better about the fact they bought the most expensive option available???? I wonder

[babydungeon]

rottnvegas does have a good point. the canidae site still doesn't say how many different types of kibble they offer, just dry and canned. i am going to check the "guaranteed analysis" of the canidae against my dog food. also, i did read that rottweilers are often allergic to corn and it should not be given to them regularly. another thing about the pedigree w/ calcium- i read that extra amounts of calcium should be avoided with rottweiler puppies because of the stress it can cause in the future and it's role in hip dysplacia. i wish now that i hadn't bought such big bags of food! so does anyone else know why these "superpremium" dog foods are so super? i just want the best for my dog.

[babydungeon]

canidae:

crude protein- 24%
crude fat- 14.5%
crude fiber- 4%
moisture- 10%
omega-6 fatty acids- 3.20%
omega-3 fatty acids- .60%

pedigree puppy calcium enriched, high rice recipe:

crude protein- 27%
crude fat- 10%
crude fiber- 3%
moisture- 12%


iams large breed puppy:

crude protein- 26%
crude fat- 14%
crude fiber- 5%
moisture- 10%
omega-6 fatty acids- 2.80%
omega-3 fatty acids- 0.28%

i don't know much about what good numbers are but these are what i got off the bags. hope it helps to determine if one is better than the other.

[Homerhomer]

I am not going to give you a scientific comparison but I would like to bring up few points.
IMO the guaranteed analizys guarantee what's in the food and not what the dog will be able to digest. The food may contain proteins, carbo and others from very poor sources, therefore even the the bag tells you that there is so much proteins, only a portion of that will be digested by a dog.That's one reason why good quality ingredients are so important. Other things that make superpremium foods better than the others are:
1) only humane grade products used, the supremarkets brands use byproduct that are not a desirable ingredient. Meat byproducts are fine when feeding raw natural diet, however food manufacturers may obtain them from questionable sources (sick animals, hairs, furs nails etc etc) therefore brands including byproducts should be avoided
2) supermarket brands include all kinds of cheap fillers (corn, rice byproducts etc). In fact some product have those fillers broken down in so many single products that after you add them up they will became the single largest ingredient of the kibble
2) superpremium kibbles use only natural preservatives like vit c & e
4) good kibbles will offer much better variety of ingredients therefore your dog will be fed a meal that is more nutritious with a smaller amount of harmfull ingredients than in the cheap kibble
If you don't want to feed natural home made diet and the price a superpremium kibble is beyond your budget, German Vanegas also recommends a brand called Health Wise which apparently is cheaper than canidae and MUCH better than what you feed now (I don't know much about healthwise, but since German recommends it, it's gotta be good;) )
Canidae offers only one type of food for all stages of life. I guess the thinking behind it is that in the wild animals eat the same food regardless of the age, they just eat more or less depending on the circumstances.
Hope it helps, and the choice is yours.

[ladawn]

I am by no means an expert, however as one of those obsessive type personalities (who also suffers from terminal frugality), I did a lot of reading about different dog foods and how dog food is made before deciding what to buy. I think the guaranteed analysis is not what you should be looking for in terms of how good your dog food is. The key is the ingredients. Part of what sets dog food apart is where the ingredients come from. Others have said it better than I am about to. I want to say first--buy the best dog food you can afford. Don't feel bad about what you feed.

I refuse to believe that if you can't feed your dog a superpremium food that you are not worthy of owning a dog. God help us all who are concerned about pet overpopulation if that is the case.

Part of the reason why Canidae is appealing to a lot of people on this board is because it uses human grade meat as a primary ingredient. Most dog food brands are owned by people food companies. They take the people grade food and use it for us, but they are left with lots of left over parts that at one time they didn't know what to do with it. They decided to make dog food. You may say, what's wrong with that? Well, when trying to decide what exactly is in your dog's kibble, you can't. It is literally all of the left over parts (beak, feathers). Furthermore, often times it is from sick animals and loaded with pesticides. It is subjected to chemicals to make it useable. I'm going to do a search to find you some of the articles I read. They aren't to make you feel bad, just to let you know what you are getting.

