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[DoubleJ]

I missed the "stew them up" part.

[ORCA_SIX]

I actually feed rabbit to my dogs until I run out, I just boil them up, put them bones and all through the grinder... Dogs were really healthy for a few months when it was rabbit season as we have hundreds of them around the house...

When rabbit is not in season I use the Kirkland wet food and pedigree dry food.

When do you go rabbit hunting in that area? PM me if you are willing to share some good info.

[Camp David]

Back to the original question...I used the diamond brand dog food for a while and both dogs had the chits. We would get a lot of puking also. Switched to a different brand and the problem went away. Lots of stuff to read about Diamond brand food and the numerous complaints/deaths from the stuff.

[10Key]

We fed our Britt the Kirkland puppy and then moved to the adult formula, had no problems until we discovered the dog developed a gluten allergy. We switched to a gluten-free variety and haven't looked back.

[Happy Gilmore]

Nope. Been feeding Nature's Domain since Costco came out with it. (same as Taste of the Wild)

Last recall was really small and it was salmonella. Salmonella can rarely do more to a dog than give it the chits for a day if anything. The recall was more to protect it from being spread to the people who handle the dog food.

[Happy Gilmore]

it is the same. $35 for the same sized bag.

[Happy Gilmore]

The differences listed are within the allowable standards for one batch of food.

Basically, they have a percentage they can swing batch to batch. Dog food companies can completely change formulas and don't have to re-label the product for 6 months.

There is no difference in smell, kibble size, look, feel....etc. They still need the small boutique stores to be able to convince someone to pay $15 more for the same thing.

The kennel here goes through about 7-10 bags a week. Other brands costing a lot more money have been fed and performance, look, energy level etc was not better. 12 master hunter titles, 8 Senior hunter titles and 6-7 show Champions in 2012 all eating on it can't be all that wrong.

[Happy Gilmore]

Happy I'm not trying to say Natures Domain is a bad food at all. All I was saying is it is not the same as TOTW. a quick look at the ingredient list will tell you that.

for 1% protein difference. The food is from the same batch.

when it comes to dog food, i'd be willing to bet, if we visited the factory, there would be zero difference in salmon meal and "salmon"... your dog aint getting a filet of fish here. All this stuff is 50gallon tubs of processed goo and powder.. mixed, extruded and dried.

[runamuk]

diamond also makes chicken soup, dels premium label, and costco/kirkland the recipes are almost identical on those 3 when comparing lamb to lamb chicken to chicken etc... I fed kirkland foods and never had problems, I was a rep for natural balance so fed that had a few dogs allergic to flaxseed and a couple bad reactions.....my suggestion after years of nutrition study in animal feeds...read and compare labels.

meat meal is usually mixed meats.....chicken meal vs chicken the meal is actually more nutritious same goes for lamb vs lamb meal and salmon vs salmon meal meal includes bones skin fat etc which contains lots of things carnivores need.  what you dont want is corn, soy, wheat as your first ingredients its just cheap filler and makes your dog crap big piles

read labels dont rely on names and advertising or what the vet carries some of those are just full of fillers and cost way more than they should.

[Happy Gilmore]

A meat and a meat meal product are two different things. And this is not the only difference in the the two products. Look at the order of the ingredients lists, there are many differences. And TOTW have ingredients like smoked salmon that ND do not have.

The only reason I point this out is because I didn't want the guy asking if they were the same running out buying ND thinking it was on bad information. The foods are similar, but not the same.

Its made at the same place, by the same company. It looks exactly the same, smells exactly the same and comes in exactly the same bag with different writing. Knowing that dog food companies can change ingredients without changing the label is telling me that they leave certain little differences so they can make and charge a higher price and have folks believe it will make a difference in the performance or appearance of their dog.

THere have probably been more field champions, show champions and hall of fame dogs fed old-school purina with lots of corn filler than there have been in the last few years of the anti-corn in food craze....just sayin'...

[Stilly bay]

THere have probably been more field champions, show champions and hall of fame dogs fed old-school purina with lots of corn filler than there have been in the last few years of the anti-corn in food craze....just sayin'...

thats kinda like saying  more deer have been killed through primitive archery equipment than firearms.

old school purina has been around for a very long time and  has the one of the largest customer bases- people tend to stick with what works for them but that doesn't mean its the best food out there. it was one time viewed as the best mainly because of its ad campaign. information and education on dog food is a relatively new thing as well, up until recently the vast majority of dog owners that weren't feeding cheap went off of hearsay or what their vet recommended.
 
also...
a trainer/trialer isn't going to spring for blue buffalo when he has a couple dozen of his clients dogs to feed.  that doesn't mean higher quality foods don't factor into success, health or stamina.