All dog foods are not the same. That doesn't make you a bad pet owner if you don't feed the super premium IMHO:)

[Homerhomer]

.....and with a superpremium you would usually feed a bit less than with the supermarket brand, so even the price of the bag is much more expensive, it lasts a bit longer so it isn't as expensive in comparison to other brands as it initially looks like.

[ladawn]

http://www.api4animals.org/doc.asp?ID=79

[palepeople]

rottnvegas, I left a message for you on my original thread "pup:barf or no barf". Check it out and let me know what you think. I'm new to the forum, but I think many on here are concerned that the industry has set a standard of what nutrition is for our dogs and they are also concerned about the quality of the ingredients. A human example would be if you wanted a steak from a ranch in Texas or a steak from England. (mad cow problem). Same ingredient right? You would think that lamb from one brand is the same quality of lamb in another brand. I don't really know, but it has been my take on things that EVERYONE here loves their pets and is doing their best to care for them:D I have four children, so cost is a MAJOR consideration for me too!:)

[babydungeon]

ladawn,
thank you very much for the link to that wake up call of an article. i will really have to pay more attention to the fine print on those labels. i wish i could feed him raw but i do not have the time or experience to do that. i will have to find a good quality food that i can trust and go with that for now. EVERYONE should read the article that ladawn has the link to. it is very informative.

german vanegas,
please read the article and let me know if you still recommend canidae as strongly as you have in the past. everyone seems to trust your knowledge with rottweilers. thank you!

[Jamie & Odin]

I started feeding Canidae about two months ago, and what a difference! NO doggy smell, NO bad breath, NO flatulance (thank God for small miracles;)) The above were so bad, when you opened the door to the laundry room where Odin's crate was, you would just about gag. I'd put him in the car to go for a ride and have to roll down the window to breath. I am not exagerating! Yes it is a bit more expensive per bag, but I feed almost half as much. And MY quality of life and ability to enjoy my dog has improved, let alone his coat, which is smooth and shiny. I am not an expert by any means, but this experience seals it for me!

[Soapie&Buddy'sMom]

I can second that on the gas.
I got Miller earlier this year from a family who could "no longer care for him". They used to feed him Pro-plan. MAN did he have gas when he first came here (plus they had warned me - Miller has bad gas)
Once he got on Canidae, there has been no problem with gas EXCEPT when I feed him too much people food, which I am guilty of once in a while.

i don't think brand name/marketing applies to dog food - except in the other direction. So many people think they are buying a good food when they buy Iams, or Science diet...and those companies must spend a ton on advertising and marketing to promote their brand. And they just aren't that good.
Re Canidae - I'd never heard of it until this forum, so they either don't spend much on marketing/promotion, or are very bad at it. I think it's the former - they spend the money on putting human grade ingredients in the kibble!

[k&s]

I pay $32 for a 40 lb bag of canidae here in upstate NY. I think that includes tax. Seems to be more expensive in some areas.

[ellak]

I think the most important destinctions between IAMS and Canidae are:
1. The main ingredients
Canidae has 'meal' as a basis while IAMS has 'meat'. Chicken meal is better than chicken meat (there was a link on this explaining why).
2. IAMS has tocopherols or BHA as a preservative which creates different types of adverse reactions in dogs.
A specific case would be my dog. I fed him Eukanuba Large puppy breed until 2 months ago. It contains tocopherols, which I didn't know was bad by itself. I switched him to Eukanuba Large Adult which has BHA and he started throwing up almost every other night. It took us a while to figure out why it happened, then, we switched back to Eukanuba puppy and it went away. So, his bodily reaction to BHA was vomitting, could have been much worse.
After doing some research, I came to conclusion the Canidae is the best food for the price. And I switched Matrix to it, he's doing awesome :) I was paying about $40 for Eukanba, it required 5 1/2 cups per day, not to count the wasted food by my dog :) I pay about $35 for Canidae and it requires 4 1/2 cups per day. It's a better price for a much better food.
However, there are many other brands available that are just as good. Call the small pet shops and find out what they carry and do the research. I'm sure you'll find a much better alternative.