FWIW I am not saying purina is bad food or even mediocre, Its what I feed my dogs- just without the corn filler.

[runamuk]

I have had plenty of dogs that could eat corn based diets, however have had 2 dogs severely allergic to corn, hence why i dont support any specific brand of dog food and say read labels.  I will say no creature is designed to digest corn no human, carnivore or herbivore fully utilizes corn most extract some sugar and the rest is waste so corn= poop, if you like/dont mind scooping poo and your dog maintains weight, health, and coat on corn based diets I say go for it.  Of course corn also poisoned a bunch of dogs when it got an ergot in a batch....believe it was a diamond plant....

for the record I had the worst luck with more dogs of more breeds on science diet than any other brand out there including ol roy, science diet seemed to be a guaranteed give the dog the craps food and most of their formulas include corn as a primary ingredient so cost does not determine whats in a dog food....read the labels....investigate......and if whats working is working for crying out loud don't fix what isn't broke no matter who tells you that you should.

[DoubleJ]

A meat and a meat meal product are two different things. And this is not the only difference in the the two products. Look at the order of the ingredients lists, there are many differences. And TOTW have ingredients like smoked salmon that ND do not have.

The only reason I point this out is because I didn't want the guy asking if they were the same running out buying ND thinking it was on bad information. The foods are similar, but not the same.

The real meat vs. meal debate is for wet food only.  Real meat as the #1 ingredient means nothing in dry food since, well, it's dry and looses it's weight.  Ingredient lists for dog food is listed in order of weight When real meat is listed as #1 ingredient, it can more accurately be called the 2nd or even 3rd ingredient since, when dehydrated, it looses most of it's weight.  You actually want some form of meat meal as the #1 ingredient since it's dry when added so you get the actual weight of the ingredient.  It may not be all white meat chicken breast or whatever but, I'd rather have more of a "2nd tier" meat, which like Run says, is packed with bone and skin providing things like calcium and oils needed by carnivores, than quite a bit less of a prime meat.

[wraithen]

Sounds like a food allergy. I had a buddy that had a great dane that was allergic to just about everything. She crapped streams while walking. The thing about fillers isn't that they are bad for your dog. That's just what those higher end food companies want you to think. If you feed your dog something with cheap fillers you just generally have to feed them more and they poop more. Unless they are allergic, fillers do no harm other than you're getting less bang per dog pellet. This is where the higher end foods make more sense sometimes. I have an english mastiff on petsmarts brand authority for large breed weight management. She gets 4 cups a day and she maintains pretty well on it. It has more bang for my buck than anything I could get at walmart or something like that. If she were a lab or something I'd probably have to feed her a couple cups more per day though. Fillers aren't the scary thing they want you to believe they are is all I'm saying.

[Happy Gilmore]

I have had plenty of dogs that could eat corn based diets, however have had 2 dogs severely allergic to corn, hence why i dont support any specific brand of dog food and say read labels.  I will say no creature is designed to digest corn no human, carnivore or herbivore fully utilizes corn most extract some sugar and the rest is waste so corn= poop, if you like/dont mind scooping poo and your dog maintains weight, health, and coat on corn based diets I say go for it.  Of course corn also poisoned a bunch of dogs when it got an ergot in a batch....believe it was a diamond plant....

for the record I had the worst luck with more dogs of more breeds on science diet than any other brand out there including ol roy, science diet seemed to be a guaranteed give the dog the craps food and most of their formulas include corn as a primary ingredient so cost does not determine whats in a dog food....read the labels....investigate......and if whats working is working for crying out loud don't fix what isn't broke no matter who tells you that you should.

try feeding a super high protein diet......that doesn't work either...dogs need fat and carbs just like us. People get caught up in feeding high protein content food and all their dogs do is chit it all out because their bodies cannot process it. High protein does not equal higher quality food like some companies try to get people to believe. Many dogs can't put weight on because they are eating to high pro diet. They need lower protein and higher fat content. A lot of guys want to think their super dogs are like weight lifters and are going to get all ripped because they eat the highest protein food and run alot.